FoodMan

It will defenitly taste like salted bay leaf water . So it is not just Salt but as was mentioned anything that dissolves/inffuses in water (mint, allspice, mollasses,....). So Sorry Tommy this is not open for debate FM

You can brine pretty much anything and add whatever flavors you want. FM

Sounds like a real lovely salad. I love these roasted salads, never tried to mix beets with pears. Did you have any kind of dressing or was it just the vegetable roasting juice and some EVOO? A picture would've been nice. this sounds like a good salad for wednesday dinner. Last night We had a roasted quartered chicken marinated with green oinion/cumin/lime/honey paste. Served it with savory bread pudding. For after dinner coffee we had homemade Pannetone (sp?) rolls from "the bread baker's apprentice" bread book. It was my first time experimenting with this type of bread and the recipe was great (uses a sourdough starter and commercial yeast) not to mention how fantastic the whole apartment smelled. FM

My point exactly, if they had showed willingness to learn, discipline (That guy -Joe- was more than an hour late to show up on his second day!!!) and respect to the profession they would've been treated with more respect. Since they both did not seem to care much, why should he? FM

Very true, he even said it himself : "No one can blame me for not being able to train them in one week" (or something to that effect) FM

Did anyone watch this show yesterday? I am not a chef, I just love to cook but IMHO these two were just incompetent. I mean how hard can it be to memorize three recipes over a period of one week. I am not talking about "re-producing" the exact same recipe just the way it is made at Babbo (I know this is hard) but about simple stuff like NOT FORGETTING ANY INGREDIENTS. They were just standing there and looking. What about notes? I don't care how few times you've seen the dish made, TAKE NOTES and memorize the darn thing. Any thoughts? Am I trivializing the whole thing? FM

gets my vote ... Good Luck FM

It simply does not sound too appetizing of an idea. I am not a big fan of bread stuffing into any kind of bird anyways (the "soggy stuffing/overcooked bird" factor). But a cheesburger in a CORNISH HEN!!! It sounds plain old nasty, and it does injustice to both foods (the hen and the burger). I concur on the Gah FM

Talk about decadent.....it does sound superb FM

Monkfish Skewers: Chunks of Monkfish seasoned with rosemary, olive oil, and garlic skewred with cubed sourdough bread and wrapped with bacon. I cooked the skewers in the oven, the fish was deliciously moist and firm. Served on top of some nice greens with lime/honey dressing. FM

Super Bowl Dinner: -Chilli: with roasted Poblano's and Red Bell Pepper, Chipotle, Ancho. -Spinach and Mushroom Enchiladas in a creamy tomato sauce. Last night: -Roast Chicken: with rosmary butter rubbed under the skin and all over. Made Jus from the drippings and some leftover champagne. -White rice -green salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette. -Chocolate Souffle for dessert FM

- Blood Orange cosmopolitan as an apperitif - Sauteed fresh green beans with garlic and EVOO served with a blood orange vinaigrette - Brined thick bone-in pork chops (brine made with salt, water, molasses, garlic, juniper and peppercorns). The chopes were grilled on the stove top on a cast iron gridlle pan until they got that pretty cross hatch pattern, then finished in the oven. Very moist and delicious. -Potato salad , made with nice yukons, chives, celery heart & leaves. The salad was dressed with sour cream dressing (sour cream, evoo, s&p, lime juice). FM

That is very true, but I guess crumble is easier to say than "chunk-and-drop". Since as Jin said this is a Jamie Oliver recipe you can sub anything you like and it certainly is not exact but keep in mind that Ricotta Salata will give a much different flavor than regular fresh Ricotta. I have tried the recipe ;I think, since I do not have the book with me right now but it does sound familiar; and it does taste excellent with Ricotta "Chunked-and-dropped" on it FM

Regular Ricotta is not as crumbleable as salata or feta but it defenitly could be crumbled, since it is usually a little grainy and dry. I do not think this is an error from the book, I think I know what recipe you are talking about and it is not Ricotta Salata. FM

Thanks for the suggestions and advice guys, I just wasn't sure if I got it right since the versions I've seen in restaurants are more reddish than this one. So I thought maybe Simon used a larger tin of tomatoes than the one I used or something. Food coloring??!!! Didn't know that. The idea of adding a little Kashmiri red chilli sounds very appealing though. FM

Well as promised here is the Chicken Tikka Masala from Simon's recipe: I served it with white rice and homemade "naan" from the recipe in Monica Bhide's book. The chicken was delicious, the only thing I would change next time is maybe to add a little more tomatoes to get a deeper pink color and a little more tomato flavor. Thanks for posting this fantastic recipe Simon. FM

Mustard crusted King Salmon with beet vinaigrette. used mustard seeds and coarse salt to form a crust on the skin side of the salmon fillets. Then seared them in olive oil on both sides till the sides are crispy and the center is moist. Served them topped with beet vinaigrette (roasted pureed fresh beets, EVOO, Sherry vinegar, S&P). For myself I plated the fillet on top of beet greens (shame to waste any part of the fresh beets) lightly sauteed with scallions and garlic in EVOO. A drizzle of balsamic at the end. As for my wife she wanted hers with my sweet roasted root vegetables; carrots, sweet potato, parsnips, and a quartered red onion. All mixed together with fresh thyme, honey, olive oil, a little pure maple syrup, and roasted in one layer on a sheet pan until browned and the sugars are caramalized. FM

Kulfi.

