Dave Weinstein

Hey, they would have gotten the edge. I would rather have a 600 series mixer than the Professional HD 5, because I'd like the bigger motor and the bigger bowl. But I'll take the Professional HD with the lifetime warranty over the 600 (or the 610 or whatever custom model W-S carries) without it.

A couple of very successful new sausages (now that I replaced my Kitchenaid with one that doesn't want to spray gear bits into the meat): Maple-Rosemary Breakfast Patties: Saltworks Applewood Smoked Salt for the salt, fresh Rosemary, 1 part Maple Syrup 3 parts water for the bind liquid. Cumin-Porter Links: Hawaiian Salt for the salt, 1/2 cup toasted cumin seeds, and porter for the bind.

The thing was, I didn't buy my Kitchenaid from W-S. I was asking because I was looking to see where I was buying my next one. I settled on Costco, because I know what their policy is.

I now have a new Kitchenaid from Costco. I have saved the old one, if only because I may want to do something fun with the motor at a later date. [Also two chickens, about 4 lbs of cheese, and a big bag of Vidalia onions, because, well, I was at Costco]

In the "once burned, twice shy" school of thought, it appears that Costco does do a lifetime "you have a problem with it, bring it back, we'll make it right" policy that covers mixers and doesn't even require you to hold the receipt. Costco over lunch it is.

Well, the Williams-Sonoma store just told me they don't do lifetime warranties anymore ("it's the product lifetime, not your lifetime"), so I'll probably take advantage of Amazon Prime. If I don't get another Kitchenaid, I also need to replace the accessories, and since I'm also replacing a rock retaining wall today, that's just a bit too much, I think.

(Sigh) Even though the amount of contamination was likely miniscule, and even though I already ate the test patties, two of the three batches of sausage are now in the trash. It just kept bothering me. For the third, we improvised a plastic shield mounted on the paddle to catch anything that fell. Naturally, the two batches that have gone the way of all things mortal were the better batches (Maple Rosemary Breakfast Patties with Applewood Smoke Salt, and Cumin and Porter Sausage Links).

Well, in retrospect, I think I mulched it. Under load, it appears to shed small amounts of fine metal shavings. So something is grinding. Is it wrong that this time I checked to see if any of the shavings appeared to have gone anywhere but on the very top of the new paddle, and salvaged the sausage? If it is wrong, is it dangerous? I'm leaning strongly towards the Kitchenaid 610 from Williams Sonoma, because their price isn't that much more than Amazon's on the 600, and it includes a lifetime warranty.

Based on this thread, I picked up one of the Showtime rotisseries. When I do brine, I've had great flavor, but the skin tends to try to burn early. Any tips for what to do to prevent that? Obligatory Recipe: Fill the cavity with fresh rosemary, make a 5% brine with applewood smoked sea salt and Marsala (or a Marsala/Water blend), brine, then roast.

We held the dinner at Art of the Table, and the food was amazing.

I'm looking to set up a private meal for some colleagues in May. Middle of the week, 3 course prix fixe menu would be ideal, the big thing is that we need it to be quiet enough that we can enjoy an active conversation. It's looking like 5-10 people. Any suggestions on restaurants? Downtown Seattle would be preferred, anything convenient by cab from downtown Seattle acceptable.

I haven't been back to Union since they did the big menu shift, as most of my favorites disappeared with the increased emphasis on pasta.

Nope. In fact, I put the paddle on and turned it on, and it was happily paddling the air.

It looks like the damage is limited to the paddle. I've ordered a new one ($15), but they are slightly backordered, so I should expect 3-4 weeks including shipping. The other area I was worried about was the ring that surrounds the shaft (looking up from the bottom, you have the attachment shaft, which plugs into the foot, which is in a circle, etc, etc, and there is a small ring wider than the shaft itself that it sockets into). According to Kitchenaid, that is supposed to be metal on the bottom, not enameled. It is in fact the metal ring that ground out the enamel (and some metal) at the top of the damaged paddle. Now the only question is whether or not to use the damaged paddle while I wait for the replacement.

I was making a batch of sausage tonight, and when it came to the paddling stage, I guess the paddle didn't lock in. It looked snugged in, but when I was done, and dropped the bowl back down, the paddle dropped straight out, and the top of it was chewed up (bits of enamel in the meat). Obviously, the paddle is toast, as is the sausage. But, looking at the underside of the thing the paddlel connects on to, it looks like there once was enamel on the bottom, but there certainly isn't in some of it now. So, while I wait for the Kitchenaid repair center to open for phone calls in the morning, am I looking at a minor repair, or replacing the whole bloody thing?

I've got a batch of salt pickled peppers going (from Fuscia Dunlop's recipe in her Hunan cookbook), but after three days, the liquid level is only up to about 2/3 of the peppers. Should I open the jars and add more salt?

