Reignking

I had never thought about it -- maybe because it isn't consider a mother sauce -- but I had no idea what a gastrique was, until I searched the internet the other day. I wanted to emulate a sherry vinegar gastrique that I had had the other week. After some research, I read about a 2:1 sugar to vinegar ratio. I suppose that I overcaramelized the sugar, because the final product tasted of molasses, and only finished of vinegar. As far as the texture, I let it cool in the pan while the veggies roasted -- and quite quickly had hard candy in the pan. A quick reheat remedied that, but it was still thicker and stickier than I had in other gastriques. I found other resources that talked about using fruit or adding some water. I was wondering how others make gastriques? How much caramelization do you look for? What ratio do you use?

I think it fantastic -- even though it is for a mass-produced soft drink, the tag line is what he really thinks "Because when you start with good taste, you don't need anything else." That really seems to go with how he cooks -- simply and straightforward, using good product and avoiding gimmicks. Heck, it would be a great tag line for his restaurants. I think it resonates with me because my wife and I have come to the realization that too many of these "avant-gaude" restaurants that we have been to just haven't delivered. We've begun going "back to basics", as it were... It is just too bad it is for Diet Coke, because I hate that stuff.

Batali Drops "F-Bomb" on King of Spain Unable to control his, uh...natural exuberance, celebrity chef/walking impulse control problem Mario Batali "dropped some royally naughty words" in front of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, according to AP reports. Batali was apparently annoyed when the crowd at a $1,000-a-plate dinner at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival wouldn't quiet down. He used the f-word once while quieting them, then used it again while introducing chef Jose Andres, of Los Angeles restaurant The Bazaar. He then proceeded to grab Andres' bottom.

Tonight's episode of what?

Well said. Words alone cannot really describe how fantastic they are...

I can understand wanting to impart grilled flavor on to bacon (or any meat), but this seems difficult; don't you want to slowly cook the bacon, anyway, in its own fat? And welcome, ChefKnives...

Eggs with flies? The other two words sound made up Can you explain what these were? Most importantly -- how were the tacos al pastor?

Allegro has closed...

That cucumber mojito looked like it came from a Bacardi bottle. And they had a bartender that they could've used.

They usually move the finale to a new location -- Aspen, Puerto Rico, Hawaii...

That's what Tom says happened.

According to Toms blog Jeff was never in the running as his oysters tasted like Sterno. He said the judges all commented on it but apparently the editors wanted us to think he had a chance. ← I think this explains Stefan's "Is something burning?" comment that was never explained. Poor editing.

Is this for a new book -- "The non-Flavor Bible"? I was watching Chopped this weekend, and saw: ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, and banana The worst part is that I didn't watch the rest of it to see what they came up with, so I've tried to imagine what they could've made -- and I've been disgusted every time.

For a pre-Valentine's dinner snack, I bought some more Amadeus, Persielle Du Malzieu from Herve Mons, and Fromage D'affinois with garlic & herbs. All bought at Harry's Farmer's Market (owned by Whole Foods). The Herve Mons cheese is just like a roquefort, while the D'affinois is surprising and very, very good. Unctuous and powerful like a good runny French cheese should be.

Until this thread popped up, I hadn't really examined their beef choices. I was stunned to find Prime beef there this week -- I had assumed everything was Choice.

Sounds like a problem that I had at Thanksgiving, regarding this recipe. We finally found some, but we had to shell them -- NOT worth it. I could've used any other nut or omitted it. I have, since then, found them at World Market; they come in glass jars. If I were you, I wouldn't bother. I'd go with pecans, otherwise.

Wylie couldn't believe Toby like his egg white runny, either, according to his blog on bravo. There's no chance Toby is around next season. I'm excited that the semi (and final?) is in New Orleans -- that would be a great place to have an entire season -- IF they actually used the city in the show. This season could've been Top Chef Soundstage for all I know.

I thought I'd continue posting news that I find... http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/sto...09/daily52.html Maxim Prime to exit downtown, moving to Buckhead? Less than a year after it opened, Maxim Prime is leaving downtown Atlanta. The much ballyhooed collaboration of noted restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow and Maxim, the men’s magazine, said Wednesday it will close at The Glenn Hotel on March 1. Chodorow will re-launch the chic steakhouse in a new location, according to a news release.

I had it served with some cheese -- gouda? -- while in Belgium, and it really worked well.

On high, I'd be afraid to burn them -- which I've done, even on low. I've tried many variations on the recipe (different fats, spices). I replaced some butter with olive oil, and it wasn't remotely as good. Also, I've thrown in whole peppercorns, which adds a nice flavor, but not as much when you accidentally eat an entire one. I keep my onion confit for many months, in the fridge...

But it was baked lobster!

FLIP will be coming to DC and NYC, last I heard.

My interpretation of what Jaime said was that it just wasn't her type of food. Maybe it was too "fussy" for her. This was a great episode. They finally used the backdrop of NYC, which has been mostly ignored. There were no weird limitations or people forced to use Spam; this tested chefs to taste, think, and recreate. As for Hosea's mistake in searing, I don't think they could go back and look at the dishes -- they had to create things from memory. Otherwise, it would've been much easier.

I'd hate to say this but I was at Repast the other week, and the seared tuna with potato and quinoa was an absolute failure. It was so bland. Strangely enough, it is the dish shown in this article. I found the crust of thyme and ground mustard on the lemon chiffon very interesting, though, but not enough to make up for that dish. That night, I tried to go to H&F, but at 7 on a Friday there was a 2 hour wait! Flip by bus or cab is probably is a great idea -- considering the parking. For such a hyped restaurant, I thought it more than lived up to it.

I thought I'd add this clarification, from a martini article in the Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...20302812&s_pos= And there have been big recent developments in the world of vermouth. For one, the gold-standard dry vermouth Noilly Prat has a new recipe. Actually, the company has gone back to selling its original European recipe here; the Noilly Prat we enjoyed for years was a special recipe for Americans. I like the European-style Noilly Prat, which is more viscous and has more-pronounced floral and citrus notes. But of course this change has been a lightning rod for criticism. The conservative Wall Street Journal actually called the new-recipe Noilly Prat "evil" and a "fussy impostor" and termed a martini made with it "a mess." I completely disagree; it's just more of that Very Dry Martini bullying.