OliverB

Hi, I just made the French Laundry carrot soup and it's supposed to be decorated with a bit of sour cream and herbs. I was to whip the cream till peaks form, pretty quick, then add the herbs. But now it's all breaking, there's lots of liquid leaking out (white, maybe whey?) and it looks odd. Tastes fine and I'll use it, but does anybody have an idea what happened? The recipe I have is from Saveur magazine and is not very detailed and I've never whipped creme fraiche before, it's a bit too expensive to just play with. thanks for any ideas, also on how I can maybe put this all back together? Whip more? Add a bit more creme fraiche? Oliver PS: the soup is to die for, each spoon must have the essence of several carrots on it, 2 1/2 cups fresh carrot juice (I think 8 large ones) and then 3 medium ones in addition (or in my case a bundle of small organic ones from Whole Food). Some cream, butter, honey and curry, salt and pepper. Amazing.....

you also might want to check out Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way by Francis Mallmann, especially if you're building your own fire kitchen. Might be fun to build it so some of these techniques can be used (like fire below and above the food). I just put the book on my wish list and I wish I could eat there someday.. I also like the Weber Charcoal Grilling book and The Ultimate Barbecue Cookbook that Barenes and Noble published a while ago. One of those bargain books not written by any one in particular. Some nice stuff in it. Oliver

while I have one, a freebie from La Cucina Italiana, I never wear it. Just one more thing to wash, I've never had a problem with a stain not washing out in the machine, no matter what it was. And if, I'd most likely not care. I do try and have a kitchen towel handy at all times though. I might one day get one of those with a hot bikini girl body on it though, then wear it after not shaving for a couple days. And with shorts that are shorter than the apron. Hairy ape with hot body ;-p

Thanks! I can't quite see how the Bradely would not create a smoke ring though? AFAIK if it's meat and it sits in smoke it will develop a ring, no? Always does if I do it on the bbq. The green egg is neat, but too expensive for what it is. Though I'll take one as a gift of course :-)

Would a simple kitchen machine like a kitchenaid work? I've never tried it, but it might be worth a try. Might use a dedicated blade as it'll probably get too dull for other things, but I'd guess it'll work with spices?

Thanks. I'm might just get them with the same order, not sure yet. Did your last pucks start to burn? It somewhat seems to me that even if you walk away during the main time of smoking, you'd be around by the time the smoking is done and stop the burning manually?

Thanks all, makes me confident that this is the right thing for the money I want to spend. I might just put it on a piece of plywood on the ground where there's no deck, leak away if you want. I'll get that hotel pan too, as I've read about that problem repeatedly. Wish Bradely would just adjust and throw a bigger pan in.... As for the pucks, some people report that their's did not advance and they had to bend around on things or similar. One more question, did you get those 3 aluminum pucks that you add to the top of the stack, thus preventing the last pucks (that I guess are not supposed to burn but just be there to push the "real" last one on the heat) to burn and smolder? I guess they're usually called bubba pucks. Seem a bit pricey for slices of an aluminum stick, but might save in the long run. Now I can't wait for delivery.... Oliver

Thanks Chris, I thought I remembered a pic of your's where there seemed to be juices leaking, that's why I asked. Did you get a larger pan for inside? I read some people replace the small one with a hotel size or what it is that fits. I better set it up elsewhere then, don't want to mess up the new deck with all the possible consequences..... ;-p {edit} forgot to ask, what do you mean by how low, low to the ground, or low in temp? It seems to be the size of a small fridge, which is nice I guess. Oliver

Question to Chris H. and others that might have one, I'm just about to hit "place order" for a Bradely Original and was wondering if you're still happy with your unit. If I recall correctly you have the digital one? I'm thinking of the original and getting the Auber PIT that can also be used for Sous Vide down the road. I've looked at just about any smoker out there, the Bradely seems to deliver the most for the money and it doesn't look like a steam engine parked in the yard. I'm also probably ordering the jerky grills that are Teflon covered, heard good things about them. did you make any modifications to your Bradley? I'm still a bit hesitant regarding puck problems, cracked front plastic part (where the feet are) etc. Also, does it leak juices? I'm going to have a brand new deck soon and if I stain that with smoky meat juices I'll be in serious trouble.... Thanks! oliver

that's a great link, thank you! I'll get the Michelin here and see that my parents order the gusto guide at their local book store. I'm German, so the language is no problem :-)

