ianeccleston

Halve avacado. Fill center with crab salad and top with tobiko. Ian

Has anyone else tried the 'new' Italian Beef at Brown's Chicken & Pasta? It isn't bad, especially considering that it's from a chain. It's certainly better than the standard beef you get at most hot dog stands. It doesn't hold a candle to Al's or Johnnie's, but it does the trick. BTW - good news for north-siders: there's a location of Al's opening up in Evanston. Ian

For making duck confit, is there much of a difference in taste if you use pork fat instead of duck/goose fat? I have access to cheap rendered lard at the mexican markets here in chicago - a gallon goes for about $5. A couple of cups of goose fat goes for more than that! The pork lard that I get from those markets isn't perfectly clear - it's a bit porky. Would I need to strain it or some such thing? Thanks, Ian edited to say: Paula mentions lard as a substitute for poultry fat in the book.

Too much stuffing might have been the problem. Generally, I tend to overstuff: tacos, crepes, zucchini, you name it. I actually scored the top of the squid to make the pork more exposed, but the squid was still a bit overcooked (but still tasty). I'll try stuffing it with less pork next time, thanks. Hrm.. I've never seen the stuffing precooked. When we did it it was always very small squid so there wasn't that much stuffing. Maybe a tbsp? It's usually very quickly blanched so I don't remember tough squid or raw pork. When we served it the squid is sliced across into rings. That might have helped? I don't know. I'm sorry I wish I had more to add. I'll try to make this dish and see if I notice anything with the timing etc. ←

I'll second the thai pork-stuffed-squid soup. Good stuff. There's a nice recipe in Thai Food by David Thompson. A problem that I have with stuffed squid is the 2 minute/2 hour problem, that is, either cook it for 2 minutes or 2 hours. That time frame doesn't always work for the stuffing. Using the pork-stuffed squid as an example, the pork was underdone by the time the squid was done, and by the time the pork was done, the squid was a bit tough. Do any of you precook your stuffing ingredients, or precook the squid?

By the way, it's great to have this thread to see how people create their recipes for terrines. Having only made basic terrines is nice to see how other people put together all the component parts. Hurrah, egullet!

An interesting side note to her review: more inconsistencies in her last article for the LA times at http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo...-headlines-food

My vague recollection is that America's Test Kitchen tested a number of mail-order steaks, and Omaha Steaks were not recommended. Ian

I'm sure there are more knowledgable people here at EG - but for my part I'm happy with my Kitchenaid sausage stuffer/grinder attachement. It's the only one I've ever used so I can't compare it to others, but it seems to work well enough. Cheers, Ian

What a sweet story. We should start a new thread just for "Deal Makers!" I'm told that my deal maker came on my first date with my wife. Carrot-ginger soup, and pear and blue cheese salad. A success even though the meal was at my studio - the table was just next to the bed. When I had two guest come over one of them would sit on the bed instead of a chair. Edit Ah yes, the Deal Breaker: the girl that didn't know what an egg roll was. C'mon. Never even HEARD of an egg roll?

*bump* I thought I'd share this failure in the kitchen so others don't make the same mistake: I made a double batch of lasagne noodles and left them out to dry, per Marcella's instructions on drying pasta. Unfortunately, the noodles curled up, and broke in many places, owing to how brittle they became. Next time I'll freeze them, or use them day of, unless someone has a better idea. Ian

Pork stew with winter squash - that's what I did with my last leftover pork shoulder, and it turned out great. Ravoli are a nice use for leftovers too... Ian

I too did not have a v-rack. I made an impromptu rack out of two burner grates wrapped in tin foil. It worked pretty well. Ian

The Cook's Illustrated version worked well for me: 21 pound bird Overnight brine - 1/2 salt to one gallon water 6 hours out of brine to dry off buttered & salted outside of turkey roast, unstuffed, at 1 hour at 425, breast-side down, with carrots, onions and celery inside the bird and in the roasting pan 2 hours at 325, breast-side up 1/2 hour rest. Great!!! Although I still have 4-5 small burns on my hands from flipping that damn piece of meat.... Ian

Chris, According to the Potato Primer Course, the potatoes are cooked TO 160F, not AT 160F. Is that right? Ian

