paul o' vendange

Can I toss in some apples into that pan afterwards, please, some good cheese, rustic bread and charcuterie, and a bruising cup or 3 of fire-brewed coffee? We've finally gotten the first real snap of autumn, in our neck of the woods....smoke, fire, bacon...you nailed my favorite time and feel of year, as well. Remerciements!

Late to the game (and many years away...another story)...but: Brown stocks, esp. duck and other game; levain boule, when it first drops on the stones (any yeast bread baking, for that matter - both the early, unique smell of the bread as it caramelizes locally on the stones, and the bake itself); braised lamb shoulder ballon, when the strings are first snipped and the hours of herbs tucked inside, aromatics and meat goodness are first released. Any braise, really, esp. now, with the trees turning and the nights dropping low. A full-blown mash, as barley starch converts to a beautiful complex of sugars; fresh, intense hops, the panoply of fresh citrus to effulgent floral.

Bosc will hold its shape well. Used commonly in baking.

Sorry! Should have read more carefully, thought you were looking for a means to showcase the peppers, but neglected you are doing a first/amuse. How about some sort of late summer/early fall puree...roast pepper, enriched with roast garlic and roasted walnuts, topped with creme fraiche or slivers of a somewhat nutty cheese, Jaz's Gouda, Ossau, Mahon, Asiago, Manchego? Can sit atop gluten-free crackers.

Tammy, this isn't a roasted pepper treatment, but it is an intensifying treatment with fresh peppers, enriched with a not modest amount of cream to smooth the palate and ease the vinegar. I use it with fish alot, but as the base for a nice vegetable timbale, croustade, etc., I enjoy it as well, there. This time of year, I'd tend more to roasted pepper like you're wanting, or a confit usage of some sort, but for what it's worth, my red pepper coulis: Red Pepper Coulis 4 red peppers, deseeded 2 cups sauvignon blanc (a fairly austere one, grass and mineral over high-ester, Marlborough-style wines) ¼ cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar* 4 cloves garlic, peeled 1 cup cream salt white pepper Blend peppers in blender with 1 ½ cups wine, vinegar, and garlic until thoroughly liquefied. Pour into saucepan and reduce to slurried paste over medium-low heat. Add remaining wine, deglaze, and reduce again. Add cream and thicken. Pass through chinois, season with salt and white pepper and reserve.

Thanks, Chris. You have also triggered me to hunt down (no pun intended) another guy here doing a great job with his pekins - big, beautiful ducks. We almost went with him, though I ultimately opted for muscovys from Christian Gasset, of Au Bon Canard (plug for Christian - a great guy, doing great work). By the way, say hi to Providence! Used to walk the shadowy halls of Trinity Rep as a conservatory student... I have been consistently using Brome Lake ducks, which are pekin ducks and readily available at a local store (East Side Marketplace for those in RI). The good Lac Brome folks don't trim off extra fat and skin (mais oui) so there's always enough, if barely at times. ←

It's really not that much work, either. Most of the time you are breaking down the duck for one reason or another, and if you grab all the skin and fat and use this method, you can get enough fat from a duck to confit the legs. I haven't bought any duck fat in my life. ← Chris, I'm curious on the breeds you use. I find this to be true (in boatloads) with moulard, usually true with muscovy, but I am always a bit shy with your garden variety pekin. I have used a variant of the method years, and agree, it is the way to get wonderful, pristine fat. With pekin, though, I find I don't usually have enough to confit the legs. Not a big deal, I top with good olive oil, but I do miss the gallons of moulard I used to obtain.

Beautiful, guys! Well, After my own heart, prawncracker. It 's a constant battle to balance the rib caps with the (heart of the) ribeyes, but immeasurably worth it. Both cuts, pure pleasure.

The talk of Steak Frites in the French forum is getting me hungry. I thought it might be interesting for folks to chime in with their favorite cuts, methods, sauces, sides, etc. I'll start. Mine's pretty straightforward - I like to use the ribeye cap - excised from an export rib. Salt, pepper, temper for a good hour or more. Pan roast, deglaze with white wine, add in shallot, thyme, reduce to glaze; pan sauce of veal stock, a bit of chicken stock, a bit of mustard. Pass sauce through a mini-chinois. Shoestring, twice-cooked yukon golds, small side of arugula salad, with "beet chips" - slow roasted "feuilles" of beets, bit of chevre. (I like the pepper of the arugular, the subtle sweetness of the beets, against the salt of the chevre, and slight tang of the beef and sauce). What's yours?

