OliverB

you could also just (fire) roast them and try them with some bread and olive oil, since you're not talking about hot ones.

I would agree whith what was said before, forget a set of knifes, just get one really good one, maybe an other down the road. I got a Shun Ken Onion chef's knife almost 2 years ago and absolutely love it. It is still sharp as crazy, going through tomatoes with no effort at all, and it fits me like a glove. Do test it though, I have big hands, and this is a very uniquely shaped knife that might not be comfortable for everyone. I have never sharpened it and just started using a steel on it very recently and rarely. Shun does free lifetime sharpening, so after x-mas I'll send it up to Portland in OR and it'll come back as new, no worries about the skills of some sharpener nor do I have to get into this myself. I'd have little fun sharpening knives. Yes, it's very expensive and I'm sure there are others that are as good in quality, this one just fits my hand and the way I cut as if it were made for me. I use this knife every day on just about anything, with a wooden and a black plastic cutting board. I can't believe how sharp this thing still is! I treat it well (it's MY knife only) but still, amazingly sharp. And a beauty too Aside of that knife I have a small pairing knife also same brand and style. That one took a bit getting used to, but now I'm very happy with it. Turns out the somewhat odd angle and shape works really well. I have the bread knife too, which is awesome, goes through any bread you throw at it, thick hard crust and all, as if cutting a sponge. I'd consider that one more a luxury though, as cheap bread knives usually work ok too (but aren't half as pretty). Then I use a simple boning knife from Forschner/Inox for butchery and I'll be getting their slicing knife too, today actually, as I have some larger cuts of beef to work on. Butchery is turning more and more into a hobby for me. I'm really having fun with that. There are a bunch more knives hanging on the wall, but those are either older ones or things like my Chinese cleaver (actually made in Germany, LOL) and a Chinese bone cleaver I got for little money at the Asian market. Very sharp and nice weight to it and I'm sure it'll do me fine for a long time, as I don't have to cut bones all that often. (I'm playing with the idea of owning a bone saw though, and maybe buying a half a pig as one piece next year...). Then I use our table knives quite a bit for all kinds of cutting, they have a bit of serration at the front and cut very well. Now, aside of the butchery knives that are pretty cheap, the Shun are very expensive knives, but very much worth it. I was hesitant at that price, but they are amazingly well made knives. And you really can do most of anything with just the chef's knife. Would I ever take these to work in a restaurant kitchen? Not in my dreams, but I think the OP was talking about knives for at home, not at work. For home use, I think saving up a bit and getting just one really good chef knife to begin with is a much better plan than buying one of those blocks with 5 knives (and a set of 10 steak knives! FREE!) you find in all the stores. Oh, and get a magnetic strip to mount on the wall and put your knives there, instead of using up counter space with a big chunk of dust gathering wood. They're about $15 a piece at Target (or $80 at Sur la Table, made in Germany too!! Haha!) and keep everything organized and easy to get to. I just recovered a considerable chunk of counter real estate by doing just that. Looks neat too!

nice pic and video! I would have liked to hear him speak too, but this was just a signing, albeit with food. Of course, youtube has quite some of him (and many other chefs) to watch and listen to. And yes, the new way to insert photos is great, the old system was a bit of a pain. A great improvement to the forum!

I think a simple salsa is a good idea, or maybe mixing with mayo? I'm not sure you can compare them side by side all that well. A bite of some mild pepper is nothing, a bit off a habanero is something you won't forget Or maybe make a simple vegetable broth or mild hot/sour soup (w/o the hot part) and separate it into cups, then add what you think are good amounts of each pepper to a cup and taste. Keep a glass of milk handy to kill the fire if one it too hot. Water or beer etc won't work. take some pictures if you can and let us know! I've wondered about how to compare peppers myself.

