shauny82

The biggest problem is that people perception of salty differs. when I cook for people and season it to the point where it is just right, then almost invariably everyone else finds it salty. Probably the best thing is to just season it to the point where you don't think you seasoned it enough, and let each person adjust to their own taste.

I grind up ritz crackers and use it in my crab cakes. It adds a nice sweet butteryness? to it. Pretty good eatin.

I'd disagree about the practicality comment. Many of the recipes are fairly simple and can be done easily. Much easier than say most recipes in the French Laundry cookbook. I certainly agree that it teaches new, unique and useful techniques for the home cook who likes to move beyond the everyday basic cooking techniques. That is certainly why I'm trying to cook more from it. It is not a book for a beginner home cook, but for those who are more seasoned, it is certainly practical and useful. Are your refering to the method the legs were cooked in as cuisson? I thought that refered to cooking meats in their own juices. This one is more of a straight braise. ← Not exactly. First time I heard the term cuisson it was at a restaurant I worked at. The chef was breaking down some duck breasts, and he left some of the breast bone on it as he did so. I asked him why he was doing that, and he replied that it protects the cuisson during cooking. Somewhat ambiguous

I have this book and its invaluable as far as techniques and ideas are concerned. Not too practical for the home cook, but if you're trying to learn new stuff its great. An an unrelated note, I keep hearing everywhere about the "cuisson" Just what the heck is it?

screwing around with peoples drinks is always fun. ie changing a person's water with vinegar. I got it bad when some one change my coke with a 5o/50 split of soda and soy sauce

hey guys, I just bought the book last week and decided to try my hand at the duck ham recipe. Unfortunately it came out a disaster. The outer layer of duck was too hard for human consumption, same goes for how insanely salty it was. I followed the recipe to a T. Any advice?

As a chef, my biggest concern with sous vide cookings is evaporation. When I cook, I count on evaporation to remove the flavorless water from my food as it cooks, concentrating the flavor of whatever I am cooking. Although sous vide may be a more economical approach to cooking and also a better way of retaining moisture and temperature, I am worried that the water that should be leaving the product is actually staying, and (for lack of a better word) diluting the product. What seems like a great way of controlling temperature, seems to me, like a new fangled way of steaming food. And personally, no matter how I try, steaming never really imparts to much flavor into food. But that's just one person's perspective.