gfweb

I'm wondering about the efficacy of the UV to sanitize a room. My physics is distant, but I do recall that the energy of non-collimated light falls rapidly (I think logarithmically) as the source becomes more distant. How close does your light have to be to have any effect? Edited to add- The home marijuana growers have sorted this out. In this table the effect of distance on effectiveness is illustrated http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-medical-marijuana-growing/209195-light-plant-distance-charts-how-far-should-light.html

Since no baguette pans are BSO sized I made one out of 1/4" hardware cloth. Works great and can be set above a sheet pan of water for baking, solving another problem. It'll hold 2 13" baguettes in two troughs. If only the wire was nonstick... perforated parchment paper works OK though. Apologies, tapatalk won't let me turn the photo

Well done!

I ate at one of his NYC places a while ago, the one by Bellevue. It was just OK, tough (as in undercooked) ravioli app and overcooked meat. I assume he wasn't in the kitchen. FWIW his book, Think Like a Chef is worth reading, esp if you are going to be a contestant on TC. In it he spells out his points of view and biases.

King Arthur's book is worthwhile too.

True. But still, its size limits its use to households of two or small lot apps for parties.

Thanks, Mitch. How odd to make it so little. A few more inches makes a big difference.

Nice! What is the actual usable space in the oven? Could you cook three ribeyes in there?

Escoffier defined the mother sauces. I suppose each of us can choose to redefine it but I'd say its his term and his list.

Heated vinegar

Braised short rib (with a touch of cinnamon), onions/mushrooms/carrots and roasted potatoes.

I'll blanch halved sprouts prior to frying in bacon fat till they brown up...and then toss in a little maple syrup

Makes no sense. It ignores weights and specific heats. Just nonsense....Apples + spare ribs + tennis balls does not = anything at all.

Nice photo

The scallops were described on the menu as being on lard. As far as I could tell it was raw cured but not smoked pork belly that was slices paper thin

Room service snack. Croque monsieur w frites. Best room service meal I've had. Frites were perfect, croque was perfect. Mayo was very mustardy, but a good thing with this dish. Final night. Dinner at La Tupina, a cool old place that specializes in regional specialties. Lots of dishes are cooked over an open fire. They served a local aperitif made with red wine and armagnac. Perfectly foul Scallops au lard. Actually delicate and lovely. I thought I was ordering brandade de morou, but got this lump of cod. It was about as tasty as it looks. Clearly cod was a tactical error, those who got the wild boar tenderloin scored big. It was tasty. Another CF at CDG ariport. 90 minutes to get from one terminal to another and then no way to check in from a connecting flight on Air France. Valiant work by USAir people got me a boarding pass through the security line. I love USAir. Brunch Bloody Mary followed by a nice cold chicken app, tenderloin with yam puree and green stuff Young Frankenstein on the video thing Greenland out the window and thence back to PHL Prearrival flatbread pizza. Not at all bad

Apologies for the blurry photos. A day of work at the hotel. The buffet lunch was a substantial upgrade over the average hotel meeting lunch. Breads Absolutely perfect duck breast on a bed of garlicky local mushrooms. As good a duck as I've had. Since the tray kept being refilled I had 4 breasts, washed it down with a fine wine (lovely French business practice) and slept it off during the meeting. Afternoon snack. The caneles on the left were wonderful crunchy sweet crusted things filled with pastry cream. Pretty and tasty There was a Christmas Market outside the hotel with lots of good-looking food Later that night a group of us went to a guided wine tasting at the Malartic Lagraviere winery with a noted (we were told) local wine writer, followed by dinner at the Chateau. He was a nice fellow, clearly despised California wines as being unsubtle and drunk too young. I think he has a point.

Stayed at the Grand Hotel du Bordeaux. A really first class joint with some charming quirks eg my room was up an elevator then a flight of (grand) stairs then down a long hall then another elevator down a half floor. There's a Mich 1 star in the hotel I was told, but never had the chance to eat there Things livened up a lot after dark... Dinner the first night was at a bistro a few blocks away. Some jamon iberico waiting to be shaved...it was excellent A small tin of a country pate at each place along with lots baguette. The fat on top looks gross, but it did taste very good. Second (third?) round of appetizers. Big local oysters. I had a few and they were good, but I can't shake my respect for the hepatitis virus so intake was limited. Main dish...steak frites. Was supposed to have an au poivre sauce which eventually arrived. It was a nice piece of meat for France. Lots of local vin rouge was consumed and a good time was had by all. Cheese course. The comte was particularly nice. I suggested that it reminded me a bit of aged gouda which pleasantly pissed off my French friends in a humorous way.

I had business in Bordeaux a few weeks before Christmas and managed to eat well and see a bit. Preflight at the USAir club in Philly "Sparking wine?" Yes please I've settled in to a rut I believe A quite competent shrimp appetizer from USAir Nicely cooked chicken with a spiced bread stuffing After landing at deGaulle and the usual CF trying to connect to Bordeaux. What a disaster that airport is for connections. One must take multiple buses which arrive irregularly...allow at least 2 hours...crazy place. But arriving is Bordeaux all is calm and French. To me the place looks more like Paris than Paris. It is a UNESCO-protected place, which means that all construction has to conform to style standards. It also appears that store signs etc must be restrained. There is none of the garishness of Paris. Charming foggy afternoon. The Opera House

In the beginning I was surprised about odors that escape during SV. Apparently some smells get through intact plastic; allspice for example or the smoke smell in smoked meat. Not so surprising, small non-polar molecules could get through plastic I suppose...and it doesn't take many to be a detectable smell. I forget the threshold of olfaction for stuff, but it can be very low eg a few ppm (IIRC). I've never seen the plastic flakes.

I cook daily on a propane stove x 20 years . So long as the stove is adjusted/designed for propane there is no discernible difference between LP and natural gas. The only real issue is whether the propane people keep the tank filled.

I really wouldn't worry about blowing-up. Doesn't happen.

The standard is to have propane tanks above ground in the US. I don't know if this is code or just the way things are done. A buried tank would be hard to check for leaks and would have to be more corrosion resistant than the usual type. I live in the land of tank propane and have never heard of an explosion. If the hunters were firing incendiary rounds...perhaps. The biggest danger to a tank is a nick from a snowplow, but this is easily prevented by proper placement.

Me.But by default...no competition really. Parents/aunts cooked 1950s overdone meat and limp veg well into the 80s. Lots of canned/frozen food. They liked it fine, I never did. I grew up in a loving family with yucky food.

You can use a old fashioned thermos with a glass liner SO LONG AS YOU DRILL A VENT HOLE IN THE CAP TO PREVENT EXPLOSIONS. I have done this for years quite safely. The only downside is the small volume of most thermoses. You could probably use a insulated plastic drink carboy like you see at picnics or construction sites to get a larger volume. SO LONG AS YOU DRILL A VENT HOLE IN THE CAP TO PREVENT EXPLOSIONS. Don't forget the vent.