Later this year we'll be visiting family outside of Erlangen and Munich, would be curious to check out some good restaurants in the area. Is the Michelin guide for Germany a good source? Seems to cover restaurants and hotels, the later I'm not interested in. Are there other restaurant guides for Bavaria? I'm looking for traditional Franconian and Bavarian food for one, but also would like to try a find dining excursion here or there, as visiting family comes with the added benefit of free baby sitters :-) Thanks! Oliver

While I prefer the printed paper thing, I'd love it if at least the index and contents for books were available online in a way so that one could add them to a personal database. I often remember a recipe but not the book it was in. Eventually the electronic readers will be better too, I'd rather not have my expensive laptop anywhere close to hot and wet things for now. But I'm sure the future will bring that and there are wonderful possibilities. Links to instruction videos, printable shopping lists, cross references, a database of possible substitutes for that one thing I forgot to buy, etc. Also being able to highlight and add notes (which I don't like to do to my books - I use post it notes though), marking favorites etc. Also updates and error corrections, additional chapters that were cut from the book for size reasons, a database of beverage suggestions (that could stay updated with new vintages/wineries/breweries etc [business idea!]) etc. I love physical books, but I'm sure the future will be mostly electronic. And while my wall of cook books is nice, having one device that would contain all of them is intriguing for sure. As the publishers have all the books in electronic for anyways, also not that hard to deliver.

I have one that I had to replace because it broke, the next one started leaking so I had to yet put an other one in. I basically never use them. Ever. I talked to my plumber once as I was concerned that all that ground up food stuff will eventually coat my drain pipes and his recommendation was to grab anything that you can grab by hand and throw it away or compost it. And that's just what I do. I never quite got the idea of this machine (I grew up in Germany where this is unheard of. As in the rest of Europe and probably the world outside the US/Canada?). Why would I scrape left over food into the sink instead of the trash? Everything goes in the trash here, little to nothing down the drain. New dishwashers also don't require rinsing, they have a grinder built in. I'd rather have a larger sink though I like the little side sink for quickly thawing things too. The disposal I could live without easily though as I never use it nor felt I had a possible use for it. Oliver

also interesting, but the knife is pretty expensive and I'm afraid of turning it into a decorative but useless kitchen item if I try this myself.... edit: just found that I can send my knife to Portland, OR instead of Japan for free sharpening, that seems like the best deal here and I'll be doing that. Go to www.kershawknives.com and look for sharpening to find the whole info. Cool service actually, never heard of a knife maker sharpening the knives for free for basically for ever. Neat :-) I will get their steel too though

Thanks you, that's great info! Oliver

I almost bought What to drink with... yesterday, but ultimately decided against it. It is an excellent book, no doubt, and if you're really into wine - and all kinds of different wines are in your cellar - it's really a great book. Personally I like wine, but never have more than 20 bottles in the house, if it's ever that many. There are lots of exotic wines in the book that I'd never own. To me the book would be overkill. I'd suggest to first look at it in the store. Also, as somebody above mentioned, ultimately it comes down to your own taste, no matter what others say. I've read somewhere that a good sommelier first and foremost knows how to read people and is able to match the wine to the person first, then the food. Seems to make sense to me. And that's of course something no book can do. We subscribe to a 3bottle/month wine club from a local store. The bottles range in the $15-25 area from all over the world. There's always a little newsletter in there that suggests some foods the wine would be good with, I use that as guideline with success. Often trying to pair the wine with a dish from the same region, which is fun. As the book covers other drinkables too, I will probably get it in the future, but for now I went with a cook book instead. So, it is an outstanding book, but unless you're really into wine (I tend to prefer beer on a day to day basis) you will love it. If you're more looking for the occasional hint it might be overkill. Maybe see if there's a wine club in your area? I always like the surprise and then planning some food to go with the wines we got that month. Just my 2 sips :-)

has anybody had their shun knives sharpened elsewhere? I have the nice Ken Onion Chef knife which I really like, I'e had it for about 1 1/2 years and use it every day, it still cuts better than any other knife I've ever had, but needs to go to the sharpening. I'd rather not send it to Japan though, that would probably take a long time. I'll get he steel one of these days too, but with sharpening at any old place I'm concerned that they might re-shape it and put a different angle on (even if they might tell me they don't, not sure I'd believe them...) Curious what experiences others might have.

