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As far as online purveyors of truffles, I've ordered them from Mikuni Wild Harvest before. They cost more than getting them from my normal guy, but the product is pretty good and I don't have to jump through too many hoops to get them. I ordered 1 oz of black truffle a couple years ago and it arrived in one piece a bit smaller than a golf ball. The skin was a slightly rough, but not as textured as I've seen on truffles I've received from other sources. Aroma was decent and if my normal source wasn't avaiable, I'd order from them again. I do not have any experience with their white truffles. http://mikuniwildharvest.com/

I'm a fan. It's good stuff. Really good. I like that it is a syrup and the concentration can be adjusted depending on what you're making. I dilute with San Pellegrino. Decent complexity and depth of flavor. To be fair, I was just a Schweppes guy before this and had only tried a few other craft tonics before trying this stuff. It costs about the same (or maybe less than) the Schweppes that I used to buy in little glass bottles. Considerably cheaper than most of the other competing tonics out there, if you can even find them. Also doesn't hurt that the Tuck Shop/Astor House where John works is about a mile from my place in Phoenix and he's a really nice guy. After all this cheerleading, know that it's still just tonic. But it's really good tonic. It probably won't change your life (but I suppose it's possible). Definitely worth it in my book and has a place at my bar. Just checked out his website and I'd suggest splitting an order with somebody else (or just stocking up for yourself) since shipping is consistent up to 4 bottles.

The asian market that I frequent most often is Mekong Market in Mesa. About a 15 minute drive from where you are. The supermarket and plaza that it's located in seems to keep pretty busy and a lot of product gets moved through there. The produce is good, lots of refrigerated stuff (fresh noodles, preserved meats, and the like from Los Angeles) along the back wall and the meat department is clean and seems to do quite a bit of turnover. The fresh seafood selection appears okay, although I will admit that I've only purchased frozen stuff (clam meat, etc) once or twice from the freezer case. They carry fresh head-on, feet-on Vikon chickens for about $7 each and I always pick up a few whenever I'm there. Lee Lee is another good asian market. They have two locations. One in Chandler (East valley) and a second location on the opposite side of the valley in Peoria. I think they're probably the same distance, but I have only been going to the Peoria location since it opened a few years ago. In addition to Chinese products, they have a better selection of foods from other parts of Asia (Southeast and India) compared with Mekong. Fantastic selection of fresh herbs, produce, meat, and pantry items. The Peoria location is a better lit, cleaner, and has a great chinese restaurant just inside the front door. Being that these two markets are aren't really close to central Phoenix (I live about 2 miles from where you'll end up), I do find myself going to what used to be a Ranch 99 Market for misc items. I think they changed the name to Super L a few years ago. I'll really only go there to grab a couple items when I can't justify the drive to one of the previously mentioned markets. The produce selection is adequate, as though isn't nearly as expansive or appear quite as fresh as Mekong or Lee Lee. The only things I really get there are fruits and veggies, dried noodles, bottled sauces, and frozen dumplings. They don't seem to move a lot of the meat and seafood as fast as I'd like so I steer clear of that stuff. I will purchase live lobsters from the tank periodically, though. In addition to these supermarkets, there are several small ethnic markets around town. I can provide more info on them if you'd like.

Cafe O'Lei in Kihei is probably one of my favorite restaurants on the island. Top notch but approachable food for maybe half of what you'd pay at a lot of the Wailea resorts. The staff is great there, too - really friendly and laid back, yet still professional. Kihei Cafe is a good breakfast and lunch type place. Lots of options on the menu and quite popular. Sarento's is more od a pretty view restaurant. Food is okay, but it's the waterfront location that sells the place. My friends like 808 Bistro, but I didn't think it was all that great. Not necessarily bad, but for the price, I'd stick with Cafe O'Lei. If you are going to picnic it or can do takeout, there is a natural foods store called Hawaiian Moons that has a couple steam tables of hot deli foods to go for sale by the pound (I think). I don't recall if they keep it stocked all day or only fill it up around 4pm for take out dinners.

