jackal10

Chablis and a good cigar to follow...

I have both Global and full carbon Sabatier. For me, the Sabatier wins hands down in terms of sharpness, ease of use and feel. The boning knife (second from bottom in the photo I posted) is my everything, everyday knife...

How do you keep them so shiny? Mine are more like working tools, though sharp as a razor, they are dull and matt grey. Dark grey even. However they will cut through a firm whole tomato with only their own weight, for example Try that with your knives...

Wasnt there a famous tobacco chocolate truffle recently, I think by Arzak? I doubt that it would be dangerous in any reasonable dose...

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One of these

Marmite is much better than Vegmite <ducks quickly> Vegemite is quite sweet, so I guess you could use it instead of beer in recipes like Xmas pudding, or hide it in sticky toffee pudding, or do something along the lines of a traditional Aussie vegemite and banana sandwich, maybe as a bread and buter pudding, or deep fried...I'd try it out first, however before inflicting it on others...

Chitlins are guts - what the French make into andouillette. I think they are delicious. A local butcher sells them cleaned and cooked (boiled). They sell quickly when he has them, although the fatty, earthy flavour is maybe a acquired taste. You shallow fry them until crisp and brown on the outside, then dress with pepper, salt, maybe some chopped parsley and a splash of vinegar. Or make a warm salad - fry with some bacon, deglaze with vinagrette and pour hot over baby spinach so it wilts some. Florence White, in "Good things in England" gives an old Suffolk recipe for a chitterling turnover, with chtterlings, apples and raisins in a suet pastry case. Of course you can always stuff them into a sausage skin and make andouillettes.

What water bath? If its steam in the oven you need, then a half a cup or water throen onto the hot bricks or a hot cast iron pan will do. You pnly need a burst of steam at the very beginning of the bake to gelatanise the crust. Cibatta is a very wet dough. You need to bake it with direct contact to a hot pizza stone or bricks on a shelf, pre-heated. It sounds like the bread is not cooked long enough, so maybe the oven is too hot, I get best results around 220C., and bake for around half an hour to 40 minutes for a cibatta Additionally it important to let the bread cool on a wire grid, so that the final moisture can evaporate.

There are a few things you can only do in a microwave: Inside out baked alaska (boiling jam inside cold ice cream) Inside out toast (try nuking a doorstep thick slice of bread) Its also magic for instant steamed puddings - 4 minutes. Another couple for the custurd as well. There was a thread a while ago about cute science in a microwave - don't try this at home folks, but creating plasma ball lightening by nuking a lit candle (high poser + extra carbon, likea toothpick) Unwise microwave science experiments etc...

Rebel Rose: I'd love to try your Old Vine Zinfandel, Benito Dusi Vineyard, if only I knew how to get some in the UK!

Pork is a meat like any other. It used to be that there was a danger of trichonosis parasites, but these is both killed at 140F and are extremely rare in modern farming. The last US case so far as I know was in 1998 from uncooked cougar jerky in the southwestern states. For caution some reccomend 150F. If you cook to 140F the meat will the moist, tender but perhaps a little pink. By 150F any trace od pink will have gone, but the meat will be drier.

See the great eGCI Potato Primer. You can do the first cooking in water instead of oil. For extra crunch dehydrate the outside by leaving the par-cooked fries uncovered in a fridge.

I have a Maverick Smoker thermometer, which works for me. If fact there is a piece of brisket cooking now... Yes, the radio range is limited to about 20 yards. Yes, the max and min alarms are somewhat awkward to set. I've had to replace the batteries at about six months. However, it seems reasonably reliable and accurate, and it has greatly improved the precision of my cooking. The instruction manual says about temperature range "The Redi Chek® Remote registers temperatures as low as 14 °F (-10 °C) and as high 410 °F (210 °C). LLL will be displayed below 14 °F and HHH will be displayed above 410 °F. Do not use the stainless steel probe sensor above 410 °F"

My favourite is the Ridge Zindandel Paso Robles, but there are many other great wines. Other wineries that Wine Spectator score high include Justin, Peachy Canyon, Meridian, Linne Calado, Bonny Doon etc.

Following Heston Blumenthal I think you get a a deeper chocolate flavour if you omit the egg yolks and use only the whites: 240gm/8oz Dark Chocolate 140gm/5 oz Butter 240gm/8 oz egg white Melt the chocolate and butter together, beat the egg white, fold in, bake. This is a universal recipe: don't bake for mouse, use also fo roulade etc Don't beat the egg white for molten chocolate cake, nemensis, tart etc

You should have McGee but gor baking I would also reccomend "Baking, the Art and Science" by Schunemann and Treu, 1986 ISBN 0-9693795-0 . I got mine from www.chipsbooks.com. It is perhaps more designed for professional baking students rther than home cooks, but it has very good illustrations of just what can go wrong with your loaf and how to correct it.

McGee. Maybe also McGee. Did I mention McGee? (Harold McGee On Food and Cooking. 2nd Edition) You need nothing else. McGee's Curious Cook is also interesting, as is Jeffrey Steingarten "The man who ate everything" and "It must have been something I ate". Shirley Corriher "Cookwise" and soon "Bakewise" has both science and recipes but these others pale into insignificence in scholarship, content, completeness, and clarity beside the monument that is Hal's second edition of "On Food and Cooking" No serious kitchen should be without it.

Depends on the age of the bird. They will be getting a bit tough by now, so long slow wet cooking. I'd reccomend (though I've not tried it) sous-vide, at 55C or even 60C for many hours. "The Sporting Wife" (Hargreaves) reccomends Casserole with onion, or cabbage (or sauerkraut), Game pie is also good and could be made with any left-overs. Very old pheasants are only good for the stockpot.

There are some industrial ovens that use auger-fed pelletised wood. For example the Village Bakery at Melmerby in the UK uses one. Frankly if you are going to bake continuously and heat indirectly, it doesn't really matter what fuel you use, and it makes sense to use the most economic in the area. Its one of the compromises that goes with volume production - Waitrose and other supermarkets sell their bread Its very hard to produce on an industrial scale without making such compromises, as well as additives, the proof time, and machine rather than hand moulding. The benefits are cost and consistency; the loss, a little at a time, is that which makes artisanal bread special. Edited to say found the article, although the main site projects a less industrial image, with projects such as build your own earth oven. Note the picture towards the bottom of the page. http://www.village-bakery.com/news/visit.htm http://www.village-bakery.com/news/art/new-oven.jpg

Amazon are selling new Sabatier Au Carbone knives. Don't know which manufacturer, but they the ones I've had have been OK

What is the weather? If its still cold a steamed pudding, or even a Christmas pudding will go well, Serve flamed with rum. If it wern't for the company I'd go with the plastic wrap, but it can be very immobilising... serve with optional fruit garnish

I was worried about the Ch. Kirwan 90, served last night at our Burns dinner. Parker rates it only 78 and says its over the hill. Parker was wrong! I like the oatmeal in Cranachan toasted golden brown before sprinkling it over the cream. Without the raspberries it can be a little rich, and I prefer some raspberry puree folded into the cream to lighten it a little. Don't forget the Scottish shortbread to go with...

Cranachan is raspberries, toasted oatmeal and cream whipped with honey and whisky Some mash some of the raspberries into the cream; I like it in layers in desert glass. Serve with Scottish shortbread. There are many recipes and pictures if you Google. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database...han_66101.shtml

No problem heating the dome: the charcoal gives off more than enough radiant heat and hot gas. Not much, if any flame. When burning normal wood, most of it has turned to charcoal for the alst part of the burn anyway,