Mjx

The answer partly depends on whether you're more a of gadget freak or a utility/order freak. Alterantively, consider how you do most other things: do you lean more towards casual and relaxed, or deliberate and precise? If you're a gadget freak, you'll never regret having something that turns hotdogs into cephalopods, even if you only get to bust out that gadget once every quarter century. This isn't me, so I won't venture to give advice, other than 'as long as it doesn't kill your budget, enjoy yoursellf, and get things that look interesting; you'll find a way to make decent food'. If you're a utility/order freak, go slow. Editing is everything, since every time you open a drawer and see a lingering, useless space hog that cost you good money, it will bug you. I was lucky to be ble to find out that this is me before I left from home, and was able to plan accordingly. I relied quite a bit on Cook's Illustrated (yes, they can be aggravating, but also, useful) for their suggestions and reviews. Initially, my kitchen looked like it had been briefly occupied overnight by a balleerina and a soldier of fortune, both of whom hurriedly decamped, abandoning the stuff they'd used to make dinner the evening before: there was a hot-plate, an 'brunch set' (consisting of a periwinkle-blue, asymmetrical plate and matching cappucino cup), a remarkably cute tablespoon, a bunch of chopsticks hoarded from takeaway, and a boot knife that had been retired from 'active' duty (i.e. making regularly wonder whether carrying a knife didn't just mean I was upping my chances of being stabbed with my own shiv) to serve as a kitchen implement. Slowly, I added a fork (so my visiting sister could eat, too), a very basic set of dishes, a few pots and pans, a cutting board that tolerated boiling water, a bread knife, a chef's knife, and a paring knife. Getting a boyfriend who did not find living like a pirate 'cosy' meant the addition of more flatware and a whisk for egg dishes. If you have a microwave, keep it. Turns out those things are way more useful for a lot more things than popularly believed. Hold off on expensive, elaborate gadgets until you're quite certain you'll use them regularly (e.g. my boyfriend is dying to get a sous vide cooker, but I'm reluctant, since neither of us is particularly enthusiastic about the results you get when cooking sous vide; the vacuum sealer he got me tends to gather a lot of dust, since it's mostly used to reseal the containers he got to store coffee, so we'd have a use for the vacuum sealer). A reliable oven (and cooktop, or any other equipment, for that matter) tends to be more important/useful than a specialized one. ETA: Not a gadget, but indespensible, if you want any sort of predictability regarding outcome: a reliable cookbook. Also, looking through your cookbook can give you an idea of which gadgets to start with, based on the recipes that really grab you.

You can't morph fruit pulp into a blend of cream and chocolate, and even adding fruit pulp to ganache seems likely to cause the ganache to break (based on my own experience, and pretty much everything I've read). A layered ganache and pate de fruit using pluots could be pretty good, or (going by the amazing chocolate-covered prunes I've had), you could pit and dry them, then dip them in chocolate. Dark/plain chocolate definitely seems like the way to go: of all the fruit+chocolate combinations I've tried, the fruit flavour came through much more cleanly in those made with dark chocolate.

There are regional variations in the meaning of 'praline', so, to make sure you receive suggestions about what you're actually interested in (there are quite a few members who are very experienced and talented when it comes to work with chocolate), would you clarify (e.g. post a link to an image)? ETA Also, do a site search for 'pralines' and 'chocolate'; you'll find several discussions to get you started.

Making the moussaka yourself would guarantee that it is fresh and of the quality you want, but your question in the OP, 'any recommendations of the best supplier in London?', suggested that you were looking for it ready-made. . . don't you think, Léo? If you make that recipe, do report on the results. I find the amount of ground hot chili recommended quite interesting.

Is it one of these (the MB site describes the shape as 'flared', you may have better luck finding images using that, rather than 'slanted')? http://www.matferbourgeatusa.com/matfer-flared-saute-pan-without-lid-tradition-plus-2; http://www.matferbourgeatusa.com/bourgeat-copper-flared-saute-pan-without-lid-4

Maybe habit, or there may be the possiblity of overloading the motor in a mixer. ETA, I've only made it by hand, so, yes.

