ScoopKW

MC arrived in the world's most well-packed box today. It was a box in a box in a box in a box. Each box baffled to protect the next box. Haven't even unwrapped the set. Have to go to work. Thanks again, victornet!

I've made gravlax every month for 10 years. And never had a problem. When I was living in Florida, I used wild-caught salmon. Now that I live in the desert, I use steelhead trout. I can only find "farm raised, color added" salmon in the local markets. So, I'd rather use a good steelhead than a mediocre salmon. I'd go ahead and make it. And then freeze most of it. Gravlax freezes quite well, once cured. You go ahead and try some. But I'm in complete agreement that it really shouldn't be on the menu for a nursing mother. There are just too many variables -- not least of which it sounds like this is your first time making gravlax.

Not true -- the brine can have a little less salt than the amount in solution in the bird, and be both effective and actually decrease the salt content a little. Osmosis is a beautiful thing. The bird and the brine will try to reach equilibrium. With that salt transfer, some of the added brine flavorings transfer as well. It's not like a turkey is some kind of salt sponge. All this goes out the window if doing an injection marinade, though. Don't shoot more salt into an already-salty bird. For the rare times I find myself with a Butterball-type turkey, I'll shoot it with unsalted garlic thyme paprika butter. Probably the best thing one can do for one of those birds, short of not getting one in the first place. (I'm not at all OK with industrial turkey farming.)

I'm of the opinion that it's ALWAYS worth brining the bird. Turkey just doesn't have a whole lot of flavor on it's own. But I've been brining forever, and am probably biased in the extreme on this point. Why not just make a turducken? Then you can also participate in the "kitchen achievements that aren't worth the effort" thread? Turducken is great. It's fantastic. Far out. The bee's knees. But even if it was orgasmic, it's not worth the effort. EDIT -- This year, everyone is leaving for vacations. So it's just my wife and I. We're skipping the turkey entirely. Duck and goose this year. We're running low on duck fat and goose fat. And I'm going to place one last order from Sonoma Artisan Foie Gras before they are legislated out of existence. Somehow, I'm going to make a foie yorkshire pudding. That's my mission this year.

Links? I'm searching now. But please. Links!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EDIT -- Link found: http://www.facebook.com/barnesandnoble?sk=app_201143516562748 Just did this. $336 including tax and shipping. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

+1 Nobody is going to make your recipes like you -- they likely don't have the same equipment. More importantly they don't have the same technique. When I was making beer for a living, I'd give my recipes to anyone who asked for them. No chance in Hades they were going to finish with the same product. It's nothing more to the thief than a good starting point. And I would use this as a marketing tool up the wazoo. Offer a minor reward for the book. Don't mention you have backups. Do this in such a way that your clients will find out about it, without going all cheesy and photocopying "Have you seen this book?" leaflets. Take an ad out in a local newspaper. Run it weekly for a month. Include a coupon to see if this drives any business your way.

I've tried them both, and I prefer the Busha Browne's Walkerswood paste (octagonal jar, red script, pith helmet dude on front) to Walkerswood paste (yellow and red bottle, mom with cradle on front (always thought that was weird)). I'd post pictures, but I can't find any that aren't obviously copyrighted.

Having been cut with a scalpel, and having been cut with my kitchen knives, I can say with certainty that my knives don't hurt as much, and the cuts heal quicker. A LOT quicker. That being said, I've never cut myself so badly with a gyuto that I've needed stitches. (Knocks on wood at this point.)

Grilled jerked* chicken breast, bias cut into strips, served on grilled, buttered, mayo'd homemade sourdough bread with garden tomatoes and butter lettuce. No cheese. Cheese would ruin this sandwich. In my opinion, this is the ultimate sandwich. I make a mean muffaletta, too. But nothing says "comfort food" to me like a sourdough jerk chicken sandwich. *Busha Browne's jerk seasoning. Accept no substitutes.

It is my experience that many people have never used a sharp knife in their lives. "Not dull" does not equal "sharp." I've been to people's houses, where all they have are serrated knives -- and even those were dull. Hand them a sharp knife and a tomato and it is a revelation to these people.

I haven't yet found a "gizmo" that works better than a series of sharpening stones. Gizmos are invariably too aggressive -- they remove too much metal, thus reducing the life of your pricey knives. Learn to use stones, and then you won't ever be tempted by another gizmo.

I'd head for Peter Luger in Brooklyn. If anyplace screams "Mad Men" it's Peter Luger. No idea how to get Christina Hendricks to show up in Marlene Deitrich cosplay, though. You're on your own for that. Wouldn't that be the best ever bachelor party -- Christina Hendricks jumping out of the cake in a tux top and little else.

An easier way is to knead the dough as well as you are able, then wrap the dough with plastic and toss it in the fridge overnight. The glutens will develop all by themselves, if you give them time to do so. As someone's signature reads, "Either it works or it doesn't. But it's bread. Not birth control." I'd be looking real hard for a Kitchenaid for Black Friday. I've seen them at "Wow, if I didn't already have one, I'd be all over that" prices for Black Friday.

