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Where to purchase a whole pig???
Thanks all! I will check into all of these suggestions.
Where to purchase a whole pig???
Hey all - has anyone recently purchased a whole pig from anywhere in the los angeles area? I've contacted a few butchers and either people aren't getting back to me or aren't very helpful. I'd like to purchase a whole pig - but I'd like to know what price range I should be expecting. Any info would be helpful.
Marrow Bones and Foie Gras - where to buy?
First, I'd like to know what type of bone to ask for from my butcher when I want to grill marrow bones. Also, I've got a place to get grade B foie gras in la crescenta, but where can I find grade A? And how much does it run per pound? I want to get my fix of foie gras recipes in before the ban goes through.
Also - any suggestions on when to use A vs. B grade?
What is one tip that you learned about cooking that was simple but made a huge difference? [old]
whats the old egg white trick?
What temperature for medium rare chicken hearts?
So I grabbed some chicken hearts from Harmony Farms - and tried cooking them sous vide with plans to glaze them in a pine and honey sauce, but I ended up cooking them at way too high a temp. Any clues as to what temp they should be cooked to for a nice medium rare?
What is one tip that you learned about cooking that was simple but made a huge difference? [old]
Actually, there's a reason why professional chefs end up with salt all over their stove. They salt from "up high". If you've ever watch iron chef or any other show with 3-star chefs cooking, you'll notice the height at with they are salting. It's not "showboating" like the waiters who try and pour your water from above your head at TJI Chilibees...
When you salt from up high, the salt disperses more when it hits whatever you are salting than if you were to salt down low. Therefore you can salt once and have salted the whole dish as opposed to salting lower and sprinkling it all around the skillet.
Try it out sometime. Take a pinch of salt and salt the countertop the way you would normally. Then take the same amount of salt and salt the tabletop from a height a little above your head. The salt will bounce everywhere...which is gonna be annoying for the clean-up but should demonstrate my point. It's actually kinda fun.
That's what happens in your skillet when salting in this manner, a more even dispersing of salt. Less stirring...that sort of thing. Hopefully that makes sense and sheds some light as to why chefs have such salty stoves. :-)
saffron caviar?
Ferran's stuff is really amazingly packaged but WAY too pricey. I found Sodium Alginate and Calcium chloride at http://www.lepicerie.com in the molecular gastronomy section. They also have syringes of two different sizes and a larger pipette (which I just bought but haven't played with just yet). What you'll need is a pretty accurate scale which can measure to the .1 grams. You won't find a scale like this at Bed Bath and Beyond. I found mine at Amazon. It put me back only 50 bucks and has made my baking life a breeze. The powders themselves won't cost you more than 45 and the syringes are roughly 3-5 bucks. So you'd already be spending half the cost getting all of your supplies through other means.
I've made a few different kinds of caviar so far, my favorite being out of grapefruit izzy soda. I've got some photos of the first time I made caviar on my blog: http://www.eatyourbestfriends.com/2009/10/cucumber-caviar.html I'm using a very, very small syringe which you can't get without a prescription but can buy in the 100's off of Amazon quite easily and cheaply (I got 100 for 13 bucks).
The tutorial I used is here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Carrot-Caviar/
There are links on this site to the scale that I now own as well as places to find the ingredients.
Make sure you follow it very closely - getting all of your measurements as close as possible. And read the comments too - people have had problems getting it to work and there suggestions on whether to use filtered water or tap as well as what order you mix things.
Hopefully that's what you are looking for! Have fun!
Looking for something that hardens and melts at a similar temperature point as chocolate
The Agar Agar is a great idea - I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to try it. And I didn't even think of using methocel. That could be quite interesting. Especially if I were able to create a plate of bones in which some melted, some softened and some stayed hard - so that after a few minutes the plate would actually become and entirely different dish in structure. I'm definitley going to have to play around with this for my next meal. Unfortunately - it didn't turn out this time around. My mold making skills weren't up to par - and I miss-judged the type of silicone I was going to need to set it properly - so I changed the dish entirely.