I'm fairly certain that you get also some interaction between plastics and lipids because both are composed of organic compunds.

Berries in batter can be a huge nuisance, since it can be tricky to control where they end up, and tend to want to sink as far down as possible – the eventual top of your cake – no matter what you do, and this recipe may be fundamentally flawed/untested (the lack of any salt is a red flag, to me); you could try making this again, and just spooning the raspberry gloop over the top of the batter, and letting it sink where it will; it should be less far down than this.

In some cases (e.g. Osteria Francescana, which in the middle of Modena), you can just [window]shop/stroll for several hours. This is what we did in that case. Where that isn't an option, you could still stroll about, or find someplace to sit and read book, muck about with an iPad.

Is that much cheese that is the quality of Fontina sold in supermarkets (not a rhetorical question; I actually dislike cheese, so have never paid any attention to it)? I've seen some fairly high-end goods in some supermarkets, but generally they've been somehow showcased, to increase their visibility. It just seems that there's got to be a better way than to violate trademarks and DOC names for the sake of expedience.

I find it troubling that there persists the idea that a US-made product with certain similarities to one from another country (e.g. a cheese similar to Fontina) might not be as good. Also troubling is the idea that such a product would need to actually have a name that evokes whatever it is it resembles. Instead (for example), a somewhat-Fontina-like Wisconsin cheese might be called 'Green Bay Cream', with the resemblance to Fontina being relegated to a wrapper blurb (e.g. 'Inspired by Fontina'), or retailers, who could be enouraged to offer samples, mentioning that if you like Fontina, you'll really appreciate this? Giving things their own names would expand the universe of options, since now you'd have two lovely cheese options with similar textures, neither of which would be regarded as flawed for not having the other's flavour profile, which with products like cheese is often quite sensitive to terroir (I know, French, and wine-specific, but there's no other term that fits so well). Everybody would win.

For the CI crust, if the the booze contains at least as much ABV, and there are no flavours there that you'd just as soon not have in your pie (e.g. garlic schnapps), use whatever spirit you have on hand. I've used gin, tequila, whisky, you name it.

Wasn't this a discussion of misrepresentation, in some instances verging on the illegal? No one with a functional intelligence believes that French fries, Mars Bars, or English muffins come from France, Mars, or England, respectively, nor are they likely to be charged/willing to pay an outrageous sum for these items because they believe they're 'fancy' imports. On the other hand, misrepresenting something as an authentic product of [wherever] does everybody a disservice, from the producers of the authentic item, which is often undermined by misprepresentations/imposters, to the consumers who pay a lot for something that is unjustifiably expensive, and may be disappointing, to boot. I really do not get why cultures/nations do not take more pride in the goods they produce themselves: US cheesemakers (for exmple) are certainly capable of producing cheeses every bit as good as any Fontina, Stilton, or Brie, why not take pride in this fact, and sell them for what they are, instead of misrepresenting them? I realize at least part of this occurs at retail level, but it isn't that difficult to sell US goods to Americans (or Danish goods to Danes, etc.). Those who truly appreciate quality are going to care about that, far more than place of origin, and if place of origin is the dealbreaker/maker, Wisconsin 'Fontina' isn't going to make the grade, anyway.

Any chance of sampling it before you buy? No idea how much it costs there, but since the product breaks down to grape must, wine vinegar, and a couple of thickeners, if it is not super cheap, it'd better taste decent.

