Shel_B

La Boulangerie Bounces Back and Into Trader Joe's (and Costco) CLICK HERE I love their Pain Pascal ... had some for breakfast just this morning. It was gone for a while, but now it's back. If it's in your store,uy some and try it.

No, but a spokesperson from the group Nationwide Cooking and Food Shows of Bethesda, Maryland, said that the organization highly recommends watching each show three times with a "reasonable amount of time" between each viewing.

Well, Alton is older now, and presumably he wants to move forward. However, I'd be disappointed if there wasn't some of the old AB in his new series. I liked the odd bits of history and information attached to the actual cooking, recipes, and techniques. However he chooses to present his show, I'm happy that he'll be back and sharing his wisdom, humor, and even some silliness, with us.

Hair-Dryer Duck I have a recipe which was modified from Marcella Hazan's 1978 More Classic Italian Cooking which is simplicity itself in terms of ingredients, using only fresh herbs, salt and pepper to accent the duck's natural flavors. But it's way out there in terms of technique, achieving a remarkable, grease-free and glassy-crisp skin by a thoroughly non-traditional procedure: First the duck is simmered in boiling water for a few minutes, then prepped for roasting by blasting it all over with a standard home hair dryer. 　 Marcella's name for the dish is the simple, descriptive Italian "Anatra Arrosto" ("roast duck"), but for years I've lovingly called it "hair-dryer duck." I'm not going to post the entire recipe here, just the important details re crisping the skin and some other techniques. If anyone wants the entire recipe, send me a PM. 　 Procedure: 　 Fill a pot large enough to hold the duck with enough water to cover the duck, and bring the water to the boil. Gently place the duck in the water, let it return to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer it gently for about 10 minutes. Lift it out to a large plate, taking care to avoid scalds. Preheat your oven to 450F (230C). While it's pre-heating, turn a high-powered, hand-held hair dryer to hot/high, and blow hot air all over the duck from an inch or two away, moving it around to cover all surfaces. You'll see a significant amount of fat come streaming out ... feel free to pat some of it away. Hazan says, "This is to keep the pores wide open, and ease the outflow of fat while roasting." Maybe so. I can only testify that it works. Put the bird breast-up on a rack in a large roasting pan, and put it in the preheated oven. Let it roast at this high temperature for 30 minutes, trying to ignore the spattering noises and smoke that will emerge from your oven. (If your smoke detectors are sensitive, you may want to take them down before making this dish.) 　 After about 30 minutes, reduce heat to 375F (190C). This would be a good time to open the oven door and turn the pan around to ensure that the duck roasts evenly. Cook for another hour. As noted above, I've omitted details about seasoning, how to handle the liver and other parts, and just focused here on getting the skin crisp and cooking the bird. More details are available just for the asking. Of course, those peripheral details can use your own seasonings, etc. 　 　

Looks lovely ...

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/10/oreo-recall-spurred-by-allergic-reaction-to-undeclared-milk/#.WBfOnhIVBrQ

How does salt pork differ from pork belly, the various types of bacon (pancetta, guanciale, typical American bacon), lard, and other types of pork fat? Have I missed any other pork fats? From a practical standpoint, can any or some of these fats be used interchangeably? For example, in this recipe (CLICK HERE - Right now it seems that the recipe is available for viewing and download for free. I can't say for how long that will be.) that calls for the rendering of salt pork. There's also a good amount of home-rendered lard in my freezer. Instead of running to the butcher and buying salt pork, could I use my lard instead? What might I gain or lose by so doing? Same question for the various bacons.

I use the Thermopen (not the newest iteration), and, like you, there are some design elements I dislike, some of which have been corrected in the new Thermopen. From what I see, the RT600C looks to be a nice adjunct to it's big brother. That said, and to stay on topic, I always clean the probe by sticking it in boiling water and drying it with a clean dish towel. I do so before and after using the thermometer. I will also wipe down the entire unit with a damp towel after every cooking session.

An article in Food Safety News this morning suggests that cookbooks in the kitchen pose a possible contamination threat. Click Here for the article.

Like guanciale ... quite familiar with it. It's swell stuff!

And what have the chemists done to the celery juice? You've quoted "celery juice that food chemists have been turned loose on ..." Would you be kind enough to post the source for that quote? Thanks!

For some reason, I just didn't think of them. They've got excellent pork products, and I can buy small amounts ... I'll swing by the next time I'm in the neighborhood. Thanks! I went to their site and discovered that they are now offering a delivery service. Orders must be placed over the phone by 1:00pm for same day delivery .Free delivery on orders over $100!

