Jon Savage

Is it just me or does this season seem to be stuck in a rut elimination challenge wise? IIRC every elimination challenge so far involved one variant or another on "the prep in the Top Chef kitchen, pack up and serve/finish elsewhere theme"? Maybe they are planning to rename the show to Top Caterer next season... As for who went home this week I think blowing off the challenge's key ingredients and cooking something moderately tasty is a graver sin than actually trying to make it work with the specified ingredients and falling short. Lisa's attitude just plain bites as well IMHO.

Ribs (spare) were on sale for $1.39 / lb. Suffice to say some are being put to smoke as I type this. I was craving butt (it was on sale too) but can't start butts at 1300 and expect them to be ready @ dinnertime. Armed with plenty of Tecate, enjoying a very warm afternoon (95) with wisps of smoke from the smoker to keep me company.

Heidi those look great!

Jaz that looks just awesome. I was about to go out for pho but now I may have to find a taco stand instead. --yeah I know I had tacos for dinner yesterday but there is no such thing as too often for tacos in my book.

Last night was chicken tacos with guacamole, queso fresco, crema, salsa verde and a side of chilled Tecate w/ a bit of mexican lime in it. I tried using some fresh masa from the supermercado and honestly prefer the taste and texture I get using maseca. That was kind of a bummer since I was hoping for a nicer tortilla using the "better" product. The chicken was very nice. I kind of start out the same way I would for Carnitas - Cube up a couple pounds of skinless/boneless thighs, place in a dutch oven add stock to barely cover. A chopped onion, fresh roasted/ground cumin and coriander, a little chipoltle, 5-6 cloves roughly chopped garlic, a few bay leaves and a couple limes worth of juice. Simmer for an hour or so partly covered then uncover and consider it ready when the chix is just shy of au sec. This way the meat is nice and moist but not drippy. I've tried taking this to the browning stage and the results were not as tasty, probably doable if fat were added though. The guacamole was extremely simple just mashed avocado, a little sea salt, knife point's worth of smoked cayenne. No citrus juice added since it would not last long enough to oxidize and I don't especially care for a citrus note in guac anyway.

Mine is tinned cast iron and works like a champ. This will be a great cook off. As it happens I was planning to make some tacos later this week .

I try to keep a few of the Trader Joe's bags in each of our vehicles. These are great bags by the way - easily hold thrice the weight that paper bags would and probably 3-4 times the volume that those evil plastic jobbies do.

Mince 1 habanero*, 4-5 (or more) cloves of garlic. Add 2-3 tbs honey, a little olive oil, + sea salt to taste. mix well should be thick but saucy. Grill bake or broil 1 lb wings until done. Toss same in habanero goop; return to heat until just a little caramelized Enjoy with plenty of cold beer or a nice Gewürztraminer. *use gloves when working with habaneros or be extremely careful to thoroughly wash your hands before touching any other part of yourself. I like this a lot. One whole chili may be too much heat for some; too little for others. Generally speaking a little habanero goes a long way.

Just wanted to say that I've been enjoying this saga a great deal and look forward to the remaining installments.

I think that death sucks. Killing stuff sucks too. Agreed that one should minimize the suffering however that is best accomplished. I won't be losing sleep over any lobsters though karma be damned.

I think this is a result of the fact that few people ever participate in killing what they eat. Crustaceans/Mollusks are often purchased alive; mammals (far) less so. Did I worry that the clams in my Vongole pasta were not happily popping open in the pan? Nope. Mr. Pacific lobster in my pot may not die all to happy either but I'm aware of his demise and respect the food just as I did so with Mr. (live) bunny I slaughtered and bbqd. At the end of the day we kill what we eat directly or indirectly. I say own up to it, acknowledge it and drive on.

I've seen him puke a couple of times before - both on kitchen nightmares(UK) both involved scallops IIRC. If memory serves Ramsey had a really really bad experience w/ seafood that had gone off & that seems to make him puke easily when served dubious seafood dishes. I guess that translates to I don't think the puking was entirely contrived. OK I admit it. I watch this show but there's not enough wine in the house to get me through a drinking game. I really like the kitchen nightmares show as well. Ramsey... He's an a**hole no doubt but I think an honest one. He is certainly passionate about food and seems to really care about it. I have a good friend who owns a couple of restaurants and has a similar interpersonal skill set to GR but the food is to die for so maybe I have a soft spot for that archetype.