Pureeing The Mango with the Kulfi base makes a lot of sense. I did need to add sugar to the fruit because it was not sweet enough since it is not in season. I am thinking of using canned Mango puree next time. hmmm... Passion Fruit soup sounds very intriguing. I've never made a chilled fruit soup before. It's probably time to give it a try. Hopefully the next time I find some fresh Passion Fruit. FM

It would be my pleasure to share pics of the Tikka Masala (unless I burn it or something ). I make yogurt the same way my mom does and has been doing for as long as I remember. I made my first batch about a couple of years ago using store bought yogurt as a starter. I heat up the milk until it is pretty much boiling then let it cool down until it is still hot but not so hot as to kill the live yogurt culture, the test I learned from mom is that it should be hot enough so that you cannot keep a -!!clean!!- index finger in the milk for more than 10 seconds (or you can use a thermometer but I don't). Then I just mix in the store yogurt (about 1/4 cup starter to a half gallon milk) with the milk in a glass or ceramic pot with a lid, wrap in a wool cloth, and leave at room temp over night. Come morning time I have fresh and very tasty yogurt with a texture that resembles a smooth soft custard-- works every time. Then I remove about 1/4 cup fresh yogurt and freeze it in a small plastic container to use next time as a starter , and I never have to buy yogurt again (make sure it is defrosted before using). FM

I love this stuff but never cooked it at home. I printed the recipe yesterday and made a batch of yogurt. I will marinate the chicken tonight and Tikka Masala will be for dinner tomorrow. Thanks for the clarification FM

I have not taken pictures yet Suvir but I still have more Kulfi in the freezer for my own enjoyment . I will plate and take a picture as soon as I get a chance (hopefully tonight after work). the texture was certainly different than ice cream, it was much denser and a little "brittle" however it did scoop nicely and tasted rich. As for the fruit I actually pureed it with about a quarter of cup water and some sugar then folded it into the cooled dairy mixture. I was not sure if I should fold it in while the dairy was hot fearing it might curdle (I had a similar bad experience with a strawberry ice cream I was trying out ). After folding the fruit in, the whole mixture went into the fridge overnight for the flavors to smooth and mingle. The stuff was put in the ice cream maker the next morning then transferred to the freezer in a thick plastic container. FM

Quorn ???? Is this the same as Corn?? FM

background: Sunday's dinner all started when my father-in-law called me up early last week and said that some guys from his company are going shrimping in the gulf of Mexico (of the shore of Galveston, TX) and that he wanted to buy about 20 lbs of shrimp from them when they get back. 10lbs of the shrimp will be mine if I agree to cook it for the inlaws (he wanted gumbo) at my place . Of course I agreed and we set a date for them to come over for dinner over the weekend. I picked the shrimp up on Friday from the inlaws place and kept them on ice in the fridge till Sunday. These were very good sized fresh shrimp probably about 15 per pound. the menu: - Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo. Traditional Louisiana gumbo made with shrimp stock from the shells of the cleaned shrimp, and smoked sausage. I picked the smaller specimens for the Gumbo and dropped them in the hot pot 15 minutes before serving. It was served with rice and homemade french bread to mop up any juices. -Stuffed shrimp. For the larger ones I used a recipe from Food 911 for stuffed shrimp. The stuffing was made from cornbread crumbs, home-smoked tasso ham, parsley, onions and shrimp broth. The shrimp were drizzled with melted butter right before baking them. they were served with a roatsed tomato/saffron aioli. -Roasted Asparagus. This was a simple accompaniment to the stuffed shrimp. Roasted with EVOO, garlic, S&P. -Chocolate Mousse cream puffs. My wife loved those so much earlier in the week that she asked me to make another batch for her and her mom. -Mango Kulfi: Based on Suvir's recipe I made a delicious Kulfi with Cardamom, nuts, and fresh pureed Mangoe. A perfect finish to a fantastic meal. FM

I did make the Kulfi based on Suvir's recipe and incorporated some fresh pureed mango in there. I did however use an ice cream maker (sorry Suvir) before freezing it . It came out perfect with great flavor and texture. My father-in-law who normally skips dessert enjoyed it very much (He asked for a bowl as soon as I metioned Mango and ice cream together ). Maybe next time I will try it with out the ice cream maker, I'm sure it will come out with a different texture, maybe more dense and not as scoopable. Thanks again Suvir FM edit spelling