Anyone who say confit is "BS" has never experienced the dish...and forget the modern shortcuts.
Duck or goose cassoulet is one of the treasures of the cold-weather family table!

The statement is:

"When doing confit fat molocules will penetrate the meat"

The problem however is that the above isnt possible, because of the size of fat molocules.

No one is saying that confit doesnt taste superb. Just that the same result can be reached by a different method.

Ok, ok. Deep breaths, Rush. I guess I get my back up a little when there is a hint of defamation about the foods I love.

You should see what happens when you say something negative about unagi. Somebody call somebody!

Anyway, I guess I will take the good out of this and infer that you guys are saying I can achieve the same result with the leg and a thigh by other, easier methods than confit. That is good news.

I still don't believe it, but I will try a slower-cooked leg and thigh soon. If I could get that same effect without all those steps and all that time, sign me up.

By the way, coq au vin (done properly) is a similar dish in some ways (I suppose in that it is poultry and that using the fat in the cooking process is required), but it seems it is really most effective if one can procure an actual rooster (as it is tougher, and it holds up better to the slow-cooking).

I know a lot of people make the dish with a capon or chicken (for obvious reasons), and I am wondering if there are adjustments to be made.

By the way, I have had the pleasure of having coq au vin done by the book in several French restaurants, and it is a very different thing than one might think if one were simply expecting "slow-cooked chicken with red wine."

Anyone with experience?

The confit fat molecules may not penetrate the meat, but it may still be that preparation by another method cannot produce the same result. When boiled, water will penetrate, and grilling, frying, sauteing, or baking might let too much fat out.

Some ex-microsoft dude with eternal money is doing research in it. Cant remember his name or where I read the article though.

I think I mentioned in another thread that some chefs add a pinch of cocoa powder to their coq au vin to compensate for the lack of viscosity rendered from the younger chickens that dominate the American market.
I believe Madeleine Kamman came up with that solution.

we made coq au vin in school.... 2 ways.

one was was the traditional braising a whole bird in wine and onions and stuff under foil...cooking time about 4 hours

the other method involved breaking down the individual pieces and open stovetop braising them with some onions and other veg. ...cooking time about an hour.


results....most of us couldnt tell which was which. the longer one actually picked up a little too much of the tannins for my taste and i thought it wasnt as good as the faster cooked one. It also fell apart and had a weird texture.

imo the original recipe was used for really tough meat birds that you wont find in the supermarket today.

I wonder how this old school technique would hold up to a tougher meat bird like a wild turkey.



so all in all....yes i think to cook a traditional coq au vin properly you need a rooster and you'll have to make significant changes to do it with a normal supermarket chicken.



all that being said...
crispy skin roasted bird >>>>>> coq au vin eye-moe


edit
thats pretty cool.

I thought a Coq Au Vin should only be made with a capon and if your supermarket stocks them, then it's a lot better than mine.

I am sure it is most accurately made with a rooster (coq="****,"=rooster), but I understand capon is now acceptably used.

There are PLENTY of online specialty places from which you can buy such items. Otherwise, virtually every major metro area in the US has SOME sort of organic/sustainable/whatever farm where you can find all sorts of great stuff you can't find at Giant.

A couple years ago, I bought $400 worth of this and that at a place in Baltimore County, and it was worth every dime. The eggs alone made it like some sort of miracle.

We must be talking at cross-purposes, I thought a capon was a castrated rooster, the castration tends to tenderise the meat, though I've no idea how that happens, and hopefully, will never find out.

No, only I was talking at crossed purpose...with myself.

You're right about the capon.

I don't want to think about castration at all, really.

I'll have to admit, I travel to France quite frequently lately and until then I never understood the difference a different chicken type could make.

I would have been of the opinion that a chickens a chicken and throwing in a couple of breasts is a good subsitutute for any recipe, but you live and learn.

Maybe travel does broaden my mind.

I made this today.