A few weeks ago, we went to the Grange Cafe in Duvall. We were impressed enough that we talked to the Chef about doing a tasting menu for our anniversary. That was tonight, and we were impressed enough to post about it. Pictures may follow, depending on the quality (cell phone cameras). Any errors in description are likely mine. I exchanged email with Chef Hansen, detailing what we individually did and didn't like (as well as dietary restrictions), and after giving him a price point, asked that we not know what the food would be in advance. First Course: Fried Chicken Oysters with a Tomato Aoli As it happens, that is my wife's favorite part of the chicken, taken from along the backbone. They were nicely fried, and the aoli complimented the chicken nicely. A good start. Second Course: Salad with Rabbit Confit, Rabbit loin, Sliced Apple, and Aged Gouda with a Currant Vinaigrette I am enormously fond of this style of salad (featuring meats, cheeses, and sharp vinaigrette), and this was beautifully executed. The rabbit was perfectly cooked, and the whole dish just sang. Third Course: Curried Carrot Soup Almost a refresher, this was a hot soup (in temperature) served cappucino style, and again, this was just an outstanding dish. Fourth Course: Scallops Wrapped in Bacon over a Leek Sauce OR Seared Foie Gras and a single Scallop Wrapped in Bacon with Persimmon Marmelade At the risk of running out of superlatives, this was the best Foie dish I've ever had. It was crisp on the outside, and soft and splendid inside, and the pairing just worked. This was a split course because I'm fond of offal, and my wife generally isn't. Fifth Course: Veal and Winter Vegetables in a Thyme Cream Sauce, under Pastry For what was (as described by the Chef) a form of pot pie, this was outstandingly light. The pastry was a puff pastry rather than a heavy dough, and I'm not sure that anything heavier would have worked, because the sauce itself was light (cream, herbs, veal stock) rather than heavy. Sixth Course: Braised Pork Belly over Turnip Puree with Celery Root Fries OR A Sweetbread and Leek Tart Again, I had the offal. And again, this was a delight. Sweetbreads between pastry, over a leek sauce. My wife loved the pork belly (and it was indeed excellent), but I'd still give the edge to the sweetbreads here. Seventh Course: Venison in a Blackcurrant Sauce over Spaetzl OR Seared Lamb over Adzuki and Navy Beans We shared these plates, and this is the first time where I would say the food was merely good, rather than extraordinary. The venison was good rather than great, although the way the sauce (which I had had before with Duck) blended with the flavors of the venison was excellent. The lamb was perfectly cooked, however, I'm not an enormous fan of beans (something I had not mentioned in the email discussions). Eighth Course: Huckleberry Cobbler with Pistachio Ice Cream And we end with a lovely finish. A nice tart cobbler, with a bit of a sweet biscuit crust, and topped with pistachio ice cream. Cost Per Person: $95 plus Tax and Tip Fine dining, just a few blocks from my house, without my needing to live in Seattle to make that happen. I am very very happy. Restaurant Web Site: http://www.grangecafe.com

Oh, that sounds astounding. I made up some truffle butter this weekend (Washington White Truffles), and that sounds like a lovely use. And I can do salmon sous vide the old fashioned way (i.e. pot, thermometer, burner).

Buying in 5lb lots, SaltWorks is around $6/lb for smoked sea salts, smoked over hardwood (i.e. no liquid smoke). And since they are a short drive from my house, shipping is not an issue. Part of the reason for the smoked salt is that I don't do a lot of smoking.

I have a new experiment just started. A batch of Orange Bacon, but this time in a basic cure made with Applewood Smoked Sea Salt from SaltWorks. We'll see how much of the smoke in the salt translates into the bacon (since it will be oven-cooked).

According to PolyScience, they are not going to be producing a home consumer priced immersion circulator -- they couldn't get the price down to the target point and meet their quality standards. ((I called them to ask last week))

Has anyone here tried a PID / Countertop-Induction-"Burner" / Stockpot setup?

Vertical left: MAC Fruit Knife Horizontal Top to Bottom: MAC Bread Knife Ikeda Gyuto Blazen Honesuki Kansui Nakiri I just got the Gyuto and the Honesuki, and they are both extraordinary knives. It is both a joy and a great danger that Epicurean Edge is just a quick lunchtime jaunt away. The knives in their usual location, with the addition of a MAC Chef's Knife (now relegated to "guest knife/knife-to-take-when-visiting-family-who-only-have-knife-shaped-objects"), the Wusthof Bird's Beak that my wife prefers, and the Martin Yan designed/branded knife, which has a lovely design, and steel that just will not hold an edge worth a damn.

Exotic Meats moved to Texas.

Boneless whole chicken, marinated in red wine and alder smoked sea salt, and stuffed with a black trumpet mushroom rice before roasting. (Sadly, the pictures didn't come out all that well, I was in a hurry and used my phone throughout the process)