mkayahara

Sure, there's always been a gap, but I'm wondering whether gap is widening. I can't produce the same output at home as a commercial wok burner, but I can still stir-fry; I don't have a wood-fueled pizza oven, but I can still make pizza. What I think we've started to see is differences not just in degree, but in kind. There's no way (that I know of) to reproduce the effects of freeze-drying without laying out the cash for a freeze-drier. I'm willing to admit, though, that freeze-driers may become smaller and cheaper over time, until they are affordable to the average home user. Though, personally, I'd rather see chamber vacuum machines hit that point first.

But this in turn raises an interesting question: In the future, are we going to see a wider and wider gap between how commercial kitchens deal with food and how the "vast majority of people" do? I think we've already witnessed it to some extent with modernist cuisine, which uses equipment and chemicals that are out of financial reach for the majority of home cooks. (And I say this as a home cook who sprung for a PolyScience Sous Vide Professional.) Is it just going to get worse?

Yeah, I was going to say the same thing, only I do it with lamb shoulder rather than pork: season, rub with oil, then put in a covered roasting pan. I cook the lamb this way by preheating the oven to 500F, then dropping it to 325F as soon as the pan goes in, and roasting until the meat is pull-apart tender, which usually takes about 4 hours. And yes, it does end up well-done, but I think that's the fate of any cut with that much connective tissue, unless you cook it sous vide. Sauce is your friend.

It may well be that they're similar to Yukon Gold, but I don't think you can necessarily tell that from a visual description. You'd need to know information like dry matter content and sugar/starch ratios, I would think.

Wait, isn't that what the Food Network does already?

I hasten to add - though perhaps not hastily enough - that minor glitches like the one I named above in no way detract from my appreciation or enjoyment of the book. Having read further into it today, I can safely say that there are so many starting points here that I'm sure I'll return to it again and again for... well, for ideas in food. (I'm already plotting to buy a pressure cooker.) There's a generosity of spirit at work here that I think is characteristic of the authors. I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

So "better than it needs to be" is a compliment, then? As in "better than required for the restaurant to be financially successful"? In the OP, it read like a criticism.

Such as this: Admittedly, it's been a long time since high school chemistry, but that doesn't sound quite right to me.

I got mine the other day, and have been trying to find time to read it between cleaning up from the holidays and getting back up to speed with work. It's certainly tantalizing (though I think I've caught one or two errors in it or, at the very least, awkward phrasings). I'll be making my first preparation from it tomorrow, if all goes well.

I've only done LTLT eggs a couple of times, and liked the ones at 64 degrees as a stand-in for poached, but the whites are definitely not a traditional texture for poached eggs. I've heard that you can give them a quick trip through simmering water after taking them out of the temperature-controlled bath to firm up the whites and make them more traditional, but I've never tried it. The other really important thing, in my experience, is not to crack the eggs directly over the serving plate (or English muffin, or whatever). There always seems to be a part of the white that isn't set, and you get a much cleaner presentation if you crack them into a bowl first, then transfer them with a slotted spoon, draining off any liquid.

Sorry, I should have checked that link before posting! I had assumed it was just a link explaining nitrogen cavitation in general. I assume that's a 1-litre whipper you're using? Sounds like it would be a useful technique; sadly, the limiting factor for me is the total unavailability of sloes here. I may try it next year with damsons, though, if I remember to do so when they're in season.

Digijam, can you outline how you did it in a little more detail? Did you split the sloes at all, or just put them in whole? It seems to me the limiting factor on doing sloe gin with nitrogen cavitation would be volume.

It wasn't really a meal; it was one of the passed apps at our Christmas party. I also did pate a choux puffs halved and filled with shrimp salad, salmon mousse (from the Alinea book) on bagel chips, Turkish lamb meatballs, and... something else, involving puff pastry and bacon. I don't remember the details of that last one. As far as "Middle Eastern dips" go, I can heartily recommend the recipe for Muhammara in RecipeGullet.

As far as finger foods that use preserved lemons, last year at Christmas, I did baked wonton cups (brush wonton skins with butter or oil, press into a mini muffin tin and bake until crispy) filled with a mix of preserved lemon, those wrinkly-looking black olives you see on olive bars, and lots of parsley. They were a hit, especially the ones garnished with a drop of harissa paste. I've finally had some time to read Dave Wondrich's punch book, so I'm looking forward to seeing your Regent's punch! What kind of punch bowl do you have?

Merry Christmas, Chris and other eGulleters! We're up, but not quite at 'em. I haven't decided for sure on breakfast yet this morning; there will definitely be home-cured peameal (a.k.a. Canadian) bacon, with either pancakes or fried eggs on Ruhlman's English muffins. But before any of that, there will be grapefruit halves, since I've eaten grapefruit halves on Christmas morning ever since I was a kid. (And before that, there will be coffee...)

Ouch. Sorry to hear that, Chris. I'm curious, though: why did you heat the milk and temper the eggs before putting it in the SVS? When I did custard in the water bath, I just mixed everything while still cold, bagged it and went from there. Did you chill down the base before bagging it?

I wondered about the high temperature when I was first given these directions, too. I can't account for the difference, but I can say that it works: the results have no "eggy" flavour, and no curdled bits of protein. I can think of several possible reasons why, but I wouldn't really want to speculate out loud.

Hey, I've done ice cream base sous vide before, which means I can help! Just blitz everything together, and seal it all in a bag (including any aromatics you may want to strain out later), making sure the bag has some support as you pour the liquid in. Cook it at 82C for about an hour, then strain and cool.

That slicer is a thing of beauty, Chris. I'm not allowed to have one, because of my long history of removing parts of my body with any kitchen implement that's equipped with a blade, so I have to slice all my bacon by hand. Looking forward to your week! (BTW, if you're doing printed menus for Christmas dinner, you may wish to note that the accent on "gougères" goes the other way...)

Does anyone know which stores in New York City might be carrying the Loyis Royer Force 53 these days? Thanks!

Great, thanks Kerry!

I know this is dredging up a post from awfully long ago, but I made these truffles yesterday (omitting the brandy), and now I'm wondering about shelf life: how long can I keep them at room temperature? Any input is appreciated!

For what it's worth, although I've never had smoked peameal bacon, the entry for "pea meal back bacon" in Kate Aitken's Canadian Cook Book defines it as "loin of pork cured, smoked and finished with the pea meal," so presumably it is an authentic option. Perhaps an extinct one? I'm not sure that this is true for a cure as short as Canadian bacon, which is only 48 hours. Normally nitrate converts to nitrite through bacterial action over extended curing times - weeks or months - as in dry cured sausages. If used in Canadian bacon, you'd just end up ingesting it directly. The real question is whether or not there's enough nitrite in the Tender Quick to cure the loin fully in the specified timeframe.

Is it perhaps a vegetable sheeter? Example: http://www.jbprince.com/vegetable-slicing-and-sheeting-machines/bron-vegetable-sheeter-compact.asp

Why do you say that? Looking at Tender Quick, it doesn't look like the right product. You don't need sodium nitrate; you only need sodium nitrite. I would look for a source for that (I use stuffers.com out of BC, who sell it as Prague Powder #1), and then follow the directions for Canadian bacon in Ruhlman and Polcyn's Charcuterie. You may want to reduce or omit the herbs; I've heard people complain that they make it taste like it's "not the real thing," though I like them. I'm assuming you'll also wish to skip the smoking step. And, of course, you'll have to roll the loins in cornmeal before slicing. Edit: Sorry, missed the "expat" bit. Check out the Charcuterie thread here for info on sources for pink salt in the US.