ours broke a couple years ago just as we were done with fixing a lot of things around the house. Found that there were only two models that fit the place, both "apartment size" for some reason (it's a 2000 sqft+ house). But we were in a hurry and I really wanted to get rid of the contractor. Bad choice, as I hate this tiny side by side fridge! Nowadays I'd prefer to have just a fridge with no ice, no freezer, but nice and big. Put the freezer in the garage, it's not like I need that thing every day. A nice upright freezer out there, a nice large fridge inside, that would be ideal. I don't need a water dispenser and certainly no ice maker, can't even remember the last time I used and ice cube. Tends to dilute beer :-) French doors I think can be nice, if you know where stuff is. Or if the door would otherwise block your kitchen door or something. Otherwise it's one more thing to open. My friends in Germany actually have a french door model that also has a little drop down door on one side, where you can get into a (enclosed on the inside) compartment for drinks, so you don't have to empty out all the cold air from your fridge when you get a beer. That's in Germany of course :-) Cost on some of the models out there are outrageous for what's basically an insulated box with a cooling compressor, I'd try not to get distracted by the "design" element too much. A fridge will blend in and nobody will notice it. A pretty fridge that's badly laid out will tick you off for a long time though, no matter how gorgeous it might be.

I really like this idea! I'll definitely pick one up next time I'm in the store (where I just came back from, of course).

sounds like he's getting a bit testy there! He could have just said that he uses the French terms as they are the pretty much universally used terms in kitchens around the world? Or at least in the "western" world. I've looked at the book online and in the store, and while I really like his other books, this one has little use for me. I'm not quite sure why I'd look up some universal ratio to - say - bake a rustic bread, instead of just taking my baking book and looking up the real recipe there? Maybe it's useful for someone that does not have many books? Or too many and can't remember which book contained this or that recipe? I'd put it more in the "interesting to read" category, I'd pick it up for cheap and would not mind it as a gift. Something to occasionally page around in. Of course, just my subjective opinion, as I stated above it also includes too many chapters about things I never make, i.e. sweet things. Maybe once it's out in paperback or on the bargain racks~~

for a while now we've given my MIL a sub to Fine Cooking, which she likes. There are always cookbooks too, subs to wine clubs or just a nice gift order from d'artagnan.

hmm, interesting point. I've never done this, so you might be right, using a larger casing might be easier for this first timer. edit: thanks for the pix, interesting! Now I want a brat! Right now! ;-)

thanks! Yes, most of the recipes are relatively similar for the brats. I was surprised by the mace, not something I'd have expected and while I have it, I've hardly ever used it. Comes from the same nut as nutmeg, some red webbing that's around the nut I think. And the source for mace in a spray can, the one you don't want to come across. Oddly enough. I'll take the skin off and use them for a bean dish or something, I think you're right, they'll just add some odd grittiness to the end product. Oliver PS: once I made these and a couple where I just got ready made sets from butcher packer I can't wait to experiment, I see no reason not to pack things in a casing that work well together on the plate in other ways. No, not kobe beef, but I'm brewing up some ideas. See how that goes. Weather seems finally to settle into bbq time around here and there's meat to be ground!

by the way, I don have one question, would I take the skin off the belly and shoulder parts? My guess is yes, but as I've never made this nor ever ground any meat with a grinder, I have no idea if the skin would just be ground up fine enough to stay in there? Thanks! oliver

How do they differ, well, they just are different. Best brats IMO, but I'm biased as I grew up outside Nuremberg :-) Of course the recipes are a plenty, but here's what I'll be using, give to me from a person that comes from a long line of butchers in Nuremberg: For one kg of sausages: 400g pork shoulder 600g pork belly, not too lean (or you might have to add some fatback) 16g salt 2g pepper 0.5 g mace 0.5g ginger (dried I'm sure) 1.5g majoram You can increase mace and ginger to 1g if you like run all this through the grinder (Fleischwolf in German, meat wolf) with a disk that has 3-4.5mm holes. Add one egg and a couple spritzes of lemon juice (important to bring the taste together). Knead until it all comes together nicely and then stuff into cases. In Germany they are rated by caliber, so here a caliber 22/24 casing is used, I have no idea what that means in English though. He ties them into 10cm long sausages, I will most likely use the smallest casing I have and the small funnel thing on my stuffer. The traditional way I know for these is the size of about a finger, a bit like breakfast links, maybe a bit larger. He also says that you can increase the salt to 18g, depending on taste. Roast them that day or freeze. They work great on the bbq. If you can find any locally, get either some Bavarian Brezeln (which have little in common with the US kind of pretzel) or nice crunchy rolls, cut in half, add two links, yellow mustard and a beer :-) Safeway here makes nice little rolls called Dutch Crunch, they would be just about perfect IMO. I have the meat, not sure if I'll get to it today though, if you (or anybody else here) makes these, please share pictures and stories! Oliver