phatj

I guess I could call myself a "cooking enthusiast" or something but just plain "cook" doesn't seem to capture it.

And no, I don't believe we're chefs of our own domain. Chefs run professional kitchens. We're cooks. I've never worked in a professional kitchen nor paid any particular attention to the profession... what is the distinction in that setting between a chef and a cook? My (possibly completely erroneous) impression is that the chef is responsible for the entire operation of the kitchen, from procurement through plating, while the cooks prepare food at the direction of the chef. Is that close? Assuming I'm not way off base, why can't we draw a parallel to a home kitchen? I am responsible for pretty much all the meals in my home, I generally do all the shopping myself, and when I require help in the kitchen, my assistants work at my direction. Is this not much like being a chef, on an amateur scale? I call myself an amateur chef to distinguish myself from home "cooks" who think they're cooking because they heat up a can of Spaghettios on the stove. Sorry for derailing the thread. I don't think I would say "break down" in this context but then I don't watch cooking shows.

A food mill. Or possibly me, since I can't get a food mill to work.

I have been guilty of the "X Y Ways" thing, though just as a shorthand - Duck Soup, Duck Leg Confit Potstickers, and Seared Duck Breast over Greens being rather unwieldy as a menu title. I vaguely knew that the concept wasn't original but was pretty much ignorant of anyone else who had done a similar menu. I love the "with au jus" comment - that phrase makes my skin crawl. The term "boiled" doesn't conjure up happy images for me. I know very well that many delicious things are in fact boiled, but the word looks bad on a menu.

I use a cheap off-brand enameled cast iron pot for all my braising and don't worry about using it over high heat nor about heating it slowly. (Then again, even the "high output" burner on my cheapo range isn't all that powerful.)

So I used the chicken fat for about 1/4 of the fat. The taste was pretty good, but the texture was a bit heavy. All the other fat was butter, though; I think this would have benefited from using lard or shortening, something with less moisture.

Sorry to bump this very old thread, but I did some searching and couldn't find an answer to my question. I'm about to embark upon my first chicken pot pie adventure and while I'm comfortable winging it overall, I have virtually no experience with pastry and would like to draw upon that of others for advice on my crust. The chicken that's going into my pie came from a bird that was brined, liberally rubbed with herbed butter, and roasted low-and-slow at 250F. I skimmed and kept the fat that collected in the roasting pan (in which I kept a bit of water so nothing burned). Would it be appropriate to substitute this butter/schmaltz mixture for some or all of the shortening/lard to make the crust? I looked at a lot of recipes and couldn't find a single one that suggested this, which surprised me, so maybe there's a good reason not to do this.

I like almost all leftovers.

For pulled pork I'm a big fan of the mustard-based sauce, but for other applications I came up with a tomato-based sauce that's Asian-inspired, kind of like a tomatoey, spicy teriyaki sauce. Ingredients, as best I can remember: tomato juice chicken or vegetable stock soy sauce rice vinegar fish sauce vegetable oil sesame oil onion garlic ginger crushed red pepper five-spice powder tomato paste mirin

Chili-Orange Oil This infused oil is something I made originally for Spicy Orange-Garlic Braised Short Ribs, but it's useful for other things: Asian-inspired salad dressings, a condiment for white rice (along with a splash of soy sauce), stir fries, etc. I store it in the fridge. 3/4 c vegetable oil 1/4 c sesame oil 10 dried red chilis, halved lengthwise zest of two oranges 4 cloves garlic, crushed Heat vegetable and sesame oil in a small saucepan over medium heat until very hot. Dump in chilis, orange zest and garlic (being careful about it boiling over), remove from heat and stir. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes. Strain oil through a fine-mesh strainer into a small container. Discard solids. Keywords: Condiment ( RG2157 )

I cut myself maybe every couple of months, but never worse than a band-aid can handle. I've gotten burned in making fudge twice, once pretty badly, when boiling sugar splashed on my hand.

A carnivorous friend of mine had my favorite answer to this question: "Salad is what food eats."

