Joisey

Don't salt them when you saute them and you'll get nice color and great flavor. Season them when you're done.

--If you look at the direction they are going, and Tony spouting off at SoBe last weekend about many of their stars, ( as some were signing books just yards away.) -- Classy.

During my wild single restaurant days (god I miss them so) I hooked up with a girl who was a semi-regular at the place I worked. One day I was hanging out at her place and I noticed she had S&P shakers everywhere. Yup, she "collected" them from various places. There ARE people like that in the world. PS..I couldn't find any from my place of employment so I couldn't justify ending a pretty good thing...;-)

Those are a relatively new find. I grew a bunch of different kinds of hot peppers last year and hung out on a few pepper forums. There are a lot of factors involved in how hot a pepper is, but the consensus with these guys is that another similar strain, the Naga Jolokia, was one of (if not THE) hottest in the world. You'd have to look and see what growing zone you're in before attempting to grow a certain kind of pepper (that's assuming you could even get the seeds...every time a "new world's hottest" strain comes along, the seeds fetch big bucks). I've heard of people in Maine and the Maritimes being able to grow hot peppers outdoors, but again it depends on the strain and the climate.

Back when I was younger, I used to wonder why some bacon had a strong Ammonia odor while some did not. A food rep told me that the ammonia smell came from pigs who had not been castrated. I don't know what made me think of this, but I'm curious again. Anyone have insight?

Any truth to the rumor that the show will now be known as "I beat Bobby Flay and all I got was screwed by the judges"?

"Fat equals Flavor" is one of the oldest truths in cooking. I always throw my skin/fat into the stock. As you say, you have to let it chill first and remove the fat cap, but it's a great way to boost the flavor of the final product. I'd be careful about using beef fat, I've gotten some "off" flavors from it in the past that I've never had with chicken.

Can someone fill me in on the dinner train episode? I'm kicking myself for missing it. I've worked as a chef for 15 years, but I took a 2 year break to work for Union Pacific RR as a conductor (freight, not passenger), so I was really interested to see what the deal was with Irvine and the Conductor on that train.

Now, that's not fair at all. Besides, the Hawthorne Fred Meyer is much better - it's two-story! ← The Hawthorne Fred's is indeed a sight to behold.

--the work is very hard. keeping enough product on hand and evrything clean with limited h2o etc. -- I don't think I've ever been as exhausted as doing the shopping for my photo shoot. It was literally hell.

Bradley..it's funny, the guy I did the contract cater for is doing the exact same thing in Seattle. His concept is called "Le Pigeon" (not to be confused with the Portland Resto of the same name) and he wants to have semi-upscale mobile kitchens doing bistro type food. I think it's a great idea.

To take it a step further..take the wings off whole from the bird. Scrape the meat from each wing down the first bone to the joint, disjoint and remove bone. Make a small farce with some of the leg meat and stuff into the deboned wing cavity, making a "lollipop". Awesome way to get more mileage out of your bird.

If you're going to take the time to debone the bird, go all the way and take the wings as well. Stuff, roll and tie the thing like a roast. This is how I do my Thanksgiving Turkeys now. It's a lot of work at the beginning, but having a nice roll at the end with virtually no waste is worth it. Looks great too.

You've got a serious lack of imagination if fried f'ing calamari is a signature dish.

Hey, I've done a few of those photo shoot gigs..I was down in California in December doing a shoot in some dry lake bed in Barstow. Job paid unbelievably and other than learning how to drive a 30 foot RV in LA rush hour traffic, it was pretty cool.

I honestly think I'd be lost in a big kitchen anymore (well, except if it had a lot of cold storage space). My biggest headaches come from physically storing raw and finished product, everything else is logistics.

Another possibility is that he started off making fries at Bouchon using the technique outlined in his cookbook, but after a growth in popularity it was no longer feasible to do so. There was an article in the WSJ a few months ago about "'dirty' little shortcuts" that top name chefs use that seem to go against what seems "proper" in haute cuisine. I'll have to see if I can find it again. ← If you have read "Seasoning of a Chef" by Doug Psaltis, the chapter where he works at French Laundry mentions a buddy of his who worked at Bouchon, frying fries all day.

--Another vote for starting from fresh, then. Never boil ? Is there more to say on that ?-- Boiling will leave you with a cloudy stock. Starting with cold water is also important, putting hot water on raw bones will release proteins that will also cloud your final product.

Everything above is correct, but I will add something I like to do: Take the meat off the legs and grind it or chop it fine. Mix it with a couple of egg whites and a little extra mirepoix cut into julienne or batonet. You can add this to the COLD water/carcass/mirepoix mix and you will have a self-clarifying stock, like making a consomme. Be careful not to boil, you want an easy bubble, and make sure the raft stays moist. When it's done, strain through a coffee filter with a ladle. You'll have awesome tasting and very clear stock.

I just got done writing all my banquet/catering menus for my new gig, so I've been playing around with a lot of things too. I'm trying to stay away from the cliche..no shrimp cocktails or thai peanut chicken skewers on the passed apps. My considerations were thus: Unique? Good Tasting? Ease of Service? (should either have a base or be strong enough to be picked up on its own. Also, no more than two bites worth of food or it's too big). Ease of prep based on my kitchen size? Use ingredients in other things? I've got two weddings a week booked in my joint this summer, along with a la carte dinner service plus sunday brunch. 3 man line and a 6x10 walkin..everything has to be thought out to the max. Personally I find the limitations to be more challenging than having a completely open slate, it keeps you sharp.

Yeah, sign up for the Starchefs weekly email, they send out ten jobs every issue. Depending on what city you're in (or where you want to work) Craigslist can be a big resource. Out here in Portland it's probably the number one place to look/advertise for a job. Other cities it hasn't caught on as much.

--For a "little criticism" among Bourdainophiles, you might want to check out the AB guest blogs at ruhlman.com. -- God, what a sycophant convention. I've gotta hand it to Bourdain, though...he's gotten more fame and money out of shooting the same fish in a barrel than just about anyone in media history.

That's a lot more diplomatic than I would have put it.

--Did anyone read this excerpt from the Michael Ruhlman's blog February 08, 2007 today by Tony Bourdain?-- Wow, Tony piling on FoodTV personalities? That's fresh.

Are you chopping that rosemary at all to release the oils? Never thought to freeze rather than heat, that's a good idea.