Didi Dishi

Sauces is one of my favorite cookbooks, and I think is right along the lines of what you're looking for. The book is fantastic for techniques and it gives you the base of knowledge required make smart improvisations. It's also a cookbook that I sat down and read cover to cover. I don't have any experience with Cooking, but I have a couple other Peterson books and he's probably my favorite cookbook author, so I don't think you can go wrong!

thanks sam. I'll be sure to post about the dinner! I'm not a big note taker, so my detail might be lacking.

Gotcha! I think we'll head that way. I've been to a couple places in the SF area and in France where the a la carte dishes were superior--Michael Mina stands out as one (on the night I went). It definitely sounds like tasting is the way to go. Can't wait!

You're in for a treat. Definitely the tasting is the way to go. And if it's your first visit, I'd recommend the grand tasting. Give Chef Kinch the best chance to blow you away. ← Thanks Tupac-- Sounds like the way to go--we're really looking forward to it!

You know, it's telling that you would even have to ask that question. ← Telling of what, precisely?

We're headed to Manresa tonight--is the tasting menu the way to go? Has anyone tried a la carte there?

I get around the burning issue by starting my roux in an enameled cast iron pot on the stove, and transferring it to a low oven until it's as dark as I want it. I stir it every 5-10 minutes or so. It makes it a lot more difficult to burn the roux. I think I first saw it on Good Eats. Thanks Alton!

I seek it out whenever I can--venison, wild boar, pheasant, quail, grouse, etc. It's even better when allowed to hang (rot) for a bit. I order squab whenever I see it, but I wish more high-end restaurants would expand their game offering.

Use kosher salt. A heck of a lot cheaper and it won't make a difference for the salt baked recipe you're doing.

One of the best compromise techniques I've seen from a number of sources (James Peterson, Paula Wolfert, Paul Bertolli, and no doubt others I'm forgetting) involves reducing the stock a ladle full at a time. If you are planning on reducing 3 cups of stock to 1/2 a cup, you begin with one cup in a pan, and reduce until you have a glaze on the pan. Before this glaze burns, moisten with another cup, and repeat the process. Moisten with yet another 1/2 cup, and reduce to a glaze again. Finally, finish with your final 1/2 cup. This final half cup will retain the more volatile flavor components, yet you have the concentration (and caramelization) of the previous reductions.

I've only spent a few days in Rome, but I thought Trastevere was the most charming neighborhood I visited. While it was certainly on the tourist map, I felt I was getting much more of a true slice of Roman life than elsewhere in the city. I also had one of the best slices of pizza in my life at a little pizzerria there! All that said, I think it's hard to go wrong in choosing a neighborhood in Rome.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of responses for traditional gourmet food markets, but you should definitely check out Polarica USA. It's a wholesale meat/game/mushroom/berry provider that normally caters to restaurants. Consumers are welcome there as well. The place isn't geared towards merchandizing, so you won't find row upon row of gleaming display cases with squab, partridge, chanterelles, etc. It's literally just a short counter at the front of a warehouse in an industrial neighborhood. What you will find, though, is an incredibly selection of game at extraordinary prices. I bought Grade A Sonoma Foie Gras for $35/pound. Duck and Goose fat are a great deal relative to what you would pay at D'Artagnan or retailers around here. I highly recommend it. Just realize it isn't set up to provide an elegant shopping experience. Check out their website--they post their product list online. http://www.polaricausa.com

I believe fra mani recently lost their head of production. This might have something to do with it. Or, given that it is an artisanal product, there's bound to be variation. I have to say that I've been extremely happy with everything I've had there, including the recent Berkeley event.

It really is a matter of trial and error. For me, the one constant is the weight I use on top of the fish. I have a brick and a large Nambe vase (totalling about 16 pounds), which I always use to press the fish while it cures. But beyond that, everything changes, pretty much every time out. I normally start with a fileted, 4-5 pound side of wild king salmon. When I do, I usually quadruple the cure recipe in the book (plus my own personal seasoning tweaks) and follow the instructions. However, I have learned, via my various attempts, that a 4-5 pound piece of fish needs to cure longer than the time given in the recipe in the book. I finally determined that amount of time to be somewhere between 60 and 72 hours, depending on the weight of the fish. When I cured a smaller piece of fish and did not make any adjustments, I ended up with some tasty but very salty and hard fish jerky. And even in this well-tested configuration, the thin parts of the finished fish are definitely saltier than the thick areas but they are totally delicious and soft. I'm sorry but I've never measured the thickness. I'm guessing that it's about 2" at its thickest point but that's just a guess. I think that the instructions in the book are just about right when they call for a 1.5-pound piece of fish and a 36-hour cure. If that's what you attempted and you were unhappy with the results, you may want to try adjusting the size of the fish, the amount of weight on the fish or the cure time. But I don't think there's any set formula for how exactly to adjust. You just have to do it a few times to get a feel for it. The more repetitions you get under your belt, the better you'll be able to adjust. And be sure to take good notes, too. After just a few attempts you'll have enough experience to adjust properly. Of course, it's a lot like bread-baking and you'll still be noticing some new qualities in your finished product even after dozens of trials. But there probably won't be huge variations in your results, either. I've probably made about 20 batches of cold-smoked salmon, through a variety of assorted conditions, and the results are fairly predictable now. There's always a curveball in there somewhere, but before too long you'll be able to anticipate it and handle it with ease. Just keep curing . . . =R= ← Thanks Ronnie! I guess it is just a matter of experience--the good news is the second try was much better than the first, and I'm going to try the third round soon.

