scubadoo97

So is the use of "break down" as opposed to "cut up" based on quantity? Is it only appropriate to use it if you are paid to break down the chicken? We are becoming "Chefs" of our own domain as more and more people are getting into home cooking and food in general no doubt due to the FN. Is that a bad thing? Personally I fabricate a chicken

I have never seen her show and just took a peek at her website. This isn't for the food purists but for someone who needs to restrict their calorie intake it's not a bad site which can help trim down traditional recipes and make them lower cal and possibly healthier. Just be careful of what you substitute with. Too many processed foods may take a toll on our heath in other ways than calories. I noted that the sodium count was often higher in her HG makeover dishes.

I have always used the basic waiter style with no problem but my wife just can't seem to get the strength to pull the cork out. Even with the rabbit style that you like she still finds it awkward to pull up on the handle. I personally find the rabbit design to be way to big for the job it has to do. Recently while searching out a better alternative to keep us both happy I tried the Screwpull like this one I find this a very easy and effective method that doesn't take up a whole drawer in your kitchen or bar. Just keep twisting the handle and the screw goes in and the cork comes out. Finally we have a cork screw that we can both be happy with.

I have the Bron and the Benrenier. The Benrenier is used way more often than the Bron. The good things about the Bron are it's very stable which aids in getting good slices, it's wider than the standard Benrenier and it can do waffle cuts. The julienne device was getting in my way of making clean slices so it was removed. I have also removed and sharpened the blade which helped but all in all the inexpensive Benrenier can do just about all but the waffle cuts, has a better blade and is easy to use and clean.

Same as yours

Foaming butter still has the fat solids which have not separated out. I would think that these fat solids would add to browning and crust formation and I would suspect that the water has been reduced while the butter is foaming.

You can make a simple low cost guard with a plastic PVC file binder clip like this one. Cut it to size.

There's Four Roses Small Batch lurking back there, and I just ran out of Bulleit. And some very nice Handy Rye from the Antique Collection. Excellent blog Chris. I loved reading it and the pictures of your food, home and town were appreciated.

Willet is made by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd. http://www.kentuckybourbonwhiskey.com/history.php

In the guide system the EdgePro stands above the rest. It's not cheap but you will get years of service from it. It's an investment but no so much more than a high end knife. You don't need to spend a lot of money to sharpen a knife but using a whetstone will take some practice. It's not rocket science but I would suggest you do some learning on a few cheap knives before laying your priced knife on the stone.

I've heard from those that are very good at sharpening that they don't get much from stropping. I can get shaving sharp without stropping but after stropping I can push cut 10 inches from where I'm holding a sheet of paper and the knife passes through with just a little sound. More of a shoosh. I assume that I have a lot of imperfections that the strop takes care of.

I think an additional soak for 12 hours or so in cold water maybe going over board. It may leach the majority of the salt out

dcarch, cool plating and the oxtails look really tasty roasted.

Agreed they all look fantastic but my favorite one is the last pictured and sounds delicious

They average $5/lb where I am too. Yeah a lot of dough for mostly bones. I have to look at it as what can those bones give me. Usually a couple of meals out of a pack.

Fully automatic machines will give you a more consistent level of performance but the quality may be lower than with a semi-automatic machine where you can produce stellar coffee sometimes, but it is more dependent on the user and the stars lining up properly

Sounds delicious Rebecca.

revisiting this thread made me want to make some baklawa. This is crazy simple. ChefCrash you are a genius. My only problems were one, the phyllo dough was crumbled when unrolled but that doesn't show the second problem I've had is when cutting the top layer the phyllo is a little dry and wants to separate. I didn't waste time after putting on the top layer so it wasn't due to delay. I cooked mine at 350 for 50 min but it still got a little overly brown on top.

Bruce, I don't really measure much of anything. Rosewater is pretty strong so I'd start with a few drops and taste the syrup. I've made ChefCrash's baklawa and it does work very well and is so simple. Not exactly like my Grandmother's but pretty darn close and less work.

Not cheap here either. Averages $5/lb I most recently used them for making pho. They made a great pho stock after which I cleaned them and used the oxtail meat in another dish so I got two meals out of them.

Made stock with the back,neck and giblets the made turkey soup with the stock and neck meat. Turkey soup and matzo balls was the first meal. Lots of turkey sandwiches and salads and turkey pot pie so far.

We always add rosewater to the syrup for baklawa

And the white meat. A lot of meat for under $12

Post Thanksgiving turkey. Thanksgiving is not a holiday that I have to cook for. Maybe an app. but that's it. Smoked Turkey. The turkey was cut up into parts. The wings and breast were brined in a mix of salt, sugar, onion powder, garlic powder and Cajun spice for 16 hrs. The legs were coated in a homemade BBQ rub overnight. Into my electric smoker set at it's maximum of 275* with apple wood for smoke. 3hrs later the leg quarters were hitting 178* and the breast was at 160*. When poking the tight with the Thermapen for a reading juice squirted about 2 inches high when the probe was removed.

Henckel has rolled out their Japanese models, the Miyabi line. Softer steel still has it's place. I didn't use my old Henckels but when removing the end of a turkey leg I used a no name stainless cleaver that smashed through the bone quite well. On visual inspection of the edge there was indeed some fold over but no chips. I use my Henckels where I would not take my Japanese knives.