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Chad

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Posts posted by Chad

    Improving my cooking skills (2003)

    in Cooking

    Posted

    You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.  I didn't have any beef stock on hand, but I remembered Ms. Tillie saying something in her stock course about how you can get away with prepared stock if it's a long-cooked stew.  Since the sauce in our menu was mostly wine, not stock, I fell back on Better Than Bouillon.  And when I cooked the onions, I didn't even bother with that; I used water.

    When I'm stuck for stock, I fall back on the reduced stocks from More than Gourmet. I usually keep 16oz. tubs of their "Fond de Poulet" and "Demi-Glace Gold" in the fridge for just such emergencies. They work great for pan sauces, quick soups and just about anytime you'd need a stock but don't have one on hand. Good stuff. And they have duck fat! Whoo hooo! Nothing better than potatoes sauted in duck fat.

    Sorry for the digression, but these folks make good stuff. I can't detect the weird chemical flavors I've found in other pre-packaged stock reductions. Nice to have on hand.

    Chad

    $650 Martini on Oprah

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    Holy crap! The "Where Y'at" page is yours? Every time I try to explain New Orleans to someone, that's where I send them. Nice to have you here.

    And your apple vodka sounds great. I've never been a big vodka fan. Not enough there there, if you know what I mean. But apple infused vodka sounds pretty nifty. Might have to try that.

    Welcome.

    Chad

    Duck Confit

    in Cooking

    Posted

    I keep seeing things called "confit" that contain neither meat nor fat. Just yesterday I was reading Gray Kunz's "Elements of Taste," and he has both a pickled lemon confit and a ginger confit. ... What gives? Is this another instance of a chef playing with a familiar term? Expanding its definition?

    How are they prepared? I don't think it's entirely inappropriate to call something that has been cooked slowly completely submerged in fat a "confit" -- although it is stretching the definition when the ingredient is not meat (technically, it is stretching the definition when it is not meat cooked in its' own fat, but that's really splitting hairs).

    Ginger Confit

    from Gray Kunz's "Elements of Taste"

    1/2 cup juliened peeled ginger

    1/2 cup white vermouth

    3 tbls honey

    6 cloves

    1 stick cinnamon

    Juice of 1 lemon

    Juice of 1 lime

    Zest of 1 lemon, julienned

    1 dried Chinese chile

    1 tsp onion seeds

    Kosher salt

    Freshly ground white pepper

    Combine all ingredients in a saucepan except the onion seeds, salt and pepper. Reduce to a jamlike consistency by simmering over medium-high heat. Cool to room temperature. Add the onion seeds and season with salt and pepper.

    There ya go. No meat. No fat. Slow simmering, certainly, but I don't think that defines a confit.

    What say y'all?

    Chad

    Duck Confit

    in Cooking

    Posted · Edited by Chad (log)

    I retrieved this definition from the Food TV Encyclopedia (sorry, Lily, I left my Larousse at home):
    [kohn-FEE; kon-FEE] This specialty of Gascony, France, is derived from an ancient method of preserving meat (usually goose, duck or pork) whereby it is salted and slowly cooked in its own fat. The cooked meat is then packed into a crock or pot and covered with its cooking fat, which acts as a seal and preservative.

    So I think Schneider's recipe, like the one Helenas used in the thread she linked, is baked duck legs. Does Schneider claim that the legs can be stored as if they were non-revisionist confit?

    Thank you! I was wondering if I was insane (a distinct possibility) or simply ignorant (an even more distinct possibility). I keep seeing things called "confit" that contain neither meat nor fat. Just yesterday I was reading Gray Kunz's "Elements of Taste," and he has both a pickled lemon confit and a ginger confit. Both look more like chunky jams too me (with a little vinegar and they'd be chutneys, I believe).

    What gives? Is this another instance of a chef playing with a familiar term? Expanding its definition? The recipes are in the "pickles" section, so he might be referring to the "conserved" connotation of the word. Or is he just screwing with us?

    Chad

    Charleston, South Carolina

    in Southeast: Dining

    Posted

    Peninsula Grill and Charleston Grill are both excellent choices. I also like 82 Queen, just down the street from Poogan's Porch. Had an excellent dinner there a couple of years ago. Very inviting. We sat in the open couryard, which was absolutely perfect.

    Menu, as I recall it (descriptions borrowed from their menu):

    App: Pulled Duck Quesadilla with caramelized onions, roasted peppers, green tomato relish and smoked gouda

    Entre: Grilled Lamb Loin Chops with blue cheese mashed potatoes, garlic wilted spinach and a raspberry port wine reduction

    Don't remember dessert.

    A little more than $100 per person, as I recall, and that was with much (much) wine.

    Has anyone else tried 82 Queen?

    Chad

    Q&A -- Report on Dan Lepard's Baking Day

    in The eGullet Culinary Institute (eGCI)

    Posted

    ps: Andy, I like the beard. Is that new?

