edwardsboi

I'm still confused about when you use white vs. black truffle oil for which dishes. For example, with mashed potatoes, which one do you use?

This one perhaps? When I was looking for Vongerichten's version, I looked at the ones available in the library and the book store, including Cooking at Home with a Four Store Chef which that recipe references. But, in the original recipe in that book, its just simply garlic soup with regular garlic. That other recipe uses that recipe, but substitutes green garlic for the regular garlic and then changes the proportions for other ingredients- their green garlic soup uses 7 cups of garlic chicken stock instead of 6 cups of chicken stock in the original recipe and the green garlic soup uses 3 eggs instead of two eggs. And, it allows 1-2 tablespoon of white wine vinegar instead of just one in the original recipe as well as adding spring chives which wasn't in the original. Its kind of interesting to see these changes, which I know I wouldn't have thougt of. To me, green garlic is so mild that I would have thought you'd need to increase the garlic amount. Or, that since green garlic is so mild, I'd have thought you'd need to decrease the stock to let the garlic flavor shine throught. Since I've never tasted Vongerichten's original green garlic soup, I'm curious how close this version tastes to the real thing.

Is there a way to see all their equipment reviews without subscribing to their website, given all the horror stories I've read here about that?

Can you grow fava beans in Southern California?

This is my first time growing tomatoes, and I had a couple of questions about growing them in containers: 1) At the bottom of the container, there's a hole for water to drain out. How do you keep the soil from draining out as well? I've heard about using shards of broken pots at the bottom of an intact container, but I recall there was some controversy about this method. 2) What's the best way to keep them upright? I've seen some tomatoe cages at Home Depot, but is that any better than just using a stake in the ground?

Now that we've established BKF is okay to use for the inside, is it still safe to use it all the time given what the previous poster said about how dangerous it can be? Everytime I'm using my All-Clad, I'm getting charred stuff in the pan that can't be removed with simply soapy water and elbow grease. Does anybody else get this problem? I know I've been using high heat, but this is getting ridiculous...

I'd try chervil since you can never seem to buy it anywhere, and you can use lots of it without overwhelming a dish. unfortunately, I can't seem to find it to grow it either. I've tried Home Depot, Lowe's, Farmer's Market, etc...

So, does this mean that one shouldn't use Bar Keepers Friend to clean the inside, especially with those difficult-to-clean fond residue? And, instead use it only for the outside of the pan? If its that hazardous, it seems dangerous to clean the inside of an All-Clad pan with it and then use that same pan to cook something. From All-Clad's instructions for cleaning the stainless steel interior: But, they never say what this fine powder cleanser is supposed to be.

Copper river salmon was at Costco for a pretty good price, but I passed them up- they smelled too fishy.

I guess one of the problems is that the instructions were unclear what to do with it. All it said for the green garlic was 'stems trimmed and bulbs quartered'. So, does that mean I use the bulb itself and the whole length of the stalk, but only after taking off the outer layer of the green stalk? I noticed that the stalks got tougher to the end, and I thought maybe the instructions to trim the green garlic was referring to taking off a inch or two off the top.

I'm going to need some champagne vinegar for a recipe, but I don't already have one so I'm open to any suggestions. I tend to see O champagne vinegar a lot in stores, but I also have access to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's as well. And, without tasting it before, is there anything I should look for when buying champagne vinegar?

I use this tool a lot and I try to strictly follow those measurements when following a recipe, especially when I try one for the first time. But, when I was using two different measuring spoons from two companies, I discovered that the measurements I got from one measuring spoon was different than the measurement I got from the other measuing spoon. If I exactly measured one tablespoon from one spoon, it did not exactly match the tablespoon from the other brand. Since both measurements can't be right, one has to be wrong or maybe they're both wrong. How do I know which measurement is right? I don't want to measure out exactly, only for the measurement to be wrong because the tool itself is flawed. And, if both are wrong, does anybody have any recs for measuring spoons?

When the season begins, I know that prices always start off highest but then subside somewhat as time passes. Does this mean that the quality is at its peak at the beginning, or is the high price more of a reflection of pent-up demand?

