OliverN

So, ever since my pizza stone broke a month ago, I've been searching for these mythical 'unglazed quarry tiles' that people have extolled the virtues as a baking surface. I've looked EVERYWHERE in montreal, At least three Ronas, Home depot, Million Carpt & Tiles, Olympia, and 8 million others. The person at the Rona brossard said he thought he had some. Million had them, but only in tiny 6x6 pieces. A place in outremont could order them for me, at 15$ a piece!! Most people, though, looked back at me with blank stares. If anyone knows where to find these, I will be eternally grateful!

It's good. Won't blow your mind away, but very respectable, upscale non-Pho viet food. Another upscale vietnamese joint is Ong Ca Can on St Catherine, east of St Laurent. Try their traditional 7 Beef meal, it's super good. -Oli-

Au Cyclo is unfortunately closed. It was a jewel, but for some reason didn't last. My favorite spot for viet food now is Y Lan way north on St Denis. There's also a wonderful little Banh Xeo joint on... I think Belanger near St Hubert. Neither is 'fine dining' however....

I can't handle fancy 'emulsions' and 'foams' that are served up at many upscale restaurants. I get that it's trying to break new ground taste and texture-wise, but it's just not for me.

Some way to taste food through a computer screen. I could live off of the 'chinese food pictorial' thread for a year!

Hmmm... Lightbulbs going off.......... If that is the case, Say I was pre-heating my pizza stone... there'd be no harm in blocking the vent, right? I could heat it to 500, add my pizza, remove the plug and voila? What do you think?

I was making pizza the other day, and of course, I've heard that the trick is really to heat your oven up as hot as it will go. My oven, although it has a dial up to 500, had trouble getting above 400-410. I noticed for the first time that, under one of the rear stovetop burners, there is a direct opening above 3 inches in diameter of some sort of vent, where I can SEE directly into the oven! I go to all this effort of keeping the door open for only seconds to prevent heat loss and then I discover there's a huge hole in the top?!? On top of that, it heats any pan thats on that burner, which sometimes catches me off guard. Why is this thing here? It seems incredibly inefficient... And would plugging it be a bad idea?

So I need to sharpen my knife with a sharpener, and flatten my sharpener with a ...? Does it ever end?!? Thanks for the help everyone, I just wanted to make sure that was indeed for knives and not just for chisels and the like.

Hi everyone, So I've decided to finally take the plunge and try out knife sharpening for myself, I have been eyeing this one: http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=...3072,43071&ap=1 It's a combination 1000/4000 stone and I was wondering if you thought it was a good buy for a beginner?

I'm sure others can speak better than me about the 'serious' dining opportunities, but one of my favourite things to do is to stroll around mile end, pick up some hot bagels from Fairmont (ask for them still warm and not too burnt) and then walk down Bernard for an ice cream at the Bilboquet. Edit: Oh and also, check out la Paryse (ontario st, near st denis) for a wonderful burger if you're spending time in the latin quarter. Although I remember last time I went to ApDc, I didn't feel like meat for a week!

I was thinking, maybe rather than investing in a new knife just yet, I should invest in some whetstones and practice sharpening on my current knife? What do you think? Do I need all three of these (link_ grinds or will just two surfice? Or should I get one of the double-sided ones from the hardware store?

Wow, thanks alot for the advice guys. I checked out 'Paul's Finest' and he has a really great selection. It's just that... as I said I'm working on a student budget and 100$+ for a knife is a little out of my range for the moment. I'm just looking for a knife that I can develop my skills, both in using and in sharpening it, before (god willing) someday I invest in a really top notch knife. I'll be using it mostly for vegetables, no sashimi or butchering or anything... This knife here (link) is the closest thing I've found to what I need, but it's still a little pricey. What do you think?

Hi everyone After smushing a tomato yesturday with my current chef's knife, I've decided to undertake the daunting task of upgraded my knife collection on a student budget. I've read here that the single-bevel japanese knives like the santoku or an usuba are great for vegetable chopping which is most of what i do. Any advice on where I could pick these up in mtrl?

Cook's Illustrated did a great test on pot roast (which is basically braised beef). Here's their recipe. You can look at it for comparison. They recommended chuck roast for braising, and they said to cook it for a very very long time. http://www.recipezaar.com/37554 The original article is worth reading for the information, but you'll have jump thru a hoop (trial membership) to read it online. http://beef.cooksillustrated.com/login.asp...recipe&iseason= I agree with C. Sapidus. Turn the heat up to high (if I were you, I'd be on 10), dry the meat between layers of paper towels before you sear, and cook the meat in small batches. When the meat turns gray that means the meat is releasing its juices and it's cooking in liquid. The heat's too low. Too much meat in the pan will keep the temperature too low for searing. Don't worry about drying out the meat. It's about to be moist-cooked for hours. ← Thanks for the advice everyone! The other thing with the browning is that I'm using a 'Le Creuset' enamelled dutch oven as my braising vehicle, and the instructions state that it's not too good to heat it on high. Whenever I do crank things to 10 though, the meat just burns in 15-30 seconds. Is that normal? And also, any differences between 'simmering' uncovered on the stovetop and braising at low temp, covered, in the oven? I will definately try this one again next week, with some nicer meat and see how it goes.

