Calw

Love the idea and would love to take the classes. I come to Pittsburgh a lot on business from the bay area - and have had to slog our way through some moderate food. BUT TONITE we ate at SALT OF THE EARTH wonderful local modernist cuisine - most expensive entre - $23 a delicious skate wing. 5 dined on starters mains and a cocktail each - total with tip - $200. The menu was unique and the food well prepared and each dish had just the right amount of twist to be delicious and very edible. The chef does a bit with local fir infusions, local on just about as many things as possible from what I could tell from the drink bases to the bacon dust candy in the dessert. And while some say the portions were not big, I disagree - i was stuffed as were my 2 Pittsburghians.

If you are going to pre-slice before serving and you like the rarer flavor and texture of duck breast, I'd do the former. The lower heat will more slowly reach the core tissue and it will be more tender for a more medium cooked breast. More heat makes the tissue seize up, so a lower heat will help keep it tender as it cooks beyond rare. The other worry I have on the length is over shooting your doneness mark - can't un-ring the bell on that one!

Lisa, We did the burrito bar for my son's varsity high school football team - 34 boys and 6 coaches. We EASILY went through 20#'s of tri-tip - and could have done more if we did not step in to control the meat flow. We had to switch over to quesadillas for the final fill-up. The conventional wisdom is 4 to 5 oz cooked per person for a caterer, with athletes, I'd think about 1.5x or more per person. We also took the step of mixing the rice and beans together - went through 2 large trays. If you use the large burrito wrappers they add to the filling and make it easier to eat - so people can sit anywhere and not have to balance plates too much. One other consideration is for you to serve the meat yourself - let them do the initial build and then you portion the meat so you know you have enough. Tell them to come back for seconds. It slowed down the flow and surprisingly few came back.

Thanks. I've checked in and from a med interaction, there are no issues. However, from a health / lifestyle standpoint we are dealing with someone who has lived well from a food standpoint - too well without balance. I'm not her parent, but I am the chef - so I get to pick. If she survives the cancer, she needs to deal with the weight. Unfortunately there is a wealth of data on that. So... ideas?

There is a vodka made with it that makes a great martini - with pomegranate juice (unsweetened), lime and simple syrup. A great holiday cocktail. There is a restaurant in Oakland called Luca's Tap Room that has them as the house cocktail. Really delicious if you like a fruiter cocktail - but it is not as sweet as a lemon drop.

Great questions. I will look into it. She has just started the chemo phase. I know that moving towards vegetable and away from animal is a general trend. There are many approaches in dealing with this - some do a starvation approach where they cut out all fat, but I don't know what is science and what are other word of mouth approaches. Thanks

Thanks all, Yes the Saba perfectly describes it. And thanks Kerry for the thread. Po was a Batali restaurant I believe at one time, and it looks like there were some other references to how to use it. Since there also seems to be a history of similar concentrations across Greece, Turkey and all the way to Iran there must be some spice combinations that work well with it....

I had the Game Hen at Po in Manhattan a while back - and really loved every bite. They finish the birds with a drizzle of a sweet grape sauce that I think is a Muscat sauce. While I'd love to deconstruct the whole recipe, I'm curious if anyone has a recipe or source for a Muscat sauce that would be similarly used?

I am cooking Christmas dinner for a good friend recently diagnosed with a colon cancer. While I usually cook what tastes best, I am looking for suggestions on what tastes great and is very healthy and fit for a Christmas Dinner. I will likely start with a Carrot Orange Soup...and from there who knows. Any main or side or dessert suggestion is welcome. Thanks.

We are hosting a dinner that will have a caramel souffle for dessert. Trying to time things to minimize activity in the kitchen between the main and dessert. Does anyone have experience with how long one can hold egg whites after they have been whipped - before you have to work with them? Can they go 30 minutes? Unfortunately the recipe says these souffles have to go straight to the oven (we have a recipe for some you can freeze before baking which is great - but not this one.). Does anyone have any broader experience with sweet souffles and whether they can sit at all before going in the oven? Any thoughts?

Well, at the price I considered it a bargain, because I did not have to deal with the rest. I expect to pay a premium when I buy eaches. - Much less per pound than vanilla beans - that's for sure. So at $12.95/lb, I was not complaining. And yes they are pretty big - so in terms of using them, I likely have more than enough for the leg.

as he writes, "skim, skim, skim" - I skimmed, skimmed, skimmed. That thin film just coated my mouth and tasted like fat.

I have been working a lamb sauce from FL for a few days now. Not sure of your end point but mine will end up under a fan of sliced lamb. One interesting point came when after all the skimming and de-scumming. I put in the tomato paste and final seasonings and started to reduce it down more. So I had a nice thick, very clean sauce in the pot. (I did this over a double boiler because one time I had the sauce separate because it accidentally boiled.) I then went to the final chinois step and ended up with a very thick, but flavorful paste in the cone. It had the thickness and color of Marmite, but with a rich lamb stock flavor. Below the chinois I had a beautifully clear more viscous stock. Now I am trying to figure out what to do with that flavorful paste - seemd a shame to toss it at this point. I guess is that it is mostly tomato paste meat that has absorbed some flavors. I am planning to try it on some toasts as a spread possibly topped with a slice of roasted mushroom and chives. But it occurred to me that I could have left it in and had a thicker, clean sauce (because it had been through the chinois a few times already - so you may want to consider how you will use it.

Here in the Easy Bay (Berkeley/Oakland) we have at least one place (Market Hall) that sell them by the fish. So 2 fish ran 84¢ ! Was glad to find them this way because I really did not want to get into a whole can at this point.

I had some nice replies to my querry on Lamb, which two people (thx Dave Hatfield & Michael B) suggested to add anchovies - wrapped up in the leg during roasting. I had planned to work in some anchovies so the suggestion was perfect! I've also heard of them being worked into stocks, etc. Saw there was a string in 02 on anchovies, but it went another direction. So just how far do they go? I will soak them in milk first, but will 2 be enough for a quart of well reduced stock? or will that be too much? Any tips? What about a size of meat like a leg? Is 2 enough? I have heard they dissolve into what ever they are in.