Really Nice!

Freezer burn is low-temperature desiccation - there's no water in duck fat to begin with. ← Without knowing the history of the package and how it was handled at the market, we can assume that this is true, but if it's not properly packaged for the freezer, the defrosting/freezing cycles will circulate enough moisture and other stuff that some will settle on the improperly packaged item and off odors will appear. The same goes for improperly packaged or covered items for the fridge.

Simple green salad mixed with EVO, red onion, and a blend of 10 year-old and 100 year-old balasamic vinegar drizzled on top; pan roasted rack of lamb with Escoffier 4175 (Pommes Anna for garnishing), and veal stock reduction; crème brûlée. Wine: Penfolds Grange

Uh, yeah, sure. I just happen to have three bottles of Latour 2000. Or do you prefer amarone?

Without getting specific there's a certain waiter at a restaurant here in Seattle who, after bringing the dish that you ordered to the table, proceeds to point at each component that makes up the dish. "We have pork loin, mash potatoes, that's some of the garlic that makes it 'garlic mashed potatoes'... butter drizzling on the side of it, we have green beans with almonds and a little sprinkling of fleur de sel, a brown sauce with a twist of black pepper, two chive tips for garnish in the potatoes and sprinkling of tomatoes on the pork loin marinated in balsamic vinegar." Drives me frickin' nuts.

And????

I made this for thanksgiving in 2000 using Chef Paul Purdhomme's recipe, which includes cooking it at 190F. It took me about 3 hours to debone the three birds and prepare the three stuffings. I think it took about 12 hours to cook, but I'm not sure if I correctly recall that. I do remember it being very greasy. I recommend removing the fat from the duck before assembling.

This alone is worth the price of admission. It's a great pinot. Thanks for the heads up!

After 15+ years of working in the office environment I resolved to tell my employer to take my job and shove it. My last day was December 17. I'm changing careers and beginning the path to turning pro by returning to culinary school (Art Institute Seattle) to finish getting my culinary degree. School begins January 10.

I add gelatin to my sauces all the time. It works very well, but it's easy to over do it, and it's very noticable when it is overdone. Make the strength on the weak side, something you'd do for making an aspic for a terrine; about 4 grams of gelatin to 1 pint of seasoned stock should be about right. Another thing I do for poultry or fowl served with the skin on is to heat about 1 oz of this extra gelatanous stock at the last minute just before plating the dishes and brush it on the skin of the poultry or fowl. It adds a little of that lip-smaking goodness to the crisp skin. Also try this with clarified butter to brush on beef, lamb, pork, etc. Brush it on the meat as you plate. And as long as you're making clarified butter, take the milk solids you skim off and combine them with a wee bit of this thickened gelatin. Spread it on a sheet pan about 1/8-inch thick and freeze it. Cut it into rectangles about 1-inch by 2-inches and push it between the skin and breast meat of chicken, turkey, duck, etc before cooking. This too adds a nice touch to the meat. The important thing is to be conservative, too much gelatin will clog up your taste buds.

Hi Janet, and welcome to eGullet. I stand corrected about the 'becoming' part. Yes, they are aerobic, anaerobic or facultative. However, most microorganisms that cause foodborne illnesses are facultative such as E. coli 0157.H7, salmonella, shigella, listeria, staphulococcus, bacillus cereus, and yersinia. All these can survive in vacuum packing.

The No Boundaries Café space in the market is available. 640 square feet for $1,500 a month.

And for what it's worth, I made a duck terrine tonight and decided to render the fat. One 5-lb duck gave about 15 ounces of rendered fat.

Thanks for asking! <I was clueless too!>

It's gone, no? ← Oops! I only went there to entertain out-of-town guests who were mildly amused at the thought of drinking beer while doing laundry. I haven't been by there since around 1997.

Would Sit 'n' Spin (2219 Fourth Ave Belltown) qualify?

How about $7/lb? http://www.secure-kew.com/grimaud/display.mv?1099018927 ← How about $5/lb? ← Market just called $3.99 lb un rendered. How hard is it to render? ← Not hard at all. Put in a double boiler and melt until is flows and skim the junk off the top. ← Check at an Asian market. I looked at the stores here in Seattle and finally found one (Uwajimaya) that sells solid duck fat for $1.69 a pound. I get about 11 ounces of liquid out of it bringing the cost to around $2.40 a pound. Just put it in a large pot over low heat and let it melt away for an hour or so. Tilt the pot and use a turkey baster to transfer it to 1 oz containers and freeze. Great with sauteed potatoes, apples, cabbage, garlic confit, mushrooms, and any other fall items requiring fat in its preparation. Two pounds might be enough to make a turkey confit.

