Do you have any information about recipes, use and purchasing almond flour? I have read a little information that this flour is lower in carbohydrates. Almond flour is not milled flour, but blanched almonds ground as fine as flour. Available in certain specialty stores, it can also be made at home by carefully grinding blanched almonds in a food processor -- you don't want to make the almond equivalent of peanut butter. To help the grinding process, add a tablespoon of confectioner's sugar per cup of almonds to the bowl of the food processor and pulse for under a minute. (This shouldn't be enough sugar to throw off a recipe, but you can decrease the amount of sugar called for in your recipe if you are concerned.) Sift the flour and discard whatever larger bits remain in the sifter. If not using the almond flour immediately, pack airtight and store in the freezer for up to a month. Almond flour is a common ingredient in some sweet pastry doughs and is usually used not on its own, but in conjunction with regular all-purpose flour. I will be entertaining twelve people for dinner in the near future. I have purchased Filet Mignon and my question is how to prepare the steaks indoors rather than grilling them. If you would like, you can marinate the steaks overnight in some crushed black peppercorns, finely chopped garlic, fresh thyme and rosemary, extra-virgin olive oil and a touch of soy sauce. The next day, scrape off the marinade, pat the steaks dry and season with salt and some freshly ground pepper. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat until smoking lightly. Add the steaks to the pan, lower the heat slightly and brown for several minutes before flipping over. Give the other side equal treatment, basting the steaks with the pan fats as the steaks cook. (Cooking time will depend upon thickness and weight of steaks.) I am searching for a recipe that Daniel Boulud prepared on a segment of the Martha Stewart show. The recipe is for red snapper that is steamed with some aromatic spices and citrus. Marinate the red snapper (about 5-6 ounces filet per person) for about 30 minutes in extra-virgin olive oil, orange and lime segments, finely grated lemon zest, chopped fresh mint and coriander leaves, crushed coriander seeds, star anise and coarse salt in a small aluminum container or porcelain cocotte covered with plastic wrap or a cover. Steam the fish in its cocotte in a shallow pan of simmering water until opaque -- about 10-12 minutes. Serve on a bed of sautéed spinach and garnish with fresh watercress and a vinaigrette of diced orange and lime segments and chopped fresh mint and coriander leaves. Not a cooking question, but rather an inquiry concerning the structure of the 8 course tasting. I know the 6 course degustation typically consists of soup, appetizer, fish, meat, pre-dessert, dessert. For the 8, what are the extra 2 courses? Do all 8 courses have to be from that evening's menu or can I just give the kitchen carte blanche to have some fun and create off the cuff for me? Finally, during what time frame is the 8 course meal offered? The eight course chef's tasting menu usually consists of a terrine, soup, cold appetizer, warm shellfish or pasta, fish, meat and two dessert courses. It usually encompasses items from the regular menu as well as the chef's inspirations of the day. You may give your captain a few hints (i.e. we had the paupiette last time and would like to try something new, or we had the paupiette last time and would like to have it again) and please do remember to indicate any general food alergies, likes and dislikes. The eight course chef's tasting menu is only served from Monday through Thursday evenings for tables reserved up to and including 10PM. I have had a bottle of truffle oil for a couple of months and I am looking for a good recipe. I'm afraid to just experiment because of the very disticnt flavor and because it is expansive. If you could suggest any recipes or ideas I would be greatful. Our absolute favorite (and easiest) way to enjoy truffle oil is to drizzle in into mashed potatoes or crushed fingerling potatoes with some coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper, or to add it as a finishing touch to a wild mushroom risotto. It's also great drizzled (parsimoniously, of course) over fresh pasta or creamy scrambled eggs. How can you poach an egg without any special poaching equipment? Bring a quart of water and 1 tablespoon of vinegar to a boil in a saucepan. Lower the heat so that the water simmers. Break an egg into a cup and then slip it into the water. Cook for 3-4 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. If not serving immediately, cool the poached egg in ice water and rewarm in a bowl of hot water before serving. I was wondering what pieces of cookware you would recommend to someone who is just starting to buy kitchenware. Three pieces of cookware that are great for any kitchen are a medium saucepan such as a 2 qt. pot for making small batches of pasta, polenta or risotto or rewarming soups and stews; a "fait-tout" or large casserole (about 4 qt.) with high sides (at least 4-5 inches) for making soups, large batches of pasta, stews and fricassées; and an 8-10 inches sauté pan with low, sloped sides for pan roasting meat and fish. If you can't swing All-Clad's copper core line, any of their pots are great as they are all heavy duty, lined with stainless steel and ovenproof. I am very much enjoying the Café Boulud cookbook. Not only are the recipes delicious, they are so clearly written, and the book is a joy to use! We keep a kosher home, which means, among other things, we do not use bacon. A number of your