KennethT

Strange... I've never experienced that before with them - but I'm usually very specific in what I'm looking for, and unless it's a small whole cheese, I'll ask to taste it first.. but more often than not, they offer me a sample without me even asking. That way I know what I'm getting. Plus, I've found most the people behind the counter are pretty knowledgable, and give you a straight answer if you ask about the ripeness - and they'll also ask when you plan on using it. So one time I was shopping for a party that night and one of the cheeses I was looking for would have been fine if I was using it in a few days, but not ripe enough yet for that night.

Chris, I've done the sous vide snails using canned burgundy snails. I did it basically word for word from the recipe, but I didn't have any carrot, and I subbed shallots for sweet onion. Methods/cook time were the same as the orange highlight in the parametric table. All I can say is (and I know this has been done a lot) best. snails. ever... Really... I have a friend who's French, and he declared these the best he's ever had and that he actually dreamed about them that night. So I'd say that's a pretty good endorsement. I used the 5 hour temp/time combo... Sorry, I got busy and didn't see the other post with the updated menu... but in any case, if any one else is interested....

That's understandable... I'm usually not cooking for children so it's not really an issue for me. I do have a friend who's allergic to peanuts, but only to the protein... the oil is ok. Proven by how many times she's eaten things fried in peanut oil at my apt.

Could the cardboard boxes be returned to FD for use again? Heavy, well made, cardboard boxes stand up pretty well and when finally they're beyond more use FD could flatten them and have them picked up by a recyling company. Too many people might find other uses for plastic milk crates and not return them, unless there was a deposit on them. Their boxes are definitely in good enough shape to be able to be reused, but I don't think they take them back. I haven't directly asked their management, but their drivers don't accept them. I agree about the plastic crates though - but I'd be happy to put down a deposit to not have to deal with all the boxes.

My friend commonly brings a selection of their salumi and italian cheeses (some aged quite a long time and really good) I've never tried Koglin's... too bad... I usually don't frequent Penzeys because Kalustyan's is right around the corner.. sure they're expensive on some things, but I don't think you can beat them when it comes to spices. Most of my olive oils come from Fairway - they have a great selection of private labeled artisanal olive oils that they bring in in barrels then bottle here. It's great that you can try them before you buy it, too. Plus, they have an extra virgin olive oil that's private labeled that comes in a 3 liter tin that's inexpensive enough to use for every day pan frying... it's even good enough to use on raw applications, but the private bottle stuff is REALLY good. They also have a huge selection of imported name brand oils, but they're expensive. Lastly, when I'm lucky enough for her to bring some, I have a friend who's greek, and her family has a 500 acre olive grove and make their own family labeled olive oil... I'm the luckiest guy on the planet when a shipment comes in and she gives me a bottle... something to be said about freshness and olive oil. Oh yes, I know Artisanal very well... They're definitely not less expensive than Murrays (I've comparison shopped quite a few times on some of the cheeses that they both carry). It's also frustrating depending on who you get behind the counter. There's a french lady there who is so dismissive - I'll ask for something specific, and she'll offer me something else saying "it's the same" with the air of I-know-better-than-you... when in fact, I know they're not the same - in fact they're quite different... like comparing a bleu d'auvergne to a roquefort.. besides the fact that the roquefort is an AOC, it has a completely different flavor profile - much sharper, saltier, and more metallic for lack of a better word. Then there was another guy there who would constantly try to push domestic cheeses when I specifically wanted a french one (which they had in stock and at a nice ripeness btw)... Every time, I'd get the same answer "well, if you want that, you should REALLY get this one from wisconsin, it's much better" which first of all, to use "better" when it comes to a subjective thing like taste is problematic, and plus after tasting his suggestion, I'd never be a fan of it... not that it was a bad cheese, but not to my taste... sorry, that's my Artisanal rant... and for all the ranting, I'm going for dinner there tonight... so take it for what it's worth! I typically find their produce comparable if not better than Whole Foods... at first I felt the same way as you, but their produce is consistently very good - which I guess it would have to be since you can't pick through it like you could in a store. Plus, they have air chilled organic chicken for a decent price, and I don't have to lug it home from 14th street.

I also sear from about that temp and have no problems, unless it's something REALLY thin... lately, I've been avoiding using the hot pan technique as it creates quite a bit of smoke in my practically ventless small apartment. What I've been doing is a modified torch technique, where in addition to drying the moisture off the surface, I'll spread a thin layer of liquid fat - I try to use the same type of fat that the meat is made of and then torch. I get a much more even result that way, and more browning as opposed to a collection of little black spots.

