IndyRob

Not being able to buy my beloved President butter anymore, and not finding an acceptable substitute in any of the European/European-style brands, I resigned myself to a journey of discovery in making cultured butter. My choice of cream is severely limited by my state government. Unless I buy a share of a cow, I can't get raw cream. But I can play with the culturing process. In fact, raw cream may not even be authentic for the butter I'm shooting for. When I looked at the ingredients on the President package, Lactic Starter was listed. From what I've read, raw milk shouldn't require such a thing as the bacteria occurs naturally in the milk before pasteurization. So maybe those Normans are pasteurizing their cream. It would make sense if they want to begin with a known starting point. Almost every cultured butter method I've found on the web either uses live culture yogurt or buttermilk to start the culturing. I tried the yogurt first. The cream took almost 24 hours at room temp to set and then it when into the refrigerator for 24 hours. The butter making went pretty much as described (using a KitchenAid mixer). Anticipating going through the whipped cream stage, I opted for the whisk attachment rather than the suggested paddle attachment. A little anxiety developed after passing the stiff peak stage as the butter didn't seem to be coming. It took about fifteen minutes until I started feeling small droplets hitting my face. From there things progressed quickly and satisfactorily and I had butter. (I rechecked the web page I used and found the 15 minutes was to be expected) Did I mention the paddle attachment was recommended? Yeah, well, now I saw why. Cold hard butter was clinging mightily to each of the individual wires of the whisk attachment. Not the worst problem in the world, but on the next attempt with the paddle things were much easier. I washed the butter in a bowl of ice water. Kneading and discarding/replacing water until the water no longer clouded up. Then I returned it to the mixer to salt. The result was better than standard butter, but not enough that I'd consider doing it again. And I felt it was going in a yogurt direction, and not the sort of cheesy flavor I was looking for. So while consuming that batch I did some more research. Yogurt uses a thermophilic culture and buttermilk has a mesophilic culture. But checking cheesemaking.com there are different types of mesophilic starter. I couldn't find an answer to what type was used in American buttermilk. I wanted to be a little more scientific. I found a local home brewing source that stocked some of cheesemaking.com's products. But they only had the most basic mesophilic starter (C101 - (LL) Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, (LLC) Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris). But at least it was a known quantity. I had also read that you could get more of an effect by letting the cultured cream (quite literally creme fraiche) sit in the refrigerator for more days. So I gave this two days. This resulted in a much better tasting butter. One I would go through the trouble to produce. But I'm not there yet. My money is on the Flora Danica culture ((LL) Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, (LLC) Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris (LLD), Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis biovar diacetylactis and (LMC) Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris). The biovar diacetylactis is said to produce a buttery flavor. That would seem to be a good thing for butter. It's in other varieties, but this is the only culture that has a flowery name (which to me connotes a celebrated status). I haven't tried it yet, but will be and will report back. In the mean time the lessons learned are: more days in the fridge in creme fraiche mode seems to translate to more flavor, and - know your culture.

One of the coolest frozen food products I've ever tried was a frozen fettuccine alfredo from Trader Joes. It's a bag with frozen cooked pasta nests and bits of frozen sauce. The sauce bits look like the sort of thing you'd do for butter by piping it with a fluted tip onto a bread plate and chilled to serve on a bread plate. To prepare, you heat a skillet, throw in a few tablespoons of water, your desired amount of pasta and an appropriate number of sauce bits. You're just needing to heat everything through without drying anything out. It happens in about 5 minutes. This could be used with a variety of pasta dishes. But for continued and consistent long term success, I think it's about planning and prior preparation. For example, you can do well to buy frozen loaves of unbaked white bread dough - and putting one in a greased bread pan in the morning (with another pan on top) is quick and easy - with the goal to have freshly baked bread in the evening. Freshly baked bread cannot be beat. But it doesn't keep. So you then let that leftover half loaf go slightly stale overnight - which then makes it perfect for French toast in the morning. I must admit that I don't do this sort of planning as much as I should, and tend, I think like many others here, to be more whim-based. But real professional chefs do this all the time. They do their prep beforehand, and really, most have far less than 30 minutes to go from uncooked to plate. It's the prep that's usually key. We just need to find acceptable ways of doing it beforehand or buying it already prepped. Come to think of it, why couldn't the traditions that developed the now generally highly regarded peasant foods, not be applied to a cuisine not so much limited by dollars, but by the clever use of time?

Pictures usually do it for me. I have one cookbook that is generally unremarkable except for the fact that all the recipes are pictorially represented in a thumbnail format in a large section at the front. Or I use Google/Bing image searches. Sometimes I'm intrigued and want to learn more and look up the recipe. Other times, I just imagine what I want that picture to be about, and go after that.