    Thank you for the compliment Chad, and for raising that important question, which I am happy to answer. Yes the beard is new, as I trim it, it regenerates so that it is completely replaced every 2 weeks or so.

    Always happy to provide the insightful and trenchant questions :raz:.

    Dan measured everything, and demonstrated how to use Bakers' percentage formulas in practice.

    Could one of y'all elaborate a little (or a lot) on this? I've read about the Baker's Percentage before, but don't know anything about it or how it's used.

    Thanks!

    Chad

    Flammable Foods

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    Some things are harder to flame than others.  Trust me.  Old rotten fish guts are not highly flamable.

    Ah, but if you unthinkingly stuff them down a garbage disposal while cleaning a dozen fish or so and then turn the disposal on, they will spray a horrifying glurt of scales, blood and eyeballs all over the kitchen.

    Chad

    Improving my cooking skills (2003)

    in Cooking

    Posted

    :angry: Grrrr. I think someone else in Wichita is playing along . . . and not playing fairly.

    I was at the library yesterday to check out J&J. I know they have it, I've borrowed it before.

    Not there.

    Check the computer -- the book has been reported as "lost." Hmmm

    Check Torres' "Dessert Circus." Also "lost." And with the same checkout/return dates as J&J.

    Bastard.

    Chad

    Battle of the fake potato chips: Stax v. Pringles

    in Ready to Eat

    Posted · Edited by Chad (log)

    All right, I now have samples of both Pringles and "original" Stax in-house. I will conduct a side-by-side comparison tomorrow.

    Uh, and if any of you works for Financial Advisor Resource, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers or American Business Journals, Inc. -- this is not why my article is late. Nuh uh. No sir.

    Chad

    Improving my cooking skills (2003)

    in Cooking

    Posted

    Is a Northern Rhone wine really considered Burgundy???  This is news to me, but I don't pretend to know.  Chad may very well be right.  Paging Craig Camp.  Paging Craig Camp.

    I think I can say with some confidence, however, that when a recipe calls for Burgundy, Pinot Noir is what they're talking about.  That's what I assume, anyway.

    Ack, my bad. I just checked my "Larousse Encyclopedia of Wine." Looks like the northern Rhone ends just below Lyons, where the Burgundy region begins. Sorry 'bout that, folks. :rolleyes:

    Still, it's a good bottle of wine.

    Chad

    Improving my cooking skills (2003)

    in Cooking

    Posted · Edited by Chad (log)

    Damn you people, I don't need another cookbook -- at least one that my wife knows about.

    {sigh} I'm in.

    Go on about your business. I'll get a running start and jump on the merry-go-round when I'm up to speed.

    Truly, cool project guys.

    Before we do the beef, someone's got to tell me how to find a good, reasonably priced Burgundy!

    And Seth, try the E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone -- best $12 you'll spend this year. It's readily available, as far as I can tell. I like it better than Guigal's $30-40 Cotes Roti, Chateauneuf du Pape, etc. A good Burgundy bargain.

    Entries: Round Twelve

    in Literary Smackdown Entries

    Posted · Edited by Chad (log)

    "Given that Mrs. Johnston is constitutionaly incapable of producing an edible green bean casserole, Mrs. Ferber has a washing fixation bordering on the compulsive and that neither couple can stand the other, our organization is hereby disbanded." Edwin Johnston, Recording Secretary.

    Minutes, New Rochelle Supper and Swing Club, 1871

    Chad

    Menu Uncertainty

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    Hmm, am I the only one who asks the waiter/waitress? When it's a toss up between two equally interesting things, I'll ask -- looking for either a straight answer or that fleeting half smile or lift of the eyebrow that says, "don't order that one today, it tastes like the chef's dog got sick in it."

    This only works in nicer restaurants. In mid-line & lower places, Tad (which the waitron is invariably named, male or female) will tell you what his/her favorite is, gushing enthusiastically while describing how he and his friends devoured a platter of it before doing the beer bong.

    sigh.

    Chad

    Q&A -- Preservation Basics

    in The eGullet Culinary Institute (eGCI)

    Posted

    Damn, Jack, another great lesson. Do you not sleep?

    A quick question. In the plum section you say to add ". . . hot water to cover the tops by at least one inch." But the water in the pot doesn't seem to cover the tops of the jars. Could just be the angle of the photo. Can I assume you mean the tops of the jars? Or is it simply enough water to reach the tops of the contents of the jars?

    Thanks!

    Chad

    Grocery Cart Theft

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    Okay, no one has mentioned the most salient point yet. The wheel on the no-theft carts locks when you pass an electronic barrier. BFD! When was the last time you used a grocery cart that didn't have at least one wheel that locked up? Geez, I seem to get the carts with wheels pointing sideways, wheels that won't turn, wheels that lock and unlock periodically just to see if you're paying attention and the ones with 4-wheel independent alien-guided steering. I wouldn't even notice if a no-theft cart locked up on me.

    Chad

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