great report and pix, thanks! I'm gonna make this some day, I've never made fried chicken (or deepfried anything as I don't have a deep fryer, and as I won't do it often always figured I'm wasting a bottle of oil on one dish), the ones they passed around at the signing were quite good, very crunchy and tasty. They did sell the kit there too, but I did not buy it. Seems more like a gag or stocking stuffer than anything. So, I'm officially declaring an end to my no shopping for a week now. It's been a good 2 1/2 weeks and it was fun, but I'm now out of potatoes, greens and other fresh things like herbs (the garden is shutting down now). Add to that that I have a sudden urge to cook from Ad Hoc at Home and while I do still have some frozen greens, I want to make those recipes with fresh stuff. I'm still amazed (embarrassed?) by the amounts of food I found in the house, aside of fresh stuff we could easily eat an other month just fine. Partially because several meat orders just came in around the same time, but even with canned things, rice, beans etc, I would not need to shop much. I will try to restrain myself and make a shopping list (something I hardly ever do) and stick to it, see how that goes. In the course of this experiment I did organize some areas of food storage and got rid of some antiques I found, but I was glad to see that most stuff is going to be fine for a while or almost indefinitely, not too much outdated stuff was discovered. The largest in size were 1 1/2 bags of King Arthur Whole Wheat, still within date but not smelling all that fresh. That stuff goes rancid quick. I'll either buy small amounts from the bulk bin or freeze what I'm not using. And I'll try very hard to avoid the grab-what-ever-looks-good shopping. That was hard the first time I went to the store for milk but I'm somewhat getting used to it. I might just note down what I see that interests me and do a bit of research, find a recipe or two and then buy it, instead of storing it in the pantry where I'll forget I have it (and then buy it again). This was a fun and interesting experience, I'd be up for joining in again in a couple months, come spring or so? And I'll continue reading along here of course :-)

french fries, meat balls, pasta (get small pasta, not spaghetti), mac&cheese, my boy loves celery and carrots. Pizza always works of course. Chicken is always a hit at my house, bbq, roasted, etc. Sounds like you had fun! Yes, eating and cooking can be a challenge, I have a 6 and a 2 year old. I don't cook "kid food" per se, they get what we have, but most of the time they find something in there they like. Oh, rice always works too or a thick soup with some nice bread to dip. I just never got into the sanwich with a smiley face on it and things like that. Oh, and just because they loved something yesterday doesn't mean it's considered even remotely edible today of course

Welcome Splat, and I fully agree with what you say, that book changed how I cook, how I eat, how I shop and what I buy. I was fortunate to eat there once and will have to go back some day. Also was lucky to meet Thomas Keller last night at a book signing in SF and told him the same. Was great to shake his and and meet in person, short as it was. Would love to just sit on a porch with him somewhere and pick his brains Check out Ad Hoc At Home, his new book. I like it a lot and things are a bit easier to make (and on the wallet) but very good. At the signing they offered little tastes of some of the tings in the book. I posted a little note about last night in the cook book section's Ad Hoc At Home thread. I also can't explain why this book had such an effect on me, it just did.

