Brad S

Just something to read http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Main/Fea...97,1446,00.html

Are you going to bone out the breast? A stuffing of apples,cabbage,potatoes and renbered bacon is wonderful, Just make lardons of the bacon and render,then add some minced shallot,diced yukon potatoes and savouy cabbage.Slowly cook this down until you have some nice caramalzation,season with salt and black pepper and cool.Make a cavity in the breast and fiil,tie with twine and roast over a miro poix to make a quick pan sauce. If the breast seems tough (wild game) you can butterfly it,pound it to tenderize,then roll like a jellyroll. Edit to add,you should add a bit of fresh breadcrumbs to the mix.

In the winter I like to poach pears in a Port based simple syrup,cool then stuff them with a blend of stilton,marscapone,dried black figs and black pepper.Put them in a roasting pan some some of the poaching liquid,tent with foil and rewarm in the oven. 70 Fonseca or Taylor works nice with it

In his post he said he just returned from Miami where he had the Stonecrabs.

Could it be the Tanner crab?

Many years ago when Christian Bertrand left Lutece and opened his name sake in Greenwich CT I decided to go after a jod there. Lutece was my favorite in the city (early 80's)and I admired Soltner. Anyway, I got the job,and was tought by Christian a very easy (but perfect)squab dish.I would bone out the breast and french them,and clean and seperate the thighs and legs.the carcees then would be roasted and make into a stock and eventually a salmi.The legs were seared and roasted until done in the oven and the breast was pan seared MR stove top basting it constantly.We served it simply with broad noodles tossed in buerre noisette,sultanas and juilianne of zucc,the breast was sliced and the tights and legs were placed below the breast and then the reduction was ladled on. It was very nice and was elevated even more by a glass of burgundy

Hmmm. The accomplised cook by robert may I thought was the first "bisk"?

Cool! http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...&f=108&t=27552& Enjoy

There are some great books out there on wine. For me in the past two years the best is Andre Domine' WINE It is the most in depth book on the market today for both the novice and the wine geek. Also,although I believe out of print, Red wine with Fish by David Rosengarten and Joshua Wesson is a fantastic guild to understanding wine and how it works with food.

The Ravs sound nice,but there made with eggs and you may need some egg to bind your filling,guess it depends on how strict a vegetarian your friend is. You certainly can try some buttercup or acorn squash roasted with traditional herbs and seasoning and filling them with a wonderful saute of fresh assorted wild mushrooms,shallots and thyme,then top with some toasted black walnuts and shredded Vermont Chedder (for protiens)and gratinee in the oven.You can do all these steps in advance and keep it in the fridge,then finish in the oven when you need to serve. Hope you have a nice holiday regardless.

From Jorge de la Torre Laboratory Coordinater J&W Denver. This is the same method I was tought 24 years ago at J&W. "Let’s take Osso Buco for instance. This is a dish that takes hours to make the meat flavorful but also, along with accompaniments, uses many types of cooking methods. You will have to have an already finished product but the gremolata and polenta can be done in the classroom a la minute. With the fresh osso buco, you could flour it and show them how to brown meats using the sauté method while discussing why cuts of meat such as shank are cooked that way. You could then sauté the mirepoix, discussing the importance of caramelization, the size of the cuts and why they are of that particular size. You could then add the wine to the pan and show how to deglaze. You would then add the braising liquid and discuss the proper braising technique."

Bux,Just to clarify about the discoloring of vegetable. When you braise,you start with your miro poix,develope there sugars and then remove,add your protien and sear it off,then deglaze and reduce the wine,if you add the wine to the miro poix it "stains them"

You don't want to add your liquids at the same time. You see,the wine is what will release the fond from the bottom of your pan,you then want to use a flat wooded spatula to scrape the bottom and concentrate the wine. It is the acid in the wine that will create your fond and then they will mellow. By doing this you also avoid discoloring your miro poix (or in this case mushrooms and onions)

Had a couple great meals at Craft,and yes,once had the Morels.They are unfortunatly only around in the spring,but it's chanteral season now.

Heavy cream can be used, but it leads to a somewhat different sauce. Cream and wine sauces can be delicious. You should add the cream off the heat, as the fast boiling will split a cream based sauce. Also the acid in sauce, if it is a very acid wine, or if you add lemon juice, can split the cream. Cream tends to smooth out the flavours in the sauce, so the taste is different from a butter mounted sauce. May I say that a reduced cream that is tempered will not seperate in a quick boil.

The Quince methode is very imformitive,I have never heard it called "cheese" before.Can you tell us where that term for membrilla (sp)came from? Also,is Manghego the match made in heaven for quince paste?

Perfect.

Toast your barley first.

I'll be working again Hope to get some carcass scrapes when I get home.

Good idea. I never thought of doing this with the breast alone. Do you use the water trick when you're rendering the rest of the skin for fat? I agree it makes for a very clean result, since the temperature is well controlled. Yes I do, I was fortunate enough to learn confit from Christian Bertrand former Chef de Cuisine for 13 years at Lutece.After all the ducks were buthered he would always start his redering in a small amount of water,this prevented any chance of initinally burning the base and ruining your fat.

Since I discovered the joy of making Kimchee it doesn't last more than a couple days in my fridge,however,once opened I wouldn't keep it much more than a week.

Dave, If i'm cooking Pekin breast I do it all stove top as well,Moulard and Muscovey I finish in the oven as it takes a few minutes more to cook. Cooking it stove top I agree about a last turn for a moment to "re-crisp" the skin. When I studied with Madeleine Kamman,she would score her breast and then lay them in a cold pan with a touch of water,we then would slowly render the fat (the water evaperates)and the fat is much cleaner to put aside for confit and you have gotten rid of more than half the fat. Edit to ask how deep fat frying is dry heat ?

I agree. It takes a surprisingly long time for the breast skin to get really brown and crisp. This method lets you keep heat on the skin while cooking the second side. But I'm confused by the "warm up" after resting. Doesn't that just set the juices off again? I respectfully disagree, 90 percent of the redering in done in the pan skin side down,however,turning the skin up in the oven will actally make it more crisp by being exposed to dry heat IMHO

I don't recommend using the breast for confit,unlike the legs and thighs,the breast will be very tough after curing and simmering. A 2 1/2 # duck will yield enough fat to confit it's legs and thighs. I'm sure the technique of confit has been discussed in detail on this site.

Heres Al Fornos web site http://www.alforno.com/Main%20Page.htm I wish it was around when I went to collage in RI.