Suzanne F

Christine Lavin has a great song: "Cold Pizza for Breakfast, Warm Coke on the Side." Yup.

For a tenderloin, I would insert the thermometer at an angle from the top, in the middle of the piece, to get the maximum length inside the meat -- just so long as the tip does not hit the pan underneath or otherwise protrude. Although I'd also think that tenderloin could be checked by feel, since it's not all that big in circumference.

Thank you, thank you for that article! We both love Pinot Noir from Oregon, and have had wines from Argyle several times at restaurants. So neat to learn about thewine, the winemaker, and all those other, um, folks!

Didn't get to Jaleo on the last trip -- too many other new (to me) places to try. But as Malawry says, it's hard to find something NOT good. As I recall, they have an excellent selection of sausages and cheeses too. If you get to the new International Spy Museum, I'd be interested in hearing what you think of it. We enjoyed it a lot, but still found it really creepy.

One of my favorite writers, John Thorne, had this to say in Simple Cooking:

I thank you both, Anna N. and Nickn. It's been ages since I've had anything like that -- oddly, in NYC (Manhattan, anyway) we no longer have smorrebrod available. I'm not sure what the Swedish restaurants do, if anything, that might be similar. Nickn: I've got that one! bit by bit I'm building my collection of Foods of the World -- one of the finest series ever published.

Haven't been in quite a while -- but I've liked Capsouto a lot in the past. A pair of friends had their wedding there, and it was lovely, and delicious. I believe that Capsouto is now doing cheese soufflés, not often found on menus anymore. For me that would be reason enough to go. Plus the fact that the frères are very nice guys, and strongly involved in the community (at least Albert is).

Goose fat?!?!?!? Please, please, please give us a lesson in Danish sandwich-making.

Can you pre-butter it? That works for finger sandwiches, usually.

Oh, boy. I could write a whole article on that. Maybe I will, for The Daily Gullet, if Fat Guy agrees. This topic is very, very dear to my heart, because I believe that badly written recipes turn more people off of cooking than almost anything else. By "badly written" I mean inappropriate to the skill of the users, as well as just plain sloppy. For now, though: a recipe should be written at the skill level of the cooks it's for; that is, for total beginners, it should explain EVERYTHING, including the cooking equipment needed, the way the oil should look in the sauté pan before adding the piece of veal (as an example) -- leave NOTHING to chance due to the cook's lack of experience. If the recipe is for people with some greater level of knowledge, experience, and skill, then not everything has to be specified. But still, the writing has to be appropriate and complete: no ingredients listed without telling what to do with them, nor instructions for dealing with ingredients not listed. Thanks, Anna: want to work with me on TDG piece? edited to reflect member name change

When I did kale for T-day, I blanched and shocked it first, then sautéed it with the cooked chopped pancetta (and garlic, in my case) (and garlic and spices, in your case ) so really you're only re-heating the tenderized kale -- which can be kind of tough, after all. Have a great Kratzmich, as my grandmother might have said.

Since the salmon will take longer to cook than the crab, how about cooking the salmon partway, and THEN spreading the crab mixture on top? Otherwise, you may kill the crab before the salmon is edible. Happy Holidays!

Hello, Ondine! you are not alone down there! My friend Polly is also in Australia, and she's great (a professional chef!). Lurk no longer. Join the throng. (Sorry, it's after dinner here, and I'm going a little overboard for having had 2 sherries and 1/2 a bottle of Zinfandel )

Now that I've tried Thalassa, I prefer it to both fresh. AND rm. But I've only been to each once. Admin: the current active thread for discussion of rm may be found here.

Malawry -- No, sorry, I'm not familiar with that one. Is that your school's text?

Rat made an excellent point, especially as regards someone like Keller. My impression is that his success is due to his physical presence in the kitchen, to make sure that his staff executes precisely as he wants. How long does it take someone like him to train his staff to the point where he's comfortable leaving them on their own? How does he make sure that the person(s) he hires as his surrogate can become his clone? I mean, there's more to his cooking than just a combination of ingredients, philosophy, and technique. Those can be bought and learned; but how does he ensure that that je ne sais quoi that makes him what he is can be duplicated? For once, I might agree with Steve P. that I wouldn't want to eat at the NYC or LV "branch" unless I knew for sure that Keller would be there that night.

