KennethT

I commonly cook the protein in a sauce, for a few reasons: the sauce helps get the air out of the ziplock bag, the sauce flavors the protein nicely and it more closely resembles traditional cooking methods like braises, but it's a lot more convenient, and less cleanup!

Another good weekday meal, cooked in advance.... this was a thai curry. A couple weeks ago, I fried some NIttiya red curry paste (the best prepackaged curry paste I can find) in a little virgin coconut oil until very fragrant, and slightly darker in color. Then added frozen coconut milk (thawed) and simmered for about 5-10 minutes, adding a little palm sugar and about half of the fish sauce I normally would. This was then poured into a ziplock bag with 4 skinless chicken thighs and cooked at 150F for about 3 hours... then chilled and refrigerated, until tonight. Popped the bag into a 135F bath while the rice was cooking.... about 30 minutes later, the chicken was removed from the bag, and the curry was added to a saucepot for a final seasoning... a little more fish sauce, and lime juice. Came out really well - the chicken juices integrated into the coconut milk curry, and the chicken was juicy, tender, and full of flavor. The curry sauce itself had a great mouthfeel, and the flavor was spot on.

I'm also a fan of the Benriner (Super Benriner!)... I love the medium size julienne blade - it's great for making green papaya salad in a flash. But, looking at the Feemster online, it doesn't really seem any more or less safe than the Benriner... in fact, I think the Benriner with the julienne blade may be less safe as the julienne blades stick up past the slicing blade (depending on the height to which it was set).

Last night, we ate an experiment a couple days in the making.... skinless chicken thighs marinated in achiote paste (annato, coriander seed, cumin seed, allspice, clove, black pepper, roasted garlic and bitter orange juice). I marinated in a ziplock so I didn't need that much marinade. The next day, the thighs were smoked in my stovetop smoker for about 30 minutes with a combination of oak and mesquite, then transferred to a zip lock bag with the marinade and cooked SV at 150F for about 3 hours. Then chilled in refrigerator until last night for a quick after-work dinner. Bag was put in a 135F bath for about 40 minutes while finishing prep on the roasted garlic and habanero salsa, and heating the corn tortillas. Pickled red onion was brought to room temp. All in all, a great weekday meal... thighs came out juicy and tender, with good achiote and smoke flavor. There was liquid in the bag - a combination of marinade and chicken juices, which was chilled and frozen, along with extra unused marinade. The next batch of thighs will be cooked in this liquid making the zip lock de-airing a little easier. It could also be reduced to a sauce, but I didn't think it needed it. Maybe as I collect more juices, I can reduce some of it, remove the meat from the bone and toss in the sauce to make even more flavorful... but that's for another time... maybe in a week or two when we try it again.

That's true, the places on the Bowery definitely have cheap stuff... but you can't beat the prices (for decent quality) for things like sheet pans, silpats, various types of utensils (large spoons, spiders, chinois)... Even though it's pretty cheap, just about all of the stuff I've gotten from the place on Bowery just north of Houston has lasted a long time and works well... granted I don't give it a pro workout, but I've been happy with my purchases.

I haven't been down there in a while, but i think the rest. supply places on Bowery and Houston are still around... and I think there's another one on Lafayette and Houston...

I think Blanca is a good choice too... but I think it is best in the spring and summer to really show off the produce they grow themselves.

@ShelbyIt depends on the result you're looking for.... 24h at 131 will give a medium rare, steak-like texture. 141 for 72hours will be more of a fork tender texture... and then everything in between....

I haven't been to Lupa in ages... in all my past experiences there, the food was always really good but I stuck to their wheelhouse of pastas and charcuterie. The reason I haven't been back is because it's always a pita to get there and then have to wait around for an hour at the ridiculously crowded bar, constantly getting jostled and bumped, only to be shown to a table and be jostled and bumped from time to time as well. Unless, of course, you enjoy dining at 4PM.... It's also sad to hear that the last time you were there, Pan, the pasta was that salty...

For something thin, like to be chicken fried, I think I'd precook, then chill. Then bread and fry - during the fry, the interior will come up to temp and not overcook.

I'm also one who does a lot of pre-planning before a trip... but really, I just sort of find places I want to go to, and mark a google map. Then, when we're there, I can see on the map what is close when we want to eat... or sometimes, I know I want to go to a certain place for lunch, so I'll plan the sightseeing for that time to be in that area...

@ShelbyHow much fat was left in the bag after the cooking was finished? Do you think it was more than the initial amount of pork fat added? If so, the next time, you don't need to add any fat. Does Canada goose fat taste any different from other geese? I had a roast goose in Hong Kong that I still dream about... If there is fat in the bag, you can drain it (along with all the drippings) into a mason jar, then cap it, and turn it upside down and put in the refrigerator. Once solid, you can remove the jelly (that's now on top) and either discard it (it may be too salty) or use it to enrich a sauce. But the fat is reusable... Also, when reheating, you don't need to reheat to the original temperature - I find it best to reheat to 135F or so, so you don't cook any longer than you had originally planned.

