syoung68

A friend of mine brought a potential new device to my attention. It is sold as a Electric Digital Turkey Fryer but the temp range on it goes from 100F to 400F. Since I do not have one, I can not say how accurate it is, but Target has them for $119 and at that price it is worth a shot. Not too mention it can boil crabs, crawfish, and shrimp without breaking out my propane rig, so even if I can't use it for SV it may be worth buying.

I love James Peterson's Vegetables.

For wild game there is also Broken Arrow Ranch. I have not personally ordered from them, but a chef friend of mine swears by them. I have eaten their wild boar and it is top notch.

I fully understand your dilemma, when I SVd short ribs at 140*F for 36 hours, I did get a lovely medium rare and a texture like that of steak, but the layers of fat were still there. The ribs were interesting - and tasty, but I have to say that I (and most of my guests) prefer a braised short rib over the SV version. I know you can do SV at braise temps and I have confited duck and chicken that way, but for something like short ribs where I want all that delicious broth, a traditional braise makes more sense to me. If I were in a professional kitchen where I needed to do single portions, it would be different. Of course, this does not mean I will not try short ribs SV at 170*F. I am not worried about the fat in with the food, it is more about the layer of fat when you take a bite of the rib.

Phan1, can you tell me more about this unit. It looks like the PERFECT home unit. How much can you fit in the chamber? Could you get four steaks or chicken breasts in there with enough room for the water to move around? Have you tested the temps for accuracy. Does the chamber come out for cleaning - if so could it be used as a crock pot (much like Alton I am generally opposed to uni-taskers)? I assume there is no circulation in it other than convection, maybe some of the others here can comment on the need for it. NOTE: I have emailed Revolutionary Science for more details as well.

So, I got my wish. We now have Indian on the north shore. India 4 U has opened on 190 and a second location is coming soon where Shane's Rib Shack was. I picked up the there night on my way home. It was not bad. Not Nirvana, but not bad. In their defense, it was take out and they had only just opened a few days prior. They are a small chain out of Mississippi, and evidently the owners also own a stone company - one made a point to tell me when I commented on the decor. They certainly spent a small fortune on the build out and made plenty use of their own product. We got some of the usual suspects; butter chicken, saag paneer, lamb korma, and naan. The Korma was VERY tasty and the butter chicken was pretty good to. We were a little disappointed in the saag, but not enough to write them off. My wife said if they are any good, we will become regulars - I pointed out that even if they were mediocre, we would probably become regulars. I will eat there again in the coming weeks I am sure, and I will report back. On another note, it looks like Abita has gotten a new cafe by the library. I know nothing about it, but if I discover anything I will report that too.

I know this is an older thread, but i am in an interesting predicament. My wife ordered the 98-02 book for me for Christmas and after waiting over a month, it finally arrived last week - damaged and in Spanish. Needless to say, she was not happy (me either for that matter), and after several emails and a phone call, the book seller is going to refund our money and they do not want the damaged book back. They were not able to send a replacement in a timely fashion and again would not guarantee the English version that was originally ordered. I would rather not say who the bookseller is, because I am sure this is not the norm and at least they were relatively quick to offer the refund. So here is the deal, the book is damaged, but not unusable. The binding is torn, corners are dented, and there are nicks in the cover. If I had got this as a used book, it would have been fine, but certainly not for a new book, and especially one with the price tag that El Bulli carries. There is, however, still the problem of it being in Spanish. My question is should I buy the replacement book in English, or should I get the 03-04 in English and deal with the Spanish version of 98-02. Bear in mind I can't really read Spanish though I took it in school, I may be able to make do.

No need to be snide. I was a server for years and if we decanted it was generally in view of the table.

Who knew that responding to a 4 month old topic would cause such passion. While I do not claim to know or understand all of the science behind it, I can attest that a pork tenderloin cooked sous vide was unlike any other I have ever cooked. The texture was noticeably different - softer. I am not a pro, but a pretty well accomplished home cook and I have no idea how many tenderloins I have cooked over the years, but I know it is plenty, and this one was better.

Baking is a science too - essentially ready when the timer goes off, but no one makes a big deal about that. There is more to a plate of food than the method the protein was cooked. If you take a look at Ideas in Food or StudioKitchen you will see that sous vide is merely one component of the dish. I recently cooked a pork tenderloin sous vide, but I still made an apple puree to go into the bag, roasted diced sweet potato, and caramelized spring onions to go on the plate. I am less of a cook b/c I did not throw it on the grill or in the oven. BTW it was delicious, and there was a noticeable difference in flavor and texture. Spheres and foam may be a passing fad, but sous vide is not a gimmick though it can be sold as one. It is simply a method of cooking that is here to stay in some form or another.

I am itching to go. I really liked what he was doing at The Bank.

