jackal10

Amen brother. If only they would learn...and not forget so soon

Its still a nightmare. 1. Feed the kids seperately - they will be happier with hamburgers anyway 2. You are effectively are only feeding 4 guests. You won't have time to eat. 3. Simplify drastically, especially what you have to do at the last minute. 4, People can't eat that much, especially such rich food The average stomach capacity is about 4 cups, including drink, say 3 cups of food, You propose about 21 dishes. Anything more than a teaspoon or two of each and your guests will blow up. You are therefore proposing a meal of bite size canapes. Not enough to really taste. Cut out at least half, and have some focus, with the meal leading up to and away from the main feature. In a classic menu large courses alternate with small courses Here is what I would do, with roughly the same spirit: Amuse 1 (with pre dinner drink) Iberico scratchings with a dip if you like, but no cream or mascarpone - too rich this early. Suitable drink would a fino sherry Amuse 2: (at table. Traditionally oysters or similar. Cold, prepared and plated) Salad of lobster (and sea urchin if you must) Maybe a cold foam. Drink: a sweetish Alsace, maybe a Gewurz, which will also go with the foie If you are doing a wine per course you could have a Pinot Gris, and the Gewrurz with the foie Amuse 3: Foie Foie Gras Terrine (cold) with Brioche toast (leave out the pan fried, One is enough and unless you have experience don't go there) Soup: A hot liquid soup would be nice, such as the tomato consomme (hot). Peas are not in season. Onion better with the beef Drink: good red wine Pigeon: Tiny portion, but you could attempt a warm smoked pigeon breast on potato puree, with a cube of pigeon confit Salad: Ceaser salad etc Beef: Main course and the star. Here is where to showcase the Kobe, or do a variety (but not both) I'd like roast onion ice cream, maybe a garlic or horseradish hot gell, baby veg Cheese: Well chosen and some nice accompaniment to finish the red wine with Desert (hot) maybe a second cold desert Petit four

While the intention is good, I think you are making it too complicated and you have ended up with too many similar textures. Many of these are quite tricky techniques, and I would go careful unless you are familiar with them. I would simplify considerably, and for the sake of your guests lead them gently - have quite a conventional meal with one or two modern styles and flourishes; keep it simple. It will also make it easier to cook and less likely to go wrong. Please, no more than one jelly and two foams in the meal...and you have missed out savoury ice cream, or protein/activa glued noodles Do you really need the luxury ingredients (kobe beef, foie, sea urchin etc) if you are showcasing the cooking methods. IF you are showcasing the ingredients then I'd use seasonal items - game, truffles etc The sea urchin jelly, the raviolis, and the tomato consomme are all similar The Kobe beef will get lost with all those beef dishes. Either have it as the star, or omit, or have another long cooked meat - oxtail or maybe tongue. Two foie gras is overkill, especially next to each other. Also I would serve before the beef. Simiallry four made cheeses is too much, Better one cooked dish, if you must, and a well selected cheese with interesting accompaniments, such as a truffled honey and nice bread and biscuits.

Ahm..I wrote the course and cooked the food and took the photos. Andy kindly edited and posted it for me - this was before eG had Imagegullet.

Took place tonight at Downing College, Cambridge The man himself: A few tomatoes, both supermarket and home grown. Blind tasted. As always the home grown ones were better, but the best of the supermarket varieties, especially the small organic locally sourced ones are catching up. But wait, there is more: The walled Kitchen garden at Wimpole Hall, http://www.wimpole.org/ a local National Trust property, kindly brought some of their rare and exotic tomato varieties. Their "Gold Cherry" ("golden cherry"?) was the best tomato for flavour there... Not Sungold, but I believe from the same breeder. Since this tasting is raw tomatoes, the cherry tomatoes usually win.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/restaurant/ but why would you want to?

Much too large. Most retail equipment is really small. Think of the size of a crockpot. The whole thing needs to be less than a foot cube (30cm on a side), Normally it would only be used to cook two portions, maybe 10 portions as a maximum. If a portion is say 5cm x 2cm x 10 cm (about 2in x 1in x 4 in) or 100 cc then 10 is a liitre, so 2 litres or half a gallon would be adequate and a gallon more than adequate Cheap and quiet, so well insulated and convection not a recirculator. If we said a 100W heater then it would come to temperature from say 20C to 60C, a 40C riise in 4000 x 40/100 seconds or about 30 mins, Might be able to use an even smaller heater

Take assorted incompetent and inexperienced couples and drop them into setting up and running a restaurant, then set them pointless challenges. What a surpise that running a restaurant is hard, and that if you are in the weeds, people wait 2 hours for undercooked food. Its crap. TV for masochists who like seeing tears. Not even about good food.