I think that a little bit of diced water chesnuts and just the smallest bit of fresh herb would be an excellent addition to the picked oxtail meat as the dumpling filling. The water chesnuts would be just crispy enough to offer the slightest texture contrast without being too assetive in the crunchiness or taste department. A little bit of herb (parsley or chive as you mention, or maybe even cilantro) just to freshen things up and keep the oxtail and broth from feeling too heavy. The mention of carrot in the previous post sounds excellent as well. A fine dice of blanched turnip or parsnip could also work well there. It would keep the feeling of a rich, slow cooked, cold weather dish as opposed to the water chesnut and herb option which I imagine would brighten it up a bit. I'd steer clear of mushrooms and napa cabbage since they wouldn't offer any discernible textural contrast and might be difficult to differentiate when it's in your mouth. If black truffle appears in any of the other courses, I'd mix the chopped peels into the oxtail filling.

Fish maw by itself has little/no flavor. Like sea cucumber, it is a textural ingredient. Squishy, slimy, and gelatinous are the best words that I can come up with to describe its texture. When simmered in broth with other ingredients, it takes on the flavor of whatever it's cooked with. It's most often prepared in soups where it is cut up into small lima bean-sized pieces.

Crab and fish maw soup is one of my favorites. I use a very neutral white chicken stock. Simmer the fish maw in it, add some shimeji or enoki mushrooms if I have them around, and then add plenty of crab and white pepper into the soup. I use Phillips refrigerated crab meat in the can - I think it's a very good product for this purpose. Once it comes back to a simmer, I drizzle egg white into it to form threads and then thicken with a cornstarch slurry. Sometimes I garnish with cilantro or scallion.

First of all, let me welcome you to Phoenix. Moving here in May just in time for summer! What part of town will you be living in and where are you moving from? I've been traveling extensively for the past few years and only spend about 4-5 months out of the year here now, although I've been in Phoenix in some form or another for the past 12 years. I'm finding most of what I need these days (although my needs have definitely changed since moving here). I don't see you asking about restaurants, so I'll leave those alone for the time being. Devoured, the best culinary festival here just took place last week. Most of the other ones aren't really worth the time, expense, and crowds. Food trucks seem to be all the rage right now. There are (literally) a couple good ones and way too many unremarkable ones. People in Phoenix seem to really like standing around in a parking lot eating mediocre food prepared in the back of an automobile because it's trendy. Apparently, we're only like 5-6 years behind LA and Portland in this respect. Most of my shopping takes place at the ethnic markets. A few asian markets and lots of latin markets here of varying quality. The variety and prices of fruits and veggies at the ethnic joints are vastly superior to the larger grocery chains. I also pick up most of my uncommon cuts of meat/offal, bones, and live seafood (lobsters, crab, etc) from the local asian markets. Oysters and sometimes fish come from the retail counter of the Bluewater Grill restaurant (decent chain with a Phoenix location). Costco every once in a while for a bag of mussels or clams when they have the seafood stand set up over the weekend. Sprouts is a locally based chain that I'll also stop at periodically for produce, bulk grains, etc. AJ's for very specific items. Stanley's and Schreiner's for fresh and smoked meats/sausages. Butchers are a little tricky here. They exist. Kind of. Not useful for hard to find stuff, but they're what we have. Hobe meats is the butcher shop that I'll head to every once in a while. Harder to find cuts of meat require me to buy whole primals from the wholesaler and break them down myself. The craft charcuterie scene is really weak here. No Chris Cosentino or his Boccalone here - thus, I make my own. Eggs and lots of veggies come from my friends' yards. I'm in Las Vegas, LA, as well as the Bay Area pretty often and pick up morels, duck, foie, etc when I'm out there. Bevmo has a competitor here in town - Total Wine. I like TW quite a bit more. Friendlier and more knowledgeable staff than Bevmo. Better selection, too. There are also a handful of wine shops around town worth stopping at. There are a couple restaurant supply shops out here that I hit up - Standard and Big Pan. Neither of them stand out in terms of special equipment, but they get the job done and the two are by far the cheapest. For restaurant supply food, I hit up Restaurant Depot. You'll need a business license to open an account there though. This is just what is coming to mind right now. There's lots more that I can fill you in on later. Hope this helps.

