Mallet

I don't wash meat, but I often give it a little scrape with the back of a paring knife along the grain to remove some of the slurry from the bandsaw. Most places do this for you, but some don't.

Can you get it out of the ramekin? This might give you some more flexibility.

One of the biggest areas of controversy in food discussion lately is the "local vs. global" debate, which is a subset of broader concerns on sustainability. The debate can be framed in a number of ways, ranging from economic to environmental impacts. Here's a few of the recent eGullet discussions on the topic, providing much of the background: "Ethical" Food Bad for the Planet, So sez the Economist Food Miles is a Crock Michael Pollan's Open Letter to Whole Foods This article "Sustainable Food Consumption at a Sub-national Level: An Ecological Footprint, Nutritional and Economic Analysis" by Collins and Fairchild has recently received a lot of press: Article Available Here (or PM me for the pdf) Abstract:

Maybe this idea would lend itself more to a terrine-type dish? Layers of grilled eggplant, curried roasted tomates with spinach and paneer ....

Great ideas so far! Dietary restrictions are never fun (using moose or caribou would be brilliant, and pulled pork vindaloo ), but I would like to conform to my friend's restrictions, especially since we will probably be cooking together. Some sort of paneer lasagna sounds like it could be fun, maybe alternating layers of palak and tomato? Jason, would you mind posting your recipes for those paneer dishes? They look great.

I've decided to do an Indian-themed dinner party. There's no sense trying to make authentic Indian food, since our Indian postdoc occasionally invites the lab over for supper and we load up on the good stuff there. We thought it might be fun to do a sort of 'fusion' meal, but are coming up a bit short on ideas (handicapped by my lack of knowledge of Indian food and his lack of knowledge of North American food). Everything must be vegetarian (dairy is ok, but not eggs). Here are some of the ideas we've come up with: -onion badji 'wings' (blue cheese centre, spicy dipping sauce) -sagoo soup (potatoes, carrots, and turnips with spices) -frozen raita (frozen yogurt with mint and cucumbers, topped with crushed chilies) -indian cheese platter (assorted cheeses, accompanied by indian pickles, chutneys and spice mixes, no clue on the specifics ) Notably lacking is some sort of main dish. Any help would be appreciated!

Certainly not conclusive but Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton, in Preserved have this to say about truffles: So it would seem the real stuff is incredibly unstable.

I just use a styrofoam box with a lid (cut with vent holes), and the LN2 is usually good for about an afternoon if you don't disturb it. I only use about 1L at a time, and I imagine that a larger volume in a proper Dewar would last at least a day.

how does the taste compare?

I've always thought that recipes per se were not patentable, but certain techniques could be. I randomly came across this patent today, which seems to indicate otherwise http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5264240.html It seems that the "inventors" are claiming not only one recipe, but a whole category of recipes! This just doesn't sit right with me, and could serve as a springboard for further discussion. what do you think?

I've recently started cooking with liquid nitrogen but so far have only used it for making sorbets and ice-creams. Funnily enough, I started doing this because I don't have an ice cream maker and liquid nitrogen is cheaper and faster for me (I made 3 different sorbets in under 30 min). Making various powders using a mortar and pestle seems like a simple and very promising avenue, how long do the powders keep? Are they good for preserving aromatics (say a herb or lemon powder), or would something like this just end up tasting like dried powdered supermarket stuff?

Superbly written.

I'm mostly guessing, but I think the pre-eminence of Salt Cod is mostly historical (i.e: it used to be hugely abundant, to the point of becoming a commodity). I know that other white fish are salted as well , and many others are variously preserved (herring, mackerel, lingcod etc..).

No that's just the cover

Usually when you make stock, you would simmer the bones etc... with vegetables (carrots, onion etc..). This adds complexity that bones alone just can't. Consider making your broth with all the aromatics (discarding them along with the bones at the end). You can then add more aromatics as per your usual recipe towards the end, this way you get a strong complex base plus the fresher, lighter flavours of freshly simmered herbs etc..

Great report so far; I also cook from Bouchon fairly often and am looking forward to (eventually) tasting my favourite recipes at the restaurant. Could the oysters you enjoyed be the St.-Simon? My family actually makes those (website)!

