Jump to content

JBailey

participating member
  • Posts

    293
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by JBailey

  1. Healdsburg is in Sonoma County, north of Santa Rosa (Guy Fieri land) along Rt. 101. As you know Sonoma is also another of the big wine locations.
  2. There are certainly a mulitude of options along the way. Just having been in Healdsburg over the weekend, if you have time I might suggest making a reservation for the wine pairing meal at J Winery in their Bubbleroom. Seghesio also offers a nice pairing meal. Walking around the square in downtown Healdsburg is fun and there is a terrific candy/ice cream store on one of the corners.
  3. Yours is a most interesting and great look into the Anti-Griddle. I find it useful and look forward to hearing about your further recipe experiments.
  4. iSi has a book of recipes and techniques called "The Trick with the Whip".
  5. I was listening to a 'Martha Marathon' today and someone asked this very question as to whether she might recommend silicone for chocolates. She was taken back by the question and said she never had and likely never would use silicone for many of the reasons above. Her stated preference was hard plastic molds.
  6. Given your helpful participation here, I will try to use your site and product next time I am buying duck fat. A question for you - what is your recommended shelf life in a refrigerator? Do you also recommend freezing for future use?
  7. I just ran across this video for Jellies. To get to the Jelly video, click on Techniques along the bottom and then find the Jelly Past catagory - the url does not seem to pick up the specific videos selected.
  8. I recently was in Rome and ate three lunches and three evening meals by myself until my friends arrived. As one always discovers, some places are more friendly to single diners and others shove them off to a corner. It is not much different between Europe and here. In Chicago there is a nice place in the Loop called 312 Chicago and they have a dining bar in front of their kitchen where guests can have their meals. This is a perfect perch for a solo diner...and sometimes that extra or errant preparation finds its way to my seat as a bonus. Often in other places that have open kitchens, I will try to ask for a table with a kitchen view.
  9. Welcome. There are other threads which answer many of the questions you raise. This post may be blended into one of the others shortly. If you are not doing Rube Goldberg approaches, then you may want to consider something like a Sous Vide Supreme Demi. While it still does cost several hunbred dollars, in the long run you may discover it becomes affordable if you use it frequently and consider the cost amortized over several years. They offer packages that include the sous vide machine and a vacuum sealer. As for vegetables, 180 F to 185 F will open a whole world of great flavors and doneness. Corn on the cob is terrific done sous vide.
  10. I had a terrific time at the National Restaurant Association show at McCormick Place. There seemed to be lots of people, many new vendors and a couple stalwarts that might have been missing. Maybe, just maybe the economy is beginning to improve given the activity at this year's exhibition. Among the booths that had interesting products, a gathering of people looking and intersting equipment or foods include in no particular order: PolyScience - they had a whole raft of products running including the rotary evaporator where they were extracting chocolate flavoring Nathan's Famous - a very long line to sample their hot dogs! Rose Packaging with a Guiness brat Sous Vide Supreme - they were showing a new 'Chef' version that meets higher standards and ratings to allow use in a restaurant kitchen Coca-Cola - they were showing off their new dispenser with 100 flavor variables Winston Industries - They were giving away a copy of Modernist Cuisine each day Rotisol - One of their small machines was being featured at a very affordable price Cook-Tek - It is always nice to see a company producing in the U.S. and not sending manufaturing overseas DryBag Steak - they are coming out with sous vide bags that handle a very wide range of temperature and, of course, their dry aging bags Robot-Coupe - Always they have most interesting products. Waring - Another great grouping of products WoodStone - They are certainly more than a wood burning oven company anymore Rational - They were serving meals prepared during the demonstration ThermoWorks - I am a fan of the Thermapen they distribute MiniPack-Torre - Their booth was behind and seemingly in conjunction with PolyScience who is featuring one of their machines with a PolyScience logo! Edlund - They have come out with a new scale measuring down to 0.1 gram Guittard - Always an interesting array of chocolates! BigAss Fans - What a great name and their fans seem to work really well
  11. Welcome to Chicago and hope you enjoy the NRA show! I love the bone marrow and I agree it can be sometimes better than others. Last time I was in I sat at the bar across from the Wood Stone Plancha and that was a great place to get an education! There is always activity and I was also fortunate that Jimmy Banos Jr was leading the crew on a Saturday night. I like their Lardo, the Pork Shoulder and I really liked the Razor Clams. Maybe skip the Pig's Tail. Enjoy all you visit! I am hoping to see the show tomorrow.
  12. Butter dishes in the little compartment in the refrigerator...sometimes in the wrapper. My preference is using the top cover to store the butter and not the lower sided bottoms. I am adverse to leaving butter on the counter-nothing scientific. My father uses Smart Balance and leaves it out so that every time I stop I find a butter plate where the oils have separated from the solids-it is a constant game where I then put it back in the refrigerator (and he must take it out again the moment I leave!)
  13. Always the Taddich Grill, a classic. Also, try the Slanted Door in the Ferry Building (where there is also a Cowgirl Creamery store and Boccalone). Another place is Kokkari Estiatorio at 200 Jackson which is a terrific spot for upscale Greek.
  14. Today, I went shopping at Costco. One of my purchases is labeled "PLD Butt Tender Prime Peeled S.M.O. USDA Prime". Am I correct to believe this is from the sirloin and akin or part of a butt steak or rump roast that has been peeled of fat and silver skin? Any thoughts on sous vide preparation?
  15. and this host is a great: 1) chef? 2)designer? or 3) enabler?
  16. Perhaps a half a clove of garlic at the beginning of browning the butter?
  17. Stupid Heloise trick...I hate admitting I use it, but it works! After I empty the dishwasher, I put a fresh Cascade pac (or your prefered brand)in the dishwasher detergent holder and close it. The if someone else opens the dishwasher (or if I forget whether the dishes were washed or not at a later time) they know that the dishes are, in fact, dirty and should not be removed. If the holder is empty, then I am assured the dishes have been through a washing cycle.
  18. "I'm shocked, shocked to find that..." My gosh, such an illustrious book by such a professional author to have errors? Didn't Ruhlman say recently No doubt he will be issuing errata on his site.
  19. I agree that the banner is not the best or even the top tier of how they might have approached the market. I don't know if this site is home grown or if it is pushed by the coupon companies.
  20. Someone just sent me information about Food on the Table, a new site and application for grocery shopping. Has anyone tried this? Wonder what happens if a bunch of Modernist Cuisine ingredients are loaded into the lists?
  21. I have used both True Lemon and True Lime as a flavoring for many dishes and rubs. It comes in packets and there is a shaker version. They say this is a crystallized form of both lemons and limes. It seems to be widely distributed in over 15,000 stores.
  22. JBailey