Bacon is not something we eat a lot of ... maybe we use a pound or so per year, and often it's used as an ingredient in a recipe, although I do enjoy a nice bacon, etc. sandwich every now and then. I've been buying from a local market, and have been pretty happy with it. In addition, I sometimes grab a few slices from the local poultry market where the bacon is sliced by hand from a larger slab, and where I can request a specific thickness and just how many slices I want. This is useful for certain recipes ... I sometimes want the bacon to be 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick. I'd like to find some other sources of artisanal quality bacon but I don't know what's out there other than Benton's, which has been mentioned here numerous times. Any suggestions for interesting, high-quality bacon, ideally thick cut? Thanks!

That tri-tip sure looked good. Got me thinking about getting an SV setup, although we so rarely eat meat. Please explain "MBP" and what your experiment is.

Yes, those onions look very nice ...

If you've been enjoying Vivian's book and, perhaps, watching her show, maybe you've cultivated a curiosity about southern cooking. Here, also on PBS, is a season of Mind of a Chef devoted to Southern Cooking. This show is an excellent compliment to Vivian's show.

Overall, I was quite disappointed with this sauce. While it was somewhat fresh tasting, other similar sauces were brighter and more lively, although mostly by a small margin. The biggest complaint, however, is how oily the sauce is. The as yet unopened jar has a small lake of oil floating on the top, similar to how the oil separates from natural peanut butter, although this lake is not as deep. A few days ago I used this sauce on spaghetti and meat balls, and found the oiliness to ne a problem. In addition, the sauce felt and tasted greasy - quit unpleasant. After heating the sauce for the pasta, I had to skim a fair amount of fat from it, and even with that, the greasiness persisted. I'd not buy it again, and may just give the unopened jar to someone here in my apartment building. There is another Victoria marinara sauce, and the ingredients are slightly different. FWIW (and to me it's not worth a lot), it won the Cook's Illustrated taste test for "premium" spaghetti sauces.

The very first ice cream I made contained no sugar or sweetener. It was Sorbetto di Parmigiano: "Sorbetti became very popular in the eighteenth century, and the category included many non-sweet dishes. There is a famous treatise on sorbetti by a physician of the time, telling of the many therapeutic uses for these iced dishes. This one, of Parmigiano, is typical of the non-sweet examples, and perhaps the easiest to understand for the modern palate. It should be eaten in place of the cheese course, either instead of dessert or before it. The dish has an established place in the old Parma cooking and is *not* an experiment." Source: Giuliano Bugialli's "Classic Techniques of Italian Cooking" I'd be happy to provide the recipe and technique to anyone interested. There's also a Gelato di Parmigiano, which, while technically not an ice cream, is made along similar lines and was usually enjoyed in the same manner during a meal. It's interesting in that many recipes call for a small amount of chili pepper. Frequently it's been served as an appetizer - it goes very well with thin slices of prosciutto (Parma ham).

Thanks for the link. I've been looking through my braised turkey leg/thigh recipes, so the link was very timely. I don't think I'd have thought of using red wine as a braising liquid ...

Does anyone have a recommendation or two for a refrigerated pre-made pie crust. I prefer to stay away from frozen, and would like to find a crust that's made with good quality ingredients. Prefer sheets rather than the kind that comes already shaped and formed in the thin aluminum pans. Cost is of secondary concern. Thanks!

This afternoon, while returning from Trader Joe's where I purchased a quart of ice cream, my driver asked, "Who doesn't like ice cream?" It seems we agreed that neither of us knew anyone who didn't like the treat. That question made me wonder if there's anyone who doesn't like it. Is there anyone here who dislikes ice cream? The question doesn't directly apply to those who can't eat it for dietary or other reasons.

I was just looking at some orange chicken at TJ's ... it's a dish I enjoy once or twice a year. I tried to find the Costco OC using a search engine, but couldn't. You wouldn't by any chance be able to provide a pic of the box, or maybe the brand name? Thanks for any help. Edit: Is this what you bought?

For the article about this, Click Here

I went to Costco today and found this sauce, which I purchased. What interested me was the ingredient list, which is similar to the ingredients of Cucina Antica mentioned above. The texture is also quite similar. The sauce isn't completely smooth. The price for two 40-oz jars was $8.99, which works out to be about half the price of the Cucina Antica and the Rao's sauce, also mentioned above. I'll have a chance to try it after the weekend, but I am hopeful it will be satisfactory. Ingredients: Italian and diced tomatoes, imported olive oil, fresh garlic, basil, onions, sea salt and spices.

I've been using a similar pan for 35+ years, and recently found a new one, so I now have two plus two small, personal-sized pans as well. Love 'em, even though they don't get used a lot. Don't bake bread too often, but when I do, I use the pans found here..