lesliec

I'm always a fan of turkey and Christmas pud, even though received wisdom is that that kind of thing in a southern hemisphere summer is silly. Don't care; I like it (and we haven't got to our warmest weather yet anyway). This year I'll be doing my turkey sous vide in two batches. The legs will go in about 16 hours ahead of serving time (duck fat, butter and sage in the bag) and the breasts 4 hours ahead (duck fat, cider and sage). Not sure about accompaniments yet - certainly potatoes of some kind, perhaps cooked over medium heat with butter, with sage leaves tossed in towards the end of cooking. Possibly fresh asparagus, which is very much in season down here. I'll see what I can find in the markets on Saturday. My Christmas pudding has been made for several months, sitting quietly in a cupboard drinking the brandy I feed it from time to time ... The biggest decision will be whether to have the big meal in the middle or at the end of the day. My elderly mother is used to her main meal much earlier than we are, which can create a modicum of stress, but we'll work it out. Breakfast will probably be something like blinis with sour cream and (lumpfish) caviar, helped along by some Spanish cava.

The wonderful Khymos recipe collection has a number of recipes for wine gums, whiskey gums and similar beasts, and I've had success with versions of this one from Michael Liaskonis. I don't see why you'd need any fruit; either use clove oil, as discussed above, or infuse cloves in some other liquid - vodka, perhaps?

Hi, Jkarph. Congratulations to you and your lady. I can't help you with cooking classes in Barcelona, but I can recommend a hotel. Hotel Europark is in c/ Arago in the Eixample district. In one direction it's maybe 20 minutes' walk from the Sagrada Familia (fabulous, but book online to beat the queues), in another it's 10 minutes from Passeig de Gracia (and another 10 further on to Las Ramblas). There's one of Barcelona's wonderful markets just around the corner, and Gelonch (see other postings in this thread) is maybe two blocks away - we found it by accident! We've stayed at the hotel twice now and would happily return. Inside it's modern and very comfortable; outside the buildings in the area are classic Barcelona. You're on a major road but the double glazing shuts the traffic noise out very effectively. We've found the staff very good on both visits (their English is great, if that's a consideration). The prices are fairly reasonable anyway, but have a look at the specials - there are usually discounts if you book early, or stay three nights or more. Some day we'll book into one of their penthouse suites for a treat, but in the meantime we've been happy in an 'average' room a couple of floors down. Only one warning - the swimming pool is frigid! Enjoy your trip.

On the occasions I have some left over (I hear you, Jenni!) I freeze it. The high sugar content means it doesn't actually get much more solid than when it's at room temperature. This is somewhat topical, as my wife only this morning found a part-can had tipped over in our freezer, making a godawful mess!

I missed that one -- did it work? Thirty years ago my father poached a salmon in the dishwasher. Didn't go so well. Hi Peter. Yep, as far as I remember it worked. It was in one of the 'Heston's Feasts' episodes, I think. The main thing was disabling the pool's thermal cutout so it would get hot enough (not many people would enjoy sitting in 60-70°C water, I suspect). I've heard of cooking salmon in foil in a dishwasher but always been highly dubious. Edited to correct TV programme name - memory returned!

Carve steaks off it and give them a quick tickle in a hot, lightly-oiled pan. That gets through big hams real fast!

Sounds like sous vide's the way to go. Does your friend have a spare spa pool lying around (à la Blumenthal with a whole pig)?

Hi Chris. Have you tried rolling your belly (maybe I should rephrase that ...)? A friend of mine picked up the technique from (I think) an Aussie TV chef and told me about it. Dead easy: roll the belly, skin side out, around some fresh herbs of your choice with a bit of salt and pepper; tie it firmly; score and rub the skin with oil and salt; roast at 180°C for about twice as long as you'd think you should - say four hours. The skin ends up glass-crisp and the interior, because it's been protected from the worst of the heat, totally juicy. Try variations - maybe stick with your brining step and skip the herbs. You realise of course that at the end of all this you're going to be heartily sick of pork belly?

That is a very, very cool app. Looks good. Any plans for an Android version? The Android market currently has two SV apps, neither of which looks greatly inspiring ...

That's the case for measuring by weight right there!

I'm far from being an expert, but my impression is absinthe is a far more complex beast. My (limited) pastis experience isn't really memorable; certainly there's the aniseed, but quite light and thin. Absinthe, not to put too fine a point on it, has guts. As to using one as a substitute for the other ... the Mixology app I have on my phone introduced me last week to something called a 3G - gin, St Germaine (elderflower) and Domaine de Canton (ginger; the third G). The instructions were first to rinse the glasses with Ricard, which I understand to be a pastis. Lacking this, we used absinthe. Beautiful!

