Fantastic Mr Fox

I'm not sure I understand why you would want crunchy braised meat. The point of searing the meat before the braise generally is for flavor, not texture.

Speaking as a fellow lefty, I've got one (or 3) of these scoops. The whole handle is a the release lever and I find that I have no trouble operating it by squeezing with my fingers (rather than depressing it with my thumb). Furthermore, the construction of the handle and gears is all very sturdy plastic so it can go in the dishwasher no problem without rusting. Here is the manufacturer's web site: Zeroll They come in all sizes. King Arthur Flour (the first link) has the correct sizes picked out for muffins, cookie table spoons, and cookie teaspoons (meaning "heaping).

But why would one do that? Just for the coloring?

Adding the onion peel will give a nice color to your stock Really? I'd think you would have to add an awful lot of onion skin to get any effect. And even so, I'd think it would simply color your stock not necessarily add any flavor. If deeper color is the goal, you could achieve the same by adding a bit of tomato paste and also get some nice flavor.

In general classical French technique there should be twice as much onion as there is celery and carrots combined. I find the addition of leek tops and the traditional bouquet garni: thyme, parsley stems, a few whole peppercorns, bay leaf. Sometimes I add a whole clove or two. Overall, I find the best advice is that stock should taste like the meat...flavored by the aromatics. So don't use so much veggies etc to overwhelm the meat. Also, too much water covering the mix will of course dilute your stock, but that can be corrected afterwards by reducing it. I only add a burned onion if I'm making brown chicken stock for which I roast the chix bones and veggies first. With respect to temperature, I always start with very cold water and simmer the stock between 170F and 180F (180F is technically "simmering" temperature, I believe). Never boil it. I also find that how you cut your mirepoix is important to how long the stock cooks. The longer it is going to cook, the larger the chop of the veggies and vise versa. If the pieces of veg. are too small and the stock cooks too long the veg. will break down and affect the quality of your stock.

Gefilte fish veloute? *vomit*

So this might be an odd suggestion, but there's a small place in Studio City called The Baked Potato. It's part music club (rock and jazz, I think) part restaurant...kind of cabaret style. All of their entrees are served on or in a giant baked potato. You can get everything from simple melted cheese to marinated steak or chicken parm...on a potato. I have dinned there once and it was an interesting/fun experience (also because I'm a music fan). Here's a link to their menu and website to give you a better idea. The Baked Potato It's not exactly gourmet, but it's a good time...and the potatoes are bigger than any you've ever seen.

You could always just email Chef Achatz and ask. -jrf

I was just having a similar thought last night. I'm kind of sick of watching TV shows about people eating things. At least Bourdain and Zimmerman have some travel context to their show or some quippy writing; it's marginally educational. This show is just a guy gorging himself every episode.

Don't forget about Rick Bayless' restaurants if you like Mexican food: Frontera Grill Xoco Topolobambo

Also, this though this site , a product manufacturer that uses Qimiq, says both that the gelatin comes from beef then says separately that it comes from pig. Either way, they say it is 1% gelatin.

On further investigation I found this, "The process basically involves splitting of the cream molecules and the fat molecules, which are treated with gelatine to coat each particle. Poulous says Qimic is a unique product which can serve as a partial or full substitute cream, creme fraiche, eggs, gelatine, acid, emulsifiers, and extend presentation time, reduce drying out time, etc. Basically the product prevents the migration of water which makes it useful in increasing presentation time of perishable preparations like mousses and egg dishes, for instance. This in turn has the effect of keeping compounds together." Here's the link the PDF source

Sour cream? Feh! Apple sauce all the way.

TRy Josie's East or West (same menu). http://www.josiesnyc.com/ You can make reservations and get reviews on http://www.opentable.com

He should take a look at The Elements of Cooking by Michael Ruhlman. It is very readable and explains a lot of the basics and why food is cooked the way it is, etc.

I don't know if he follows the egullet forums, but coincidentally, Michael Ruhlman's very latest blog post is his method for making C&D. Check it out here: http://blog.ruhlman.com/2010/01/chicken-and-dumplings.html

I put ice in my wine, especially red, and it usually comes from a box. Tastes fine to me.

Ever have chicken noodle soup? or matzah ball soup? or even consomme a la royale? Same idea. While the dumplings/noodles/mazta ball are merely cooked dough, they soak up the soup/liquid component and become flavorful. It is basically experiencing the the flavor of the soup with a different texture. So part of their point is textural contrast. In another manner of thinking, assuming you put veggies in the soup, the dumplings create a complete dish (veggies, protein, starch). As a rustic dish, this makes complete sense...so from that perspective the point is "carbs".

I'm going to use basic Pate A Choux dough (from Ruhlman "Ratio") 2 parts water : 1 part butter : 1 part flour : 2 parts egg (plus seasoning) or by volume 1 cup water: 1/2 cup butter : 1 cup flour : 1 cup egg Personally, I will be using chicken stock as liquid and schmaltz for fat -jrf

I'm new to the forums, but I'm in, too. Sounds like fun. C&D is my all time favorite dish on the rare occasion that I eat at Cracker Barrel. I actually reserve eating it only for when I go there. This is a great opportunity to try my hand at making it at home (which I have not previously tried). I'm going to try to emulate the Cracker Barrel style which is white gravy, white meat chicken slices (not chunks or something else), sliced/slash-cut "drop dumplings", no veggies. I'm also going to so it kosher-style meaning I'll use shmaltz as the fat for the roux instead of butter and no cream or milk. Simple, but hopefully tasty.

Amazon.com ? Not sure if they ship to the UK but I think so.

I believe Michael Ruhlman mentions in his book "The Reach of A Chef" that Masa (the sushi master)has a thing for Krispy Kreme donuts. Even the great ones are people, too.

It's a good thing i live in the Norhteast US because I am addicted to the tots at Sonic. My sister lives in Dallas and thinks I go down there to visit her...but it's really for Sonic.

Plain, undressed, iceberg lettuce is my favorite vegetable.

A propos of the Little Debbie comment, I am no longer allowed to have and Entenmann's cake products in my house, most importantly the chocolate coated donuts. I could eat those all day, every day.