Roast pan after pan of chickens. Pour the juice (broth) that collects in the bottom of the pan into a big cauldron. Reduce and add unnecessary junk -- like salt, yeast extracts and enhancers/stabilizers. That's how base is made. I'd rather have a broth made with three simmered chicken feet with base added, than a broth with nothing but three simmered chicken feet. It isn't perfect, but it's certainly an acceptable substitute. You'll find that base gets snuck into all sorts of things -- mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, all manner of soups.

Chicken feet and chicken base (Minors or "Better Than Bullion") will be almost as good as the real deal. Add the base near the end. Otherwise the salt concentrates as it simmers. This would be an ideal time to shop for bone-in rib sections, which are currently on sale at my local Mexican market for $0.89 per pound. My mother in law came home with nine full breasts this week. I boned them for her. And I got a few breasts and a couple quarts of dark stock out of it.

Best. Server. Ever. You should have given him or her a hug and a tip, and then left. Surely there's a mom-and-pop place that serves better food than can be had at Applebee's?

No. I don't think you are. You invited them into your house. Now you know better not to extend the invitation again. If for instance we invited a friend over for a few days, and we didn't know he/she had become a militant vegan since we last met, would we be right or wrong to try to attempt our normal menu? An over the top example, but you get the idea. I think the kind of food prepared falls on the host -- because it's the host's kitchen and the host's pantry. If your guests' idea of "cuisine" begins and ends at a Happy Meal, just buy them a damned happy meal. It's a lot cheaper than USDA prime ribeye and good bacon, anyway. You don't even have to eat the stuff. If they pry, just tell them you saw "Supersize Me" and refuse to put that into your body. Then make a salad.

Yes -- but the best you're going to get is a voucher for another crappy burger. So why bother? At the risk of sounding like the spokesman for Dos Equis, "I don't eat fast food very often. But when I do, it's Tommy's Original or Fatburger." I recently tried Five Guys. It's OK. Just "OK." It's no Fatburger. And it's certainly no Tommy's. I wouldn't eat Wendy's, or any of the rest of the big chains, if you paid me.

Well, I WAS going to post something lengthy today, but the phone rang and I picked up a writing assignment. I don't get very many of those, so I took the job. Chefs wear black pants and embroidered white jackets. The more embroidery, the higher up the chef. Most chefs don't wear hats. Although a few of the more traditional chefs do put on a toque every day. I think they all should. Chef hair in food is JUST as nasty as cook hair in food. Cooks, master cooks and helpers all wear the same thing -- rather plain white jacket and check pants. Some casinos embroider the casino name, and sometimes the kitchen. But not all of them. Cooks wear baseball caps, or skull caps. I prefer the skullcap. The better ones have ventilated tops which breathes better. And everyone -- chefs and cooks -- wear black leather kitchen shoes. Black. Not orange Crocs. Not sneakers. Black leather kitchen shoes. Good thing Birkenstock makes a pair. I won't wear any other shoe.

Just woke up (5 p.m. PST), after a week of grueling graveyard shifts. I'll have an update about THAT tomorrow.

Then why even risk it? The world is full of complex beverages that don't have any sulfites at all.

Go to the hardware store and buy a pair of welding gloves - today. Welding gloves are one of those "hardware store solutions to cooking problems" that everyone should look at. Like microplane rasps, which most people have already embraced. Welding gloves are SO much better than oven mitts. I can't imagine life without them, both professionally and at home. I have two pairs. One for work. One for home. And they're cheap. There is simply no downside to welding gloves. If I could only bring two things to work, my choices would be a razor-sharp gyuto and a pair of welding gloves. If I could bring three, I'd add my OXO peeler. But I gots to have my welding gloves.

Just pointing out, the raisins have more sulfites IF they have been treated with them, or with sulfur dioxide, as part of the packaging process. Take a bunch of grapes, dry them in the sun, and the resulting raisins will be quite low in sulfites. But that chemical compound is an integral part of the grape. Live it and lump it. If it's truly a big problem, there's always beer, sake and distilled spirits. (Although cheap sakes sometimes have sulfites added. But traditionally brewed sake will not.)

http://ecowine.com/sulfites.htm This is a good read for those who are adverse to sulfites. (Incidentally, I put sulfites in the same category as MSG. So few people actually effected that it is almost a non-issue. I read somewhere that sulfites have an effect on one in every 100,000 people. I blame the "headaches" most people experience on the alcohol, not the sulfites. Just drink less, and the headaches will usually clear themselves right up.) But, OP could be one of those 1-in-100,000, so he/she should know there are sulfites in all wines. (A few sulfite-free wines have been produced by mutated yeast, but the wine has the lifespan of a mayfly.) EDIT -- People who really are allergic aren't experiencing mere "headaches" -- hives, respiratory problems, and cramps of the "Please just shoot me" variety. Not trying to minimize a sulfite allergy. Just pointing out that there are a lot more people who claim to be allergic than actually are, always with symptoms of "headaches whenever I drink a lot of wine."

Homemade wine usually has MORE sulfites. Those that occur naturally in the fermentation process, and a bunch more added because most home vintners are not going to get the kind of shelf life a commercial vintner will get. Even if OP makes his/her own, it's going to have SOME sulfites in it. There's no getting around this.