back from the signing, was quite a zoo. SF Williams Sonoma is huge, 3 stories occupying an entire nice old building next to Tiffany's. Closed after 6pm unless you were on the "invite" list. Very busy inside, huge stacks of the book and the other Keller books. You had to buy there, though I'm sure I could have just pretended and smuggled my copy in w/o problem, they did not check for receipts or anything like that. On each floor there seems to be a little kitchen place, they had people walk around offering fried chicken (awesome), a SV short rib/mushroom thing on one of those chineese spoons that was fantastic, meatballs, couple other things I'm too tired to list now. All good stuff. Oh, also the cauliflower soup from the book, which I had just yesterday put a little sticky flag onto, as I want to make it. It's delicious! Some sweet stuff too that I did not try. Also Williams Sonoma's wine club had a tasting, whites, reds, and a bubbly. Nothing in particular overly exciting, but tasty nonetheless. Long line to get the books signed, we were first in line on the 2nd floor, later I think they had a line on ground floor too, lines advanced to the next floor when enough signing was done. TK was on the top floor together with the chef of Ad Hoc, who's name escapes me right now and I'm - well - too tired - to look it up. I'd have had him sign my book too, but somehow once you get to the front of the line it's quite a hustle and you're gone before you know it. Got a picture taken with TK and my wife and me, and took a couple more of him signing other people's books. Went back down and bought the pallet knife thingy he advocates over tongs, not that I'm gonna throw my tongs out, but as I was in the store and TK likes them...... Oh well, I'm a sucker for that kind of thing, what can I say :-) Got some more free wine and food on the way out, probably spent about 2 hours in the store. Was fun, well organized by the staff, great to finally meet Chef Keller in person, though there was not much time to talk. told him the truth, that I learned more about food and cooking from him than from anybody else. I think he heard it :-) Got a nice sig in my book and also had a 2nd book signed which we gave to our friends who watched our little ones (and gave us other great gifts over the years), which they really seemed to love. And I'm sure they'll cook from it, as they had paged through my copy here at home, the one I bought a while ago. So, a fun evening, a bit hectic and crazy, lots and lots of people, some dressed-in-black-we're-special San Francisco fancies jumping the line too, as usual, all part of the fun. It was great to see TK in person, I'd have loved to talk a bit (or a lot actually) or some presentation or reading or talking about the book would have been nice, but it really was just a straight up book signing, with the added benefit of some great little food things (really really good ones) and some free wine (so so, good but nothing special). Very glad we went, glad I got to shake his hand, he's the most influential cook in my life and I'll cherish the memory for ever. Now I just hope he'll open up a place in Walnut Creek (great property available just across the street from Tiffany's right now!) so I can enjoy food directed and inspired by him more often without having to make it an overnight trip :-) I really thing that just about anybody here on this forum would enjoy the book, and would actually cook from it. Do yourself a favor and check your local store, if they have it, take a look. I'll be deepfrying some chicken this weekend if things work out the way I hope :-)

Tonights signing with Keller is an invite only thing at Williams Sonoma (don't I feel special! No idea why we got the invite actually), but he's also signing at the Palo Alto store on Sunday. Check the WS website to find more info. I think there are still some other dates elsewhere too. I'm already feeling like a star struck teenager No idea what to say or ask, but I'll post a little note here or probably better in the Ad Hoc thread over in cooking, maybe have a photo or two to share. Not too happy that I have to buy the book again to get it signed, but so be it. Understandable from WS's point of view. Friends are watching the kids and I'll make some pasta with tomato sauce for everyone. But then I think I have to go shop for some things, still have lots of meat, and maybe I'll make some chicken with rice on Fri. Then I really want to make the fried chicken from Ad Hoc this weekend, but I think on Sun I have to hit the Farmer's Market. I will try to stop myself from stocking up on "this looks good" and "I have to try that" things though, aside of fresh things I still could last for a long time. Amazing how much food stuff one can tuck away in the kitchen and pantry!

That's a great idea with the baking sheet and dry ice! They sell that stuff at Safeway here, I'll have to try that. My kids are 2 and 6, but I plan to employ my boy in the kitchen soon, he's getting a cook book (Silver Spoon for Children), a small Chef's knife, and an apron for Christmas. Hopefully we won't see too many trips to the ER I'll have to check those two sites again and look for those upscaled recipes. Just pulled the book out again last night after posting here, it's sure a stunning thing. Already thinking about how to build some of those out there presentation dishes/displays myself....

barnes and noble list it as in stock, around $30, depending if you're a member or not. I'll have two after tonight, not sure yet if I'll sell my current copy, give it away for Christmas or store my signed copy in a vault and use the one I have for cooking Of course you have to buy your copy at the store if you want to get it signed...

dinner was a medley of different brats I found in the freezer, plus potatoes and some salad. 5 kinds or so of mustard (I'm and addict) and it was all good. I'm nearing the end of my part here though, it's been two weeks more or less. Tomorrow evg we'll be at a book signing by Thomas Keller, supposedly with some catered snacks, Fri I'll probably make pasta with frozen meatballs to make more room in the freezer, but I'm now out of just about anything fresh, no more potatoes, tomatoes, low on onions and garlic. Lots of good stuff in the freezer still, and I won't shop for meats for quite a while now, but I'm gonna have to pick up some more fresh things, most likely will hit the farmer's market on Sunday. That'll make almost 3 weeks w/o any major food shopping! Not bad, especially before x-mas and considering we had to put some major cash into my wife's car this month, all fell into place just fine I guess :-)

