Margaret Pilgrim

Enter, The Cheat. I became interested in caneles after Pim wrote about them and gave impeccable instructions on her blog. But I never afforded myself the copper molds, nor had the patience to follow her lead. I fell over a silicone mold in France, and later the LA Times simplified recipe. and have been happy enough with the results.

Eat your hearts out, urban Sub-Zero techs! Boondock repairmen know how to get stuff done!

As a first time cook, I needed to get a meal on the table, after work and commute. I was absolutely turned off by JoC. Betty Crocker showed me how to do this with reliable results. I'm not at all sure that knowing the scientific why materially improves one's cooking. Observation and extrapolation possibly work as well.

Great flamekuechen in a home oven!

Totally subscribe to all of the caveats above. We built//installed an Italian pizza oven in the country. Lots of free fuel. Retired, supposedly lots of time. I wanted it also for cooking large hunks of meat and baked stuffs. It works a charm...but requires someone at attendance at all time. You don't leave a fire burning at these temps. It takes almost an hour to bring it up to temp. Great if you are feeding a small crowd, but from my end, shaping and topping pizza for a crowd is a LOT of work. Letting guests create their own is often a disaster as they overload and wind up with calzone. For wildfire reasons, we don't use in on hot summer days, and manning it in the rain is equally impractical. We've had it for around 16 years. Husband says we've now got the cost per pizza down to under $100, plus ingredients, maybe. I often make pizza on the floor of my kitchen oven since no one at the end of the day has much stomach for several hours attention to the pizza oven. Had the Ooni been available at the time we built, I'd have gone for it in a heartbeat. Our pizza oven is charming, for sure. But it gets little use. Husband, oven chef, adds you need at least 3 feet internal area to cook two pizzas at a time.

Live duck, yes. These ducks were dead, plucked, eviscerated. Just torque and cram. And they have special duck-sized plastic bags. You can buy bags of feet in front of many of these shops. Also chicken's. Used to be $1 a bag. Haven't noticed lately.

Husband is fond of saying "Piled higher and Deeper".

I always think back to sending DH to my favorite Chinese market to buy 2 ducks for a dinner party. Since few at the market spoke English, I sent him off with a 3x5 card on which I had drawn a duck head with neck, duck body and duck feet. I instructed him to choose 2 ducks, put them in plastic bags, pay for them, then return to the butcher counter and hand the nice man the card. Nice man cut up the ducks as shown and husband came home an accomplished shopper.

I will never forget the first time we went to a Korean barbeque, half a century ago. We were brought a slew, 8 or 10 tiny bowls of "little things". Thinking them appetizers, we scarfed them up, praising them to our server, who just nodded and smiled vaguely. Later we realized what we had done. But they were delicious none the less.

Bay Wolf (Oakland, CA) was a major player in California Cuisine. Their menu was in many ways "duck-centric", their being said to always have had a caldron of duck stock on the back burner. The cookbook, while dated, is a classic, with duck recipes that reflect a joyous culinary era. Bay Wolf was an early supporter and client of Liberty Farms and is saluted in The Whole Duck.

Thanks for this, b-d. The kindle version of look-inside has an excellent and complete segment on butchering a duck.

"I'll have what she's having!"

Agreed. When I say add oil, i mean between batches.

Absolutely preview them through your library if you can! This has saved me literally thousands of dollars.

I try to use as little oil as I can get by with, adding more if the pan starts to look too dry. re velveting, I am its slave! I have always been disappointed in my inability to brown thin slices of meat, like veal marsala or piccata. Then I started velveting chicken in Asian preparations. I simplify the technique, adding a tablespoon cornstarch to some soy/water or white wine or even broth. I separate the slices as I add then to hot fat (oil or butter), turn almost immediately as they sear very quickly AND a bonus are super tender.

Good morning, Ratatata. Welcome to a happy place. Since you seem to tolerate recipes with layers of preparation I feel safe in suggesting Jeremy Fox's "On Vegetables". This is not a vegetarian cookbook but rather an extraordinary collection of singular vegetable dishes. And not vegetable side dishes but important enough to be served as courses on their own. This would seem to me to work well with your annual dinners where you would surround the main protein with several of these stand-alone plates/bowls. And of course, they would serve you well as worthwhile suppers for you, year around. Most of these recipes are multi-stage, coming together at the end, as you suggest appeals to you.

Eugene threw us some curves. This thread needs to be read carefully so as not to confuse products.

This may be a bit of a generalization. In my experience in many Chinese shops, the dried shrimp smell is very strong, and the flavor very strong in shrimp rice noodle rolls. Like many foods, an acquired taste.

I rely on Trader Joe's (fresh) rack of New Zealand lamb, which is small and tender. I much prefer it to local, California lamb which is harvested much older. NZ lamb is similar to French lamb which is also harvested very young. in addition, TJ NZ lamb is cheaper than local. It's flavor is mild, so if you prefer a more gamey or muttony lamb it is not for you. But for sweet, gentle and tender rack or rib chops it is my first choice. (Costco is a close second but we gave up our membership.)

Thanks, Anna. I was late to the party and missed the original question/need.

Sane advice. Sight, smell and touch are your best cooking guides.

Leave it uncut and hope/pretend that in time it qualifies as "aged gruyere". Properly aged, the value increases in terms of months of age. Maybe you have invested in an annuity.

Flying in the face of smarter minds, forget the sodium citrate, and, after adding cheese, if it seems to be the type that coagulates, just add a teaspoon or so of white vinegar. Whisk and it should come together nicely.

Thread drift alert: Isn't it interesting how our shopping options vary? I am "Northern California spoiled" yet frequently read here of local product that makes me jealousl Our sharing enriches us all!

We were Bordier junkies for years, suitcasing their various seasoned butters home several times a year. In fact, I think I've finally gifted the remaining chunks hoarded in the freezer. At the moment, we're happy (happier) with local stuffs.