Pasta Salad? While I can understand not wanting to make it I question the wisdom of including it at all. IMHO a nice baked pasta dish would have been a better choice. As for Andrew's little hissy fit... Gad. Way to win friends and influence people. I'm pretty sure he's not actually on Meth but his behaviour sure is suggestive of tweaking which makes me want to reach through the TV and smack him. I sometimes wonder if the contestants have even watched previous seasons at all- making classic dishes that don't match what the dish is supposed to be and or trying to hold food that does not benefit by long holding sure seems to be a recurring theme. Still feeling perplexed by many of the choices being made as far as menu items go.

I'd been using those semi disposable glad/ziploc containers for Bento(ish) lunches but inspired by this thread found a couple of these boxes @ Marikai: Works out well, dishwasher and microwave safe which are nice features to have and a bargain @ $7-. For myself I packed this today: For my wife's bento I made Octopus sashimi, rice with a nice assortment of pickled stuff. Kudos to torakris for the beef\potato dish in her EGCI course - it was great hot but is pretty darned tasty served cold as well.

Yep I have a Roma that we planted about a year ago that has kept on going (and producing) since then. Odd... Even in SoCal vine ripe tomatoes in the dead of what passes for winter here sans hothouse are odd to say the least... Guess the plant did not get the memo.

I was nonplussed by this episode. Besides... Don't serve it if it is not up to par You'd think that lesson would have rung true from prior seasons if not from real life experience. Anyway I'm sure things will improve once the numbers are pruned to a more manageable level.

I've had good results dropping the noodles into a pot of boiling water and immediately removing the pot from the heat, tasting almost immediately and draining and adding to whatever dish they are destined for once their texture is right. Dunno if that is the right method but it has been working for me. They take *very* little time to be ready to serve.

I'd use it outdoors but I've seen these used indoors in restaurants (on tables as opposed to under a hood).

It turned out really well. A little less moisture than I'd have liked - once this was recified with the addition of some duck stock made from the carcasses of the ducks used for the confit all was well with the world. This is something that I'd definately do again, the effort to make the dish was not all too bad especially when spread over several days. Using home made sausage, confit etc. really kept cost down as well. I think the total food cost for a cassoulet that would have easily fed 12 was less than $20.

Exactly right sir. Thanks for digging it up.

I know it's hardly an exact science, but how long do you smoke 3 kg. of bacon for? I try to keep the temperature under 30'C. I smoke in batches of several hours at the time. ← Way upthread there is a reference to cold smoking bacon for 8+ hours; most uf us myself included lack the equipment to cold smoke and hot smoke until the internal temp of the bacon reaches 65 C ish. That takes 2-4 hours depending on the exact smoker set up used. Also way upthread is a comparason someone did on cold smoked vs. hot smoked bacon IIRC that individual found the differences in the final product to be negligable. I don't have exact quites of the above posts referenced as I've been re-reading this whole thread over the past several days

This thing is killing me. I assembled it this morning and just took it out of the oven to rest a few hours before I pop it back in to develop a crust. I was going to let it rest overnight but there's no way will be able to wait until tomorrow. It already smells and tastes wonderful. I'm kind of winging the recipe - home cured bacon in lieu of fresh belly, garlic sausage from Ruhlman's charcuterie book since I had that on hand. Smoked butt instead of ham hocks that some recipes call for. The duck confit was simply unctuous - a couple of bits were sacrificed in the name of quality control @ 0700 this morning. Goes well with coffee confit does. Beans were 500 g of large white beans from spain and a pound of great northern. Now pondering whether I want to add breadcrumbs or simply allow the beans to develop a nice crust on their own. Would it be terrible if a handful of duck cracklings were thrown on the top of the finished dish??

I'm late to the party but duck legs are happily confiting as I type this and I'm looking forward to my first attempt @ cassoulet this weekend.

Depends on what sort of pizza you want to make... For a really thin crust I'd use a fist sized ball of dough maybe 250 grams. Thick crust twice that or more. Go with the tasty thin crust though

I watched most of that episode last night and was amazed by the imtimidation factor that the souffle had. Heck that probably would have been my first choice. Other than that I too am jonesing for Bourdain's blog.