Chad

The bolster on German and French knives is there primarily for balance these days. I days of yore it was a sign of a fully forged knife. No retail knife is hand forged anymore, so the bolster is kind of a traditional add-on, though it does keep large knives from being too blade heavy. Regarding grip I can only refer you to Zilla369's Basic Knife Skills class, where the classic chef's "pinch grip" is demonstrated and my own Knife Maintenance & Sharpening Clinic where the evils of the bolster are fully articulated. You folks sound like tried and true knife knuts, but you still might find something of value. Chad edit: can't type that late at night

Don't worry about it, I buy my meats from YBMeats here in Wichita, an independent butcher. They dry age their meats for a minimu 21 days and will custom cut whatever I want. I'm currently in negotiations with their manager to wrangle meat cutting lessons. Every beef & pork carcass comes from a couple of small farms about 25 miles away. Discovering them was a true relevation. I only mentioned Excel, specifically Sterling Silver, as an example of one of the big meat companies trying to do the right thing -- at least with one line. I don't know anything about Cargill except my personal experiences with the underlings at Excel -- and the under-underlings who run the Sterling Silver line. Those guys are fanatics about beef quality. I suspect that is slowly being eroded as Sterling Silver grows to encompass pork, deli meats, et al. But when I was working with them, it was like dealing with Moonies, a cult-like devotion to high-quality beef. Dunno if that extends to the rest of Excel, the rest of Cargill, or anything else. But I do know that fairly recently there was a small core of beef zealots in charge of the Sterling Silver line. If you can find it (and don't have an independent butcher you can rely on), give it a try. You might be surprised. Chad

Man, if Bob Dozier started making kitchen knives we'd all be lined up around the corner. The man is a genius. And his knives are some of the sharpest I've ever seen. One drawback, though. Bob works his wonders with D2 steel, which ain't great in the kitchen. I've had a D2 kitchen knife; the steel isn't quite stainless enough (12% chromium) to keep from developing a patina. And D2 is much harder than the average knife user is accustomed to, making sharpening a real bear. Chad

Ahem. As I mentioned before, Excel -- specifically "Sterling Silver" brand beef -- was once one of my clients. I know these folks. I know how they buy their beef, paying premiums for high marbling and overall quality, tracking generations of cattle, encouraging cattlemen to raise livestock to meet much higher expectations than other beef purchaser require. They're fanatics about quality for the Sterling Silver line. Prime really is prime. They may say dry aging for 21 days, but internally that's a bare minimum. They usually go 30 or more. What they call prime or AAA is, in fact, some of the better beef out there. Is it better than Luger? Probably not. But it is prime and is significantly better than anything else you can buy in grocery stores. Their lawyers, as far as I can tell, make them hedge their bets and call it "prime or AAA" rather than strictly prime. Sorry for the commercial, but the Sterling Silver line is good stuff. Chad

The simple answer is, don't rip off the photograph -- buy or license it. That's what stock photography is for. For limited usage you won't pay more than a $100 or so for a decent shot. Of course, you may see your shot turn up somewhere else because stock houses can and do license the photograph to many users (up to a point). That's a consideration to keep in mind when deciding whether to license a photo or buy it outright. Chad

Attribution note: In my cut 'n' paste frenzy of last night I got the authors of the first two quotes wrong. The first should be budrichard, the second megaira. Sorry 'bout that. So, is the "prime crime" true? Is the quality of meat degrading so that what is now prime would have once been labeled choice? Chad

A spinoff from another thread. What is "prime" beef. And is it worth paying for? Do we even know what we're buying? Then Chad sayeth: Then ExtraMSG said Megaira said Ok, so bud is correct & you can and should specify if you want prime grade beef for your prime rib? She does alternate in the article between calling it a standing rib roast and prime rib. Not that it changes the lack of education offered regarding the grade not being connected to the name. eta - Julia also does not mention this/that there is a difference, etc. So perhaps another thread is in order explaining these things...I'd find it edumacational. Puts me in the mood for a turkey, it does. By the way, the USDA recognizes eight gradations of meat: - Commercial - Utility - Cutter - Canner - Standard - Select - Choice - Prime As Shirley Corriher says The rest are used for commercial, institutional, canned and "other" end products.In our recent Q&A with Mr. Cutlets we discovered the prime crime, the degredation of "prime" beef over the last many years. Yet there are companies out there who are trying to preserve the best traditions of prime beef, Excel Corporation, a division of Cargill, being one. A disclaimer. Excel is a former client. I've spent a lot of time with them. I know their cattle tracking and grading processes. I know the kill floor. These people are serious about keeping prime prime. So what is "prime" beef? What should it be? Is the "prime crime" eroding what we know about top quality beef? Do we care? Chad

