Indirect Heat

Had a fabulous meal at Fayer Madrid the other day, and I'm feeling inspired to explore Argentine cooking. I've had Seven Fires for some years, and really enjoy it. Interested in additional books, and I don't see much in older threads on eGullet. Suggestions for awesome Argentine cookbooks? I'm not afraid of ambitious cookbooks, but I also don't speak Spanish.

My 15 year-old son has been making macarons since he was 12. A year in, I bought him a nice antique copper sugar pot. It's fascinating, because he's a better cook at 15 than I was at 25. This summer, we upgraded to an induction cooktop, and it has been an absolute dream. Truly fantastic hardware in every way we hoped. However, my son misses working with the copper pot with the spout on it. Does anyone know of an equivalent induction-compatible pot? Just searching "Induction compatible sugar pot" still gives copper results, given how prevalent copper is in candy-making. I've read about the induction adaptor discs, and they seem like not a great solution. I'd like to get him a new pot for Christmas. Recommendations?

I've been working on caneles de Bordeaux. I finally did a time series to figure out how long they need to bake in my oven.

Thanks, all. Sorry for lack of clarity in my post. Have only tested 2 All-clads, and they seem fine, but haven't taken them rigorously through the paces to see if they heat as quickly as the cast iron pan. Tested a couple of other no-name pots that my wife brought to our family, and they don't work at all (some kind of non-magnetic stainless). And the ~100 year-old cast-iron that I inherited from my grandmother seems absolutely brilliant (from cold to searing steaks temp in 60 seconds as mentioned). I haven't tried to test whether the all-clads heat up as fast or not, was just wondering if there was a range of performance in induction cookware. I guess I should try to heat a gallon of water to boiling in various pots to see if there is a range in terms of heat transfer.

We just got an induction cooktop to replace our standard electrical resistance cooktop. It's fantastic. Got a cast-iron pan to steak-searing temperature in 60 seconds. Really fun, and much more like gas cooking that I've done in previous homes. A few of our pots are not induction-compatible, so we're looking at replacing them. I see a lot of sites recommending various cladded pots that have non-magnetic interior cores (copper or aluminum) surrounded by stainless steel. Are these actually going to be great performance cookware on an induction cooktop? We have a lot of All-Clad at home, but if they're not the best pots for induction, I don't want to spend All-clad prices to get so-so performance. Will those non-magnetic cores interfere with heating? I haven't found any good resources on the web for choosing induction cookware that aren't obviously sponsored sites. Anyone have good choices for online resources? Thanks in advance for your help.

I am also a happy Bamix user. My first one lasted me 25 years. I just got my second one, and can attest that it seems to be of similar (or is it possible, better?) construction. Other immersion blenders that I've used are hot garbage.

This past Saturday, we had an amazing 9 course tasting meal at the Breton restaurant La Porte in Montreal. It was the perfect way to celebrate our tenth anniversary. The dessert was a Kouigne-Amann, served with a salted caramel sauce and a buttermilk sorbet. I'd never heard of this dessert, much less tasted it, and it was divine. During dinner, we talked about what we wanted to do before our 20th anniversary. For one of my goals, my wife has set me the task of learning how to make a perfect Kouigne-Amann. Can anyone recommend some top quality Breton cookbooks? In English or French? (Preferably French?) Thanks in advance.

So, my double wall oven died a horrible death. The fan was already hideously loud, the top oven had stopped working, and while opening up the panel to do current tests, I shorted out the control panel. Replacement parts are about 50% the cost of a new oven, so I'm thinking about getting new ovens. I don't need anything fancy, just reliable temperature, quiet fan and overall durability. I bake bread twice a week, and otherwise bale or roast something once or twice a week, so it can't be just a pretty appliance, Sadly, Consumer Reports does not review double ovens. Does anyone have a brand and model that fits the bill?

Not sure if this is the right place for this post, mods please move if it's not. I bought some lovely sopressata from Knight Salumi today (a San Diego-based cured meat place). Normally, their sopressata has a dusting of white/grey mould, used in the curing process. In this case, it had several different coloured moulds on it. Naturally, this has me concerned that it has spoiled. This is fresh out of the package. Should I be concerned? Should I return it?

