Tri2Cook

I didn't see any refrigeration in the episode but I'd be surprised if there was none unless they had a storage unit for a lot of ice. I think they had the chefs drag the coolers into their little campsite and then failed to mention that everything was stored in the ranch kitchen. It was the Rustic Edit. Storing the stuff in the desert heat without refrigeration or adequate ice replacement would probably have resulted in the judges refusing to touch the food.

I bought some mcintosh apples yesterday and ate a couple of them today. The first one I ate was your standard garden variety early mac: juicy, crisp, a little tart, green undertone blushed with red on the outside, bright white on the inside. I decided to eat another and it was identical except it had a layer of pink flesh about 1/2" thick all around just under the skin. From there in it was the usual white flesh. It was darkest near the skin and faded as it got closer to the center but there was still a clear defined line between the pink and white where they met. I wasn't around a camera (I was in the woods mushroom hunting) so no pic but I'm wondering if this is common (I only buy macs when the early crop arrives. I don't love them once the mature, less crisp and more sweet ones take over so maybe this happens all the time and I just don't see enough of them to know that.) or was there some cross-pollinating going on at the orchard? I've seen pink fleshed apples before but not macs. It would look really cool on a plate sliced into very thin rings.

This episode was ok but a bit of a yawner after last week. Cactus is a perfectly valid and tasty ingredient, it was good for those who knew nothing about it to experience it. It was also interesting to see some of the front runners sweating a bit over the setting for the elimination but they still stayed away from the bottom. I'm hoping the preview for next week was heavy on the drama edit 'cause they were sure playing Jennifer up to be struggling.

Now I am being argumentive. What you said was "it's just impossible to tell the difference". You may not be able to say 'it was -10 and now it's -30' but you most definitely will say '#@%!... it sure has gotten colder'. You may not be able to make an absolute judgement but you can still make a relative one. It works the same with the topic at hand. I've grown different varieties of habaneros and I can't tell you this type is 300,000 scovilles and that one is 400,000 but I can wipe away the snot and drool streaming down my face and tell you this one was hotter than that one.

With no intention of being argumentive, I have to reply to that one. As a person who lives somewhere where a large percentage of the long (5 months or more) winter is spent in the -30 C (-22 F) to -40 C/F or colder range, I assure you that, although you may not be able to name that temp, the body is very much aware of the difference between -10 and -40. I'm not doubting that what you say is true but I think you're going to have to dip down into a colder range before it kicks in.

No... but I will now. Cool idea.

Yeah, a tropical flavors eggnog might be tasty with it. Or maybe one of those pina colada shakes (the pina colada blitzed with ice cream thing). You could mix it with a little sugar, salt and maybe even some freeze dried pineapple or passion fruit powder for a rim garnish. Of course these may be terrible ideas. I'm not really a cocktail person and, when I do drink them, it's almost never the sweet ones.

You'll soon have an overwhelming need for a burrito and some Fritos. Smoked coconut milk powder sounds really cool. I'm not sure exactly what I'd do with it but I'll have the thinking cap on now. I do a dish that uses shrimp or scallop (depending what looks good at the time) with plantain garnished with coconut milk powder and a few other flavors. A smokey note might be really good with it. Thanks for the idea!

You could sous vide the beef pieces so they don't have the seared surfaces. They'll already be cooked to the desired temp and will reheat while the salmon cooks.

I did an almost entirely purple dessert recently... wild blueberry ice cream - sous vide wild blueberries - oatmeal cookie crumble ...a little blueberry puree and some dried blueberries could be worked into the oatmeal cookie crumble (which was basically just an oatmeal cookie dough with lemon zest added) to get it on track with the color theme and some freeze dried blueberries could add another textural element. For savory, blueberries make a great stain along with providing flavor, so maybe some peeled turnips, radishes, parsnips or something poached in a flavorful stock based on blueberry juice. A reduction of the cooking stock would get you a sauce and, depending on the flavor profile of the sauce, you could garnish it with purple basil or oven roasted purple grapes or whatever makes you happy.

I didn't butter both sides of the bread. I buttered one side as usual but toasted the unbuttered side first then flipped it to the buttered side before proceeding. I tried it with buttering both sides, it's not as good. Get's too greasy. Actually, I haven't eaten a tuna melt in a really long time. I may even like it if I tried it again.

I just cut 3 slits evenly spaced around the bottom edge with scissors. I didn't have any problems with the cup warping. I'm not sure how quickly they would have hardened, I didn't try storing them. I thought the point was to be able to pop them in the microwave as needed and serve them warm. If you mean they hardened really quickly, as in faster than they could be served and eaten, then no, I didn't have any problems with that either.

wild blueberry ice cream - sous vide wild blueberries - wild blueberry syrup - oatmeal cookie crumble

I played with it a while back. I've done chocolate, peanut butter, gianduja, almond butter, white chocolate, bacon, chicken and brown butter versions based on Linda's (Playing with Fire and Water) recipe. I was happy with the results but with the disclaimer that I've never been to El Bulli so I have no comparison to the original to work towards.

