slkinsey
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Posts posted by slkinsey
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the jello is absolutely out of this world and rachel, you have to promise you will make it for every e-gullet event! hell, sell tickets to see it! (add'l revenue for the site?) anyone got hypnotized just looking at it?
I'd be happy to make the same mold for every potluck type event. My fear is that I'd be expected to top myself with each creation!
A real Jello Artist would constantly seek to push the envelope and expand the realm of what is possible in the Jello medium. Next time, we all expect you to recreate one of the designs from the ceilings of the Sistene Chapel in brilliant Jello tones. I am quite certain that Michelangelo would be a Jellist if he lived today.
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there's one thing i know for sure, and that's that after reading this thread, i'm going to a steakhouse tonite to have a brilliantly executed strip steak and a bottle of big fat red something-or-another. and a side of mashed.
Excellent! Then run to Lobel's while the taste is still fresh in your mind, go home, fire up the broiler and eat another strip steak for the sake of comparison. I know it's a sacrifice, but you're doing it for science, man!
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And we haven't even begun to discuss the propriety of breast-feeding in a vegan restaurant.
BWAH!!! IngridSF, that is hilarious! I feel like printing it up and sending it to Millenium in SF.
I'd just like to go on record as saying that I am all for women baring their breasts in public, for whatever reasons they may choose. No need to restrict it to breast feeding only on account of my delicate sensibilities.
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Clearly the woman was rude and acted like an ass.
It's not always clear to *everyone*--often the person in question--when someone has been rude & acted like an ass.
Oh hi Matthew. We've been waiting for you.
Thank you.
Please await my brother. I am sure you will find him a far meatier and tastier billy goat than I...
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I was ONLY addressing the question of whether or not one ought to bring meat into a vegetarian restaurant. I don't really care what vegetarians do or don't eat elsewhere.
I don't think anyone is refuting your idea that it can be rude to bring meat into a self-described "vegetarian restaurant." In fact, I thought that is what I was saying at 04:46 PM.
Clearly the woman was rude and acted like an ass. Given any reasonable understanding of "vegetarian" one should assume that chicken, beef and other such things would not be welcome on the premises. This does not, however, negate the fact that the word "vegetarian" is somewhat nebulous as it is commonly applied and that vegetarianism and religion-based dietary guidelines are fundamentally different in certain respects.
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It is also not an unreasonable assumption that no meat or meat products would be allowed in a restaurant that advertises itself as vegetarian, as the word "vegetarian" has easily recognizable associations with certain dietary rules and restrictions, hence it is (or should be) a common assumption that certain foods will neither be served nor allowed.
The evidence would seem to indicate that is is not the case that "the word 'vegetarian' has easily recognizable associations with certain dietary rules and restrictions," as there are plenty of people who call themselves "vegetarians" who eat fish and other animal and animal-derived products. We also have the example of restaurants (one was cited by FG) that are described as "vegetarian" and yet serve some animal products.
Furthermore, where is the line drawn? Are "vegetarian restaurants" allowed to use butter, cheese and eggs? If not, then there are an awful lot of restaurants calling themselves "vegetarian" that don't fit the bill.
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I would not want to judge someone's motivations for being a vegetarian. Even atheists can be completely moral, and who is to say that their integrity is any less important than an external influence like a religious decree?
Oh... I completely agree. In fact, I don't think there is any reason to preface your remark with "even."
The point is this: Someone who is born/raised an orthodox Jew and who practices that religious philisophy may not feel like he has any choice in the matter of his religion. For him, he doesn't decide whether or not he is a kosher orthodox Jew, he simply is a kosher orthodox Jew. In this case it is not a matter of making a moral choice about whether or not to eat pork. In fact, from a purely moral standpoint, he may not think there is anything inherrently wrong with eating pork. But, nevertheless, he does not eat it because eating it goes against what he is.
