KLwood

I really like These Knives and they may have them in your School Colors... Ive handled a few of these and I can tell you... they're VERY Sharp !! and the matching blade cover makes for a nice package.. Dorm cooking is an interesting subject, I hope youll let us know how it goes. Cooking with just a George Foreman, a Microwave and a CrockPot sure sounds like an Iron Chef episode , oh and dont forget the standby food of impoverished students everywhere : Ramen Noodles.

Serious Thumbs Down on the 'Crapoosh ' it Barely takes an 8" blade and mine literally split at the seams after about a month. Cooks Illustrated reported that the Bamboo Skewer box mentioned above tends to shed the skewers as the knives are pulled out.. If I didnt have so much damn stuff, Id set aside a kitchen drawer and install a dedicated in drawer rack, ( which would also allow the option of a lock, in case youre concerned about the kids or are married to Lorena Bobbit.) The only Bamboo knife block I know of is made by Shun, and it has their logo in nice large letters, although Im sure that it could be covered easily enough.. Although its not wood, THIS ONE seems to fill all of the criteria...although Id call AG russell to make sure that a 10" blade will fit .

Hits : The Cider,Chili and Garlic brine from the nov 2007 issue of Saveur ( 'Perfect Bird ' article) Arugula Caesar salad with shaved fennel and Heirloom Tomato The Calvados Gravy From the same article.. Andouille Dressing Cranberry peppercorn Chutney Lillet glazed beets Baby Artichokes with white wine, shallot burre blanc Sweet potato pie with chocolate praline crust and Bourbon whipped cream Near Miss : cooking the bird at 450˚ as per Saveur article...luckily was skeptical and kept a close eye on the temp of the bird .. aparently using the Convection mode isnt a good idea for this technique, as it hit 160 after about 90 minutes. Near disaster , but I turned off the oven, opened the door for 5 minutes and still got another 10˚ of carryover ... still it was AWESOME !! Total No Show : the Sodium Alginate Pomegranate 'Caviar " , and Chipolte Butternut squash soup Orbs --- I just wasnt feeeling Molecular. Maybe for Christmas.. Happy Accident : a Lillet Proseco cocktail although the pomegranate seeds were a little much. Thank Gawd I Didnt Even Try : a molecular ' Turducken ' using Transglutamase to 'glue' together a layer of Turkey Duck and Chicken all cut out into rounds like some Unholy Layer Cake of Poultry . And the Cranberry Foam would probablly have just made it truly resemble a horrific mid Air collision. It sounded like a good idea untill I sobered up. Next Year I Want To Do : make Turkey Confit ( heres your Damn Drumstick !!!!! ) And do the technique that I read about here on Egullet of poaching the bird in Court Bullion then giving it a quick trip to the oven to crisp the skin...

Everyone should try real wasabi at least once, I was first served freshly grated wasabi at Morimoto in NY and the difference was striking. Sunrise Market with several NY locations usually has fresh wasabi , a 4" piece is about $25, well worth it it youre a Sashimi fanatic. it can also be ordered from Real Wasabi.com and if you feel like trying your hand at growing the notoriously finicky Rhizome yourself, Wasabi Farm sells plants for $7.50. Back to the topic at hand, whats the deal with putting bamboo chopsticks in the water glass ? I saw a lady in a Japanese restaurant do this telling her son thats " How they do it in Japan"

At Bartolotta restaurant in Las Vegas I had an amazing salad of Sliced artichoke hearts and cooked Porcini mushrooms on a bed of Arugula with some shaved Pecorino cheese. I've reproduced that at home using dried porcinis with excellent results, and definitely SAVE the water that you used to rehydrate them in !!! strain and reduce it and youve got the beginnings of an amazing sauce. I recently made my own cream of Mushroom soup for the first time with White mushrooms and shittake and Ill never go back to that crap in the can, even for a pot pie base.

