What did you eat last night for dinner? - Page 1213

I did knife skills, then La Tech 1 & 2, then I worked at L'Ecole for about six months (weekends only). I didn't take Essentials because they told me that everything in Essentials is covered in La Tech 1.

5 more days to go...


Matt - the eggplant and anchovies dish looks great. Are these raw onions on top? do they add anything here?

I broke Passover with the Ad Hoc fried chicken. Turned out delicious.

Yeah, but spring onions so they are pretty sweet. I like raw onions with strong fish, so for me it was good.

BTW, I'd never marinaded my own anchovies. Really easy to do, once you get past the annoying filleting of tiny fish, and way better than the ones sitting in vinegar for months.
Edited by itsstillmatt - 4/9/12 at 9:18am

what happened to foodieguy? I brought him a copy of that fish book and I wanted to send it to him domestic mail while I was here...

I used Heublumenkäse. Didn't melt as good. Probably because it was harder to cut than the 36mo comté and therefore the slices were bigger.
How ripe is the Heublumenkäse you get? I can only get it sealed from one store atm. Even one of the bigger cheesemongers here in Hamburg (300-400 cheeses in stock) can't get it at the moment. A couple of weeks ago it was very young. I liked it a lot. The one I got last week was considerably riper, i.e. much stronger. I don't prefer one over the other, but the young one definitely was one of the best "uncomplicated/straightforward" cheeses I've had.

I can't say exactly what the age is on the Heublumen I've been getting. My guess would be fairly young, since it is quite mild, which is one of the reasons I enjoy it so much. I'll be by the cheese shop tomorrow, and I'll find out. I need to get some more Comté too, to make that asparagus dish again. I can't find any aged longer than 24 months here.

BTW, did you use clarified butter to fry your croutons, or fresh?

Heublumen isn't really intended for cooking or for long aging. It's aged four months then sent to market. The maker wants it to stand alone to taste the aromatics (hay and grasses) with which it's coated.
It's one of the "new" Swiss cheeses coming after 75 years of the Swiss largely regulated to make Emmental and Gruyere only.

3-year Comte is very rare in the USA. Marcel Petite, IIRC correctly, exports less than 1%.
Thus the younger iterations are far more common.

I used grapeseed oil, lol. What works better? Clarified or not?
Yup. But it still tasted good. I was just asking because there was a noticeable difference. Until when do they produce new batches?

I've only seen 12mo Marcel Petite. Pretty good, but costs as much (partially because the store that has it in stock is expensive in general) as a decent 36mo.

well, not not only the switzerman makes them. it's very common in vorarlberg, which is on the border to switzerland, though.

it's wonderful and delicious.

well, like matt said. it doesn't add too much. it's a personal preference. i love it either with spring or "regular" onions.

They actually make it in Australia as well.