MikeTMD

My recent meal at Corton was simply the best ever. Check pictures on flickr

My recent experience at Per Se was nothing short of flawless. I asked how they cooked lobster in this dish: Basically, they pour hot water over lobster claHowever, lobster tails are generally cooked sous-vide, as Chef Keller recommends in his "Under Pressure" book. Check the rest of the Per Se pictures on flickr.com

Hello, S-V Gang! It's been a while... Well, I have some good news: there is a new S-V book available now. I like the description of the technical aspects ( by none other but Bruno Goussault), as well as European style recipes. Can't wait to give some of those a try!!!

Chris, does your recipe call for tomato paste at all ( added after mirepoix is browned)? Also, what kind of stock did you use? My personal favorite ossobuco recipe comes from "Babbo" Cookbook by Batali - they braise a whole shank, BTW, and serve it with gremolata. Generally, I use house veal stock/white wine/simple house tomato sauce to braise shanks - it seems to be a sure crowd-pleaser, despite the cost of "prima materia". Ah-hhhhhh, if only pictures could describe the smell and the taste...

I got some New Zealand Grouper, and made this: Sous-vide Poached Grouper, Broccoli Stems, Enoki Mushrooms Fricasse, Shitake Foam, Red Wine Quail Egg, Truffle Salt : broccoli stems were spoached SV with Long Bali Peppercorns and butter @ 77C/4 hours, grouper cooked SV with a touch of espelette and French truffle salt @ 61C/15 min, Enoki mushrooms were quickly caramelized and pan braised, Shitake foam was made with cream and lecithine, quail egg was SV in red wine @ 63C for about 45min. Observations: - I much prefer 85C/3 hr for roots/hard veggies; - Grouper is EXTREMELY sensitive to SV temps, in fact I tried it @ 61C, 62C and 63C, any temp above 61C resulted in tougher texture; - truffle salt is a superb seasoning for SV applications, and is highly recommended; - SV quail eggs are hard to peel; Does anybody have an opinion/suggestions on the latter issue?

You got to check the Reading Terminal market - so many choices!!! One of my favorites is Carmen's Hoagies: Here is the menu:

I am going to be in NYC for a whole month - any ideas how to score a reservation for one person, anyone?

"Under Pressure" has instantly become one of my favorite cookbooks. This is an exact replica of FL beet salad, prepared and plated according to Chef Keller specs: I still can't believe those colors are real!

I would suggest: ************************************************ Spring Moon @ Pennisula - high-end Chinese MUST SEE Info/Link Menu ************************************************ Lumiere - modern high-end Chinese ( both Cantonese and Sichuan) http://www.lumiere.hk ************************************************ Bo Innovation - ultra modern Chinese http://www.boinnovation.com/ ************************************************ Pierre (Gagnaire) @ Mandarin Oriental - high-end French http://pierregagnaire.com/francais/cdhongkong.htm ************************************************

Roca and Bruges have a Monkfish recipe in their book: Cooking temp - 60C/140F Cooking time - 12 minutes Core temp - 48C/118.4F For all practical purposes I would suggest 48C/118.4F for 30-35 minutes. Monkfish is hard to overcook, so 48C-50C is a good range. Personally, I always remove the membrane - there is no reason to keep it.

Seems like quite a few people were looking for a place to buy SV/immersion circulators - I got a different dilemma: after upgrade I want to sell mine. What's the best way of doing it - eBay, Craig's list, some other site? Any suggestions?

Was it Boudin Blanc or Boudin Noir?

U.E., Here is the translation: BTW, the word "Preuvenemint" is a contraction of the words 'preuve' (to taste) and 'evenemint' (event), i.e. Festival of Taste. ******************************************************************** At the end of the summer holidays we always have the traditional Preuvemenint, putting our renowned courage, new ideas and enough energy back to work. And even after all of that we still can't get enough, so "we still do not go home" is our motto for the upcoming event. Crash our Friday-Saturday night party at exactly 00.00 hours, sharp and get loose with our theatrical afterparty. There are two types of tickets available: the exclusive ticket and the VIP package including ticket. (For more information: see tickets) Both tickets are in limited editions; 500 units and 100 VIP. Order your tickets by email, or you'd be saying afterwards: "I was gonna, but..." like loosers always do. The door is open at 22.30 am and closes at 05.00 hours after the last guest. So: Get your ass over her before midnight. For more information: www.belugalovesyou.com <http://www.belugalovesyou.com/> Best regards, Hans van Wolde Restaurant Beluga ***************************************************************** "Dus" means "So", and I think they were trying to use strong language to be emphatic. Personally, I always swear in the language others barely understand. :-)

