Ruth

How would you be saving money? Presumably the service charge will be on the wine too. Most people who buy bottles in the hundreds of dollars do not normally tip 20% on the entire cost of the wine

I have seen chefs do exactly what you suggest. A piece of fish is seasoned and then wrapped very tightly in plastic wrap and dropped into a water bath. I have tasted striped bass and halibut cooked that way and both were excellent

Nonetheless I don't think there is anything better than the Tilia for home use. If you have the Professional II or the new Professional III you can use the vacuum override to be sure that all the air is pulled out of the bag. (Some other models may also have this feature). If the bag does float one can always keep it down with a heavy lid, but I have rarely had that problem.

A truly great site. Interesting that the Spanish appliance manufacturers are catching up with and going beyond their chefs when it comes to innovation. Thank you for bringing this site to our attention

Thank you very much. Your advice makes sense and I shall try both suggestions

I have been making biscotti for a long time and they always emerge crisp and delicious but very irregular and jagged because the dough usually cracks during the first baking. I want to make a couple of batches for gifts and would like them to look "professional". How much dare I squeeze the dough to make it smooth without ruining the final texture? I need help from a professional baker.

Try making an Americano. After giving up on every other method we make espresso every morning and add hot water to taste. My husband likes 50-50 and I prefer 60% espresso. Buy a "full city" roast which is dark but not black. Do not buy beans that are oily on the surface and, if you can find them, buy Brazilian beans.

I have been using one of these "devices" for over a year now and sing its praises to anyone ready to listen. I have a single induction top made by Garland that I keep on the counter top next to my Wolf range. It is particularly wonderful in the summer as it does not heat the kitchen. Only your saucepan and its contents become hot. Heat control is wonderful. It can maintain extremely low temperatures or it can bring a pot of water to boil with lightening speed. However, the pots you use must have enough iron in the alloy to be magnetic. I use All Clad stainless or enameled cast iron. Of course cast iron will work too. Most other stainless pans on the market -Calphalon, Cusinart, etc cannot be used with induction tops. Best thing is to carry a magnet in your pocket when shopping for pots and pans. If it sticks it's good. By the way, the best of these burners work on 220v. The cost of adding a new 220v line in the kitchen is quite high

I am with Fat Guy when it comes to grill pans, although I enjoy cooking with a good grill. However, if you must have a grill pan I think the Lodge ridged grill pan is about as good as you can get. I don't know if the Italian "bistecceria" is still around. Also made of ridged cast iron it is about 1/2 the size of the Lodge and could easily be turned over on to a large grill pan to satisfy your panini urge. Check around. Mine is 25 or more years old and have no idea whether or not they can still be found

Three weeks ago we were at a tofu restaurant called Hana No Ume and is in the Bell Commons Building on Omotesando. It is also a very old traditional restaurant and we went with some trepidation. We speak no Japanese and there was no English menu. We chose one of the multi-course menus more or less at random. We are not vegetarians but this food was truly superb. I am not sure if this is the restaurant you are looking for but I highly recommend it. This is something you cannot find outside Japan

Exactly what I do. This method has an additional advantage - do the steaming earlier in the day. Browning and crisping just before service will take only a few minutes. I always use duck fat rather than oil. It has a wonderful flavor and can be used at higher heat settings than olive oil

"Bittman takes on America's chefs" - that is the title

The first episode of this series (I caught it on WNJN/50 but other PBS stations must be running it) was a resounding success. José Andres was Bittman's guest. Andres' approach to food was, as always, fascinating. The show was both instructive an entertaining without any of the irritating Alton Brown genre of clowning. I was surprised that Bittman turned out to be such a natural for TV. The show was obviously unscripted and the give and take was a pleasure to watch.

I am going to get some brickbats here. I am afraid this is what happens at Per Se - you have to know someone in the kitchen. For this reason, and because we had a disappointingly mediocre meal there, I would put it in the "overrated" category

I understand that canola oil contains omega 3 fatty acids - hence the fishy smell when it is heated. We noticed this smell years ago. When I was sautéing vegetables, my husband would come into the kitchen and complain that the "fish" I was cooking smelled over the hill. Yet chefs and cookbook authors continue to recommend using canola oil for high heat cooking. Perhaps someone can explain why. Is the oil used by restaurants specially processed to eliminate the offending acids?

I am going out on a limb here but I never cook my pork beyond 140°. Cooked to medium rare I swear your pork will b e juicy and delicious.

Sorry to come to this so late in the day. One has to check those conversions. I was eager to try one of the recipes using agar agar which I had never used before. I was using the English/USA track and something told me that the quantity of agar agar in the recipe seemed ridiculously large. Sure enough, when I double checked with the original Spanish I found there had been a huge error in the conversion. Since then whenever I have followed one of Adria's recipes I have done a double check. The English/British track is reliable as it is also in metric. I blame our system of measurement rather than the translators. Volume measures (except for liquids) are my pet hate. They are painfully inaccurate.

How long do you cook duck confit sous vide and at what temperature? Are the results markedly different from the traditional confit?

What you read, as far as the "wasabi" powder is concerned, is correct. The true wasabi is available in the US but expensive. It is being cultivated in Oregon and you can order directly. I cannot remember the name of the website but you will find it easily if you google wasabi. Japanese markets sometimes have it frozen. Interestingly enough true wasabi is much milder than the hot powder we are accustomed to.

I would suggest a demi-glace wine reduction flavored with an acidic fruit. I like sour cherries but they would be difficult to find right now. Kumquats are available and a sauce with kumquats would would make a great complement to your magrets.

What kind of ducks did you use? I store confit in fat for storage. If you plan to eat it tomorrow just be sure to cover the flesh completely so it won't lose its silky texture. I always use the moulard and in a very low oven. Only once I cooked them at 350° and they were tough. I have never used the pekin as their legs are much smaller but if Paula finds them good for the purpose I'll try. By the way they make wonderful gifts. Everyone loves confit but few have the know-how or the will to prepare it. My friends love to receive my duck confit for Christmas.

Where do you live? Shipping a big tub of duck fat can be expensive, but it is obtainable at a reasonable price in NYC. Try Bobo Poultry in Chinatown. They have they have their own poultry farm and will almost certainly order it for you to pick up.

Sounds perfect Rachel. What exactly is a "blog" of concentrated chicken stock?. I generally freeze mine to prevent the Foodsaver from sucking out the liquid. Do you have a better way?

I know that most people like to see a whole roast bird on the table, but this does not work well with goose - the breast meat will be beyond dry before the legs are cooked. I bought a goose last Christmas and broke it down into breast and legs as I would a duck. In fact I roasted the breast, just like a magret, to very rare, and served it with a sour cherry red wine reduction. It drew raves. Later I made confit of the legs

Try sake (when you want a touch of sweetness) or Chinese rice wine. You can keep the bottles for several weeks after opening. If you want to be more traditional, use a dry vermouth - Noilly Prat, for example. No problem there in keeping a bottle in the pantry and using a little at a time.