jackal10

HFW's Pig-in-a-day course is now online, and excellent! You need to pay (less if you buy the DVD) but well worth it. http://courses.rivercottage.net/

I grow my zucchini/courgettes next to the compost heap. That way they can go straight on there, rather than festering for a week in the fridge first. Courgette souffle is OK (there is a recipe in Elizabeth David. Even better without the courgette.

a) I don't brine unless I'm making salt beef b) 150F is way too hot for rib. 58C/136F is the desirable internal temperature for rib or other soft cuts (filet, sirloin tip), c) Anything else has lots of connective tissue, so treat as pot roast or BBQ, and take to 75C/170F and hold there for 7 hours or so to dissolve the collagen, Since this is way over the point the muscle fibres contract you will get lots of juice out. d) I cook both uncovered in the AGA oven, and covered sous vide depending what I'm doing, If sous vide you can add flavourings if you want,. Uncovered if only he very outside dries, and I discard the first slice.

Le Manoir....otherwise come to Cambridge

These ae travesties, as anyone who has been to boarding school in the UK knows. It would include custard and stodge, like treacle sponge or suet pudding, bread and butter pudding, sticky toffee pudding or tapioca and jam (frogs spawn), or spotted dick or Bakewell tart.....real treats

The advantage of a fried egg sandwich is that the components - eggs and bread are in most kitchens, most times. Butter leaf lettuce, bacon, tomato and cheese slices may not be Don't need extra butter (unlike a bacon sarnie) since the egg is fried in butter, Do need a vinegar based sauce to cut the fat,

I should point out that the egg in a fried egg sandwich should be runny and hot, This will make the lettuce and Tomato go squidgy and the whole sandwich be very messy to eat, especially as toasting the bread reduces its absorbency. I think the photo must be faked with a cold egg. Nor is the cheese melted, Not the same thing at all He also omits the vinegar (balsamic if you must) or ketchup essential to a fried egg sandwich. Real fried egg sandwiches need eating over the sink, and glorious kitchen food they are too

It takes years to build capacity on off nights in remote locations. Its depressing when the staff outnumber the diners - been there and got that T shirt, Don't try and fight it - open only at say Friday Saturday night and Sunday Brunch, unless for a private function, and make the numbers work on that. Increase the priice for Saturday night, and don't have staff or heat or light for the times you are closed. You give yourself an easier life, and save money.

A key to texture is temperature. You need to keep the meat, and the grinding process cold at all times, below 40F/4C or the emulsion will break, and you get the dry crumbly texture as you describe. Put the meat in the freezer for an hour before grinding, but not completely frozen, as you can't grind frozen fat. Set the bowl in ice, and maybe add some to the grind. Monitor the temperature and don't grind too long-Keep it cold! Remove as much sinew as possible so it does not clog the blade, Overcooking can also make sausages grainy and dry.

Cumberland: melted red currant jelly, port, mustard, orange rind and juice, ginger, shallots. Lots of recipes online. Be careful not to get it on your fingers, or you will want to eat them as well...

Candied, or pickled, or marmelade/jam

Christine Ferber's recipe paraphrased 2 1/2 pounds (1.1Kg) small strawberries or 2 1/4 lbs (1Kg) after hulling 4 cups /850g sugar Juice of 1 small lemon Wash and dry the strawberries and hull them. Macerate with the sugar and lemon juice covered in the refrigerator overnight. Next day bring to a simmer, then cool and refrigerate again overnight. On the third day drain off the syrup and boil the syrup over high heat in a preserving pan until it reaches 221F (setting point). Add the partly cooked strawberries and return to boil over high heat, Skim and boil for no more than 5 minutes, stirring gently. Check set. Place into jars and seal immediately. She gives versions for Wild and Mara strawberry, strawberry with black pepper and fresh mint, Strawberry with Raspberry Juice and Balsamic vinegar, Strawberry with Passion Fruit, Strawberry with Pinot Noir and Spices and Strawberry and Red currant jelly with Whole Strawberries and Pepper Buy the book!