I could use a little help with salmon curing. So far I've tried twice--the first was the fennel cured salmon recipe, and for the second, I followed the smoked salmon recipe (curing only). Both times I found the spicing way too aggressive, but that's a matter of taste and easily addresseable. The larger problem for me was around the cure itself. I followed the directions exactly, and after 48 hours in the fennel cure, my salmon had almost turned into jerky--it was hard, dry, and almost candy-like in its sweetness. I had to throw it out. The second time I cut down the cure to about 30 hours. This time I had nice cured flesh on the inside but a hard dried out layer (not a pellicle; it was completely dry) on the outside. After cutting off the dried out layer, the salmon was good, if a little salty and overspiced. My question is around curing times and thickness of the filets you are all using. How thick is the salmon you cure, and how long are you leaving it in the salt/brine? Has anyone had the same experience that I have? Can you offer any advice? Thanks so much, and I can't wait until I can pick up my own 'curing chamber' and start some work on the meat side!!

I would try Bistro du Coin in Dupont Circle or Bistro Francais in Georgetown. Both are good (but not stupendous), and more importantly, open late. I think both serve food until 1-2 am. A lot of DC chefs head to Bistro du Coin after their shift for a drink (or several drinks) and a bite to eat.

Good Luck! Take some pictures.

It occurs to me that the clarification step might be taking away some of your beefy flavor. I know you're replacing it with ground beef, but you may want to try skipping it. I also know the impulse to add more and more ingredients! I think you can get the complexity you're looking for with star anise, black pepper, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon, though. As to browning clouding the stock, that's never been a problem for me. I follow James Peterson's directions for stockmaking from his book Sauces--his technique works extremely well. Off the top of my head, the important items in this case are browning (unbrowned beef doesn't have a distinctive beefy flavor, in my opinion), maintaining a high beef to water ration, adding COLD water to moisten the stock, and not agitating the beef when cooking. The simmer itself should be EXTREMELY slow--a couple bubbles a secod or less. When you drain the stock, it's important NOT to press on the solids to extract any additional liquid. I'm also extremely OCD about stock making. Also, on the cloudy issue, if you are adding raw/rare beef to your pho you're going to get cloudy broth in any case. I've never tried the knuckle, so I'd be eager to hear what you think. I just make sure that at least 1/2 the weight of my beef is the meat rather than the bones. On the carrots question, I've never seen it. Then again, there are as many recipes as there are families and shops who make Pho! I wonder if you might be remembering another dish called Bo Kho (pronounced Bo Kah, I think, although my spelling may be wrong). This is a wonderful stew made of beef chuck, tomato paste, carrots, and spices. It's topped with the Vietnames herb rau ram and traditionally eaten with crusty french bread or noodles, with lime juice, salt, and fresh chilis on the side. At least that's how we eat it. Large carrot chunks are very prominent in that dish.

Hi Takadi-- I've been making pho for exactly the same reason you mentioned--I want a bigger, beefier taste. In looking at your recipe, I notice three things I do differently: first, I omit many of the ingredients you include, second, I brown the meat before I make the stock, and third, I boil the flavoring components for the last 15-30 minutes only. Here's a bit more detail: First the stock: 1. I use only meaty cuts when making the stock--generally oxtail and chuck 2. I always brown the meat in a saute pan or in the oven prior to making the stock (this is not traditional Vietnamese technique). 3. I pack the meat in the stockpot relatively tightly, then cover with cold water by only 1" 4. I bring the stock slowly up to a simmer and cook for about 4-6 hours. 5. About 2 hours before the stock is complete I add chuck or any other beef I plan on plating with the soup (browned first). 6. Note I don't use any carrot or vegetables to flavor the soup at this point. Flavoring the stock: About 15-30 minutes before the stock is complete, I add: 1. handful of shallots that have been peeled then roasted on a gas burner until completely black (roughly 8-12 blackened shallots for about 6 quarts of finished soup), 2. 6" of peeled, ginger that has also been roasted on the gas burner until black 3. star anise, clove, and cardamom. (while I can't say with any accuracy how much spicing I use, it's probably about 4-6 star anise for 6 qts of soup, along with 3 cardamom, 4 clove, 12 peppercorns About 5 minutes before the soup is done: 1. Add fish sauce until the flavor is appropriate (it may be undersalted at this point, but with the correct 'fishy' flavor) 2. Add salt if it needs it 3. I generally don't add sugar, but mostly because I don't remember it. I think it would be great either way. The things in your recipe that may be giving you a flavor different from what you were expecting are the carrots, bay leaf, fennel seeds and coriander seeds. If I were you I would definitely omit the first three and probably the last as well. Good luck on your next batch--it's well worth it for a rich, beefy bowl of pho!