FoodMan

Creme Brulee??? Really man?? He definitely wanted to go home. It takes a minute to caramelize the sugar on top alone! These chefs also act as if they've never heard of an Amuse Bouhe before!! Most of them made a course. Fabio made a good sized dessert for heaven's sake. Jeff did him one better with TWO courses . That just bugs me. Kudos to Leah, she sure deserved it. Then Fabio even has the balls to complain about losing because he did not make "toast with bull**** eggs on top".

I have way more Meyer lemons than I know what to do with. I sure know that at least a couple (they have a ton of juice) can be used for the sinfully good lemon cream tart.

As Marge Gunderson would say "I'm not sure I agree with you a hundred percent on your police work, there, Lou. " I'm all for it when people decide to face where their food comes from and not shy away from the fact that they are eating dead creatures when eating meat. I've hunted and fished and killed lobster. I also helped my granfather when slaughtering and butchering goats for the family (not much fun...no sir). However, it is a bit extreme to say one is a hypocrite just becuase they do not want to kill their critter is a bit extreme. I'm betting there are a lot of "hunters" or "carnivores" out there who kill their prey, but they have zero respect for what they did. It's really not about the action itself, but about the state of mind, the philosophy and what you do with the dead creature that matters.

I'm thinking those little twists are more about being a master of dealing with the situation at hand and getting the job done. A top chef would say "ok, this is what I have to work with so this is how I'll get it done". A flop chef would say "I can't" and start making excuses. I'm sure the boxed stocks are the result of advertising dollars as well. ← Swanson Broth IS writing Bravo checks. ← That would explain who those who got "skipped" in the quickfire were. Those who said, "F it, I'd rather use water instead". It was good to see Grant as a guest judge as well.

I agree about the size of the terrine you use. I figured out that I need 1.5 times as much filling to properly fill my terrine using R&P recipes and my terrine is a classic and typical Le Crueset mold. If I make the filling as is, I end up with a squat looking terrine.

Sorry for going slightly OT, but I have to add my sentiment to yours here. I picked this one up on discount and it is a treasure. Wonderful writing, at times VERY opinionated and certainly personal. His voice comes through like an old respected teacher and you just want to keep reading. Many unique and simple French recipes that actually teaches experienced cooks some tricks (much more than I can say about the brand new in English "The Complete Robuchon"...more OT so I'll stop).

The most sorrel recipes I've ever seen are in Richerd Olney's book "Simple French Food". I can look some up later tonight and get back to you if you like. Soups, gratins, sauces, sorrell mousse... On the other hand it looks like Amazon has the book and you can "search inside it". Do a search for "sorrel" and you'll get a bunch of items.Here is the link.

I really like Harold McGee, but I often find his NYT articles a bit simplistic. Why does he assume that there's only one singular brining method that always results in the same salty meat? If it's too salty, you left it in the brine too long. If it's too sweet, you added too much sweetener. I wouldn't brine for days and days as he suggests; that's how you get over salty, waterlogged meat. You have to brine according to the size and shape of your protein and tweak the brine according to what you're after. Then, it can highlight some of the meat's flavors or subtly introduce some other flavors (such as garlic, sage, rosemary, lemon juice, juniper, etc.) into the protein. I get that some people don't like brined meat but it's not a monolithic thing. It's a technique like others and is useful sometimes for its effects (the most important of which, for me, is not ability to overcook and not worry, it's about the flavor). But, like other techniques, it needs adaptation of method to result in the desired effect. ← Exactly! A 12-18 hour brine produces a juicy, not salty and delicious roasted bird. Leaving it much more than that produces a turkey similar to the one you buy at the deli counter. Year after year I roast a brined turkey (breast temp of 160F) and the results are always perfect. No one ever complained of a salty or "hammy" turkey. Usually the guests are surprised how juicy the breast meat is.

Right. Stefan's argument was one made for the sake of argument. Sure, you can mix oil and vinegar together and call it a vinaigrette...a broken vinaigrette. I do this all the time when I'm lazy. Point is, a proper vinaigrette should be emulsified. He was just being an ass and for that I dislike him even though he is a competent ass.

i thought it was the lemon curd and "cherry surprise" dessert that made her wretch. (it appeared that those cherries came from a can of pie filling---SURPRISE!!) ← It was, she spit that one out. The avocado one also illicited some strong comments from her though. I love Avocado shakes and mousses as well...odd that she thought it was such a horrible idea,

Here's the Lebanese version for you, my buddies and I lived on those things in high school and college because they were cheap, delicious and went great with beer and Pepsi. You can find them in almost any Lebanese sandwich shop in Beirut or elsewhere. Pit bread + hot of from the fryer fries + Ketchup + cabbage coleslaw (NOT the sweet American version) + pickles + tomatoes. I still make those with leftover French fries.

if padma starts saying that, i'm guessing ratings go thru the roof. ← LOL...you beat me to it.

