http://restaurantguyschocolate.com/

I believe you can even get a free sample....

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In case you haven't gotten me anything yet

1. CIA (culinary institute) bootcamp (and subsequent time off work)
2. All expense paid and subsequent reservations to El Bulli
3. A new pen
4. Handcrafted, hand tooled, leather portfolio, not black.
5. Limo to take me to the city for a nice shave (art of shaving perhaps)
6. Unlimited bar/food tab at Catherine Lombardi or Nicholas
7. To see the movie "The Wrestler" at home, and not travel to NYC to see it
8. A day at the shooting range shooting different guns, I've never shot a gun, would be neat.
9. Left side of my living room furnished
10. Shelves for my kitchen wine rack area...made from 100+yr old wood
11. A nice fresh Kobe steak prepared
12. Socks/underwear/white alfani v-necks,
13. A comfortable (but not expensive)bathrobe so I can spill stuff on and not feel bad about it and pretend to be The Big Lebowski
14. Someone to torrent the entire Velvet Underground library for me and put it on my phone.
15. nice (hand crafted, tooled) leather "wallet" flip up type case for my iPhone, the perfect, slim, design...probably the most impossible gift on this list.
16. The mis-matched color of my rear passenger side door "repair" ...re-repaired
17. my basement organized with some racks/shelves
18. basement painted (ceiling AND floor too)
19. Nikkor Zoom Super Wide Angle AF 17-55mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Autofocus Lens for Digital Cameras or Tokina Zoom Super Wide Angle 16-50mm f/2.8 AT-X 165 PRO DX Autofocus Lens for Nikon Digital
20. A stunt driving, drag racing, or rally racing class or just a day that I can drive a car like an asshole on a closed course.
21. Someone to paint my garage (walls and floor)
22. An attorney or someone else to have power of attorney so I will never have to go to the DMV ever again. for anything. at all. ever.
23. A nice new watch

24. Job security.

25. A job to keep me from going stir crazy one or two nights a week...restaurant, bar, something.
26. Oil change for my car
27. Kitchen-aide pro 600 mixer
28. NICE pressure cooker
29. old seasoned cast iron. not the new lodge shit


I'll think of some more later...

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...of duck confit, and a new foodsaver.

Crisped up the duck confit that I made over Thanksgiving, and made some risotto with the duck stock I had from the process...best. comfort. food. ever.


Used the foodsaver and the free supermarket butterball to sous-vide a leg with some duck fat, herbs, and butter....amazing.

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Here are some of my pics from my Eric Ripert Cocktail Party..



Click the read more for more pics...


Everything turned out great but my aioli...but I'm going to give it another try.

The menu was:

Seared Beef Lettuce Rolls
Mediterranean Platter with Hummus, Roasted Pepper-Walnut Spread and Zaatar Chorizo Stuffed Shrimp
Portobello "Fries" Truffled Aioli
Spicy Parmesan Cheese Straws
Deviled Eggs with Smoked Salmon

Cocktails:
Spiced Apple Cider
Cranberry-Champagne Cocktail
Ginger-Lemon Smash

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We also made a time-lapse video of us putting up the tree (with some antics thrown in!) It's just as long as the song...so might be boring for you, but at least it's a great christmas song!


Christmas Extravaganza 2008 from Robert Timko on Vimeo.

Click the "read more" for some more pictures...

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And god-bless the new food saver!

24$ for 7 filets, a roast, and a nice scrap to use for apps.


Sure, it's not USDA prime or Wagyu, but at 3$ a steak, you can put it between 2 pieces of wonderbread and not feel guilty!

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Click the read more...


For part 1, click here...


Take the duck legs out of the salt...

and what we did was vaccum seal 2 at a time in a bag with a couple of big spoonfuls of rendered duck fat (from the fridge). It was MUCH easier to do it while the fat was cold...it doesn't matter where/how the fat is because when you throw it into a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil, everything magically works out how you want it....so do that, and then put in a 180 oven, covered, in the pot. (kinda like sou-vide)




pull em out after 7 hours or so, and take the bags and put them in an ice bath to cool and throw them in the fridge for a week.

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Today is repeal day, the 75th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition in the US....go out. It's about as important as the 4th of July.

Second, I went to Burger King yesterday for lunch (I know, what can I say, I love me a whopper) and they had "soft drink pairings" on the wall. It creeped me out.

Third, the place was FILLED with old people...did old people just give up cooking?

I had another thought yesterday I meant to post, but I forgot it.

Oh yeah, heading to LA on business 1/3-1/11...anyone want to take me out to drinks/dinner? (or recommend a few places?)

My Duck confit is in the fridge, for those anticipating it's final pictures...

Hey, check out this blog http://rookielibations.blogspot.com/, great cocktail blog from another NJer.

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