Once I accepted the fact that even with an extra-hot burner, I would never be able to duplicate Chinese restaurant food at home, I lost my fear of trying to cook "Chinese-ische." In other words, I can't get that almost-instant caramelization of vegetables, seafood, meat, etc, that seems to be the hallmark of a good stir-fry. But I can still get the flavors of the sauces and spices, so I can live with that. As for the seemingly vast number of ingredients: many of them are in small amounts, so prep time is not all that great. And this is one instance where "salad bars" are actually a good thing -- pre-cut pepper strips, celery, etc. (just wash it well before using). Do you have them there? Kiku -- you're not afraid of the flipping-and-tossing thing, are you? If so, just practice with something like cherry tomatoes or small potatoes in a cold wok, until you are comfortable with the push-it-away-from-you-then-lift-and-jerk-it-back-toward-you motion. Just like flipping something in a sauté pan. Just keep bashing away. Ask questions about dishes you like, when you eat out. Try to figure out what goes into a dish, and how it is made, and then try it at home. Of course it won't be exactly the same, but you'll have fun learning. Yes, Barbara Tropp's books are very, very good. And Nolonger -- a lot of those "unusual" ingredients keep forever, and you can always try adding a little of them to Western dishes to give a subtle change.

It sounds to me that you assume that canned corn is always going to be a lesser-quality ingredient than fresh corn. Would you also say that fresh tomatoes are always preferable to canned -- no matter what the time of year? And, if I may continue to put words in your mouth, that fresh ANYTHING is always better than canned. Does that extend to other types of preserved foods as well? Can ham never match the magnificance of fresh leg of pork? Must bacon be banished from high-end kitchens? Are both canned AND dried beans to be eschewed in favor of the purity of newly-shelled? Of course, I'm taking that argument to the reductio ad absurdum. Have you considered that Adria's use of the product might be based on a belief that canned corn deserves to be used for its own good qualities (such as consistency)? To me, the assumption that quality of ingredients is defined primarily by "freshness" is disingenuous. The best ingredients are the ones that offer the most flavor, that exemplify the essence of the item. If canned corn works for Adria, whose use of technique absolutely requires the best flavor input, who am I to cavil? Julia wrote -- and continues to write -- within the mores of her time. When she gave a way to "improve the flavor of canned peas" it was not necessarily because she thought they were worthy in the first place; they were an ingredient her audience knew, and she was demonstrating a technique for making them into something more edible. So I can't really see that one must take precedence over the other. We're talking about another X-Y axis here: flavorful ingredients vs. those devoid of flavor, plotted against "technique that improves flavor" vs. "technique which obfuscates flavor or wipes it out entirely." Hmmm -- I'll work on that more after I eat. I hope others might take it up in the meantime.

I most definitely agree with Bux on Jon Tseng's excellent post -- and on everyone else's excellent comments. I wrote the sort of review I want to read. I'm glad people have enjoyed reading it. And if you did NOT, please do not hesitate to say so, and why. That's what I love about eGullet -- that dissent is used as the jumping-off point for some great discussions (mostly).

I don't see the show (no cable), but it wouldn't bother me in the least. G-d invented some things because they make life easier for everyone who uses them. To me, electric carving knives are in that category. Oh, sure, a good blade is wonderful, nothing beats it. But who can afford to practice making perfectly even slices of prime rib? And truly, how many people really would bother to keep a good carving knife really sharp? There would just be a higher number of ER visits, and more arguments over the dinner table. Electric knives have never really gone away. I use the one my parents got some 35 years ago or so. It's especially great for crusty loaves of bread.

Sorry, BG -- I was actually referring to an in-joke from the recent past, which I think started with "Rice is for tourists." Maybe it's one of those "you had to be there" things. No slur intended. Hey, I can't afford the real thing, either. Although D'Artagnan is running a December special of one ounce each Black and White Truffles for $100.

Truffle oil is for tourists. (Bond Girl excepted.)

So, Cabrales, can we look forward to another session of chicken-cooking? En français, bien sûr.

Suvir -- no, I only tested the 3 I mentioned. If I'd made the Tarte Tatin, I would have had to eat it! And I'm not very fond of sweet things (except you and my husband [He Who Only Eats] ) But there are some apples which do hold up quite well -- maybe not for all that long time, but then the way he does it is to keep adding more apple pieces to the pan as the earlier ones shrink. So not all of them get cooked the full amount of time.

Rat, why not? Does it make your cute little nosey twitch too much? Or bleach the pink out of your adorable eyes? Trust me, untill you've had to mix 4+ bottles of black truffle oil into a vat of mushroom risotto, you're an amateur at disliking the stuff.