Nick

As I said Wilfred, it was a bit off the track. But, I'd like to try some of it. Hope y'all didn't take offense.

Being a country boy (and hoping to always remain one) I had to do a Google search to see what "haute cuisine" is. The following link from the Google search is maybe a bit off the track. Remaining the country boy I'd like to try the, " "instant boiled mutton in hot pot" wintertime dish consists of dipping paper-thin slices of mutton into a hot pot's boiling water and dredging them through a sauce whose dozen ingredients include sesame butter and salted leeks." Chinese Haute Cuisine

Maybe I'm approaching this in the wrong way. I slice it and then chop or mince it. What's the correct approach?

My main problem is garlic.

Ah yes. The GB is on the way home from Fenway Park to Commonwealth Ave. for those special few.

Miso also finds its place in a bean soup. I once cooked a Thanksgiving dinner and a friend brought some bean soup that was delicious. I asked him how he made it so good and he said it was from some beans his mother had given him and some old miso he had. Later on he gave me the 20+ year old Erewhon I now have in the cupboard.

I'm happy that I was able to get a good discussion going on miso soup. Almost any way it's done, it's both delicious and healthful. And thanks for enlightening me on Japanese traditional ways. But good miso stands on its own and doesn't necessarily need to be done in one way or another just because its origin is in Japan. Maybe we should start a miso thread in cooking so people that haven't come here could chime in. The world of miso, like wine, is endless.

"nothing of great interest; mostly a monologue about focus and concentration"

Check out their teachers in their beginning. Can be found at their website. Also their philosophy. What the hell is kaiseki formal cuisine? I used to use Japanese miso. I still have some 20-25 year old Erewhon that's never seen a refrigerator. Saving it. It's special.

To my mind miso soup is made better by the sauteing (been cooking with miso for 20-25 years.) Also when the soup is in the bowl, the evoo glistens on the surface in a miriad of little bubbles. Don't use too much oil though, and if you're cooking this for theraputic reasons, leave out the oil. Years ago South River made corn miso, but I just checked on the net and they don't seem to make it anymore. But, they make many others. Their's is the best miso I know of that's currently on the market - at least on the east coast. Here's their website: South River Miso

Jin, what's shiru? Soup? Until you brought it up I didn't think I was doing anything unusual. It's just been kind of an evolution over some years. At first I made the soup like most people I'd known did. Bring some water to a boil and put the stuff in. But then I got into making onion soup and learned the best way was to saute the onions until they got slightly burned. I think you call it caremelized (sp). At any rate, they'd be brown spots of the onion on the pan which added great flavor to the soup. From this I started sauteing (though not caremelizing) the onion before starting the miso soup. Then started adding other things in the sauteing phase. Adding the fish with the seaweed also came later. When they're in season, the small Maine shrimp are great in this. Also, at the first part when the boil comes you can add some small noodles, then the fish/weed. I mostly use barley miso. For something lighter and sweeter, corn miso. I first started learning this stuff when Michio Kushi came to Boston in the sixties and started a little store he called Erewhon. Edit: "they'd be" is a way of saying "the'd be" which is, for all of you from other parts of the country, a shortening of "there would be."

Varmint, you should thank your lucky stars you didn't pull into a fishermans' bar anywhere along the east coast after the drinkin' had started. Even more, a Portagi bar in New Bedford. Edit: By fishermans', I mean commercial fishermen - not sport fishermen. Sorry, fisherpeople.

Miso soup and something else not sure what. Miso soup - Saute some onions and shitake mushrooms in a little evoo. Add water that you've soaked (re-hydrated) the dried shitakes and Kombu in. When it comes to a light boil, add Kombu (kelp). Reduce the heat and cook until the shitakes are at the right stage. Put some miso (I use and recommend South River) in a bowl and pour some broth from the soup into the bowl and mix the miso in. Return this to the pot which has been taken off the heat and stir in. Let sit a few minutes and serve. Edit: Can also add carrots, celery at the saute stage. Also can add fish such as hake, cod, etc. at the same time as kelp.