Kris, I've not had the tomme de Crayeuse - can you describe it a bit?

Hi all - before I chime in with my thoughts, anyone have any?

Lesa, I would agree, listen - mostly, listen to yourself. I applaud you for pursuing something, and having the courage to do so now.

I think this is true, and I think that reputation feeds two different streams in smaller areas: planning, and consumer demand. At least from my experience, limited as it was to being an owner-operator of an independent bistro in small town America. People there (the Upper Peninsula, Michigan) considered Applebee's fine dining (no hyperbole, nor disrespect - it is what it is). I think the chains provide comfort; they are known, they don't frighten people generally wary of new experiences, which is, from what we saw, the overall culture in the area. From the city planner perspective, city planners will agonize for years over new development, intended to make the area more of a magnet for expats from the cities, and declare they want locally owned, locally operated business; they put millions in outright funding and tax abatement in harbor development, condo's, etc., but then they reject all this to give the nod to the national chains, Applebee's apparently being the top choice. This is what we witnessed, anyway, and Suzy's conclusion is what we drew.

Just a couple of resources, hope they're helpful: Chef2Chef - database of culinary scholarships article I know, too, that this esteemed website also offers a variety of annual awards. I think the timing of your school won't work out for this next year, as the awards have been handed out, but FYI, eGullet works with the Culinary Trust to offer annual awards - perhaps if you don't end up going this year, you might look into it for next. Just one more good thing this community offers to the culinary world. Best of luck; I hope you get the funding you need.

Truly impossible for me to limit to three; my "faves" change all the time, often depending on the weather, wine we've got on board, etc. In no particular order, France: Osau Iraty Tomme de Fedou; Epoisse de Bourgogne; aged crotin; laguiole pont l'eveque Raclette Roquefort Bleu D'Auvergne Tomme de Savoie Spain: Garrotxa Manchego Switzerland: Gruyere Vacherin Fribourgeois England Double Gloucester Stilton U.S.: Humboldt Fog Schwarz und Weiss, triple cream Amish blue Right now, in our fridge, Garrotxa, Osau Iraty, Tomme de Fedou, so, them's the current faves. The Fedou, in particular, with its direct connection to the sheep, is a subtle, but discernibly pleasant stank I can't get enough of. Well, when I'm not going nuts over the hay and meadow of Vacherin. I give up. Trois? Impossible!

I don't think it's a silly question...in fact, it's something that's come up for me recently. I'm from the Pacific Northwest - whenever I hear "smoked salmon", I think of the "flakey" stuff - brined and smoked. But, a good friend of mine constantly refers to what I consider lox as smoked salmon. Now, I don't understand why you would call this "smoked". It's soaked in brine, but it's not smoked is it? (I'm no salmon expert, so maybe it is and I'm missing something, but the stuff I've tasted that she's brought over from Ireland doesn't have a smoked flavor like the stuff I find in Seattle does - at least not IMO) Now this friend is from Ireland and all of her family refer to these lox things as 'smoked salmon' as well. So, I'm thinking maybe it's just a cultural thing - and maybe you should look at the origin of the recipe (i.e.: from the US used "flaked", from the UK use "lox"). That's just a guess off the top of my head, but that's what I would do. ETA: Although, I do agree with Hendry dV on not using lox in a recipe and going with the flakey if it's going to be cooked. ← To add to the confusion, my taxonomy would be, cold smoked is a type of "lox," but not all "lox" is smoked. In practice, though, when I think of "lox," I do generally think of very simply cured, cold smoked salmon. But "gravlax" or "gravad lox" extends to the salmon cured, often with spices and herbs, without smoking - mine, for instance, is cured with salt, ez sugar, a variety of citrus rinds, green herbs (parsley, tarragon, chervil), and a bit of cognac. I also cold smoke with a simple salt/sugar cure. I wonder "why not?" about the use of cold-smoked salmon in a recipe calling for cooked salmon. I prefer cold smoked salmon to hot-smoked salmon, as with the former, the fish's oils are preserved and I appreciate the texture and versatility. I would think using cold-smoked salmon in a cooked presentation would be fine, perhaps even render a better result. I often do this, anyway - i.e., (par) cold smoke duck breasts, poussin, lobster, even tomatoes and other vegetables - only to finish in a hot presentation.

