paul o' vendange

Your dinner sounds wonderful. Because Muscovy does not have the fat cap that moulard does, I treat it fairly gingerly. With either breed, though, I score the skin in cross-hatch pattern, being careful not to pierce all the way to the breast meat. I cook it slowly, skin side down, so as to ensure fat renders off without too deeply caramelizing the skin. I pour the fat off as it accumulates (one of the rare times I sadly lose rendered fat - the salt and pepper, I don't use). For moulard, I may take up to 12-15 minutes to accomplish this skin-side rendering, muscovy, less. I shoot to render most of the fat off about the time the skin caramelizes. I then "kiss" the flesh side, and toss it in an oven to finish pan roasting. I pull either breed at rare to medium rare (depending on my guests' likes), tent the magret, and allow it to finish coming to temp under foil. Serving suggestions...in general, nothing beats the taste of an immaculate, deeply cared for duck stock reduction as a mother (or only) sauce for duck breast, in my opinion. The roast, sweet flavors marry perfectly with the breast such that nothing else is really needed, save for a crystal or two of fleur de sel at serving. More specifically: in these winter months, I tend to go with braised cabbages, squashes, root vegetables, especially sweet potatoes; and if you can marry the breasts with leg confit, all the better, for a textural and flavor contrast. I often enjoy playing with at least a light bit of smoking, esp. in the cold months - I often grill leg confit over a moistwood fire, but think a nice tea smoke, with asian flavors, would be also nice. Some favorites include: Magret Prosciutto - spice and salt cured, air dried for 2 weeks Morels (or any great, flavored mushroom) and confit (a dish I always enjoy making - some play of risotto with mushrooms and leg confit, with pan-roasted breasts as the centerpiece and a squash - I used delicata more than anything else - as another component) sage and sour cherry sauce, corn crepes, rainbow chard Dried black mission figs are wonderful too. I would often just do a sauce made from duck stock, dried figs, a touch of port, and some black pepper. In many duck dishes, I use good balsamic as a component - adding sour, but under reduction, adding some caramelized sugar into the mix. Such is the case with the sage/sour cherry sauce above, and I add this to the braising liquid when doing legs. I don't want to take up too much bandwidth - if interested, please pm for recipes, etc. I love duck. Oh - nearly forgot. Madeleine Kamman offers a really nice recipe from her "Making of a Cook" tome. In my edition, p. 736, "Grilled Canton Duck Cutlets with Orange Bourbon Sauce." I haven't made the dish in many years, but have a very fond memory.

I think that's true. Up here, in da U.P., venison tastes like gin. So everyone masks it utterly by making sausage. I won't hunt it.

I think you hit it on the head, mom. From what I have seen, more generally, folks just don't go out. Most restaurants up here are struggling; although it is true that by the time I introduced essentially another line to our work - "Foods from the Hearth - Bistro Classics" (braised pork shank, trout grenobloise, steak frites (ribeye cap from the ribeye), roast chicken "grand mere" (a whole roast poussin, lemon, thyme, garlic brined and scented under the skin), etc., for $19, we were already "the fancy place." Even though our bistro plates were within shooting range (a few bucks) of the brewpub down the street, it was likely too late. And though we shot for warmth and accessibility, I think to many, we were just the French place. We did have a good bar, great and skilled tenders, and a glass atrium/lounge that was exposed to the sky and beautiful at all times of year. But there is no doubt we saw wine and food in unbreakable marriage, and were not really a bar scene separate from the cuisine. Likely a major flaw for the area. Nope, mom, lessons learned in terms of this area. After a lifetime of self-directed pursuit of French cooking, my family and I are heading to France next fall, so that I may begin study at the ESCF-Ferrandi, if accepted into the program; and she may further her study of French viticulture (if I may speak my pride in her a bit, she is the winner of the WCF International Pinot Noir Celebration Fellowship - flying to Willamette Valley, Oregon, this next summer, to, well, drink a ton of pinot, and eat at some wonderful places).

One of my favorites? Sukiyaki with the titular (raw) egg. I love being an absolutely self-congratulatory idiot, speaking in my badly-informed Japanese, I'm sure (my late teacher, Fumio Toyoda Shihan, once murmured to me, "Paul - not everyone in Japan is Toshiro Mifune...relax..."), asking for an egg with the sukiyaki, oh so proud to be "an insider." I will also never give up runny eggs, ketchup and tabasco.