Okay, I understand the premise of equilibrium brining now. Thank you. There are a couple different types of devices that I'm familiar with that can perform the measurements you are looking for. Salinity is measured (in the aquarium world) using specific gravity. SG is a weight measurement - a gallon of salted water will weigh more than a gallon of distilled water. This measurement varies because water expands and contracts with fluxuations in temperature so a gallon is not always a gallon. Parts per thousand (PPT) is a constant, in that 50 grams of salt dissolved in 1000 grams of water (5%) will always have the same ratio of salt and water. There are conversion charts based on water temperature that are available, but we will skip that for the time being. The first device is a refractometer. It is a cylinder about 6-8 inches in length and maybe an inch in diameter. On one end, there is a "slide" or "plate" about 1/2" by 1" that has a hinged cover. You lift the hinged cover, put a few drops of the tank water (or brine in this case) onto the lens, flip the cover back down over the water, hold it up to the light and look through the lens on the opposite end of the cylinder. Within the eyepiece, there is a scale that will indicate the SG/PPT. It works by utilizing a prism inside the device that breaks down the incoming light shining through the water, measuring the amount of refraction. Most models out there now are temperature compensating, so there is no need for any conversion charts. I'm not sure what the functional range of the temperature compensation is, though. The documentation available online doesn't indicate a range either. Presumably, the brine that you will be testing is at about 37 degrees F. Since you're only testing a few drops of water, it should come up to a usable temperature in a matter of seconds. These devices are extremely accurate and do not require any batteries. The downside is that you need to remove a couple drops of the brine every time you want to take a measurement - presumably daily? Also, if the device is dropped onto a hard kitchen floor, it could be the end of the refractometer. The model that I've had for close to 15 years is the Captive Purity available here. At the time, it was the only model available and cost over twice as much. There are several other manufacturers and online stores to get them at for much cheaper these days. The other device that would suit your needs is a salinity meter like this one. I believe that it measures the conductivity of the liquid to get its readings. I've seen these in use on other aquariums, but I do not have one myself. It may be possible to drop the probe into the brine and then run the lead outside the fridge (maybe using a magnet to hold the base to the outside of the fridge). The user's manual states that the temperature compensation range is 32-122 degrees F. The downside of these are that they're not waterproof and require batteries. Also, the electrode that is on the probe could corrode if left in a salt solution for prolonged periods. There are also handheld pen style salinity meters available. Most of them that I found measure total dissolved solids (TDS), so the addition of things other than salt (such as sugar) might throw your measurements off. In fact, I believe that the addition of sugar to a brine would throw off any of the devices that I've mentioned, although we could easily calculate and compensate for that. If you went this route, I'd opt for a waterproof model. All in all, I'd recommend the handheld refractometer for your needs because of its ease of use, precision, and the fact that it doesn't need batteries. Steer clear of any mechanical instruments. I once lined up 4 of the identical model, put the same salt water sample in all four, and received 4 different readings. Sorry for the long winded answer, and I hope that this information helps.

I have a bit of experience with salinity meters (what works, what doesn't, accuracy, ease of use, etc) as a result of an aquarium hobby (obsession). Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of Modernist Cuisine. Does the book detail any specific type of instrument? Could you elaborate on the equilibrium brining technique? The google search returns a brief interview with Nathan mentioning that it involved a longer soak in a less concentrated solution, but not much more. I should be able to point you in the right direction (equipment-wise) if I can understand the technique a little bit more and figure out what is trying to be accomplished.

I would think that egg would give the coating a heavier cake-like texture instead of the light crispy coating that you're seeking. At the Italian restaurant that I used to work at, we would keep the prepped calamari soaking in milk until an order came through. When it was time to fry, the calamari was dumped in a pan with plenty of flour, shaken to coat everything, and then the entire contents of the pan was dumped into the fry basket. Give the basket a good shake over the trash to knock off excess flour and then it went into the fryer. The result is a pretty delicate batter like coating that I think you're looking for. The flour-egg-crumb method produces a much heavier and crunchy (as opposed to crispy) breaded coating. I've experimented with different flours/flour blends as well as baking powder for leavening and I'm fine with just regular AP flour using the technique detailed above.

As OnigiriFB mentioned above, it's often sirloin although I've also heard of restaurants that use flank. As for the tenderizing part, some restaurants will pound the meat to break down the fibers. If the meat is especially soft (almost gelatinous/mushy), it has probably been treated with meat tenderizer which is an enzyme extracted from papayas.

