Really Nice!

1 cup equals 8 ounces 100 cups equals 800 ounces A single egg yolk can emulsify 800 ounces of oil? That has to be one heck of a large egg yolk. That's 6 gallons and 1 quart of oil per egg yolk. Please test using a 25 quart stock pot and report back.

A large egg yolk will absorb 7 oz of oil, so don't use more than that per yolk. Also, when starting add the oil a few drops at a time while whisking the egg yolks. As it begins to emulsify add the oil more quickly.

We have a store in Seattle called, The Spanish Table. They exclusively sell Spanish and Portugese products. They no longer carry Cabrales cheese. This is a Spanish Blue. They say the reason they no longer carry it is that by the time it gets through shipping, customs, etc. the cheese has no shelf life left regardless of the date on the package. It's quite possible that this new shop is experiencing the same thing, but they're not aware of it.

Yes, when I had a cork from a 1959 Château Gruaud Larose crumble on me (two years ago) I learned of the importance of an ah-so. I don't know how the wines were handled, and I should have put this in my original post, but the cork just didn't feel right on first pull. It immediately wanted to fish hook. With the first bottle, I thought, "Okay... my bad." So I took extra care with the second one and I noticed it behaved the same way. It didn't want to come straight out. My hypothesis (and I have read Science for Dummies) is that the cork circumference was too big for the bottle. It also squeaked loudly as it moved, if that means anything. This is why I posted the question, to see if there's anyone out there experiencing the same thing from this particular winery; and maybe with this particular vintage. Thanks!

I opened up two bottles of Domain Drouhin 2001 Pinot Noir last night. Both corks broke in the bottle as I was pulling them out with my wine key. The bottles are stored in a cellar (57°F; 70 percent humidity) on their side. I haven't had a cork break on me in I don't know how long. Has anyone else expereinced this with this particular wine/vintage?

Chez Paul; four miles south of Lahaina. Edit to add: it's not a hole in the wall. It's the best meal you'll have on the island. Cost is about $300 for two.

Anyone know where I can find Cacao Nibs from Scharffen Berger locally? Thanks!

Hello Laurie, I have been a big fan of this periodical since 2000. Admittedly, I have never tried a recipe from start to finish. (Usually there are a couple key ingredients not available to me.) However, it has been a great source for plating ideas as well as trying individual components for other dishes. I like reading the chef interviews and exposés to see what inspires them, or what they're currently doing for new trends. And when I feel a need to drool, I turn to this publication. Any chance Thomas Keller will be appearing soon?

In culinary school one student was irritating the chef so much that the chef asked him to mince a pound of flour. So the guy stood at the cutting board mincing away with his chefs knife. Chef would stop by about every five minutes and sample the texture between his finger tips and say something like, "Nope, it's still too rough. I want it silky." So the guy, who had the attitude that he could do anything better than anybody, would chop faster. I think this lasted for about 45 minutes when the chef sent the woman who was the lowest in the classroom pecking order over to him to tell him he could stop. The guy proudly brought the cutting board over to the chef who examined the flour between his finger tips and then took the cutting board to the garbage can and dumped the flour. He handed the cutting board back and said, "Now stop wasting your time and finish your assignment." I've never seen a face turn so red so fast from embarassment. The guy was quiet for about two weeks and then slowly returned to his arogant self. Then there's the "Ask the chef for a left-handed strainer," during the middle of a rush. Or, "I need a bucket of steam, NOW!"

Why thaw them? Why not just cook them in their frozen state?