    Mise en place

    This may be the most important difference in becoming accomplished cook. For the most part, cookbooks gloss over mis en place - yes, they list ingredients, but seldom say or teach the importance that all should be laid out and ready. I know, because I predominantly fall into the lazy catagory and grab things together while the cooking progresses. While I am seasoning my meat, I fumble through the spice jars to see what I have and always seem to lose the one I am seeking until I have shuffled through them a couple times. I am a victim of not pulling out the butter from the refrigerator, then finding I may not have enough or need to open a new carton while something is cooking away. Then I forget to pull the lemons out because they are in the second refrigerator behind something and have to hurry to cut them up. No doubt my flavors and finished dishes suffer. Maybe we think time is the tyrant when we cook at home. That extra five minutes to put out the ingredient list may guilt us about taking 5 minutes from something else. I have tons of remekins and a dishwasher, so should I really worry about a few extra dishes used?
  23. You probably have seen them in coffee houses used for whipped cream. Often it is recommended that you use two cartridges, sometimes one is sufficient. iSi does have a book I purchased which is both helpful and interesting called 'The Trick with the Whip' - it is short and done in a ring binder fashion.
  24. Chris If I recall, you may have a SVSupreme. As I said above, put a support under the perforated bottom plate so that plate is elevated to a height for your ramekins. Maybe you can use ramekins, a couple glasses or other support. That is what I believe their support line might recommend.
  25. I have been so tempted by the flavor offerings at L'Epicerie. Each bottle looks tempting, but maybe it is just my hope that the flavor description equals my memory of that flavor.
×
×
  • Create New...