That's how I did all of the grilled sandwiches that were on our menu. Butter, toss the bread unbuttered side down on the grill, toast, flip, add cheese to one or both slices as/if required, build sandwich, toss other slice on top, continue as usual. The top slice would begin toasting (and the cheese melting because the bread surfaces are now hot) while building the sandwich on the other slice which made up some of the extra time spent toasting both sides. The customers loved it. As for the best tuna melt: place buttered bread on grill, top both slices with cheese, when the cheese begins to soften and the bread is toasted add tuna salad to one slice, top with the other slice, remove from the grill, cut in half or quarters, place on a plate... and dump it in the bin. Sorry, not a big fan of that particular sandwich.

I thought grenouilles meuniere was a classic? If not, it should be. They're tasty! But it's most definitely a classic paired with trout. I think they were ok either way.

I think this may have been my favorite Top Chef episode of all 6 seasons combined up to this point. I can't imagine having to present my food to that group. It would be exciting and terrifying all at once. Still, that doesn't excuse the screw-ups because they were all serving to the same group and, obviously, some did just fine or even great. I almost got the feeling that Kevin didn't feel like his reward was all that much a reward. He seemed a bit disappointed at not being able to cook for them. I'm wondering if, given the choice, he would have opted to participate in the challenge. My personal top three were in the top four but, at this point, I think my top three is probably pretty similar to most people's top three and it's just a matter of picking the winner.

For custards, ice creams, mousses, parfaits, etc. I usually peel and thinly slice the ginger, put it in a pan, cover it with cold water, heat to a boil and drain. I then do a cold infusion in the dairy with the blanched ginger for about 12 hours and strain out the ginger. Both the dairy used to make the base and the cream to be added at the end (whipped or not and if applicable) get the infusion (at about 40% by weight total ginger to total dairy). It gives a pure, clean ginger flavor without being overpowering.

This is a perfect example of why there can never be a best version of anything. People's perception of taste varies too widely for it to be possible even without factoring in personal preference. I have just the opposite view of broccoli. I like it but, rather than flavorless, I think the flavor is too strong for most uses. I will eat it as a side with just a little butter and salt but I very rarely like it as an ingredient in a dish because the flavor usually takes over the entire dish. As for creamed spinach, I like it but I can't vote because I've never eaten it in NYC.

I should refuse to answer that question on the grounds that it may ruin any small amount of food-related credibility I may or may not have but, in the interest of this scientific survey, I will admit to not being above eating a convenience store burrito despite it being way down my list of quality foods. It's a hold-over from out-of-town weekend kayaking trips where grabbing something quick while gassing up (and then gassing up on that something ) and trying to get home early enough to get some sleep before getting up at 4am for work monday morning was S.O.P. I won't drop down to spam though... I have to have some limits.

I guess I would be a mix of the two. Actually, I'm probably usually one or the other but it varies depending on the subject. With pizza, I'm firmly on slkinsey's side of the fence. With your steak/chicken example, I'd jump over to your side of the fence. And then there are some things that I really don't care one way or the other about, it's just whatever happens to be handy when I'm busy and hungry.

From the link you provided: "Here is the recipe, adapted for use at home". So maybe the amount of batter per brownie has been scaled to the pans most people would have at home. Or maybe they have molds that use that amount of batter but produce a different shape. They may just use jumbo muffin pans to get the larger diameter, the recipe says the brownies fall as they cool so that would explain not having the domed top and being less tall than the usual muffin.

True enough that it's been all seafood so far for her but there's a lot of seafood out there to work with without being repetitive. If she was doing a repeat of "Top Scallop" I might agree but she's done a relatively diverse selection with no primary ingredient repeats and only one preparation repeat (and, from reading the recipes, the two ceviches have very different flavor profiles)... Ep. 1: - Clam Ceviche with Citron Vinegar - Poached Halibut in Whiskey, Bourbon and Scotch Sauce Ep. 2: - Salmon with Lemon, Garlic, Shallot, Parsley and Jalapeno Emulsion - Octopus Ceviche with Citrus Viniagrette Ep. 3: - Steamed Mussels, Yukon Gold and Blue Potatoes with Lemongrass Potato Sauce She's definitely in my top 3 but I want to see a couple more episodes before I pick an order among those three. I don't see them going anywhere before then.

30% pate a bomb (40% sugar : 60% yolk) 30% cream, whipped 30% puree (including any acids, alcohol, etc. used to enhance the fruit) 10% sugar I usually add a bit of gelatin (.3% - .4%) as a stabilizer and minor adjustments to the ratios are sometimes required depending on the fruit but it works as a good starting point.

For the khymos.org TGRWT event #18 which paired plum and blue cheese... cabrales cheesecake - pickled plum sorbet - plum slices - sablee nuggets - cabrales crumble - plum coulis The TGRWT's are a lot of fun. People come up with lots of cool ways to use the sometimes obvious, sometimes seemingly odd pairings. It's cool to see the science behind it work. The pairings, no matter how unlikely seeming, always do indeed "go really well together".