jackal10

rillettes

Tell us about Maple Syrup...I spent one enjoyable autumn tapping maple trees of a friends farm and boiling the syrup down. The only container big enough for the boiling was an old aluminium canoe over some wood fires...wonderful stuff. You say there are few good restaurants, bu there are some wonderful Inns in Vermont. And Ben and Jerrys...

I'm making a pumpkin (actually a butternut squash) soup with dried morels and truffle oil for lunch today. You could add croutons and creme fraiche...

Thanks. I'm sure putting the potatoes thru the ricer twice will make the puree smoother. Some people sieve it as well. Personally I prefer the slight changes in texture (OK, the lumps) that mashing with a hand masher or a fork produces. If I'm preparing a large amount, or want it smooth for piping I'll use a hand electric whisk.

I'll put it on the list for next year...

The beauty of this mathod is that you can absolutely make them ahead of time, let them go cold and reheat without fear of off-tastes or glue. Lots of ways to reheat, but you need to guard against the surface drying, so butter it. A microwave is probably the quickest and simplest, otherwise steam, or stir in a pan on the stove over low heat with some extra milk, or in a covered dish in the oven, and stir before serving...

Bread Sauce Cumberland Sauce (redcurrant or cranberry + port + orange+ mustard)

170F will do it! I'm jelous of your wireless themometer. Does it work through the metal of the oven? Where did you get it? I want one!

I had beef cheeks but yesterday at Midsummer House. Very good they were, even if the jus was over-reduced and the potato puree over-salted. Advertised as a "daube en facon Grandmere", except that the garnish and the jus had clearly been cooked seperately. I'm still seing a lot of sham veloute, being purees really. (veloute of pumpkin layerd over a gelee of sherry), served in a shot glass. Shot glasses are big. Multi-multi course dinner seem to be fading a bit, but still around with three or four "additional" courses thrown in between each main course. Descriptions are getting simpler, and yet more misleading (e.g this menu was printed as "Soup, Salmon, Beef, Chocolate")

Blue seems to be one of natures ways of saying "don't eat". Very few foods are naturally blue - maybe blueberries - but most are purple rather than blue. Blue is used for wound plasters in kitchens and the food processing industry, so you can spot them if they chance to fall off into the food. Most blue food colours are indicators - red cabbage, for example and turn red with acid. Blue potatoes bleed in water, so dry cooking methods - microwave, or fry work better. The colour is also not very temperature stable.

Chip butties have a long an honourable tradition, although they are being replaced by vindaloo or chicken tikka as the food of choice after an evening of beer I think Holly and I agree pretty well on French Fries. I par-cook in water then oil, he in oil, but it much the same thing.I don't pre-soak, since I'm cooking in water. We both chill before finish frying. I think this is the key, since it dries out the surface. We both cook to a good mahogony brown, rather than straw.

Yup. Picture in the unit, under "crushed potatoes" but with Butter not duck fat, and a sprinkiling of parsley. I imagine they would be even better with duck or goose fat.

Fingerling potatoes are very waxy, so don't mash that well. They will always be a bit dry. I doubt if drying them out has that much effect. You can add cream or milk until the consistency is right. How much butter did you add? It is the butter that changes the mouth feel... I think you would need at least 4oz and maybe 8oz.

Not according to Beard, Fanny Farmer, Julia Child et al For example http://starchefs.com/FoodWine/child_recipe.html Fanny Farmer adds fried salt pork cubes, and this may be the link to other sorts of hashes, like corn beef hash. Maybe the shredded sort are more modern recipes. Home fries are bigger cubes, and not mashed together into a cake (I think).