I am in the same boat. I grew up in New Orleans and worked in the restaurant biz for many years. Mostly front of the house, but there were occasional stints in the kitchen. I then moved to Boston and got into the the tech world. In 2000 I moved back to the big easy and I own my own relatively successful development company, but i am getting burnt out. My passion is food and wine/booze. I turned 39 this week and my wife and I are looking at our futures. We have two little ones under the age of five, my wife is a stay at home mom, and I can not immediately give up my income. We are starting on a plan that will get us into the retail wine business first that may eventually lead to catering or our own establishment. IF we were to own a restaurant it would most likely be a bar/restaurant doing something like tapas. All of it is simply in the talking stage at this point, but having been in the industry before, I am in no way romanticizing the life.

I know Robert Peyton has been to Patois. Maybe we can get him to post a review either here or on his blog. http://www.appetites.us

D' artagnan also sells duck fat if you can't find a local source. https://www.dartagnan.com/search.asp?criteria=618

It may just be the audience. I feel like eG is more about the food and preparations as opposed to restaurant reviews. I know I use it that way. I am on eG almost daily and rarely on chow, but if I am traveling, I usually check chowhound first. Then if a restaurant keeps coming up, I will cross check eG - never the other way around. I love Brightsen's but l feel like it is off the beaten path for most tourists. I do agree that it is a perfect "not the norm" New Orleans dining experience. Followed the next night by Jacques-Imo's.

Peter, those "easy zip" bags with the pull top are your problem, I used a double zip freezer bag and had no problems. However, like others have said about the Reynolds bags, I would not use them any any long cooking. Nathan probably has more knowledge about the stability of zip locks vs, foodsaver bags.

I recently read about Brightsen's in one of the big National food mags though it slips my mind which right now - I will edit if I find it. Robert, as you can tell from my previous post, I totally agree on del Porto. The pasta was great, but everything else was ... eh. However, I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised at K Paul's. Maybe for the opposite reasons, I grew up in this city and did not eat at K Paul's until a year ago figuring it was a tourist trap, but I had a fantastic meal. A little heavy on the spice, which for ME to say means a lot. The duck dish I had may have killed a mid westerner.

They may just be in the subscriber section, and I do not think he has any of his pre Katrina lists. I bet if you emailed him, he has them archived somewhere. Though I am not sure he woudld willingly give them up.

I am not sure I agree with del Porto, not that it was bad, I was just not blown away. I think, for me, it was similar situation of over hype like Longbranch. A good restaurant, but not mind blowing. Del Porto was solid, the pasta was great, but the entrees were mediocre. I have not written it off, b/c everyone I know loves it and anyone can have an off night. For what it is worth, The "Dean" has always kept multiple Top 10s over at NoMenu.com.

I was thinking of the compressed fruits and vegetable that people are doing. e.g. watermelon or eggplant. Does a Foodsaver compress it enough to change the texture of the fruit? Not necessarily the cooked spinach that was done at StarChefs but dense watermelon would be cool. I guess, I am really asking if one Foodsaver or similar product does a BETTER job than others. Short of dropping $1K+ on a chamber machine.

is this true of any external motor vacuum sealer? I am really just talking about compression. you could always use the hard sided canisters for infusion.

Can this be accomplished with a consumer grade machine? I am going to buy a Foodsaver or the like next month.

None of the Emeril joints are cheap, and I think that Delmonico is the most expensive. Others may be able to weigh in on this more. I personally like NOLA.

I am stupid! First there were the two years of "I am not going to boil-in-a-bag cook". Then came the months of "maybe there is some validity to this". Lately it has been, "When I get a food saver..." Finally, Saturday night, I broke down and just put some food in a double lock ziplock and plopped it into some water and waited. I repeat, I am stupid. Before I let you brilliant people know what I cooked, let me say WOW! I should have done this 3 years ago. There is not a lot of sous vide going on in New Orleans, at least it is not advertised on menus, so I was not sure I had ever had properly cooked sous vide. Now, in hind sight, I can remember one meal in particular that I had marveled at the texture of the veal - it HAD to be cooked this way. So here it goes, in the spirit of an Alinea description... PORK TENDERLOIN: Apple, Onion, Sweet Potato First I sauteed apples and onion together, then pureed, let cool, and put into a bag. Added the pork and it all went in the fridge while I figured out my water bath. I used a stockpot and a digital thermometer and had to adjust the burner more frequently than I would have liked, but I figured out how to maintain 140F +/- 2 degrees. The pork went in for 3 hours. In the meantime I wilted spring onion and roasted some diced sweet potato. When the pork came out, it was not pretty but I expected the color so I was not put off. After a brief rest, I quickly seared it in the residual oil that I had wilted the onions in. Upon slicing, the meat was beautiful. When I took my first bite - the chef's taste - I nearly wet myself. Pork. Glorious pork. This is how a tenderloin should taste. I plated with with a cane syrup butter, the onions and the potato, and dressed the plate with balsamic reduction and a green salt I made with some of the onion tops. Needless to say, my guests were floored. One commented that it tasted like bacon with out fat. So I am turned. Like a Vampire after his first kill. I may never grill anything again. Ok, that is a lie, but a food saver will be ordered soon, and I am keeping my eye out for a good deal on a circulator. The only real question is "What to do next?"

nathanm lists several ways to render fat in the sous vide thread http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1479721