Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Oh, for anyone who's interested in this event taking place tomorrow (November 11, 2009), but not in New York...the reading will be streamed live at www.livestream.com/harpersmagazine

@climbhighak: What's the difference between braising and cooking in a low temperature over a long period? The amount of liquid?

@salpico: You suggested avoiding acid and atleast one other person here recommended acid. Hmm...

@JerzeeTomato: The Grazin Angus Acres! They told me on two different occasions that I should cook the ribs at 200 or 250 for about two hours. The one time, I think it was baby back ribs and it was fine and the second time it was short ribs and those were meat rubber bands.

@1stmakearoux and Judith Klinger: Yeah, I was wondering if it would help to brown the brisket first. Also, I wasn't sure if the fat side should be up, but figured yes since the fat dripping down would be better than the fat just running into the pan. I have a dutch oven, but I just put the meat in a non stick roasting pan...what difference does it make to use my le creuset oven instead? And while we're talking about braising, is it nice to have an actual braiser? Does that shape come in handy?

Also, I didn't know this: "You are literally melting the collagen in the connective tissue."

@Junie: You suggested cooking the brisket at 325 degrees, and the temperature suggestions really vary on here. Any idea how your 325 brisket compares to a 200 brisket?

@morgancain: Yes, I marinated the brisket overnight in the roasting pan and then cooked it in the liquid, which there was a thick coating of in the pan (there wasn't enough to slosh around). (What temperature counts as braising??) This was in a Food Processor Bible recipe.

Short ribs aren't done dry either? Not defending this, but the Greenmarket's Angus Acres guy suggested a dry rub.

I still have the other half of the meat in the fridge...I might stick it back in the oven tonight just to see what happens. I'm going to use ground beef to make tacos, though. I know how to cook that. Taco night!

Interesting! The concept of the cooking the meat for longer when it's already cooked through is foreign to me. I figured it could only get tougher, drier and bouncier. I could play racquetball with this brisket, which we ate half of since, you know, it's still food. Can I just stick the other half in the oven tomorrow?

@Pointy: Ha! Still laughing about "chubby little RR" two days later!

@pjacob01: I read somewhere online (was it on Serious Eats??) that they use chicken gravy for poutine.

Say "Patati Patata" five times in a row, fast. It's hard!

Thanks for posting our review, Adam! You know...Rob and I felt like we had indulged by sharing the "regular" size plate of Poutine Trois Viandes (beef, pepperoni and bacon) as our lunch at La Banquise, but saw that others in the restaurant had ordered the large size of poutines for themselves and ate them as entrees!

Who likes to rock the party? Candadians!

OK, I just checked my pigs (they came in a two-pack: plate size and tiny bowl size) and there's a Marna stamp on them.

Here's a picture of them: http://www.flickr.com/photos/myszka/2472991296/

They're cute but too shallow to use in the microwave for most of my purposes.

I wonder when this came out because I bought one that has the same idea/look and same pigginess, but it's made of a transluscent pink plastic and I bought it at a Target-like store in Seoul, Korea last August. It was marketed as a lid to cover food before microwaving.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this because the area under the pig is pretty shallow, so unless you're covering a bowl and the food is nowhere near the top, the covering is going to touch the food.

Self-confidence produces fine results.

I just learned that Zabar's does not sell any raw seafood. That is weird.

In a pan, though.

@Blog in my soup: Genius!