I did some cursory research into this. Not seriously considering it, but wondering what it would take. The easiest question to answer is getting into festivals. If you find a festival's web site, you'll typically find a Vendors section usually with an application form. It will lay out the requirements and fees. Sometimes there are special requirements. A Renaissance Fair, for instance, may require period appropriate food (which I think would be kind of a cool challenge). You also need to tell them what your power requirements are. The tricky bit for me is that (at least in my area) you still need access to a commercial kitchen. You can't do any cooking on the cart beyond assembling a sandwich or cooking a pizza. I'm sure there's a lot of gray area here. Another thing I found that I hadn't thought about is that you need an approved water supply. This can be as simple as a large water dispenser with a catch bucket, but there are specific requirements. There are specific ordinances for vendors in cities and locations are usually granted through the permit process. In Indianapolis there is a specific area of downtown where food carts are permitted. Between this defined area and regulations regarding where they can be located, there's pretty much a fixed number of spots. But it also occurred to me that there are also large suburban office complexes with large unused parking areas where, in theory, you'd just have to work with the property owner. But surely the health department would need to know where you are, so I'm sure it's not that simple.

I don't know, but Michael Symon has a show called 'Cook Like an Iron Chef' so apparently, they think they'll be needing quite a few.

Earlier in this thread someone mentioned a bad decision after having the thought "This is probably stupid...." That didn't involve knives, but mine does. It took me two or three times to learn that, while about to make a cut with a knife, the thought "This is probably stupid" quite literally means that I will be bleeding within the next three seconds. I will never again fail to heed this thought, lay the knife down, and rethink the situation.

Chris mentioned popcorn in his original post and for me, the gold standard was movie theater popcorn - and this definitely has changed. It took me a long time to work back to the original. I will say that some microwave popcorns are much better than what was generally available at home back in the day, but the old way is still better. I agree with canned ravioli. I used to love it. What was I thinking? Even if the sauce may have become sweeter, the ravioli are still mush and I don't think that was different back then. Pizza is another one. When I started my pizza explorations, a traditional general American style pie was one of three styles I wanted to master. Now I don't know why I would ever want to (other than to say I could).

Soft pretzels were on my 'things to do at least once' list and they're checked off. Not bad, but not good. I'm not a pretzel expert. But, from the more general bread genre, freeze 'em. As soon as they're cool, freeze 'em. Without preservatives (or in this case, preservation), day old bread is day old bread. You should put them in plastic bags prior to freezing. Then there are two strategies. Out of the bag and into the oven, or thawing in the bag (the thawing ice crystals in the bag are said to rehydrate the bread). I'd test it both ways.

If what Seth said by way of explanation is true, it's a big deal and a huge thorny problem. He said he needs to win in order to be able to pay for $100K of medical bills for his mother. If her only chance is him winning the title, a meltdown could be understandable, if not expected. The fact that he basically dedicated his first entry to his mother, and failed to complete it, might explain a lot. But he was clearly out of control. Regardless of his talent, it may be that he knew intellectually how unlikely it might be to win the whole thing. Yet pastry is what he does and how else could he help? Putting myself in his place (if I had any pastry skills) I might find it hard to believe, upon being accepted, that I was not destined win my mother's life through pastry. But his two attempts went badly. But on the other side of the coin, can the other contestants be expected do deal with the possibility that if they win, someone's mom dies, or lives out her existence destitute? If this post occurred at the same time as the actual competition, I would suggest that they remove him from competition for personal reasons and rework some challenges as benefit events for his mother.

From his Facebook page...

I would say yes, without a doubt. But I'd argue that a regular hot dog counts too - and am joined by some anonymous wikipedia contributor as well.

But I think the first person eliminated is going to feel doubly gutted. [Edit]And me along with them.

It will be great to watch the first shows already knowing who's who. Usually, the first few shows are a little tough to follow because of so many new people.

When I first read this topic it was lunch time and I was hungry. I needed something fast. In my head I said "Let's do this!" It led to an interesting mini journey. At the time I didn't have onions or bacon, but a mental addition of the effect of onions seemed plausible. So I looked about for the closest approximation to bacon I had on hand. That turned out to be pepperoni. Yes, odd, I know, but the general concept is similar. I couldn't wrap a dog with pepperoni slices, so I put a couple of rows on some plastic wrap, layed the dog (Boars Head Beef Natural Casing) on them and rolled it up and nuked it for 25 seconds. I wrapped a bun in a paper towel and nuked it for 10 seconds. I had the catsup, relish and mayo and decided just to mix it up into a Big Mac sauce. It was...not bad. I didn't know if I'd want it again, but it was intriguing. Three days later, I had a mini craving for another. But the Mayo was gone. Then on Sunday I'm driving home and decided to stop at the store and do it properly. I forgot the onion again, but had the bacon, mayo and fresh buns. I worked out a good method to pin the bacon to the dog for broiling and toast the bun. I used the same sauce, but with the aggressive flavors of the broiled bacon and toasted bun, the sauce faded to the background. Actually, I think the pepperoni dog was better. I'd still like to experiment with a BLT dog (or maybe a bacon dog with coleslaw), but with some tweaks, I think the pepperoni dog might be a better starting point.

