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MrSpiffy

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Everything posted by MrSpiffy

  1. Your food looks so delicious! My wife would probably go nuts for that root marrow. The breakfast hash is more my style, and with duck..? *steals the plate and runs off*
  2. Those could become really cool design pieces in the restaurant!
  3. @gfron1, that sounds awesome! Too bad I live a couple states away... I love watching chefs prepare food. It always amazes me the talent and focus they have. I can barely watch one or two pans on a stove. Sometimes they have several.
  4. @gfron1, I've done the same with some of my own personal projects. (Woodworking, in particular.) It's always helpful to get other perspectives to catch or suggest things that you may not have thought about. As part of your connecting-with-your-food experience, will have an open kitchen so patrons can watch as their meals are prepared?
  5. Loving all of the ideas floating around. I just want to float a friendly reminder @gfron1, don't get too distracted by tons of cool ideas. Trying to do everything usually ends up being a disaster. I'm sure I don't need to say that, but sometimes it's just so much fun to explore everything. I have that high-novelty personality and go off on tangents all the time, so just speaking from my own experience. Based on your plan, I know you'll stay focused on your goal. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. It's so exciting!
  6. @gfron1, I think that's something a lot of new, inexperienced business owners don't even know to do. Check with the SBDC in your local area. There are tons of free resources there that can help you get off on the right foot. They even had free counseling for my wife when she worked on starting her business. When she walked in with research done and something like 40 pages in her business plan, they nearly fell over. Apparently most people just show up and have nothing.
  7. @gfron1, I appreciate that. My wife and I have both tried starting small businesses, and I have to say that it's not just something you go and do on a whim. It takes some planning and organization to do. So, when you started Kumquat, I assume you came up with a business plan and all that. How does your previous experience compare to this time around? I'm curious, because... well, to be honest, trying to create a business plan when you have zero experience running or owning a business is a bit scary and overwhelming. Especially considering that you could be banking a good chunk of your life savings on it. My small business is pretty simple. Just me doing some real estate photography. But a restaurant is a whole different ballgame.
  8. It's been a while since I've visited this forum. I come back to find your discussion on starting a restaurant. I've been very curious to learn about this process, so I'm excited that I found this right on the front page. I'll be following along, and I wish you all the best as you start your newest venture! I also have some family in St. Louis. Once you open up, I'll have to have them stop by and try the food.
  9. ^^THIS^^ I have this textbook. Still haven't gone through all of it, but it is very detailed and has categories for all types of foods/ingredients. Highly-recommended reading! I hear the 5th edition has a weak binding holding the book together. I have the 4th edition, and it's solid as a rock.
  10. All these awesome recipes to try! I haven't posted much on the forums, yet. But I suppose it's about time I did. I typically enjoy a nice bourbon or rum, either neat or with a couple of "whiskey stones" to chill it jut a bit. Lately, I've been enjoying some Plantation "Extra Old 20th Anniversary" rum. Absolutely delicious as an after-dinner drink. I also love Manhattan cocktails. I stick with the traditional recipe, but here's what I use in mine: 3oz Basil Hayden bourbon 1oz+ Noilly-Pratt sweet vermouth 2-3 drops Angostura bitters 1-2 marashino cherries There's something about the Basil Hayden that's just perfect for a smooth Manhattan.
  11. Just throwing this out there... I know quite a few people who enjoy a good Long Island Iced Tea. I'd imagine that they may also enjoy a well-made Sidecar, which could eventually transition into a Manhattan. (Goin' old-school! ) I went through that progression myself, as my palette gradually widened to include a bit more of the bitter/dry/smoky flavors of bourbon. I've yet to find a good recipe for a Sidecar, though... Anyone have one?
  12. I'm a huge fan of trying new cocktails! I'm definitely going to be following this to see what everyone comes up with.
  13. Well, I'm pretty sure there were a few different types of rice in the cloth bags. One of which was arborio, I believe. They were just a different brand. I would not be surprised if one of those types was the Bomba rice, though.
  14. I only saw one other type of rice that was in a (cloth, I think) bag at our local grocery store. Sounds like I may have to look around a little more to find what I need. I'll check on that other type of rice and see what brand it is. Thanks for the advice on storing rice! And for the recommendation on Carnaroli.
  15. Very cool. Thanks, andiesenji! How long do you keep your rice? I assume it becomes unusable at some age. Since this is my first foray into the world of risotto, I'm not sure how long rice keeps. (BTW, the rice I bought didn't have an expiration on it.)
  16. Thanks for the replies, everyone! I really appreciate all of the suggestions. To answer some questions/comments: I had the stock simmering just under a boil the entire time. I can't imagine it wouldn't have been hot enough. I did think about maybe too low a temperature, so I raised it up a touch, and it did seem to help a little. But not a lot... It could possibly be the rice. Like Shalmanese said, I can't imagine that, even with poor technique, I'd have a 2-hour risotto. If anything I'd be squashing rice grains and end up with pudding instead. I'll give the testing method mentioned and see how the rice comes out. That should tell me pretty quickly if it's the rice or not. Maybe the stuff is just old. Thanks again!
  17. Alright... so I read through the risotto course and watched the Good Eats episode on rice and decided that it was high time I tried making risotto. Now, I'm no expert on risotto. In fact, I'm not professional chef. I figure I'm just a fairly-decent, enthusiastic, amateur chef-at-home that likes to do things right. (I'm an engineer... it's practically in my blood to be super-picky about stuff. Ask my wife!) So, I gathered my ingredients and got started. I melted butter and began sweating the onion (no browning!), added the rice and stirred for a few minutes, and then started adding a mixture of chicken stock and dry white wine (This was according to the recipe. I realize this may not be a traditional method, but I don't see how it could cause such an issue.) Now, here's where things went awry... The stock didn't seem to absorb very quickly. It seemed fine at first, but it got to be a pretty lengthy time for absorption each time I added more stock. The risotto took forever to cook! And by forever, I mean it was around 2 hours ( !!) before I had something that was no longer crunchy and could be eaten and enjoyed. I'm trying to figure out what went wrong (as something very obviously did!). But I can't put my finger on it. I tried to keep stirring constantly, but that didn't seem to help at all. I also tried not stirring, and that didn't help, either. Anyway... Here's what was used: 12-inch KitchenAid fully-clad fry pan RiceSelect Arborio Rice Electric Range The rest is just typical ingredients: onion, butter, chicken stock, etc. Here are my thoughts on why it failed: Wrong pan: fry pan is too wide, facilitating evaporation rather than absorption (I have a saucier on its way.) Rice brand/type is inferio (didn't say superfino on the container), fails to absorb liquids well Electric ranges aren't the best for making risotto, providing poor heating characteristics Added too much stock at once. Does adding too much liquid kill the risotto? I added stock until it was just at the level of the rice. Too much..? Any thoughts? Can anyone help me as to why it took so long to make this risotto? There's no reason for it to take as long as it did. So, any help or advice would be totally and completely appreciated. Thanks! Also, is it easier to cook risotto in smaller batches? (i.e. 1 cup of rice at a time, rather than 2 cups?) By the way, it did eventually cook (after adding additional water to avoid over-concentration of chicken stock flavor). And it is tasty and creamy. But there's no way I'm spending 2 hours to cook risotto ever again!
  18. I'm not exactly new to cooking, but I wanted to learn to cook a nicer, better, more professional meal. So I grabbed what the culinary students read. On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals. Very interesting read, particularly for the newbie who doesn't mind some technical reading.
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