Glad to know Im not the only one that goes through a probe thermometer about every 6 months,( Pyrex is another brand that doesnt seem to hold up..) I didnt know it was due to moisture getting in, so maybe I can get a little more life out of my latest one..thanks for the links above , I have 4 thermometer/timers and only 1 working probe.. I was seriously considering making Christmas Tree Ornaments out of them.

Sounds like a pretty tight set of parameters for a HighSchool competition. Any guidelines on the ingredients or can you bring anything you want ? Maybe you could pull off some Sodium Alginate goodies in under an hour and really wow the judges? My only other suggestion would be to consider using Cast Iron with those portable gas burners in order to get the max cooking power... You could also consider deep or shallow frying an item just to show that you werent intimidated by the restrictions...

Is there any truth to their idea that a sharper steak knife preserves the flavor of the meat ? Id love to see the research on that one. Maybe Cooks Illustrated could go there ....

See it HERE I couldnt quite believe this latest goodie from Shun. I was just wondering where it would fall within the rules of Etiquette to essentially pull out your pocket knife in a restaurant. Perhaps the marketing team at Shun wants to elevate 'Personal Cutlery' beyond the Campfire and into the high end steakhouse.. Im surprised they didnt include a laminated steel Cigar cutter in the pretty little black box.. but I guess they were too busy precision engineering the $370. SHUN MANDOLINE in time for the Holidays .... Doesnt the idea of pulling out your own knife in a restaurant just seem a bit much ??

HEY! I resemble that remark! Seriously you've gotten me interested now in trying a few knives that I have no experience with so far. My knife collection (which is in my profile at knifeforums) needs some new friends! I'm glad you are enjoying the Japanese knives. ← Im in the same boat ... although I also went into the odd realm of woodworkers forums in order to gain a better understanding of the subtle properties of Blue vs. White steel... In the end, I settled on the same Hiromoto AS Gyuto, altouugh I opted for an Edge Pro sharpening system and Im also using a strop instead of a traditional Steel for maintenance. ..so it seems that the research tends to lead the demanding cook or chef to the same conclusions with regards to Japanese cutlery... now, Onto the next obsession

Im surprised that nobody has mentioned Turkey Tamales yet...maybe with a Cranberry Chipolte sauce..

try the old trick of bending a piece of fresh lemon rind to squirt out the oil into a lit match or lighter, maybe if your sous chef is quick enough , you can capture it under glass...

Not to sound like a total Noob here, but I still cant manage to get them to puff reliably with fresh potatoes Am I missing something ?

Congrats on the recipe contest ! ( what was the recipe for BTW ? ) the Henkels Cermax sounds like a pretty good choice : powdered steel blade, with a much thinner grind than traditional German knives, no chunky bolster to get in the way so youre able to use the full length of the blade and the exceptional fit and finish of all Henkels Knives...heres some technical info on it CLICKETY According to those specs, that Steel comes in at Rockwell 66 + which is up there with Ultra high end steels youll find in Japanese Chefs knives.. pretty sweet if youre willing to go the extra mile when sharpening it or part with a few bucks every so often to have it sharpened by a pro. Also, I believe there are some concerns about using a traditional Aligning Steel with ultra hard thin knives..( some of the Resident Knife Experts can shed some more light on this ) I believe that most Japanese Knife enthusiasts recommend using an ' old Fashioned ' razor strop to maintain the edge between sharpening . As mentioned earlier, try them all and go with the one that feels best.

Well, after a truly fascinating shopping trip into the world of pocket sized digital scales that measure to the tenth of a gram, most of which are backlit for those situations where its crucial to measure accurately in low light , I wound up with This One From My Weigh along with a calibration weight .. seriously, I couldnt resist , besides having the coolest name, its also eco- friendly My overall favorite was This Baby which deserves this Years design award for Originality in a Small Dope Scale. Now onto Syringe Shopping.....

