thampik

I dislike Corrigan's snide, arrogant television persona (is that what he is really like?) so much so that I am not watching GBM this week. Not much of a sacrifice really I have to remind myself that I once had a rather excellent dinner at Lindsay House a while ago - maybe he should stay behind the stove!

Pubs using sous vide kind of makes sense to me - at a basic level it does take a lot of the skill required (eg cooking steaks to a specific doneness) out of the equation. Still find the seeming lack of awareness puzzling...

Regardless of the merits of cooking sous vide, I was really surprised that a top chef (Charlie Larkin) had never ever used it! I wonder if this is at all representative of chefs in the UK?

Saw fresh turmeric (!), Okra, cassava/tapioca, scotch bonnet chillis at ours recently.

I think their fish counter is the best of the big supermarkets - they (apparently) get stock in every morning and have a pretty good variety of fish on offer. Can't say I am enamoured of their bread at all - in fact, I think the only supermarket with decent bread is Waitrose.

Back from our trip to Athens and boy did we eat well! Greek food was such a revelation. Two places to add for the consideration of those intending to go to Athens. Taverna Theklas (Roberto Galli 2, road by the back of the Acropolis museum) :- By far and away the best food we ate in Athens (including at Strofi). We ate there on three separate occasions and gave the menu a real going over! Superb Greek food made by a gifted cook (the clarity of flavour was astonishing) in a charming restaurant run by three generations of the same family. Geros Tou Maria (Mnisikleous 27, Plaka) :- Lovely location and matched by some excellent seafood - Gavros and Sardines were super fresh. Rest of the dishes were also pretty good.

First day in Athens and two completely different meals. To Kati Allo for lunch at the recommendation of the lady we are renting our apartment from - had Greek salad, moussaka and Crepes filed with spinach and cheese (no, not spanakopita!). All washed down with Fix lager. Underwhelmed by the Greek salad, but Moussaka and Crepes are very good. Brilliant value as it is 20 Euros for the three of us. Very unassuming place right behind the Acropolis museum and a good introduction to the joys of Greek food. Dinner at Strofi Taverna - just outstanding. We were offered tsipouradiko as an appetiser and also presented with some bread to be dipped (softened) in water and then eaten with Feta and a tomato relish. The Feta was like nothing I had tasted before - this was a rather loose and runny version that reminded us of Mozzarella - very complex and moreish. We also had fantastic Spanakopita and Dolmadakia. The only off note was squid which had an under seasoned batter and as a result was bland. We had two carafes of house white that had a pronounced Moscatel-type flavour minus the sweetness - very agreeable. Finished off with Ekmek(fried bread soaked in sugar syrup) and Ice Cream, Baklava and Kaffe Elleniko. Stuffed, delighted and all for 50 Euros for the three of us. Oh and it is a rooftop terrace looking on to the Acropolis. Good way to start :-)

off to Athens for a week next week and decided to check on eG for any threads...jackpot! niikib...really cool to find your notes of a number of places that I have been short listing (some from the Frank Bruni piece in the NYT)..will update if they are as good as they were in 2011!

FWIW re-freezing and defrosting again works - some more consomme has been extracted.

OK, so the second time with the 2g of agar worked much better. I started out with approx 900 ml of stock and I have now about 400 ml of crystal clear consomme. I still have what seems a lot of the agar "curds" left over. Would re-freezing this and leaving to defrost once again work?

Thanks, I had a feeling that too much Agra could have been the culprit..I'll give this another try and report back

Sorry if this is not the best place to post this request for help..I am trying to get some beef stock clarified using Agar Agar and having a mare. I am using a Clearspring Agar Agar product that specifies using a tablespoon per cup of liquid (Clearspring). I brought the beef stock to the boil and dissolved 6 tablespoons in it, froze it overnight and left to defrost at room temperature. I ended up with about 50ml of crystal clear consomme and the rest remained stubbornly gelled. Surely this cannot be the correct yield?