I picked a couple things I want to make by now, I did not yet get to it, mostly as I'm still on the no shopping for a week (week 2 now) thing. I will be seeing him Thu night in SF though, some little invite only thing at a store (I guess we spent enough there? Not sure why we got that) where he's also catering some snacks supposedly, and signing the book of course. If you buy it there. So I'll have two copies by tomorrow evening :-) What I'd as him, and if I get to it I will, is what music he's listening to in the kitchen. What would you ask? I'll post a note here later this week, maybe with a picture or two. I don't really care what he says or does though, I just love to finally see him in person, as I've probably learned more about food and cooking from him (i.e. his books etc) than from anybody else.

my guess would be that most that buy these books never make a single dish from them, but just love to have them. Maybe to add to the experience of having eaten at the restaurant, or info before going there. Or just for the fun of it, to somewhat stay on top of the top of cooking. Personally I am sure I will never buy an anti-griddle and I'm doubtful that I'll ever do Sou Vide at home (I still somewhat consider it a little bit like cheating at home), but I am getting an ISI foam thing for xmas, I want to make the whiskey gums from the Fat Duck and several things from the French Laundry. Alineathough, most things are so far "out there" and need special equipment, dishes, tools, what not. I can just marvel. It did put Chicaco on my places to go to list, I'd love to eat there some day. Despite the mixed reviews I've read, I think it would be a lot of fun and I'm sure I'd enjoy it a lot. I'm secretly hoping they'll open Alinea II in SF before I can ever make it there though so I don't have to go to Chicago

Does anybody ever upscale the recipes to resemble something like dinner? I love the book, and what has been shown here is great food, but I can't justify working all day on some food and ending up with a couple spoons, one per person. My kids would eat me if that's all I'd serve That's my main issue with some of these books, FL, Fat Duck, etc. I'd love to make some of the stuff, but they are meant to be one dish in a long evening of many small dishes, which is of course impossible to do at home w/o staff. And I just can't justify spending all day in the kitchen to have some appetizer that'll then be followed by a frozen pizza I love reading and learning about these dishes, and sometimes I take some ideas and modify everything so I end up with 4 plates full of food, but that's not really the point. I might have to put these things on the back burner until the kids are out of the house, when I'll have time to just play with some food for the fun of playing, without the need of feeding 4 at the end of the game. Did anybody here ever make a full menu from Alinea or FL etc? Oliver

cut in half, remove pit, fill cavity with good olive oil (or avocado oil!), add salt. Use spoon to eat, maybe with some bread. And pepper. Still the best way to eat avocado IMO. Make quackomole (spelling?). Cut into salad. Slices on bread. Soup was mentioned, the one I made had little avocado taste despite lots of avocado, need to find different recipe. User as base for salad dressing or sandwich dressing, blend in blender or small food processor. Once ripe they keep for a good while in the fridge, you don't need to eat them all the same day. I often buy 4 in a net and we eat them over the week. Once I notice that they give a bit at the narrow end I put them in the fridge and they keep just fine. They even ripen in the fridge, though very slow. Have fun with them, I'm seriously considering an avocado tree for the garden, I them!

that bread does look great, as do the crackers. Might have to give the book an other look. I just started to play with sourdough, got a couple starters from sourdo.com and worked with the SF one first. I messed some of the timing up somewhere, bread was a bit too dense and also a bit sweet - odd for sourdough! Was good though, just not what I though I'd made I want to try and make my own wild yeast starter too one of these days. I've also read about a way to do it by using organic unwashed grapes, thought that was an interesting approach as well. Never got around to buy any this year and the local season should be pretty much over I think. Not that I'd have time to drive to Napa anytime soon anyway. Thanks for the pictures, they make me hungry!

