Batard

Though authentic Morteau is cold smoked for about 48 hours, you still need to cook it. It's irresponsible of the seller to put it in a case with cooked sausages.

I once accidentally ate cotechino raw. I was concerned, but I had no ill effects. I've since discovered that it tastes a lot better cooked and served with lentils.

We've been talking about light and heavy cast iron woks in terms of weight. Another way to tell is that "Chinese" cast iron woks are about 3mm thick; western woks are about 9mm thick.

Hi, you can find an entire discussion about the Le Creuset "Doufeu" here.

Mustard seeds are almost always used in pickling brines -- I use it routinely for sauerbraten -- and every commercial pickling spice seems to have mustard seed in it. There are also black, brown, and yellow mustard seeds which are from completely different plants. Are you saying that you just want to pickle the seeds, or are you making your own mustard?

Bingo! Pots are always communal, knives are more like intimate cooking partners.

I'm grabbing my knives. They'd be harder to replace, and my pots might possibly survive the fire.

If you cut into monkfish without letting it rest and cool just a bit to relax the muscles, yes, you will see plenty of juice spilling out. I've done this when slicing monkfish right out of the pan for plating. You could also check the Gordon Ramsey monkfish video posted earlier in this thread, he says pretty much the same thing about testing monkfish. This doesn't apply to any other fish I know of.I'm surprised that no one here has tried it for themselves.

I remember them talking about that perfect sort of anchovy on "No Reservations" a while back, but couldn't find the video anywhere. Thanks for posting the link.

I think water quality might come into play too. The water here often reeks of chlorine right out of the tap, and even if it were cold enough, once you smell it you'd never want to let food touch it. I use an ice bath because the ice is made with filtered water. I'm sure this is a consideration in a professional kitchen also.

For every bad tipper walking to the parking lot, there is a good tipper walking in the door. I've been in situations where tipping is a big part of your livelihood, and found that it (usually) all balances out in the end. Oh, and remember what happened to that server on The Sopranos who chased Ralph and Chris out to the parking lot to complain about a tip. Poor fellow got shot for his trouble.

I totally agree that chasing someone out to their car for a tip is very bad behavior. But considering an $8.00 minimum wage and a 37.5 hour week, that person's gross pay is $15,600 before taxes. The US poverty line for one person with no dependents was $14,840 in 2008. It's true that not all a server's income is from tips, but without tips you are living at or below poverty.

Is she one of those "pretend" restaurant reviewers like in my local papers? Everyone knows who they are, they post their faces on their column, and they basically talk up the food without actually doing any real criticism (e.g., "The Veal Parm was lovely!"). Seriously, how can you even pretend to write an unbiased review when you're friends with the owner? And what real reviewer would make their presence so conspicuous by not leaving a tip. Hell, you should be writing an article about her!

You can find a recipe for Galbi jjim here.

I can't find veal bones at any of my local "real" butchers or premium markets. But I can always find $1.00 lb veal breast, necks, and (sometimes) split veal hooves at my local Shop Rite. Ten pounds of nice bone/cartridge/meat mix costs about $10.00. I'm very surprised, given that people seem to have a very hard time finding bones for veal stock in their areas. There's nothing special about my neighborhood. It's a pretty middle-class neighborhood, not particularly ethnic or filled with Foodie types. I can't figure out what such an oasis of veal bones is doing in the middle of this food desert I call home.

You really can't compare it to salmon. Monkfish has a different type of flesh, more analogous to lobster. The flavor, and especially the texture, are completely different.

Monkfish has a texture unlike the fish most people are used to. Premise 1: The meat almost resembles lobster, and certainly eats a lot like lobster. Premise 2: Lobster should be rested for a few minutes to let the juices soak back in. Very much like resting meat. One idea seems to follow from the other. Conclusion: Rest monkfish just like you would lobster. But Tom also said that "most chefs don't know this." Is there a big mystery to be unraveled here?

The only place I routinely find pork that is bright reddish-pink is at Chinese and Korean markets. I know the color doesn't tell the whole story, but it's a pretty good measure of quality when you are looking at pre-packaged pork. Remember that old commercial, "Pork: The Other White Meat!". It still makes me laugh. American producers they were trying to market the cheapest quality pork to Americans. I've also heard that most of America's best pork gets exported to Japan and elsewhere in Asia, but that is anecdotal. Edited to say: Just recently, the pork at my local supermarket has been getting better and better. I went this evening, and saw some cuts I never saw before, pork belly in particular, and the quality seems to be going up.

My uncle in Shandong taught me a browning technique which works great for rabbit or chicken wings. A small amount of sugar is added to the bottom of a round bottom, wok-type pan; oil for frying is added and then heated. The sugar at he bottom gradually turns brown like caramel, and then the protein is fried a little at a time. As it cooks, the meat pieces "bump" into that bubble of caramel, and it gives the meat and skin a light, very mild burnt sugar flavor that adds a lot of complexity. What is this technique called? There's one more thing I haven't seen in any cookbooks. It is a type of preserved egg. We took uncooked, farm-fresh chicken eggs and added them to a brine for a couple of weeks. The eggs are not coated with anything special, and I think the brine was just salt and some spices. When done, the whites were firm, and the yolks had this incredible, almost lava-like consistency. I'd like to make this again, but I've long since forgotten the technique. Thank you!

I have never been disappointed with the quality of Costco beef. I don't know where they get it, or if the meat is the same at all Costco's, but it always seems head and shoulders above the supermarket stuff for less money. Apparently they have direct purchase relationships with Brawley Beef and other top producers, and because they sell over 200 million pounds a year of muscle meat, they get first pick from the producers. There choice is as close to prime as you cab get, you can see how nice it is marbled. Here's an article from Beef Magazine about Costco.

Is he related to or an admirer of Rahm Emmanuel? Emmanuel has been known to repeatedly stab a steak knife into a table and scream "Die! Die! Die!" while referring to his political opponents.

That is a fantastic idea!

She may not be a cocktail expert, but she certainly is quite an enthusiast. Anything that raises public consciousness about cocktails is probably a good thing. I'd like to see more high profile people talking about it. Maybe cocktails will become more mainstream again, and we'll start getting better cocktail choices in smaller US towns.

I have relatives all over the US and this is common practice in my family. I don't think bringing food is a regional phenomenon, if it's anything it is probably more cultural.

I found this one posted here on eGullet: This recipe is from my own notes. I’m not sure where I got it exactly. 1 cup dashi (or water left over from cooking eel) 1/2 cup mirin 1/2 cup shoyu (Japanese soy) 1/4 cup sugar Put all ingredients into a saucepan and heat to boiling over medium heat. Simmer three or four hours to thicken to reduce it to less than half the starting volume – you should end up with about a cup. At this point it is called Tsumé, and you can use it for just like you would eel sauce. If you thin it with a bit of sake, it’s then called kabayaki no tare. I am by no means an expert on this, I'm sure there are many variations. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will check in here and comment.