Mjx

Definately sweet. One minor criticism of the French, in my opinion, is that they are heavy-handed with the sugar. A few bites is enough. The mousse, like all the mousse and custards at Jean Philippe, is incredibly silken but with a firm body. I'm always in amazement at how they can infuse such intense flavor into what appears on first glance to be vanilla pudding. Delicious. Thanks, Dave, I really do enjoy knowing what the inside of this sort of thing is like

It sounds delicious Damiano has done food shows around the US (http://www.damianorganic.it/it/fiere.jsp), so they seem to be working on their presence there, and it might be worth e-mailing their marketing person, to ask if and where this is availalble somewhere reasonably near you (http://www.damianorganic.it/it/contatti.htm).

Yesterday evening I was served a stir-fry of match-stick root vegetables (beetroot, parsnip, carrot) and venison, and although I'm not a huge fan of beetroot, this was excellent.

Is there a larger Shoprite or other supermarket not too far from you? I've seen Jerusalem artichokes at the Shoprite where my sister shops, so it isn't as though Shoprite simply does not carry them; I've also seen them at Whole Foods and various farmer's markets. I'm also not getting the 'out-of-season thing'; these are tubers, they keep for months under the right conditions (cool, dry, dark) and everyone I know who grows them generally has enough to see them through February.

What brand did you get in Italy? It might not be impossible to find in NYC, although it might take a bit of research/legwork (i.e. you may need to contact the company to ask if and to whom they distribute in the metro area). The only US-made ones I've seen are like those you describe, and are made from whole almonds.

I've found the teas from Harney & Son quite good, and their site does list the pearl jasmine, although I don't see the Yong Xi Huo Qing (does it go by any other name/spelling?).

Oh, yes there is (need for further description)! Was this a sweet, inthe stricter sense of the word, or was it almost savoury? Consistency of the carrot-pumpkin mousse?

Guys: A working link to this was posted a few comments back (that's post #7; I've downloaded this myself, and thank you MrsB), check it out!

I blot out as much grease as possible, and sprinkle talc on the spot(s). I pat it in, add more, pat that in, smack the layer off from the un-talced side, do this again, then a third time before laundering. This tends to remove a lot of the grease, and is less likely to leave a discoloured spot than spot-treating with detergent. Mostly, though, i try to wear clothing that doesn't show grease stains, even when I don't get on them immediately.

I can't read a word of Chinese, but the image search shows a number of halved specimens, and the inside certainly looks like squash. For the rest, demons are clearly toying with you, to see how much they can get away with.

I'm pretty sure you'd lose the concentrating effect you get from baking. I guess if you wanted it to keep it's...erm...how to put it...custardy..? texture, it would work.

It looked to me like the small pumpkins that are quite popular around Halloween, and when I copy-pasted the Chinese characters for an image search, all the images support this. That it hasn't deteriorated during the several months indoors also suggests this is a winter squash, since several (most? all?) keep better in warm temperatures.

Do yourself a favour, and rather than use a gluten-free bread for stuffing, go with another kind altogether (and maybe also make a pan of ordinary bread stuffing on the side). I have a generalized complex carb. intolerance, and now have several years of extensive experimenting and experience under my belt, so I can tell you that I've yet to find a gluten-free bread that does not turn to repulsive mush in things like stuffing, various traditional Tuscan soups, or French toast (the gluten is what gives the right sort of bread for these things the structure to hold together a bit, even when very moist). I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but so far, my search has been fruitless.

Does that batch have any vinegar in it (and what is container made of)? I've noticed a distinct bubblegum note in one brand of pickled herring, and have wondered whether it was due to some interaction between the vinegar and the flavour compounds in the spices used (or possibly between the vinegar and the plastic of the jar this is packed in).

I made some stuffed porcini with a sausage and chestnut-based filling. I can't remember exactly what I did (there was sage, and no bread), it was one of those 'clear the fridge' sorts of things, but the proportions of sausage and chestnut don't matter that much; these are the sorts of ingredients that you cannot really mess up.

Did you already have plans for what you were going to do with the sous vide cooker when you got it, or did that come after?