Oh, and welcome to eGullet, John! :-)

After going through my food sanitation and safety class I checked my fridge and it was 42F. I turned it down to 36F. Milk now lasts about twice as long. Crisper drawers are supposed to keep things like lettuce and other raw vegetables crisp. However the refrigerator manufacturers put the vegetable drawers in the bottom of the fridge. I don't know why. Any restaurant found putting raw vegetables under uncooked proteins such as poultry or fowl would receive a critical violation and would be in danger of being shut down. I now use the drawers on the bottom to thaw out my proteins. Although I occasionally see lettuce in the bottom drawer while a raw chicken thawing on a plate is on the shelf right above it. Here's a sample of the King County (Seattle area) Sanitation Survey Report. See the second page, number 105 "Raw meats, aquatic foods or poultry stored below and away from foods that will be served without subsequent cooking." This is just the opposite of the typical refrigerator's design. Take a look at this form. I imagine numbers 109 through 115 are violated quite often in the average home kitchen. I'm definitely guilty of 120b; I like my eggs runny. I don't know of anyone who performs 121 through 123.

This is not a stupid question at all. In fact more people should ask questions like this. 1. how long will meat stay fresh in the fridge? How cold is your refrigerator? You need to know this before one can attempt an answer. I keep mine at 36F (temperature taken at the middle shelf). This is colder than most, but I get a longer shelf life on my perishables. 2. Will the vacuum packing help, hinder or make no difference? Makes no difference. Bacteria can grow in the absense of oxygen. They become anaerobic, which is growing in the absence of oxygen. Oxygen is just one of six thinigs bacteria needs to grow. The others are the food item itself, some acidity, time, moisture, and temperature (most prosperous temp for bacteria is between 40F and 140F). Removing one does not stop its propensity to reproduce. Monitoring and responding to all six growing conditions is the best thing to do. The best thing to do is to rinse the roast under cold running water, thoroughly pat dry, and place it, uncovered, on a rack in the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. (Raw proteins should always go on the bottom shelf.) For a light primer on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, or HACCP, see a U.S. government's Web site on the seven principles of HACCP.

You can buy solid duck fat at Uwajimaya for $1.69 a pound. You'll get about 11 ounces of liquid per pound bringing the cost to about $2.40 a pound. To render it separate the pieces and put it in a pot over low heat for about an hour or so. You can also buy these at Uwajimaya. I think the pork belly is about $2.25 a pound. I bought a bunch last year to make my own bacon via a cold smoker. This site has a diagram of a pig and its primal cuts. They also have cow and deer. Here's one for lamb. You can find more by performing a search on Google for <animal name> "primal cut".

Steak tartare: Raw finely chopped or ground beef served with onion, seasonings, and raw egg. Yum!

Well I've searched the net for them and can't find a supplier. Is this for a one-time deal? If yes, ask the folks at belgium frites if you can buy some. If it's something that's ongoing, ask who their supplier is. BTW, welcome to eGullet!

Ask the folks at Belguim Frites on Capital Hill.

Le Pichet is great. I really enjoy their charcuterie. Sometimes the service is a bit off, but their tables are always reserved and full everynight so it hasn't affected them yet. I found my current favorite wine, Domaine Forca Real Cotes du Roussillon, there about four visits ago. We have this bottle every time. It's imported by someone in California and the folks at Le Pichet say they only supply restaurants. Time to open Chez Really Nice!

Actually, by law the tag has to be held by the purveyor for a minimum time period (60 days?), and Budrichard is right in bringing up this excellent point. That's what I get for reading the original post too quickly and focusing on the steps and not the "is there anything to look for when buying clams." A tag (or bill of lading) is a record of harvesting information attached to a container of shellfish by the harvester or processor. Basically the tag means that harvester is in compliance with license requirements (or at least is proven to be at the time the license is given). The information includes date of harvest, where it was harvested, name of harvestor, etc. It's basically a road map to the suppliers should an outbreak occur and the authorities need to track down the suppliers to see who needs a lawyer. See Appendix 8 of the HACCP documentation at FDA's Web site. Specifically "Sec. 123.28 Source controls."