There's only one magazine I've experienced that has been consistently consistent in delivering quality recipes, and that's Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks in magazine format. I was married to an Australian one afternoon and each year when we went "home" to visit her family I'd pick up every new periodical the newshops had. Each recipe worked. The problem with most periodicals is, as Carolyn mentions, they are under a lot of pressure... ...to get out a monthly rag. But there are a number of other issues that keep a recipe from turning out as well as the original or source. 1. Quality of ingredients. Restaurants get far better ingredients than consumers. 2. Quality of equipment. I can't get the same results from my electric stove as chefs can from there 50,000 (or whatever) BTU stove. 3. Chefs for the most part do not use recipes (except for baking, charcuterie, and a few others). They have a MEP list and a list of mental steps in their head. They might start out with a recipe to experiment, but when they start tweaking it, it's all logged inside the brain. When a mag asks for a recipe they have to sit down and actually think about what goes into the dish. Creating a dish in a restaurant is more of a reactionary thing than it is an "ok, heat skillet, add butter and shallots... One chef I know was jotting down notes for a dish to appear in a local mag and he was frustrated because he couldn't recall all the steps. He just reached here and there because he knew what he needed was here or there. He actually had to make the dish to finish documenting it. 4. Testing usually doesn't compare the 'lab' result with the restaurant result. Testing just wants to know if it tastes good, not if it matches to the original creation. Hmm, I guess these are also the reasons why a cookbook recipe won't turn out as well as the restaurant.

I had some text in my post that I removed, darn it! Make sure that anything you confit in fat is very clean from those little microbe critters. Otherwise, they reproduce quickly and dangerously. A few years back we made some oils with garlic and inside of three weeks one of the corks popped on one of the bottles because there was so much microbiological activity going on.

Preserving in fat is actually a confit; not curing, which is preserving in salt, smoke, salt-based brine, or an acid-based brine (pickling). I don't see why this wouldn't work. Take some morels and place them in a canning jar. Fill with EVO and cover it. It should last in the refrigerator for about six months. I imagine the EVO would be quite tasty as well. You can also try curing them in salt, which should also make the salt tasty.

Here's a recipe I got from an Italian cookbook when I was in Italy (1997) that includes chicken livers. The book was written in Italian so I had to buy some translation software to translate it, which was an adventure all by itself as you will see. Here's the original recipe. Spaghetti con ragù alla bolognese 400 gm di spaghetti sale 1 piccola cipolla 1 pezzo di carota 1 pezzo di gambo di sedano 100 gm di carne di manzo 100 gm di pancetta 2 fegatini di pollo 2 pomodori maturi 50 gm di burro 1/2 tazza di vino bianco pepe noce moscata 1 tazza di brodo di carne Il ragù alla bolognese vanta una fama e una diffusione internazionali e non ha certo bisogno di grandi presentazioni: è sicuramente uno dei classici condimenti per la pasta in genere e per gli spaghetti in particolare. Per essere all'altezza della sua fama richiede un certo impegno, ma non occorre comunque essere maestri di cucina per ottenere un soddisfacente risultato. Pulite la cipolla e tritatela; fate lo stesso con la carota lavata e asciugata e con il pezzo di gambo di sedano. Poi tagliate la pancetta in fetine sottili, lavate e tritate i fegatini, tritate anche la carne di manzo. Sbollentate i pomodori per qualche istante in modo da poter facilmente pelarli, privateli dei semi e passateli al setaccio. Mettete il burro in una casseruola, rosolatevi lentamente gli ortaggi tritati, la pancetta, i fegatini e la carne di manzo, rimestate bene e spruzzate con il vino bianco. Aggiungete quindi il pomodoro passato al setaccio, condite con sale, pepe e noce moscata, unite anche il brodo di carne e lasciate cuocere a fuoco moderato per circa 1 ora, rimestando di tanto in tanto. La cottura della pasta sarà la solita: mettete sul fuoco una pentola con abbondante acqua, portatela bollore, salatela e versatevi in una zuppiera e conditeli con il ragù. Se vi sembra il caso, prima di portare in tavola aggiungete una spolverata finale di parmigiano grattugiato. Tenete conto che una versione semplificata della ricetta non prevede l'utilizzo dei fegatini di pollo e, se vi sembra il caso, orientatevi di conseguenza. Here's the translated recipe: SPAGHETTI WITH RAGÙ BOLOGNESE 400 gm (1 lb) spaghetti salt 1 small onion 1 carrot 1 celery rib 100 gm (1/4 lb) meat 100 gm (1/4 lb) bacon 2 chicken livers 2 ripe tomatoes 50 gm (3 tbsp) butter 1/2 cup white wine pepper nutmeg 1 cup beef broth The ragù to the Bolognese boasts of a fame and an international diffusion and it doesn't need a big presentation: it is surely one of the classical seasonings for pasta and for spaghetti particularly. Clean the onion and mince; do the same with carrot and celery. Cut the bacon in thin pieces, wash and mince the liver; mince the meat. Boil the tomatoes for a moment so you can skin them easily, remove the seeds and pass through a sieve. Butter a casserole dish, slowly brown the minced vegetables, bacon, liver and meat. Stir well and sprinkle with white wine. Add the tomato, season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and beef broth. Cook under a moderate fire for around 1 minute, stirring every now and again. The cooking of pasta will be the usual one: put a pot with abundant water on the fire, bring to a boil, add salt and boil pasta til al dente. Before bringing it to the table add a final dusting of grated parmigiano. ** Of course, translation software doesn't always translate well. Here are some phrases I needed to reword from the translation above. Preparing the onion, carrot and celery: You clean the onion and you mince her; fairies the same with the washed carrot and dried and with the piece of stem of celery. Boiling and straining the tomatoes: Boil the tomatoes for some instant in a way to be able to shave them easily, deprive you them of the seeds and pass them to you to the sieve. Cooking the pasta: The cooking of pasta will be the usual one: you put on the fire a pot with abundant water, bring her to excitement, salt her and pour in a tureen and season them with the ragù. If this is the usual way to cook pasta in Italy I know where I want to live!