Hi Mom - We were located in Marquette. Many reasons we chose here; a large hospital system (over 500 physicians), many folks with a high degree of disposable income that live here by choice, with no outlet for business or true pleasure dining; a bidco, bank and other funding entities indicating the time was overripe for this kind of place, as it had been sought for so many years, who put together a funding package without blinking. Not the least, my wife and I had wanted to find a way to bring our family (little boy) here, away from the city, and she has generations living here locally. Of all the places in this region, we felt Marquette was the economic hub that could support such a thing, and, being the singular place to satisfy this (apparent) long-held demand, we felt we were well founded. Despite being told by the bidco that our pro-formas were "conservative" and that we "were going to blow those numbers out of the water," we blew it on due diligence. We opened to great fanfare, sold out totally for the first few months - press and television coverage was quite effusive and kind, and lasted quite a while, as something like this had never been done this way (oddly enough, Michael Sneed of the Sun Times, for one, wrote a nice little blurb, and we were regularly, positively reviewed in travel sites, blogs, etc.) - but we quickly (though not quickly enough) saw the culture just wasn't ready for such a thing, at least not now. Coupled with a heavy debt load, an exogenously strained economy, and first year op, well, you know the end of that story. Bottom line, my wife and I should have listened more to our better instincts. With Waterstone we really sought to bring an experience not seen this way (local, seasonal menu based on relation with known farmers and ranchers; everything in house, to include charcuterie, pastry, butchery, etc.; an experiential, teaching kitchen and front of house, down the line), and give over something we have always cherished, something we felt was of worth. But we failed to reach people and let them know that they needn't be intimidated by a "French" experience, that what we sought - flatly, an evening by the fire, among friends - was as homey as any experience they normally enjoy, just accompanied by profound care and the desire to deliver a deeply memorable experience. Too late, we discovered we were not reaching folks. We own the mistakes we made. Lessons learned. ps: Great username - opening with "Hi mom" brings a smile.

I agree with you, Paul. Not only an overreduced stock, but the rate at which it reduces matters, in my book - too fast a reduction, and the localized heating is too radical - the stock tastes harsher than is obtained when a simmering reduction is more gently pursued. Depending on what I am doing, I may do a double stock (never done a triple, for cost reasons, as you mention), or even a classic sauce from espagnole. I have found the remouillage method I've adopted from Thomas Keller's technique yields a wonderful, velvety, impeccable mother stock for many applcations.

Scott, that would be an interesting experiment. I do wonder, though, if it would be hard to detect any differences between a dilute demi-glace and non-reduced stock - whether it would or wouldn't exceed a sensory threshold. It would be interesting to send it to a lab and compare molecular weights. All I speak from is my experience. My demi-glace was made over the course of 3 days - strong stock, day 1, remouillage, and final reduction/clarification; a total of 14 hours or so of simmering. If the gelatin was that heat labile, I would expect that on day 3 - when bones are no longer present, and collagen extraction was no longer taking place - the stock would thin, rather than thicken; I am not extracting any collagen any longer, but merely reducing. Even though we are evaporating water, if the gelatin was broken down, all we should end up with is less, thin stock, not a viscous demi or glace. Additionally, since collagen is preferentially labile when compared to gelatin, its breakdown product, I also wouldn't think it would remain in favor of that breakdown product. I did find some interesting info in this regard: Gelatine Use in the Dairy Industry Among other things, what they write squares with my understanding: (denatured from collagen). From what I have read, it is true that gelatin undergoes thermo-labile destruction at temps higher than boiling (actually, from what I've read, high temps induce reformation to helical, collagen-like structure - not dissolution to simpler forms), such as are obtained under pressure; but at normal boiling, no such destruction occurs. See Stanford Study - Properties of Gelatin -A very interesting study on the chemical properties of gelatin, from the point of view of many stressors and conditions. Among other things, I think a concluding comment is relevant: In the range of normal simmering, in particular, gelatin is shown to exhibit reversible properties: (In other words, at least as I read it, changes are not structural in nature - the coil structure is maintained - but rather due to water desorption; and even this change is completely reversible). The article is a bit to go through, but it does square with my experience in the kitchen (again - I can only speak from my experience). Intuitively, the idea that gelatin is destroyed by prolonged simmering just doesn't intuitively register with me - the gummy "lip smack" of a glace, for instance, obtained after only truly prolonged simmering, tells me otherwise.