Spanish Arbequiñas. Tiny green things - they make the most wonderful mellow, fruity oil.

Yet another vote for Gelonch - it's nothing to look at from the outside, but the food and service (and prices) are great. And I firmly second WillinTO's suggestion of a trip to El Celler de Can Roca. Yes, they are open for lunch, and our visit just on a month ago (how time flies!) was THE culinary highlight for me of our month in Europe. They absolutely justify the 'worth a trip' aspect of three-stardom. We arrived around 1.15 and left about 6ish, having had our 15 or so courses with wine matches and a visit to the kitchens and cellar. Just one thing to watch: our three bottles of water cost us 30 euros, which was a bit of a shock. Not sure what the alternative is - other than drinking less water - as they were reluctant (surprise!) to give us the stuff out of the tap, and I suppose 30 euros isn't that much in relation to what the rest of the meal cost, but still ... And a surprise we found while wandering the gardens on Montjuic - El Fond del Gats. You might have some fun finding it, buried deeply in a nice shady park, but the quality of the food was far better than we expected. Nothing fancy - lamb chops for me, I think - but really well cooked. Enjoy your trip. I wanna go back!

Last night we discovered the '3G' in the Mixology (for Android) app. Rinse Martini glass with Ricard (lacking this, we used absinthe). Shake together 2½ parts gin, 2 parts St Germaine, 1 part Domaine de Canton with ice. Pour, sip and smile.

I think you have a few possibilities here. A 'coulant' works more or less the way you describe. The sauce essentially forms part of a dough or cake mix which is frozen; when you cook the balls of whatever-it-is the outside cooks but the inside melts just enough to become runny. Another method, of which I have no personal experience, might be methylcellulose. I understand it works as a thickener which is solid at high temperatures but 'melts' as the temperature drops.

The only disadvantage we see is the amount of heat it pumps into the room, so winter's a great time to do it! Our oven is a Fisher & Paykel Titan and we like the pyrolytic clean a lot. We probably fire it up every two or three months; fumes aren't a problem and simply wiping up a bit of white ash when it's finished and cooled down is a pleasure. And how many people can say that about cleaning their ovens?

Yep - 82 works fine; you just get a much softer texture (as with confit legs). But I'm keen to play with lower temps. I'll try your 55 next time. Crispy duck skin is known in these parts as 'qwackling'. Not sure if that's original ... Scotty, I'm hoping to reprise your Arzak experience next month. Very much looking forward to it.

I had a 'best-ever' experience with duck breast last night. Previously I've used confit-type time/temp for both breast and legs. There's been no problem with this - in fact, the last lot of legs I did (82°C for 10-12 hours) was also a best-ever - but last night I decided to treat the breast more as I would chicken. Three hours at 65°, followed by a blast of ultrahot oil on the skin side, gave a beautifully tender, juicy result. Highly recommended.

Spare a thought for those of us at the other end of Greenwich Mean Time. Two months out from wanting to be there, started ringing at 9pm our time. Engaged. Gave up and went to bed an hour and a half or so later - engaged on each attempt. Happened to be awake at 4am (thanks, cat) and thought I'd try again. Got through; they're full (for 9/10 Sept) but I'm on the waiting list. Not holding my breath ...

Good tip, dmg - thanks. And definitely thanks to MC for publishing the Kitchen Manual index. It's going to be very useful.

Kim, I'm really enjoying your trip. Scones, cream and jam - oh yes! Keep 'em coming. I'm making notes for when I'm in London (39 days and counting), and I'm busting to hear how you got on in France.

Maybe we shouldn't get started on TV chefs' bad habits, but one I hate is when they bang a knife blade, sharp side down, onto their cutting board before they start to slice/chop. Why? Don't they LIKE knives??

We've just had Wellington's coldest day in at least 16 years - possibly ever - so I'm jealous of all you overheated northern hemisphere types out there. I believe the science behind the 'hot drinks cool you down' theory is that a hot drink, being inside you, (slightly) raises your core temperature. The body likes to keep the core within a very narrow range, so your nice cuppa tea prompts it to do something about that. Hence (possibly) increased perspiration. Feeling hot on a hot day is more to do with your outside (skin) temp than your core. Enough. I'm going back to keeping my hands warm. Maybe something icy might help ...

Hi gethin. I take your point about pre-dinner milky drinks, but Ideas in Food has a White Chocolate Martini recipe you might like to look at. I found some baby milk bottles to serve it in; it looks (and tastes) great through a black cocktail straw. For black, I forget the name but isn't there a Guinness/champagne drink? Black Velvet, perhaps? Have fun!

The MC M&C works very well with cider (hard cider, if that's the terminology in your part of the world).