BryanZ

Try something "simple" like the mozzarella sheets at ideasinfood. It's all laid out there (more or less) and I don't think the process has ever been documented step-by-step here on eG.

Sweet reports, doc. If you don't mind me asking, did you pay for the industry pass out of pocket, or did eG foot the bill, or did you get for free?

And somehow we've landed in the world of (somewhat) traditional Japanese kaiseki. Strange.

If you're into sous vide cooking you're going to have to buy and/or engineer a water bath of sorts. If you're going to do that, you're more or less in for a penny, in for a pound, (or something). What I'm trying to say is that while one could play around with Ziploc bags/plastic wrap and careful burner watching/slow cooker-ing, you won't really appreciate the beauty of sous vide (and I assure it is beautiful) without at least decent equipment. I've made this point repeatedly on these boards. If you're not using the right equipment, you're more or less slow poaching, which is useful but not entirely the same. Furthermore, you might have problem with the infamous "bag float," leakage, etc. AND if you buy a vaccum sealer (even a cheap one) you can start playing around with uncooked-but-vaccumed fruits and vegetables that all the rage amongst modern-minded cooks. Think of that as added bonus.

I'm kind of with Vadouvan here. As much as I love "creative" food, the short answer IS wd-50 now that Gilt is gone. This was more or less established in the first post. Otherwise it's just a survey of the best of the really good tasting menus in the city. If I had to pick something that LPShanet didn't mention then I'd say 11MP like Sneakeater keeps referring to, mainly because it's a hell of a lot more "creative" than would expect and a hell of a lot better, too.

Of those available at Terra Spice, which are best for novel applications? I believe that SGA150 is used in hot ice cream, but what about the A15C that ideasinfood frequently refers to? I promise I'll start contributing some real information to this thread once I get some free time to start calling people, but for now I'm pretty much ignorant.

I disagree. I'm trying not to generalize, but most serious NY diners admit that there's nothing like Alinea in NY. I personally would be hard pressed to name a restaurant in NY that's as ambitious as Alinea. I'm sure others would agree, even if they're not into the style of food.

This sounds awesome.

Lists like this are so annoying. To take two examples I'm very well aquainted with, in no way, shape, or form, on any planet is Magnolia Grill a better restaurant the Jean -Georges. With that said, I like how they acknowledged Alinea with the top spot. That could be seen as a controversial choice, one that James Beard stayed away from.

That's a good thread to start with but it only starts to get into some of more interesting applications. I confess that I've never worked with the stuff, but hopefully that's about to change. I highly suggest (as usual) www.ideasinfood.com for some more novel applications. Among them include "sheets" of sauce, and hot ice cream that was mentioned in the above thread. I'm actually in the process of trying to procure some right now but the people at Dow Chemical food science are not being particularly responsive. The strangest thing that I've found is the wide variety of formulations offered by the likes of Dow. In contrast, I'm not sure about the properties of the stuff that's available from willpowder. Once I get some free time I'll look into it more. Methocel is going to be my next toy so hopefully someting good will come out of all this in the next few weeks.

Among other things it means faux-hawks, emo, and spending your parent's money on a $5 can of pbr at a bar. ← The story of my life roughly summed up in the above posts. I'm only kind of joking.

I tried to offer him a warm peanut butter cookie soup instead. He also doesn't like nuts, so that idea had to go. In the end I just served him some ice cream and he tried a bit of chocolate on top of that, I believe. Kind of a cop out but he really enjoyed the dessert courses, and that's what counts.

The plates and glasses arrived after all, albeit late Friday afternoon. That was one mini disaster averted. My guests this evening also arrived. I was a little bit worried since this was my first all-student group, and they had been less than reliable in previous correspondence. Regardless it was a great evening. I think they really liked the food and were interested in talking to me. Since they were students I was really at ease and had a nice time, even if it was a lot of work. All in all good food, good music, good company. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, as I forgot to charge my camera and taking off time to find new batteries would've been awkward. From a technical standpoint I found that I'm better off sealing the individual portions of salmon (see menu above) in separate bags as opposed to sealing them all in one. After taking them out of the bath they kind of stuck together, so the presentation wasn't as tight as it could have been. Also, this was the first time I worked completely alone, so clean up was a bitch. The lack of a dishwasher is quite the hassle. I also have to thank Chefs Talbott and Goldfarb for the indirect inspiration on the dessert course. As usual people got a kick out of the carbonated fruit, and they were seriously obsessed with the chocolate-miso combination. I used Lindt bittersweet (largely dairy free), vegetable oil (again to keep it dairy free), and powdered miso. Chocolatey at first, then a nice finish of rich saltiness.

That's not so bad. All you need to do is sub duck or something similar for the beef and ditch the bacon. How about a roasted pineapple-vanilla dipping sauce instead of the miso/chocolate? ← I've been playing with the idea of a vanila flavored dipping sauce instead for the one diner but can't figure out how to make it without dairy. Ideas?