We had lunch here yesterday on our way to see a play. With the reviews here, my expectations were very high, but I found too many off notes for this to be anything but a minor disappointment. We were greeted by a front desk lady(girl?), for whom the concept of being welcoming or smiling seemed entirely outside her job description. What a shame for the restaurant! Things picked up though and we had some excellent bread with baccala puree and olives to start. I ordered the ham hock (without any foie gras that I could detect!) and found it strangely tasteless initially. However it started eating a lot better as I went though it - I can only think it was served too cold to start with. For mains, I had the partridge dish and this was really unctuous - though I found the Ragu oversalted if eaten by itself. The dessert of chocolate fondant with strawberry ice cream was executed perfectly but underwhelming. I found the dishes very one note (the exception being a fabulous pre-dessert of lemon posset, strawberry granita and a mousse of some sort). Somehow this is not how I remember the Jason Atherton of Maze. Surely the food was more interesting or is just the passage of time?

They following two seem to have pretty much the same features and be in the same price range (in the UK) Food Saver Vacuum Sealer - approx £120 SousVide Supreme Vacuum Sealer - approx £100 I would welcome any advise in helping me choose one over the other. Is there anything to distinguish them in terms of ongoing costs for vacuum rolls/pouches etc?

I should probably have said earlier...I am intending to sip it neat or over ice (like a malt whisky) and not in a cocktail - does that rule out any of the above?

Thanks for the all the suggestions. Having done a quick scan online, most appear available here in the UK (no La Favorite Blanc or Neisson's Eleve Sous Bois), so if I like my initial foray into the world of rum, there's a few options to explore. Prices seem a little out from US - the El Dorado 15 is about £40(approx $60).

Having never been a rum drinker, I inexplicably developed a sudden desire to try some out. With online shopping and Google allowing instant gratification, I ordered Cruzan Single Barrel Rum and Mount Gay Extra Old Rum earlier today. I am just realising that I should probably have looked through eG first.... Are my choices a good start for someone who is not into Rum generally? Could I have done better? (keeping in mind that I did not want to spend a lot initially)

Thanks jmolinari - shame, not quite what I need.

I am thinking of buying the grinder attachment and understand that it comes with "coarse and fine stainless steel grinding plates". What sizes are these plates? (I am hoping the answer is 3mm and 8mm - so that I can try Heston's hamburger recipe ).

Recipes are here. I am enjoying this as you can actually learn something and apply it fairly easily to home cooking.

I ended up going with Sidecar and also made Manhattan for those that fancied it. Happy folks, good party! Happy New Year and thanks to all for the suggestions and ideas.

I ended up going with the "cocktail cherries" - they are such a lurid colour that I need to check what they taste like first! So, the shortlist is now two separate cocktails. One shaken, one stirred! Sidecar Manhattan ( though I think I need to adjust the proportions from the Classic) I was sorely tempted by sbumgarners' Bramble, but my Creme de Cassis is open and is at least two years old! Folks, last chance to throw to a spanner in the works!

KathyP, What kind of cherries does one go for? There are some "cocktail cherries" on the supermarket shelf or I also have the option of fresh cherries. But I am going to draw the line firmly at any (further) extra ingredients ( ), so City Sidecar and Frangelico is out. The Manhattan was road tested yesterday (2 measures Makers Mark, 1/2 measure Martini Rosso vermouth) and seemed a bit fierce - certainly cannot see it appealing readily to any of the "little old ladies" of my acquaintance! Are these the correct quantities to be using? I subsequently realised that I had given it a good old shake, whereas it should be stirred?

We had lunch at Latium yesterday - on your recommendation man, as I confess I had never heard of it. We had the set lunch of two courses for £16.50. The main of venison Ravioli with mushrooms and a herby jus had excellent flavour. The starter of a bean and squid soup was also tasty - the squid was beautifully cooked. Definitely a place to give the full 'a la carte' a proper go.

EvergreenDan, This is a slippery slope, but I am adding the Manhattan to my list even though it means buying some sweet vermouth - I'm sold by the . Running out of road test days!