Don't forget Photoshop Elements 2.0. It gives you 90% of the full Photoshop package, but for less than $100 bucks. The advertising agencies I've worked with have all used Photoshop, the full version. But those were highly trained graphic designers who'd spend years learning the ins and outs of Photoshop. PS Elements gives you near total control over photo processing with a relatively minor learning curve. The other option is a trade-out. I'm a big fan of trade-outs. For example, I have a deal with a really good web designer to put my website together in exchange for writing a brochure for one of his clients. I have another deal with an award-winning catalog photograher to do some shots for an upcoming article in exchange for a good home-cooked meal and sharpening his knives (in addition to photo credits in a major magazine). You should be able to find a good local photographer -- one skilled in catalog or food photography, ask around at a couple of ad agencies -- and make a deal for cash and food products. Food styling is a bitch. I did a shoot several years ago where we went through several cases of cup-a-soup to get the right shot. I was the ad weasel, not the photographer, but I learned a lot that day. I've also done pizza shoots where we had -- literally -- several dozen pizzas in the oven so we could get the right "pull" shot -- you know the one where the slice is being pulled off the pie with several strings of cheese clinging to the pizza below. I guess the bottom line is that if you're dealing with anything other than a straight static shot, hire a pro and bribe him with cheese and olives. It might be cheaper than you think.

Better tip: ignore me and go with Pyewacket's advice. . Chad

A couple of quick tips (and we'll then exhaust my knowledge of photography): You want a relatively shallow depth of field, you know sharp focus in the foreground with the background blurred and more suggestive than illustrative. Go with a longer lens, say a 105mm portrait lens and use a wide aperture, less than f4. Adjust shutter speed for lighting. Natural light is almost always best. A couple of pieces of white poster board off to the side (reflecting additional light) can do wonders to remove unwanted shadows. Shoot on transparency film rather than print film. You get much richer colors. Style the food so that it's appealing, but relatively uncluttered. As I understand it you're not looking for a romantic or evocative shot but more of a very tasteful product shot. You might, as Jackal10 said, use a dark tablecloth to highlight the tray. Silver is going to be very hard to shoot because of lighting reflections. I found that out the hard way when trying to shoot knives for my knife sharpening tutorial. A nice bright white or color that complements the product packaging would probably work best. Just some thoughts, Chad

Note the wet slurping sound as this thread is dredged up from the depths. Okay, Saturday dinner guests -- foodies & knowledgeable, too. Tough crowd. I'm thinking a simple vanilla panna cotta with some sort of fruit compote or sauce. All suggestions welcome. I like mamster's recipe, but if I want to skip the coconut part, can I just use all cream? Thanks for the help. Chad

Hmmm. The ingredients list on my "Dynasty" brand fish sauce: "Anchovy extract, salt and sugar. Product of Thailand." As I said, I was in a hurry, so I bought what was available. Looks like a trip downtown to the big Asian market. Or do y'all think this might be passable? Chad

Okay, repeat after me, "I will not clean the kitchen just to take photos for eGullet." It makes the rest of us look bad. The cutting board is beautiful, but it does look pretty damn thick. I was down at my local restaurant supply place the other day and they had some Boos boards (not end grain that I recall) that were a good 15x20". But they weren't 4" thick, either. More like 1-1/2". 'Bout $50. If you're not sold on end grain, try a resaurant supply house nearby. Personal thought: my counters are the average 36" height. I'm not tall -- 5'10" on a good day. Thirty six inches is a little high for long term chopping, dicing, slicing, et al., for me. I wouldn't want to add four inches to that. I'd get a kink in my shoulders that would last for days. If you're 6' or above, that might not be a problem. As has been suggested, put one of your regular boards at that height and try it for a couple of days to see how it feels. Just a couple of random, port-driven thoughts. Chad