A home food irradiation system. Vibrating kitchen floor mats. A built in steam cleaning gun for the sink Chef wear made of the same breathable high tech fabric that athletes wear Cast Iron skillets with a long , hollow, stainless steel handle like professional restaraunt cookware An apron that has velcro attachments instead of 3 feet of apron string ties on either end that inevitably get wrapped around the washing machine agitator like dental floss A home version of the hands free paper towel dispensers Ive seen in restrooms , ditto with the kitchen faucet. An electric peppermill that holds more than 1/4 cup, and is RECHARGABLE ( heads up Unicorn !! ) A quick read, battery powered, food safe, salinity meter for those folks who cant seem to salt their stuff the same way twice. If nothing else it would be usefull for getting pasta and veggie water right.

I finally got around to ordering some goodies from WillPowder and reading up on this cool food trend , only to find that my Salter digital kitchen scale only reads in 5 gram increments , and guesswork just doesnt seem to cut it with sodium Alginate, I was wondering what some of the 'Molecular Gastronomes' are using... will a scale accurate to the gram do it or do I need something more along the lines of a lab scale ? Id rather not go overboad , or more importantly over price... under ( preferably WAY under) $100, is my limit. THANKS Edit to add, Ive found plenty of digital scales that claim to be accurate to .01 gram, but Ive never heard of the brands..

Im a huge fan of Miso Masters barley Miso also, it makes an amazing miso dressing with some rice wine vinegar canola oil and sesame oil to taste.. Michel Richard is a big fan of miso as a replacement for stock in alot of recipes, he has one for Onion Soup that Im going to try pretty soon. I recall a Miso seasoned turkey from a cooking magazine last Thanksgiving that sounded pretty good, ( Im sure Google can find it ) but alot of the time I just eat a spoonfull or two with some celery , which looks horrible but tastes amazing.

These ?? Clickety from Crate and Barrel..

Once again, my devious habit of switching the stickers on 'heirloom' and the cheap- assed hydroponic 'maters at my local Supa Mart is validated .

Amazing, I feel like I should send money to khymos after downloading that... true XXX food porn

F'ing Sweet !! This is exactly the 'Textbook' Ive been hoping to find , Any plans to have it published as a cookbook ?

I just got my order from WillPowder Yesterday, about 8 days total turnaround ... and in a hand printed envelope , so Someone's definitely taking a hands on approach. Looking forward to the expanded website , but I think Ill be able to squeak by with the Egullet Threads on Molecular Gastronomy in the meantime. adamru, Any chance of getting a rundown of the new products WillPowder will be adding ?

I generally shy away from celebrity branded products , but I have to admit that Im in LOVE with my Enameled cast iron Mario Batali Lasagna Pan which does double duty as a roasting and braising pan .

I also use a Mandoline or peeler to make ultra thin ribbons and serve them with a miso dressing for a lettuce free salad... but the most unique thing Ive done lately is Cucumber Gelee : Save all the seeds and trimmings from several cucumbers !!! as well as 2 or 3 whole cucumbers - skin on if theyre unwaxed for brighter color ( peeled if waxed ) puree in a food processor untill liquefied then strain through a fine mesh strainer to make about one and a half cups Cucumber Water.. ( save the strained out pulp for Tzaziki, salad topping or a facial...) Add 2 teaspoons of powdered Gelatin to a bowl with 1/4 Cup of cucumber water and heat in a microwave to disolve the gelatin Do Not Boil !! Mix in the remainder of the cucumber water, along with a pinch of salt , sugar , and a dash of lemon juice ( a drop or 2 of Tabasco is an option also ) and pour it onto a Ramekin or lidded plastic storage container and store in the fridge untill set .. slice into squares and use creatively.. basicly Cucumber Jello, sure to raise a few eyebrows. Same technique works well with beet juice as well. Ive also seen Cucumber Foam mentioned in some recipes but I havent got a recipe for that one. * above recipe from Happy In The Kitchen by Michel Richard