AHhhhh, that's another thing. The recipe calls for 'bring to the boil, and then down to a strong simmer for about an hour' What is a strong simmer and why is it not a boil? I had it down on 2-3/10 and there were regular small bubbles coming up, but it looked under control, so I assumed that was a simmer. Also, it was UNCOVERED simmering, which I found odd for a braise. Would pushing the simmer for longer mess up the spices and other flavours?

Hi everyone, I recently did the 'Sri Lankan Beef Curry' from 'Mangoes and Curry Leaves' (pg 278). It's essentially chunks of beef browned and then simmered in a coconut milk and tamarind liquid sauce for an hour, with spices and onions. It was seriously one of the best tasting things that has ever come from my kitchen, but I had a couple things that were nagging me and that I'm sure are due to bad technique. A) The meat was TOUGH, I was expecting really tender meat after simmering for over an hour, but it was really tough. The recipe called for 'BONELESS BEEF such as ROUND STEAK or ROAST' and so I used what was ambiguosly named as 'Stewing Beef' at the market and it came out super tough! What should I have done? B) There's a browning step at the beginning for the meat, but I never seem to be able to brown in my creuset. My heat setting is on 5(out of 10, if that means anything) and I have about a tablespoon of ghee, but after 30-45 seconds of cooking the color turns grey and I get nervous about drying out the meat and so I continue with the recipe. Any advice here? Again, I'm pretty sure these are two very fundamental concepts, but I really think they would put this recipe over the edge, and I appreciate the help

This one is on my 'to-do' list and I was just looking over it the other day. 'Medium High' is pretty darned hot, are you sure you weren't too cautious with the heat? I feel like she wants you to cook it at hot enough temperature where if you left it without stirring it would burn. What kind of pan did you use? I feel like a non-stick skillet might not work as well here... Either way, I promise I will try this one in the next week and report back on how it goes! ← I did use a non-stick pan and I probably used low-med. Now that I think about it, I suspect the problem is with the lean ground pork that I bought. Unfortunately, it's the only kind available. ← Here is my attempt at the caramelized minced pork from ItVK. Sygzy, I really think it's a question of heat. First the meat cooks, and then at one point after you throw it on medium-high, it just exudes all of these juices. All of those have to boil off before any browning happens. I was pretty happy with it. I was expecting a stronger 'caramel' flavour, maybe I will try nakji's method next!

Wow, See even when I'm searing meat, I throw my cast-iron skillet on the (normal, run of the mill, electric) burner, put it to 5-6 (out of 10), and it starts smoking like mad, I'm scared to go above that! I feel like if I added a steak to that, it would burn in less then a minute! Is searing really a question of the more heat, the better? Where am I going wrong? Should I ignore the smoke?

Good lord nakji, Don't keep us in suspense, give us some recipes! Those dishes look fantastic! Esp Caramel Pork and the Eggplant...

I think one of the things that a lot of amateur cooks (including myself) shy away from is really using heat. I've noticed for so long that that I rarely turn the knobs of my electric burner above the 'medium' or 'medium-high' setting. What are some of the things where you can really let loose with the heat, where the hotter the better? My most recent use was stir frying salt-and-pepper shrimp. Since you cook the shrimp with the shell on, you can really crank up the heat so that they get this wonderful crunchy smokiness to them. Any other ideas? Ovens or stovetops are welcome!

I know its been talked about so much that it goes without saying, but can I mention Cauliflower Cocaine?

Ce'nedra, I'm so sorry for your loss. My grandmother has also fabricated some amazing recipes (her banh xeo is second to none!) and I keep wanting to get her to teach me so I can record it, but I've never gotten around to it. I am resolved though, to the find time to do it in 2008. Food is a way we connect with our family, our ancestors, and our culture, and I don't want to deny my children and grandchildren that heritage.

Sygyzy, I would try it again with a higher heat and, if possible, another pan. I will try it soon though, and let you know. Where in Canada, nakji?

One part of this article that surprised me was McGee's assertion that meat should be as cold as possible before searing, so that the outside cooks rapidly before the middle gets a chance to cook. I had always thought that letting the meat come up to room temperature was the thing to do.... Any opinions?

This one is on my 'to-do' list and I was just looking over it the other day. 'Medium High' is pretty darned hot, are you sure you weren't too cautious with the heat? I feel like she wants you to cook it at hot enough temperature where if you left it without stirring it would burn. What kind of pan did you use? I feel like a non-stick skillet might not work as well here... Either way, I promise I will try this one in the next week and report back on how it goes!