For most non-religion-based vegetarians, it is not the case that they are vegetarians in the same sense. They have made a choice to be vegetarian for whatever their reasoning may be. It doesn't make one better than the other. In fact, one could argue that making a choice rather than following religious dogma is the more moral of the two and indeed one's moral convictions could be such that it doesn't seem to be a choice.
But the two things do strike me as fundamentally different.
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These are all lifestyle choices we're talking about here. If you decide that keeping kosher is a necessary part of your religious beliefs, and you go to a kosher restaurant, it seems to me a perfectly reasonable expectation that the other patrons won't be asking the restaurant to heat up their pig-on-a-stick baby food (mmm, pig on a stick).
Minor point here... as I believe FG pointed out earlier, many people believe that their religion, and whatever dietary guidelines may go along with it, are not a matter of choice. Whatever one may think about religion, this makes, say, keeping kosher fundamentally different from being a non-religion-based vegetarian.
This little digression has no bearing on your good point about the inherrent rudeness of bringing meat into a vegetarian restaurant (and especially expecting to be able to eat it).
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The most important question, though, is whether or not it's okay to eat your leather handbag. Is it okay to bring the handbag, but not okay to ask the waiter to heat it up in the microwave so you can feed it to your baby? But I digress . . .
Just for the record, I have always preferred leather handbag thinly sliced across the grain and served just below room temperature.
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...I suspect you would get strong disagreement from people in other parts about NY being about the only place in the world worth eating steak.
If you thought my first post above were supposed to imply this, you made the wrong inferrence. As I said in my reply, most, but by no means all of the very best steak (by which I mean, the very best quality prime beef) served in America is served in Greater NYC area steakhouses.
In fact, I've heard a lot of claims about NY. That it trumps steak anywhere else is a first.I am surprised you have never heard anything like this. Not for nothing is Peter Luger's porterhouse annointed "best steak in the country" in publication after publication by people who are paid to travel around the country and take notice of these things. As I said, this tends to go along with my own personal experiences which are by no means definitive, but do include many of the well-regarded steak places outside Metro NYC.
As others have pointed out before, there is very little top 1% prime beef to go around, and much of it that stays in America ends up at NY places like Peter Luger. There are sound economic reasons why this is the case.
Now... whether or not everyone around the country prefers top 1% prime beef or is in a position to tell the difference is an entirely different discussion. In my remarks I have been proceeding under the assumption that people do (or would) have such preference and that the quality of the raw materials (i.e., the beef) is a primary determinant of the quality of the steak that is served, along with equipment and cooking experience/skill. That said, one could take the position that many people do not prefer this kind of steak. Given that position, I would say that my remarks about NYC area steakhouses would not be valid.
Again, whether or not one can match the quality of steakhouse steak, especially when factoring in cost, depends greatly on what is being served in the steakhouses to which one's efforts are being compared. If you take issue with my use of the NYC area's famous (and justly so, in my experience) steakhouses as an example of top-level steak in the US... you are entitled to your opinion. Clearly our opinions differ in this respect. Be that as it may, it doesn't seem particularly germane to the subject of this thread and I do not intend to turn this thread into a debate on "NYCentrism in steak."
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If I'm reading you right, the gold standard for steak seems to be places in NY and only places in NY. If that's so, probably the best argument I've heard so far against steak houses.
My reading has tended to reveal that most food writers and critics agree Peter Luger serves the best steak the US, and that most (but by no means all) of the very best steak that is served in the US is found in the steak houses of the Greater New York City area. That certainly goes along with my experience, which does include many of the well-known establishments in Texas, Kansas City, etc.
I understand this is mostly due to the economics of finding a sufficient concentration of A) people who have enough money to afford the top 1% of prime beef, and B) people who eat beef.
So sorry to hear you have such a dislike for New York City. It's not a place that appeals to everyone. I suppose we will have to persevere without you.
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It seems like a relatively simple question.