With my schedule as of late, 1 A.M. Monday morning should be about right.

My list of things not already mentioned, good list btw: • The Food of France - Waverly Root • The Food of Italy - Waverly Root • A Psychology of Food, More Than a Matter of Taste - Bernard Lyman • Culinaria <insert country>- of any country or region if you want to learn more about that region. There's Caribbean, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, and European Specialties • L'Atelier of Alain Ducasse - Jean-Francoise Revel Very good if you want to get inside Alain's head. • L'Atelier of Joel Robuchon - Patricia Wells Very good if you want to get inside Joel's head. • Elements of Taste - Gary Kunz You'll find that flavor/taste is more than sweet, sour, salty, bitter. It's about flavors that push, pull, punctuate, or act as a platform for others. • Anatomy of a Dish - Diane Forley The first half of the book is about plants, their families, seasonality, parts of the plant and when we eat them (bulbs, stalks, flowers, roots, seeds), compatability, etc. The second half is about how to center proteins around those plants. • Art Culinare - Ultimate in food porn. Edit to remove Le Répertoire de La Cuisine as it is already in the list.

Two books will answer this: Haute, as in Oat and The Food Lover's Companion.

I talked with Thomas in March and he (obviously) made no mention of it as something like this he would hold close to his vest. And I'm just a culinary peon so why whould he pass that information along to me?. However, we did discuss his plans for opening a hotel across the street from The French Laundry (something we first chatted about in October of 2000 when he told me of his dream for opening a hotel of the same caliber as The French Laundry). When I recently asked him about the progress he was making he said that the Napa Valley water right permit takes six years to obtain. This was initiated in early 2000. He said that the construction will begin in 2006 and the hotel will open in 2008. With this next business phase about to occur in his life I do not believe he would be selling at this time.

I'm going to wait a few weeks for the price to drop. Then I'm going to try The French Laundry's Salmon Cornet with Red Onion and Crème Fraîche just to see how it is in its 'tartare' state. Then I think I'll sear a couple of fillets and plate it on a bed of braised morel mushrooms and bacon cracklin's drizzled with white truffle oil and a side of horseradish béarnaise. Top it all with fleur de sel and crushed tellicherry pepper. For the wine it'll be a toss up between going towards a contrast with Pinot Noir (probably Domain Drouhin or Beaux Freres) or going for a complement with a bottle of 1995 Masi Amaroni.

