OliverB

head cheese is sure being made in Germany also, and it's really delicious, different from every butcher. I have to find out though, if there are other recipes. They sell pig's heads at some butchers and I can't quite imagine it's for head cheese making at home. The head also ends up in a big pig boil, just boiled head, tongue, heart, cooked in nothing but water, no salt, no anything, until well cooked and super tender. Served with bread and a spoon of salt and pepper to dip into. Doesn't get much more traditional Bavarian, usually a preparation made the day of slaughter. And yes, the snout goes in it, my dad had it on his plate, pix on my blog: Diablo Kitchen I did taste some of the snout, though I'd cut it into smaller pieces, not quite as recognizable... Yummy stuff!

At the Ranch 99 Market here and at an other Asian super market they always have the whole roast pig hanging next to the ducks etc, the head resting on a tray underneath. And while I have yet to ask what to do with it, depending on when you get there, there's less and less meat on it. My assumption was that people buy it to eat it? Of course, this market caterers to everybody Asian and beyond, but my understanding was that this preparation in Chinese? I'm curious about different ways to cook the head, as I'll also be getting a free one or two, once I made some room in the freezer.

SurLaTable also has an instant read thermometer with infrared thermometer in one unit. It's twice your budget, $99, but worth mentioning. I have to investigate it some more, but if the probe reads fairly fast I'll be getting one.

I don't know if Vietnamese cooking used Kaffir Lime, but those trees are easy to get too, cost less than $50 and you can use the leaves and the limes. I know it from Thai cooking, but still might be interesting for him? Mine is still in a container, I'll plant it next year. But it's been happy in the container for 3 or 4 years now. And aside of water and the occasional fertilizing it needs no care at all. Adds delicious flavor though!

gift certificate for D'Artagnan or any of the nice restaurants out in LAla land? I'd stay away from "cool" gadgets as they usually end up in the back of a drawer. Or do they have a kitchen scale? I just bought magnetic knife holders at Target for about $15 each, you know, mount on wall and hang knives there, free up counter or drawer space. A gift set from Rancho Gordo, they have a set with some beans and the new cook book - or just create your own set. Of course he'll probably always appreciate a good bottle of wine. Or a set of Asian (Mexican etc) ingredients? If you have Asian markets around you can also get a really nice large mortar/pestle for around $14, same one that costs 40+ at other stores. Or that mortar and some other Asian kitchen tools, a cleaver, a large spider skimmer spoon, bamboo cook spoons etc? Those are things I use all the time and you can get a nice assortment for your budget. Not bling brands, but stuff that does actually work well.

only food dye I've ever seen comes in little dropper bottles. If you can't find the powder, maybe you can dye something powdery (flour, starch, etc) and pulverize it in a spice/coffee grinder once dry? Or put it in a spray bottle to spray on what you're doing? What do you intend to color?

just find a recipe and follow it. And if the recipe asks for x cups of salt, make sure to know what salt they use. Once cup of kosher salt from Diamond Chrystal is a lot less than a cup of table salt. Not paying attention to this can ruin your dish. Best if you find a recipe with weight instead of cups.

anybody have experience with Tramontina? They did not have lincoln at Costco, but I bought a set of 3 different sized ones by Tramontina. They had a set out, seems good quality from the looks and feel. Rubberized handle, dishwasher safe, enamel outside and eterna non stick coating, feels nice and slick. $24 for the set. I figured it's Costco, if they don't work well I can return them, I'm there at least once a month for diapers. But if somebody had a bad experience with them I'll just put the box right back in the car and get something else. Was the only set where they offered only pans, all the rest was 12 piece pot sets etc. (love how they count lids as "pieces" in those sets...) (also got 3 wonderful top sirloin USDA prime steaks for $2.69/lb, less than $9 for the entire package! Crazy cheap)

if you want the flavor in the meat you have to brine it, a marinade won't get far intside (if at all) and one made with oil will as far as I know never penetrate the meat. A brine will, check for a couple recipes online and try that. You can always put the marinade on after brining (or a rub). The high salt content in a bring first pulls water from the meat, but eventually it gets pulled back in, along with the flavors, until things level out. HuyngryC has a good marinade that will penetrate some, as it contains no oil, and the fish sauce is very salty. And as soon as you have acidic things in there like the lime juice you want to marinade short, as the juice (or vinegar etc) will "cook" the meat. I often make chicken breast strips with just salt, pepper, juice of one or two limes and a hand full cilantro. You can see the meat turn white pretty quick. Try a brine with the same flavorings as the marinade and see where that takes you, let us know!

did not know CostCo has those, I'm heading there today and will see if they are in stock, thanks! I want to go to the place in Oakland too someday, just not sure I'll make it over there before xmas.

thanks for the link to the restaurant supply store! There's one out here in Oakland too I think, see if I can swing over there, would be fun to browse

didn't think of restaurant supply store, interesting idea! I'll have to see where there is one in the area. I have an all clad, and while it works fine I thing who ever designed the handle on that thing was insane or held a grudge against cooks. Most uncomfortable thing ever to hold a heavy pan with. Wish I could at least just turn it upside down. Still, might give them an other look to compare.

thanks so far! I've seen ads for the swiss diamond ones, great to hear they seem to hold up to what they promise! Cuisinart is also a good brand, I'd never use a metal tool no matter what they say (well, aside of a spoon or the above mentioned fork maybe) but it's good to hear you're happy with them. How non-stick are they with eggs?

interesting, thanks!

