Tri2Cook

Yep, that one's right up there at the top of my list too. I can't believe I forgot it in my post. I loved/still love Frozen Desserts so I'm really looking forward to the Modern Cafe as well.

The Ideas in Food book! Oh... and the Ideas in Food book too.

Errr... a stock doesn't require reduction to become a consomme. Just clarification.

Don't avoid them, just swerve at the right moment so you take them out with a tire or bumper and don't do any damage to your car. Roadkill stew. Seriously though, the way I personally avoid it is by just not stopping. What I mean by that is, unless I need to gas up the car or grab a few hours sleep at a hotel, I don't stop at all. People tend to hate travelling with me. I've gone very uncomfortably long amounts of time needing to get rid of that last cup of coffee because the car didn't need gas yet. Yes, I realize this is not a good option for most... but you said all ideas were welcome.

You could hit your broth with a touch of xanthan or ultratex to give it a little more body. You could also try freezing it in ice cube trays or something then dropping them frozen. How long are you leaving them in the bath before you try to pull them? If the surface is gelling but they fall apart when you try to remove them they may just need to gel a little longer or be handled more delicately. Also, just out of curiosity, did you taste the broth with the calcium chloride? I'm just asking because that can be some nasty, bitter tasting stuff and not really worth the tradeoff just to get the spheres to work if the taste comes forward. Personally, I'd do regular alginate spheres or, if that's not a good option due to needing hold time, just do without them altogether before I'd serve them with calcium chloride in them... but that's just me.

Well it was kinda annoying that the interviewer decided to interrupt while you were explaining exactly what you have in mind to jump to talking about your show (or was that intentional editing) but I get the general idea of what you're up to. Cool stuff Chef. Chris: Personally, I'm hoping his feeling on what the critics think of it is the same as the feel I get for his opinion on what critics may think about what he does at his restaurant. I may have it all wrong but a great deal of what I respect about Chef Cantu is that his restaurant seems to be a big middle finger to the critics. He's showing the world that the use of so-called "gimmicks" does not preclude good food if you do it right. He's not jumping on the bandwagon of chefs that once embraced the idea and now proclaim against it just because some critics decided it wasn't cool anymore. If that's not the case, I'm not sure I want to know because that image has been hugely inspirational to me. I'll never be at his level but I'd like to think that, if I was, I would do what I love to do the way I love to do it and the critics could take a leap.

Shhhh... apparently it's evil to use that phrase now. Not only for the critics but for the chefs that once embraced it as well. They'll send the food police to hit you over the knuckles with a spatula if they hear you say it!

I thought the "didn't like vegetables" was a childhood thing. I don't remember anything being said about not liking vegetables as an adult. I could have missed it though. The correlation between re-shaping/altering foods and understanding food quality doesn't really work for me. If you take a really good tomato and decide to restructure it, you better understand the pleasure of a really good tomato because you can change the shape and texture but it still won't make a bad tomato taste good.

A Calamansi/Kalamondin tree would be wonderful. Yeah, if I had the time and patience for plants there are a few I wouldn't mind having around. I kinda have a strict "no presents that require feeding and/or watering" policy but I can see it being a cool gift.

Whipped cream flavored w/ custard powder? Maybe cream, pasteurized yolks, sugar and vanilla that has been whipped? I really don't know, just guessing here.

I'm just kinda tired of people calling everything they don't or can't do a gimmick. The whole "MG backlash" thing has created a group of people who are snobs just for the sake of being snobbish. Doesn't matter if it works in the context of the dish, it wasn't a necessity so it's bad. "Hmmm, this is really good. And it's kinda fun too. Oh, but it could have been done in a more traditional/less fun manner and it would have been just as tasty. So now I hate it. How dare they try to make food fun! I'm too cool for fun!" A well executed "gimmick" is just as valid as any other well executed technique and a poorly executed "gimmick" is no more a sin than any other poorly executed technique. The only thing that should matter is what it brings to the final dish. I really thought Bryan was going to take it but I have to say that I'm happy Michael pulled it off. "Gimmicks" and all...

