slkinsey
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Posts posted by slkinsey
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I wish we could find someone who's bought the set. Sitram is not as well-known, you never see it in the Sunday newspaper like you do All-Clad and Calphalon and Cuisinart. Hard to imagine why they don't try to educate the public more thoroughly about this.
Greg, at those prices you can hardly go wrong! I say you should be the test subject, buy the set and report back.
Seriously, though, Sitram is one of the best-known and most respected manufacturers of cookware for the professional kitchen. The reason they are not as well known to home users is that I think their outlook (and perhaps their main profit base?) seems more geared towards professional use. Unlike All-Clad, Calphalon, et al. they don't spend a lot of money on slick advertising for home users. But, then again, neither does Mauviel... and they are perhaps the oldest, most legendary and most respected manufacturers of cookware out there. All this is to say that I wouldn't be concerned that you haven't heard of them as much as some other companies.
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For our Thanksgiving dinner, I usually make a "menu" on the back of the place cards listing the food and wine served. In doing this, I have always been a little mystified as to what I should be writing down for the wines. After all, there is a lot of information on the bottle. I bet I am not the only person who has met with this problem, so I thought some of the resident wine experts might give a few pointers. As a starting point, I'll show what I have written in my notes and hope for some concrete feedback. But perhaps we might hear about some general rules of thumb, if any exist for this kind of thing.
1. (with crudites)
Nino Franco – Prosecco Rustico di Valdobbiadene
(there is no year on the bottle)
2. (with raw oyster and cucumber granita)
Clos des Briords – "Cuvée Vieilles Vignes" Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine sur Lie 2002
3. & 4. (with cauliflower puree and curry oil, then continuing into mixed herb salad)
Domaine Saint Vincent – “La Papareille” Samur Blanc 2002
5. (with roasted corn/stilton soufflés, Brussels sprouts & guanciale)
Domaine Alain Hudelot-Noellat – Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2000
6. (with lemon thyme sorbet)
Vigneto Biancospino – “La Spinetta” Moscato d’Asti 2002
7. (with turkey breast roasted, legs braised in red wine/port + cornbreda dressing)
Mas Foulaquier – “Le Rollier” Pic Saint-Loup 2001 and
Coturri – “Albarello” Sonoma Valley Red Wine 2001
These are more or less direct transcriptions of what I wrote down when I bought the wines, and I have no basis for knowing what is pertinent information.
Help?
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One other note, it appears the correct spelling is Profiserie, not Profisserie. I had some trouble searching for the former, but the latter turned up a bunch of hits. Certainly is counter to what my limited French intuition would tell me, though.
Hmmm... that's interesting. You're certainly right that there are a lot more hits for the one "S" version. I have always gone by the two "S" spelling at Bridge Kitchenware. They have been dealing with Sitram longer than just about anyone else in the US and I figure they'd know. On the other hand, as I posted upthread, "Profisserie" (and its one "S" cousin) do not appear on the Sitram web site.
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Thanks, Boris. I didn't get into nonstick coatings in my article because so much of the quality and durability relies on the formulation and application of the nonstick surface. Of course one has to have good thermal materials -- which the Mauviel pieces would seem to provide -- but there's a lot more to it. That said, one assumes quality from a manufacturer like Mauviel.
Personally, I have to admit that I hate nonstick coatings for just about everything. I have two 12" Calphalon Commercial Nonstick fry pans for the few times I am cooking something extra-sticky or delicate. I got them for 30 bucks apiece on sale from Amazon.com, and the experiences of people whose judgment I trust indicates that the nonstick coating is among the most durable. Still, they are likely to be the least-used pieces in my kitchen.
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send the ferrets, please.
yes, i've heard they're quite tasty.
(sorry sam)
Quite all right. They tell me they've heard the same thing about you!
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Too close to Thanksgiving for K and me. Have fun, all.
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I am intrigued with your preparation. How difficult will it be to debone a turkey, something I've never done before?
It's pretty easy to do in my technique, since you're not concerned about keepng it all in one piece as you would if you were making a turducken or something like that.
For the breasts: Use a sharp knife and cut down each side of the breast bone, pulling the flesh away from the bone and scraping with the knife as you go. The breasts should come off each in one whole piece fairly easily, but go slowly and take your time to make sure. Practice on a bone-in whole chicken breast if you're worried.
