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jackal10

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Everything posted by jackal10

  1. I have and love my AGA. It is my primary stove. It is a reconditioned antique 4 oven model, converted from coal to oil fuel. It cost around $1500 including installation. AGA's work by stored heat. There is a small burner, on constantly, and awful lot of cast iron and insulation. As a result you cook by choosing the oven or hot plate that is at the temperature you want - rather like cooking on a flat top. The ovens are at about 500F (roasting, great for bread); 300F; 200F (simmering) and 95F (ideal for long slow cooking, and plate warming). There is a hot plate for frying and a cooler one for simmering, both under insulated lids. The beauty is that they are ready hot, no waiting for the oven to warm up. Being hot all the time they are self-cleaning. Being cast iron they are indestructable. The top acts as a hot table, so no more cold food. Yes they do put out some heat, but about the same as a radiator or body heat - you can touch it or sit on them. They are like a friend.They are a warm friendly presence to cuddle up to. In winter they are the centre of the house. In summer we open the patio doors in the kitchen and no problem. They put out a lot less heat than a conventional oven, since they are so much better insulated. They just put it out constantly. The flattops are a joy for accurate temperature control, and for large pans. The ovens are large and deep. They are always ready to cook. They have minor disadvantages After lots of cooking they cool down, especially if you leave insulated doors or lids open. You develop a style where you tend to cook in the oven, rather on the flattop. The ovens are vented to the flue, so you don't get cooking smalls, but it is easy to forget something in there as you don't get the burning smells. You come back next day to a perfect carbon replica of the laof or whatever it was you were trying o cook. They need servicing (basically cleaning the flues) every six months. They take a day to cool down or come up to temperature if you need to turn them off or on. Its handy to have additional cooking ability, such as a wok burner, and a microwave/radiant grill to complement what the AGA doesn't do well. Like Marmite, you either love or hate AGAs. I think they are the best range cooker for home use for a serious cook and the nearest domestic equivalent to a restaurant flat top stove, unless you want to put in serious extraction to get rid of the heat a professional range puts out.
  2. Four Grandmere have a UK representative Otherwise charity shops often have suitable wicker baskets
  3. I don't like Reinhard's books. He is often if not plain wrong, then at least sub-optimal. Not sure about Nancy Silverton either. Her recipes don't work for me. There are many bad bread books. Ones I would recommend are Dan Lepard's Baker and Spice. Joe Ortiz The Village Baker and then various semi-professional ones such as Prof Cavel, and ones such as "Special and Decorative Breads". I've just got Cresci, which looks fantastic, but not baked from it yet (Pannetone here I come). Also Dan Wing's "Bread Builders", but that is more about building the oven. Of course there are always the various bread units in egCI..
  4. "We haven't had fish cakes in a long time"... How do you make fish cakes without carbs? No potato, no batter, no crumbs for coating. Can't do chinese style, since that is basically held together with cornstarch. I made them like quenelle. WHizzed some raw fish, egg white and cream for the base, then added flaked cooked fish, sauteed onion, parsley seasoning. Shallow fried. Taste was great, and they held together fine, but the texture wasn't quite right - slightly grainy, and without the smootheness and unctioness that the potato gives. I don't want to use Atkins pseudo bread or flour products. Any suggestions?
  5. jackal10

    Chicken Skin

    No one has mentioned stuffed chicken neck (geflite helzel) in the Ashkanzi tradition, and equivalent in other cultures...
  6. jackal10

    is this a decanter?

    I vote carafe, probably for water. A decanter has a stopper
  7. jackal10

    Fried Turkey

    http://home.att.net/~purduejacksonville/grill.html You did not mention the 3 gallons of liquid oxygen dumped onto the bbq to speed up getting to temperature
  8. Tried to find "le Petit Plat". Nowhere. Not even in the phone book. Also Avenue Emile Zola is nowhere near Bercyhe main shopping street here is Cour St Emilion. Expensive mass chains. Ate at the hotel. Nothing special.
  9. Since I'm not particularly hip and happening I can't really tell. Also its raining Did not strike me as anything amazing, but a fairly standard modern city centre rejuvenation. The Meteor driverless metro is pretty cool, and I guess making the area easily acccesible from central Paris helps lots. The hotel is a standard conference hotel, with things (like the internet connectivity, and slightly surly staff) not quite working in a typical french manner. For example the restaurant table was not available last night until 8pm, becasue the restaurant did not open until 8pm. The credit card machine was not working, because the telephone line to it had broken, but they made an exception and plugged it in to the the phone line chef used for ordering supplies in the kitchen...
  10. jackal10

    Latkes - the Topic!