Sam I agress that +/- 5C is a big deal, and the difference between raw and cooked or rare and overcooked. A crock pot might work if the controller was a PID (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller ) with analog output and the food was on a rack with sufficient circulation space under it. Unfortunately most cheap remperature controllers are bang-bang on/off and that will cause large local temperature variations. For restaurant use the thing has to be chef proof, and that means things like splash proof, easy clean and with controls that lock. Fortunately many lab suppliers are now making food versions. I have one from Grant Instruments

One of the advantages of the AGA cooker is that the ovens are vented to the outside flue, which means no cooking smells in the kitchen. It also means you don't smell things burning, This is what happens to a green bean casserole (fresh garden beans, chopped bacon and onion, chicken stock) if left in too hot an oven overnight...

According to http://www.splishme.com/ its a prcess of maturing rather than fermenation. I guess more a chemical and oxidation process than a biological one.

ooh thts brilliant. Is the Foie inside the pudding, like kidney, or served seperately? Truffled steak pudding...oooh....

I have a UK bottle and the ingredients are Malt Vinegar (from Barley), Spirit vinegar, Molasses, Sugar, Salt, Anchovies, Tamarind extract, Onions, Garlic, Spice, Flavouring

Its not the wet dough, if properly formed and proofed. Make the slash immediately before putting the bread in the oven. Dough is complex stuff,, and the outer layer is slightly dried, and also has collapsed bubbles and bubbles where the CO2 has diffused out to be repalced by air diffusing in. This layer holds the loaf, and why you need to prove in a porous basket like a banneton. Slashing breaks this taut layer. In the oven the inreased gas production is fast enough to overcome the losses, but otherwise a slashed proofed loaf will spread and collapse, Slash on the peel and straight into the oven Bakers use a "lame" - a razor blade on a stick. You need a thin super sharp blade, and an ordinary knife will drag. Use a one sided razor blade or a scapel or a craft knife or a specialist tool such as http://www.scaritech.com/uk/scarification-manuelle.php These are resold by many people, so do a web search or check you locsl bskers supply house or http://www.sfbi.com/baking_supplies.html Ideally hold the blade at 45 degrees to the surface so you are cutting a flap, not down into loaf Be fast, be bold. It really is a slash, not a cut. As in many things, never go back.

I can't resist Surely the five essential hot sauces are Béchamel Espagnole Hollandaise Tomato sauce Velouté

I remembered wrongly - it was white currant, and very lovely it was too. Served with Summer Pudding. Inspired by a reference here to http://www.historicfood.com/Georgian%20Ices.htm for a version of muscadine ice described as "the most spectacular ice of all time". Delicious, like frozen currants with a good balance of acid and sugar, but I would not go that far. However I doubt the original having both elderflower and white currants in the same sorbet since they are not available at the same time, and the currant would swamp the elderflower, I guess you could use cordial. I tried some with cordial, and did not notice a lot of difference. I used the proportions in Mc Gee's Curious cook for sweet water ices I cup currant juice, 13Tbs sugar 1Tbs lemon juice 1/2 cup water Its been a good year for currants. One bush of white currants made about 3 pints of juice, enough for both jelly and sorbet.

I would not bring any supplies, If nothing else they won't last, and storage in that climate is doubtful. I would bring expertise and tools - for example your favourite cook book, or a basic self help book and a digital thermometer, good knife, scale, measuring spoons etc.

Redcurrant

Avoid anything you have to prepare each mouthful. Good cheeses, fruit, biscuits or breads are always popular If you can prepare beforehand or buy cooked: Cocktail sausages Prawns/shrimp on sticks Quail eggs/tea eggs Pizza slices

Tiptree "Little Scarlet" http://www.tiptree.com

Many cultures, and Judaism in particular define a meal as having to include bread salt and wine, otherwise a full grace cannot be said.

All this wet weather has made the runner (pole) beans flourish. What to do with them? I made Fifi;s Southern Style Green Bean Casserole, and very good it is too. http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r577.html but what is the definitive (and nicest - from scratch only) green bean casserole? Creamed or not? Any other on that theme (not canned/salted/pickles/frozen - done those already)

I don't know but my impression is that, for example Gordons Gin is different in the US ands the UK. It may, of course be the Schweppes tonic, but a G+T in the US is not the same as the same drink with the same brands as in the UK. Its too sweet. Disgusting in fact Many brands vary the formula with geographical location or local factory

Difference between Damsons or other small dark plums and sloes is not enough to be significant if you are going to mess with Gin sugar and fizz. US gin is in any case sweeter. Sloes (blackthorn) are wild and hence free, which is why they were used. If you have not tried one before, be sure to taste a raw one. You will be amazed!

Golden Raspberry, The variety is Fall Gold.