This is an interesting discussion; there is something I would also like to clarify. I think everything has to do with thresholds - sensory thresholds ("yuck - spoiled!"), and thresholds past which the body will feel the ill-effects of contaminants, or enough contaminants will enter the body to replicate before the body can fight off the infection, hence, sickness. There is little "absolute" in cooking, in terms of contamination, absent sterilization - the absolute killing off of all microbes and their spores, and maintenance of this environment through aseptic practice (such as canning). I think what we do is better named sanitization- we reduce microbial loads to allowable limits, and make it difficult for these beasties to grow past allowable limits by heat, then cold. Foodborne, even airborne contaminants exist everywhere - we are eating contaminated food everyday, with every bite, or nearly so. When I posted "I wouldn't use it," what I should have said is "I wouldn't use it for service, or more than that day, or next." In other words, the scenario I envisioned was leaving the stock out, then putting it away. The population density of contaminant microorganisms may or not be large enough to surpass threshold levels by the end of the first day, but even in the refrigerator, absent a lengthy enough boil to kill off the bacteria and spores that result from the period sitting out, it will only retard what will be an inevitable process. A few days later at best, I would bet, and the stock is spoiled. Beyond this, even if the microbial load was itself low, I would wonder about their by-products, producing off-effects. Not worried about toxins, so much, in an aerobic environment, as much as nasty by-products of respiration and replication. Re: hot stock in a fridge. I think two problems are at hand: the hot stock may indeed heat up the fridge, as posted above, such that the cooling period is unduly long (large vessel/small fridge area). Or, the ability of the fridge to cool the liquid inside the stock vessel by external, ambient temp is really inefficient; either way, the length of time inside the microbial growth zone is long. The immersion stick method provides direct heat transfer, and is more efficient (rate of heat transfer is higher) in cooling the liquid to reasonable ranges.

Sorry, but past 4 hours, you're inviting unacceptably high-levels of contamination. This applies to everything. Additionally, it isn't as if 4 hours is a magic benchmark - any time you leave food out within the temparature range of microbial contaminants, with adequate nutrition (your food), and environmental factors (i.e., air, and not properly canned anaerobic environment), you will be getting contamination. 4 hours is a threshold estimate, but no time left out is good.

Nothing intelligent to add, just a chuckle, as somewhere in the recess of my mind I must have just thought this was one of the cool things busboys do, along with the ability to carry 13 coke glasses in their arms. (OK, OK, I used to be able to carry 13 glasses - Brown, Thompson & Co. called it "flair." But I digress).

Mike, I have resisted joining in, as I think we're getting off Tim's original topic, but just a couple of thoughts. Every "successful" restaurant or concept you mentioned in your earlier post was other than fine dining. There is no doubt it is easier to make a go of it in "fast casual" dining, for example, with an average check of $6, than $60; the profit is simply better. Speaking purely personally, I also haven't any interest in spending my time making this kind of food or joining the legion of Chipotle clones in moving from a "mom and pop" to a chain. So, I accept I'm going to make crap in the way of compensation, and likely will die tired, not exactly rolling in dough. I do think you are confusing something though. No one is asking for a handout. You are exactly right that what we do is a business, not a charity - but this holds everywhere. Because it is a business, what will be will be. You pay adequately relative to your team's desire to stay and provide their sweat, they will stay. You don't, they leave. But it's all part of some personal calculus. Much as a customer might think a $300 meal was eminently worth it, and might feel ripped off by a $1.50 hot dog, so might, so do, many people think working in a great kitchen offering other-than-high $10's of $10,000's in salary is just fine - because they get something of adequate value for their labor. Others don't. Others, such as yourself, want more money, so they seek other avenues. I say, godspeed to everyone. No one is preventing anyone from making choices. We all impute value to what we do and decide what that is worth.