For the legs: Just disarticulate the thigh and drumstick (cut through the joints) and cut the meat away from the bones. You may want to cut out the hard tendons in the drumstick. Use your knife to cut any other large pieces of dark meat from the carcass. Since you will be braising the dark meat and shredding it, you don't need to worry too much about keeping it whole. Just cut it from the bones in reasonably large pieces.
Once you've done all this (which couldn't possibly take more than 15 or 20 minutes), you should end up with two whole skin-on turkey breasts for roasting, a pile of skinless dark meat chunks for braising and a whole meaty turkey carcass for making turkey stock. That's all there is to it.
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Greg, the only thing I'd be careful about is that Sitram seems to be fairly variable on the names of their various lines of cookware. AS I noted upthread, the name "Profisserie" doesn't even appeat on the Sitram web site. So, the "Profisserie" sold by Costco may not be the same "Profisserie" sold at Bridge Kitchenware.
Just something to keep in mind if you're thinking about the Costco deal. Does Costco claim that the aluminum bases are 7 mm?
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Excellent remarks Adam. The only think I might add is that the aging techniques, materials and locations also exert a profound influence on the character of the whisky.
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I'd like to plug my method as well, which is essentially: braise the leg meat in red wine and roast the breasts separately. A more detailed method for a fancy version may be found here, but notew that most of the frills can be eliminated. At its most basic, you're braising the legs in wine, roasting the breasts and making the sauce out of the braising liquid. The breasts could easily be roasted in something as small as a skillet, thus saving a lot of oven room. Also, by taking everything off the bone, you can simmer the bones and make a rich turkey stock to add to the braise.
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Is it carbonated or sweetened?
I have seen it in stores, and thought of reducing it to a thin syrup on the stove to make home-made grenadine.
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http://www.copefoods.com/
By far the best dish on the Thanksgiving table this year was an incredible sweet creamed corn based on John Cope's toasted dried sweet corn. This stuff is an absolute flavor revelation. Even our friends from Venice -- who are extremely tough customers -- were blown away by it. You all must get hold of some of this stuff at once.
Where can I get some of this stuff in NYC? Does it have to be ordered from the site? Looks interesting.
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Thanks for the rec, Bill. Adding it to my Amazon wish list now.
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If I may offer a slightly differing opinion, I don't really have any problems with eating squab where the breasts and legs have been cooked together at the same time. That said, I also like eating the breast cooked just through and I don't feel that the legs need to be falling-off-the-bone done. This is how I have most often had piccione in Toscana. I wonder if the rare breast meat thing is French.
Anyway, what I like to do is cut out the backbone and breastbone so the only bones remaining are the wing bones and leg bones. The breastbones and backbones get simmered in water to make a squab broth. Then I like to throw the squab skin side down in a very hot pan to brown the skin, flip it over and finish it in a high oven. Deglaze the pan with the squab stock and mount with butter to make a quick pan sauce (sometimes I like to crush the squab liver into the sauce). Serve with a white bean/garlic/rosemary puree and some balsamic glazed cipollini.
That's how I like to do it, anyway.
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Still the question begs to be asked. In other cases involving chemical companies and health risks there is a bit of a pattern. Lack or regard for workers or the environment seems to be a recurring theme. You do have the factor of people looking to place blame to even out this little equation. Somewhere in the middle the truth lays rotting.
I have a problem with your line of reasoning here...
Yes, the question does beg to be asked (and is being asked) with respect to C-8, a chemical used to make PTFE.
However, I have seen no evidence that there is any cause for concern as to negative health effects relating to PTFE itself. And no one seems to be asking this question, primarily because the last 50 years have shown PTFE to be a material with very good biocompatibility and very low tissue reactivity.
So... are the companies making PTFE covering something up with regards to C-8? Is C-8 actually all that bad for you? Are the factory sites unsafe? Who knows? Maybe? More germane to this discussion, does the answer to any one of these questions have any bearing on whether or not PTFE is a safe substance when deployed in the context of cookware? No. And all the evidence we have suggests quite strongly that it is safe in this context.
I should point out, by the way, that doctors and surgeons haven't been putting PTFE in people's bodies for 50 years bewcause the chemical companies told them it was okay. There has been voluminous research and experience.
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To follow up on Dave's post above...