I like to stay local, as much as possible... with that said, on our last trip, to Saigon, we really enjoyed a 'local' banh cuon place, which was a stretch for me to go to because banh cuon is a northern specialty, and not usually made in Southern Vietnam. Shalmanese, I agree with you though - in some areas it is much easier to 'eat local' for an extended period of time than others. Your example of Florence is a good one because the preparations are relatively simple and there is not tons of local variation, so it can be a challenge to not keep eating from the roster of 8 things, as you say. Also, I am stymied by things that I see in my home of NYC - but this may just be my lack of understanding. Sure, NYC doesn't have a cuisine of its own (as said above, our strength is in our diversity) - but we do have things here that are either copied elsewhere, or made into our own style over the last hundred or so years... like NY pizza, bagels, jewish deli, etc. I live relatively close to Eataly, and it always perplexes me that I see tons of seemingly Italian tourists waiting for long periods of time to have lunch there. Personally, if I lived in Italy, the last thing I'd want to do was to go to Eataly on a visit to NYC.. there are just so many other options. But then again, maybe I'm wrong - maybe they're Italian ex-pats looking for a taste of home.... it's hard to tell.

I've always found with potted rosemary that drier (not bone dry, but on the dry side) is better than wet - especially once the plant is well established and has a woody trunk.

Sorry to hear about the failure Shelby, but I'm sure we have all done it at least once, if not a lot more... Personally, I find plastic wrap to be better at reducing evaporation than foil - you can really get the plastic wrap to cling around all the edges and it's more flexible so you can really get in all the tight spaces. Some people have had good success with ping pong balls floating on top of the water to minimize evaporation, but I've never tried it. If you want to go more rare with the breasts, I would try 132F for maybe 24 hours - I have done that with flank steak many times and it comes out great. That temp and time is also good to tenderize skin without it shrinking. It is then easy to scrape off the fat, and crisp on a silpat between two sheet pans in a hot oven. I definitely wouldn't eat the thighs - who knows how long it was sitting at 'body temperature' which is a great temperature for bacteria to multiply very quickly.

I think lots of people realize that... that's not the point. Everyone living here realizes the 'NYC surcharge' - we pay more for practically everything (except for people in Australia - I gather it's even worse there). The point is that there is a perceived base level of value... as restaurants get more expensive (relative to other restaurants in NYC), people have higher expectations and consequently, disappointment if the restaurant cannot deliver the same level of value as it had before the price increase. Some restaurants are able to increase prices, but increase the experience as well, which is generally well received - Sutton makes the example of Momofuku Ko...

This is an interesting article, written the Eater critic Ryan Sutton. He is known for his financial calculations, as he used to be the restaurant critic for Bloomberg. It's an interesting take on people's psychology when it comes to restaurants as their prices rise....

One of the many fond memories I'll always have of my father: many years ago, we started a whole duck cooking competition, that we later termed "duck-off"... he would make a whole duck one week, then I would do one a week or two later, then he would, etc., back and forth, refining our methods to try to make the 'perfect roast duck'.... The method I found that worked the best was similar to the Marcella Hazan method - I would prick the skin all over, then simmer for a few minutes. Then drain, and let sit, on a rack, in the refrigerator for 2-3 days to completely dry. Then roast... My problem was that I still wound up with a pocket of fat by the leg.... other than that, it was great, but a lot of effort and time.

NY is always a dumper... it's part of the charm!

EMP has supposedly recently changed their format, yet again.... but I haven't heard anything about it yet. My wife was at Le Bernardin a few months ago and said that it was stellar, as good as it's ever been. She was also at Del Posto, but in one of their private dining rooms, so it's hard to say... but she did say that she was, in general, underwhelmed by it. I was at Jean Georges over the summer, and I was underwhelmed by it for the prices... although, I will say that it was consistent with other times I have been there over the years, so I wouldn't say that it has gone downhill at all.

I'd be shocked if the staff didn't know what he looks like. For many years, restaurants would get somehow get pics of the NYT critic and post it in the kitchen. Granted, the critics wear 'disguises', but I really wonder if the staff doesn't figure it out.

Getting good all-over results with roasting a whole duck is very challenging. If you cook it to keep the breasts rare, there will be a lot of unrendered fat by the legs, and they legs won't be as tender as you might like. If you cook so that the legs are done nicely, then the breasts are typically overcooked. I've had best success by butchering it... I cook the breasts either sous vide (if that's an option for you) or traditionally by slowly cooking skin side down in a pan (score the skin first) until most of the fat is rendered, then roast for a few more minutes until done. The do the legs by confit... That's how I think gets the best results...

Jeez Franci, those pics look fantastic! Are you sure you weren't a food stylist in a former life? I want to eat my screen...

Exactly - I can measure power output of my PID controller... I use a large stockpot... at low temperatures, covering it is not a big deal - and once you reach temps, you basically only use about 100W - less if covered... at higher temps (like 180F+) you really need to keep it covered or you'll lose a lot of water to evaporation plus you'll use a lot more power... with the stockpot, at 180F, covered, my unit uses about 150-175W, uncovered is like 400W

That's a great idea, especially for spring and summer round here.... Right now, here in NYC, all I could get are root veggies if anything.