ducphat30

Cold smoking chocolate works rather well. The fat in the chocolate will absorb alot of the flavor. Try with white chocolate make it into a panna cotta. Served with pineapple that has been hit with cayenne and candied macadamia nuts, it is very good. A natural fruit for smoking are apples. If you have the opportunity to have some control over the temperature the lower the heat the better. Crofton on Wells in Chicago does a great smoked apple chutney with pearl onions for a pork chop dish. IMHO the smoked salts are nice for a finishing touch on a dish to give it a little twist, but the smoked oils and cold smoking both are great ways to infuse that flavor into your ingredient. Just had a thought, wonder how the chocolate would be with cinnamon stix as the smoking "chip"?

Has anyone tried robert's american grille?

Hi-end japanese knives, check out www.korin.com, go into the japanese knife store. And yes bring your AMEX because the no pre set spending limit comes in handy. Check out the korin site for mandolines, they are the cheapest I've found anywhere, even with the shipping. Northwestern Cutlery in chicago has started to expand their selection, very reasonably priced MAC knives, (for how long?) and a small selection of some other knives.

This is an Alsatian technique, I do not quite remember the exact name of the dish. The turnips are first cut on a spinning cutter to make "noodles" similair in shape to "a la guitarra" then marinated overnite in lemon juice, coarse sea salt and reisling. The next day rinse the turnips and allow to drain in a collander. In a heavy bottom pan, sweat bacon in goose fat until soft add small dice of onions and chopped garlic, cook to the just before starting to caramelize stage deglaze with more reisling, reduce by 80%, add the rinsed turnips, cover and braise at 350 degrees F for an hour. Stir a couple of times during the process. These are great with duck breast, confit, braised pork shoulder, and excellent with foie gras with a nice apple reduction. The marination (sp?) of the turnips in the acid helps them keep their shape during cooking. I forgot to mention that this works well with turnips that have been peeled and thinly sliced, as well.

Larousse Gastronomique also has the French, British and American cuts as well. So you can truly be informed. And you may already have this in your library.

Being organized is the key for the beard house kitchen. Knowing what each member of your crew is going, in advance, and sticking to it will get you through the evening. The only other suggestion that I can make is to get a hold of Robert Cacciolla (sp?) I am pretty sure he kind of runs the kitchen in terms of planning and he is a very helpful person. I have worked with him on several events. So if you have any questions in advance in terms of cold storage/ and what not he'd be the guy to ask.

Thank you very much for your time and effort, looked like you enjoyed some great wines with the meal, as well. Hoping to have the opportunity to go to Trio in the near future.