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forever_young_ca

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Posts posted by forever_young_ca

  1.  

    Using the knife to put food into one's mouth is common

     

     

    It might be common but it is very bad table manners, I don't care who does it!.  This is not a predilection nor a hang up, it is simply knowledge of proper table manners.

     

    See one of the many links on table manners "Your knife should never enter you mouth or be licked"  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_manners

     

    I would also put forth that it is not common practice, but something done by a minority.  Just because a TV personality or a "gourmand" does it, does not automatically make it right. 

     

    BTW - it is also considered a dangerous practice.

    • Like 2
  2. I do dine in many classy expensive restaurants, and in my opinion bad manners are not exclusive to less expensive restaurants.  I was in a very expensive restaurant the other day and saw a diner put food onto the blade of her knife and then put the knife, blade forward, into her mouth.   I also saw one of the judges on Top Chef Canada do the same thing - not only once, but twice!.  I guess this is another pet peeve. :hmmm:

  3. My pet peeve is men who wear baseball caps in restaurants.  I don't know why this should bother me so much, but it does.  I  remember an era when it was considered extremely bad manners for men to wear hats indoors - they were always to be removed when entering a building, and never in a restaurant.   Now dirty looking baseball hats are worn everywhere, frontwards and backwards, and it seems to be acceptable to sit at the dinner table with one on - ugh!!!!!!!!

    • Like 2
  4. Since this book has a thread of its own, I will share some comments on the two that I have made

    Saturday White Bread. I loved the bread - however, I felt that the dough was quite stiff and a tad difficult to mix properly. It was so stiff, I wondered if I had measured something wrong, but I had been fairly careful, (not my usual bread baking slap dash routine.) Next time I make it I think I would increase the hydration on it just a bit.

    The overnight whole wheat with polish that I made was less stiff and nicer to work with. One loaf froze beautifully and I refreshed the bread in a hot oven when I took it out of the freezer. The crust came out nice and crispy. The bread has a lovely nutty whole wheat flavour and texture. I did not have wheat germ or wheat bran in the house so substituted 70 gr oat bran. I also found it to be a good keeper - over a few days.

    So far I am really enjoying this book, as it has enabled me to bake professional looking and tasting loaves at a fraction of the price of store bought artisan bread.

  5. In spite of my resolution to not buy more cookbooks I have purchased "Flour Water Salt Yeast" - and am very glad I did. The first bread I made was the Saturday White Bread. With this recipe I made one loaf of bread, pizza and a small cheese focaccia. All were great.

    Last night I started the polish for the Harvest Bread and baked it today. I can say that it is the best whole wheat bread that I have ever made. I did not have what germ or wheat bran, but substituted 70 grams of oat bran. The loaf was tasty and light with a terrific crust.

    I would post a picture, but could not figure out how to do it! if someone can tell where I can find instructions it would be appreciated. I am fairly computer savvy and have posted pictures in the past, but can not remember how I did it.

    I am determined to work my way through this book. I find the descriptions on the pincer method, folding the dough and shaping the loaves really helpful. There also exists U tube videos with Ken Forkish demonstrating. A picture is worth a thousand words.

    I will try Costco next time I need flour as it seems to be much cheaper. Thanks Anne_T for the tip.

  6. Thanks Ann_T. I ended up using plastic wrap as well as that is what I had on hand. The turkey was great, and I will do this method again.

    I am surprisingly a convert to cooking the dressing outside of the bird as well. I resisted this for years but I have to admit I preferred the result to that cooked inside. I used homemade turkey stock, but I felt the dressing was not as heavy as that cooked inside the bird and had a better flavour. It had the added benefit of being put together the night before and being less fuss when I was trying to juggle getting everything on the table hot at the last minute.

  7. Brown Hornet - I have not tried the dry-brining method before, but after reading these posts and the linked articles I am looking forward to trying a dry brine this year.

    Just a word of caution - if you try the dry brining method be careful with the type of salt. The recipe calls for kosher salt I think because it is very dissolvable. I used a large granule kosher salt. If you use a small granule I think you may end up over salting

  8. I thought I would report back on the Thanksgiving turkey that I cooked. I used Judy rogers presalting method linked by Anne T above. It was easy and resulted in a delicious and moist turkey. In addition to the presalting, at cooking time I layered butter under the skin of the breast and put onion and parsley in the cavity. The skin was beautifully crisp. I will do this method again.

    For the first time ever I made the stuffing separate. I never thought I would admit this, but I preferred it to being cooked in the bird. I made Anne Burrell's cornbread stuffing and everyone asked for the recipe.

  9. Thanks to all who replied. After some thought, I have decided to use the Judy Rogers method.

    Anne T - how long do you leave it in the fridge for the skin to dry out? I have not been able to find the large plastic bags in Canada - have you?

    One more question - do you have a preferred salt that you use?

    Now I just have to figure out the side dishes...............

    • Like 1
  10. But I do prefer to bake the dressing separate from the bird.

    ~Ann

    A bit off the brining topic, but still Thanksgiving - I have done the dressing both inside and outside of the bird. This year I am going to do it outside of the bird. In an attempt to save oven space I was thinking of making it in the crock pot. I have never done this before, and don't have a good handle on the time required. Has anybody done this? If so, how long, temperature, etc?

  11. I have used the pre salting method on other meats, I don't know why I did not think of it for the Thanksgiving turkey. :rolleyes:

    Ann_T do you do the dressing outside or inside of the bird?

    I am intrigued by this method as well as Keith_W's straight injection method.

    Both methods seem to be less trouble than finding a bucket large enough to hold the turkey and brine and then try to keep the bird cold while soaking. I live on the west coast of Canada and it is not cold enough to safely leave it on the deck overnight. With the other two methods I can easily keep the turkey in the fridge.

  12. October 14 is Canadian Thanksgiving. I have always cooked my turkey the way my mother did - no brining, stuffing in the bird.

    For this year's bird I am thinking of brining using Alton Brown's method. Has anyone tried it?

    I am worried about the gravy being too salty. I will make my own stock and will not add salt to it.

    What is your experience with brining birds? There is undoubtedly a previous thread on this, but I was unable to find it doing a search.

    Any advice would be appreciated. I will be feeding 11 people, doing about a 16 lb. bird

  13. I buy Parmigiano-Reggiano in huge blocks at Costco. The block is too large for us to finish before turning hard and mouldy. My solution has been to cut it into manageable blocks and freeze. I then take out a block and use it as wanted over the course of a few days.. Perhaps this may work for you....... I generally use my microplane grater for parmesan as it grates nice and small. I think I have tried grating from the frozen state when desperate, but it takes a strong arm.

  14. This may be a stupid question stemming from a misunderstanding of the program - does the program not allow you to add wine that is not on their list? Was there a reason you could not manually add your 2010 Bodegas Juan Gil to your cellar list, instead of trying to pick from their predetermined selection?

    I am (perhaps naively) assuming that a user is not stuck with only their database, no matter how large and extensive it may be.......

  15. I would be interested in knowing why Cellartracker customer service has let you down?

    We have used "Cellar" for many, many years and it has been great (I don't think it is available anymore.) Because of Cellartrackers positive reviews in many forums and large data base we have been thinking of making the change, but your comments have given me pause........

    Obviously ease of changeover, mobile capability, and a large data base are key considerations.

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