wingding

I enjoy cooking,and being cooked for equally.I cook professionally and at home,and enjoy the process of procuring raw product and creating something from it.Cooking is a very personal expression for me,most of the time.I also take someones' cooking for me,professionally or privately,as a personal expression.When it is done with care,and some kinda love,I notice,and appreciate it.When I feel that someone is throwing something together carelessly,I pick up on that,and often judge them accordingly.I grew up in a family that thought that way;we remembered good meals,and remembered bad,careless ones too[and who served them to us,and where].I've never even considered 'taking control' and ordering my own sauces or something;I think that the menu hopefully reflects what the chef wants to serve,and express,and I respect that.If I want to make it my way,I'll do it myself,at home..

I purchased a profi-whipper a few years ago,and got wonderful results at first,but then the thing just wouldn't work anymore,with many disppointing and comical results.{People began to run for cover when I brought out the profi-whip].Any tips on using the thing with consistent results?

Note that when a lot of professional chefs go out to eat,they prefer simple food.Some complicated things work,some are prepared by people who just don't know when to stop.But I do think one's palate changes some over time;that and the dread of a semi-sleepless night spent while my digestive system tries to cope with the overload...

I've been going to Pearl since it opened.The lobster roll and the chowder are my favorite comfort food.I love the feel of the place,especially for lunch.It's a place for simple food,done consistently and well...I had a favorite experience there a while back.After a bruising day at work,I decided to treat myself to dinner at the bar.After I sat down,a couple came in,seemed to know a lot of people there,and then pulled an Emmy award out of a plastic bag!.As it turned out,they were the producers of the Sopranos...We ended up having a great conversation,and it was a good meal,and a happy experience.That's the kind of place Pearl is.

Maldon sea salt,from Great Britain. is my favorite table salt.I like the delicate,irregular flakiness.[i'm a little bit like that myself]

As someone enamored of steeping flavors,I'd give an aside to the recipe.Heat the milk to a simmer,and steep some coarse chopped fresh ginger in the milk.Let it stand for an hour,strain,and continue the recipe.[remeasure the milk,and compensate for any loss of quantity]Steeping flavors is the best-you can retain a smooth texture while getting fresh, maximum flavor...[lots!]

In many cases,nowadays,tasting menus have been set up as a vehicle to insure that people are going to spend a good amount of money while taking up table space.There isn't always a lot of thought about the progression of dishes,and cumilative effect of eating fish,meat,sauces,wines,blah,blah.By the time the entrees start rolling in,my palate is already tired,and the flavors just stop being interesting...that isn't all that makes a good dining experience,and I guess glorious excess is an experience in itself,on occasion.

Just one persons' opinion,but it's often just too much....if I can't remember everything that I ate,and if it all exists in my experience and memory as some kind of overloaded haze,then ultimately...so what?I'd rather go somewhere for one dish,or maybe two,or three,really knockout delicious,than some endless parade of dishes,which ultimately,leave me numbed,and tired.The madeleine,consumed on a street in Paris,or a hot dog at Katzs',or a gelato in Salerno...one great,pure taste,will live on in my memory more than some endless,exhausting meal..

As a chef who purchases fruit,which I then use,and sometimes identify on the menu,here's some perspective.First;there's produce that I buy directly from the farmer-hopefully picked ripe,hopefully the weather has been good and provided optimum conditions for tasty fruit.If it's local,but tasteless,I can't justify using it.Secondly,there are specialized purveyors of fancy and exotic produce,who get produce regionally,or sometimes from all over the world.One has to be really careful here;there's a lot of pretty,shiny,expensive fruit that has been bred to look great,but doesn't taste like much.If I don't like it,I send it back to the wholesaler.Thirdly,there are purveyors who shop the regional wholesale markets like Hunts' Point .I can call them,and ask them to shop the market for me for particular fruits.I ask them where they're coming from,and I can make some judgements on whether I want them based on their source.I taste them when they arrive,and if they aren't good,back they go...This is how I've developed long term working relationships with growers and purveyors.I've tried to learn and taste as much as I can,I ask a lot of questions,and eventually they know what I'm looking for,and what I expect from them.As a professional,it's my job,and my responsibility,to do this-for most people who are just shopping for groceries,it requires time and energy that few people seem to have anymore.

Schools of 'higher learning' and trade schools want a good portion of their students to graduate.They often make it way too easy,in my opinion.Having a degree,versus a real grasp of what you've just supposedly learned,are poles apart.Getting a lot out of your school experience is a lot of work,and those who've had the energy and curiosity to do so are the people who shine,in the long run.I think that being well-traveled is just as important as a formal education.[more so,sometimes].

I like to start sprouts on top of the stove in a heavy saute pan with some olive oil and maybe some garlic,onions.,to brown a little.Then I finish them off in the oven until cooked-maybe another 15-20 minutes at 350ish.Use some vinegar or wine to deglaze the pan when taking it out of the oven..work in the bacon and shallots at the start,or finish..

I've gone to[and enjoyed]Osteria Del Forno whenever visiting the Bay area...it's been a few years.I'd heard that the two women who owned the place were opening another restaurant..did it ever happen?

