IndyRob

I've long been fascinated by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. For those who may not know, this is a psychological test that measures your preference in each of four areas. With two options for each, you will be sorted into one of 16 personality types. None of these are good or bad. They are just ways of describing your preferences. But the ways in which these four factors interrelate can produce a startlingly accurate description of your world view (especially if you test towards the extremes of each scale). It's all based on the work of Carl Jung. You can take a test here (among other places/versions): http://similarminds.com/jung.html (and if you would like to, I'd suggest that you do that now before continuing to read here). Also, once you have your four letter type (e.g., mine is INTP), google it and you'll find a bunch of detailed profiles you can read. From my experience, upon reading the profiles, about 1/3 will have an OMG! moment, 1/3 will say "Yeah, I recognize some things about myself in there", and the last 1/3 won't be impressed. But, c'mon we're talking about sorting everyone on Earth into one of 16 groups. My group includes Bob Newhart and Albert Einstein. For those who don't want to take the test, the dimensions are Introverted/Extroverted (fairly obvious, but with a gentle reminder that neither is better), Sensing/Intuitive (concrete vs. abstract), Thinking vs. Feeling (Spock vs. McCoy), and Judging/Perceiving (orderly and known vs. open-endedness). Okay, so anyway, I was thinking about how this test might affect how we think about food. I searched eGullet and found exactly one reference to compare line cooks with pastry chefs. Probably valid. Then I turned to Google ("myers briggs food") and the first relevant hit was a raw food forum. There was recently a discussion here about this so I was intrigued. A Meyers Briggs thread in a raw food forum. Perfect! I read the discussion and started immediately noticing a pattern. So I went back through the thread and counted.... INFP - 6.5* INTJ - 5 ENFP - 2.5* INFJ - 2 ISFP - 2 ESFJ - 2 ISTJ - 1 ESTP - 1 * The fractions came from one person who fell right on the border between I and E. Also, I left two people out of the sample where, in one case, they reported a letter that wasn't among the options, and another that had 2 scores that were equal. The numbers here aren't statistically significant, but they do seem to suggest strong correlations. If we really understood this, we might learn a lot. I'm not talking about raw food now, but how we look at food, cooking and eating.

I got curious and looked up the website. From the chef's table(s) and pics of the kitchen, it looks like the back of the house is pretty much up front.

To a religious person I think that's like saying "Well, if you don't agree with your parents then why did you choose them?"

I thought I was being precise when I wrote "...you have (had) placed on yourself." Either you have placed it on yourself according to your interpretation of the writings, or have had it imposed based on the tenets of your faith. Either way, you believe you are following the rules made by a higher power, not your personal opinion. Our personal opinions are important, but there are many situations where we should just sit on them. I think most of us would agree that a requirement that women wear burqas is abhorrent. But should a western woman in Saudi Arabia flaunt her western style attire and lack of any head covering? Probably not. Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Laura Bush have all donned scarves in some circumstances. But another thing to note is that even Anthony Bourdain does not have a hard and fast rule. He draws a line at monkey brains.

It's important to keep this in context. AB is talking about accepting hospitality. It's one thing if you tell your mother in law that you can't eat her pot roast because you are a Hindu and can't eat beef. It's quite another thing if you say that you feel that slaughtering helpless animals is immoral. The former is a limitation you have (had) placed on yourself. The latter is a tacit accusation of immorality on behalf of the cook.

I think this whole concept has become tired. Throw some fois/truffles on something and call it expensive. Or, if you have no fois gras and no truffles, serve a peanut butter sandwich with a bottle of Dom Perignon. Conspicuous consumption has never been better served.

I freeze them raw and roast them from frozen. This seemed to be the best of the ways I tried to maintain nice round balls (if that's important to anyone besides me). It's also quick and easy (but also easy to overcook). Alton Brown suggests roasting in mini muffin tins, but I don't think I saw much of an improvement when I tried it.

I've just watched the chicken one so far, but thought that it was quite well done. The only problem I had was that the sound level was quite low. With both my computer and video player's volume controls set to the max, I had still had some problems hearing it until I silenced everything in the room. You might end your videos with a closeup of your book cover. I see it there on the counter, but wouldn't know what it was - if I didn't know what it was. By all means make more. The possibilities are endless. But don't give away the store. Occasionally utter the phrase "I go a little more deeply into this in my book..."

