AlaMoi

go for the refund and hope you get it. there are no "recent" regulatory changes. in the US, few retailers will touch anything that has not been approved / has the UL seal (Underwriters Lab) - Canada may have it's own "UL" kind of safety requirements, but they are not new. nor is the Canadian theory of "North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)" - what that means to Canadian authorities is: Canadians can ship anything to the USA duty free, but anything shipped into Canada from the US gets hit with huge import tariffs. it is not a two way street. we stopped shipping to Canada because Fedex didn't collect the duties, and when the shipee didn't pay up, Fedex eventually billed us for duties, broker fees, fees fees, more fees fees, other fees fees, fees for charging a fee.... and there isd _NO_ Canadian manufacture/supplier of our type products - there is _NO_ domestic _ANYTHING_ to "protect." perhaps if you wrote your representative and asked what's up with NAFTA things would improve.

it comes from a slight bruising of the area typically from mechanical handling / packaging. the damage is already done, but may not be evident, when you pick it up in the store/vegetable stand. kept long enough, the bruised area(s) go brown. slice it off - proceed to chomp.....

and . . . quite a few "experts" don't recommend dry aging beef that has already been cut into steaks. the cut steaks are generally too thin, dry out too fast. now.... I've done it; for two-three days. but if you're going to dry your own, I suspect you'll have a lot more success with a large cut that you later trim & slice into steaks. I have serious doubts it will "... be able to replicate the awesome steaks you would get at a high end steakhouse."

Jaymes - the biggest issue in the entire discussion is people who have not clue #1 on how waitstaff are compensated. including people who claim to have been waitstaff and don't understand now - and presumed then - how the amount of their compensation was determined. and then the issue that state / local laws differ - in some places the waitstaff must be paid Federal / State / Local minimum wage _plus_ all the tipped amount (not widespread, but working on it....) there are people who are cheese lovers - and if you tell them the moon is made out of green cheese, not only will they believe it "because it's on the internet" but they'll be in the street protesting that the moon is being exploited and should be paid more for its cheese. you can't make this stuff up. it requires inbred smart phone / 140 character tweet mentality to carry it on.....

Prime Rib Chili..... left over slabs of prime rib is one of my all time favorite ingredients for a nice chili. here's the chili - it's as simple as it gets. way more satisfying that a forty hour cook with twenty-nine half teaspoons of "somethings" 2 cans dark red kidney beans 1 can diced tomato - garden fresh is _way_ better, but tricky in North American Decembers.... 1 cup chopped onion 0.5 cup diced green pepper seasoned with 2+ tablespoons chili powder + 2-3 bay leaves + s&fgp to taste drain and reserve the juice from the beans and tomato. with a little oil, saute the green pepper&onion. add beans & tomato & seasoning use reserved liquid to keep pot moist / adjust consistency to preference. simmer about 2 hours to meld flavors. amount of salt will depend on the beans&tomato products used.....use a spoon, taste it.... now, previously I would chunk up some left-over prime rib and toss it in the pot to warm through toward the end. this year I got more adventuresome and browned the prime rib cubes to develop of fond-for-flavor. do NOT do this! see pix - no clue as to how they will upload. the prime rib got hard and chewy from the excessive heat. the chili taste was fine, but I ruined the beef.

http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?keyword=Chocolates+2%3A+Ganache%3A+Great+Ganache+Experience&mtype=B&hs.x=35&hs.y=30

aaaaaaah. thanks for the (video) tip. it is a bit more involved - I'll have to give it a go and compare. I'm suspecting the mascarpone is the key to 'duplicating' the sauce consistency/richness.

(sigh) it's blurred out by a you-must-join-screen that's uncloseable.

we're on our third or fourth gorge with this recipe - it's pretty darn simple and really good: (originally attributed to Giada De Laurentiis) roughly one pound of chicken - breast or whatever you prefer. cut into large chunks, salt, brown in (olive) oil - get a nice color but do not cook through - pink/super rare in the middle is best. remove the chicken from the pan, add one cup medium chopped onion - I like to use 50:50 yellow onion and leek - salt a bit; saute until translucent. add 2-3 cloves finely diced garlic. chop slice (I meant...) and add one pound of (edit: sliced) cremini mushrooms; no substitutes! it's a major flavor to the dish. salt pepper lightly, when the onion+mushroom mix is about out of liquid, add one cup dry (Florio) marsala reduce by half then add 2-3 tablespoons Dijon mustard + 8 ounces by weight mascarpone cheese. stir to incorporate, reduce heat, cut chicken chunks to bite size, add back to pan. simmer at a low heat until the chicken has warmed through. I like it served over fettuccine - but other pasta per preference. it's about a 40 minute start to eat dish - 10 minutes chicken prep&brown; 20 minutes for the onion&mushroom mix; 10 minutes to heat through. one pound of mushrooms will make enough for two plus a left over lunch on toast.