Okay, makes sense, and I can see your point (Although I loathe cooked eggs, I love cooking them, and the first dish I ever cooked was scrambled eggs, again and again and again, for about a fortnight, until I had a pretty good idea of exaclty what I could do with this preparation; my parents were stunningly patient about eating the same thing almost every night during this period). You mentioned massaging the bag, upthread: when you do that, do you get the consistency you want? The mechanical element of making traditional scrambled eggs (i.e. stirring) definitely affects the end result, so I was thinking the post-cook massaging might do part of the trick. Is it? Does this have any affect on the extra liquid in the bag?

Actually, before recommending any specific unit to anyone, I'd want to raise one other point: that is, realistically, how much would you expect to use the system? The prices will come down as room for competion increases, but the numbers of people who buy them will be affected by both good and bad recommendations, since a lot of people will be wary of investing in something that most of their friends end up selling on e-bay (a bit like all the fondue sets from the 80s that ended up in second-hand shops), which is going to happen to some extent, and will also drive down prices. Case in point, I've held off on getting this equipment, since at this time I can't see that I'd use it much, except out of a sense of obligation (which could happen, since my boyfriend is wildly enthusiastic about the idea, without being able to specify the reason): In terms of meat texture, I'm satisfied with the techniques I have at my disposal, I loathe eggs, and my boyfriend seldom bothers with them, and things like custard are not at the top of my list, since my boyfriend hates those, and anything of that sort would be something I'd have to eat in its entirety, leading to needless waist/waste (sorry). I work from home, so keeping an eye on a braise provides me with much needed breaks. If I were to get a setup for cooking sous-vide now, at best I'd be mutedly enthusiastic, not exactly fantastic publicity for it; if I wait until I can think of solid reasons I'd want to use it on a regular basis, I'd probably succesfully convince everyone I know that it's at least worth considering.

Foams are spermy-er than uncooked eggs. Or spittle. Not that I have a standard for comparison. It depends on the foam: some are firm[er] and dense, sort of like meringue, and those are actually kind of fun, if the kitchen hasn't gone berserk and squirted dollops of foam over every single dish (then it stops being 'Ooo, interesting' and becomes 'God, AGAIN?!'). I can't imagine any competitive cooking programme today not featuring foam, it seems to have become something more or less expected.

I don't know whether or not this is still true today, but at one point there was a sugar floor, below which sugar prices would never drop; if this is stil the case, this floor may have just undergone one of its periodic rises. (Disclaimer: I know very little about this sort of thing, BUT the 'sugar floor' thing is one of perhaps three things that stuck in my mind from the compulsory business course I took as an undergrad.; it seemed so implausible, I actually researched it at the time.)

Agreed, when it comes to low temperature cooking in general, but since 'sous vide' does mean 'under vacuum', points 1 and 3 aren't actually correct. Once enough people realize how versatile a temp-controlled water bath is, I think that they could easily be sold at the same range of pricepoints that you find for microwave ovens.

The dish may not have tasted perfect, but it looks gorgeous! I wonder whether a drizzle of something along the lines of balsamic vinegar would have been more satisfying than the vinaigrette. I made gnocchi last night, too! I've never had a problem with glueyness, but I think that is at least partly because I almost never make traditional ones (owing to problems with wheat and potatoes). Even if I do use potatoes, I still use rice flour (and/or chestnut flour) instead of wheat flour, and regardless of whether I use potato or winter squash, I put it through a food mill, which makes for a coarser-looking puree than putting it through a sieve (as the recipe you linked to instructs), but this breaks down fewer cells, so less starch leaks out (again, reducing the gluey texture), and the puree breaks down to complete smoothness when you work the flour into the dough.

Thanks for that tip, which I used when I made the hokkaido gnocchi last night. The result was fantastic, and they held together beautifully.

Boiling seems to be helpful: http://www.farminmypocket.co.uk/growing/wild-food/sweet-chestnuts (That entire site is well worth checking out, it has a lot of interesting and useful content).

Has anyone kept notes on the effects of varying the amounts of egg (whole/whites) used? I'm planning on making some hokkaido squash gnocchi, but since I have a rough time with wheat flour, was planning on using rice/chestnut flour instead, and I have a hunch that I'll need to compensate by adding more eggs, or at least more egg whites, to keep them from falling apart, but don't want to overdo it. Anyone have some experience with something like this? Thanks, M.