I'll take a stab at this. If one believes that God does not want us to eat meat, then Anthony Bourdain will respect that belief (but not to the point of his own adherence). However, if one believes that no one should eat meat based on their own thought processes, then that claim is possibly sanctimonious and is open to peer challenge.

I'm not really looking for a smokey flavor. I guess that's part of my non-traditional approach. And I really don't think I detected much smokeyness in the 'real thing'. Most BBQ rubs have a lot of ingredients. But few of those affect texture. For me, flavor seems relatively easy to work on. Breaking down the collagen can be done in a variety of ways. Different times and temperatures. But brining can fundamentally change the texture. I discovered this when I brined our first Thanksgiving turkey. The breast meat was phenomenal. But the next day I went for the traditional turkey sandwich with mayo on white bread and found that the meat was not up to the task. It was somehow too refined and aristocratic. Not dry enough to get married mayo and soft bread.

I really don't have a lot of experience eating really good barbecued ribs. So when I was imagining my own personal perfect rib, I was not trying to recreate a style or make any attempt at being authentic. I figured that a combination of brining and sous vide (with a twist or two) would produce what I imagined. Initial tests were promising and I was starting to fine tune things.... Then I had an opportunity to visit a place that Bon Appetit hailed as the having best ribs in the US. As a non-traditionalist, I didn't really care for the blackened shoe leather 'bark', but the moist, pink, fibrous-but-tender meat underneath was a revelation. I realized I was on the wrong track. So I did a test, still using sous vide, but eliminating the brining (or any seasoning until just before finishing them under the broiler). I got very close to the texture I was looking for, but the flavor in the meat just wasn't there. So I think, "Well, I'll just season the meat prior to cryovac-ing". But then I thought "If I put salt on the meat and sous vide it for six hours, have I not created a brining situation again?" So my question is, is there some technical crossover point between seasoning with salt and brining? Is the amount of salt in a rub significantly less than one would end up with in a brine? Or, what about marinading after cooking? My final plans have always included a final broil/grill of some sort.

Again, depending on the type of pizza you're going for. I know NYC style charred crusts are loved by many, but they don't necessarily play well elsewhere . There are Sicilian, Neopolitan, Californian, Midwestern, Chicago, cracker, etc., style pizzas. Most of these do not require (or even desire) a blast furnace. I'm not trying to disrespect NYC style pizza, just not relegating everything else to Pizza Hut status.

I watched it on Hulu.com after reading this topic so my expectations were very low. But I didn't find it so bad and I think it may show some promise after it gets out of the initial stage. Blissfully absent (or at least held firmly on a leash) was the overly dramatic Fox narration found on Fox's Kitchen Nightmares or Hell's Kitchen. I'm not a big fan of the head-fakes in the evaluations (c'mon, do I really think you're going to eviscerate a potential master chef in front of his wife and small child?). I think there's potential here. I hope that as the herd gets thinned, the general tone will become a little more sober and honest. A little more like Top Chef.

I was thinking about pizza. The importance of a pizza oven varies wildly depending on the type of pizza you're making (extremely important for a NY style, to almost irrelevant for a Chicago style). Much more important for most styles is the control you have in your dough handling. A chain pizza store is making and balling a lot of dough well beforehand (often stopping and resuming after interruptions) and can't always control exactly when the dough is made, proofed or used - whereas at home we can control it precisely. But I guess the more general point is being able to control the timing. At home we generally know well in advance what will be served when.

Purloined pea puree? It may be one thing to 'misplace' a component of a competitor's dish. But to put it on your plate? That would be pretty brazen. At least the judging procedure was free of irregularities this time.

I just discovered this on several YouTube videos. It appears to have been around for over a year (for all I know it has been known for 200 years), but from searching I don't see that it has been discussed here. If this works, it's the sort of thing that could earn one instant hero status...

