Jon Tseng

Hear hear to Peppers An excellent late-night pit-stop; blue cheese and the ?shark dressing excellent. I always heard the guy who ran it was a Philosophy graduate (or was that phD) - sort of added to the mystique. cheerio J

I would argue this "post-modern" is in fact "historicist" - think "Escoffier redux". Pierre Koffmann (I think) once commented that classic haute cuisine was about turning food into something it was not in order to maximise the flavour eg purees, gelees, mousses, &tc. In contrast the postwar trend towards nouvelle cuisine and/or cuisine grand-mere was about maintaining the integrity of the ingredient, rather than turning it into something else, and making it taste as much of what it was as possible. "Post modern" cuisine with its foams, mousses, gelees and ice-creams strikes me as a return to the principles of Escoffier rather than an attempt to do something new. Sure the flavour combinations are different, the science is more advanced but they're still trying to intensify the flavour by turning food into something it is not (eg foam) cheerio J

Yup reusing positively recommended - just strain after each use to get the bitter burnt bits out NB if you are a little short on fat for confit you can top it up with water to cover (this advice from a Roux Brothers book, so assume tis kosher) Other uses: scallion pancakes! cheerio J

Classic sauteed mushrooms on toast 1) Use as many different varieties as possible. Variety is the spice of rice 2) Cook in hot oil in small batches. Get them golden on the caps if poss 3) Add a splash of double cream at the end, then minced garlic and parsley AT THE LAST MINUTE 4) Don't cook more than half a minute after adding garlic and parsley. Serve on toasted bread. J

Mate... that's how Arius started... one moment he denying the legitimacy of pot noodles... next thing he was contradicting the one person of the Father and Son... then - faster than you can say "NICENE CREED" it was banishment and excommunication!!!! As anyone who has ever been tempted by the "two hamburgers and two small fries for two pounds" promotion, it is all too easy to fall down the slippery slope. ;-)

ooops misread stil think your a heretic though

All nice, if generally unhealthy The faggot are lovely, if a little messy. far better than mr brain's frozen faggots J

Deep fried pancakes??? Heresy! We're not making tacos here!!! Are these turkeys battered like fried chicken? How can you deep fry for an hour without burning them (presumably v low heat) J

Yes, the downside to the crispy duck recipe is home cooks need to quarter the duck before zapping it so doesn't look as impressive at the table. In theory quartering the duck would allow you to roast breast and leg for different length of times (leg generally needs more). I think Cooks Illustrated recommend steaming the duck to render fat and then roasting in a hot over at the end to crisp up Pancakes I'd just buy the frozen ones from chinese supermarket (sainsburys also have them). yes you're getting ripped off for waht is essentially flour and water but its less hassle and homemade ones are never as thin Hoison or plum, that is the question. Simon, what's the goss on the "deep-fried turkey" thing? I was talking to a friend from Alabama and she said they, like, deep fry whole turkeys!!!!!!!! Have you seen this??? cheerio J

The restaurant version generally steams the duck first them deep-fries at the last minute to crisp up great in theory, but often an excuse to have the duck lying around the fridge a couple of days before its actually ordered. this method guarantees a crisp skin and allows more prepare in advance - but i suspect simons way is probably a damn sight less hassle. 170c is 325F, 200 is 400 cheerio J

Examples please. frankfurters bangers vanilla ice-cream ... all nothing like a good chorizo ;-)

I would generally agree, although qualifying that with the fact there is nothing like a good chorizo j

have you thought about using double cream instead of single single splits at high heat - though to be honest don't know off hand if 100c is hot enough to do any damage I've seen similar recipes for spuds cooked in a bag with a little bit of goose fat, sometimes called "fondant potatos". Supposed to be good. Of course they don't go and mash them afterwards, which would make the difference cheerio J

Looks interesting - I think my mum has one stashed away somewhere Just out of interest what's the difference between a crock pot and normal cooking (eg sticking stuff in a covered saucepan over a low heat or popping into low over)? What sort of temperatures does it usually operate at? cheerio J

adds nothing to the burger - a fairly blatant attempt to pump up the (already punchy) cost of the roll original is best

I'd agree with the pinkness - have had ones from the local deli and they're redder inside as if salted/hammed (but don't necessarily taste saltier vs British bangers the texture is also coarser and I would also agree they seem fattier Made some great pecan-breadcrumb stuffing with Italian sausage over crimbo cheerio J

Oh yes I quite agree its all gotten a bit out of hand - and some do queue for the sake of having had one (or being able to say "I've had one") rather than for the sake of having one (if that makes sense) But then again the same thing happens in many three star restaurants (errr, el bulli reservation, anyone? ;-) ) Anyhow, bottom line is they //do// taste nice (although sometimes you get a pokey overdone scraggly one - a great mix of taste and texture (crunch of toastes roll, crisp rocket, yielding meat). Having said that I think the chorizo burger at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen is actually even better - they stick in a wedge of sweet potato which adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the burger cheerio J

Presuming ya mean Borough Farmers Market Neals Yard sometimes do a raclette out front - I think it varies from week to week Other than that there's plenty to keep you amused inside. As well as the chorizo rolls a coupel of burger places if you get hungry, real german hotdogs and various other cold goodies cheerio J

Loula, I suspect most of a bases have been covered Just wanted to extend a warm welcome - hope to hear more from you (tell us how the dinner goes) I think you will find that, with the obvious exception of Simon, we are generally a salubrious lot cheerio J

Yes, brown the b******ds in a saute pan first (you might want to tie them with string if the foil was what was holding them together before) them try it. An alternative would be to roast/poach them wrapped and then grill at the end to crisp up the skin (think chicken breasts poche-grille ie poached and then zapped under a grill to get the skin crispy), although it may be difficult to get them evenly browned right round using this method. Have you thought of doing as before but trying a hotter oven at the end (try 200c+ - but make sure well slathered with oil so they don't burn) - just a matter of getting it hot enough to burn off the excess moisture. A rub of honey would also speed the browning as it carmelised I've done stuffed chicken legs many times according to a Novelli recipe where they are stuffed with a mix of meat & chicken moose, tied (important to hold them together), browned and then chucked in the oven for 15-20 mins (time not so important as chicken legs pretty intolerant to overcooking). The only tricky thing is tying them - if the filling it too gloopy it leaks a bit when you brown it cheerio J

How does it compare to Arkansas Cafe? Did you have any brisket first time round? J

No pressure, big man ;-)

Match better for me can probably rock out for a quickie, so to speak note that st john and unlimited supplies of bone marrow salad are only a short stagger away (as, indeed, is chez rosie) j

ooh yeah plenty of fat for sauteeing my potatos for supper after. plus i reckon it'd make great scallion pancakes if i knew how to make scallion pancakes i cut off a small strip of liver and rendered it over a low heat first to get a little fat, but after the liver went into the pan to brown (before roasting) the fat sort of poured out nb roasting fg loses less fat than sauteeing slices as there is less surface areas exposed j

Yep normal eating oranges - largish ones peeled and then sliced horizontally into one cm thick disks (was going to do the fancy schmancy cutting out skinless segment thing but couldn't be arse fried in one of the rendered foie gras fat until turning a little brown on the outside the fg was roasted whole according to the french laundry cookbook; though cutting a min or so off the time as it was smaller. went /very/ liquid inside - probably a tad overdone cheerio j