I read the thread, but I'm afraid I can't agree. Gelatin is a breakdown product of collagen, but from what I know, gelatin itself is not heat labile; it survives heating quite nicely. If it didn't, glace would not be as thick as it is... Looking through McGee on the subject: - i.e., classic espagnole based sauces would be aided by starch, and the imperfect proteins found in flour. But today's reduced stocks are almost entirely thickened by the gelatin present; even moreso, for true glace.

Second Russ' comment...moro's are beautiful, but I found them lacking in sugar more often than not, unless buying them in their seasonal prime (deep winter, January into February). The color, though, outstanding. Tarocco's are consistently, wonderfully flavored, though I find the color is not as consistently deep.

Gifted, those are beautiful. I love making a blood orange sauce out of them. Juice and zest, simmered together for 30 minutes; I add a bit of cream and (very, very light) chicken stock; very gently reduce to a glaze; and mount with butter. Sometimes, if the sugar content of the fruit was not optimal, I have resorted to sweetening it very carefully. I served it most commonly with firm fish, such as red grouper. I also enjoy making granites and sorbets with the fruit.

I do both. I don't actually roast my veal bones - following on Thomas Keller's method, I find the non-roasted demi lends a more subtly sweet, round and versatile quality to many other sauces. My dark chicken "demi," made with roasted bones, meat trim, and vegetables, is just as gelatinous, just as useful, but has more of a roast quality, for obvious reasons. When I want a more pronounced or sharper character of this sort, I will go with the dark chicken.

I won't aggrandize anything to myself; only to say we mounted the first authentic bistro (French in technique and influence, local and seasonal in outlook as much as possible) in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and did all we could to weather several storms. We shut down this time last year. Painful lessons learned.

This is all so very interesting and valuable - thank you all for your generous thoughts and sagacity thus far. If I read the timbre more than the literal attribution of "molecular gastronomy" in Rudolph Chuminski's bio of Bernard Loiseau, it is a bit of wistfulness at a world that needs to be ephemerally dazzled over deeply pleased, and, if Loiseau was from a line deeply rooted in history (and I can't know that it was, but can only parse the answer), I can't help but wonder where things are going and be sad at the prospect of a lost, good thing. Interesting, too, on Chef Adria's disowning of the putative title "molecular gastronomy." Following on the 23 November Figaro quote, I wonder if he feels like Paul Bocuse, Michel Guerard and the other "fathers" of nouvelle cuisine - just doing their work, when something is ascribed to them; the work itself becomes a "thing" that leaves them, and the intended essence of what they do, behind.

How so? I've found that when brining shrimp (as an example of something with a short brining time) that if you brine too long, it's way too salty. Brining time, in my opinion, is a balancing act. Or are you simply saying that at some point it's just not gonna get any saltier, despite the fact that it may be too salty at that point? ← Imagine a dry sponge soaking up water. If you only put the sponge in water for a brief time, the the amount of water soaked up depends on the time it was immersed. But after some point, it's going to stop soaking up additional water and it doesnt matter how long you leave it in. ← OK, I'll take a kitchen-science stab...we're talking steady-state equilibrium, under a closed system. Salt and water will move across the cellular membranes of the meat via osmotic pressure. Those substances with a high enough molecular weight, from inside the meat, will not pass through cellular membranes, to the brining solution; nor will similarly weighted substances move from the brine into the cell. Once the pressure built via internal breakdown and cellular buildup ("plumping," I guess, for want of a better word - the buildup via osmotic transfer from the outside and protein degradation/breakdown products built up within cell membranes, internally) reaches an equilibrium with osmotic pressure exerted from outside, no further "brining" will take place. The brine is at a steady state equilibrium. How'd I do?

If they've been brined, they will keep without issue the couple of days post-brine. If it were me, depending on the thickness of the chops, I'd go with Saturday or Sunday, pull and dry them, wrap them and go with Monday.

It strikes me that the places listed here that you can actually get into are designed to be part of a guessing game as to which country you're in. Not a single bistro that the French would go to in search of their own familiar cuisine.Russ Parsons once wrote (in these pages I believe) of That would certainly apply to MacRobuchons. ← Felice kindly moved this thread to a good home. I am a romanticist and, wistfully reading through Le Ventre de Paris, I've been thinking on this; Felice, John, John, Dave, Ptipois, any who live or work there - how would you characterize the state of Parisian cooking generally in this light? Is Russ' comment a fair assessment of Parisian cuisine today? Of French cuisine, to include regional, historically significant places? Secondly, along these lines, I can't help but also think on the nature of "molecular gastronomy" in the France of today. Reading of Bernard Loiseau, and his assessment that he "couldn't do [this type of] food," I must admit my profound sadness. If the author is correct, and so much is driven by the desire to "refresh" the palates of critics "dulled" by a surfeit of world class, haute but traditional French cuisine, then I feel we have lost a good deal. As I said, I'm a romanticist. Thoughts? Is Paris, and, beyond, France, on a move to another place generally?