I bet if Jill defended her -very poor dish- better she would've stayed. Ariane was the one who definitly needs to go. I believe this is the second time (in two episodes) that she said "Well, I've never cooked/seen this before". She seems lazy, uninterested and not very competent. My money on her leaving the show next time around. My favorite is Fabio so far. That Carpaccio dish really did come across as top notch, classical but with a very modern flair AND was perfectly executed. He has his head in the right place, he can cook and seems competent. Stefan is competent but is an ass (Vinaigrette is not an imulsion...right, bad ones are not).

Like cdh has pointed out... 2 row, or a similar base malt is required for mashing other grains in most cases. The proteins in the base malt will convert the starches in the oats to the stuff you're looking for. "Mini mash" or partial mash brewing is generally the name for it. Heating roughly 1.2 quarts of water per lb of grain to around 162 degrees and dumping your grain into that for an hour should should do it. The tip about using the airlock for a blowoff is one of my favorites. I've had people try to stick huge tubing into the mouth of a carboy, only to create a bad seal. Just take a 3 piece airlock, 1/2in. ID (inner diameter) tubing, and stick that on the middle post of the air lock. The need for a blowoff will change somewhat on the strength of ferment, and the type of grain used. Wheat has strong protein structure in the krauesen (or so I've been told), and will necessitate a blowoff more than other grain. That said, I had an airlock hit the ceiling 7 feet above the ferment with 4oz of wheat in a 5 gallon batch.... it could happen to anything. ← I appreciate both of your answers. Obviously, I cannot do anything about the starch in the beer at this point, since I am ready to bottle it today or tomorrow. I'll have to keep that in mind for next time. So, what should I expect from this brew? A pretty hazy beer with heavy mouthfeel?

Here it is, my debut recipe from this amazing book. Encouraged by Carol from Alineaathome.com, I decided to make the Bacon, apple, butterscotch, thyme recipe. I also had everything on hand and it just sounded delicious. For such a simple looking recipe, this was not "easy". It involved some monitoring of the drying bacon and the apple leather. I have no dehydrator so I used my oven and the process took longer than it would've in a proper dehydrator. Also, cutting the apple leather into 1/8 inch ribbons is tedious and I found out that a pizza cutter is the best tool for the job. I still cut most of them around 1/4 inch wide. The end result was simply fantastic, way beyond the sum of its parts. I am hoping to make some as an appetizer for Xmas...if I have some helpers . The flavor combo of bacon and sticky sweet butterscotch with the tang of apple and the hint of thyme was addictive even to my two-year old. I only had 2 Granny Smith apples, so I used 2 Cameo apples in place of the other two. I used home cured and smoked bacon. No acetate sheets, so I used parchment. It worked well despite the "wrinkling". Apple Leather Butterscotch

Ditto!! It is sad whenever another baking book comes out from very respected authors and all it lists for measuring is a spoon of this and a cup of that. Same is tru about the wonderful Alinea book, not a single "teaspoon" in sight, only grams and ounces as it should be.

Brewing is definitly a voyage of discovery and learning. Although I am not quiet sure what I learned this time around. Due to Hurricane Ike and it's aftermath, I did not get to brewing this stout till this weekend, Saturday evening to be exact. First thing I noticed is the major amount of foaming durning the early stages of the boil. I am guessing this is due to the pound of oatmeal that was steeped in there and all the proteins from it (I cooked the oatmeal loose roughly twice the amount of water to oats by volume, before steeping). To ferment I had made a starter, for the first time, because after reading Pappazian and Palmer and the whole thing about yeast count, I concluded I was pitching too little yeast for 5 gallon batches. Besides, I love to experiment and starters and yeast fascinate me. In goes a quart of Irish Ale yeast that I had built up over a couple of days. According to Palmer, a quart is about right for a 5 G batch. Sure enough, I noticed vigourous burbling and fermentation within 10 hours or so. Much faster and stronger than when I pitched one test tube's worth. Then a few hours later I check on my fermenter and the lid is popped open on one side! There is wort in the airlock and scummy wort around the fermenter. Luckily I always start the fermentation in our guest bathroom tub just in case something like this happened. It did not seem like I lost too much wort, maybe a quart or less and it smelled good. So, I popped the top back on, wiped the mess, cleaned the airlock and put it back in. No other explosions since then, but the airlock is still bubbling (albeit slowly by today, Teusday). I hope no major damage was done to my beer and it will not be a waste. I am wondering though, why did that happen? Too much yeast? Too much sugar in the wort? Will it happen everytime I use a starter? Maybe I should only pitch about a cup of starter next time?