No, they are different. Green garlic is immature garlic which will grow into regular garlic with time.

I've been buying green garlic from farmers markets because I've read and heard so much about this ingredient, especially as a soup, but I haven't really been that blown away by it. Before I write if off, I wanted to give it one more chance and find the tips and hints to make a killer soup. I don't know if its just the recipe I'm using, or if I'm really just blah about the ingredient. I know Jean-Georges Vongerichten has a famous version of the soup, but I haven't been able to find the recipe in any of his cookbooks. He has a garlic soup in one of his cookbooks, so would I just substitute green garlic for regular garlic? Or, do I need to make some other changes to that recipe?

Isn't that, at least, a misdemeanor to procure a 'free' grill like that?

I just bought this at a farmer's market, and I'm looking for some ideas what to do with it. Do you use it as if it was just regular arugula?

I've been seeing lower-end Bosch's dishwashers for around $500, which would be cheaper than some other dishwashers from other manufacturers. Although, at that price, I'm curious how the quality holds up.

This is what gets me: the Bravo editors knew who won before the first episode aired: they had months to tweak the editing to ensure that the winner was a surprise, but a pleasant one. And instead, what they ended up creating was some random schmuck that no one really cared about. Stefan was the "clear favorite," Carla the "Dark Horse," and, oh yeah, there was some other guy, too. What was his name? Of course I agree that within the context of the last episode it seems clear that Hosea deserved the win: the others simply screwed themselves with bad decisions. That doesn't explain to me how Bravo could have assembled and edited the season so poorly: I don't think anyone is "angry" about this choice, like many were when Ilan won; it's clear Hosea won fair and square here. The question is, why didn't they make him a more compelling winner? ← There wasn't much to work with with Hosea. So, what the editors did was shift focus and create a villain in Stefan to take the attention off Hosea winning. From the internet clips and interviews, Stefan was a confident but great guy- he helped shuck Carla's oysters for her in New Orleans, etc.. But, by making him this uber-villain whom the viewers hated, his loss in the finals would create a sense of relief that anybody but Stefan won. The editing wasn't so much about building up Hosea as it was tearing down Stefan.

So, if all raw fish must be frozen, then does that mean there shouldn't hypothetically be a difference between eating sushi near the ocean and eating sushi more inland like the Midwest since both sources will be getting frozen fish?

And, just to add another wrinkle... Apparently, in his Bravo blog, Brian The Seafood Guy, said that he never rested monkfish because his monkfish were in medallion form. So, I guess you don't always automatically rest monkfish. I've been reading a couple of fish books, and I don't recall any of these books mentioning this stuff before. What's the definitive guide to fish cookery?

Does anybody do this? I was reading Crave, a cookbook with an interesting concept, by Ludo Lefebvre, who might be better known for his tattoos and his good looks than for his experimental cooking. But, he trained with some of the best chefs in the world including Alain Passard who's won three Michelin Stars. And, Ludo mentions how much emphasis and importance Passard placed on the fish bones to know if the fish had been perefectly cooked. Passard would comb and pick through the dishes after the customer had eaten the fish, checking to see if the fish bones were the specific rose color he was looking for. This is the first time I've ever heard of this, and wanted to know more about this technique and how to do it. Why would Passard do this technique- it seems it would limiting because you couldn't check the fish until after it had been cooked and eaten and thus too late to fix it. And, could you do this for all types of fish and all types of cooking techniques?

Interesting. I've never heard about resting lobster. Do you just rest lobster, or do you rest other shellfish like crabs?

When I was watching Top Chef, Tom Colocchio made a point that one of the contestants had made a crucial error when he didn't let the monkfish rest. I know you're supposed to rest meat, but this was the first time I've heard about resting a fish. Are there any more types of fish you're supposed to rest? Do you this for all fish, or just for monkfish? And, if you do rest a fish, are you supposed to treat it like what you'd do for meat- cover it with tin foil while it rests? And, how long do you let it rest? Finally, does anybody know the science why you rest meat but why you or wouldn't do that to fish?

Who? Take a look at his CV, and tell me 4-6 chefs from each season that were as talented or experienced?