Rouxbe

The video recipe shows the chef boiling her stock. The stock recipe I'm using from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles cookbook (p. 38) forbids boiling--simmer instead. I have heard the no-boil rule for stock elsewhere as well.

What are the benefits of boiling vs. not boiling stock? Or does this boil down to one chef's preference over another's?

One thing the excellent prawn drill down did not mention is to purchase wild, frozen, headless prawns whenever possible. After the prawn dies, digestive enzymes inside the head will begin to break down the meat. Wild prawns also taste better than farmed.

This was quite a recipe! Thank you Rouxbe so much for providing it. I made it twice for separate groups of diners last week, and they all liked it.

1) I deviated a bit from the recipe: I substituted distilled white vinegar in place of rice wine vinegar because I had run out of the latter and no time to go get more. I also added 1 Tbl of sesame oil which provided a really nice nuttiness, and added sliced radishes for color. (Although the radishes lost their red after soaking in the liquid overnight.)

2) This recipe taught me a cooking fundamental: Always, always use the safety shield when slicing on a mandolin! See my middle finger? See that flesh wound on the tip of it? While I like to put something of myself in my dishes, I try not to practice that literally. I'm pretty sure my body's now rebuilt that, ohhh, tablespoon or three of blood I lost.

Despite my attack of dumb, or perhaps because of it, this is a recipe I won't forget! I plan on making this many more times. I'll probably add thin-sliced red onion next time.

...and I wonn't blow off the mandolin safety guard.

If a skin does form, can it be stirred back into the warm sauce and be reincorporated?

Fatima A. really likes the Rouxbe website and the recipes on it. She thinks they're explained well even though she'd prefer Spanish language versions. Not to worry, she has the option (via her browser, I assume) of seeing the pages in Spanish or English, the most used languages. She's quite interested in cooking even though she's only 12 yrs old, and, again, she digs Rouxbe and hopes more recipes will appear!

Joaquin R., above, says "...let the mixture cool down to room temperature. This way the flavors meld toghether and the egg cooks a little, giving a more creamy texture to the tortilla."

Is this the reason for 15 minute wait after plating the tortilla? I'm concerned the tortilla will grow cold and not taste as good if it were fresh out of a hot pan.

The way around that, AFAIK, would be to hold the tortilla in a warm (but not hot) oven. Or am I missing something?

Thanks for the reply, Joaquin! I appreciate it.

One variant to this recipe I want to try is adding chopped leeks sauteed in butter, and then adding hot sauce to the tortilla as it cooks--enough to flavor but not overwhelm the taste of the eggs and potatoes.

I found the salad to be a wonderful topping for grilled fish and chicken.

After watching this video I wanted to lay back and smoke a cigarette.

During the addition of the meats to the dish, the narrator specifies "no stirring." What's the reason for not stirring the meat? (During the chicken meat addition she says stirring will decrease the pan's temperature, but wouldn't adding the cooler meat [or any ingredient] drop the pan temperature regardless if the meat's stirred or not?) I can think of only one reason not to stir, and that's to enhance creation of the fond. Am I right?

Thanks for the reply, Joe. Now, a follow-up question: I've always read when browning/searing meat, not to crowd the meat in the pan because otherwise the meat will steam, not brown. Yet the chicken in the video is put in on top of the chorizo with no room between the pieces of meat. How does this recipe get around that?

I noticed the bottoms of the garlic heads were already either trimmed or cleaned of dirt and roots, and the leeks were not cleaned at all. Given that other recipe(s) on Rouxbe highlight the importance of cleaning leeks, I'm curious why the cleaning was omitted.

Secondly, I was talking with a chef the other day and he said he never uses celery leaves in his soups or stocks because they impart bitterness. (This is based on a test stock he made from celery leaves.) Is this your experience also?

In my area I can't find chicken bones/necks/backs. I've asked at supermarkets and a meat store, I've only found whole chickens and pieces of whole chickens: Thighs, wings, breasts. legs.

Would thighs be the best substitution for necks/backs? What's the best way to cook them? (Example: Do I remove skin/fat before roasting? If I roast them as whole pieces, will the meat have any flavor in it after 6 hrs in the stockpot?)

Thanks for your time!

--Ken

Why toss the carrots twice?

Would there be any flavor advantage to using Rouxbe's caramelized onion in this Lomo Saltado recipe?

I made stock for the first time and used this recipe--it turned out great! It was easy to do, too. Thank you.

Your recipe calls for barely simmering the stock for 6 hrs. Other recipes I've seen say simmer only 1 hr. Is the amount of flavor proportionately greater in the longer-simmered stock?