pastramionrye

1. parm....undisputed king of cheeses 2. epoisse, pont l'eveque, robluchon or some similar washed rind cheese 3. a great cheddar, perhaps from canada or england

i enjoy going to lavandou...it is what it is a very nice neighborhood restaurant.

palena has a chestnut soup at the moment with a chunk of house-cured bacon

i dont understand the point of putting out a dining guide that is very limited in its inclusion, and at the same time putting restaurants that get 0 1 and even 2 stars... last years guide was so much better, having restaurants of all prices and all genres that tom recommends.

i have been using super nice french fingerlings and getting a wondeful flavor and texture out of my potato puree...aka mash. first boil potatoes inside the jackets until tender. strain and peel while hot. immediately put through food mill into the same pot you boiled them in. add about 6 oz. of scalded milk per pound of potatoes; add it slowly and beat it in with a plastic spatula...work the milk in good, or the potatoes can become grainy... you can do this all in advance (maximum one day). then to finish, heat potatoes back up slowly, and add some knobs of butter and a bit of whipped cream.

try palena, obelisk or tosca.

maybe the smaller ones, but favas can be too startchy when underdone.

while i like a good stew or osso bucco or braised lamb shank as much as anyone...no season can match summer with its bounty of corn, tomatoes, potatoes, fresh herbs, garlic, melons, zucchini etc... the raw ingredients are so naturally sweet and delicious, preparation is just so easy, just show off their natural flavors...

vegetables like green beans, favas and peas get sweeter when they are properly cooked and not served underdone.

so does anyone know where the three disgruntled cooks are now cooking these days? or did rocco blacklist them?

the stem and the little bits of the flower on the inside tend to be a little bitter.

monday night was our first monday opeing...i hope you enjoyed it. how do you like the patio? and the chicken is delicious.,,as is the cod.

you could smoke them in a webber, probably, and cook them on really low temperature (about 250 to 300) in your oven, basting often with their juices.

this is quite an interesting topic as i am about to get engaged and am currently working 55 hours a week. my girlfriend pushed me into the industry because she knew how it made me happier than anything to cook; but now that she is working and out of school, she is a little bummed about coming home from work and being all alone. working lunch isnt a bad way to start; and their are plenty of fine dining restaurants that do lunch...so you can be around great food and also be home for dinner. as for catering, i think if you took on a capable partner...the two of you could alleviate eachother a lot of the pain and super long hours...and if the business came really successful, the two of you could employ your significant others. that being said...there is no formula for restaurant industry=divorce....two of my chefs had young children and worked long hours and their marriage was good.

not a huge fan of kaitaifi...though when fried can look cool on a plate... i have just found that any use of kaitifi must be accompanied with an excellent sauce. try the shriimp or scallop or thin fish fillet wrapped in kaitifi...and pan fry or deep fry.... or how about soft shell crabs...

It'd be nice if customers were forced to eat the food the way we "artists" intended it to be eaten. But it's bad form to act like a primadonna in most places. Trust me, I had plenty of time to think about this one day when I refused to cook an owner's friend's yellowfin well-done. The only place I've seen it done sucessfully was at The French Laundry. I think someone wanted Peas and Carrots and Keller flat out said no. I'm sure there were extenuating circumstances however. You can be sure that if the chef says no he hasn't been in the business that long. FOOD is NOT ART. CHEFS ARE NOT ARTISTS. or an even more compelling point against this analogy.... painters for the most part are not as heavily into customer service as a restaurant own has to be. a painter can paint for himself, and people will buy it...or not...or he can paint commercial paintings that people will eat up...where the chef or restaunt owner can do the same, and people may react to their food in a certain way, they most certainly will not tolerate rude service or inflexibility by the chef or general manager. customer service is far more a part of our game than it is the painter/customer game...

i have seen the whole suckling pig; where we deboned the pig; made a stuffing with the tougher cuts....roasted the bones and made a sauce....and then stuffed the pig with the stuffing, its loins and other tenderloins purchased from the store. it was great and the sauce was DELICIOUS>.....it was carved up into large cross sections and people ate small pieces from the cross sections.

thank you all... it was enlightening...and i knew it would bring about a heated discussion. but i learned a lot.

i am going the immersion blender route, combining butter and pernod...hopefully that will work... as for the anti-foamers...i didnt mean to foment an argument... i think everything has a place somewhere. things shouldnt be so black and white.

that might be the route i have to take... thanks for the suggestion.

i'm not worried about how i cook... i can control that, and i do pretty well... i am worried about the bumbs on my shoulders and back due to the polyester jackets.

could i cook the alcohol out of the pernod?

and i dont know where you all go to eat; but i have not been inundated with foams at the restaurants i choose to go to...sure, they are used in art culinaire and at some of the nicer restaurants in the country...but so is creme brulee and tenderloin and blue cheese and proscuttio...caviar, and the holy grail foie gras... now if you are looking for something played out....foie gras is used and misused WAY MORE than foams. why not hate foie gras while you all are at it...oh, i forgot, most of you do hate it....hehehehehe

i thought a foam would be a nice way to subtley bring in a flavor like pernod...since the main flavor of the sauce is saffron. a foam should ideally be light and frothy and airy, and the pernod somewhat subtle ddue to this. i thought it would be visually appealing as well. thanks for the lively discussion... along with the knives and uniforms debate, i have become the biggest boob on the site.

i am wanting to do a pernod foam for a fish appetizer that has a saffron cream sauce...just a little spray to complement the other flavors in the dish... anyone have an idea as to how to do it? i have a recipe from adria for a coconut foam.; but coconut is so much fattier, so i wonder if i will need more gelatin or what not... the recipe for coconut foam is: 1 c. coconut milk, 1 t. gelatin, 1/4 c. water; once all combined, it will be put in a whip cream cannister. i will be testing this tomorrow,once i get some nitrous....but if any of youy have suggestions...fire away.