Getting into making pasta, but don't have a good reference. Any suggestions for good recipe/reference books for making pasta from scratch?

Thanks all. Ultimately went with 3 trays of apple crisp and ice cream. Didn't take long to prepare, and was well-appreciated. Thanks for all your suggestions.

I'm hosting a going-away party for friends, and I'm preparing a meal for 50. Gonna smoke 2 large briskets, bbq sauce, sausages, rolls, coleslaw, veggie platter and what should I make for dessert? Want it to be good, but has to scale easily (not really interested in making 50 creme brulees for example). Ideas?

I love me some pig's feet. A truly awesome appetizer. Yum.

I found that opening scene to be the most interesting in the book. Otherwise, I found the book a tad boring. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book, but it's rather repetitive, and Bourdain's schtick is very obviously Bourdain's schtick. Once you've read a few of his essays, you've basically read that book...

Don't need to, but they're easier to handle if they're on a cookie sheet. The ramekins will just slide and tip more easily on the wire rack in the oven than if you pop 'em on a cookie sheet. I've also done a blackberry crisp on the smoker, where the smaller spacing on the grill would be easy to place a ramekin.

I don't think I'd want them in a bain-marie. After all, you're trying to soften the fruit a tiny bit while you caramelize the sugar on top, right? I think that would go fine just as is in a ramekin... My opinion, anyway...

Okay, so I picked up a Sugimoto gyuto: and a Shigefusa Nakiri bocho: They're awesome to play with in the kitchen. Really, really fun. More blather here: http://indirectheat.blogspot.com/2010/06/shopping-for-knives-in-tokyo.html Thanks, Hiroyuki.

I found them, and came home with 2 knives. Will put up pictures later. Thanks for the advice, Hiroyuki, I'm looking forward to doing some chopping (figure that I'll wait until the jet lag and general exhaustion passes, so as not to chop my fingers off - anyone ever notice that the impairment that comes with being awake for 29 hours straight is not unlike being drunk...).

So, work has me headed to Japan (Tokyo) and Korea (Jeju Island) next week. Thinking about getting myself a treat while I'm over there... If you had to bring back a Japanese knife, which knife would you bring back?

Indeed. The margarita served at the Wynn in Vegas is very good. And they were quite friendly about sharing the recipe with me when I asked...

If it didn't emulsify, and you kept adding drops of oil, that's where you failed. Each drop needs to emulsify before you add more. Even with a food processor, you won't get it to emulsify if there's too much oil in there. The moment it looks like a vinaigrette, and you continue adding oil, that's where you fail. As to the reason for failure? Probably that the oil was cold. Bring everything to room temperature, should work fine.

So I've now had cocktails from Todd Thrasher at Restaurant Eve in Washington DC, and I've had cocktails from The Varnish in Los Angeles, but what if I want to make similar quality cocktails at home? What's the best resource for this? All of the cocktail books I've flipped through in bookstores are of the "how to make a margarita" variety. In comparison to cookbooks, I'd say the cocktail books I've seen are the Rachel Ray of cocktail books. I'm looking for the Thomas Keller cocktail books, if you catch my meaning. Any suggestions?

The only problem with this would be if he's not 21, the age at which one can legally consume alcohol across the U.S. He'll need to declare any alcohol at customs, and if he's younger than 21 and declaring alcohol, it could be taken. Salted mirin should avoid this problem, as it can't be drunk. Same reason you can get cooking wine in stores that don't sell alcohol.

I really like Homesick Texan's recipe: http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2007/03/and-end-to-my-quest-flour-tortillas.html

Wife had an Avalanche at the Chateau Lake Louise: . 1 oz fresh brewed espresso ½ oz Baileys ½ oz Frangelico ½ oz white crème de cacao 2 oz cream More at http://indirectheat.blogspot.com/2010/05/lazy-saturday-calls-for.html