Where my fellow cooks at???

[tifosi77]

Had some short ribs in the crockpot all day today. Hoisin, soy, stock, salt, pepper. Timer turned off the crock pot at 5, was cool enough to pick the meat by 6 when I got home. Took the leftover liquid, strained the solids, then tried to pour off as much fat as I could. Didn't really taste like much but meat, so I added sriracha, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar and soy. Brought that to a simmer, added the picked meat, poured it over soba noodles that were tossed with some sauteed bok choy. Was a very tasty (and easy) Tuesday night dinner.

You had me at 'short ribs'.

[redwill]

I have to admit that I nearly vomited reading this. I should have known better than to read this thread. I stopped reading it for a long while, then started reading it again.

On this message board you cannot say "F*CK" but you can freely describe (and happily justify) the torturous life of a foie gras goose and a veal calf.

Happy days.

[count2infinity]

meh...

[redwill]

meh...

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying yinz shouldn't torture and then eat non-human animals. That's for each individual human to decide.

But the zeal with which it has recently been described borders on the pornographic. It just makes me a little ill. Much more so than, say, showing some boobs or using foul (not fowl) language. That's my problem, I suppose.

Anyhoo, I'll just stay out of this thread.

[Shyster]

I think part of the objection about the supposedly "torturous" life of a foie gras goose is a misunderstanding of goose anatomy. Geese don't have gag reflexes and don't choke or gag from a tube being placed down their esophagus. Also, unlike humans where the trachea to the lungs and the esophagus to the stomach don't separate until fairly far down our necks, a goose's esophagus and trachea essentially separate in its mouth. So a goose can breathe just fine with a feeding tube in place.

[count2infinity]

To be completely fair here... I've never had foie gras, and I've had veal once (my mother-in-law made it for dinner once) and was not a fan. I grew up eating cows and chickens that we raised in our backyard that lived as good of a life as they could probably have, and were all humanely killed. So again I say... meh.

[redwill]

So a goose can breathe just fine with a feeding tube in place.

That's really great to know.

[tifosi77]

There are certainly places that produce what I would consider unethical foie gras. The are mostly in France, Spain and Quebec, and they exist because the demand for the product is very high (foie gras is country cooking in those parts), and factory production is the only way to satisfy the demand. I do not condone that; it's essentially how we supply ourselves in this country with chickens from battery farms. Those animals are doomed to lead uncomfortable, unhappy and likely disease-filled lives, pre-slaughter mortality rates are through the roof, and I would never knowingly support such a farm. And there is certainly no restaurant with foie gras on its menu that's worth your money if they are sourcing from such a farm. (Indeed, such restaurants are almost non-existent in this country.)

However................. not all producers make the product like that. Hudson Valley Farms (and, before the CA ban, Sonoma Artisan) are extraordinarily fine in how they raise their ducks. If anyone has any qualms about the product, I suggest seeking out behind the scenes videos that show the process from start to finish; HVF is actually open to the public so people can come see for themselves. The ducks are cage-free (almost free-range) for their entire lives, and are not even confined during the gavage process. No joke, the ducks line themselves up for feeding. It is absolutely not torturous; ask anyone who has ever seen a duck swallow a whole fish in the wild if they think a 3" diameter tube in their esophagus for 2 seconds poses any kind of real or lasting discomfort.

If that still causes concern, there are a growing number of producers who do not even use the gavage technique. They allow the ducks to consume the feed at their own rate, fattening up in a process that much more closely approximates what migratory waterfowl do every autumn. This makes for a less consistent product, but it ameliorates the entire notion 'force feeding'. Indeed, many restaurants here in CA continued to serve foie gras produced this way right through the ban, and will not put gavage treated duck liver on their menus even now that they are free to do so.

But if anyone freaks out of foie gras but happily spends money on McNuggets or pork from Walmart, then I frankly don't want to hear them pontificate about torture.

[mac5155]

Yeah, I think the general nature of it you will always have good and bad farms. I am very good friends with a dairy farmer in my area who sells his bull calves to a veal farmer who raises them like you would raise a pet. Just because they die at a younger age doesn't mean they live less of a life than a regular beef cow.

[tifosi77]

Fin video showcasing an excellent little restaurant Mrs Tif and I visited in San Sebastián: Restaurante Kokotxa.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwmBAvqa ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]

[BigMcK]

Our local fish market offers sea urchin a couple times a month. From what I understand about them is you clip the spines, cut the softball sized shell and eat the innards, raw.

Anyone? Anyone???

[pittsoccer33]

I actually just ate that on Saturday night (sea urchin aka uni). I had no clue what it was - the chef was a friend of my girlfriend and sent us out a bunch of stuff. It tasted pretty awful, but I don't like seafood much to begin with. Its what I imagine a whale carcass smells like.

[tifosi77]

Uni is one of my 2 or 3 favorite ingredients in the whole world. Love the stuff.

BigMcK, yes. The orange stuff is often referred to as 'roe' because people tend to have an aversion to eating 'gonads' (which is what the orange stuff actually is).

http://www.starchefs.com/features/uni/html/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We are lucky in that the relatively local waters off Santa Barbara produce some of the best uni in the whole world.

[blackjack68]

Tif,

Here's your "To Do" list for 2015...

http://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/2015-res ... ifinalists" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tifosi77]

Ha, was looking at the lists earlier this morning. There are about half a dozen places I've (fortunately) already visited, plus another 14 or 15 that I want to visit. Maude, in Beverly Hills, was on the short list for Mrs Tif's birthday jamboree next month, but they had no avails.

[dodint]

Is this Egg Poacher a thing worth having? It's basically a double boiler dedicated to poaching eggs. When I worked at ENP we had a really awesome industrial poacher, but I obviously don't want something that over the top. But I have a kitchen full of gadgets and stuff so I don't want to buy this if it's junk.

[tifosi77]

Things like that tend to be what Alton Brown calls 'uni-taskers'. The only uni-tasker you should have in your kitchen is a fire extinguisher.

Unless you also like to make custards and melt chocolate, that is.

[count2infinity]

Yeah, I barely have room in my kitchen for cool gadgets that I'd use often, let alone something that I'd probably only use once every couple months. Hell, I even store my cast iron skillet in the basement as I can't find a spot that my wife isn't able to drop it on her foot.

[mac5155]

My cast iron skillet stays on top of the stove since I use it daily

[tifosi77]

I have three in different sizes and I keep them on the bottom rack of the stove. They act as a heat sink.

[FreeCandy44]

I know a ton of yinz hate Miracle Whip but....wow does it make a great potato salad. Ive always wondered why nobody cares for Miracle Whip?

[tifosi77]

I like it. To me it's sort of like an American version of Kewpie mayonnaise.

[count2infinity]

I hate any mayo based (or in this case, Miracle Whip based) salad. Give me German potato salad instead. i think it might just be a creaminess thing... I don't even like creamy coleslaw, prefer oil and vinegar based.

[viva la ben]

I love kewpie mayo

[viva la ben]

I hate Miracle Whip