You've reminded me of a difficult few weeks that I had living in London in the early '70s.I was lent a very bare bones flat in South London,with a kerosene heater,and the pay as you go gas meter,which I didn't know about for the first few weeks.No real heat,hot water,telephone or gas.It was a cold winter,and I remembered reading some actresses' biography,mentioning life on the road,and the use of an overturned iron for cooking.I would drop some pieces of sausage into canned soup and such-it did warm them....but that was about as far as it went.No Blanquette de Veau or other culinary miracles...

Oraklet;Try the gelato recipe that I posted-it will make a thin,but rich anglaise.[i've been making this base for the past two weeks-it's good]First heat 1 liter milk to a simmer,add 2 vanilla beans,split and scraped,and 1 or 2 crushed coffee beans.Let this steep for an hour.Strain the liquid ,return to the pot with 175 grams of sugar,and bring to a bare boil.Whisk the 10 egg yolks with175grams of sugar,temper the milk,and carefully cook the mixture until it coats your spoon,or reaches 85 c.Strain immediately,throw in a pinch of salt,and chill in an ice bath.Let the mixture sit overnight in the refrigerator and then turn it in your machine-you could subsitute maybe 1/4 cup of milk with heavy cream if you wish...

Any frozen ice cream product that goes out the door of an establishment for wholesale or retail sales is subject to stringent regulations,and has to be stabilized to prevent melting and spoiling while being transported.There's really no point to duplicating this at home,cause home made or restaurant ice cream can be way better than packaged stuff.Haagen-Daz has a high fat content-so if that's what you like,do a base with a higher proportion of eggs or cream.It's a skill that takes time to develop,and involves a fair amount of science-don't expect to become a master on your first batch of ice cream...

Ice cream,custard,and gelato are legally defined by fat content and overrun[how much air is incorpated into the product as it is frozen.]There can be varying proportions of milk,cream or eggs in any of these products,but the ultimate fat content defines them. A few other tips;If you use pectin,only use a very small amount[about .5-5% of total volume of your product]-maybe a teaspoon per quart of liquid.Mix the pectin thoroughly with your sugar so that it doesn't lump up.Always let your base rest,chill and ripen at least 6 hours[overnight is best]before turning in your machine,and always turn a cold base;if your base is warm,it will take longer to turn,and therefore incorporate too much air.

Gelatin is not always used to stabilize ice cream.Sugar is vital in preventing crystilization,as are yolks.Of all the ingredients you've included,the high proportion of cream will cause the most problems,as will turning the ice cream in the freezer too long.Here is a basic gelato proportion,which yields nice creamy results,if you want to try it[flavor as you wish]....1 liter milk,10 yolks,350 grams sugar;cook as you would a regular anglaise...

From my experience of Americans who are dislike or are 'scared' of Indian food;[1] 'too spicy'[not really true]....[2]buffet dining experience;glop on a plate,followed by stomach problems[bad cooking]...fear of unknown spices[ignorance].As has been said many times before,most run of the mill Indian restaurant cooking in the U.S. is barely representative of the breadth of the food of India,and is not being prepared by truly skilled and trained cooks.It is difficult for many Americans to appreciate 'bitter' as part of the range of flavors,so that important part of many Asian cuisines often isn't appreciated or represented here.The average diners' worldliness is slowly improving here,but Indian cooking is very different from the typical American diet,and many people simply have very conservative and restrictive attitudes about the food that they eat.

All of the uses above.In my pastry kitchen,the greatest advancement in tooldom of the past five years.It's made the formerly miserable job of citrus zesting easy...

Coach Farms' goat curd is essentially ricotta,and can be used as such-I like the flavor,and have used it in sweet and savory dishes.The importer who brings a lot of Buffalo mozzerella to N.Y. restaurants[can't remember the name]brings in the ricotta in also-it has a short shelf life,and doesn't always make it through customs.Ask at Murrays' or DePalos'....maybe they can get it for you.

DePalos',on Grand St. has some good ricotta.They serve buffalo ricotta with the cheese plate at Esca-it is my favorite type of ricotta by far,and I've never seen it for sale anywhere retail,but it is imported bt the same company that brings most buffalo mozzerella into N.Y. from Italy

If they are ever offering Marios' lamb prosciutto at Lupa or Babbo,by all means order it.Also unusaul here,but worth seeking out are lardo[guess],culatello[prosciutto center],boar sausage or prociutto...

I don't like all the 'ez quick' substitutes,in general.The taste is never as good,and learning good technique is always a good exercise,if you really want to become a good cook.A few pinches of time and suffering always make the food better-it's one of my mottos...

Since Indian confections and custards based on reduced milk are so integral to their cuisine,it would seem like a natural.Have you used reduced milk in many of your modernized recipes?

The wonderful flavor of reduced milk is what I love in a classic Mexican flan.Instead of mixing a proportion of milk and cream,I reduce milk...also just enough yolks to produce a nice texture,but no eggy taste.See Rick Bayless' 'Authentic Mexican' for details.Also,when baking in a water bath,fill 1/3 up with hot water,not 1/2,not 1/4.It makes a big difference,in my experience.