Just to be clear, I don't think anyone is suggesting that polytetrafluoroethylene ("PTFE" or "Teflon") is causing birth defects, etc. They are suggesting that ammonium perfluorooctanoate ("C-8"), a chemical used in the production or PTFE, is causing these problems. This assertion may or may not have merit, but it really doesn't speak to the safety of PTFE. There are plenty of perfectly safe substances created from "ingredients" that are quite harmful. Sodium, for example, reacts with water extremely violently (and occasionally explosively, as I discovered in high school chemistry). Chlorine is a deadly poisonous yellow-green gas. There is no way you want to be around a lot of pure sodium or chlorine. And yet, these two dangerous substances react (rather violently) to form the benign substance sodium chloride, otherwise known as table salt.
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Now for something completely different....
It is Sunday afternoon and I would be doing a disservice to my entire community, hell my entire state, if I didn't give a little lecture about the PACKERS!
Packer food is it's own cuisine (see, I can spell it correctly). There is the usual chips and dip, the soda and beer and nachos that I'm sure every other NFL fan partakes in on Sunday. But there is nothing in this world like an honest to goodness Lambeau field inspired Bratwurst. ... Eat in big wolfish bites washed down with a nice cold beer, preferably in a parking lot while wearing camuoflage. (slkinsey, I dare you to post that packer backer picture you sent me... you know the one!)
For those who don't know, Cusina and I went to college together in Wisconsin. We didn't see much of eath other at the time, but she did work with two of my ex-girlfriends -- which makes it a minor miracle that she will actually speak to me. Anyway, grilling sausages -- especially before a football game -- is a big Wisconsin tradition, and one of its best. Here I am at college grilling:
I'm the drunken one with no shirt, a broken nose and bad 80's hair. You can tell I'm not going to a Packers game in that picture... not because I'm wearing no shirt but because I don't have a giant "G" painted on my chest.
Here I am last year getting ready to head to a Packer's game at Lambeau Field in December. Note the "Sgt. Schultz" double chin, which is de rigeur at Lambeau Field:
Wisconsin is a great state. I try to get back as often as I can.
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There may be some drastic changes in peoples' preferences coming soon. As soon as the massive study on the impact of TEFLON on our health is released. Initial reports are not auspicious.
Oh yea? Like what? Where did you hear of this study and what were the findings? Who is conducting the study and for whom? Where will it be published? Inquiring minds want to know.
The EPA appears to be looking at ammonium perfluorooctanoate, which does appear to accumulate in human blood and have a toxic effect. But this is a chemical used to make polytetrafluoroethylene, not PTFE itsself. Given the PTFE inside my knee, and the fact that it has long been regarded as having high biocompatibility and low tissue reactivity, I am fairly skeptical than any seriously damning report is on the horizon. But who knows, maybe there is a serious report on the horizon that will turn the last 50 years on its head.
Ben, I'm not trying to break your balls with the questions in the first paragraph. I really am curious.
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mmmm, Frenched Rack of Smelt...
Do you have a source for the little panties that go on the ends? I'm tired of making 'em myself.
The "little panties?" You mean, make your own thongs?
Mrs. The Cook is one lucky woman. At least, I assume you're not making them for yourself...
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. . . a big tub of shrimp fat . . .
Just out of curiosity, what do you think that would bring on eBay?
Hee! Who knows? A lot, maybe? Think about it... how many shrimp would be needed to get a quart of shrimp fat? A thousand? Ten thousand? That stuff would more precious than saffron.
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Wait... doesn't everyone collect rendered animal fat in the freezer?
I've only got chicken fat, smoked chicken fat, turkey fat, smoked turkey fat, duck fat, and beef fat in my freezer. Clearly I need to work on my collection
You'll know it's really getting out of hand when you have a big tub of shrimp fat tucked away in the freezer.
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Hmmm....mulled wine in a cast iron pot that has been used to render hog fat for 185 years raises a few flavor issues....thanks.
Chances are it was also used to make soap in its day.
And wash clothes.
Q&A -- Understanding Stovetop Cookware
in The eGullet Culinary Institute (eGCI)
Posted
Take a look at the class for some beginning ideas.
For just about any serious home cook's budget, it's hard to go wrong with Paderno Grant Gourmet and Sitram Profisserie.