I have exactly one pot (a perfectly-seasoned cast iron skillet) and one knife (a 240mm gyuto) that are worth saving, and they're kept within five feet of each other in the kitchen, so I think I could reasonably grab both in the fire scenario. However, if forced to choose between them, I'll take the skillet, because I put a lot of time into getting it seasoned and I continue to do so. I haven't done anything to the knife other than a few seconds honing before each use.

The + & - buttons for setting oven temperature are annoying, no doubt. However, having a flush control panel is a real advantage when it comes time to clean. What I'd like to see is somebody install a touch-sensitive "wheel" a la the iPod for setting oven temp (and the timer, and anything else where you might need to scroll a lot to reach the setting you want). Then, if they put it on the front bezel of the thing instead of on the backsplash, I'd be in appliance heaven.

Damn, I used to have a mini-GF grill but sold it at a yard sale a few years ago because we hadn't ever used it. This was before I had experienced the magic that is the cubano.

I only recently had a cubano for the first time (I thought, what's the big deal? It's just a ham sandwich), and it was a revelation.

I tried this method with a boneless leg of lamb roast today, though modified a bit from that laid down in the first post. I cooked it at 225F for a few hours then turned it down to 200F because it seemed like it was going to be done sooner than I wanted. The result, which took about five hours total, was good, but I made the mistake of following the cooking instructions on the package and cooked it to 145F. It was tender and juicy but overdone to my taste.

Heh - I was worried the 240mm gyuto would be too big. I could probably use a 270mm but I'd need a bigger cutting board.

Blender. Produces a bright green mixture (at first, anyway -- it oxidizes quickly).

Tzatziki Dip My own take on Tzatziki sauce. The onion is inauthentic, but I think it adds nice color for presentation as a dip. As written, this recipe is a bit too chunky to use as a sauce. If you like, you could puree the third cucumber and onion as well. 3 cucumbers, seeded 1/2 c fresh dill weed, chopped 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1 tsp salt 1/2 red onion, finely minced 1 qt plain yogurt (pref. whole milk) extra-virgin olive oil (optional) Coarsely chop two of the cucumbers and add to blender along with dill, garlic, salt & pepper. Add water about halfway and puree until fairly smooth. Strain cucumber puree through a fine-mesh strainer. While it's draining, mince the remaining cucumber and stir it, along with minced onion, into yogurt. If using low- or nonfat yogurt I recommend adding a little olive oil. Stir drained cucumber solids into yogurt. Pour mixture into a cheesecloth-lined drainer and drain over a bowl in the fridge for at least an hour. Remove mixture from cheesecloth (it should separate fairly cleanly after straining this long) and serve. This makes a great dip for thick-cut potato chips or crackers such as Triscuits. Keywords: Appetizer, Vegetables, Condiment, Dip, Vegetarian, Mediterranean, Blender ( RG2141 )

The Authentic Kitchen 7-Qt pot I posted about when I started this thread is still going strong, chipped enamel notwithstanding. I used it a lot over the past winter.

I was with you until popcorn. I can make popcorn on the stovetop in about the same time it takes to make microwave popcorn, and the flavor is incomparable.

My fraternity house at one point had a badass commercial dishwasher, I think it was a Hobart. That was the bomb -- you slid the tray in at one side and out the other, like 60 seconds later. Impractical for a home kitchen though, not to mention ugly as sin. We moved to a smaller house with a smaller kitchen that had an under-counter Hobart. Not as fast or easy to load/unload as the first one, but still awesome compared to a regular home dishwasher. My dream kitchen would have two dishwashers, one being the undercounter Hobart. I'd probably only use it occasionally, for larger parties and such, but I could see it being incredibly useful at times.

The Mayoknife. I've had this taking up space in my utensil drawer for years. I used it for a while until I realized that it was far less useful than a half spatula.

I second this and would go even further. I keep a container of "confit fat" consisting of duck, goose and chicken fat along with some olive oil that has been used and reused for poultry confit (usually with lots of thyme, garlic and porcini mushrooms). Whenever I want a special vinaigrette I go to that for the fat instead of olive oil.