IF you get your porterhouse steaks from Lobel's or Peter Luger's butcher shop, and IF you have a restaurant quality salamander and IF you have the same expertise in cooking steaks then you can probably do about as well as they do at Peter Luger. That's a lot of "iffs" and a lot of money. In fact, it would cost you more money to cook the Lobel's steak (~$89 for 36 ounces) than it would cost to buy the cooked steak at Peter Luger (~$59 for 36 ounces).
So, the answer to whether you can cook a steak as good as Peter Luger or comparable at home... I seriously doubt it. And, even if you can, it'll probably cost you more money. The same probably holds true for most top NYC steak houses.
Now... can you cook a steak that's just as good as what is found at lesser, mortal steak houses? Probably. Sizzler? Certainly. But, again, it all comes down to whether or not you can buy beef of the appropriate quality, whether or not you have equipment that is capable of cooking that meat to the best effect (no, a typical backyard grill does not qualify) and whether or not one has the skill and experience to do such cooking.
Given the extreme unlikeliness of matching a top steakhouse in terms of raw materials, cooking equipment and expertise, and considering the fact that it will undoubtedly cost more anyway, I say leave it to the pros.
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You know... this just doesn't seem too complicated to me, certain party's equivocation notwithstanding.
Q. Does RB espouse certain moral and aesthetic philosophies having to do with food?
A. Yes, he does.
Q. Is RB one of the leading and most visible proponents of these philosophies in the American consciousness, and has he done many things to put himself in this position?
A. Yes, he is and yes, he has.
Q. Are BK's business practices counter to these philosophies?
A. Yes they are.
Q. Is there anything about the endorsed sandwich that would engender or imply a change in BK's business practices that would bring them closer to RB's philosophical proclamations about food?
A. No.
Q. Would this endorsement, then, seem to be a gross hypocricy and a betrayal of his abovementioned and copiously expressed moral and aesthetic philosophies?
A. Yes, it would.
Given the foregoing, it seems quite clear to me that My. Bayless sold out (as in "betrayed his cause") for money.
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So... It was totally cool to meet everyone and the food was awesome. We hope to seem more of everyone soon. Had a great ride up and back in JosephB's super-sweet convertible. Nice car and even better company.
The pig was primo. Moist and tender. Several of us opined that the pig is, indeed, the tastiest of animals. Really, everything was delicious. I ate so many things, I can't remember it all.
The Bobolink cheeses are all incredible. I brought home large chunks of the Pancake cheese and the "as yet unnamed" cheese that's washed with Belgian ale.
It was good to finally get a little taste of Elyse's famous pecan pie.
I do admit, however, to being a tiny bit disappointed to learn that Tommy had trimmed back the mullet.
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Mail order Mauviel from E. Dihillerin in Paris is tsill the least expensive way to get the stuff.
It has never been totally clear to me whether Dehillerin represented a significant savings compared to, say, a Falk Culinair sale once you figure in the cost of shipping overseas, the currency exchange charge from your credit card and whatevever taxes are added. I would be very interested to hear from someone in the US who has actually purchased from Dehillerin over the Internet.
For me -- and this is a personal preference, of course -- it would be worth a little extra money to have the convenience of faster delivery and interaction with an English-speaking company based in the US (and subject to US laws should anything go wrong).
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However ideally you should reduce the dry yeast recipe to its formula, and then rebuild it using 10% to 20% of the flour by weight as the starter. (Sam would say less, I prefer 30%, but I am impatient).
Hee! Actually, I think different proportions of starter make for different effects in the final dough. I do sometimed like to use more in the bread dough -- sometimes even 50% depending on what I am shooting for.
Where I think it's important to use a small inoculum is when you feed the storage medium in which you are maintaining your sourdough culture. Small inoculum = maximum growth condition = maximally healthy microorganisms.
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Do you have some kind of formula to substitute sourdough starter for instant or Dry Active yeast? For example if a recipe I am reading asks for a teaspoon of instant yeast, how do I go about using sourdough starter instead??