    I should point out I discuss Latkes in The Potato Primer In particular I believe you should not add flour and or eggs. Some add these, but they are mistaken. I do not understand why people add the extra moisture in the egg, and then have to add flour or matzo meal to sop it up, which I think makes the texture insipid. Wicks have been known since stone age times, and lamps using wicks are found in archeological excavations.
  11. This is more for summer. Fire up a BBQ. On the rack put a thickish layer of herbs. Put the salmon, whole but gutted, on that. Cover with some foil or the lid. After 10-15 mins turn the salmon over carefully onto freah herbs for another 10 minutes. The herbs and the skin will char, but you peel that off to leave the deeply flavoured lightly coode fish underneath. Also use a remote read digital thermometer. Fish is cooked at 45 - 50C
  12. I am now in the Sofitel in Bercy, listening to a lecture on broadband antenna design theory. When I was an undergraduate antenna theory lectures sent me to sleep. Now, thanks to Wifi, I can type an entry to eGullet! Last night, on your reccomendation we went to L'Oulette (Marcel Baudis). We needed a local restaurant after a heavy day. Menu de Saison (46EU) including wine Amuse Veloute de potimarron aux chataigned grille, tartine au foie gras ou Terrine de Lapin au Foie Gras genievre, "chutney" de poires au gingembre ou FIlet de saumon d'Ecosse, mi cuit, graines de samae et creme d'avocat, blinis de seigles aux algues -o0o- Pave de quasi de veau, topinambours etuves aux echalotes caramelisees, jus de veau aux cepes ou Filet de dorade a la coriandre, flan d'aubergine et boulghour aux legumes ou Confit de canard grille, galette de pommes de terre charlotte a la ventreche, salad de roquette -o0o- Fromage de sud-ouest -o0o- Parfait aux marron glaces perfume au rhum ou Gateau chocolat moelleux anux mendiants, lait tiede au cacao a la cardamome ou Soupe au lait de coco, gele d'ananas, tuile coco -o0o- Cafe etc Competant and very pleasant, and I thought good value. Almost like a refined version of home cooking. Nice room, but nothing over the top. The amuse were salmon mousse and cubes of goat cheese I had the pumpkin soup, confit of duck. parfait (slightly hard) The wines were a white from Langedoc, and a young Cahors. My compnaion had the Terrine, the dorade and the Soupe au lait de coco, which were described as "heaven and heaven again" Smoking is alive and well in France, but mostly restricted to cigars after dinner. I guess the cigar trade has increased dramatically, with even the hotel bar featuring a large humidor. Where should I go tonight?
  13. jackal10

    Mincemeat Pie

    Its a mix of sweet spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves. Use pumkin spice or quatre epices, near enough. Personally i just use nutmeg and ground cloves in equal proportions. I find cinnamon can be bitter when cooked.
  14. Waitrose sometimes has canned pumpkin. Otherwise start with butternut squash, which is a close approximation to the sugar pumpkins used in canned variety. Ordinary pumpkin is not dense (too watery)or sweet enough. Peel, cut in half, remove seeds and stringy bits, chop into bits and boil, roast or microwave until tender, then blitz (an immersion blender works well). Proceed as for canned.
  15. jackal10

    Cooking my Goose

    A goose will only feed about two people. It has liberates an awful lot of wonderful fat when you cook it. Cook it, breast side down, on a trivet in your largest roasting pan. Put half an inch of water in the pan to stop the fat burning. Medium oven for a couple of hours. You will need to bail it out half way through cooking. I'd cook the stuffing seperately, but anoint it with some of the fat, and add the liver, chopped. There is a good German stuffing with cubes of potato.
  16. jackal10

    Quinces

    There is an an illustrated recipe in Autumn and Festive Preserves
  17. jackal10

    Quinces

    Treat them like very hard pears: bake for an hour in a moderate oven, then peel. Serve with cream and honey or chocolate. Traditionally added to apples for pie or compote Dont try to cut, peel or process raw, they are like iron. Good pickled as well.
  18. Problem is that although the majority of customers are OK, every party of 8 or 10, whom you need, has one or two fringe eaters in it. If they feel comfortable, the whole party does, and they may select the restaurant just because they fussy eater can be accomodated. Often its as simple as marking the menu to show suitable dishes..
  19. Looks fantastic and very feasible. With such a large operation I guess experience will quickly shows what sells and what doesn't. Might I comment that vegetarians/ slimmers/ kosher or other religious people will have a hard time. Some of the dishes, like the Yukon mash or the Romaine salad would be OK without the Bacon/Ham Hock. Maybe offer the option without? Or explicitly mark the vegetarian/Atkins options?
  20. I really admire your effort to eat local. Food miles are one of the big polluters of the planet, and lead to poor parts of the world growing export crops when they can't feed their own people. Keep those food miles down! How was the soup? I plan to do a cream soups egCI unit next year some time, if the editors agree, and feedback woul be good. I would have heated it on the stovetop, and then poured it into the hollowed pumpkin. I don't trust the structural integrity of baked pumpkin. When's the TV program? Can we see clips/stills?
  21. I think of Pineau des Charantes, chilled, as an aperitif rather than a desert wine. I think I'd want something green, or maybe carrots with the meat to cut some of the richness, or even a salad before. I also like roast onions with beef, or even drop some roast onion ice-cream in the middle of the yourkshire puds.
  22. Part baked, once it has finished rising (oven spring) but before it colours. If you freeze the dough before you cook it you will kill the yeast.
  23. Welcome to egullet! Making Christmas Pudding and Mince Pies were covered in the eGCI unit on Autumn and Festive Preserves. Suet is the fat from around beef kidneys, chopped. You should be able to get more than enough from a good butcher. You can use butter, but it is not the same for many reasons: - flavour - hardness of the fat, and the mouth feel it gives - water content. There is a vegatrian suet (shudder) made from hydrogenated palm oil.
  24. The mincemeat I know and love is NOT cooked until the final cooking in a pie. The suet is the kideney fat chopped small, not melted or clarified. If you add meat, its also chopped and raw, and the high levels of alcohol and sugar act as preservative. I have put up old recipes on a sperate thread
  25. I'm surprised no one has mentioned full carbon knives. Yes, they are soft and need frequent touching up (OK for geeks). Yes, they discolour, and you can't put them in the dishwasher (but then what knife geek would want to?). But no stainless steel, not even Damascus steel cuts like them...
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