I did not find a prior discussion about this topic, if it exists please merge. Anyway, I want to buy a nonstick pan for my mother in law for Christmas. She asked for one of the new "green" ones, though I've read a pretty bad test about them in Cooks Illustrated. I used to have a really cheap one from Safeway for years, eventually it had to be replaced. I first got a calphalon but it was scratched out of the box - as were all others in the store, there was a sharp metal fold where the metal ring around the glass lid was joined, scratching the coating off. So I went and bought an All Clad, for about twice as much money. I'm more or less happy with it, it could be more nonstick than it is, and I really don't like the handle. What's your favorite? I don't want to spend $200 and it seems unnecessary. The miserable quality of the calphalon makes me hesitant to look at any of their new ones. There are surlatable branded ones, Williams Sonoma, etc, I'd be looking for some recommendations. It should work especially well with eggs. Thanks!

I'm sure the food stylist was working on the food for the photos, and they have tricks up their sleeve. Sometimes rendering the food inedible but making it prettier. (hair spray, lacquer, etc) Mine were sliced thin, but not paper thin, maybe about as thin as a credit card or thinner. As I had never deep fried anything I was afraid I'd burn them if I made them any thinner. It is a very thick soup, though the blender also whipped it up a bit, was fluffy. The taste is great, but definitely cauliflower. Maybe the ones you used had some problem? I did not find it synthetic, but of course tastes differ. I used organic cauliflower from whole food (was cheaper than the regular stuff at Safeway actually!), regular clover heavy whipping cream and what ever milk was in the fridge. But your's sure looks good! You can thin it out a bit if you like it thinner. I think your chips look just fine though. I'd eat them

that's some great looking food here! I'm just trying to get into game (and who knows, might take up hunting eventually too), made a rabbit (bred, not wild) recently and have a couple "game" birds in the freezer. Now, I've always been wondering, and this thread seems as good as any: how do you know - or do you care - if the wild animal was healthy? Say, I find a deer on the side of the road and smuggle it home somehow, or at least a piece of it, can I cook it medium rare or might the kids get rabis? They act crazy enough at times w/o needing that extra push Same though when hunting, you can't really know how healthy that animal you just go was, are there particular rules to go by? Don't want to take this off topic, but if somebody has the cliff notes version of info or a good link, I'd appreciate it!

roast pork or chicken. Can't go wrong.

great stuff, that pot pie looks awesome! Great photos too! I've never made a pot pie (or any pie for that matter), I think I'll have to put that high on my next to do list! First is the fried chicken though, I can't wait to do that. Looking forward to more adventures here!

liquid smoke was already mentioned and works well, but be careful with it. Or use a meat stock, Trade Joe's has little packages of concentrated stock (they look like those catchup packages, just a bit smaller) that are quite good and should not add much - if any - fat. I use those quite often for all kinds of things. They have chicken, beef, and also vegetable. There's also a weird product, bacon salt. There's no bacon used in making it, but it works well. Again, be careful with dosage. http://www.baconsalt.com/ Some smoked tofu might work also? I dislike tofu, but it should add a smoky flavor.

have fun at the signing, bring your camera too, he's happy to have pictures taken. And enjoy the samples, some really good stuff!

oh, thank you both! I think you'll both love the book, the recipes are a bit involved, but certainly not anything like French Laundry etc, and once you read through it you can probably find a couple short cuts here and there if you like. I have all of Thomas Keller's books, and I'm probably gonna cook more from this one than from all the others combined. That's not to say they're bad or anything, the French Laundry book has changed me in so many ways, I cook, shop, and eat differently since I got it, but usually there's just not enough time to strain some stock a gazillions times. And it's really not necessary at home either, as the taste will be the same, and you probably don't spend $250 per person (w/o drinks) at home :-) Join in here once you get it, I'd love to see what others cook, be it follow word by word or taking an inspiration and running with it. I'll be tackling the fried chicken soon, have a wonderful free range chicken in the freezer just for that :-) I'll be posting here once I get around to more from this wonderful book.