Ah yes, "There Stands the Glass" by Webb Pierce. "There stands the glass, fill it to the brim." After all these years I still remember it. I bought the record when I was somewhere around ten or eleven, on 78 if you remember those, and played it incessantly on my parents' record player. One day I came home from school and my mother (with no tears in her eyes) told me she had "accidently" sat on it, as it for some reason, lay in one of the easy chairs. I've been in some dives, but the absolute worst was the "Golden Banana" north of Boston on Rt. 1. A stripper joint that a friend wanted to stop at for some reason unknown to me. I visited the "men's room" and thought that were I ever to get a disease it would be then.

Delicata is a great little squash! I cut in half lengthwise, get the seeds out, and place it on a rack in a pan (cavity side down) with a little water in the bottom of the pan to steam it. The amount of water is critical. Hopefully when a fork pierces the skin and meat easily, the water is gone. Then take and turn the squash over and add whatever filling you want that doesn't need cooking (maybe just a little butter and maple syrup?) and let it go til the meat dries on the outside just a bit. Buttercup is good the same way - or sliced about 1/2" thick at the outside, a little water in the pan that will steam then evaporate off, and then let it brown and crisp up a little on the outside with the inside not dried out.

I don't know if it's the same as the textbook, but I got The Professional Chef by the CIA a few months back and it's a great book. Color photos, recipes, techiques, etc. Very complete and you can go from this thing to that thing, learning all kinds of stuff. Very interesting and from Amazon at about $50.

That's what I thought (except for the oil) but I didn't want to step on any feet. Here also from Emeril - "Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Remove the garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and chicken fat and reserve. Rinse the chicken with cool water, rubbing off some of the salt and pepper. Pat dry with paper towels. Put the reserved garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and chicken fat in the bottom of an enameled cast-iron pot. Sprinkle evenly with the peppercorns and salt. Lay the chicken on top, skin side down. Add the olive oil. Cover and bake for 12 to 14 hours, or until the meat pulls away from the bone." I don't know anything about Emeril other than having heard his name. I just did a Google search on chicken confit and his seemed fairly complete. Here's the whole recipe - Emeril's Chicken Confit Edit: As I've said on other threads, I cook with a wood range during the winter. It's something I began doing in 1968. In this case, the cooking at 200 degrees for 12-14 hours probably arose from the days when more people cooked with wood and probably in brick ovens. This would have been something that slowly cooked overnight as the oven cooled down and there was no other need for it.

That sounds like a good place to be.

Quick search. From Emeril: " Pick the meat from the bones and place it in a stoneware container. Cover the meat with some of the strained fat, making a 1/4-inch layer. The chicken confit can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one month. The excess oil can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and used like butter for cooking. The tinge of chicken taste in the oil is wonderful and you can use the oil to roast potatoes, cook green beans, and pan-fry veal."

When I was in the Navy "chefs" would do this, but I never saw one do it with two in each hand. But then they were cracking eggs for over easy and weren't breaking the yolk. Got so I could do it but it's a little silly if you're only feeding a few people.

I have both kinds of skimmers and they work great. One for some stuff and the other for other stuff. The one with big holes works good for the initial froth and the fine screen for when you're getting picky.

I don't use them. I soak (marinate) the meat in something. If it's pork or chicken, usually Tamari and ginger. Beef is usually either plain or done in a marinade of evoo, wine vinegar, onions, garlic, and a few herbs. But, I'll be watching the thread in case something comes up to try. Edit: Just saw Mark's recipe and think I'll give it a try. Thanks.

You drive ze bits of shell into ze eggs, use ze eggshell to pick zem out. Zey like each other. You already knew this.

Thanks for that idea. I don't know where I'll use it, but I'll remember it.

Nick, it's just in being yourself. That's what people will take away. They'll take away some of the skills that you've taught them, but mostly they'll remember you. Your attitude. Edit: By attitude, I mean how you approach things.