ray goud

Well, I can tell you where it's NOT; "Pierre Franey's Cooking In France". I have the book and had to look thru it for you; sorry, but the recipe isn't there. ← Thanks for looking, judiu. I have that book plus several others by Pierre, all of which don't have the recipe. I'm thinking that it may have originated as a recipe in the NYT when he wrote for them, then toggled over to the TV show. Maybe there's a compilation of those somewhere.

My favorite mac&cheese comes from an old TV episode by Pierre Franey (of all people) who made it with Smithfield ham, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onions, three kinds of cheddar, and cream (of course!). I make it once or twice a year, and it is wonderful. I wish I could find the original recipe, but until then I do what I remember from the show. Ray

Alton Brown is one of the few reasons left to watch Food Network. At least the camera work is decent (not too-close-up & jittery) and he generally picks interesting topics using unusual approaches. And he can be entertainingly funny. The rest of the fools on that network (and the shows) suck. Ray

I have two recent books to recommend: Because I am an engineer/craftsman/inventor, I cannot ever let get far away, "On Food and Cooking", revised edition, by Harold McGee. Because I matured with and adore Julia, "My Life In France" by Julia Child and her nephew. Ray

I wouldn't mind making the pasteurized egg yolks, if I knew how to do it. Can you tell me? ← Pasteurizing eggs It's about half way down the page, courtesy of Andie elsewhere in eG. ← I must reply to the incorrect method of pasteurizing eggs in their shells: If one puts ROOM TEMP. eggs in 142 degree water, the bacteria will NOT be subjected to that temperature for the recommended 3 1/2 minutes! It takes a substantial time for the interior of the eggs to reach the 142 degree temp. Rather, the eggs must be raised to 142, then held at that temp. for the time required. I know, because I have duplicated the method used and patented by the Davidson's (now owned by others) egg company. I even went so far as inserting a thermocouple into a raw egg, and connecting it to an extremely accurate meter. When I placed the room temp. egg into 144 degree water, it took more than TWELVE minutes to reach 140 degrees, with constant agitation (stirring) and a watchful eye on the meter for the egg and the temp. gauge for the water. The method DOES work, but please don't assume that the 3 1/2 minute figure is correct; that only works for an egg already at that temp. Please be more careful, and Good Luck, Ray

Wonderful idea! And way cheaper than duck legs. I am going to do that soon. By the way, try Lora Brody's "Slow Cooker Cooking". Very much inspired by French tastes. Ray

Bring it to a boil, yes, to kill the bacteria. Then simmer it for fifteen minutes to destroy any toxins made by the bacteria. This reply may be too late, bit it is good info for the next time (I majored in Bacti in college). Ray

I am also a HOME baker, and my KA will NOT handle heavy bread doughs. If you want to bake bread, I would strongly recommend the Hamilton Beach/DeLonghi/Kenwood. As an aside, I don't consider brioche to be the toughest job for the HOME BAKER. Bagel dough is quite a bit stiffer and I won't even attempt it with the KA - it's a workout even for the Kenwood/DeLonghi. ← My Kitchenaid is about ten years old or so, and I don't know when the manufacturer/owner changed at the company. I make bread dough (all high-gluten) from very stiff to somewhat soft (mostly stiff), at least once a month, plus using the grinder attachment, and doing some regular-style cake doughs. As Julia recommended, it has done its share of 15-minute stiff brioche doughs. It sits on my spoapstone counter and stays put, as if it was bolted down. I hear the motor straining but I don't care because I used to be the appliance master-repairman for GE decades ago, and know that the sound is to be expected. I don't have a high-wattage unit. ZERO complaints! My in-laws have a newer one with the lift-bowl and they use it less, but Zero complaints from them, also. I know how they are constructed, and at their price they are much more than adequate. Perhaps the important thing is to find exactly when the company changed management, to get a clear picture of the durability. Ray

OK, to get back to the initial question: for the HOME BAKER, the Kitchenaid is the choice. My wife gave me one for Christmas (!) several years ago, and there is nothing I, a home baker/bread maker, can ask which the mixer will not do, including brioche, which is probably the toughest job for the HOME BAKER (emphasis mine). Ray

Back when I was researching for my outdoor pizza/bake oven DIY, I am almost positive that I read that naan were composed of chick-pea flour. If so, nothing else would duplicate that. Ray

For what it's worth: The world's deadliest mushrooms kill by attacking and destroying the liver, for which there is no cure other than a transplant. First day one feels a slight tummy upset, if any; death arrives on the second thru fourth day, with no outward signs to help a doctor. My next-door neighbor used to collect wilds, even on our property; she doesn't anymore because she passed away from liver cancer. Hope you're still OK, Ray

Sorry, but I have spent more than enough years on this planet to believe anything put forward by any organization which stands to profit from people believing whatever they say, or to take "widely regarded" on blind faith. Let's find some completely UNBIASED group, which has no financial interest (advertising or otherwise), which has tested the power-in versus power-out performance of induction cooktops, in btu's. Also, "magnetic" is an adjective which is used to describe anything which exhibits magnetic properties, such as "a magnet to be able to stick to them". And ferric metal is not required; nickel is magnetic. I don't condemn induction cooktops; neither do I endorse them or believe their hype.

