Paul Kierstead

I don't think so; I have to say think, because I've never made Fritters before. But the recipe is a pretty straight forward batter, apples cut into matchsticks, dipped in batter, and fried. OTOH, Keller's roast chicken in Bouchon is also extremely straightforward, but also some of the best roast chicken I've had. This one looks good but more importantly seems to hit the right spot dead on for balance and taste. OTOH, I've not had a huge range of fritters, so there could be better.

Wel, I received my Sous-vide magic on Friday and so far have made poached eggs, steak and fish. I have to say, I am enjoying the experience (and food) and really love the added simplicity to meal preparation. The steak was fantastic, the fish was fantastic (and much stronger flavoured then expected, considering we used Haddock). The eggs were .... different. The yolk was lovely, but the custardy white might take a little getting used to. I'm now looking forward to lots more. Books remain an 'interesting area'; I am a big fan of cooking from Keller, but a survey of his Under Pressure book shows that I would have great difficultly in sourcing the primary ingredient in probably a large majority of the recipes. Time to start looking around. So far I am working off the the very excellent work so kindly provided to the community by Douglas Baldwin.

Let us be agreeable and grant you that assertion. The question then becomes: Is it more trouble to go buy it or make it? At least in my neck of the woods, it can require considerable effort to go to the one store that has a quality version of what you desire. Or you may well need to special order or mail order. The question isn't can you buy a good version of something, it is whether or not you would be crazy to do so.

When I am trying to make several 'finished just in time' dishes I use the PC sometimes for risotto. Of course, I could select my dishes better. Also the advantage is more like 20 minutes, since the PC time is (largely) unattended. The rest of the time I enjoy the stirring

Apple Fritters

Well, I'd suggest you next try the apple fritters. Outstanding. I've made them about 4 times already; the last was for guests, and they were consumed at a frightening rate. I find that I have to add more milk then specified, but our flour is high protein which could account for it.

I've had this happen so often (just with butter from the fridge) that I now just use a butter warmer. It doesn't take much time and no explosions.

Ah, well, replace Salsa with Tomato Salsa. Naturally there are other, very good salsa's, which I eat and enjoy, but I was speaking of the tomato sort.

Me too. Actually, mostly I do without Salsa in the dark times. I keep thinking that one must be able to make a salsa that is at least as good as a canned salsa out of canned tomatoes, no? Still not 100% sure where to start. Confit is ridiculously easy to make even if lots of people don't know what it is. Lets see .... bread crumbs. In that vein, croutons.

And now we see why so few authors publish errata. You would think, from reading this thread, that a cookbook without an errata is error free. I don't understand the virulence of the criticism.

I'll agree on the grape tomatoes; for grape tomatoes, they are quite good even when transported a considerably distance. So, not all out-of-season produce is awful. But grape tomatoes are not at all general tomatoes; I use them in the winter for salads and similar, but not much more. I think in some ways they maybe the exception that proves the rule. Of course, some produce holds up better then others, and it does depend on how it is used. For example, I essentially brains baby bok-choi, and it seems good. OTOH, I've probably never had super fresh bok-choi, so what do I know. Brussels sprouts seem to travel well. Hmm, maybe it is just a cabbage thing

I often see instructions along the line of "if served cold, this should be seasoned more strongly" or "this is served cold, so season assertively". I notice this especially with turkey or chicken, where the cut I ate the night before (hot) didn't get any added salt at the table, but now requires a good solid dash. However, if it is heated, I find it still doesn't need the extra salt, so I think it is more to do with cold food then with age, so it wouldn't explain processed foods which are heated.

It was the fairly conventional red radishes. The book is, essentially, upscale american home cooking, so although the ingredients are certainly beyond what most of our mothers used, they still tend to stay in that vein. The cooking makes them pink, which helps make the dish visually interesting, though it would be even better on that score if they could retain their red colour.

I should add that it was a good dish, prep/serving wise as the veggies can be prepped/cooked in advance and then finished with a minimum of effort/time. That is a big plus in a side dish for me.

This evening we tried "butter-braised radishes, kohlrabi, and brussels sprouts". We were having ham (some lovely local stuff that is stunningly better then supermarket ham). This dish sounds like it would match well, but also piqued my interest. I am a fan of brussels sprouts (I usually use Robuchon's approach braised in butter), but had never had cooked radishes or kohlrabi (we are fond of it raw in salads). I figured it might be a bit odd. It was a bit odd, but not as much as I thought it would be. It was also quite good, and my g/f really liked it; she'll be asking for it again, I'm sure. About the only thing I'd change (and will...) would be a little less radish and a little more brussels sprouts.

I made the Apple Fritters today. I had to deviate slightly from the recipe and used more liquid; it was pretty close to a dough (instead of a batter). I normally have this problem, it is the flour I expect. Anyway, once the batter was thinned out some we made some fritters and they were delicious; very easy, too. This one will get made again.

I have no idea about typical, but Ruhlman (in Charcuterie) does recommend it for confit that will be stored for an extended period.

So far, the selection of more "exotic" things is poor and the prices high, but still, it is a start; I have hope at least!

I'd agree with you on the shoestring fry. I will say, however, a local chain has what is, IMO, the absolute best fries I ever get from a chain and they are shoe string. I wish I knew their secret; they are very exceptional fries IMO.

But what if the "best possible" is sometimes less then the frozen fry? I think you underestimate consistency. A great restaurant has to have really great food everytime; I think if it only good-ish 10% of the time, it would not be good enough. Now sure, I know that is the argument of every McDonalds wannabe, but I suspect Mr. Keller is arguing that really, sometimes the potatoes you get will not allow you to exceed frozen fries (and in fact fall short of it). That said, I have a hard time buying it. All materials have variance and I'd think the skill of his staff should be able to overcome. I am almost inspired to try to track down some really great frozen fries now, though. Unfortunately all your nice recommendations mean nothing up here north of the border.

One always hopes that CI will give up on roast chicken now and leave it to CC. Not that I don't love roast chicken (made some the weekend following the Bouchon template, Yum!!), but I like it when CI takes the more complex stuff. Now if only they would start a dessert magazine and banish desserts from CI....

In the book it calls for 2 heads, about 4-5 lbs.

Interesting. Just looking at what was looking nice at the store, and scanning the book, and had just decided on the cauliflower soup only minutes before reading this. I'll definitely have to follow through now

Well, I'm pretty confused. What level of doneness is 'underdone' for swordfish? Or tuna for that matter? If I was cooking for someone, and they asked for their tune 'underdone', I would admittedly have absolutely no idea what level of doneness they would consider underdone, since it presupposes some unknown, unstated definition of what 'correctly done' the diner has in mind, not to mention why said diner would want it less then correctly done.

Well, more accurately, I want to get a fig or two, not give a fig, but where would the fun be in that? I know nothing of figs. Nada. I have a recipe(*) that calls for "figs". Now would that be taken to automatically assume to mean those sort of dried figs one commonly finds at the supermarket, or is there some fresh form used that I have no chance of finding? (*) Fig-stuffed roast pork loing in Ad Hoc at Home, specifically.