I wouldn't. If you can't eat it with one hand without a plate, it doesn't fit the naming legend. But I do think that things wrapped in tortillas (like a breakfast burrito) qualify in spirit, if not in strict definition.

As far as I can tell, Ruth Reichl (American food writer) began tweeting food related haikus. Anthony Bourdain saw them and liked them and began reading them as a segment of a weekly satellite radio show (Turn and Burn) he did earlier this year with Eric Ripert. Ruth Riechl surprised them by turning up on-air. I'm not sure about this, but I imagine that a listener had an idea to tweet versions of her tweets in what he(?) imagined would be the style of Bourdain. Bourdain found these and liked them (in a disturbing way), and Reichl and Bourdain talked about them on the radio show. Bourdain even had Ripert read one of Ruth Bourdain's off-color tweets. I think the true identity of Ruth Bourdain remains a mystery. It would be great to find out it was Mario Batali or someone, but I suspect it's just a shlub like me. [ETA] Might as well embed...

Out of curiosity, I hit the job boards and looked for butcher jobs. I realize you're not looking to just to find a job as a meat cutter, but it would seem to define the requirements for entry. From what I found, the trade seems to value experience over education. But the one thing that jumped out at me on one posting was a requirement of a firm understanding of HAACP. I think this will be a big deal especially as you get into sausages. I don't know what certifications may be available, or what they take, but that would be one part of the puzzle to focus intensely on.

My basic question arises out of observations in several offices large and small. It appears that proper ovens and burners are strictly verboten. Even while touring the newly built headquarters a large, rather stylish corporation, I noticed this. They had a large lunch/break area with an area that had the appearance of a commercial kitchen. But no ovens or burners. Or really, anything that could be used to cook. I have seen toasters, toaster ovens, microwaves, popcorn makers and, of course, coffee makers. Sometimes, a grill out in the back parking lot seems to be okay for a special occasion. But what are the actual/general rules? Any HR/Legal types out there? But more generally, what about the community's trials and triumphs of office cuisine. This post has been in my head for a while, but this link brought it to the forefront.... Cutting Pasta Using a Paper Shredder

If I might add on a related question, I've often wondered why supermarket hard boiled eggs are always bad? Sure, a refrigerated hard boiled egg will never be as good as one freshly cooked and cooled to room temp. But when I do refrigerate a hard boiled egg, it isn't the disaster that I find in a supermarket hard cooked egg. I don't think it's just old product - although Porthos may have a point in this regard because they're invariably - peeled, but it's not like sometimes I get good ones, and other times I get bad ones. They are consistently bad.

I really thought there wouldn't be a 'truck stop' in the finale. But then Tyler stuck his face in there again. Well, okay, a straight up comparison of the products wouldn't be bad....Oh, wait, no it's not.... Luckily, NomNom's 'truck stop' win only confirmed the magnitude of Grill'em All's win in the final challenge. But we're apparently left in the dark regarding how NomNom's truck was gone as the Grill'em All truck went by their previous location. Apparently, it came down to the Great Food Truck Parking and Vertigo Race.

Those are interesting stats but I think they are of limited value considering the variations in the competition and challenges. When Collichio states outright that these were the best finale dishes of any season (even with the stricter limitations on what could be cooked), I think we might be may be missing something (or a lot). Part of it might be in production or editing, but it also could be gamesmanship, or even quiet professionalism. When the season began, I remarked that the level of the entrants seemed to keep going up. All but three of the originals this season were either executive chefs or chef/owners. Kevin was not flamboyant like a Voltaggio, but he was intimately familiar with what they (or at least one of them) did day-to-day. He had also worked with Hung. C'mon, if you've worked with not one, but two previous Top Chef's, you know a thing or two.

I agree, the first two episodes were outliers. I think they tried to fit too much in. But it got better as it went along. You just have to a develop a mental filter for Fox's penchant for the over dramatic. Having watched Kitchen Nightmares on Fox, I had a head start. Perhaps the three chefs should explain the concept of 'less is more' to the Fox producers.

Or anywhere else an eGulleteer might reside?

I liked it. It looks like we have a lot of personalities. Personally, it looks like I will have some problems at times as a chocolate purist. No citrus with my chocolate please. I hope the challenge that "pastry chefs can do savory better than savory cooks can do pastry" will be taken up at some point, in some form. I really get a first season Top Chef feel about this.

If you believe Bourdain, Collichio will speak his mind (to producers or anyone else). And that seems like what got him on the show. Regarding having the proteins preselected, Collichio used an unattributed quote regarding the Academy Awards; "If you want to find out who the best actor is, have them all play Hamlet" There is some sense there. I like GordonCooks' idea to award cumulative points. But it could lead something weird like someone locking it up with three episodes to go. And again, from Collichio, remember it's a game. If he really wanted to determine who was the best he would just go to their restaurants.