Pilori

Made a dinner from The French Laundry At Home with my girlfriend for my parents - first time really cooking from this book and it was really fun! "Linguine" with Clams Dungeness Crab Salad with Cucumber Jelly and Frisee (used some arugula instead) "Fish and Chips" (used sea bass since I couldn't find red mullet near me) Whipped Brie and Port Reduction (sorry for the weird focus!) Strawberry Shortcake

Not sure if this is the correct place for my question, but it seems like my best bet! I just moved into an apartment complex with a small balcony (!), so the grill I now have is a charcoal Weber Go-Anywhere. This is the only size grill I can comfortably fit. I was wondering, since I've never smoked anything before at home, if this was too small a grill to even attempt smoking some type of meat on it? Temps will be too high/hard to regulate? Some meat might work others won't?

Yes, my apartment kitchen is 40 square feet and has no fan. This coupled with the fact that my whole apartment is ~500 square feet makes it so that it fills up pretty fast with smoke when I sear a steak and the alarm inevitably goes off. I'm just waiting for it to seep into the hallway and the whole building have to evacuate

It seems unfortunate how something like this could be widely successful in SF, but easily squashed in LA.

Figured this might be a good place to ask this question. I've just finished up making the tesa from Paul Bertolli's "Cooking by Hand" scaled down from a 12lb pork belly to a 2 lb one. I was wondering if I'm supposed to leave the cure on the belly or wipe it off?

Pizza - Tartine's pizza dough with fontina, truffle cheese (can't remember the name!), proscuitto San Daniele, and olive oil.

I'm curious about this as well.

I'm curious about the place and have driven by it a couple of times. Looks pretty large. Please report back if you end up going!

Tonight was kimchi soup from some left over homemade kimchi that wasn't turned into fried rice!

Breakfast this Sunday was a homemade English muffin with a fried egg (runny yolk, of course!) and a slice of prosciutto.

Johnder, I'd be interested in hearing about that hot sauce...

Gizmodo just did a review of the Mypressi Twist, which is the handheld espresso maker. I have no idea how reputable Gizmodo is in terms quality reviews of coffee accessories, but it's an interesting option none the less. $170 + a $200 quality burr grinder is less than $500... Link: http://gizmodo.com/5707531/mypressi-twist-review-home-espresso-dynamo

I saw earlier in this thread that these can get up to 600+. Is it possible to get ~800 for pizza?

I've always enjoyed Ridge vineyards, which is in Sonoma County. They do have bottles over for $60+, but also have a few for $20-40 range. Each time I've been I bought a few bottles and they have given me the tasting I did ($25) for free.

Price range would be helpful, too!

Are you able to expand on what makes the BGE unique for those of us that know nothing about it?

heidih You basically take ~4 cups fresh rapsberries, 1/4 sugar, and 1/4 cup some kind starter culture (I used unpasteurized milk whey, but you could also use something like kombucha) and mash to mix. Then just put in some mason jars, cover with two piece lids, and let them sit out in a warm place for 1-2 days. You can check when they are ready by pushing down the lid seeing if it doesn't give anymore and then you can just pop in the refrigerator! This gives a nice effervescence to the berries and makes them last much longer than fresh berries would. Of course, if you leave them out longer you'll begin to get alcoholic raspberries, which isn't necessarily bad...just don't forget to burp the jar or else you'll have raspberries on your ceiling and, at worst, glass shards in your walls!

I had yogurt and granola with some fermented raspberries to top it off. Yum.

I go to the "Hot Dog Lady" once and awhile in Echo Park...usually after 9:30 since, as a few others have mentioned, they target the bar/club crowd. Hard to go wrong with pork on pork with some pickled jalapenos!

Salad Lyonnaise with some butter roasted carrots

Thanks! So, if I use a pressure canner can I, in theory, can whatever I like no matter the acid content? If not, how does one develop safe recipes for the commercial environment that are directly copied out of a book?

Hm, all good advice. I guess my next question then how does one take the step toward commercial canning?

Thanks for the heads up runwestierun. That is exactly what I am trying to avoid. I'm just wondering if there is some acid/sugar/salt ratio or pH I should always strive for or am I just stuck tweaking spices on already established recipes.

I've recently started canning things like beets and pickles, but I've only been following recipes from books like "The Joy of Canning". Now I'd like to try developing some recipes, but I've run into the issue of not knowing whether a recipe is suitable for canning (i.e. acid/sugar content is high enough) or the processing time in a boiling water bath. Example...I'd like to can the follow basic recipe, but don't know if the proportions of acid + sugar + salt are safe nor do I know the processing time: 4 cups thinly sliced unpeeled cucumbers 2 cups sugar 1 medium onion, thinly sliced into rings 1½ cups white vinegar 1 Tbsp kosher salt 1 Tbsp mustard seed So, I guess my question is how can I develop safe recipes for canning on my own or am I forever stuck following well tested recipes for canning?

Does anyone think there is a good reason to burn off the alcohol in a saucepan before adding it to the fruit?