Paul Fink

Anyone ever seen small chicken eggs in a store? We have medium, large, XLarge & Jumbo, but no small. My in laws always insist on having deviled eggs at holidays. And they follow the philosophy "bigger is better" I like deviled eggs but I want to do nice, small eggs. Yes, I've done deviled quail eggs ... way too much work ...

Interesting but I use a whisk to get whipped cream so i don't need nitrous oxide. I wonder how this effects the drag racing world. (They use nitrous oxide to boost horse power)

That would be the question that makes it questionable.

To me that sounds like a bad idea. The trimmings are to get rid of questionable meat. I won't save them.

one word: Wow!

The salt is used to dry the fish. Same for meat. The dried fish inhibits the growth of bacteria. I don't think we want salt cured foie gras. Curing salt contains sodium nitrite which inhibits bacteria without drying out the meat.

Thanks for the reply. I just recently joined the site. I was impressed when I saw folks quoting Gastronomique. But I may have been mistaken. I don't really endorse the Modernist Cuisine. I go for classical cuisine whether French or BBQ. BBQ isn't about cooking the perfect piece of meat. Its about a man, a fire, & smoke. Its a culture as much as a cuisine. Its taken me as long to learn to BBQ as it did to learn classical French cuisine. One standard methods of cooking St Louis ribs is term 321. 3 hours on the grate with full smoke. This is the time when the bark is formed. Then 2 hours wrapped in foil to finish cooking the ribs with out drying them out. Then they are unwrapped, glazed and put back on the smoker for an hour. This gives them a a nice finish.The smoker runs at about 225 ° If I understand what your doing, the best method maybe to substitute the time in foil with sous vide cooking. Then glaze and put in oven. yes I know that still requires a grill or a smoker but that's bbq

Rustwood, Thanks for answering my questions. I guess I'm just a smoke and fire guy.

I'm one of those that would say 'taint BBQ" The smoke makes the Q not the sauce. I don't use any sauce on my ribs. Just a rub and a glaze. You had me all fired up to talk BBQ and then you shot me down with "Sous Vide Pork Ribs" Oh well can I ask a question? The art of smoking ribs is to balance the times & temps so the fat gets rendered off and you get a good smoky bark. Does Sous Vide render off the fat? Do you sear them in an oven? I guess that was two questions I'm not trying to bash your post. The questions are genuine.

My point was that plain salt isn't a cure. Here is one recipe that uses pink salt: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/12/foie-gras-torchon-recipe.html In this recipe you "cook" the torchon for 2 minutes. Here is an interesting article comparing techniques: http://ruhlman.com/2011/05/how-to-make-torchon-recipe/ So I don't know... I guess you can use a curing salt or not. As far as microplaning goes, I agree with jmacnaughtan. A good foie gras should melt in the mouth so why microplane? I guess it adds a foie gras flavor without the patron having to eat "liver." I'm sure its very good but I just really love foie gras so microplaning seems like a tease.

All good ideas. Now I'm on track. I love the tortillas. I hadn't even though of a risotto ... my mouth is watering I think a duck confit & foie gras sandwich would be divine. Thanks

My wife discovered that Costco has D'Artagnans Duck Magret Breast and Duck Leg Confit at a great price. Six magret and six legs. We are planning a party. I have lots of ideas for the magret but I'm drawing a blank on the confit. Any ideas?

The recipes I found for Foie gras en torchon all use a curing salt. Ordinary salt won't kill bacteria. Curing salt or pink salt is used to cure ham, bacon, sausages etc. I would not serve raw frozen foie gras but then I won't miroplane it ether.

So, I searched French sites for "sauce vierge recette" and they all have a recipe for an olive oil based sauce. Except I found this one which is for "SAUCE MOUSSEUSE, DITE AUSSI BEURRE À LA VIERGE" translated means "FOAMY SAUCE, ALSO KNOWN AS BUTTER VIRGIN" http://www.cuisineetvinsdefrance.com/,sauce-mousseuse-dite-aussi-beurre-a-la-vierge,54606.asp So then I searched for "BEURRE VIERGE" and I got a couple of hits for a butter based sauce..

This unfortunately titled book changed my life. I always enjoyed cooking and idealized Julia Child & Jacque Pepin. But I was a typical home cook. I would see a recipe and try to duplicate it little understanding about what I was doing. Cooking the Nouvelle Cuisine in America talked about a philosophy of cooking. It showed me that there is more depth to cooking. A history. A philosophy. The recipes are very approachable and you can make them on a budget from grocery store ingredients. I read it as a grad student in Oregon, in the late 80's I had access to lots of fresh ingredients. And some very nice wines, cheap! I was suppose to be studying physics but I end up learning more about wine & cooking.