Magictofu

I think skinning a pig is not usual but from your experience it is probably worth asking before making the purchase. As for processing of the carcass, it all depends on what your plans are. If you want to do some of the processing yourself (e.g. you want to make cured ham, sausages, head cheese etc.), then your are better off asking for the major cuts (hams, loins, sides, shoulder) without much further processing. If you prefer to have freezer-ready vacpacked portions, you should have a few options (e.g. loin chops vs. roast) but it is a good idea to find a good butcher who could make informed decisions for you. I think anyone interested in buying a whole animal should get a chart of the major cuts. There are plenty of images available online if you google it. This is a good place to start: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/l...ncv/por1e.shtml

Chutney? Finely shredded in a salad (like a remoulade)? I would be curious to see what you decide to do with these.

Hi Chris, trotters freeze quite well so you don't have to worry too much. In the sequel of the whole beast nose to tail, Henderson has a recipe for "trotter gear" which he uses in another half dozen recipes. In short, it is simply precooked and deboned trotters and the cooking liquor. The idea is to use it to increase the unctuosity of certain dishes that could be otherwise a bit dry (braised and then deep fried rabbit for example). I you like beans, a pig trotter in the pot does marvels to improve the texture and taste of even the old beans that has been sitting on your shelf for a few years. Otherwise you could add pig trotters to your stock pot but they don't have much flavour by themselves so don't forget to add other bones and meat scraps.

Bourdain is a terrific writer and I assume a decent chef since he has being cooking for the first half of his career... he might not be a great recipe writer from what I read in the article you quoted... but then the few recipes I tried from Les Halles worked quite well for me... I guess I would probably make jokes about the weird food-machismo that characterize most of his work before joking about the recipes... but then I'll concede that his book is about Bistro cooking, not haute cuisine... it is about basic traditional recipes more than about ground braking culinary innovations. I haven't seen Bourdain writing anything on egullet recently but from the little I have seen from his books and TV show he seems to be the kind of guy with whom you could have fun arguing and disagreeing about a few things. Would be fun to see what he thinks of the LA Times review.

You can use them in soups too... you can cook watercress and a few pears together and blitz them in a blender. This is even better with blue cheese croutons.

I can see that you are equipped with the right books! The ears can be cooked chinese style or piled one on top of the other to create some kind of ear lasagna. I can dig up a recipe for you if you want to take that road. Cheeks can be made into guanciale as you mentioned but you can also freeze them and braise them another day when you'll have more time. If yo get some of the neck, this makes an excellent stew meat and can be used for sausage as well. Brains can be cooked almost exactly the way sweetbreads are. I Never tried to do it myself though so I can't be of any help here. For the rest, head cheese is the only thing I have in mind right now but there are many variations (try adding pickles to the mix!) This sounds like a great activity, you can invite a few friends to help you with the processing and to help you eat the bits that you can't process easily. Please report back to us... and good luck!

Chineses, Koreans and Japanese steam eggs. Usually in a bowl, mixed with water and sprinkled with green onions or other condiments. Its great with, you guessed it, rice.

When we did some renovations in the basement we found a pile of old playboy magazines from the late 1960's and early 1970's hidden in a suspended ceiling. (probably the secret stash of the previous occupants of the house). In one of these, I found a series of erotic images made of fruits and vegetables. I also remember a publicity using a similar imagery to promote a vegetarian lifestyle a few years ago. I guess all that is needed to transform food into erotic art, is a little bit of thought on how to place it on a plate. By the way, it is almost impossible not to pace two roasted quails on a plate and not end up with something suggestive.

When we did some renovations in the basement we found a pile of old playboy magazines from the late 1960's and early 1970's hidden in a suspended ceiling. (probably the secret stash of the previous occupants of the house). In one of these, I found a series of erotic images made of fruits and vegetables. I also remember a publicity using a similar imagery to promote a vegetarian lifestyle a few years ago. I guess all that is needed to transform food into erotic art, is a little bit of thought on how to place it on a plate. By the way, it is almost impossible not to pace two roasted quails on a plate and not end up with something suggestive.

So if I understand it right, the more food is processed outside the body, the more energy is freed for brain activity... Does that mean Wonderbread, baloney and soft drinks makes us smart?

I just tried using 50% AP with 50% pastry and adjusted hydration levels accordingly. The result was alright but still far from the the lite crumb I am looking for. Holes (big and small) are there and the density is great but the crumb is still too chewy for my taste... like munching on rubber foam. Should I try using 50% pastry flour only? Should I lower hydration levels even more? Should I lower the temperature of my oven and cook for a longer time?

I think a great intro to cooking is the omelette. You can actually make a few different omelette for very little money and use the opportunity to explain a few cooking basics. You can even finish the course with a soufflé.

I was unable to find Alain Ducasse's website but PM me if I can help with translation.

We tried to get rid of ours when we lived in an infested appartment without success. The exterminator we called got rid of them in a single visit... sometimes professionals have the right tools and knowledge.

This is exactly the kind of recipe that requires a good chicken to work properly... and I agree, I tried the recipe once and it was delicious.

This discussion takes an interesting turn... I was thinking about the usual foodsaver but it seems some of you recommend against it. I doubt I would ever be willing to invest 400$ for a vaccum sealer considering that I intend to use it for the needs of my family only. However, this brings question about the reliability of foodsaver products. Any thoughts on that?

The only reason I can think of is that some fish have large and very hard scales which makes cuting through the flesh a bit harder.

In general, there are two ways to treat octopus: slow braising or fast fry. The easiest way, in my opinion, is to braise the octopus for about 2 hours (maybe less with small ones) then cook them the way you want (e.g. BBQ, yum!). Grilled octopus salads are great during summer months!

This exactly the type of machine my mom was using 20 years ago and it is exactly what I want to avoid. Not only the seal was terrible but the bags themselves were very fragile.

Wow what I nice thread! I am surprized it did not cought my eyes before! Re sunfish: my partner and I love bluegills, sunfish and rock bass... not only are they the perfect size for a serving, they are also deliciously sweet on the BBQ. Since these fishes are far from being overfished in most places, they are also guilt free.

Chris, this is exactly the type of information I was looking for since I do want to vaccuum-seal liquids (sauces and stews). Thanks.

It's not the first time I have seen chefs misnaming wild food! This one is pretty bad though!

My mom used to have a vaccum sealer that was only able to seal bags that I would consider to be of very poor quality. The seal itself was not very good either. I know things are much better these days but I am still wondering how vaccum sealers differ in the type of bags they can use. I was thinking about buying a foodsaver to portion/freeze individual portions of meat, stews and sauces as well as charcuteries but wonder what the other options are.

You can still find milk in Ontario on what could be described as a black market by opponent to raw milk. That being said, I'd rather see a controlled market with strict rules than a total ban.

Since it seems that a few people can read French on this forum, here are a few articles about the whole thing: http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/art...91/LAINFORMER01 http://www.lebulletin.com/informations/act...923_185306_4552 http://www.ledevoir.com/2007/09/19/157408.html None of these articles mention proteins but I have heard it both on TV and radio (I listen to a lot of farming and food programming when I have the time). The mill's website can be found at http://www.moulinsdesoulanges.com/ I thought I found the solution to my overly chewy bread but after reading both on the web and on this forum, things seems a bit more complicated than I thought!