I take the easy way - I make&freeze a 1:1 roux. wrapped in aluminum foil to avoid unwanted flavors. I stock a log roll of blonde and a log roll of dark. lop off a chunk & toss it in the pot. no thick enough, lop off another bit..... keeping in mind the theory that the fat coats the flour particles so they swell&thicken without becoming glue, seems one would need to do a lot of fork mixing raw flour&butter.

my preference is to keep them in plain old .txt files - it avoids the "OMG my recipe software isn't upgrading to Windows 635.2" .txt existed pre-MicroSoft, pre-DOS, and will likely remain easily readable / editable across thousands of platforms in the future.

it's a bit of a confusing mess. Rosenstiel bought up a lot of the distilleries. depending on reference, could have started in 1924.... other than "Schenley, PA" there is no reference to any other company on the label or box. Rosenstiel supposedly named his NYC based company after the location (Schenley) - Schenley Products is also cited as having a distillery in Indiana - so the box maker out of Elkhart would make sense - even if it was produced/bottled not in PA... Finch is also cited some places as being a leading distillery right up thru the late 1940's - actually through the war period. but I have not found a definitive source that says the Jos Finch distillery in Schenley, PA, was in business from year X to year Y. and since it's a blend - the source booze could come from nearly anywhere, bottled anywhere, it's just a brand/label. there does not seem to be a single encompassing chunk of info - it's scattered about and dates/events appear to conflict. I did trip across a site offering a 1920's era plain jane no label still in bond bottle - for $340!

here's a poser for the history experts.... my grandparent's family were teetotalers - absolute, no exceptions - I don't know the 'source' of their convictions but they were convicted. flashback decades...Christmas. My great aunt was seeing a fella, he brought my great uncle a bottle as a Christmas gift. My great aunt had a conniption fit - confiscated the bottle, hid the bottle - where it remained until she died in 1986 at 92. the Christmas Gift Tag is still in the box...... a pix - Golden Wedding Rye - Jos. S. Finch & Co, Inc - Schenley, PA that's a District of Columbia tax stamp - 1/4 gallon - there's no dates on the Federal stamp across the cap, but it shows a number "51-1879548" imprinted in black on the rose colored stamp. the only date clues I can find are on the front label AL-1703-C on the front label AL-1703-1E (10-40) underneath I thought perhaps the AL-1703 was a license/plant number - but there's a strong suspicion it is a label ID number. on a minor flap of the carton itself: American Coating Mills, Inc; Elkhart, Ind. adjacent to the die position number is "J-40" - the carton notation "J-40" is curious, given January June and July, one would think they might be a bit more specific. the 40 could be 1940 - the time frame could be right - I would have thought it a bit earlier however this site http://www.bourbonbanter.com/bourbon-advertising/golden-wedding-whiskey-ad-circa-1941/#.Vlx1j79Aepo shows a 1941 ad - my box has the same crystal decanters (not in that rack) on the back - same decanter tags & text - so the 1940-1941 date appears 'documented' - the label on my bottle has RYE in bold letters under the crown decoration - this is absent in the ad pix. company timeline here: http://www.bourbonenthusiast.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1776 any ideas if this has any value? (I'll pass on the drinking it idea....)

thanks RM - the web said nothing available, but restos don't always open 100% to the web. ref: Disney doesn't book.... I called the Hotel and they gave me the direct +Victoria&Albert's number, 407-939-3862 iffin anybody else needs it. turns out the Chef's Table option is closed all of January for renovations. not a single thing available comma anyway. but they did wait list us. need to pry around the other suggestions in the thread and see what we can come up with.

