slkinsey

This seems like a fairly straight-forward gongonzola sauce such as the one I describe above. This would be used on most any kind of gnocchi (except not stuffed gnocchi). I have to believe that "carduta" is a mistake. There is no such word in Italian of which I am aware. It's probably supposed to be caduta meaning "fallen" (from the cheese). Another favorite gnocchi saucing I forgot is duck ragu, which is very good on gnocchi that have been made with some chestnut flour in addition.

I just noticed this. My understanding has been that this works in exactly the opposite way. The ash content in the flour works as a buffer and forestalls lowering of the dough's pH into the range at which the lactobacilli are inhibited. This results in greater total titratable acidity in the dough compared to a lower ash dough fermented to a similar pH. In the case of bread, it is the total acidity rather than just pH that produces the sour and other desirable flavors we like in sourdough breads. A good way to test this is to use your normal method, but use whole wheat flour instead of white flour. The bread will be noticably more sour than usual. This is because of the greater ash content of the whole wheat flour. Whenever I have taken measures to increase ash content, I have ended up with more sourness.

Yes, brown butter and sage is a great classic for gnocchi. Most often, it's just that: nothing more than brown butter and a few (as in 2-3 small ones) whole sage leaves cooked in the butter. The sage isn't usually eaten, it just flavors the butter.

I will say that I believe gnocchi call for butter and not olive oil.

A classic would be gongonzola dolce melted and thinned with some cream or milk. I like to add just a hint of a floral grappa (grappa di moscato being a favorite for this) at the end.

To the best of my knowledge, and this is not the thread for it anyway, there is really no truly-oustanding-by-Texas-standards barbecue inside the loop in Houston.

Just as an aside, Goode Co. is not "arguably the best place in Houston." In fact, it's legitimately "arguably" the worst place in Houston. It's consistently rated at the bottom of most guides, and recently came in DAL (dead-ass last) at a Chowhound BBQ smackdown. It's awful. But like I said, just an aside... Carry on. LOL. Well, thanks for coming back around to "put me in my place" about an 18 month-old post! Just like NYC pizza or any other iconic regional food, there are bound to be fierce debates. This would be why I used the word "arguably." I would never compare Goode Co. to any of the truly outstanding Texas barbecue places. Suffice it to say, however, that once can find plenty of opinions both online and in print recommending Goode as one of the best places in town (Robb Walsh here for example). But, really, who cares? That wasn't the point.

You know, you're right! I'd better get one of those. Are the ones from Williams-Sonoma any good, or just overpriced? DIY is the only way to go.

Andrew, let's be honest here: What's the point of having a Pizza Mind Control Ray if you can't use it for evil?

I don't think anyone is attempting to decree what you eat. They're just expressing opinions, among them that pineapple or sauerkraut or a half-inch thick layer of miscellaneous toppings on pizza (a) aren't good, and (b) pervert what they think there is to admire about pizza. This is no different from people saying that they think well-done steak is an abomination (and if you peruse these forums, you'll see plenty of opinions expressed just that way). But, you know... no one is going to knock the fork our of your hand if you're getting ready to eat a slice of pepperoni-bacon-mushroom-pineapple-pepper-onion-ham-spinach-meatball pizza or cut into a well done USDA prime ribeye. As for anchovies, there's nothing wrong with them whatsoever. Except for the fact that most "pizza parlor" type places use crappy quality, half-rancid anchovies. In addition, I personally feel that anchovies, while delicious on a thin-crust pizza with a very light amount of good quality mozzarella (or perhaps no cheese at all), are not harmonious with the copious amounts of mediocre "pizza cheese" which weigh down most American pizzas. But really... this is a pretty light hearted thread. Other than saying that they don't agree with you, I don't gather that anyone is suggesting you shouldn't be able to eat a pepperoni-bacon-mushroom-pineapple-pepper-onion-ham-spinach-meatball "French bread pizza" if that's what you like.

These are not apt comparisons. Example comparisons closer to what people are saying here might be: Mutton does not belong in a dessert pie. This is an abomination. Pot pie should not contain kiwi fruit. This is an abomination. Ham is not the same thing as sausage. If you radically distort a recipe as to ingredients, techniques or form, you now have something different than what is described in the recipe -- so, please don't call it the same thing.

It's not a bad idea, but you're going to want to make sure you explain that on the menu. Anyone who would order sausage, onions, peppers, pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, ham and meatballs together on one pizza probably wants it piled to the sky.

Interesting. Although that would tend to fit right in with the idea that "in United States law, the official American spelling is 'whisky'; however, the historic American spelling of 'whiskey' is tolerated." Kentucky state code could be expected to use the historical local spelling.

This depends, in my opinion, on how much yeast was used in the beginning. Many bread recipes call for way too much yeast in order to make the dough develop quickly.

Of course this is Wikipedia, so it may not be entirely accurate... All you have to do is look at the language of the code. For example, look at 27 C.F.R. § 5.22, the "Standards of Identity" for distilled spirits: Note the spelling. Much of the pertinent legal regulations may be found here, in 27 C.F.R. PART 5—LABELING AND ADVERTISING OF DISTILLED SPIRITS.

