slkinsey

Thanks Extra! Very interesting.

Welcome to eGullet, torchef. You think the production of Foie gras is not the most humane? Compared to what? I'll tell you something... if I had to choose between living a life as a Tyson chicken or as a Hudson Valley Farms duck, I'd choose to be the duck in a second. I think that the treatment of ducks raised for foie gras is probably 1000 times better than the treatment of most animals raised for food.

Okay, guys... there is at least one other major thread about children in restaurants... so let's keep discussion in this thread about Riingo.

I think it is a misconstruction of "beaten."

It's not exactly in NYC, but sources tell me that there is a big sale going on from 10 'till 2 on Saturday, February 14 at Ole Ole Warehouse. If you have a car, it's definitely worth checking out. Details and discussion may be found in this thread.

jariggs, I set out to debunk you, but in the end I can't really tell if the 15% is true or not. Found an interesting link about how much nutrition is available in a raw potato, though: http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/Jun20...50086.Bc.r.html FWIW, raw potato starch is not digestible by humans. That could be a good thing. So how many digestible calories does a raw potato have? Yes, I imagine it could be a good thing from a weight-control standpoint (although I might be concerned that some gut bacteria would start fermenting the stuff with the expected results). I was mostly speaking to jariggs' assertion that raw potato is only 15% digestible -- which figure seems reasonable to me.

I use Frantoia Barbera as my "house" evoo, and can attest to its quality (looks like this). Big flavor, big nose, lots of olive character. It's an unfiltered Sicilian olive oil. I get it here at Fairway for around $US14/liter (~£UK7.60?), which I consider quite cheap. It is an excellentm excellent oil, although not at the level of a top-shelf boutique Tuscan or Ligurian evoo.

jariggs, I set out to debunk you, but in the end I can't really tell if the 15% is true or not. Found an interesting link about how much nutrition is available in a raw potato, though: http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/Jun20...50086.Bc.r.html FWIW, raw potato starch is not digestible by humans.

I have been using the KitchenAid meat grinder attachment for a few years now, and am hoping to step up to something a little more powerful and serious. Since I am grinding meat on a more-or-less weekly basis, it seems like a reasonable investment to sink some money into a stand-alone electric powered meat grinder. The reason I am grinding so much meat these days, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future, is that I grind whole chickens (bones, skin, organs, etc.) for my ferrets. Since they are primary carnivores they are evolved to eat whole prey, which includes the bones, etc. Unfortunately, my KA mixer (I have the most "heavy duty" model) frequently locks up when attempting this task, and I have to stop frequently to clear the grinder of whatever it is that is clogging it up. What I would like is something with the power to keep on grinding through the bones without breaking a sweat. So... any recommendations? What's the best/most powerful powered meat grinder for home use?

All that said, egg shells are porous enough to allow through flavors and colors from the cooking liquid. Try hard cooking eggs together with some sliced beets, for example. One way my parents used to make Easter eggs was by tying onion skins around the eggs with thread and cooking them that way. This resulted in a mottled shell in various shades of brown, and the color plus a mild onion flavor went all the way through to the whites of the eggs.

Just FYI, whatever amount of salt you might add to the water, it will only affect the boiling temperature less than one degree.

Bux, I believe, is a great admirer of the pizza-like product at SSB. Might be worth a little trip some time. Do they bake to-order, or are they premade?

There is also the issue that simmering a stock with the lid off supposedly allows for the evaporation of certain undesirable volatiles that would remain behind in covered stock. Aren't covered stocks supposed to have a "vegetal" taste?

Exactly what Adam said... In Emilia Romagna the pasta is traditionally fresh, made with eggs and "doppio zero" ("00") flour, which is "softer" than American "all purpose" flour because it contains less protein. 00 flour is available in America, but difficult to find. One can simulate 00 flour by mixing 1 part cake flour with 3 parts AP flour -- although fresh pasta made with straight AP flour is very good. Emilia Romagnan fresh pasta is not (sorry Culatello) traditionally made with semolina. Further South, most pasta is traditionally of the dried, die-extruded variety, made with water and duram flour, which is "harder" than American "all purpose" flour because it contains more protein. Duram flour is available in America, and one can buy "home extruder" machines. Making pasta asciutta at home is kind of pointless, however, as the packaged varieties are always going to be better.