Kenneth, I'm going to guess that you're a Murray Hill dweller like myself? That Food Emporium actually has the best produce in the neighborhood, though as you point out that's not saying much. That basement Gristede's is truly awful. I'm closer to the two D'Agostinos up the street, and they are even worse in their selection, although the freshness can be OK (with the emphasis on "OK"). Finding quality meat is another problem. I work downtown, so I get to the excellent West Village butchers when I can, but of course all of them close at 6, so it's nearly impossible to get there after work. For many ingredients (but not produce), Todaro Bros on Second Ave. is a lifesaver. Also Grand Central Market (but again, not for produce, and emphatically not for meat at Ceriello's either). Yep... I actually know those D'Ags pretty well - I used to live on 36th and they were the closest thing. Back then the food emporium was actually pretty decent, but their produce quality has gone downhill over the last few years. The selection is ok, if you can find something in the pile that's actually good. A few things in the Gristede's are ok - their herbs are ok because they're constantly being misted. Basically the only things we get from these are paper towels, etc... or emergencies... I have a friend who frequents Todaro's - although to tell the truth I haven't spent much time there... my impression was that they were overpriced, but had decent quality, with a limited selection. Grand Central market is ok for certain things - at least we have a Murray's Cheese pretty close by... the produce guy has some relatively hard to find things sometimes. Lately, we've been using Fresh Direct a lot which is really good. And the uptown Fairway can be on my way home from work, which is awesome! The only thing I don't like about FD is the huge amount of waste with the cardboard boxes. I understand using it for people who don't buy from them on a regular basis. But if you buy from them once or twice a week, I wish they had some type of recycling option - using plastic milk crates of some kind? Who knows.. but I'd gladly store a couple of plastic crates until next week to get rid of all the boxes.

I've been using peanut oil for a while and am pretty happy with it. I can reuse many times before seeing it degrade enough to hinder performace and it has a decently high smoke point. I can also get it pretty inexpensively in chinatown. But, I will say that duck fat does taste better... but is really expensive to get enough to deep fry in!

I used regular belly, not bone-in. It still came out great - but I couldn't say if it wouldn't have come out better!

My thoughts exactly. I bought it years ago and it has certainly paid for itself many times over. I'm sure you'll find other uses for it other than the odd garnish here and there.

I've sliced small things before on my mandoline... you just have to be really careful and go slower than if you were slicing zucchini or something... but it's still a lot faster, and consistent than using a knife. I have a Super Benringer (sp?) that I got at the restaurant supply store. Cheap, works great and easy to clean.

Mandoline?

Lately, I've been taking a hunk of fat and meat trimmings and rendering/frying until nicely browned - I then add this to the meat in the bag, then I'll sear the meat post SV. I'm not a big fan of adding liquid to the bag in most cases because I feel that it steals flavor from the meat a la making stock... Rather, I'll drain the juices and follow nickrey's suggestion of coagulating the proteins then frying them (replicating the brown bits on the bottom of the pan) then deglaze and add back the rest of the juices/stock for the sauce. I find that the added fat/trimmings add depth of flavor to the meat. If I'm cooking for a long time, I'll do a quick blowtorch pre-sear to kill any surface bacteria, not for color, and then post-sear for flavor/crust. Edited for a bit more clarity... I hope...

I've had pretty good success dehydrating in my crappy gas oven by turning it on as low as it'll go, then keeping the door propped open an inch or so with a thick wooden spoon... I've dehydrated cooked pork rinds for puffing really successfully this way... I had a failure making a parsely wafer (spinach wafer in the book) but I don't think it has anything to do with the dehydrating - but I'm going to do another trial this weekend.

Update on vacuum filters - I just got off the phone with tech support at Parker (the parent co. of Wilkerson linked upthread). Unfortunately, you can't use a coalescing filter because it can shatter under the vacuum... BUT, they do make a filter made for vacuum.. it only has a 10 micron filter, but the engineer said it should remove water/oil vapors just fine. This is a link to their catalog - once loaded, do a search for "vfp" and you should see it.. It's in section B, digital page 55. It has a stated range of up to 28inHg, but she said that there is a safety factor built it, so you could go a bit higher with no problems. It's just not intended for REALLY strong vacuum, which we wouldn't be using in the kitchen anyway...

I've contemplated this for a while (or even just a vacuum system for jars and compression, but no bags). I'm not as far down the road as you, but I do have a large, fairly powerful vacuum pump (rotary vane). One of the big issues seems to be moisture getting into the pump. The commercial chamber machines have fairly elaborate channels, etc to keep the moisture out of the pump. Have any thoughts on that? I've consider just one of the compressed air drier systems, just run in 'reverse' as it were, but not sure it would work. Correction: It is a "two chamber rocking piston oil-less vacuum pumptwo chamber rocking piston oil-less vacuum pump" with Aluminum parts to prevent corrosion. Still don't want to be sucking some acidic marinade in there Paul - wow, a 2 chamber system should pull quite a lot of vacuum. Much more than you'd need I think... but you can never have too much as you can always stop it early. In any case, I plan to put one of these between the tank and the vacuum pump. Coalescing filters are very good at removing aersol oil and water vapor from compressed air lines, and I'd assume they would work in a vacuum line as well - but I'm planning on calling their tech support to check. With such a powerful pump, just make sure your chamber is very strong - I'd hate for it to implode one day!