It depends on whether you are making a sourdough bread or not. If you are making a sourdough, overproofing at the bulk fermentation stage probably means too much gluten degradation, which means that you're doomed. If you are making a dough leavened with commercial yeast, overproofing in the bulk fermentation stage need not be catastrophic -- it depends on whether sufficient fermentable sugars remain in the dough for the yeast to give you a decent rise once the bread is shaped. Overproofing once the bread is shaped is far less easy to recover from. The dough will be extremely delicate and very likely to collapse when you transfer it to a peel, dock it and put it in the oven.

Er... don't you mean Serge Voronoff?

When I think of the items that No One Else Can Use or Clean, they're all knives. Part of the reason for this are the facts that (i) it's a lot easier to f*ck up a $200 knife than it is a $200 saute pan; (ii) it's a lot easier to f*ck up a razor-sharp polished edge than it is a piece of cookware at any price; (iii) knives in general require much more maintenance than pots and pans; and (iv) anyone who takes the time and care to keep his knives maintained in pristine, razor-sharp condition is going to be a knife-nut who is heavily invested in his cutlery. Me? I suppose I'd take my knives, although I am certainly a major cookware fanatic and definitely don't care more about my knives than I do my cookware. But many of my knives are custom made, and at least a dozen of them are from makers who no longer sell. So once those knives are lost, they're gone forever. I can always buy another Falk Culinair saucepan -- they're not going to stop making them. Agreed. It's a bogus premise.

I should point out that some perfectly good bartenders (for the job they're in) have learned through experience that their customers don't want vermouth. At all. I remember reading an interview with some bartender or other who mentioned that several Martinis would be returned each night because they were "not dry enough" -- despite the fact that he had stopped putting any vermouth in them at all.

As far as I know, the hydrogen sulfide is not produced by any kind of enzymatic reaction, but rather by the reaction of various normally-separate compounds in the vegetable that are able to combine when the cell walls break down. That means that it is unlikely that there is some kind of temperature trick that can be used to prevent this reaction. The cell walls need to break down in order for the vegetables to be tender.

I have wondered about brussels sprouts myself, but I am not convinced that cooking through cruciferous vegetables would be such a great idea. The hydrogen sulfide that is usually released into the air would have nowhere to go and you'd end up with an extra-skunky product. It's not clear to me that it's possible to cook cruciferous vegetables at a time/temperature sufficient to tenderize them that does not also produce hydrogen sulfide.

Rule #!: Specify your formula ("Gimme a 2 to 1 Martini with Beefeater, stirred, up with a twist. Put in a dash of orange bitters, if you've got 'em.") Rule #2: Don't get a Martini in a place where they aren't likely to listen to you when you give your formula.

I think a lot of the question depends on what kind of place you're working in. Regardless, if someone asks you for "a Martini" without any further elaboration, and if you suspect that your clientele is generally going to want something other than gin stirred with a healthy proportion of vermouth, the next question is "how do you want it?"

I thought I'd revisit this thread. Like many people, I have had a great fondness for the original TriBeCa location, which I though was distinguished by interesting, very good food (some outstanding) at a good price, the amazing wine program, and wonderful service. Also like many people, I was a bit disappointed at the somewhat inevitable dilution of service and kitchen consistency that resulted from opening a much larger outpost in the Time Warner Center. Even in 2008, by which time one would hope these things could have been ironed out, I've experienced disappointments with things such as pasta dishes that had clearly been left to congeal in the pass while waiting for a steak (perfectly cooked, I should hastend to add) to be ready, the occasional inexplicably long waits for service, etc. It's not as smooth and consistent as their operation in TriBeCa, and I imagine this dichotomy is going to persist. On the other hand, I've also had meals there with spot-on food and great service even when the place was jam-packed. In a restaurant of this size, at this price point, with this clientele and in this location, I think a certain amount of variability is perhaps inevitable. Regardless, the great experiences there have certainly outnumbered the so-so ones, and they care. What made me decide to re-post on this topic is that, by chance more than anything else, I've been to Landmarc TWC a few times recently during the lunch/brunch hour. And their sandwiches are just so off-the-chart delicious I just had to post about it. Two are worthy of particular note: Their smoked tuna sandwich starts with house-smoked high-quality tuna that is shredded (some big hunks, some small pieces), combined with capers, celery, red onion, and (I assume) some mayonnaise. This finds its way in a seriously thick layer between two pieces of excellent ciabatta. Ordinarily I don't appreciate things like this in a 2-inch-thick layer, but this was delicious and a bargain at 14 bucks. Big enough for two normal people to share, really. My favorite, however, is their braised lamb sandwich. It uses the same ciabatta, filled with ridiculously silky, unctuous, delicious braised lamb, redolent with rosemary and dripping with sauce, then gilds the lily with a slathering of aioli. Bread & butter pickles are there as well, to cut the richness. I can't imagine not ordering this when it's on the menu. My idea of afternoon heaven is that braised lamb sandwich followed by their (ridiculously delicious, ridiculously rich) pain perdu.

I guess I don't understand the "low fat" baked "fries" where one coats a few potatoes worth of fries with oil and then bakes them to doneness. This way, you are for sure getting the whole 2 tablespoons of oil. Meanwhile, it's not at all clear to me that two potatoes worth of fries that are fried in oil will absorb two tablespoons of oil.