Follow this link to see my method for converting a commercial yeast recipe to a sourdough recipe.
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I have no doubt that =Mark and many other eGulleters could completely kick my ass in that respect.
Or in any other respect.
Now, now, Dean... We New Yorkers don't resort to vulgar fisticuffs like the drunken shoeless yokels ya got down there. Nosir, that's what contract killers are for.
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The scary part is that I'm not really kidding. His tolerance for spicy food is rather legendary.
Uhm... that's among our usual dinner companions. I have no doubt that =Mark and many other eGulleters could completely kick my ass in that respect.
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slk -- how often does Falk have a sale like the last one you announced?
Several times a year. I will post any such sales I hear about on eGullet.
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Rumor has it that both Bourgeat and Mauviel use Falk Culinair copper for their pans. And this rumor comes my way from a fool proof source.
Oh, you mean:
[bourgeat's copper/stainless] line is made with the copper/stainless bi-metal developed by Falk Culinair, as is all stainless-lined copper cookware. Probably the same source. Bourgeat and Mauviel don't exactly advertise it, but I don't think they deny it either.What I have now been most impressed by are the discount coupons one has when buying Falk Culinair. They have great prices offered through the website of the North America dealer. It makes any other purchase of Copper cookware just one of personal preference.I would now think of getting the Falk Culinair pieces and still get some of the Bourgeat pieces I have wanted over the years.
Yea... I tend to prefer Falk because I have a good customer relationship with the North American distributor and because the brushed exterior makes it much easier to keep bright using a Scotch Brite pad, some Bar Keeper's Friend and scrubbing with the grain.
That said, and as you mention, since they are all made from the same metal with minor differences in treatment, it really does become a matter of price and personal preference. The prices have evened out quite a bit so one can really do comparative shopping. For me, it would be worth maybe 10% more to get Falk simply for the brushed exterior.
One important piece of advice with respect to buying copper cookware: don't buy the copper lids! They add nothing in terms of functionality, they add quite a bit to the price and they are a bitch to keep clean. Believe me, you don't want to be polishing your copper lids every time you decide to cover a pot for a few minutes. This is the voice of experience talking here.
As for roasting pans, I have the stainless and the non-stick one from All Clad and the Calphalon one. I will get a copper one, for I like how it looks and I will enjoy it for deglazing at times. It sure does look very beautiful and seems worth it for those special occasions when the total experience rests equally on the presentation as it does on taste and ease of preparation.Whoa. You do a lot of roasting, dude. In terms of presentation, and I imagine I'm not telling you anything you don't already know... Keep in mind that heating a copper roasting pan in the oven or on the stovetop will cause the copper to discolor, especially when high temperatures are used. A copper roasting pan that has been sitting in a high oven for an hour or two will be quite discolored -- purple, green, red and sort or silvery--pale-yellow discolorations are not uncommon. This means two things: 1) it will take an extra-lot of polishing to make it bright again, and 2) it may look pretty funky for presentation purposes coming out of the oven.
Just my $0.02
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But it sounds to me like BDR has different standards of spiciness than we do.
yeah, you're probably right, although BDR suggests that he/she usually enjoys spicy dishes. but as far as kung pao chicken that i've had, it wasn't particularly spicy.
Last time I was there I requested the "freshly killed" kung pao chicken "extra spicy" and it came out just right.
Since I like to start with the spicy beef tendon, and now that Fat Guy has turned me on to the pickled cabbage with red oil, it always seems like the meal progresses from most spicy to least spicy. By the time I've had the cabbage with red oil -- and it's good to let them know they don't have to be shy with the red oil -- everything else seems not so spicy. The "extra spicy" kung pao chicken was nicely hot, but didn't seem overly so to my taste.
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I have pieces from the Copper Core and Cop R Chef and the LTD lines.