Ah, good tip on mixing the fish sauce & lime. I didn't have time to go downtown to the Asian market, so I ran down to the local gourmet shop. I ended up with "Dynasty" brand fish sauce. Anybody got any info on this stuff? Chad

[Fat Albert] Hey, hey, hey -- I got J and J! [/Fat Albert] Just arrived on my doorstep. Menus are already in place for this week, but I'll get a running start by reading through the book and joining in the fun next week. Chad

Okay, folks, I'm committing larb for the first time on Thursday -- Grand Larbceny! The kids, of course, are just f*ing thrilled . Never done this before. Is there anything I need to watch out for? Tips, tricks, hints? Here's the plan: ground pork (1lb) 2T ground toasted rice (I have sushi rice, will that work?) 2T of fish sauce (any particular brand I should get?) 3T lime juice 3T chicken stock dried chiles or chile powder 2 shallots or so scallions diced red serranos (all my SuperChiles -- pequin/bird pepper hybrid -- are dead) pinch of sugar I'm thinking I'll poach/cook the pork in the chicken stock till brown, add the shallots, fish sauce, lime juice, peppers, toasted rice and sugar, cook enough to soften the shallots, take off the heat and garnish with scallions and lime zest. I'll serve on butter lettuce leaves. Am I missing anything? Chad

Dear God, yes! Par cook some chunked new potatoes (put them in salted water, bring it to a boil, remove the potatoes & shock them in ice water to stop the cooking) dry them and saute (shallow fry) them in the flavored duck fat, aka Liquid Love. It's the best thing that ever happened to a potato. Chad

God damn, man, will you hurry up? Nearly 11:00 here and nary a single picture. Don't you know we've all been waiting since your last post. The kids are hungry. But, no, daddy's got to hang around the computer for sandwich updates. Think of the children! Chad

Remember the grand Mac & Cheese exploration? Still haven't made it again. Maybe tomorrow. I still have panko. Chad

Boris, I haven't played with one of those personally. It does, however, bear a striking resemblance to the Mousetrap Steel from Razor Edge Systems. Could be a licensed product or a knock-off. Who knows? The Moustrap steel has a pretty good reputation, especially for high-volume, restaurant-type work. It's been extensively reviewed by Cliff Stamp. Take a look. Chad

And this (he said, quoting from the Book of Armaments, the part that Brother Maynard skipped) is why God gave us large caliber handguns. Sammiches are just fine, however. Pseudo kitschy and lightly ironic, sammich fits in nicely with the eGullet demo. And it's just fun to say. Chad edit: speeling

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. . . Risotto, light of my kitchen, fire of my belly. Nice job on the recipe and the pictures. Looks good. Risotto isn't hard, it's just a little time consuming. And you're right, it is somewhat zen-like in its meditative effect. Enjoyed it vicariously. Chad

Cook's Illustrated tried one out a while back (Jan/Feb issue) and found no improvement in dishes made in their commercial Wolf ovens. However, when they tried the HearthKit in several home ovens they discovered that it did indeed make a significant difference. Cookies browned evenly without rotating, bread rose and browned better, etc. I don't know that I need a HearthKit, but I do keep a big-ass pizza stone on the bottom rack of my oven at all times. It takes forever for the oven to preheat now, but that's fine, the stone levels out the temperature fluctuations that home ovens are prone to. My oven temp stays nice and steady, foods brown better (possibly from the increased radiant heat) and my bread has never been better. Chad

I guess the reall question is: Do we trust John Cleese on wine? Of course I'll watch the show. I'm sure it will be very witty and well done. But does the guy know wine? Do we care? (And I still want to see "John Cleese's Cheese Shoppe" where he explains all of the cheeses in the famous sketch. Where the hell does one get Venezuelan Beaver Cheese anyway?) Chad

Well, shit. My Jimmy Olsen skills ain't what they used to be. Chad