I don't have a single favorite book (in any genre actually). So, for a deserted island I'd pick something that has lots of info in it, like Bittman. Useful to cook - well - anything, what ever I might come across on that island. Otherwise I'd probably pick the book I bought last (Thai Food by Thompson) or the book I'm currently reading through (Ad Hoc right now). I have very few, if any, favorite anythings in life, I never thought that way and also have the feeling it would limit me. Like if I'd have a favorite cook book, why buy others? Favorite pizza would keep me from eating all the other ones, favorite band would prevent me from hearing the gazillion others out there, and so on. Amongst the 200+ cook books I have, there are some that I pick up first if I'm looking for a particular thing (bbq, Asian, fish, etc etc) but I can't say that there's one that I used a lot more than an other. Maybe if I'd learned from a particular book, but I mostly learned at home from my mom and later on from cooking shows, so I'd probably have to pick the TV over there in the corner instead of a book :-)

Saffron rabbit turned out great, though next time I'll use tamer olives. I used black shriveled (dry cured?) ones that turned out to be too salty once heated up. Great cold though! More work than your average dish, had to butcher the rabbit first too, but it all came together great. I cooked up the spinach with left over pine nuts (toasted and sprinkled with paprika) and fried up bacon bits, a spoon or two of left over sour cream. Turned out very tasty! Also defrosted a sourdough bread from a while ago and baked it up. Great medieval dish, that I'll make again for sure. Maybe also with chicken someday. I did buy some stuff today, but won't use it this week. Had to go to CostPlus to get Advent Calendars for the kids, luckily they still had some. As they have things there I can't get anywhere else I bought them instead of going back in a week, but they won't be used in this weeks cooking. Only stuff I'll keep on getting fresh is milk, muffins and greens for salad. Part of the fun of this project is figuring out what to do with the items I have, going through books and selecting recipes that fit what I have on hand! I also really like getting to all those good things I packed in the freezer, I might just continue with this project until next year, make room for other good things to store :-)

I was really surprised how little meat was on that bird. Was enough for us since the kids are little, but I'm sure glad I did not make this for 4 adults It was good though!

for duck, I might mention: we made one last year, it cost an incredible amount of money and it barely fed the 4 of us. That's two adults, a then 5 and 1 1/2 year old. Now, the bird was pretty big from the looks, but there was not all that much meat on it and we finished the whole bird. This might have been just an odd bird, but you might want to keep that in mind if you intend to feed more than 3 adults. I don't recall how much I spent on the bird, somewhere between $40 and $60. Not worth it IMO.

just a quick shot, but here it is: several of my older ones have this, and I can't figure out why it would be there. It's cut at a slight angle to the back. Is it to scrape a long cooking chop stick? A grilling grate? It must have some use, as it's been put there deliberately.

yesterday we had no power for some 6 or so hours, going into the evening, so we took the kids to Chevy's. Worst idea and worst dinner ever, I'd rather set $70 (including tax) on fire and eat some roots from the backyard next time. Fishy salmon, fishy miniature shrimp and some fatty glob as half of my shredded pork. Simply aweful. Anyway, so I did not get to making my rabbit yesterday, but it's in full swing today! I'm making the saffron rabbit from the Loebell's meat and wine book, and so far it seems to turn into a wonderful dish. Cut the rabbit into pieces following the instructions in the book, made the stock, the onions, browned the rabbit and now it's all in the pan for a 90 or so min simmer. I'll make some spinach to go along and bake up a bread from the freezer, I think this will be a tasty one! Medieval recipe from Italy, can't go wrong with that Tomorrow I'll have to figure out what to do with the little rest of my bacon, probably some pasta, especially if the remaining 4 eggs are still good. I did buy two onions and the spinach, which I count as salad, even if cooked. Can't live w/o fresh stuff for that long, but no major purchases at all in almost two weeks! Neat :-)

I've looked at it, since I had a 40% off coupon at Border's, but decided to pass on it. I am not too much of a fan of these fast trick breads, they just never compare to the real thing done the real way IMO. And the book seems to repeat/contain lots of things he's written before. I'll follow this thread to see what people think, but I'm sure I'll be much happier with Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking that I bought instead But bake away, I'm always ready to change my mind

how about getting different smaller game birds and roasting them all together? Game hens, pheasant, others like that can be found at Asian markets. If they differ in size you have to play with cooking times, or cut some up, but it makes for a great dish with many different tastes. Or just a couple small game hens, I usually find them in a size that's just perfect for one person. Make one for each guest, roast them all in the same pan. No stuffing or stuffing separate. At least I'm not a fan of inside the bird stuffing anymore. You can server each person a small bird with what ever you decide to make along.