Yeah, I'm going to do a cripsy breast of pan roasted chicken instead I think. It's safe and tasty. I would do something like duck or lamb, but I'm scared that if I buy something a little out of the ordinary he won't like it. I guess I have to make compromises.

So way after I had supposedly confirmed with kids who are coming on Saturday, I get an email saying one of them doesn't eat beef or chocolate. This made me want to kill myself. So no dairy, no pork (a late addition), and for one of the diners no beef or chocolate. Awesome.

Going back and re-reading my posts I would like to make one clarification for the sake of semantics. I repeatedly said "I'm not sure the Triangle is ready..." or something to that effect. What I actually meant is "I'm not sure the Triangle is willing to accept..." The difference between the two is slight but also significant, I think. Those who might have been previously offended by the former iteration of my comments can take the updated version as they will. Anyway, I'm cooking for some friends on Saturday. Here's a preliminary menu. The restriction was pseudo-kosher, ie no shellfish or dairy (since I'm serving meat). Cooking without butter or cream is going to be hard as hell but here's what I'm thinking of. Amuse: Lightly pickled roasted beet, baby lettuce (from the Aerogarden), orange blossom honey. It'll be presented cutely, don't worry. I really want to put some cheese on this thing, but alas I can't. 1) Heirloom tomatoes, balsamic-infused watermelon, mint 2) Salmon mi-cuit, braised fennel, raisins, powdered soy sauce 3) An homage to a New York steakhouse - sirloin cuit sous vide, roasted cauliflower puree, roasted mushrooms and Neuske bacon Pre-dessert: Baked apples, spiced apple air. 4) Carbonated fruit salad, miso-chocolate dipping sauce I need more plates. I'm trying to place a last minute order and hope that it comes through. My sales rep is apparently on the run, or (more likely) avoiding my emails and calls, so we'll see if it'll happen.

Whoa, chill. Varmint's offer was at least somewhat in jest, I think. My response was in keeping with the light hearted discussion; notice the flustered emoticon. I realize that by starting this thread I've opened myself up to any type of criticism people choose to dish out. But I'm finding that some posts are just downright unfair, out of context, and unfair given that no one here has actually eaten with me. With that said, I don't mean to proselytize and I love most everyone's ideas. Thanks to everyone so far for contributing.

You have to use their seed pods. I've got one in my apartment at school. Everyone wonders what it is.

Right on, but this "us" thing...I'm almost sure he wasn't talking about eGulleters from the triangle when he wondered if NC was ready. That would've been not only brash but counterproductive and well, not very smart. Maybe he should've said "I don't mean you guys", but I thought that was implied... ← As I think I've said, my comments were directed toward what I consider the area at large. And as others have said, the same comments can be applied pretty much everywhere, NYC included. Of course, they were not directed toward eG members. I do understand, however, how my comments could have been misconstrued or seen as brash. And, yes, as detlechef says I don't have a lot to prove my worth besides this idea, a website, and some passion. At the same time I've never said my food or ideas are so good that people just won't be on my level. It's more that I'm doing something that no one in the area is doing so people might be weirded out or even offended. These boards (of "foodies") often show how vehemently against hypermodern cooking people can be. Willingness is a relative term. People are willing to talk about it (as on eG), or even contact me, but few people are actually taking the plunge and book a party. When time and money are on the line they're less willing to try something new and unfamiliar. That goes for just about anything. I would love for eG'rs to come by, but so far I've not heard from many. I'll just have Bryan haul his stuff over to my house in Raleigh. We could all cover his costs. detlefchef will pick the wines. I can find room for 20 or so! Up for it, Bryan??? ← Errr. How about four of you get together and come to Durham. Once I have some patrons (in both senses of the word) I'll consider private dinners off-site.

So like "cold" hot "ice cream." That would be such a trip. I want it. twodogs, please attempt.

I should've gone to Clemson.

They take the occasional stagaire. I'm not sure if you're looking for pay or not.

The garlic shrimp is a simple dish, but I really like this version. I do think the addition of the romesco, or in my case "bootleg-as-hell-romesco," added some nice depth of flavor to go with the garlic and sweetness of the shrimp.

Nathan is right in that if you have a lot of items in a small or crowded bath, you're going to need circulation to make sure you don't get extreme variances. For my purposes, and those of most ambitious home cooks, you're just looking for a controlled cooking environment. Chances are you won't be doing pounds and pounds of meat. For me, it's maybe a couple racks of lamb or duck breasts, four or five chicken breasts, two or three pounds of beef. I would support the crock-pot-as-water-bath movement, but to me that's a little too bootleg and you really can't do long cooks. Although sous vide is all about accuracy, +/- 1 degree makes very little noticeable difference. The advantage of a water bath is it's easy and reliable; set it and forget it, if you will. Additionally, the average home cook uses a kitchen thermometer that may well be off by a degree or two anyway. Even this isn't the end of the world.