stardiff

We are living in an an age in which I can go to Whole Foods, Citarella (yes, I live in NYC), or any one of several local grocery stores and get great meat and produce. Herbs are neatly cleaned and packed and I have a choice of at least a half dozen varieties if I want to get a pate or a dry aged steak. Yet... When I venture over to the "garlic bin," it is a wasteland. It's labelled "from China," which isn't by itself a bad thing. But shriveled, often blackened and therefore already run-in with spores, I find myself buying three heads just so I know I can get a half-dozen good cloves out of them. Is there a reason for this? Why is one of the most useful ingredients also one of the most hard to find (in proper form)... Is simple over-use the answer? Why do no local growers produce garlic? And yes, maybe this is a regional phenomenon, so I'd love to hear from those in other areas. If I have to start bulk-ordering garlic from somewhere else, I am more than willing.

I also received my SideKIC last week and finally brought it out for real yesterday (after a 3 hour test session the day it arrived). Arranged in a 5 quart cooler, a sirloin for 2.5 hours at 58C and finished with a blowtorch was both the easiest and best steak I've made. Perhaps a bit overdone as my unit seems to run a degree or so hot (58 yielded what I would consider "medium") but next time I will go 56-57C and it should be perfect. As another relative sous vide newcomer, this is certainly something I have been waiting for. Is it a long-term solution or meant for heavy use? Probably not, but it will allow for a lot of experimentation and if an upgrade after a year or two proves necessary, I will have no regrets. Going to try salmon next and then probably a long-haul tough cut. Apologies for posting another note basically saying "it works," but for a new device to be delivered quickly and to work consistently well for many discerning users is impressive. Very happy so far and will update if anything changes.