tommy

did anyone mention the brain aneurysm yet? quite lovely. i remember visiting a friend in college. we, of course, were looking to jumpstart our buzz before going out, and on an *extremely* limited budget. we somehow got a hold of a bottle of grain. now even we were smart enough to know that we had to mix it with something. so we stole a big package of red-flavored juice mix from a kitchen. now, of course, we needed something in which to mix it. so we stole a bucket from the janitor's close (i shit you not). now, of course, we needed something to mix it *with*. rather than look much further/farther, and already salivating now that the power stuff was in the bucket which was in the shower and being filled by the nozzle, i had no choice but to plunge my arm in, elbow deep, to mix the stuff up. it was disgusting. and my arm was pink for 4 days.

it's the best cheesesteak in the area.

ooo, twist the knife why doncha.

Maybe I haven't read enough of his posts. I haven't gotten the idea that he's a"smug bastard." ok then.

new posters love this place.

Tommy, he's right. Heat "travels", or flows, by all three. my comment had nothing to do with the thermodynamic properties of meat, as i agree with him. i was merely pointing out that he's a smug bastard.

if i'm not mistaken, they generally pour remy martin VSOP.

last night i went out to dinner with my 79 year-old mother-in-law (no changing her at this point!). she wanted what i assume was long roasted crispy duck. the menu at this restaurant said "crispy duck." i've seen this description many times before, and it's often just a leg (crispy) and a breast (served rare/med-rare and not crispy). i made sure i asked the waiter which it was. he said it had a separate breast. my mother-in-law, of course, said, "oh, well make that part well done." she doesn't like breast just i as don't. of course, this led to a near-flavorless and tough piece of duck breast. and, of course, she complained about the dish to us and said that some other restaurant makes it much better. well, i couldn't explain to her that that other restaurant cooks theirs in a completely different manner, as it's a different dish. there was no explaining. i deal with this whenever she orders "crispy duck." my father likes well-done steak. he gets it as tough as "shoe leathuh," as my grandmother used to say. but he likes it that way. he knows what he likes, he knows what to expect, and he enjoys the shit out of it. nothin wrong with that in my book.

fink's mentioned in march 03 Food & Wine mag. Click here for the post on the Media board.

varmint, glad to see more pictures posted here. i've considered spicy tuna in endive. i've always been concered that the endive is a bit too bitter and would overpower the tuna in that respect. were you pleased with that balance?

ronfland, you (and others) are speakin my language. fat guy, you haven't provided any compelling arguments here. if your opinion stems strictly from aesthetics, i might take issue, as the "well used" look is something i'm expecting. however, if you feel that the table or top won't make for a practical cutting board, i'd like to hear why. i can totally accept that, and expect it, as it was clear me before purchasing the thing that it was overpriced and basically for tourists. any additional commentary, as always, would be appreciated.

oops. i meant to say: "cutting board." for what it's worth, i looked into this a bit, as i was concerned about the wheels and stability. it's rather steady, and the wheels do lock. i'm not planning on plopping down sides of beef, and a band saw will not be an attachment. however, i was hoping to use it for everyday light work, such as slicing and dicing vegetables, cutting/prepping meats, etc. fat guy (nice graphic) seems to think it will look ugly if i use it as a cutting board. others think that it will add character and offer good advice on sanding if i start to hate the look. if whatever i do on it is reversible to some extent, i may just go with it as a cutting board. nick, that's actually what i'm hoping to avoid. still torn, tommy

ugh. he gets smugger by the post.

flux. flow. energy. direction. "travel" seems to work. great topic. i was just thinking about this the other day and was going to inquire. i, too, was under the impression that the bone had something to do with carry-over. however, i also notice that meat is always less done around the bone. so there went my theory. carry over can only happen if the meat (or the spot that you've got the thermometer) is in contact with something hotter than it is. that could be a pan i suppose. (a bone, clearly, isn't it). the outside of the meat. so which is it? DTC's theory that the size and shape of the meat affects the carry-over certainly seems reasonable. i'll check by in 3 days after all of you smart people have fully figured this out. i'd like to see a summary post as well.

i just bought this, to increase work space in my kitchen. while searching around egullet for info on how to oil it, i ran across steven's comments and now i'm thinking twice about actually cutting directly on it (which seems so romantic). i suppose i can put a cutting board on top when i'm working on it, but that's so lame. it's made of maple. any thoughts on how this thing might look after repeated use, or if it's worth just using a cutting board on top. any advice, as always, is greatly appreciated.

nutley i'm guessing. searching on "petite cafe," as i recall several discussions on this place in the past.

but only if you think the acidity won't have an adverse affect on the flesh of the meat of that time.

i'm down with that.

we really do need an experiment on this. however, i'll again submit that any flavor that you want to add to the dish can be done during the cooking process as you normally would (or are all brined dishes lacking in flavor). but i suppose it wouldn't hurt to add some stuff other than salt/sugar to the water every now and again.

that dave guy is one smart fella. again, the brining process, for many, isn't about adding flavor. it's about altering the texture (via losening protien strands) of the meat.

ooo. open for debate. many suggest that anything other than salt and sugar won't make its way into the meat. i'm with them. if you want flavor, add it during the cooking process. brining is a chemical reaction of sorts that loosens up protein strands, and adds a bit of salt of course. that's my theory at least.

in my experience, if the veggies are added at the beginning, they will be mush after 3 hours. however, i would add them, and, if desired, cook others separately, or add some towards the end.

i just had some chopped onion and celery, a bay leaf, red wine, chix broth, head of garlic, and that's pretty much it. did a quite high heat sear on the chops after seasoning with s/p.

zeb, i'm not sure what kind of friends you have, but my friends (the males) do that sort of thing with ladies. i mean, it's only right.