recipes call for bacon as a seasoning. Do you have any suggestions of something I could use as a substitute, in adapting the recipe for our home? The fat I clearly can get from oil, but the flavour has proven more elusive. Any ideas would be gratefully received! I am glad to hear that you are enjoying the new cookbook. You might want to try substituting a different smoked meat for the bacon -- such as a decent-quality turkey bacon. You will still get the smoky flavor and can, as you said, add some olive oil or duck fat to the recipe to make up for the lost fat. Happy cooking! I've got a high degree of organization (I can prepare several dishes at once and have them ready for the table at the same time) but very little technique. Where are the best places in NYC for an amateur to learn more? While the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) and the French Culinary Institute both offer professional culinary programs, they also offer short programs for interested home cooks. These hands-on classes can be one night, one week, etc., and focus on a wide array of topics from knife skills to ethnic cuisines to working with chocolate. Both are located in Manhattan and you can contact them for their course schedules. Does your kitchen conduct tours or clinics? One would think many people would leap at the chance to see your kitchen working, or to take a small part in the day's preparations. While we are happy to share our knowledge and give others a glimpse of our kitchen, our first priority is to provide our clients with the finest cuisine and service possible. Because our kitchen is very busy and our work very detailed and precise, we cannot invite people to come and help for a day or two; we neither have the time to properly demonstrate a technique nor to monitor someone else's work to make sure that it is up to snuff. We do, however, accept full-time interns, usually from culinary school or with some prior cooking experience, and require a commitment of 3 months from them. We are always happy to take interested diners on a tour of the kitchen after their meals. This is easiest after lunch when we are setting up for dinner (as opposed to after dinner when we are cleaning up for the evening). When you sit down to dine with us, let your captain know that you would like a tour of the kitchen if possible when you have finished your meal. We look forward to welcoming you soon to DANIEL, Café Boulud and DB Bistro Moderne. A couple of years ago I had a dish called "epigram of lamb" at Michel Rostang in Paris. It was the best meal of my life until I had the full tasting lunch at DANIEL, where I ate something very similar. I can't for the life of me figure out what "epigram" of lamb is, nor how I could recognize a similar dish lacking the same fanciful name. What is it, when can I get it, and why do I like it so much? Traditionally, an "épigramme d'agneau" consists of two cuts of lamb, breaded and then broiled or fried, and is a dish that dates back to the middle of the 18th century. However, in modern cooking, the term has come to refer to a lamb dish made up of two or more cuts of lamb, prepared in different ways (fried not usually among them). At DANIEL, we frequently prepare "duos" or "trios" or "epigrams" of different meats. With lamb, this may mean a slice of roasted saddle stuffed with Swiss chard and tomato confit, a piece of braised shoulder and a chop from a roasted rack. One of my signature dishes is a duo of beef and celery that pairs roasted tenderloin with boneless short ribs braised in red wine (and braised celery stalks with a celery root-potato purée). I like creating preparations like this because they let the guest savor lamb, for example, in different ways with different tastes and textures. I would like to cook salmon on the outdoor grill and am interested in some ideas for flavoring the fish. Marinate the salmon (covered, in the refrigerator) overnight with lemon slices, fresh rosemary and sage, peeled and crushed garlic, a pinch of hot pepper flakes and some extra-virgin olive oil. Remember to brush off the marinade and to season with salt and freshly ground pepper before grilling. I see a lot of references to "fine olive oils" in magazines and in the newsgroups. How can I know what is a quality olive oil? Can I simply go by price, or the designation "Extra Virgin"? For the finest quality olive oil, look for the words "extra-virgin" and "first cold press" on the bottle. The first cold press is the tastiest and purest form of olive oil. Try also to find the date of bottling somewhere on the label; most olive oils are best when used within a year or so of production. Fine olive oils come from Italy (mostly Tuscany, Umbria and Liguria), Southern France and Spain. The oil from each region has a slightly different flavor and different people prefer one over the others. If you live anywhere near DiPalo (Italian food shop) on Grand Street in Little Italy in Manhattan, stop by and you are sure to get some sound advice. What are your thoughts on using lard to make pie crust? Using lard in a pie crust recipe makes for a flakier crust than using butter alone, but you may miss the taste of butter. Perhaps look for a recipe combining the two, but it's really a matter of personal taste. I am interested in making the Apple and Armagnac Croustade dessert in your new cookbook. However, I am having a hard time finding the Armagnac brandy in my area. Can you suggest a brandy that I could use that would be comparable in taste, but more readily available? Armagnac is a brandy made from wine in the Gascony region of France. You may substitute Cognac, Calvados or applejack (an apple brandy made