Well, I am happy to answer my own question now: Yellow River Eel cooked @ 55C for 2.5 hours - perfect results, meat turned out to be very tender, falling off the bone. Skin peeled off quite easily, flesh retained moisture and gelationous texture.

Does anyone have any opinion, or experience with SV eel? It's a lot more "dense" than most fish, and has a healthy amount of fat - which I would like to render out. Suggestions, please!

Hi, Everyone, I am just done watching the last episode of Iron Chef America ( Morimoto vs Ophango). Can't stop wondering where Morimoto got his wave- (S-)shaped plates - the serving vessel for his Curry Baked Fish? Any ideas? Also, Morimoto's book has an amazing recipe using OBRATO - transparent soy lecithin sheets, as a wrapper for fried dumplings. I have not been able to find anything remotely resembling those... Again, does anyone have any idea of what they are, and where to get them?

I understand the whole pork butt at Ssam is braised - is there any crispy skin on any crunchy component in it? Some pictures make it look like the final product is flash-fried before serving - is that so?

This might not be an accurate statement. Taking brining for instance. ← Both statements are "accurate" - it's the concentration of salt that makes the difference ( for those of you who are interested - hypo/iso/hyper-tonic solutions determine the direction of osmotic movement).

That would be my approach too. Salt in a SV bag will most certainly make meat (or anything else, for that matter) a lot less juicy, because of the osmosis.

Thanks, e_monster: 135F @ 48 hours - would it be high enough to melt the fat, though?

Hello, SV Gang, I am looking for purely numeric answers to my question: Momofuku Ko has 48 hour SV Short Ribs on the menu - any ideas/guesses/estimates as to what temperature they may cook it at? ( in this case we already know the exact cooking time) That's what their ribs look like:

Pam, you are up for a treat!!! May I suggest a few places for your dining pleasure: La Colonial (French-Vietnamese in a Colonial setting) Michael Mina's ( needs no explanation - and within walking distance from anywhere close to Union Sq.) Mecca ( jump in a cab - so worth it!!!) Ferry Bldg ( a long walk or a short cab ride) is phenomenal, esp. The Slanted Door (you'll pretty much have to eat at the bar - it's always busy, but so great food and drinks) Boulevard ( right across from the Ferry Bldg.) There are many other options, of course. Added benefit, a woman dining/eating/drinking solo in SF is likely to attract very little, if any, unwanted attention/advances, a guy dining solo - would be a different story! ;-)

chefzr, If I may, a few comments: Oyster Trio- seviche, steamed, fried - very labor intensive, high food cost, and how many people would order something like that in a pretty mainstream eatery? Fried Calamari w/ garlic-lemon-chives aioli - they are everywhere, and it's old and boring; Mushroom and Four Cheese Ravioli w/ sautéed asparagus in veal stock sauce w/ pan seared snapper served over top - "over the top", indeed. There are just too many things going on at once, I think. Do you really need as many primary proteins as you have on the menu? Poultry, Pork, Beef, etc.? May be it's part of the project, though... Good desserts! Please don't take it the wrong way - your menu seem to lack structure, although it's only a draft.

Check www.thermoworks.com - the problem is you get what you pay for, and $75 doesn't buy much these days, although if you get a TW-USB-1 USB device for 59.95 and a Fast Response Meat Needle Probe for $30.00 - you'd only be over your budget by $5, and even if you get a Straight Type K Extension lead, 118" (3 meters) for $16 - you are still only $21 over your target price. Good news - software is free!

No, it's not. :-) My personal preference is to cook for immediate service at home, which is opposite to what I'd do in a commercial environment. What kind of SV set-up do you have?