From - My Bread

Jim Lahey, Norton, $37.50

Jim Lahey's 18-Hour, No-Knead Bread

- 3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour

- 1 tbsp (15 mL) kosher salt (or 2 tsp/10 mL table salt)

- ½ tsp (2 mL) instant yeast

- 1½ cups (375 mL) water, at room temperature

- extra flour, wheat bran, cornmeal or sesame seeds

1. In large bowl, combine flour, salt and yeast. Stir in water. Dough will be a sticky mess. Cover first with plastic wrap and then a tea towel. Let sit at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours. Dough should double and have bubbles on the surface.

2. Line a baking sheet with a clean tea towel. Flour surface heavily. Scoop out dough. Pat into a rectangle about 12x8 inches. Dust top lightly with flour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rest 15 minutes.

3. Place another clean tea towel on a baking sheet. Rub with flour and sprinkle with bran or cornmeal or sesame seeds. Remove wrap from dough and fold dough into thirds, brushing off any flour on the surfaces. Fold into thirds again, creating a pudgy cube. Place on tea towel rubbed with flour and bran. Dust top with flour and bran. Fold tea towel over the top. Let rise 2 hours.

4. After 1½ hours, preheat oven to 450F (225C). Place a medium-sized heavy cast-iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat for half an hour.

5. Very gently slide your hand under the tea towel holding the bread. Carefully open the tea towel and allow excess flour and bran to fall on the tray. Remove pot from oven, lift (hot!) lid, and flip bread into pot. Cover and bake 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake 15 to 25 minutes longer until brown. Cool on rack. Makes 1 loaf


While I don't have a cast iron pot, it still worked in my anodized aluminum non-stick pot. God I want me some cast iron.

The bread was ridiculous.

went out to a pretty nice place friday...

i had this quessadilla (too tired to spell) that ad goat cheese, apples, walnuts, cream cheese and some spring greens. Then there was a nice spring greens salad on top with a jalepeno mayo....i liked it so much i decided to make it on saturday

theirs

mine

Made this spaghetti dish today. Good recipe imo.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/fo...rrabbiata.html

Also here's an article about what's the best chocolate in the world:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty.../foodanddrink1

Articles about how you can achieve the same flavor as confit by steaming the duck.

Link talking about the article, aslo contains link to original article

Article comparing each preparation

Michael Ruhlman's Twitter post: agree that steam/braise/confit yield similar result RT @fotoford: @Ruhlman steamed duck confit - What do you think? http://*******/6U6ocr

Beef Wellington on the menu tonight!

GL...looking for ward to pics....my pastry always gets crappy and gummy on the bottom.

Cookie inspired me to make pizza. I'm not usually crazy about pizza but I'm trying to gain some weight and the odd shape crispy crust piqued my interest. Plus I figure I make my own pizza, **** I can make whatever pizza I want.

The grocery store here doesn't have bags of raw pizza dough for some reason so I had to use this:



Except it's a thin crust version.

Salami, Mushrooms, Shallots, Basil, pre cook:



Post cooking:



Post cooking and cutting with unexpected flash:



Sorry for ****ty camera phone pics.

Next time I'm gonna either add some sausage to the mix or increase the salami. I'm also gonna take it off the cookie sheet and throw it right on the oven rack for maybe that last 3 minutes. Get that crust a little crisper.

All in all pretty darn successful.

If you are a pizza fan, you might want to invest in a pizza stone. If you have an electric oven, just leave it in all the time, it will help maintain a constant temperature. And it will be there when you get into bread making.

It was the first time I ever made it. Foie gras + cognac terrine adds incredible taste.





Fries and dip


Stock for the sauce

Just made veggie burgers for the 1st time, may of overdid the coriander.

Made with chickpeas, eggs, onion, zuchinni, silverbeet, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, chilli flakes & parsley.

Next time I think I may go with mash potatos as a base & prolly try without the indian spices.

Core temp for med-rare beef tenderloin?

I don't know exactly but from experience it seems like it needs to get a little hotter than usual. I'd guess 140 - 145F (60-62C).

I was going to say 145 ish too... but obviously cook it to 135 and let it rest another 10 deg off the heat.

technically, as of Jan 1 2010 in the US its all supposed to be over 140 deg F to be considered safe to eat.