And the Supreme Court ruled today that states can't maintain their out-of-state wine shipping laws. What's happening to this world?

Ruling was announced this morning. It's 5 to 4 in favor of states not being allowed to pass laws prohibiting the buying of wine from out-of-state wineries. And we all rejoiced, yay... yay... Ruling should be posted later on at the SCpage.

ARRRRRRGGGG! Of course it's inhumane, they're not humans, they're ducks! ARRRRRRGGGG!Putting a chicken in a cage for all of its 3 months of life is also inhumane. Keeping the lights on 23 out of 24 hours a day to increase egg production is also inhumane. They're not humans, they're my dinner!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (calm down... step away from the keyboard...)

I got a Class 12 beverage servers' permit in June 2000. It wasn't legal. I renewed it in March 2005 it was legal. I got tripped up on that question in 2005.

Folks, let's avoid speculation at the expense of other people's health and come to realize that if somethings' got to be cooked, somethings' got to be refrigerated. And it needs to be done so in a proper manner. Taking a refrigerated item out of refrigeration is extremely dangerous. There's a thing called the Temperature Danger Zone (TDZ) that exists between 40°F and 140°F. If a food is cooked, chances are it's going to go above 140°F. When it cools down, chances are it's going to cool down through that same TDZ. Any food cooked above 140°F must cool down to 70°F within two hours and down to 40°F within four hours after that. If it doesn't cool within that timeframe, it must be discarded. The same goes for foods that are warming up. Taking properly handled foods out of the TDZ and into the TDZ puts the people who are going to comsume the food at great risk for which you will be liable. Failure to properly move foods through the TDZ, or as the case is here, moving foods into the the TDZ can lead to time-temperature abused scenarios that lead to some illnesses that I (and probably you) would rather not have. For example: Salmonella: Illness comes from poultry, meat, fish, shellfish, and dairy products either not cooked to the proper temperature for the proper amount of time or the product spends too much time in the TDZ. Symptoms include: abdominal cramps, headaches, nausea, fevre, diarrhea, vomiting, and severe dehydration. Staphylococcal Poisoning: Illness comes from ham, poultry, eggs, and dairy products either not reheated to the proper temperature for the proper amount of time or the product spends too much time in the TDZ. Symptoms include: abdominal cramps, headaches, nausea, muscle cramping, retching, diarrhea, changes in blood pressure and pulse rate. Clostridium perfringens: Illness comes from meat, poultry, stews, gravies, and beans that have not properly been cooled or the product spends too much time in the TDZ. Symptoms include: abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, dehydration, fever, and headache. Bacillus Cereus Gastroenteritis: Illness comes from rice, potatoes, dairy, vegetables, and fish that have not properly been cooled. Symptoms include: nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. The list goes on and on... Botulism, Vibro spp. (noncholerae) Gastroenteritis/Septicemia, Yersiniosis... Notice the text in italics... or the product spends too much time in the TDZ!!! When you drop the item off at the door step, the product is in the TDZ. How long are you willing to let it sit there before someone consumes it? Three days??? You may very well do a great job in moving the foods through the TDZ within the required timeframe. However, when you return the food to people who do not have refrigeration, you are exposing them to the illnesses I describe above. If you want validation, search for HACCP on the Internet. You can't get a food handler's permit without knowing HAACP! I'm not going to give you details about it as this is a project worth searching and finding the answers yourself especially if you plan on handling food that is going to go into someone elses body. This means you are a food handler and you must have a food handler's permit!!!!!!!!!!!! BTW, in this scenario, the best thing to do is to go to an Army Surplus store and buy some freeze-dried or ready to eat meals for them.

As a gift I got a nifty little wood box that measures 3.5 × .75 × 1; about the same dimensions as a BIC lighter. You twist it 90 degrees and the salt of your choice comes out. It fits perfectly in your pocket, purse, whatever. I got it as a gift from a friend. The inscription on the box says: Natural sea salt from the coast of Brittany, France. Order online at napastyle.com or call 1-866-766-6272. I searched napastyle.com and couldn't find the 'model' I have.