I've done the compressed tomato in a chamber, but without the bag... it seems like you have to cycle running the vacuum and then letting the air in several times in order to get good compression - there's actually discussion of this over on the Cooking Issues blog in the comments recently. It seems that unless you've got ridiculously strong vacuum (which most places won't have), the vacuum will only suck the air out of the vacuoles close to the surface, which will then compress when the air comes back in... each time you draw vacuum, the next layer down loses its air and compresses... I've been compressing with my cheap-o faucet aspirator, so it takes several shots to get decent compression - but I'd imagine that if you were doing it in a bag which was being sealed, you'd have to cut the bag each time to be able to draw a new vacuum.

Looks great, Chris - I love the reflection in the plate!

What do you mean by "finest evening tasting menu"? WD-50 is certainly very interesting and worth a visit if you are interested in their style - but it can be a bit of a polarizing place... in any case, I don't know if I'd consider it "fine dining" in the sense of the Per Ses, Bernardins, Daniels sense of fine dining though. When I think of fine dining in NY, I think for the above, Eleven Madison, Grenouille, Jean Georges, etc... granted I don't think some of them are worth going to anymore, but that's just one guy's opinion...

Ha! It's definitely taking me a little effort to get used to thinking in grams rather than ounces/pounds. The one thing I keep reminding myself when looking at measures in grams is thinking 1000g is about 2 pounds, similarly 250g is about a half pound. So yeah, 625g is a LOT of yolks! I didn't get to this part yet (and don't keep my books at work) - do they recommend using fresh yolks, or can you use dehydrated yolks and rehydrate? When I used to do candymaking, I would use dehydrated egg whites all the time - they whipped up perfectly and were easy to measure...

ChrisZ - that's a great idea... I checked out a few hotel pans in the rest. supply store to use as the chamber... as I suspected, they are pretty flimsy (especially the large area bottom) and would need reinforcement. I was also thinking of using a large stockpot for a chamber, but they are much more expensive. I'm going to weigh how much effort it would be to reinforce the flimsy part, vs paying for something already sturdy... another problem with the stockpot is that since it is round, you wind up with a lot of unused space since the sealer bar is straight. So you wind up with a inscribed square in the round pot...

OK - so I'm almost finished with the prep for the party tonight... whew! I can't report too much on the results yet, as most of it is still in bags in the refrigerator... waiting... I did try a piece of the chorizo french toast, which was awesome. Also, I made the Flourless Gnocchi - haven't tried it yet but I can comment on the procedure. Blooming the gelatin in teh recommended amount of cream is challenging - there's so much gelatin compared to the cream (1:2 ratio, roughly) that I felt I needed to add a bit more cream to get it to fully hydrate. It then says to melt and let cool... I let it cool on the countertop - not in the refrigerator - and when it got to room temp, it was a solid block. So I put the bowl over a really low burner to warm slightly - just enough to melt the gelatin again and added to the riced potato. The potato/gelatin/TG "dough" is quite wet - I didn't even try to mold it into shape by itself. Instead, I rolled it into a snake in a piece of plastic wrap - maki style, and then let it cure in the refrigerator that way, rather than precut as the book instructs... tonight, I'll cut the snake into pieces and fry.

I think Vitamin C tablets are ascorbic acid - which is very different from citric acid... Works great as an anti-oxidant to keep purees from browning, but I don't think it'll work as an emulsifier... plus, mangos have tons of vit. c built in, right?

It also makes prepping for a large party really convenient... I've been mentioning on the cooking w/ MC thread about my prep for a party for 12 people tomorrow... With no helpers, I'll be serving 3 dishes, all of which are multi-component.. for example, the pork dish is a pulled pork patty with sliced belly, chorizo french toast, maple bacon dashi and puffed skin chip garnish. Without SV (and it's ability to start cooking things a week in advance) I'd never be able to pull this off.

I've been thinking about brining - the equilibrium brining, specifically. I've been brining pork belly for 2 days now (jaccarded first), and I've been checking the progress with a TDS meter which measures dissolved solids in parts per million. I've calculated what the final TDS should be once the brine and pork are at equilibrium, and it's getting there... but it's really slow. The book describes the movement of salt as a diffusion process, so if that's the case, do you think it would go faster if the system was at higher temperature? Which then brings up the logical conclusion that if I'm going to be cooking for 40 hours or so, can I cook the meat in the brine so that it will brine as it cooks?