I just got all new appliances for a house. The installers were able to do all the wiring for not very much extra. Normally I'm willing to do 110 volt wiring myself, but won't touch 220. Also, if you need to change any plumbing check out Sharkbite adapters (at Lowes they're called Gatorbite). I was dealing with a little plumbing issue and as I wandered the plumbing isle at Lowes trying to fit together different pieces the plumbing guy there suggested these. When he explained how to use them, I was dumbfounded. It's snap-together plumbing. It works with copper, PEX, CPVC (two kinds of plastic pipe) and can be used to transition to/from any of these. To use, push it onto the pipe. That's it. There's a cheap little tool you need to remove it and reuse it if you make a mistake (which I did). I don't know about local codes, but supposedly it's approved for use inside closed walls.

I didn't understand that either. Then I remembered he said it was dry aged. So the outside was probably dried up.

Hmmm, several thoughts... I don't mind anyone selling out if they can. But it does affect the brand, so I hope it was a big check - I think this could prove to be Emeril's shark jump. But I guess Ettore Boiardi didn't do so bad for himself. Holy crap! One can of Chef Boy-ar-dee ravioli has 96% of one's daily sodium needs. A can of Emeril's only has 56%. I'm now waiting to see Emeril's guest judge appearance on Top Chef's canned food elimination challenge. Oh yeah, and for me, the image associated with "BAM!" now includes an inverted can of ravioli.

I used to work at a pizza place where we got our dough pre-made and pressed (I never saw a dough ball the whole time I worked there). They were kept in large plastic bags with about 10-15 dough-discs stacked with cardboard (like pizza box cardboard) between each and stored in a walk-in cooler. They were allowed to proof at some point. Then I think they went into the reefer under the prep table. My recollection is that the dough seemed pretty normal (the hydration level may have been on the low end of the scale). So it seems to me that this should be doable. But I'd sure like to test it before showing up somewhere with ingredients for 15 pies. [edit]After reflection, I seem to recall white blotches on the dough. So I think the cardboard was floured. Also, I searched the pizzamaking.com forums and Monical's pizza appears to do something similar as well. Except they use rounds of cardboard which are also used as templates to trim the sheeted dough. But they go into the reefer on the cardboard (don't know if they were stacked). Dough made Monday A.M. is for Tuesday afternoon/evening.

Asparagus with hollandaise.... Actually, here's a full menu.... http://www.ruthschris.com/Menu

I agree completely. I can't know if the two worst dishes voted were actually the two worst, because I can't taste the food. That's why the integrity of the judging process is important. You couldn't make up a judging process with more built-in bias than this one. I really don't even care if Collichio says that the correct calls were made (gonna go look for his blog just tosee). This has me seriously wondering if I want to follow the rest of the season.

I was in the car today and was listening to a radio voice opining on the growing of tomatoes and how to get a great yield. This immediately had me thinking how to use this yield. Tomato Sauce, of course. Then I thought "Why do tomatoes seem to be the only fruit/veg that are used as a proper sauce? The immediate answers - Texture, moisture, tradition, taste - seemed somehow insufficient. Of all the fruits and vegetables in the world, the tomato seems to be the only one worthy of taking the starring role in a mother sauce. Can this be? Okay, there's applesauce, all sorts of fruit dessert sauces (but I'm thinking savory), hot pepper sauce (normally used as an ingredient, not a sauce). I searched for "eggplant sauce" and found recipes with more tomato than eggplant. Surely there's at least one fruit/veg on the planet that is as worthy as the tomato. Anyone? Is the tomato that unique? I'm not well traveled so I may be way off base and may benefit from your experiences.

Half of my ancestors are Scandinavians who are notorious for white foods. Spicy foods were really a challenge for me as a youth. But I think sour cream was a big discovery. Whether it's chili or nachos or anything else, I think putting spicy in sour cream is a safe way to introduce the flavors without the full-on assault. Now I can handle stuff spicier than my adventurous son can. But I still don't get spicy for the sake of spicy.

I agree with you in that eliminating a team is unfair. But I think that a) did happen. Arnold was an elimination challenge winner. He got sent packing for undercooked pasta that he he didn't do and was clearly fighting against (during the cooking, not the judging). As for b) are you you really expected to dispatch your teammate in order to win?