[How should I cook this expensive steak?]

On 2/12/2017 at 10:17 PM, FeChef said:

Get that cast iron hot as hell and sear it with a tbsp of salted butter for one minute per side (or until you get a nice crust). The transfer to a 250F deg oven until it probes 130F. Let it rest covered for 5 minutes and enjoy.

That's close to what I would do. Add fresh ground pepper.

And I would use a hotter oven but the lower oven should give a nice even cook.

 

I guess my only change would be the 130° I would want that baby nice and pink 120°

[What the kitchen thinks about you.]

On 2/12/2017 at 11:23 AM, Chris Ward said:

Cooks are, by and large, not People Persons.

I enjoyed your post. Well done

[Knife techniques]

18 minutes ago, dcarch said:

Unless you work for a restaurant or a food supply business, there is no need to be fancy with knife skills. All the cutting onions 10 lbs in 10 seconds can be impressive, but no practical use in a normal kitchen. Rocking motion, slicing motion all can work well. 

dcarch

 

well many cooks, most, have terrible knife skills but they manage.

But if you have decent knife skills you can be lots more productive.

And your product will be better, more uniform cooking, better mouth feel. 

Knife skills are just just that .. a skill. You need to spend the time to learn it.

[Knife techniques]

That rocking motion is how I learned to cut. To me its the basic slice.

There are many good posts here. My suggestion is to buy 5# of carrots

and a box of band aides. Practice, Practice, Parctice

[Salted Pasta Water: How Much Salt.]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

 Now as for kosher salt.  I think very few connect the name to the act of koshering. I think it has become a code name for coarse salt.  "Kosher" sounds so much more gentile than "coarse".  All puns intended.

 

Coarse and not treated with iodine. Salts differ. Its important to select a salt so you get a feel for how much to use with out a recipe.

I never use "Kosher" I use Baleine, fine or coarse.

[Salted Pasta Water: How Much Salt.]

If the sea has a %3 salinity you would need a couple a tablespoons per Quart

[The Fresh Pasta Topic]

12 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Meanwhile back to pasta. 

 

Looks great. The sage butter sauce make my mouth water.

[The Fresh Pasta Topic]

2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Well, if it is 25mm diameter, that's 1.25cm radius, so pi r square and all of that, the Norpro should hold 6.17cc or 1.25 teaspoons.

 

That would be the area not the volume. Volume for a ball that's 25mm in diameter would be 8.2ml.

Half of that would be 4.1ml or just under a tsp.

 

[Open Forum on Food Politics]

8 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

Not milk related, but food related, and something I know a bit about.

Back in the 1980s Ralph Gamber who ran  Dutch Gold Honey in Lancaster,PA....which mostly packed shitty Chinese honey....attempted to spark legislation that would outlaw hand capping of honey bottles by small producers, effectively eliminating a lot of competiton because automatic capping equipment is so expensive.

There isn't a DAMN thing wrong with hand capping  a bottle of honey.

That's just ONE example.

Greedy! Greedy! Greedy!

 

Good point.

[Open Forum on Food Politics]

I have a hard time figuring out how big corporations would benefit from banding French cheeses.

Oh I can't get morbier  I guess I'll buy kraft.???

 

This just over regulation.

[Potato Puree, Mashed Potatoes, Pommes]

21 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Last night I tried using my new WMF potato ricer.  Can't say I was thrilled.  After steaming I cut my potato into three pieces.  It took almost more pressure than I could exert to rice them.  The texture wasn't dreadful, but not as smooth as I can obtain with a traditional spiral wire masher.

 

Next time I suppose I could try forcing the riced potatoes through a tamis, though that would be an awful lot of work for what I would suspect is not much gain.

 

 Sounds like you need to cook the potatoes more.

[Open Forum on Food Politics]

12 minutes ago, paul o' vendange said:

Will need to read these to understand better what's going on. 

 

You are correct but to me its simple. Government bureaucrats deciding what is best for me.

I won't mind education or warning labels but banning cheeses that have been produced for hundreds of years is ridiculous.

I suppose next it will be prosciutto or serrano hams.

Soon we all be eating Kraft processed cheese.

[Open Forum on Food Politics]

Well I figured out why I can't find my beloved French cheeses.

You got it, its the FDA. 

Quote

 In 2014, the FDA stopped French cheeses like Roquefort, St. Nectaire, Morbier and Tomme de Savoie from coming into the country. 

http://www.foodrepublic.com/2016/05/03/why-is-the-u-s-government-waging-a-secret-war-against-french-cheese

I'm not sure what the current status of the FDA band is but I miss my cheeses. 

Maybe Trump will fix it all.

[What's New in Kitchen Gadgets?]

9 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

New to me but probably not exactly new, I just bought a WMF potato masher:

 

http://www.wmf.com/en/potato-masher-0610809990.html

 

Looks like an overgrown garlic press on steroids.  The funny thing is I cannot determine the country of origin.  Neither from the tool itself, the manufacturer's website, the packaging materials, nor amazon.  Does anybody have a clue?

 

We call this a potato ricer. Work great for family meals. If making more a food mill is faster

 

WMF is a German company. Where you potato ricer is manufactured is anybody's guess

[Smithey Ironware]

I'm from Minnesota and all my caste iron is Lodge from the local Fleet & Farm store.

[No Morbier]

12 hours ago, Smithy said:

@Paul Fink, have you checked with Surdyk's? I haven't been there in a few years, but they used to have an excellent selection of cheeses.

Thanks, I just went there yesterday ... no morbier

[No Morbier]

34 minutes ago, TicTac said:

You would have to share where you are located, clearly; in order for anyone to offer further assistance...however, here in Toronto there are numerous cheese shops that sell Morbier (and even some mass 'supermarkets').

Sorry, I am in Minneapolis MN I have also tried a cheese shop in Bolder CO

[No Morbier]

I found french Morbier  online so its sold in the US.

I used to be able to find it at a number of local retailers.

Now nothing. 

[No Morbier]

Its been years since I seen a good Morbier.

I had some domestic cheeses that claimed to be morbier but they where pretty bad.

The local cheese shop said  the don't have any.

Is there some kind of shortage? Embargo? 

[Portioning Parmesan]

On 1/17/2017 at 6:34 AM, Anna N said:

I know Mark Bittman has a recipe for a parmesan stock though I have never attempted it. 

 

Looks great. I'll have to find a reason to use it.

Thanks

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017134-prosciutto-parmesan-stock

 

[Apples in savory dishes]

Poulet Vallée d'Auge is a wonderful chicken dish with apples, calvados & a creamy mushroom sauce. 

I use dry apple cider rather than white wine when cooking chicken or turkey.

[The Quintessential eG Kitchen Tips/Trucs]

Are we headed to germ phobia?

We've had e coli in tomatoes. Not on, in.

We even had a e coil  outbreak  in lettuce.

 

No amount of pealing, scrubbing, or ultrasonic cleaning will eliminate such problems 

[Cheese (2008– )]

I need a crumbly goat cheese to use in a duck tortilla.

There's no chilies in the tortilla, Just duck magret, the cheese

and a cherry salsa made from cherries, lime & cilantro.

I need a goat cheese with a wide appeal (in laws are coming).

[The Quintessential eG Kitchen Tips/Trucs]

I use a vegetable brush. Crazy huh? 

A green, 3M scouring pads work great for things like new potatoes. Is that "a bit of green?"

[Store bought salsa and chips]

Desert Pepper 2 olive roasted garlic salsa for me.

With Garden of Eden chips, blue or yellow.