You are trying to make it say "Eat me I'm good", and get people to really look at it. Most things we just glance at, so the visual grammer has to be the equivalent of a stare. Two different styles: a) In the context it will be eaten - good linen, cutlery, expensive location, says "I'm good" b) Close-up, in high contrast to the background. I like a black but not plain black background - says "really look at me" My photography imporoved greatly by getting a better lens, and by getting better post-processing. I use Microsoft Photodraw. You will need to post process to correct depth of focus, cropping, saturation and colour balance, and the odd touch-up

Thanks, but it is not that good...most of this stuff is in easily acccessible books or online. A major omission are all those wonderful Indian potato (alloo) dishes. I'm sure there are other ethnic potato dishes - this unit is very classical French oriented. US varieties are only covered sketchily. It would seem from this distance that the bulk potato producers in the US cover only a few varieties, with the rest available perhaps in specialist shops or farmers markets. In the UK the potato marketing board, and the major suoermarkets a few years ago stated pushing the idea of different varieties being better for different purposes, and offering more varieties. One thing I'm still puzled about: Why are there two different sorts of hash brown? Is it geographical and which is correct? I'd appreciate reports of how the recipes cook. Are they too sketchy? Any other major omissions, or errors?

Thanks I guess the conciseness is influenced by the style of La Repertoire... What you describe is indeed the classic Pommes Anna. To quote Escoffier "Set the roundels [of potato] in circles on the bottom of a mould proper to this potato preparation, or in a well buttered thick saucepan...let the lay of each circle be reversed...make 5 or 6 layers in this way...cover the utensil and cook in a good oven for 30 minutes...turn out to drain the butter.." I think of them as almost like individual Gratin de Pommes de Terre a la Dauphinoise, and maybe 1/2 inch thick. However there is a more modern version, sometimes called Pommes Maxim, which is thinner, more like a galette, and cooked on a silpat or baking parchment sheet. These are usually only 2 or 3 rounds thick with the roundels first tossed in melted butter and then laid in circles on the sheet. I guess its a nomenclenture confusion as to the gradations between them - when does Dauphinois become Anna become Maxim?

I'd like to thank the editorial team, and especially gsquared for their contributions. This unit was tough to do, partly because there was so much content, and even then we probably have as much again that we left for next time, and partly because I am trying to follow the Atkins diet and loose weight, so I couldn't eat any of the food, and was not that motivated to cook carbs. Fortunately gsquared and the team pitched an and did some of the photos (spot which ones). Thanks people!

I like a layered Pousse Cafe In a tall, thin glass pour carefully, so that they float on each other, in order Sugar Syrup (can be coloured and/or flavoured) Sweet black coffee Sprits (e.g Irish Whiskey or any of the ones mentioned) Cream, or egg nog Whipped cream Sprinkles Any of the layers can be additionally coloured or flavoured), for example tint the cream green and add peppermint, or pink and framboise Vulgar? Who me?

Buy a digital thermometer, preferably one where the probe is seperated from the unit by a wire that can go though the oven door. Best investment you will make. The object of cooking is to get the outside brown and crispy, and the inside to a uniform 60C/140F. Putting it in a 325F oven is a bad way to do both. Cooking at or about the temperature you are trying to achieve results in juicier, tastier meat. You will have to make the gravey seperately from good stock, or bones, since the goodness that would otherwise be squeeezed out of the meat for the gravy stays where it should. Timing is not critical, the meat is uniformly cooked, and no need to rest it. 1. Sear the meat all round on the stovetop, or with a blowtorch, That's the brown and crispy bit. 2. Insert thermometer 3. Cook in 65C/!50F oven until internal temperature is 60C/140F for medium rare or a bit more for well done, about 4 hours. 4. Make gravy, roast spuds yorkshire puds seperately... Carve and marvel...

Wow! I might even have to come off Atkins for a while...

Chips aka french fries Also pretzels. Frankly its a waste to use in anything other than as a finish. Once dissolved, its just salt.

If it like a conventioanla ga, it comes to piieces and is asembled on site. Talk to your local friendly AGA agent, and let them figure it out...

have you looked at the Aga 6-4 ? Made and styled by Aga but conventional cooker - 4 ovens and 6 burners

Serve it with Foie Gras