Personally, my favorite gift is gift certificates/cards for the places I buy most of my cooking stuff (or the places where I buy most of my cycling stuff but that's not food related so...). I like being able to get what I actually want or need instead of well-intentioned guesses (I've got way too much of that stuff stored around the house). Unfortunately, most people don't seem to like to do that on their own and finding a way to tell them without making them feel like anything else wouldn't be appreciated isn't easy. So maybe he's a fellow secret "I really wish they'd just give me a gift card for xxxx this year" person. I actually opted out of mr. nice guy mode the past couple years and just told people to get me a gift card from a small list of places or a one of the books on my "really want" list.

Try doing a brine that has been infused with the flavors you want to use and chilled.

I'm guessing the reduction in non-fat milk solids (lactose, caseins, whey proteins, etc.) is probably the factor in this case but there is also a huge difference in water content. Can't think of any reason why that would be the problem though.

Sorbets are an obvious category to explore if that's feasible for the party. Butter being ok leaves tons of options open for a baked item to accompany a sorbet. Many shortbreads, cakes, cookies, etc. don't require any of the restricted items. You also have many sauce and compote options to work into the plate without breaking the restrictions. You can even do fruit caramel sauces by caramelizing sugar and glucose, stirring in a little butter and adding some fruit puree. It's really good with banana puree. I know I'm not being specific but I don't really know what you have in mind in terms of simplicity or the lack thereof.

I don't find that hard to believe at all. In the restaurant where she works, she's in her domain where she's in charge. In the real restaurant world, if something is wrong then you fix it. On Top Chef, if something is wrong then you will go home unless someone elses is more wrong than yours. Also, most of the stuff they make them do on Top Chef bears no resemblance to what she would be doing in the restaurant other than good food is supposed to be the result. Taking people out of their comfort zone is a great way to shake their confidence.

If I for some reason had to pick one book from my collection and the rest were going to disappear, it would definitely be McGee's On Food and Cooking.

Actually I've seen quite a few diner breakfast menus that have fried chicken and eggs as an option... grits and/or waffles are usually part of the package as well. And fast food places in the south usually have chicken and egg (with or w/o cheese) biscuits on the menu. They were popularly eaten with strawberry jelly added where I lived though I prefered mustard on mine.

Well "Better than Hot Sex Cake" has one strike against it without even seeing the recipe. It's obviously not true. A woman at a catering job I did last year told me a dessert I made was "better than sex" to which I replied: then you haven't been doing it right. However, neither name would help me decide which recipe is better. I'd have to check out both to make that decision.

Not true. In his show "In Search of Perfection" he shows how you can do the aerated chocolate at home. With minimal expense really. And even Heston's rig isn't necessary, though it does work well. It makes bigger bubbles but you can get great results with no vacuum source at all... just spray it into a cold container and get it in the cooler quick.

They won't turn to mush. They'll melt. They're just sugar. But, depending when you add them, they'll either melt very quickly when you dump in the hot syrup or less quickly once it's cooled a bit. How much less quickly, I don't know. I'm guessing not too many, if any, would survive for very long though. There's a fairly high initial loss rate even when adding them to straight cooled, melted chocolate which has far less water content than a marshmallow base.

At work, suck it up. Can't stop when it's busy to go stick the hand or arm in the sink and by the time it's not busy you probably don't even remember it unless it was really bad. You get used to it eventually. Sometimes I find blisters in the morning without even knowing I'd burned myself the night before. At home, I'd probably run cold water on it if it was bad enough to hurt. Other than that, make sure it doesn't get infected and when it heals you have another tatoo for the collection.

Figures... I try to stick up for creativity in menu writing and it turns out they're actually sending out chunks of lamb charcoal. Oh well, not the first time I've been wrong.

What he said...

I'll concede that it's subjective but the word "charred" is not off-putting to me at all. In my opinion (which I realize is not the only opinion that matters), it's ok to assume a certain amount of common sense from people. Does anybody really think the word "charred" on a menu means they plan to severely burn the item and send it out? If you were, say, at the French Laundry and it said "charred cutlets of lamb" on the menu, would you expect a lump of lamb charcoal to appear before you? Understand that I'm not trying to dictate what others should find off-putting, I'm just suggesting that thinking a little deeper than the initial reaction might relieve the fear. I've never seen/heard a complaint about the word "blackened" on a cajun/creole menu but does that really sound like an appetizing desciption of what is a very tasty preparation method?