mkayahara

Chris, you have a remarkable number of bases of comparison for thicknesses!

Why wouldn't you just remove the plastic wrap before slicing? I don't understand how you'd do that: is it not all rolled up in a cylinder with the paste? No, no. You keep the plastic on the outside. Think about how a foie gras en torchon is rolled.

Why wouldn't you just remove the plastic wrap before slicing? Edit: And yes, Wikipedia seems to believe that makrut lime and kaffir lime are the same.

It's funny; I've tried a variety of white rums, always hoping that one of them will provide me with a eureka moment, but so far, I keep coming back to Havana Club. And I'm thoroughly grateful that it's available here!

It's only 138 pages. Enjoy.

I think you misunderstand (or else I'm misunderstanding you). The way I read it, the naïveté lies in believing that everyone has the time, energy and desire necessary to become fully informed about this subject. Obviously, those of us who are in this forum are here because we have a specific interest in food, but a lot of people don't. For example, how many of the people in this thread can tell me the origins of all the wood in their home, both structurally and in their furniture, and whether or not it was harvested legally and sustainably? Isn't it also our responsibility as consumers to know that information?

I think so, too. I have been told in the past that it "is hopelessly naive" to hold that opinion, but I still do. I'm not sure why that would be hopelessly naive. Granted, the fact that I live in the country and that there are lots of farmer's markets and a big local food movement in our area helps. I also don't think that it is possible to know the origins of everything we eat, but certainly a good percentage of it. To start with, almost all the beef we eat is from a cow that we raised, and we have most of a heritage breed locally grown hog in our freezer, and I have had enough discussions with the farmer to have a good idea what it was eating too. I think if one lived in a large city, it would be much more difficult, and would take a lot more work. Sure, if you're raising the cow yourself and live in the country where you're surrounded by farms (that aren't monocultures of corn and soy), then it's relatively easy. It's less easy when you live in a big city, but it can still be done, because you're surrounded by lots of other people who share your interest in doing it. But the hardest situation is when you live in a small city that's not in an agricultural region, especially if that city is poor. It's easy to overestimate how far the distribution chains for local, organic food have penetrated when you live in the middle of them.

Funny you should bring this up: I just made the lamb neck with quinces and turnips yesterday, though I had to substitute apples for quinces. I braised it yesterday, then let it cool and chilled it overnight. I'll probably finish it and eat it either tonight or tomorrow.

For what it's worth, Chris, I live in a very hard water area, and I find that I have to cook dried legumes either in a pressure cooker or with deionized water in order to get them to come out right. What's the mineral content of your local water like?

Just as you will find many references to "Punt y mes" in these very forums...

Looking forward to following along with this one, Hassouni! I've noticed your contributions in the Japanese home cooking thread before; will there be any Japanese food on this trip, or is that something you would have to cook for yourself? Also, when you travel to Beirut and then return to DC, are there any food products you bring back with you that you can't get in the States? Some of that 'amba, maybe?

Tequila Old Fashioneds made with grapefruit bitters are the best, in my book. I find the Fee chocolate bitters to be a little bit... lacking in nuance. They do work with some rums (they're not half bad with Kraken, for instance), and I could see them working with rye or bourbon, but I'm not surprised to hear they weren't great with tequila. Bittermen's Xocolatl Mole bitters, on the other hand, are exceptional with tequila.

Great action shots, for sure. I'm curious about the noodles, too. Did you buy them or make them? Also, are you actually holding the wok handle in your bare hand, no side towel?

That menu certainly sounds like a train wreck. I don't have any problem with chefs incorporating sweet elements into savoury dishes (or vice-versa!). I loved my meal at Tailor, back in the day, which was characterized by this "blurring of the lines." Any one of those dishes sounds like it could be fine on its own, but there has to be balance not only within each dish (which is hard enough), but also within the menu as a whole. IMHO.

So they work well? I've been considering an induction hot plate, and being able to use it for nabemono would by a big selling feature for me. (Yes, I realize they wouldn't work with traditional nabe, but since I don't have one, I don't mind.)

I've made it several times, and it does work! There's water in the butter that you use, plus the water that comes out of the carrots, yes. It's worth trying it at least once. I make beans regularly, too, using Ideas in Food's times and pressures: 5 minutes at low pressure, drain, then refill and cook for 25 minutes at high pressure. I usually get at least one or two beans that are not-quite-cooked-through, but most of them are great, and I've never had them turn to complete mush. Given how hard my water is here, I would never cook dried beans without a pressure cooker.

Funny, I was just reading about demi-sel in the Art of Eating Cookbook. From the description in there, it sounds like it's just a generic term for mildly brined, small cuts of pork. (It's sometimes hard, reading Art of Eating, to tell which points are part of the traditional definition, and which are Behr's and, in this case, MacGuire's idiosyncratic interpretation.) The brine they offer is 3 litres water, 450g salt, 40g nitrtie, 30g sugar, 9g saltpeter. They recommend not trying to cure anything more than 3 inches thick in this brine.

I know there are mixed feelings around here about their first charcuterie book, but I'll be curious to see Polcyn and Ruhlman's Salumi. I haven't gotten into dry curing yet, so it'll be mostly academic, but I'm hoping it'll be an interesting read.

I second the caramelized carrot soup, and would add that the pressure cooker is a great way to cook dried beans. Those are the two things I use mine for the most, though I'm always on the lookout for new ideas, too.

The recipe I was making was in VOLT ink. It calls for 3 x 3-lb. octopuses cooked in a litre of water with 70g red wine vinegar, a diced onion, bay leaves and black peppercorns.

My mother got one of those for Christmas. I threatened to re-purpose it as a takoyaki maker!

I guess that doesn't really help you, then. When you get one, do give it a try. It was absolutely a revelation, and when I served it last weekend, it converted a non-octopus-eating friend of mine. I can't imagine cooking it any other way, except for experimental purposes.

Pressure cook: 30 minutes at high pressure. Best octopus I've ever made. I've also heard of sous vide at 91.6C for 3 hours, but haven't tried it yet.

Yeah, they're making me drool too.

I think Modernist Cuisine's strength is its weakness. When I heard Nathan speak in Toronto, he said that one of the reasons he wanted to make Modernist Cuisine is because each of the books out there about modernist technique reflected an individual chef's take on food, and the modernist technique was just a way of achieving that take. Modernist Cuisine, by comparison, was intended to be encyclopedic. But sometimes, you still want to learn more about a given artist's creativity.