mm84321

Thank you very much.

Input, anyone?

No, not restaurant service. I am just cooking dinner for myself on Thursday, and would like to know which way would be better.

For savory custards, is it preferable to cook in advance, then reheat at service, or to reserve the custard base in the fridge, then cook á la minute?

Thank you for the suggestions. I have come to the conclusion that "créme" of something does not always refer to cream, as in créme liquide. For example, I have encountered "créme d'anchois" and "créme de sardine" (anchovy paste and sardine paste, respectively). I found a very delicious artichoke spread at the market today which I will use, since I assume that is what the recipe is referring to.

I am following a recipe that calls for "creme d'artichaut". It is used to finish a risotto. I need maybe a tablespoon or two. Is there a source for this in NYC, or in the USA, for that matter. Or is it perhaps something that can be made at home? From what I've gathered, it is simply a puree of artichokes and skim milk. If anyone has any more information on this product, I would appreciate it.

Dry-aged beef, red wine-braised onions, foie gras, sauce Bordelaise

Onion soup with Comté Foie gras poached in Gevrey Chambertin Pigeon, chartreuse of vegetables and foie gras, sauce pilée

Oh, the turnips are from a local farm, and the girolles I found at Whole Foods, believe it or not.

Just up the road from me a couple is raising chickens for meat. They don't bring them to market, but I knew they had them since I was on their property a few times over the summer when they were growing tomatoes. I asked if I could slaughter and dress one, and they were happy to allow me to do so. I just watched him with one first, and followed his lead; it was a fairly quick and clean process. A nice bird, too: yellow skinned, good fat, a bit young ~8 weeks or so, fully dressed at 3 pounds (feet on). I'm told they are a French hybrid of sorts, but not sure of exact breed. It had a distinct taste, and was better than anything I've bought. However, I am not sure I would want to go through that process every time I feel like eating chicken.

Today, I killed a chicken. The bones are simmered in beef consommé for one and a half hours in a low oven. This is then strained, added to a blonde roux, and simmered with truffle juice and preserved lemon until reduced to a syrup. The sauce is finished with whipped cream and a compound butter of foie gras. Foie gras is poached for 20 minutes in Chambertin wine, chilled, sliced, and then stuffed into a pocket made between the meat and skin of each chicken breast. The chicken is cooked on the bone, sous vide for one and a half hours with more truffle juice, preserved lemon and beef consommé. Turnips are trimmed, hollowed and cooked, first in boiling water to remove bitterness, then finished in steam. They are stuffed with a mixture of girolles, swiss chard and smoked bacon. Some more girolles are cooked á la créme and served with the final dish.

It is quite simple. Take 300 grams of diced pumpkin (I used butternut) and simmer gently in 2 cups of milk for 40 minutes. Stir in 4 tablespoons of olive oil, fleur de sel to taste, and pour into a blender. Add the leaves from a bunch of basil and mix until the color starts to turn green (maybe a minute or so--don't mix for too long, or the basil will discolor from the heat). Strain. At this point you can serve immediately, or chill over ice and reheat later.

Lovely. Is that from the Art of Cooking with Vegetables? And can you describe the foam on top? Thanks! Yes! It is a great recipe. That is simply whole milk, simmered and frothed with a Bamix.

Pumpkin soup with basil, from Alain Passard

I took one of the suggestions Dcarch mentioned for a few woodcock I cooked yesterday. While they roasted in a 300F oven, I had a stainless steel plate warming on the bottom rack. Once they finished, I removed both pans from the oven, and let the birds rest on a rack that was not pre-heated (just left above the stove). After carving the birds, I put the breasts and legs on the warmed plate, skin side down, tented loosely with tin foil, and let it sit on top of a convection oven that was pre-heated to 200F (to warm the plates) while I made the sauce. It worked out very well.

Woodcock from Pennsylvania Hung for only 2 days Trussed by sticking the beak through the fat of the thighs. The gizzards, eyes and tongue are all removed. White cabbage is blanched, seasoned with fleur de sel and pepper, then cooked sous vide with truffle juice for 7 hours. It is then cut into circles, colored in clarified butter, and deglazed with the cooking juices. The woodcock is roasted whole, carved, the bones used to make the sauce, the innards removed, chopped and added to a mixture of chopped foie gras and cognac. Bread is sauteed in the cooking fat, and cut in half (melba style), then spread with this mixture and cooked quickly in the oven. The legs are deboned, and both the breasts and legs are wrapped with cabbage. The sauce is served on the side in a sauceboat.

Good ideas. Thank you.

I will have to try it.

Salmon is also nice seared, skin side down (without skin), and poached in olive oil at 140ºF for 20 minutes. Gives a very nice texture.

If letting meat sit for longer than 15 minutes after cooking, which is the best way to keep warm?

I bought this. Basically, I did what you do, and blended it with softened butter. Then, you make a stock from the sole bones, reduce to a glaze, mount with a bit of butter, chill, then mix in the coral butter. After the sole is cooked sous vide for 4 minutes, you pat it dry, spread over this mixture, and stick it under the broiler (or salamander, if you have it) and let it color and glaze.

Sole glazed in lobster coral with caviar, champagne and leeks.

Confit of fresh chestnuts, walnuts, fennel and onions

Can I substitute universal pectin in a recipe for pate de fruit that calls for one tablespoon of apple pectin? If not, where can I order apple pectin?

Grouse from Nebraska I hung it for a total of 4 days in the refrigerator. The breasts are removed, thighs reserved, and the legs, wings and carcass cut into small pieces. Half is marinated in whiskey for 6 hours. The other half is used to make a stock. After 6 hours, the legs, wings and carcass are drained from the whiskey and browned. Carrots and onions are added to this. The whiskey is then used to deglaze the pan, and all of the alcohol is burned off. The stock is then added, and this is allowed to simmer gently for 6 hours. Porcini (here I just used the stems) are cooked en papillote. They are then cut into a small dice and added to a mixture of the thighs, foie gras terrine, and lard. This is then bound together with a chicken farce, and a bit of the reduced jus made earlier. The breasts are marinated in whiskey for 30 minutes, then one is placed in a mold, with a layer of stuffing spread over, and topped with another breast. This is cooked at 54C for 1 hour 15. It is then removed and napped with the rest of the jus that has been thickened with pig's blood. It is served alongside mashed potatoes and potato chips.