I am not a Lawyer (INAL) so this is not legal advise, In the UK a written notice to staff is required by law, I guess its required elsewhere as well, Often the staff also sign it as an acknowledgment, and it can be in the form of a contract. At the minimum it must specify Hours and place of work Holiday entitlement Remuneration (pay, tips, profit share, benefits in kind (staff meals, drinks, freebies, uniforms), insurance, health care, share options etc) Grievance procedure. Grievance procedure is the one thing missing form your list above. You can include a non-disclosure clause, but they need careful wording to be binding, and not to constitute a restraint of trade. For example you cannot include recipes or procedures that the person may already know, or that are published elsewhere. How long after they leave are they bound for? Is it worldwide? How will you distinguish your recipes, from ones already published, or well known. Are you going to have to mark your own recipes "Trade Secret" or print them on lavender paper to distinguish them? Some restaurants do use confidentiality clauses and they are common in hih-tech employment contracts, but they are usually not worth the paper they are written on, since they are almost impossible to enforce, and add little to exisitng copyright and other protection. Frankly you have more to worry about, like cash flow, good staff relations and team building than paranoia over recipes being stolen. By contrast, many chefs want their recipes published for the publicity. I would strongly advise real legal advise.

Use soft flour such as AP about 9% protein, and long ferment times

I only tip in a bar or pub where I know the person as a personal friend and expect to sit down and have a conversation. I expect I would tip if I was expecting the anonymous bar person to have a drink with me and for them to listen to me tell my troubles, but I've never needed to confess or seek comfort like that. Otherwise it blurs the distinction between staff and customer. They are staff for heavens sake, there to do a service for which they are paid wages, not your long lost drinking companion....

The physics is rather more complex. In most cases heat is added at the bottom of the saucepan, and lost through the sides and a the top, and through evaporation at the surface, so there is a temperature gradient. Bubbles form where the vapour pressure is greater than the local pressure, enough to overcome the surface tension effects, (I'm ignoring the dissolved gas for now). The actual boiling point can be modified slightly by salt etc, but that is a very small effect in normal amounts. A greater effect is the atmospheric pressure, and in high places the boiling point can change by several degrees. A bubble forms at a nucleation point, maybe a local hot spot, such as a microscopically rough patch on the bottom, and once detached rises and cools, the vapour condensing. If it makes it all the way to the surface the remaining vapour is lost, carrying its heat away. Thus in a simmer, with the bubble barely breaking the surface the bulk of the liquid will be below boiling point, typically around 90C. The system is stable where heat input is low to match the heat loss, and bubble production moderate In a rolling boil the bulk of the liquid is hotter close to but still below 100C or it would all turn to vapour, so the cooling effect on the rising bubbles is smaller and most of them break the surface. Many bubbles are produced, since the heat input is high, and the liquid is near boiling point. In a rolling boil there is much turbulence and mechanical agitation of the liquid by the bubbles, which leads both to a more uniform temperature, and to effects such as emulsification of any fat, which is why fast boiled stock is cloudy. I imagine the interaction with pasta is complex, and the optimum boil will depend on many variables, such as the size and shape of paste pieces, their initial dryness and composition, their permeability whether there are additional ingredients such as egg to help hold them together and so on. There is a balance between hydration and the effects of heat on the complex protein/starch mix that is pasta.

Waht do you expect from a country with Puritan founders? Where the Plymouth Pilgrim fathers won the mythology battle over the hedonistic entrepreneurs at Jamestown, despite Jamestown being the earlier foundation.... In the land of the free, anything pleasurable must be regulated...including fireworks

Its all about time and temperature. You have to hold the ribs at temperature (75C) long enough for the collagen to convert to gelatine. 4 or 5 hours at least

The only thing you should put in good whisky is more whisky. I don't normally even add water to cask strength No ice No soda No ginger or ginger wine

Also available on the Internet via "listen again" for he next week http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/foodprogramme.shtml

Pickled radish pods This is a variety of radish "Rattail" that is grown specially for its seed pods, crunchy, spicy and delicious, Besides pickles, they can be eaten raw, make a good snack with beer, or stir fried or in salad.

In reverse order 4 layers Good Bread or toast Marmite Crunchy PB SANDWICH SPREAD The SS lubricates the PB

Cinnamon Ball recipe: http://www.jewish-food.org/recipes/pascinn.htm I add twice the amount of cinnamon that Flo Greenberg specifies, and use a small egg - they should not be too wet. Underbake - its really just setting the outside and they should be chewy in the middle. If you bake too hot or too long they will spread too much.

Macaroons Cinnamon balls Coconut pyramids Almond sponge pudding Matzah gateau (matzah soaked in wine with butter icing)

96 was a hot year with very high yields, so producers were tempted to overcrop, leading to many soft, jammy wines. You were lucky: many of the 96 Burgundies don't last