slkinsey

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. Just kept forgetting about it, so... I think you're right to get a disk bottom pan in this size. In fact, you may find that you never make so much sauce that you require a fully clad pan in this size. Just one thing to mention... a 3.5 quart pan is way too small for boiling pasta. In my opinion, and understanding your probable use... probably no advantage to having a copper base.

Congratulations, dude. This can now be a celebratory dinner!

IMO, a tomato sauce would just obscure the delicate flavor of the seafood. Ricotta and shrimp/scallops doesn't do too much for me either. I'd be inclined to chop them both, with herbs and maybe a little pureed potato for the filling -- then do a simple brown butter, perhaps with a few capers. That's my two cents.

This is quite typical for a polished stainless steel surface. Get yourself some Bar Keeper's Friend and those stains will come off in no time. As I pointed out earlier in this thread, Induc'inox is magnetic steel fully clad with stainless steel, and it is around 2 mm thick. This specification is not great from a thermal standpoint because magnetic steel does not have good heat characteristics over traditional heat. As you have discovered, this is readily apparent in a pan with a large cooking surface like a sauté pan. You're cooking over ~2 mm of magnetic steel, which is way too thin. I'd much rather have 4 mm (minimum) to 7 mm (preferred) of aluminum or 2 - 2.5 mm of copper down there. Even 2 mm of aluminum (as in All-Clad Stainless) would be better than 2 mm of magnetic steel over standard heat, and I think even that is more appropriate to a small (1 - 2 qt) sauce pan or similar. I personally wouldn't recommend an Induc'inox sauté pan, or indeed any pan from this line for anyone who is not currently using induction. These pans are designed to be used with induction, and the thermal properties are not good over a traditional heat source. Yes. Both results are entirely expected given the materials specifications for a Mauviel Indic'inox sauté pan.

I'm going with a very ecumenical menu: New England clam chowder and baby back ribs.

Many of you are already in the know, but for those that aren't... We at eGullet would like to direct your attention to Elyse's new web site: The Burger Club. At The Burger Club, Elyse has taken her considerable enthusiasm for burgers and all things burger-related and developed an entire range of discussion forums. We are happy that the BC idea fell on fertile ground here at eGullet, and hope that The Burger Club grows into a thriving online community. All interested eGulleteers are encouraged to explore The Burger Club and join the fun. Many of the core NYC Burger Clubbers are already involved in discussion on The Burger Club, and there is already an existing thread underway on today's NYC outing. In order to avoid the confusion of a bifurcated discussion about the same gathering taking place on two different sites, and to encourage membership registration at Elyse's new site, we have decided to lock this thread and ask that BC/NY conversation be continued over at The Burger Club. Please join us in welcoming Elyse's Burger Club site into the family of what we hope will one day be many web sites grown out of ideas born in our forums.

Okay... reading one of JJ's links above, it looks like a trip to First Avenue's Foccacceria for a vesteddi is in order. Who's up for it?

I think all the offal at Babbo and Lupa is outstanding. That guy has a way with the fifth quarter. I have enjoyed his brain ravioli, sauteed sweetbread with fennel pollen, fried lamb sweetbreads at Lupa... and the tripa alla parmigiana is an absolute must-have. Is there anyplace in the city to buy one of those Sicilian sandwiches filled with spleen and lung cooked in lard?

Totally. Unless it's someone else's money. Word.

Whoa! Buy this, and buy it now before they run out. Buy two and give one to a friend. I have a Matfer mandoline -- which I prefer to Bron's -- and, while I don't use it all the time, it is absolutely indispensable when I need it.

I have not been to Craft, so I'm a little confused. If, as you say, Craft has a certain "concept," doesn't it extend to everything on its menu? If so, why would there be right things and wrong things to order? I should have been more clear. What I meant is that certain items (their mushrooms, for example) are more likely to make a big impression than others (their carrots, for example). This is not to suggest that their carrots aren't outstanding -- I really have no idea -- but it is suggest that it's a lot easier to impress someone with some kickass morels or porcini than it is some kickass carrots.

Not better, necessarily... but distinctly dufferent. It's a certain concept and a certain focus. Some people are going to really be into it and others won't. Some of the ingredients they have there (the mushrooms, for example) are probably the best in town. It may have been that you just didn't order the right things... or maybe the concept doesn't float your boat.

It would be fun sometime to do a "fifth quarter" tour of NYC food. Figure out all the places with outstanding guts on the menu.

This is definitely worth mentioning in re to Esca. It's really David Pasternack's place as much, if not more than it is Batali's. Certainly Pasternack seems to have more of a free hand at Esca than the head guys do at, say, Lupa and Babbo. This is probably inevitable given the fact that Esca's menu necessarily changes with some frequency depending on what is coming out of the water. In fact, I went to Esca not long after it opened, and when one of my friends remarked to our waiter (who had been pulled over from Babbo to get the place going) that she always loved Mario's places, he made quite a point of the fact that, although Batali was the guiding influence, Pasternack was the guy in the kitchen.

You can usually just walk in and sit down. The most crowded I've ever seen it meant a 30 minute wait.

Did you have them? That's something I could never resist. Sounds awesome.

Very cool! You should figure out a way to have an ice maker hidden inside the flour sifter.

All this talk of Esca is making me think I need to get back there soon -- something I've been meaning to do for some time.

Glad to see that so many people like Esca. It's probably my favorite seafood place too. And good points all around about "perfect preparation of the freshest ingredients." This is, in a nutshell, the Italian seafood aesthetic. In a certain sense, it can feel a little strange to spend big bucks in a seafood place like this when one is used to paying those prices for much more elaborate food with complicated and difficult preparation. But, as Steven points out, you're really paying for one of the most expensive and most perishable ingredients there is: pristene, fresh fish. Among the things I have really enjoyed are: marinated fresh anchovies, sorrel ravioli, bucatini with baby octopus, bigoli with fresh sardines, maccheroni alla chittara with crabmeat and sea urchin, spaghetti with bottarga and bread crumbs, salt-baked branzino per due, rombo in cartoccio, and most any dish with scallops.

Just to be fair, I think most manufacturers (Calphalon included) offer a lifetime warranty for their serious cookware. You're right, and I think AC does, too. I was cautioning that the LC knock offs don't carry a guarantee even though they might be quite adequate for some time. I should have been clearer. I would like to point out, just for the record, that manufacturers like Staub and Chasseur are not knockoffs of Le Creuset.

I was joking, of course. But, more to your point: no matter how low the Times stoops, I don't see anyone else even remotely positioned to step up and take their place.

For me it's Shropshire Blue from Nottinghamshire. Similar to Stilton, but saltier with a more assertive edge. It's like super-Stilton!

If only there were a place where a wide variety of people who know about and appreciate food on all levels could write about their impressions and thoughts concerning various restaurants...

When something is butterflied, a piece of meat is cut in half almost all the way through and then spread out flat. It refers to taking a piece of meat, cutting into the meat and thereby spreading out that piece of meat over a larger area. Spatchcocking specifically refers to cutting through the backbone (or breastbone) of poultry and spreading the whole bird out flat. Since the meat itself is not opened up and spread out when a bird is spatchcocked, is is not butterflied.

We are so ahead of the curve! Scrolll down to the last question.