Thanks suzy, I ended up bumming a few sprigs from a local bakery

I'm having a few orphaned grad students (myself included) for Easter supper tonight, here's the plan so far: asparagus soup with herbed cream pancetta with goat cheese and apple roast leg of lamb (sides = dupuy lentils, smashed potatoes, turnip gratin) salad raspberry and chocolate sorbets The A&P near my place had no rosemary yesterday (wtf?), so it's going to be a bit of a scramble to find some today...

I've never had the chance to try this wine (and probably won't for a while ... ), but congratulations on your upcoming European tour!

I just hit on something today, which seemed too simple to not already have been thought of: why not just purée partially frozen fruit with sugar etc.. in a food processor? Instant sorbet! Seemed to work just fine, of course there are alternative strategies

We-ell, it's a pretty low percentage of overall food that they're talking about...2% of eggs and 10% of pork. What about chicken? Beef? Organic/local veggies? I think it's a great symbolic move, but I wonder how much farther down the road they'll be able to get before they have to start raising prices...is it a sustainable model for such a large business? ← That's two percent in the next few months. This percentage is scheduled to increase to 5% for eggs and 20% for pork by the end of the year, and continue increasing after that. The reason beef wasn't included was that cattle are already raised outdoors (never mind that they spend that time wallowing in their own shit) and they already have a slaughtering plan in place. One thing which I found interesting that BK doesn't plan to use these initiatives in their marketing campaigns.

I would be salt cod.

We (finally) found the time to have people over yesterday, it was a great success. I unfortunately didn't take any pictures but I thought I would comment on some of the dishes. Keep in mind that most of us were total wine beginners, so some of the comments might not go beyond 'tasty' . Attoria La Rivolta Falanghina 2004 olivade (greek yogurt, chopped olives, shallots, capers, herbs) and toasted baguette This wine had refreshing (and obvious) apple and citrus flavors that worked really well with the dish. Orvieto Classico 2006 salt cod fritters with tomato confit and fried sage (from Bouchon) This one was really different from the Falanghina, with a more mineral flavour that matched the saltiness of the cod quite well. Overall I thought this was one of the better pairings. Montalto 2003 Nero D'Avolo and Cabernet blend tuscan salami and grape skewers I was supposed to serve this with cherries but they were nowhere to be found in Kingston (I guess they're ridiculously out of season). Still worked well though, the salami was quite strong and both the grapes and the wine rounded out the flavours without clashing. Ricasoli Brolio 2004 Chianti Classico pork trotters with sauce gribiche (also from Bouchon) This was probably my favourite wine of the evening: really strong blackberry/cassis nose (maybe even leather?) and incredibly rich, with a long finish. I'd love to see what a few extra years would do. Nothing particularly stood out about the pairing, but both dishes were excellent and I suppose non-interference counts! Fontanafredda 2000 Barolo confit lamb shanks with warm lentil salad A bit of a disapointment after the chianti, it didn't seem to hold up to the earthy flavours of the dish. I'm glad I stayed away from tomatoes with the lamb (thanks for the suggestion!), because it would have wreaked havoc. In retrospect, this may have paired better with the previous dish. This was the first wine we decanted, maybe we didn't leave it in long enough (~45 min)? Masi 2003 Costasera Amarone gorgonzola, pecorino pepato, asiago One of the best noses of the night, with cherry being the most obvious note. Good sweetness and alcohol balance, also this wine taught be about tannins (the other ones were not very tannic at all). I couldn't help but think it needed a few more years. Amalia Brut Moscophilero apricot, raspberry, and blackberry sorbets Honestly, I was kind of satiated by this point, so I was happy to end on a refreshing note. I made the sorbets with liquid nitrogen beforehand because I don't have an icecream maker. I made all three sorbets in under 30min! Overall a great learning experience, and everybody had fun. Thanks to everyone who offered advice!

No, I meant ground pork with the pancetta seasonings/cure, stuffed into casings. I can't see it being any tougher than any other sausage.

I made pancetta for the first time (can't believe it took me this long to try that recipe!), what a revelation! I'm absolutely in love with the flavours, and I haven't even hung it yet. My first thought was that it would make a great sausage, any thoughts? Would it work better as a dried sausage or a grilling sausage?