Just a thought - I sear very gently. By the time all sides of, say, a lamb shoulder have been seared, 1 hour or more has passed. I don't know if this is backed by science or not (anyone have McGee down more than I do, please chime in), but the rate of melanoidin formation and caramelization is as important to me as the final result. I find that a fast sear, or a fast reduction, develops an unpleasant, "grainy" character in the final product. I go slow, wherever possible. I would guess that the interface between the pan and product - the localized heat points under a rapid sear or reduction - firing with more energy, would be chemically different than under a more gentle scenario. Re: thickening, I just think it has to do with what kind of character one is after in the finished product. I prefer sheen, and the mouthfeel imparted by gelatin, so I use a good strong chicken stock, generally, as a starting point and thickening agent, with maybe a bit of demi or dark chicken stock (a double stock) at the end. Brown roux, braised vegetable puree, reduced jus are all great, IMHO, just different in character.

Let me tip the hat towards a few others I worked with regularly, always a good experience. Both Moulard and Muscovy, Venison America; Muscovy from Grimaud Farms and, through Great Ciao, duck and foie gras from Au Bon Canard/Christian Gasset. Christian is an extraordinary farmer, one who cares deeply that what he does is done properly; and he is a pleasure to work with.

My $0.02. In my braises, I may marinate meat in (de-alcoholized) wine and, if so, this marinade joins chicken stock for the braising liquid. That, and prodigious aromatics, usually. I usually pull 1/2 the braising jus at the completion of the braise, and simmer, clarifying religiously and reducing to sauce consistency. I may or may not add a bit of demi or integral glace, although usually I do as I find demi adds a velvety mouthfeel and difficult-to-define sense of "round" sweetness not otherwise obtained. The remainder of the jus stays with the meat, which is finished in a hotter oven, basting every 5 minutes or so for about 45 minutes, to add a deep, rich glaze to the surface. I am never shy of enough sauce, and don't find the jus overly rich or seasoned. I do find using demi or an integral stock in the braise may be too much for some meats - i.e., braised lamb shoulder with lamb stock, so I just use chicken stock in the braise and depend on time and extraction to contribute integral flavor to the finished jus.

With no particular recipe, among other things, I am a fan of apple flavors with pheasant. I used to make little ballotines out of the breasts, stuffing them with a sausage made with leg meat, apple, and house-cured, applewood-smoked bacon. A pan sauce made with pheasant stock, shallots, easy calvados, and sage usually accompanies. I also like serving the legs separately, either braised or as confit. All, with some sort of fall gnocchi or similar side - our way, a local grower family produces beautiful delicata, so, I keep it simple and simply roast the squash halves, filling them with braised cabbage.

You're impression is right, at least in my experience. Many sushi sources come in blocks that have been frozen and thawed extremely carefully. Tuna loin in this way is quite common. The best sources process at sea, under nitrogen or other inert gas, at an incredibly high freezing rate. When I wasn't cannibalizing my pristine, fresh loin used for service, I enjoyed a good deal of ahi and yellowtail loin processed this way, and it serves as beautiful tataki.

Tim mentioned the John Mettler book, Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game. I think it's got decent if not exhaustive information. Also, as a kid, I read the Foxfire Series, and do recall a section on slaughtering and butchering livestock. A quick search yielded Foxfire Anthology, which includes a section on dressing hogs. Both of these texts are geared more to basics than culinary preparations, but may be useful. I loved the Foxfire series - set my prepubescent mind reeling on the possibilities of moonshine in S. California!

How about heat, time, and clarification.

OK, John. I'm sorry if what I wrote isn't appropriate. I did think of this, but thought that as "travel" was part of this thread, issues of travelling (or living where travelling) would be appropriate. Apologies.

Thank you, Forest. I appreciate your help. Some eye openers this morning, based on your and Dave's posts - among them, France indeed was not one of the signatories to a bilateral employment agreement (recent enlargement as of April, 2006, did not include France). And au pairs are single, under 30.