from distilled cider and the American version of Calvados) for the Armagnac in this dessert recipe. I am not a professional but have worked with chefs in the seasoning business and I admire their creativity and talents. I am relatively new to food that does not come in a hinged, styrofoam container. Can you give me any tips regarding a good, vinegar-and-oil dressing? Any recommendations regarding the oil, vinegar, and suggested recipes would be appreciated. The simplest and most common vinaigrette that we use here at DANIEL is a lemon-olive oil dressing. Whisk together 1 part freshly squeezed lemon juice with 3 parts extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. If you make this dressing in advance, you'll need to rewhisk it before tossing with your salad greens since it will not remain emulsified. It's a foolproof dressing that is great with mixed greens, seafood and steamed vegetables. The 1 part acid (lemon juice or vinegar) to 3 parts oil is a good rule of thumb. For a sherry vinegar-walnut or hazelnut oil dressing, mix 1 part sherry vinegar with about 1 part (or less) good quality Dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper and then slowly whisk in the oil in a fine stream until emulsified; for a nut oil vinaigrette, use about 1 part nut oil, and 2 parts neutral oil (such as vegetable or grapeseed oil) or olive oil. You'll still have the flavor of the nut oil but it will not be overpowering. Try adding toasted walnuts to a green salad dressed with a sherry vinegar-walnut oil vinaigrette. You can also crush a garlic clove into this dressing or rub the bowl with the cut side of a garlic clove before making the vinaigrette to add another dimension of flavor. This dressing would be great for a salad accompanying a roasted chicken for example. A word on balsamic vinegar: a few drops of balsamic can go a long way. We generally tend to use balsamic in conjunction with other vinegars in dressings or to drizzle it sparingly over a finished dish to provide a well-balanced mix of flavors. It pairs nicely with olive oil (you won't need mustard) for a tomato salad, but you'll have to wait for next summer for that! When I was a child, my Grandmother used to have roast goose every New Year's Day. She made a delicious apple stuffing, but never left a recipe. Over the last couple years, I have periodically looked for this type of recipe, but have had no luck. Do you have a good recipe that you could share? An apple stuffing for a roast goose sounds delicious. I would pair it with onion, chestnuts, celery root, bread and sausage. Slice nice pork sausage into 1/2-inch rounds and brown lightly in olive oil. When cooked through, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside for the moment. Add onion and peeled and cored apple and celery root cut into 1/2-inch chunks (more onion and apple than celery root) to the pan. Season with salt and pepper, add olive oil if needed and cook until tender, stirring frequently over low heat. Stir in braised chestnuts (chestnuts cooked until tender in chicken broth), stale bread cut into 1/2-inch chunks, chopped thyme and sage or rosemary and the cooked sausage. (Make sure that the meat and vegetables are cooked through since they won't cook much more once inside the goose and that everything is well seasoned with salt and pepper.) Stir in some melted butter and chicken stock until the stuffing is nice and moist. Let cool before stuffing the goose. You can vary the guidelines above by omitting the sausage or substituting celery stalks for the celery root if desired. Recently I happened to read a recipe on sweetbreads and what caught my eye was the garnish of the herb named "sarriette." I have never heard of this herb - do you use it in any of your reciepes? Is it an herb or a vegetable? If you do use it, is there any specific reason to use it with sweetbreads? "Sarriette," or "savory" in English, is an herb that tastes a bit like a combination of rosemary, thyme and oregano. Like rosemary, it is very powerful and should be used sparingly. We often pair savory with bean casseroles and fricassées, although I am sure it would be nice with sweetbreads too. My son wants to be a chef. We would appreciate your advice about the necessary education to achieve his goal. How would you rate culinary schools around the country? Is there one really top institution in your estimation? Not knowing your son's age nor what part of the country you live in, I will recommend the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, NY as offering arguably the most serious, intensive 4 year course. I am less familiar with Johnson and Wales in Rhode Island and the California Culinary Academy, but they are two other choices. You might also look into schools with strong hotel programs such as Cornell. Locally, the French Culinary Institute is perhaps the best option in New York City, along with the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). Their programs are much shorter than those at the CIA and night classes are also offered. The best training is, of course, first-hand experience in a professional kitchen. If your son already has some culinary training and has basic knife skills, I suggest he "stage" or apprentice in the best restaurant that will accept him in your area. (These apprenticeships are usually unpaid.) This is also a great way to see -- before committing to cooking school -- how things work in a kitchen and if the hours and environment suit him. If he speaks a foreign language, working in a great restaurant kitchen in Europe or Asia can be invaluable. There are also fine culinary schools abroad, such as Le Ferrandi in France. Best of