it'll be just the two of us we have one night not booked with other activities. time to time we do a biggie vacation and try to 'experience' the 'famous' - sometimes it works, sometimes is does not work. I tried contacting The French Laundry for almost a year - the web site was 'down for renovations' - so was their phone - so was their email - so was their USPS delivery - the responded to _nothing._ actually I'm very un-set on DizzyDining - the prime reason I initially passed on V&A - sometimes the spin doctors outdo themselves....

thanks for that list - this is going to be a big family to-do, so we have only one night "free." hopefully it will not be our last meal (g) - someplace decent will work - based on further readings.... I did try for Victoria and Albert's. they list a xxx-7707 phone for reservations; call there, it rings though to "Disney Dining" and the phone person was unfamiliar with the name, looked and looked, hemmed & hawed, hold please , , , and finally informed me that as far as she could determine they don't do reservations for Victoria and Albert's. tried the on-line site, nothing is available; phones go no where - it's apparently like the French Laundry - so famous it just does not need customers anymore. so, we'll find another spot. seafood sounds good -

..that is all . . . the fine stuff is all but "flour" - using cream vs water will make for richer, or adding melted butter, etc. however, the biggest influence is the grind methinks - coarse is about on par with the chunky consistency of grits - which is actually my preference, but that's just chewy-me.... I make it, pour it in a salmon can to set up (tapered, comes out easy...) then slice & fry up for breakfast. polenta as a bed / side indeed can indeed require a different handling of 'the base ingredient'

there's fine / medium / coarse grind of corn meal available. see http://www.bobsredmill.com/fine-grind-cornmeal.html for silky, you want the finest grind you can get.

we're going to be in Disney World early January 2016 - something about marathons, whatever. anywhey... a dinner night for 'something else' is reserved. I found four options: Victoria-Alberts Normans Venetian Christini's Victoria-Albert despite the favorable ratings/comments/etc - I've tended to rule out (Chef's Table....) based on the fact that it is a Disney property and the Disney imagineers can make anything sound good. the Venetian web site is uninspiring. we're leaning to Christini's. first hand experiences / comments appreciated!

the "boiling point" of water / liquids decreases under vacuum. if you are "boiling" ice water that is one super vacuum machine, and that is the problem. to much of a good thing - including "nothing" aka "vacuum" is not always better. the point of the "vacuum" bit is simply to remove excess "free air" - it would appear your set-up is going way way far overboard.

I, for one, will not miss him or the show. which I agree with multiple sentiments - is currently on the doomed list. I found his approach so superficial and seemingly uniformed as to be totally dismissive. it came across as "I am me and I am my own expert and you are you and since you're watching here's what you should think." if one goes back to the old Consumer Reports (dropped it long time ago, no clue as to their current mode) they would explain what they tested and how they tested it - and then the ratings / rankings / results. if one had a brain, one could decipher whether or not what they did applied to one's situation. ATK runs along the lines of "We did everything and this is the best" - or perhaps more accurately "this is the one that paid us the best sponsorship." the few times I sat through the program I was left thinking: "What planet does this dude cook on?"

...potted.... dump that idea - bring it inside it's (semi-)tropical - it does not do 'dormant' the cheap&flimsy 'greenhouses' (if you can call it that....) do not do wind well. both rosemary and thyme (a bit dependent on variety) do mild winters well.

thanks for the lead - these will live in the basement; a stainless metro style rack would be a consideration but plated is not likely to resist the higher humidity. the basement is dry - no water intrusion - and I run a dehumidifier in the summer - but here is 90-90 land in summer.....

appreciate the input. I'm thinking a back rail with dowel uprights as a separator, a front rail with 'round notches' for the neck, cork down.... all that said.... a flat of concrete reinforcing mesh, a loaf of bread, chunk of cheese, can of spray paint . . . could make for a real quick&dirty solution. that I over build/engineer/think things is not a thought my DW would contest.... last century I did a consulting job for a big-name winery. I remember they had nine sizes of shipping cases (more, but those nine were 99.9999999999999999%) of the volume. but, unclever me - I never inquired about the bottles inside....

"hammering" causes "work hardening" - which makes the copper less prone to bending, etc (copper is rather soft) - so that's a good tip. the same effect can be produce by careful heat treating - and frankly I'm rather dubious that kind of "deep drawing" - creating the depth of the sink from a flat sheet.... is "handwork" - more like a 50 ton stamping press. I appreciate your 'we're fussy about it' approach - it would not work for me - but that's why the world goes a round and doesn't go a square....