I have three identical 8" stainless pans that I use for just about everything. They have a relatively heavy disk on the bottom and do not appear to be clad up the sides. I picked them up many years ago from Amazon for just about 10 bucks each. No lids came with them so I just use pie tins that I found at the dollar store when I need to cover something. I often cook for just myself, so the size and dimensions are perfect for everything from sauteing pasta ingredients to reheating soups and even steaming veggies. I was washing them the other day and noticed that on the bottom of the pan is a stamped emblem that says "surgical stainless steel" along with the words "waterless" and "greaseless". I don't see a manufacturer name on the pan, just a bunch of stars. Since these are cheap no-name pans, the starts must indicate that they're very highly rated, right? I remember seeing a booth set up at the state fair a few years back that had a demo kitchen selling waterless/greaseless cookware, but it was already closed up for the night (think infomercial set up). Most of what I can find on the internet regarding waterless and greaseless cooking appears to be gimmicky, yet obscenely expensive sets sold by companies that I've never heard of. The web pages really lack substance or any useful information on the products. Can anybody shed some light on not only the cookware, but also the methods behind waterless greaseless cooking?

The bottled oxygen (or any of the other gasses for that matter) used for welding is almost always sold in unlined tanks. That is, the oxygen will have a slight metallic taste to it. I know this because one of my CO2 tanks ran empty mid-party once and I grabbed a CO2 tank that was intended for welding that I happened to have around to tap a keg. The taste was noticeable. The CO2 tanks used for pushing beer, soda, etc. are lined so that the gas doesn't take on that metallic taste.

Duck feet have some gelatin at the joints, but are not gelatin rich like chicken feet. They are considerably less "meaty". Pretty much just skin/webbing and bones - not a lot of that gelatinous stuff under the skin like chicken feet.

Some items that I don't see mentioned specifically are the head, neck, and feet - although you guys may be categorizing these as part of the carcass. Many times, when I purchase a duck from the Chinese market, I'll get one with all these parts. The neck skin is quite fatty and will either get rendered or turned to cracklins. The neck itself is surprisingly meaty (for a neck) and as much as like roasting it and nibbling on it, it usually ends up becoming part of the stock. As for the feet, that depends. I've been known to nibble on them together with the neck, other times they end up in the stock. Unfortunately, I only run into then two at a time. If I had a quantity of them, I'd braise them with fermented black beans and chiles, dim sum style. As for the head, that's one part that I end up throwing out because I have no use for it. Do any of you get head-on ducks? If so, what do you do with the heads?

Just got done making a pot of soup and something I haven't seen anybody mention is the use of smoked turkey. The local market almost always has smoked turkey parts next to the salt pork and bacon trimmings for a very reasonable price. My version of split pea goes something like this: 1 lb peas 1 smoked turkey leg 2 carrots 2 ribs celery 1 med-lg onion a few ounces of bacon trimmings 1 dried bay leaf 7 cups of water 3 cloves garlic lots of black pepper I de-skin the turkey leg and then cut the meat off the bone and into chunks. I put the meat in a pot with the bone and simmer it covered for about an hour and a half, resulting in a very flavorful broth. While the turkey simmers, I dice the veggies and sweat them in a pan with the chopped bacon ends and butter. I add the bay leaf and minced garlic, cook just a little bit longer, and then turn it off to let it cool while the broth finishes. Once the broth is ready, I strain out the meat and then add the cooked vegetables to the broth together with the split peas and a heavy grinding of black pepper. Salt lightly after tasting, as the turkey leg will impart some amount of salt (I've noticed that the saltiness varies with each leg). Whiile the soup comes up to a simmer, I shred the turkey meat, removing the tendons, and set it aside. I take the back of the knife and crack the bone, extract the marrow, and add it to the simmering soup. Once the soup has come to a strong boil, I take the pot (uncovered) and put it within a 24qt stockpot in which I have boiling water and a rack inside, effectively creating a big double boiler. I put the lid onto the big stockpot and let it go for about 90-120 minutes. I do this to eliminate any chance of burning, which has happened when I forget to stir the soup towards the end. By the way, I also use this technique when making jook (congee). Once the soup is done "steaming", I take it out and really go at it with a heavy whisk for quite some time. This breaks down the peas and vegetables and creates a texture that I find just right. Not completely pureed and void of any character, but not chunky either. I then add the shredded meat back in and let it rest for a while, as I think a rest improves both the flavor and consistency as mentioned previously by others in this thread. edited for clarity and grammar

Not really related to sourcing, but you may find this interesting... UNLV Special Menus Collection