luck to your son. I recommend that he call schools and restaurants himself. When you are at home with your family, what do you eat? I like to do one pot family meals. At home I don't have quite as many sous-chefs and dish washers as I do in the restaurant. I also like to cook things that take me back to my grandmother's cooking. Chicken Grand-Mère Francine is one of my favorites. I have a question about fresh fruit sorbets. If the fruit I'm using is sweet enough, can I omit the sugar I've been adding to my sorbets? Or, does the sugar serve some purpose other than just sweetening the fruit? Regardless of how sweet they taste on their own, most fruits need additional sugar to make a successful sorbet. For example, watermelon is very sweet tasting but, if you try to make a sorbet from watermelon juice or pulp alone, it will be very icy - almost like a granité. The dissolved sugar in fresh fruit sorbets helps them achieve a smooth, velvety texture by balancing the water in the fruit and in the recipe. Without enough sugar, ice crystals form while freezing and the resulting sorbet will have a gritty texture. How much sugar you need depends upon the water content of the fruit you are using, as well as how much your tastebuds can handle. If you are looking to make a fresh fruit sorbet without adding too much sugar, try making one from very ripe peaches or pears since they have a relatively low water content. I saw a chef prepare a browned butter vinaigrette on food TV and he specified that the butter be simmered for 45 minutes(!) before it is blended with the other ingredients. Is this true? Other recipes for Beurre Noisette, say to be careful that the butter browns, not blackens. A chef friend here in Los Angeles tells me that browned butter carries the flavor of butter better than un-browned butter, i.e. a cup of browned butter will taste more "buttery" than a cup of plain melted butter. Do you agree with this? Forty-five minutes does seem like an awfully long time to brown butter, although I can't really say for sure since I don't know how much butter was being browned (I suppose not that much if it was for a vinaigrette) and over what kind of flame. The key to browned butter is to warm butter over a moderate flame and to swirl it once it starts to brown to avoid burning. Once it's ready, the butter should be poured out of the pot into a heat-proof container so that it stops cooking. Browned butter can get relatively dark, but it should never appear black or have a bitter or burnt taste. As for browned butter tasting more buttery, that is a question of taste. It definitely tastes nutty (hence the name beurre noisette or hazelnut butter). I love the classic combination of beurre noisette, vinegary capers and chopped parsley with a simple poached fish such as skate (so much so that the recipe is in my new cookbook due out this November). We also use browned butter in the blueberry financiers we serve as a petit four at Cafe Boulud since it helps boost the nutty flavor of the almond flour in the recipe. What is your favorite piece of cookware? A heavy-duty copper sauté pan either with a traditional tin lining or a stainless steel lining, like the new line of All-Clad copper core pots. You can control roasting, braising and searing to perfection because of the excellent heat conductivity of copper. Is it true that it is impossible to get a reservation at DANIEL? We are happy to take reservations one month in advance to the date at 9:00AM, by telephone only. For dinner, sometimes we have cancellations, so you can try calling the same day around 5PM. What is your favorite ingredient to cook with? Potatoes, since the day I was born. I love them because they can be prepared in so many delicious ways from mashed to roasted or in a gratin (not to mention french-fried!), and they soak up the flavor of whatever they are cooked with - herbs, garlic, fish or meat such as lamb, for example. One of my favorite ways to enjoy potatoes is to bake foil-wrapped Yukon Golds on a bed of sea salt and then crush their flesh with butter, extra-virgin olive oil, herbs, sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Before serving, I cover them with a shower of fresh shaved black or white truffles, depending upon the season. After returning to New York from a trip to France my husband refuses to eat potatoes, especially boiled or in potato salad. The potatoes I am able to find at farmer's markets do not compare in taste or texture with the ones in France. Do you have a favorite type or potato, available here in the city, which resembles best the ones in France? For simply boiled potatoes to use in a potato salad, my favorite kind of potato is the fingerling. The reason you may have trouble finding firm-fleshed potatoes this time of year is because ninety percent of the potatoes on the market now are from last year's crop. In New York, delicious new potatoes are coming out now (in warmer climates they came out a couple of months ago), such as rattes, German butter balls, carolas and ruby crescents (on sale at the NYC Union Square Greenmarket in 2 1/2 lb bags). Get to know your local potato farmer and ask what's fresh. We start scrubbed fingerlings in cold water with salt, fresh thyme, peppercorns, a bay leaf and some garlic cloves and boil them until they are tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. After draining the potatoes, I would slice them about 1/4 inch thick for a potato salad. Different preparations require different potatoes. For mashed potatoes we use a combination of Idaho and Yukon Golds; for gratins we use Yukon Golds; and for roasted potatoes we use fingerlings and small new potatoes.