Twyst

Yes, it is REALLY creepy. I try not to go their because of all the controversy earlier this year, but the chicken sandwiches are just so delicious i still find myself there from time to time !

132 for 72 hours for me. I find 140 far too done for my liking unless Im making shortrib pastrami.

I had a little experience with units like that back in my college days (although not for cooking >< ) . I think something like that would work out fine for light duty smoking

Very interesting. Im in austin and despite having uchi/uchiko here im tempted to make the drive out there to try this place! Looks great!

I just go 145 for an hour to bring them up to temp, then sear when its service time.

You could put some sawdust in the bottom of a 600 hotel pan if you have one (I know you have a well stocked kitchen), put the potatoes in a perforated 200 hotel pan, then cover the thing with foil. Put it on the stove and you have a homemade stovetop smoker. This will ruin the inside of your 600 pan and you will have to use it only for smoking after. You may have to jumpstart the smoking with a torch before putting the pan over heat. EDIT : You will also need to moisten the sawdust I think to do this method. I wouldnt try to do a full soak on them or anything if its really fine dust, just put some in a bowl with a little bit of water and stir that around to moisten it up a bit.

Hmmmm. They should be very very similar as far as flavor and richness goes. Perhaps losing some of that fat in the terrine process is actually a good thing for your tastes as Im thinking it is the extra fat that is making torchon too rich for you.

How about making a torchon and then quick poaching it? Although I am a huge fan of sous vide and use it both at home and at work extensively I think going the traditional torchon route is the best way. Heres a great "how to" along with some reasons ruhlman also prefers the traditional cooking method for foie http://ruhlman.com/2...torchon-recipe/

Yes, it pretty much runs on sawdust and would be perfect for the application you are wanting it for. You can also use it to make things like rosemary smoke etc.

http://cuisinetechnology.com/the-smoking-gun.php New toy time!

IF you are ok with the veins I see no reason you couldnt do this. However, its foie gras, and I think it would be a sin not to give it all the love and attention it deserves! Its christmas, stop being lazy and devein your foie!

According to modernist cuisine at home to be completely safe you have to be able to pull a full vacuum on items you are going to sous vide for really long periods. That being said, I have been cooking things like shortribs and other tough cuts for a few years now using nothing but my edge sealer without incident as have many others.

We dont even have truth in labeling laws in texas. Its totally legal for a restaurant to sell you tilapia here and tell you its snapper etc as long as they have less than three locations

Does anyone know anything about "astrance: a cooks book" ? I preordered months ago, then somehow it went out of stock on amazon, and now I got a letter from amazon saying a pre release item I ordered will not be available by christmas. Has this book been scrapped and its not coming out? http://www.amazon.com/Astrance-Cooks-Book-Pascal-Barbot/dp/2812306629

I would probably just skip the jaccarding. I cook a lot of duck breasts at home, most of the time sous vide. Be aware that getting a great crisp skin on a duck breast after its been cooked sous vide is not a sure bet, somehting about the cooking process makes it hard to get a really crispy skin without cooking the meat past your sous vide temp. I have started going with alternate presentations and cooking the breast and the duck skin separately. I serve the breast sliced skin/fat off along with fried crispy duck skin.

Yes. Make sure you are using liquid and not powdered, the two are not interchangeable.

I asked one of the MC staff that question on another forum and the response was

I use the waring. Pricey, but Ive had it for a few years and it shows no signs of slowing down despite constant use. http://www.webstaurantstore.com/waring-wsg30-commercial-spice-grinder-120v/929WSG30.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=929WSG30&utm_campaign=PLA&gclid=CN7Nx-bh77MCFUWnPAodI0gAnQ

The turkey and sausage gumbo the weekend after thanksgiving is always the best part of the holiday! :raz:

Your menu looks fantastic, your guests are very lucky! The only tiny issue I see is I feel the ribeye and short rib may be a little redundant. I would personally remove the ribeye and do a 72 hour sous vide shortrib as the beef element of my meal. The red wine glaze from MC would be a nice accompaniment and you could serve it with your pommes puree and creamed spinach. I started planning a couple of days ago as well and see we have a few dishes in common! Ill also be doing short rib, caramelized soup from MC, Im looking at doing 7 plated courses for 7 people, so its going to be a lot of work! Heres my menu so far, always looking for suggestions, especially for first course! 1. ???? Foie maybe? 2. Caramelized Butternut Squash soup 3. Mussels, tarragon, cream, paparadelle 4. SV duck breast, duck confit, crispy duck cracklin. Grilled endive, persimmon vinagrette, candied persimmon 5. SV short rib, cippolini glaze, pommes puree, kale 6. Cheese Board 7. Desssert ????

If Im not mistaken, doesn't the MC Bacon recipe call for bone in belly like that?

Blood Bones and Butter!

Only cooking for 5 this year so kind of going to have an easy go of it this year. first course: Seared Foie, cornbread muffin, cranberry compote Second : Caramelized butternut Squash soup (courtesy MCaH) Third : Sous vide turkey breast, turkey leg confit, pommes puree, braised kale, honey glazed carrots Fourth : Cheese Fifth : Pecan Pie, bourbon Ice cream. The gravy is already pretty much done and in the freezer (from MCah as well), the confit and turkey breast can be made the day ahead, and the soup can be made tommorow and frozen. Turkey day is going to go really easily for me this year hopefully.

"does anybody have a recommendation on what to replace my chicken fat with" Maybe you can find a tub of duck fat at the grocery store. Thats what I plan on using for thanksgiving. If thats not an option, butter doesnt sound like a bad alternative to me.

Perhaps, but the potato is going to have to be roasted (not boiled) in order to make gnocci. The process will have to be tweaked I'm sure, but I want to be able to have non waterlogged, non colored potato at the end of the process. Discoloration due to exposure to air or over roasting are not variables I want to mess with at the outset of seeing if I can get this to work for me. If it works and makes gnocci production significantly more consistent and foolproof Ill start to worry about ways to streamline the process. Right now I really think the Rational oven will be the easiest way though.