Todd in Chicago

Saw Chris today in Chicago giving a lecture on Modernist Cuisine. He was a very good and engaging speaker and told his story about how he got started - by having a meal at Fat Duck, his tenure there and meeting Nathan, and coming back to the states and helping to create "The Book". Chris, thanks for the great presentation! Cheers.... Todd in Chicago

Going to see Chris Young tomorrow in Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary Art speaking at a food lecture; was thinking about bringing VOL 1 with me and seeing if I could snag an autograph. Sounds like fun! Todd in Chicago

Kerry... I have one of the lower end models of Zojirushi, it works great! I think I paid about $120 US or so. I'm not sure how much better the rice can get. What I have heard is that over the ocean in Japan, these are cult like items and I'm assuming those "in the know" can eschew the virtues of such a machine. Cheers... Todd in Chicago

gdenby, Keith_W..... Sorry for the delay in the followup. So, I'm brand spankin' new to the egg. Fretted, stressed, woke up in cold sweats about the "dollar bill" measurement between top and bottom. During my final re-assemply, everything went well. Whew! So, I smoked the brisket to the best of my ability for about 3 hours. I did this by having a bowl of water with wood chips out by the egg. About every 15-20 minutes I would put a small handfull into the egg. The temp was very close to 200 throughout the process. I then cooled down the brisket in the fridge before bagging and SV'ing it for the requisite 72 hours. End result? Not that impressed. I do understand that I was unable to smoke wiht the egg at the temp/time as MC dictates but thought I would try it anyway. However I was quite pleased with the fact that I was able to maintain pretty close to 200 throughout the process on the Egg. Also, I did NOT make the Kansas city sauce as per the book, and instead (embarrassed to admit) used some KC Masterpiece I had in the fridge. The brisket of course was fork tender, but just didn't seem to taste that great. 3 days later I made the Kansas City BBQ sauce "by the book", has anyone else made this? Seems too thick/not saucy enough. Also, this was much hotter/spicier than I thought it would be. Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Maybe I reduced it too much. However, I sliced some brisket from the fridge, threw it in a bag with a few dollops of the MC KC sauce and dropped in at 130 for about 15 mins to warm it up. Definitely tasted much better with the MC KC sauce, but not the transcendant experience I was hoping for. Maybe it was the quality of the brisket or my inability to use the Egg correctly in conjunction with Nathan's recipe. Since brisket is not too expensive, I'll keep trying to perfect this! Cheers... Todd in Chicago

I'm tryin' the Beef Brisket recipe and tonight is the "Pull Out" night. ;-) the difference for me was being able to smoke the brisket as long and at the temp in the original recipe; so I'm curious how it will come out. I smoked the brisket "roughly" 3 hours in my Big Green Egg and this evening will be 72 hours in the SVS. I don't believe the Egg can get down to that temp, but we'll see what happens. Can't wait to try it! I think I'll whip up a batch of the AWESOME Mac 'n Cheese as a side. Brisket sandwich with modernist mac 'n cheese on the side. Life is good...... ;-) Todd in Chicago

I have made the carrot soup a few times according to the original recipe and it has come out FANTASTIC every time. No one believes me that there isn't some sort of cream "snuck" in there. Honestly, I thought for the volume there was really not that much butter. Todd in Chicago

Jeff... Sorry for the delay, thank you for your posting. We made some decisions and have our 3 reservations set: Nobu Wing Lei Roubouchon I'm sure these will be great and we'll have a blast no matter where we go! Cheers... Todd in Chicago

Folks... I'll be heading to Vegas in September. Looking for dinner recommendations for 3 evenings; one of which must be at the Wynn complex. I'm looking for recent recommendations, so the Nobu one above sounds tempting. Anything anyone else can recommend? Thanks! Todd in Chicago

Carlton.... I was in the same decision making type of process - the 112 or 210 - the money wasn't really the object. For me, the 210 gave some better options, BUT....the 210 is not really a machine you will be moving around much...by yourself. For me, that was the decision factor. My wife is NOT going to let me keep the sealer out in the kitchen, so I figured I would be schlepping it from wherever I ended up storing it to the kitchen for use. Not something I would really look forward to with the 210. Honestly, if I had a counter spot where it would permanently sit, I would have gotten that model. For me, the ability to move it around (and really not giving up too much functionaliy) the 112 was perfect. Cheers.... Todd in Chicago

My wife and I received a 4 piece set of the Shun steak knives as a wedding gift - one of the most USEFUL gifts ever! Love them and they have been used more than any other gift (except maybe our wine decanter.... ;-). Here is a link to Amazon for them: http://www.amazon.com/Shun-Elite-4-Piece-Steak-Knife/dp/B000NW9RTK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1311212797&sr=8-3 Cheers... Todd in Chicago

Thanks QRN.... Somewhere on the Internet I found a posting by "Amy" who sounds like she either works or is associated with a restaurant in Telluride where 1/2 the menu was now being being cooked Sous Vide; which I found intriguing. I was trying to figure out where that might be. I guess we may try the usual suspects - Allreds in Mountain Village, Cosmopolitan (we had our rehearsal dinner there!), Rustico, New Sheridan Chophouse, maybe La Marmotte or Hongas. Cheers... Todd in Chicago