Great topic! My wife constantly bemoans my love of these things. I absolutely cannot use anything else - my hands just no longer work without them. Unfortunately, I'm also a wastrel. If I'm a freak about a clean station, I'm a loser when it comes to using them judiciously - one bit of soil, I toss them into the bin and get another. As I do at home, and our basket is lined with more towels than anything else. I have two kinds - white, rectangular, pale green stripe lengthwise; I use these wet for anchoring cutting boards, wiping finishe plates, etc. Others, plush, blue striped - pans, oven basting, etc.

Pille, tere tere! From a Gaul married to an Estonian-blooded one, thanks for this...I will pass these goodies on to her clan!

Respectfully, I don't know that that's quite it, though, Mike, is it? Absolutely - market rules. But in a small area, who is making $20 per hour, or, for that matter, paying $800 rent? Nevertheless, I do think there is a culture based on illusion among the students and recent grads-cum-Next Celebrity-Wunderkinds, and they are in for a rude awakening when the reality of the industry hits them square between the eyes. I know in our instance, we paid every position at a far better rate than was obtained anywhere in our region. I know what it is to slog it out and get paid merde, so I wanted to do everything we could. But it is nowhere near a decent livelihood, by any objective standard - and my wife and I were, objectively, the lowest on the totem pole, going months without paying ourselves a dime. As you say, the market rules - but it rules on both sides of the aisle. As you did, if such a condition makes you say the hell with it, you leave the industry. I wish conditions were such that the industry could work under another paradigm, but with margins as razor thin as they are, I do not know of any other way. I don't want to put words in your mouth. Maybe the question you raise is whether the industry itself needs to go the way of the dodo bird. If so, I'd say this is a legitimate, and difficult, question. My view's pretty clear. I know I loathe what I see in so many industries, not just food: rampant consolidation and, from my perspective, the destruction that results. But plenty like what results, and if this is what the market wants, it will get it.

How about making a mix of melted shallot, tarragon, salt and pepper, EZ olive oil, slipping it under the skin (is this skin on, or skinless?), and roasting them off? Actually, doing something like this for tonight's grub - except, searing the breasts, and will be basting with a jus of stock, tarragon, tomato, mushroom.

Man, Tim, I feel for you. We were in precisely this situation. We lived in a northern outpost, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and established Waterstone in the Spring of 2004. There is a culinary program, but in 2-4 years' time, as I understand it, they get one day - one day - on stock making, and their practical work is similarly thin over the course of the program. Additionally, despite our earnest and repeated attempts to reach out to the program in the way of offering internships, etc., we never heard from them once during our tenure. Perhaps it is summed up by one person who actually did come our way from the program - who left after day two of stockmaking, because she only "wanted to cook for celebrities." Quote. Tant pis pour eux, et c'est la vie. Like yourself, we, too, butchered everything on premises, maintained up to 10 or so stocks, in-house charcuterie and patisserie, etc., and it was a tremendous challenge to draw in people, and train them to do what was needed to be done. Par for the course, and absolutely what needed to be, I was pulling 17-20 hour days, 7 days per week for the first several months of our life. However, I think in so many ways, I was lucky as they come. If the culinary program was a total wash, when my first sous was picked up by the feds (another colorful tale), a professor from the program stepped in to guest with me, a real pleasure, and now friend; and I made it clear from day one that anyone who wanted to learn to cook in this way, provided they were serious, would be given the opportunity. Two former dishwashers became trusted members on my side of the line - one hot side, next to me, one fully embracing garde manger and all its duties. It was crazy to attempt this where we lived, but to a person, the kitchen staff embraced the rigor and the standard I sought to put in place, and my wife established a similar ethos among the front of house people. Fully 1 month prior to opening, all staff tried food, wine, everything we did; were given the chance (actually, expected) to develop their palate and own a "body-intelligence" as to what Waterstone offered. I do think I was lucky. I also think it had something to do with the chance for these quality people to do something they couldn't have otherwise dreamt of doing in our area, and they took to it with alacrity. I demanded highly of them, and at the same time, I respected and loved them as family. With our closure, I miss them more than anything else. I wish I could pass some encouragement on to you. I honestly feel for your plight and if I can help you in any way, please feel free to PM me anytime.