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Kenji - you did a brilliant piece of work. This is the real way to share a recipe. Teach the hows and the whys of a recipe.
thanks for sharing this.

- Michael Safdiah

The best ever gyro I ever tasted was in Puerto Vallarta Mexico, the cook was capturing the fat and juices as they dripped from the rotating meat, then ladling it on the flat top grill to warm up the tacos as he served them. The fats and meat juices in the "bread" were the best thing I tasted in Mexico that year.

This is just grand that you are deconcocting the SP Burger. I remember not that long ago when everyone in town was trying to grok April's Gnudi. Her secret as usual was technique, not ingredients.

The big secret left something out which no one seemed to get: an overnight stint in a container of semolina. This little step was the secret to that skin that formed on the delicious dumplings

Lucky me, I live a few blocks from the sheep, so I can have the marvelous burger, the gnudi, the peaceful afternoon sunshie, and the adorable servers. I'd rather stay out of the kitchen. At least for a few times when I can get the real thing.

Hey you guys, there's way, way too much anger here. This is food we're talkin about; not jobs, bombs in Pakistan, and a congress that won't get off it's fat ass. Think of our priorities here.
Happy holidays,
Michael

I'm sure pig's eyes are edible, but why bother? I know I'm man enough, but I just don't see the point of testing our mettle by eating bugs, eyeballs, Fugu, or boars testicles just to prove that we can.

That said, April made us an awesome dish of cod sperm at John Dory, and we loved it.

The French have a dish hey call cassoulet. Every time I'm in the region, I see places that swear they have le vrai - the true cassoulet, . As I learned, there is no such thing as the real cassoulet, or the real cheesecake. The roots go way back into history, and depend on who's doing the cooking.
Do we really need this bickering?

If you love whatever you have on your fork, then that's the one.

I love the idea of using the dark beer. Bravo; I can't wait to try this one. I once found a great recipe on a brown sugar box, they were excellent, and of course I lost the box. Domino Sugar swears had a box as I described. Someone was misinformed. Their recipe used yeast. I remember letting the butter become very soft room temp, and smearing the butter on the dough with my hand. Some things you always remember.

When I was a brunch cook in Greenwich Village, peeling HB eggs was a snap. I shocked the eggs in ice water, then cracked the shell as I rolled the egg away from me. As the egg rolled the shell continued to crack away from the egg. Then I directed a stream of cold water underneath the shell to help separate egg from shell

I never cooked any egg unless it was at warm room temperature, they never ever stuck to a pan.

When I poached eggs I warmed them first in hot water to prevent the egg going everywhere. Lastly, before introducing an egg to the poaching pan, make a gentle whirlpool around where you intend to place the egg. This to give it shape. Then slide the egg in as close to the surface of the water as possible.

I did not notice where you mentioned the importance of egg temperature before cooking.

Why do the restaurants serve 8 ounce patties, and LaFrieda only sells the 6 ounce ones? What are we home consumers, chopped liver?

Greetings from Fire Island! We are on the Great South Bay, four miles offshore from Long Island. This morning's catch contained two quite large blue crabs, and one spider crab which you do not want to eat, ever. My pot has an escape proof setup wherein the bait is separated from the exit. We get many sea whelks, which up 'til now I have no knowledge how to eat, or cook. I am told they eat the clams which live on the bay's bottom, and so should be discarded. Last year we tried to boil them, but the flavor was just plain awful. Does anyone know how to make these whelks edible? I'd love to know.

Here's my recipe for a creamy crab bisque:
Boil your crabs, remove the back meat, set aside. Dice carrots, onion, a hint of garlic, and celery. Saute slowly in butter. Crush the shells and place them into your pot. Add a few tablespoons of tomato paste, fresh thyme, pepper, salt, a few bay leaves. Let the tomato paste cook out. Add a good shot of brandy. Carefully flame the shells, and add a half glass of white wine. Cook five minutes more. Add a few full glasses of chicken stock, and an equal amount of water. Bring to a boil, skim off any scum that rises. Lower fire to a simmer, and cook for twenty minutes.

Make a roux, strain the broth from the crabs into the roux, stirring quite thoroughly. Try to push some of the vegetables through the strainer. Add some heavy cream and sherry if you like. Now slide in the crab meat. I generally slip in a pat of sweet butter at the very end of it all. This in honor of Julia Child, my mentor.

I hope you enjoy. I deliberately didn't cite exact quantities, but it's important to convey the method. You can always adjust according to your own feelings.

Cheers, Michael

I'm happy there are so many of who love that sandwich, but I never met one that was toasted. But I hope to; it sounds delish. Most NYC reubens are steamed to melt the cheese, soften the bread. I think the toasted and then steamed version is where I'm heading, and soon. If we don't tweak something once in a while, how can we grow?

The shun-lee recipe calls for bell pepper, but I know it is done with very thin slices of jalapeno peppers.

I like the double cooking method; I hope the innards don't get dried out, they are the real flavor. I never enjoyed the shell unless it was buried inside a sandwich, but if this method crisps the shells properly, I'm game.

I wonder why this site doesn't post a recipe for plain old battered, deep fried soft shell crab? That's what all of the comments seem to be raving about. Waaahh!