KennethT

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.

To me, I thing the best thing to do with cast iron is remove the rust with steel wool, then wash, then reseason...

Nancy, it's definitely a nice problem to have... OK - 2 limes down! Making a batch of pickled red onion... the nice thing about limes straight off the tree - I got about 1/4 cup of juice from each lime!

'Unfortunately' my lime tree is a dwarf Bearss seedless lime tree... I say unfortunately, now, because in hindsight, I wish I had gotten a 'true' lime tree, or key lime tree as I prefer those limes to the standard Bearss limes.... I've talked about this on the gardening topic, but I'm on the fence about getting rid of this tree and replacing it with a true lime tree, but this tree is maybe 10 years old and healthy... we've grown attached to it, but don't have the space for 2 trees, not if I also want to eventually replant my heirloom goose creek tomato plant.

I wish.... unfortunately, both alcohol and sugar are pretty much out for me right now....

OK, as I was sitting around, I had some other ideas: Chili/salt/lime juice paste/dip used with vietnamese seafood and grilled dishes (see various applications here).... Red onion pickled in lime juice as an accompaniment to a cochinita pibil type dish.... Anything else? Please keep 'em coming!

Very interesting - they're seeing similar problems in Singapore where profits of hawkers stalls is declining, and the younger generation are now university educated and don't want to do the hard work of running one... the government of Singapore is very concerned about this, since the hawker stalls are part of their heritage, and are constantly having conferences among food professionals and public opinion experts as to how to solve the problem.

There have been times that I have made chicken parts using them right up to the sell-by date with no issues... I also keep my refrigerator really cold - on the verge of freezing though....

I just noticed this morning that my dwarf lime tree has about 15 full sized limes that are ripe and ready to go. They're adding so much weight, the tree wants to tip out of its pot! They'll stay ripe on the tree for a long time, but I've got even more that will be ripe in a few weeks, and flowers blooming for even more... I usually do a fruit or cucumber based som tum once a week, so that will use 1 lime, but any more ideas for how to use the rest? Unfortunately, I can't really drink too much alcohol right now, so mohitos, et al, are out, and I am also trying to avoid having too much sugar, so limeade is out too! What's challenge without constraints!

I definitely don't think it's silly to SV shrimp - I used to do it all the time - best shrimp ever! It's especially convenient if you're making a bunch for a party... and easy cleanup! ETA - I just reread Douglas Baldwin's guide (I haven't read it in a long time) - if you packed the tenderloins individually (so they're more cylinder than slab), you can cut the heating time in half!

@IndyRobYeah, when I first read the post, I mentally skipped over the 'tenderloin' part, which was where that first sentence came from.... but, as you know, the theory is still valid for cooking anything SV - I really wanted to stress to SV newcomers that the cooking time is based on thickness, rather than weight as is typically used in cooking in an oven (when I was younger, I remember hearing instructions for cooking a turkey 18 minutes per pound or something like that). I think that is the biggest difference in concepts to grasp - before SV, you never had to measure the thickness of something! ETA: Back when I had more time to cook, I used to do SV pork tenderloin a lot... my go to was to puree a can of chipotle in adobo, marinate the tenderloin in that and cook SV to like 135F. If memory serves, a single tenderloin took about an hour or so for pasteurization.

@ShelbyI just reread your post, and I think, next time, it would be better (if possible) not to season that far in advance. I have found that it results in the meat having a slightly 'cured' texture. Lately, I don't season anything I cook SV in advance - I season it after it has finished cooking, when I take it out of the bag, but before final searing. The only exception to that is when I cook salmon filet (or other fish), which usually only takes about 30 minutes or so to come to temperature (I use a bath temp of 115F and shoot for a core temp of 102F - I use @vengroff's Sous Vide Dash app that (hopefully) is still in the the app store - it is definitely worth the price!

Depending on thickness, you may HAVE to leave it in there for 3 hours! Like blue_dolphin said, the most important thing to know about cooking sous vide is that the time for the middle (the core) to get up to temperature is dependent on the thickness and shape, not on the weight. Personally, for pork tenderloin, I like to cook it to about 135-138 or so to keep it nice and pink. I would get it all sealed up, then measure the thickness at the thickest part as best you can. If you're unsure of the exact measurement, add about 1/8" (0.125) to whatever you think for an additional safety factor. When cooking pork, I usually cook to pasteurization, so I would use those tables... you can definitely pasteurize at 135-138F. I would also set the water bath temperature to 2 degrees F higher than your desired target temperature, otherwise, it will take a ridiculously long time to go those last couple of degrees. For pork tenderloin, you can let it sit a bit longer than the calculated time, but I wouldn't let it sit for 3 hours extra - it won't "overcook", but what will happen is that it will lose juices (they will wind up in the bag and make nice drippings for a sauce) and be drier than it should be.

@Jaymes, I didn't think of posting these pictures, but this is for you! They're in the process of building a public transportation system - one of the terminals will be right next to the hotel... and we had a drink at the bar on the roof....It had a great view of the city below...

And so the addiction starts!!!!

Someone here (a while ago) on eG talked about reheating pizza on a hotel room iron!