I said I would post photos and I did - on my blog. The 'Bones" idea was originally for the I'm an Animal by Neko Case dish - which is now a quail and tempura dish.
I will certainly be trying the agar-agar and methocel approach soon though. Great ideas and feedback!
Here's the blog link:
http://www.eatyourbestfriends.com/2010/01/top-ten-songs-of-2009-menu-and-dish.html
Looking for something that hardens and melts at a similar temperature point as chocolate
Well I will certainly post photos of the final product. Tried to make the fish bone molds this evening - that didn't go so well - so I may have to axe that whole dish! Sad day. But hopefully something will turn out!
Silicone Plastique in Stores?
Hey all - I'm mid process in making molds from silicone plastique - pretty amazing stuff. I'm running out quick and I don't have time to order more - do you know if there is a shop somewhere in LA or orange county that carries it? Like a pastry or cake supply shop?
Where can I buy chicken hearts in Los Angeles???
Thank you! I live near hacienda heights so this will be great. Thanks much!
Looking for something that hardens and melts at a similar temperature point as chocolate
I'm making my molds out of silicone - I've got a few diferent fish spines which I'll be using the white chocolate for since it's the most delicate. Then I was thinking of doing something with cheese for larger bones - perhaps duck bones and then working my way up to possibly faux marrow bones.
I'm in the process of creating a menu for a dinner I'm doing next weekend. With the end of the year here I'm going to do a ten course tasting menu based off of my top ten songs of 2009. This dish is based off of Neko Case's "I'm An Animal". I thought it would be pretty tongue in cheek to serve my guests a plate of bones.
I like the idea of using mozzarella cheese. Or a dough of some sort. I really want the appearance of something hard and inedible and yet surprise you in your mouth. I'll be painting the bones with strong coffee and tea to get them to look real too.
Looking for something that hardens and melts at a similar temperature point as chocolate
I'm looking to create a dish that resembles many different types of bones made from different molds. I'm already planning on using white chocolate for fish bones with a black olive center and was curious as to what other people would use to create a dish that resembles a bone but isn't white chocolate.
I've thought of draping soft raclette over one of the molds and then filling it with mashed potatoes and quince paste.
Thoughts?
Dewars & Handling Liquid Nitrogen [split from L.A.]
good to know. I think I will let the scientists play around with the stuff and stick to making ice cream the old fashioned way...
:-)
Dewars & Handling Liquid Nitrogen [split from L.A.]
Well - used ones started at 250.00 at Air Source Industries, Inc.in Long Beach - which is what I was referring to in my post above. And maybe that's the best option I can find. But I have heard of people renting dewars so i just thought I'd ask.
Where to buy Liquid Nitrogen
Hey all - I'm looking for a place where they will sell me liquid nitrogen, any thoughts? I've found one place in Long Beach that will sell me quite a bit for 40 bucks - but I have to buy the dewar - which is 250 and I'd rather rent something like that than buy it.
Anyone know of a place that will sell to an adventurous home cook?
YBF
Restaurant in someone's Home in Los Angeles area?
Yeah - it's very possible that is what I saw reviews for. I don't think I had heard of the hobbit at that point. That is certainly on my list of places to visit - but I swear I heard of a much smaller operation. Perhaps it's not even an actual restaurant - perhaps it's a more covert operation. Thanks for jogging my memory though - you may be entirely right.
Restaurant in someone's Home in Los Angeles area?
Hey all -
I recall running across a review for a restaurant that was ran out of a home. I believe they only seated between 6-10 people a night. All I remember from the review was that someone mentioned sitting in a lounge are and having appetizers and getting to know the other guest before having dinner. I've googled and yelped and can't seem to find anyone doing something like this. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Thanks!
Jessica
(Your Best Friend)