That looks like a plastic bottle, which I consider a red flag, since any decent balsamic vinegar product is bottled in glass; the producers are fussy about that. From this site, http://www.ciao.it/Ponti_Glassa_Gastronomica__Opinione_795624, the ingredient list: 'Ingredienti: mosto d'uva concentrato cotto, aceto balsamico di Modena 49% (aceto di vino, mosto d'uva concentrato e cotto, colorante: caramello E150d; antiossidante: anidride solforosa), amido modificato di mais, addensante: gomma di xantano.' [ingredients: concentrated grape must, balsamic vinegar of Modena 49% (wine vinegar, concentrated and cooked grape must, caramel colour, sulfur trioxide as an antioxidant), modified maize starch, xanthan gum as a thickener]. It's thicker than balsamic vinegar because it has starch and gum added, not because it is concentrated. Save your money, get a decent but not atrociously priced bottle of commercial balsamic vinegar, and reduce it; heat won't hurt it, although cold can really muck up the consistency irretrevably.

Let it sit for a bit after you've made it, or, I don't know, pour it into something shatterproof and smack it on the counter a bit. Or, yeh, get a new blender/try an immersion blender.

If any of you get there super early, would you mind taking and posting a couple of long shots of the still-low sun slanting over the produce? That is one of the NYC sights I miss most, really lovely.

Just started aging some chili mash, with the 104.5 g of possibly-chilies-de-arbol I harvested this morning, following the procedure outlined on the Leeners site. Slight variation: I used an immersion blender, since the meat grinder I could have used would have required about an hour to scrape off the dodgy bits sticking to it, here and there. ETA Thanks to Andie, for the pointer, upthread, which led me to the instructions for the mash.

Offer them a Nipple Clamp? Granted, the ingredients involved may net you a brutal flogging.

Thanks, it actually sounds interesting, and I was looking at the dedicated Making Tonic Water and Tonic/Quinine Syrup discussion, too (while I was searching for discussions of tonic water), but for a few more months I'm still going to be using someone else's kitchen, which complicates anything more elaborate than a fairly simple meal, in terms of space or time requrements, so making my own tonic water is somthing I'll have to hold off on, for a bit. Well, that's some solid support for Q tonic, so I'm heading out to see whether it can be had in Denmark. Thanks, all, for the suggestions!

Yesterday evening I picked up a couple bottles of 1724 tonic water. My reasons were, my boyfriend has some extremely nice gin on hand (Botanist), I was in a spending mood, and frankly, the bottles are bloody cute. We made a couple of gins and tonic, exclaiming a bit over the fact that one bottle of 1724 makes only a single, very modest-sized drink ('cute' seldom goes hand in hand with 'gargantuan'), and began drinking. These were THE best G&T I've had in my life. Despite the fact that my boyfriend's pours of gin tend to be generous, and the amount of tonic meant that the gin was less diluted than usual, these were the smoothest and most complex G&T I've ever had; I've had them with Schweppes tonic water most often, occasionally some cheapo supermarket brand, and Fever Tree. I have a sense that I should [at least try to] be embarrassed to admit that I've found the difference among the the G&T made with these three different tonic waters to be barely discernible (unfortunately, I'm more or less shamelss when it comes to my booze-lack-of-awareness), so I was excited to find that yesterday's drink was remarkable, and elevated the G&T to a whole new level. The only problem is the cost. So, I'm wondering whether there are any other brands of tonic water that are this good. Suggestions?

The March/April 2012 issue of Cook's Illustrated had a recipe for 'super chunky' granola; PM me if you'renterested, and can't access it. The gist of the recipe is you bake it in an unbroken mass, then break it up when it's cooled.

Those definitely would not meet the 'durability' aspect mentioned in the OP (and they sometimes break and leak while you fill them), not to mention, they're a waste, and bad for the environment. I find the empties all over the beach here in the summer, yuck.

Is storing it in something like a tightly-closed, non-reactive plastic or silicone pastry/piping-bag sort of thing an option? Not the prettiest solution, but it would mean that none of the mustard would be exposed to air/random spores and such, apart from what you dispensed.

Regarding the browning, wouldn't lowering the pH a bit prevent that, while adding a bit of welcome tartness?