Nice job Kevin! I'll have to give it a try sometime! I've never had grilled catfish, but had a dish "Shanghai Catfish" which is a whole catfish fried and served in red vinegarette that was just amazing (was a signature dish at "Red Light" in Chicago). Very awesome indeed. To me the texture of the fish was if it had been steamed. Cheers... Todd in Chicago

Kevin..... Sorry I don't have any info for you, but am very interested in seeing how the catfish comes out! I would love to try something like that on a big green egg. Can't wait to hear the outcome and see the pix! Good luck! Todd in Chicago

Of course since I live in Chicago, I'm partial to "The Spice House". I get all the ingredients I can from them, I think the quality is very good, but unfortunately really have nothing to compare to. I do love the Penzey's catalog though. I used to live in the same condo building as Tom and Patty once did (not sure if they are still there). However, the one bad thing is that it is REALLY hard to walk into a great place like the Spice House and ONLY walk out with what you came for! ;-) Staff is really great over the too! Todd in Chicago

Recommendations for great places to eat in Telluride, CO? Cheers! Todd in Chicago

I've made the carmelized carrot soup twice to fantastic results. I keep the heat on med-high until I see the second ring on my pressure cooker (high pressure), I then turn down my burner to as low as it will go and typically the pressure does not drop. Todd in Chicago

I made the carrot soup again for my wifes parents last night - it was as smashing success! That ones a keeper for sure! Todd in Chicago

Chris... Let us know how they turn out. Based on the pic I'm seeing, they look very nice and marbled. Cheers... Todd in Chicago

Hi Chris.... I agree that they did not truly answer my question as we might have all wanted. My guess is that like any company, they are give very conservative numbers. My other "hunch" is that this is simply from a heat perspective and how well the bags hold up vs. any kind of chemicals leaching out. I'm sure they would rather us buy the more expensive "boil in bag". I'm not at all indicating any deception on the manufacturer, but rather a company that is providing conservative information for the benefit of their customers (and stockholders!). Cheers... Todd in Chicago

I agree I don't really want to mark my copy of MC - it seems like sacrilege to take a pen or pencil to such a beautiful work. I agree that a few typos are not a great concern but anything material like a quantity, ratio or temperature is very important. For me having an accurate Kitchen Manual would probably suffice - preferably a new one with an index as well. Maybe the MC crew could offer a trade in on our original, but incorrect kitchen manuals. If not a trade in - perhaps the ability to purchase the V2 version after providing proof of purchase of the first printing. Cheers, Peter. That's not a bad idea - being able to return a copy and purchase the corrected kitchen manual at some sort of discount. Although that seems like a bit of a logistical nightmare so I'm not sure that would ever happen. I do like the idea of possibly adding a second "field" if you will to each correction - such as "Criticality of correction" and then perhaps something like using the typical color coded markings such RED for critical, YELLOW for warning, and GREEN for simple misspellings, etc. It's absolutely great that the team has been so responsive in providing the corrected information online - another kudos to the team showing the passion for their creation. Todd in Chicago

Jose... My Kuhn Rikon Duromatic Please note that in this video link I am holding my phone (camera) in one hand, so it may look more difficult than it is - but it is really easy. Also, note at the beginning, there really is no sound coming from the pressure cooker once it is up to pressure. The sound in the video is a wonky kitchen exhaust problem. In the middle of the segment I release the valve in "partial", and then to speed the process up I open it in "full". The last segment shows removing top. Sorry for the video, a Martin Scorcese I am not! Todd in Chicago

I can try to take some pictures later tonight, but I can tell you I used the normal release (not quick), and it seemed like it only took 60 - 90 seconds to be released. It was very - just pull up slightly on the top and twist. Looking back on it, it was very funny how cautious I was with twisting the handles to open the pot.....AFTER the pressure had been released....as if I didn't trust it. Super easy, super simple. Todd in Chicago

Lynn, I actually emailed ARY inc.; the makers of the VP112 and the bags in question (at leat the ones I bought) and here is their reply: ************** Todd, I received your questions regarding use of vacuum pouches during with sous vide cooking. If these pouches are a true 3mil high-barrier nylon/poly pouch, you will be fine. Please monitor the temps to make sure you don’t exceed 180F. Also, it would be best for longer hours of cooking to around 150F to 160F. The pouches you purchased, are they Hantover’s numbers 30722(8x10) and 30725(10x13)? <edit: Yes they were> For cooking above 180F please use one of our retherm pouches with part number 30749 thru 30753. Thanks and have a great day. ************** When buying these bags in bulk (like the 1000 qty. I did), they come out to about 8 cents a bag (including shipping). BTW...1000 bags is quite heavy! Cheers... Todd in Chicago

Avaserfi..... I thought we had the same models, but I guess I was mistaken. Yours looks differnt than mine. My top is like this (this is my model actually): http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM1014021201P?sid=IDx20101019x00001b&srccode=cii_18492716&cpncode=21-107544885-2 I could swear that when I made the carrot soup, it was virtually silent. So unfortunately since we have different models I cannot tell you if that is normal, but I would guess if Kuhn says it is....than... Todd in Chicago Todd in Chicago

I would leave the core in. To core the carrots though, cut them into 3 inch lengths or so and then into quarters lenghtwise and slice the cores off. Thanks for the tip! Todd in Chicago