Sorry I confused you with the term "home cook." I meant pretty much what Thomas Keller means on page 38 where he write about making the dishes "manageable for home cooks." You seem to feel it would be beneath TK to create recipes that are more manageable for home cooks; I'd be loath to attribute to him that level of arrogance, because he seems like a very decent and down-to-earth guy. And if TK doesn't have the time or interest to do so, it shouldn't be beyond the abilities of one of his large crew of assistants or indeed someone else the book's editor chooses to employ.The book is fine for what it is, a collection of highly complicated recipes from FL and ps. What it's not is a book that will help the vast majority of home chefs improve their SV skills. That's a pity and leaves a large hole in the publishing market. ← He does seem like a nice and down to earth guy who loves fried chicken and burgers and I did not imply that it is beneath him to create a homecooked meal. I'm saying that in no way did I expect him to create any recipes short of what he would serve at his restaurant. He did not do it for FL or for Bouchon, so why should he do it now?

Yes it would've been too much to ask that. This is Thomas Keller's food. It is highly refined and -usually- labor intensive. If the FL book coped out and provided a "simplified" recipe for the "home cook" (not sure that that exactly means BTW) for each recipe in the book then it would've missed it goal and never have become the classic it is now. To learn from the master (whether it is Escoffier, Keller, Achatz, Adria or Robuchon) one has to do it their way and then apply it to their own home kitchens. Keller is not Bittman -who I admire for what he does as well- and I doubt he is interested in creating an infinite number of simplified variations on his recipes. I am honestly surprised anyone expected anything different based on the guy's previous books and cooking history.

Ah...it's been a while since I've cooked this and now I am not able to take it out of my mind. It is deliciouse. Another reason to cook the meat in water instead of simmering it in coconut milk for a long time is that it helps keep the coconut milk from breaking down and retains its freshness.

I picked up some Acidophilus at the drugstore today and will be conducting the salami experiment very soon. I bought the NatureMade brand because it had a high guaranteed cell count on it, it includes no preservatives or chemicals and it had the farthest expiration date (hopefully this means it is the freshest). I figured for use in sausage making, buying the better quality tablet is a good idea. Interestingly enough I also bought a hardcover copy of a (seemingly) interesting book called "Preserved", by Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton, from Half-Price Books today. The main reason I did that? A quick skim through it immediatly took me to the Sausage section and they also use Acidophilus in the couple of dry cured recipes they have (A Hungarian Paprika Salami and a French Garlic Sausage). They do specify that other cultures could be used, but this one is the one most readily available. I sure have to agree with them about the "readily available" part. One amusing factoid about Preserved in light of this thread, HFW himself wrote the intro to it. The book is slim and does seem to have good information about various preservation methods (drying, pickling, smoking..). Now, I need some PH strips and some meat to start my testing .

Ok, I got the lime and the pumpkin (actually I already had a few pumpkins). Do you recommned using the same proportions for the preserved pumkin? 1/2 cup lime to 1 lb pumpkin? Cook in 1lb sugar?

Thanks for the early review Morgan. I really missed Tycer's Aries and am glad to hear that he is finally back to the Houston fine dining scene. Looks like their website is not up yet, so any more information about the menu (no minutia necessary) and prices would be good. From what I've read elswhere, Tycer will be focusing on tasting menus ($75 for 5 and closer to $100 for more courses) and very few a la carte items.

Funny thing is, Hugh uses the Acidophilus but still labels it as "optional". I have no inclination to try his bacon recipes, mainly because I am very happy with the one I use regularly. This Acidophilus thing though perked my attention for the reasons I stated. It's cheap, readily available and seems less finicky than Bactoferm. Based on some of my research and your helpful comments, it looks like it is certainly worth a try. I have Bactoferm in the freezer now. So, I might do two small batches and compare.

I could be wrong, but from reading about it, I think Lactic acid is produced by the Acidophilus. A side by side comparison of the Acidophilus and Bactoferm, by measuring the PH after incubation and final taste and mold growth in two identical batches of salami, might be in order.