If you want to get a nice poultry flavor, you might add a bit of brown chicken stock to the dressing as it bakes, that might do the trick. I'm making chicken stock tonight for that same purpose. BTW, I've heard that stuffing the bird also makes it more likely that the white and dark meat cook unevenly - which is why I'm doing it out of the bird, as dressing, this year. Cheers, Ian

*bump* Has anyone tried Lidia Bastianich's recipe (scroll down)? She cores the sprouts, discarding the core, and then separates the leaves. Sautee with peperoncino, garlic and lots of EVOO. Ian

Cook's Illustrated has a technique: 425 degrees for the first hour, flip it, 325 therafter. I'm still debating whether to stuff it or not, but it sounds like I'm better off not. Ian

I think one of Michael's points is that a media person might come on to a vitriolic thread, see that 'ianeccleston posted xxx on the influential egullet site' and have that make its way into a newspaper. If you have been on egullet long enough, you you would know which members to trust by reading many of their posts over time. New members you might judge by their writing style. For entire topics, you might see where the consensus falls into place before arriving at an opinion about Doug Psaltis, or how you will go about making your boeuf bourguignon next weekend. I suspect that many of the media members who write about food for magazines or newspapers regularly check in with egullet if they write about it, and have some sense of how egullet works, and probably wouldn't just arrive too quickly at a decision. In any case, if a reporter were to pluck quotes or take things out of context from egullet, standard journalistic practices would have to apply. After all, it IS an Internet site with anonymous members. It would be fair to say that a large number of egulleters don't like Rachael Ray (and have been mentioned as such in the press). But chef / writer gossip? At the most it seems like any reputable journalist would have to dig a bit deeper than anonymous posts. At its core, egullet is about the open exchange of opinions (and stories and so on). Anonymity facititates that, but is a double-edged sword: it either allows people to voice their honest opinion without fear of RL retaliation, or to demean or spew bile without RL repercussion (although these types of posts are generally not taken as seriously). Generally on egullet anonymity has been proven to be a good thing.

Commentary from a Chicago Tribune columnist

I think we're talking more about a Starbucks-type, coffehouse/cafe environment - one that caters to people there mostly to sit and drink coffee, but may also serve light food. Much more that than a restaurant or diner setting. As someone pointed out above, these environments are more likely to experience these sorts of issues, due to their generally less structured nature (armchairs facing out instead of tables where chairs face in, and so on). "Coffee shop," to me, connotes more of a diner atmosphere. BTW - this particular 'coffee shop' is half-way between a restaurant and a coffee shop. It's partly a high-end pastry/dessert bar and it's pretty small - only 8 tight tables or so. But there is a decent number of 'coffee to go' types as well, usually with some sort of line to the door.

I've done pretty large birds (20lbs) the past 4 or 5 years and used a high-heat method which literally halves the cooking time and have always gotten really positive feedback from guests...last year it was brined and high-heat roasted. although better, not significantly so. what sort of luck have other people had with high-heat/shorter time? ← How high? How long? Sounds interesting. Ian

Yes. Go with the 2 smaller birds. ← Thanks! Crap, now I have to figure out how to get two ovens going. Say in the interest of keeping sane on Thanksgiving I go with the one larger bird. On other threads I heard mention of cooking at 250 with a 400 degree finish in the last hour for larger birds - has anyone had success with this? Ian

Is there an ideal size of turkey for roasting? i.e. does a 12 pound bird cook more evenly and yield a juicier, tastier product than a 20 pound bird? (I prefer roasting a 3 lb. chicken to a 6 pounder). I'm considering roasting 2 12 pound turkeys instead of a 20 pounder, despite not having two ovens (well, I have two ovens available, but 3-4 city blocks separate the two) Ian

I remember the Hot Fish Shop, I think, but thought it was closer to the Twin Cities? A Google search turned up no mention of other locations, and I can't believe anyone else would have been using the same name circa 1975? In fact, I don't think I've ever been to Winona? SB (whose memory isn't that bad?)(yet)(I hope!) ← There was definitely a Hot Fish Shop right in Winona - my cousin used to work there. Alas, no more. But maybe there are other locations? Ian