I really love this book! There are quite some things I want to try my hands on, the first that I had flagged was cauliflower soup, which incidentally also was the first dish we got to try at a book signing with Thomas Keller, so I guess I really had to make it now :-) I made the whole recipe, which is supposed to give you about 6 portions. It uses two heads of cauliflower (4-5 lb), a leek, some onion, milk, cream and butter (of course), 1/4 tsp curry, s&p. and you add croutons and beet chips. All together it probably took me about 2hrs, though you could take quite some short cuts here, buy croutons, buy veggie chips, blend with an immersion blender if you don't mind it a bit more rustic and skip the cup of blanched and fried in butter florets on top. This could be a relatively quick to make dish if you skip those mostly presentational things. In this cased I followed the entire recipe, except that I used curry powder I have from the Indian store. I cut two heads of cauliflower into chunks, half an onion and one stalk leeks. I did not really measure these out in cups, just eyeballed it. They go into a pot with butter and 1/4 tsp curry powder and some salt, where they steam under a parchment paper lid (seems to be one of TK's favorite things and really does work very well) for some 20 or so min, until almost tender. Then you add 2cups milk, 2 cups heavy cream, and 2 cups water, bring to a good simmer and let go for an other 30 min or so. Then you're ready to blend it all up. He recommends the VitaMix (I have a feeling that we have some paid product placement here....) which I don't have, I had to use our stone old: Oysterizer Cycle Blend, which actually did a fantastic job! I can't imagine what a VitaMix would have done better. I started on slow and eventually worked my self up the row of buttons until I hit liquefy and ended up with a super smooth light and foamy, velvety, almost whipped cream like soup, out of this world! Super creamy: Once that's all done, you're basically good to go, you could just eat right now, but there are a couple garnishes to do if you want to copy the recipe exactly. As I have never deep fried anything, I figured this is as good a thing to try as anything, and I won't need a huge pot of oil. I took my smallest pot and filled it with about an inch of peanut oil, heated it up to 300 degree F. Meanwhile I peeled one beet and sliced it on my mandolin into very thin slices. Once the oil reached temp, I fried them in batches of 5: I put them on a cooling rack and salted them with fine sea salt. Next it was time to blanche the cup or so of florets I had reserved, just in salted water with a dash of vinegar. Once done they go in a frying pan with a Tbsp of butter until browned. I used the same pan I had used for the croutons with the remainder of garlic oil still in there, figured I might as well. Well, there you have it, soup, browned florets, croutons, beet chips. To plate I poured two ladles of soup on a bowl, added some florets, croutons on top and a stack of chips on top of that. For a bit of color I added one water cress twig, sprinkled some black salt and pepper on top and drizzled a bit of good olive oil on. Served with thick slices of rustic sourdough bread, this dish is heavenly! The soup is rich, fluffy, airy and light, very very tasty. The different add ons give great texture, from soft to very crunchy and the bread is what you need to soak up every last drop and wipe the bowl clean. This soup is delicious and I see lots of other add ons one could play with, things like bacon, different greens, etc. A flexible delicious base to play with. Or just stick to the book, I'll definitely make this again. I still have a bit less than half of it for left overs, wondering if it would freeze well? Might try with just a cup to see what happens. This would be a great soup to bring for a potluck or to share at Christmas with family, just get some good quality croutons or make some that day, everybody can get a small cup to warm up and get ready for dinner! I will be making more things from this book, which is why I thought it would be neat to have a "cooking with" thread here, hopefully others will join in with their creations! As you can imagine, I highly recommend this book, check in the cook book section for a thread of discussions about it.

I just came across some nice little video with Thomas Keller on the Borders website, they talk about the book and then they cook a couple of the recipes. The reporter is a bit chatty, but I think it's fun to watch and there are a couple fun tricks to learn along the way, like the chives with wet paper towel. I hope the link works: Thomas Keller - Borders books video I also made the cauliflower soup yesterday, it came out fantastic! I think I'll post a thread in the cooking section, as this is more about the cook book, not a cooking with thread, but here's a little preview:

well, as they say, it's for the "advanced" home cook (what ever that means). No, this is not an other Rachel Ray 30 min meal throw away volume, this is some really good food, and that tends to take a bit more time. It's for the home cook that loves to cook and doesn't mind spending a while in the kitchen. Anybody expecting something in the 30 min quick arena is looking at the wrong author. But it's all stuff that's doable at home, and yes, w/o a staff of dish washers. Kind of a silly review, more flippant than informative. All recipes I've read so far are quite doable in anybody's kitchen. Not in 30 min, but most (but not all) won't take a day either. Read it here: NYT Ad Hoc review I'm off to the store now to make the cauliflower soup tonight :-) PS: they review a bunch of other books, including Ramsey's Cooking for Friends which I find irritating in layout and print - and photography, I want food pix, not photos of some friends I don't know. I love some of his other books, this one I'll pass. Momofuku is mentioned too, a great book that I plan to tackle over the holidays, and the Big Fat Duck book is there too, also a great one, much more than just a cook book. Actually, I doubt I'll cook much from it as here we're really talking about food that needs a staff! There are recipes that have around 20 or so different items you need to make. I have it filed under very educational with high pornographic appeal :-)