Mallet

pancakes, with raspberries from the garden (also the ONLY thing I've eaten today )

what did they do in Morocco before the pressure cooker?

Exactly! My question is, should winemakers in the New World focus on developing new varieties which better take advantage of their particular terroir? To what extent is this already happening?

The reason that the prime steaks are good for roasting is that they have a lot of internal marbling (and even then, they are best roasted to approximately the same internal temperature as their steak equivalents). Hanger steak, coming from the flank area, has very little marbling and so might not be the greatest for roasting. If you do choose to go that route though, I would suggest not cooking beyond medium-rare. It might actually make a pretty good roast provided it's not overcooked. Let us know how it works out! edited: peppyre beat me to it

I think it's generally safe to say that things good for braising aren't the best choices for roasting. For hanging tender, I'd stick to either steaks (cooked fast it stays relatively) or braises (nice and slow, to melt the connective tissue).

I don't know if she is, but I am! We're moving to Kingston in September (grad school) and you can be sure I'll push to include the Rossmount Inn on the itinerary. PS: I see you have BeauSoleil oysters on your menu, everyone knows Mallet are the best!

I missed the episode so I can't directly comment on it, but the Hell's Kitchen website seems to be featuring a similar dish in their "Dish of the Week" section. Doesn't sound so bad...

Now that berry-picking season is upon us again (we are just starting to get into blueberry season in Halifax, NS, and uncommonly early I might add...) I had a question I was hoping someone can answer. How long will freshly picked (as in 10 minutes ago, during my lunchbreak ) blueberries keep at room temperature? I didn't get quite enough to make a pie with, so I was hoping I could just keep on adding to the bucket in my office for a few days.

Nicely put Jennifer!

Leftover fat from confit is most definitely reusable (and so good ). Use it in pretty much anything where fat is desirable (e.g: to roast potatoes, to make purée from various root vegetables, more confit etc..). The possibilties are endless.

I also think the new "Best Recipe" is quite useful. It's a good read and great to have on the shelf for general reference... and cheap too!

I don't really mind the sort of show that RR does but comments like from the Slate article really bother me. I'd have Ferran Adria cook me a homestyle meal over Rachel Ray anyday!

I think salt and pepper chips are Canadian .

The classic blowtorch, for oxyacetylene welding, uses acetylene, which yields something in the range from 5800°F to 6300°F, depending on the gas pressure and oxygen mix. Apparently it's the hottest commonly available torch. Underwater torches use hydrogen, believe it or not. There are some other compounds, called LPG and MAPP, which are occasionally used for these industrial torches. Mind you, it's a bit insane to use any of these for cooking. I don't think they burn clean enough anyway. The "cook's torches" I see advertised seem to use butane, in other words plain old lighter fluid (which burn around half as hot as acetylene, which is still plenty hot), but I think they might make propane and kerosene ones as well. ← LPG = liquefied petroleum gas (e.g: propane) and is quite common as torch fuel. I usually use a big propane torch ($15, Canadian Tire) because that's what's in the garage and I can't see coughing up $40 for a weaker cooking torch. It's quite a beast though, and can be hard to control

They're probably more strict on medical facilities than on academic research. We use the same microwave both for heating up various solutions and lunch (but not at the same time ). Can you explain how those fries work? At what stage is the dessication done? I would guess that you could use a dessicator pretty much anywhere you would use a dehydrator. I think the dessicator would give you "cleaner" flavors though, since there is no heat involved.

Ragout is pronounced "rah-goo" (ideally with a french "r", but I don't know how to type that ). the "t" is silent. A good approximation to Chevre would be "shev-ruh"

Great picture!

Some of the current Wonka lineup includes: I most of these are pretty common (except for the wonka bar, which I also have never seen or heard of)

That looks really nice, Patrick. I'm wondering whether with a really sweet fruit like watermelon, you'd be sparing with the amount of sugar added. I could imagine simply freezing unsweetened watermelon juice and having a terrific cold dessert that way. ← I tried a cantelope sorbet yesterday according to Pépin's recipe in Complete techniques, the basic proportions being: flesh of one 3 lb melon 1/3 cup sugar (more or less depending on sweetness ripeness) 1/3 cup lime juice 2 tbsp honey I used the initial proprtions (having never made sorbet and not wanting to frig around the first time ) and turned out pretty nice, but probably could have used even less sugar/lime juice. I would think a minimum amount of sugar is necessary.. doesn't it help prevent crystallization or something?

In Complete Techniques, Jacques Pépin mentions that sorbets are best made in a food processor. Apparently, using a regular ice cream maker beats in too much air into the mixture and changes the color and taste of the fruit. He even goes so far as to say that melon sorbet is ruined if done in an ice machine. That's good news for me, because all I own is a food processor ! I'm trying a melon sorbet right now but it took longer to freeze than I anticipated: I guess that means sorbet for breakfast.

Depending on the recipe, red wine can do quite well with figs.

Although I am far from an expert, I have noticed that some spirits do seem to "age" in the bottle after it is opened. Fine spirits especially tend to mellow out and become more complex after the bottle has been opened and allowed to sit for a while, but will degrade if left around to long. Has anybody else noticed this?

a slug is also a unit of weight, equal to about 32 lbs. Just how big are these things anyways ?

And how!

I think the Co-op you're thinking about is The Grainery Food Co-op By the way, chromedome, I really enjoyed your blog.