Okay, I read all the posts to this thread and none have this viewpoint: I used to work in a surgical-equipment factory designing the fixtures for silver-brazing using an induction machine. All the fixtures had to be water-cooled to cope with excess heat. ALL the workpieces (items being heated) had to be magnetic; Faraday's principle. An extremely high amount of energy is required in the generator side of the machine (your cooktop), using alternating current, to get a relatively low amount of heating in the workpiece (your pots). Essentially the machine (cooktop & pots) is a transformer, with one side being the primary coil windings (the cooktop) and the other side being the secondary or INDUCED winding (pots). It is not efficient, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is very easy to control precisely, that being its only reason for use in industry. Moving your pots only a fraction of a millimeter away from the surface drastically cuts the transferred energy. A gas stove does not have this liability. And the pots MUST be magnetic! For me, the restrictions on the pots which will work are too great, and the cost of the cooktops and their poor efficiency are almost immoral. Ray

thanks, i'll check it out. what do you use yours for, besides chinese cooking? ← I steam chinese dumplings and veggies, cook potstickers, quickly saute veggies like baby zucchini. The recipe booklet it comes with has a couple dozen recipes, including paella(!). Ray

Whatever else you do with your gas-less kitchen, I can heartily recommend the new Cuisinart electric wok (got mine from Amazon). It is just fantastic and multi-purpose, powerful, easy to clean, and you can store it away anywhere. One of the best-engineered things for the kitchen I've seen in a long time; and you don't have to cook chinese to find many uses for it. Ray

It's been more than a month since I got my two relatively inexpensive Japanese knives, and I can put in my first report: On the down side, it's a bit of a drag to have to remember to oil the blades after use (I don't like to leave dirty knives for the next time). On the up side, they are breathtakingly sharp, and are staying that way, without resharpening or using a steel. An unexpected plus is the fact that the food does not move when cut, because the blades are so thin and the bevel angles are so shallow. More reports to follow. Ray

I would recommend a charcoal grill (briquets are fine), as would most food appreciators. Whatever you do, unless it is a Weber, don't buy a painted model; they become very ugly (though still serviceable) when the paint peels off. I don't know why only Weber knows how to paint a steel-shell grill. Ray

Pour mois, no eggs. Ray

I'd like to add a dimension not covered yet: I am a cabinet/furniture maker, and two of my most prized tools are Japanese dovetail chisels using "blue steel". They are three-piece laminates of stainless on the outside and high-carbon blue steel in the center. I bought them razor sharp, and after more than five years of hand-chopping (cutting) dovetail joints THEY ARE STILL RAZOR SHARP! And that type of use involves striking with a mallet for almost every cut. A couple of years ago Fine Woodworking magazine tested chisels and found that the "blue steel" japanese chisels overall were the toughest and sharpest they tried. One of my tool suppliers is Japan Woodworker in California and I just purchased two blue steel knives from them, a santoku and a fruit knife. Again, razor sharp, and they are laminated with stainless outside and high-carbon blue steel in the middle layer. I have large hands and the handles fit pretty well (riveted handles). I intend to use them almost exclusively (in the kitchen) and will report back with my observations. An immediate note, though, is that they cost a small fraction of what a damascus knife costs. And I know enough metallurgy to not assume that damascus is automatically better. Ray

Eje is correct: you must use something harder than the ceramic in order to sharpen it, which in effect is grinding away some of the ceramic. Since Kyocera can actually be ceramic zirconia material, use diamonds to sharpen them. Both DMT and Eze-Lap make small (and large) excellent diamond stones in several grits, from coarse to extremely fine. I get mine from www.japanwoodworker.com, in CA. Ray

Or much better yet: Acquire a copy of "On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee. The latest revision is a treasure. It is chock-full of cooking facts, which are easy to find by its index. I cannot quote it here because that would be violating copyright laws. If you read and understand what he writes you will feel so informed about cooking. Best of all, it is the bible of the best chefs, and everything in it is true. I don't know why everyone who posts on this site doesn't go to his book first when they need some technical info. Ray

Magnetic strips for knives CAN BE very dangerous to people, especially ones not familiar with your kitchen, and especially children. They can also damage the edge if the knife is not removed correctly. I won't have them. I tried them in my wood shop (where no one goes but I) for chisels, but they are too dangerous. If you have new knives which don't stick to the magnet (but old ones did) they may have too little iron in the stainless alloy. Carbon in the alloy only contributes to hardness.

Julia will live at least as long as I and my sister-in-law are fit enough to keep her memory; she even gave me the 18 episode collection on tape put out by PBS. Ray

So, how old was Julia Child, AKA the butter goddess, when she finally left us for good? 91, right?!! Ray

I find it difficult to believe that anyone believes anything Slate says, nevermind actually reading them. As has been said above, they are just trying to get attention.