All-Clad's Copper Core line is interesting. It would seem to confer most of the benefits of medium-gauge copper cookware with none of the maintenance hassles (I assume it is safe for the dishwasher). My issue with is is mainly that it costs so much and most of the time you can get much better performance out of stainless lined heavy copper at a similar or even less expensive price.
LTD I use not very often, I have them, but have hardly used them.This is interesting because, while the LTD pans probably don't perform as well as the Copper Core pans, they definitely have thermal advantages over the Cop-R-Chef lines
I have found Calphalons hard anodized very attractive, I often go towards the pot rack that holds them, and then find myself going for the Copper Core or Cop R Chef pieces on the other side.My issues with Calphalon are A) they tend to warp, B) the dark color on the internal surface makes it hard to see what you're doing, and C) anodized aluminum is very difficult to keep clean.
How do the Bourgeat Copper roasting pans work?? Does it make much difference, if any to have one? I do find them very attractive. But is the appearance all there is to take into account?It's all appearance. There is some slight advantage to having good heat distribution in a roasting pan for when you have it on the stovetop to deglaze, but certainly there is no point in spending big money on a heavy copper roasting pan. If you already have All-Clad LTD roasting pans, that's all the pan you need. That said, I have the feeling that the LTD roasting pans are nonstick, in which case I'd personally get something else. My large roasting pan is the only piece of Calphalon I have left, and my smaller one is an All-Clad Stainless piece I got on sale.
I make a lot of chutneys and jams. Do you have any experience with copper Jam Pan? I was thinking of buying the extra heavy jam pan. I have never cooked with one. Wonder what changes.The difference is mostly in absolutely even heat, which is important when you are cooking things down to super-thickness as one does a jam. Just FYI, Falk Culinair makes a 16 quart jam pan that is cheaper than Bourgeat's 16.7 quart "extra heavy" jam pan, and they also make one in 19 quarts.
And the Bourgeat Fish Poacher looks terrific. I know All Clad is coming out with a stainless one this fall. Perhaps it will be more affordable. What thoughts do you have on this item? Is it worth getting a copper one? Is it also about looks?Totally no point in getting a fish poacher with a fancy thermal layer. Think about it... what are you doing? You're boiling water. When you're boiling water, regular stainless steel works just fine. Something like this is what you want... or this, if you need something heavy-duty and huge.
How does the crepe copper pan rate as opposed to other ones?If you're going to get a crepe pan, I'd recommend a black steel or carbon steel crepe pan. They work just as well as any copper pan for this task -- probably easier to flip due to being lighter -- and cost practically nothing.
And the paella pan? I use the Cop R Chef (All Clad) one I have often and find this a great pan to use for many things other than Paella. I have never made a paella in it. But have used it for many an Indian stir fry dish. How would the Bourgeat compare with the Cop R Chef?You're talking about their black steel paella pan? Probably works great. But, you can get a black steel paella pan from Bridge Kitchenware like this one for less money than a Bourgeat black steel paella pan like this one.
If you're planning on using the pan for things other than paella, such as stir frys, may I suggest something like these pans from Paderno's Grand Gourmet line? They have a 7 mm aluminum base for awesome heat capacity and good conductivity, and they're made of stainless steel so you don't have to worry about reactivity like you do with black steel. I have one of these, and love it.
I do realize most of this is only about me having a fantasy about cooking with Bourgeat pieces.Yea...? But what's so great about Bourgeat? I can see wanting to cook with heavy copper. I love the stuff. But I've never understood the "mystique" of Bourgeat. AFAIK, Mauviel is probably the oldest and most legendary manufacturer of traditional French cookware (they've been at it since 1830).
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Some of this cheese is still sitting on our kitchen counter. I guess I should taste it, huh?
If you all don't hear back from me for 24 hours, call for help.
Better yet... bring some of it to the BBQ so the rest of us can watch you taste it.
Steak houses
in Restaurant Life
Posted
Thanks for the lesson, Irwin. I think that's more or less what I was saying, and it's good to hear it explained and supported by an expert.