@SQC always does a fine job, as you know. Aix is very good, and always interesting. Ouest, as previously mentioned. But, by and large, yea... there is a serious dearth of quality restaurants at a certain level.

One of the best things to do is to fillet them + put them in a dish all in one layer. Then squeeze the juice of several lemons over the top + let stand in the refrigerator for a few hours. After that, cover with good evoo and a hefty pinch of crushed red pepper + let stand a few more hours. Remove from the refrigerator, spinkle with chopped parsley (and/or oregano and/or marjoram, if you like), allow it to come up to room temp and eat. Delicious.

Interesting... I really enjoyed all the little bites (loved the oysters), but the veal "fillet mignon" dish didn't do so much for me. It does make a spectacular visual presentation because it is truly gigantic, but in the end it is mostly bone. I wasn't quite sure what it was about it that made it worth ten dollars more than a typical osso buco. I guess I have to admit that it would have appealed to me a lot more had it been priced at 26 dollars instead of 36. I'll be interested to try it again sometime. There are definitely a lot of interesting ideas coming out of the kitchen.

The Samhattan 1-1/2 oz Maker's Mark bourbon 1-1/2 oz vanilla-infused bourbon* 1/2 oz Vya sweet red vermouth 1/2 oz Vya extra dry white vermouth 1 dash Fee Brothers aromatic bitters Shake with cracked ice; strain into chilled cocktail glass and serve. Garnish with small piece of vanilla bean split 3/4 of the way down the middle. A variation is the Orange Dreamsicle Manhattan: replace .5 oz of vanilla-infused bourbon with orange peel-infused bourbon. Garnish with orange peel. *Make several small slits with a knife in 15 vanilla beans, place in a fifth of Maker's Mark and age ~3 months. Can add small amount of simple syrup. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG842 )

The Samhattan 1-1/2 oz Maker's Mark bourbon 1-1/2 oz vanilla-infused bourbon* 1/2 oz Vya sweet red vermouth 1/2 oz Vya extra dry white vermouth 1 dash Fee Brothers aromatic bitters Shake with cracked ice; strain into chilled cocktail glass and serve. Garnish with small piece of vanilla bean split 3/4 of the way down the middle. A variation is the Orange Dreamsicle Manhattan: replace .5 oz of vanilla-infused bourbon with orange peel-infused bourbon. Garnish with orange peel. *Make several small slits with a knife in 15 vanilla beans, place in a fifth of Maker's Mark and age ~3 months. Can add small amount of simple syrup. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG842 )

Ronnybrook is the place from the Green Market. Their milk is so superior to regular mass-produced milk that it is hardly the same product.

I'm interested too! Making mozzarella does not take long. Other cheeses, needless to say, take a lot longer. Might be fun to make some cheese and then make some pizza with the cheese right away. Mozzarella starts to decline in quality almost from the very moment it is made. Might also be interesting to try it with different milks. Goat mozzarella, anyone?

will it be no good if it isnt straight gauge? or have i misunderstood what this is about? Part of what makes a sauteuse evasee so good at reducing liquids has to do with the heat that is conducted into the liquid at the sides. Take a look at this comparison: I wouldn't say that a sauteuse evasee is useless unless it is straight gauge... but I personally wouldn't want one that wasn't.

It's a little bit difficult for me to separate best pasta from best pasta sauce. The best artisinal dry pastas are, of course, available to all of us, and cooking them well is simply a matter of experience and good taste. By and large, I think the best dry pasta dishes are simple and to the point (Esca's spaghetti with clams, for example). I can't say that I have ever had a dry pasta dish in any restaurant anywhere that I couldn't (and haven't) execute just as well, if not better in my own home. I still have yet to eat bucatini all'amatriciana that compares with the one I make. More complex fresh pasta dishes, and especially stuffed pasta dishes are another story. Of all the NYC places I've eaten, Babbo consistently succeeds in coming up with combinations I would not have imagined and a quality of fresh pasta that surpasses my own abilities. Lupa also makes some great fresh pasta dishes (tagliatelli with cultured butter from Tuscana and nothing else is amazing).

Okay... Owen? Who the hell carries around yogurt in his pocket?

What about using it in cocktails?