ScorchedPalate

Joseph Schmidt, too

Any idea who's going to be featured?

I use bacon grease and chicken fat in many things.

Local Institutions / Regional Roadfood: Taco Mesa! The original location in Costa Mesa is still the best: 647 W. 19th St. (949)-642-0629 I'm sure you will get many recommendations for Pink's hot dogs on La Brea in Los Angeles... yum. Edited to add: Dr. Bob's Handcrafted Ice Creams got a nod in the current issue of Saveur, where they listed their 10 favorite ice cream joints. Never been there myself... I had to dig for the location of their "Dipping Store": 155 C Street, Upland, CA 91786.

A little, it sounds like. When I am using lard in sweet pastry, I go as low and slow as possible, to avoid caramelizing the protiens. When I want a good, porky flavor for use in savory foods, I put the spurs to it, and end up with cracklings. You can actually get both kinds from a single batch of fat: Go slow, use water to help melt the fat (it will simmer off and/or remain liquid when chilled, thus easily poured off). Then, once you've skimmed off the mild lard you need for baking, keep going to the cracklings stage and use the golden lard in cooking. ~A

Actually, I don't think this is the case. From this page: My collection includes a number of recipes that call for both baking soda and baking powder. It's a useful combination when you need less acid (less tartar) than the typical baking powder combination. If any of your sugars or ingredients are acidic, you'll often find the recipes call for both. My mom's banana bread is just one example. Apparently, "Joy of Cooking" has a section on the different types of baking powders, but I don't have my copy here with me. Edited to add: Joy of Baking says that "Most baking powder used today is double-acting which means it reacts to liquid and heat and happens in two stages."

I used leaf-lard for pie crusts last year and it was awesome. I use regular lard --which usually render myself -- in all sorts of things... usually pastries (in place of crisco) but also mexican food, etc. Those white bricks of Armour Lard are gross... nothing like real lard. You might as well use Crisco. ~A

Following Katie's recipe posted upthread, these are the the ratios used for my bergamocello (also upthread) and my current batch of blood-orangecello: When diluting the mixture, use the same amount of vodka/everclear that you originally used for steeping. If you're using 100-proof vodka, you'll want to use simple syrup equal to 1/3 the total amount of vodka. For example: - 750ml of 100-proof vodka for the steep - 750ml of 100-proof vodka for the dilution - 500ml of 1:1 simple syrup (or to taste) If you're using Everclear/grain alcohol for the original steep, you can bring it down to a drinkable level by using 80-proof vodka for the dilution, or making a weaker simple syrup (more water than sugar). Edited to add: I also use Microplanes for zesting... works much better (and faster) than a peeler or a traditional zester.

What I like best about that menu is that even though you have to order fries with your burger, you can also get fries on the side. In case you wanted, you know, more fries.

Will they still have enough flavor to use in fortified wine? I would think they've given it all up into the infusion, but that's just a guess.

Wow, sounds tasty. Looking forward to giving it a try. Where in Mountain View is he located?

Unless things have changed, they aren't open for lunch.

I don't think the one on Roosevelt is a WingDome. It's like a WingZone or something insultingly similar.

The Wing Dome location on Greenwood is still there, I believe, and the food there is even better. Service is just as crappy, though.

It's not Pier 8, though -- it's just "8"... the address of Alioto's (8 Fisherman's Wharf). [photo from the Alioto's website; you can see Fishermen's Grotto at Number 9 on the right side of the image] ~A ... who used to work on Jefferson Street and hated every last minute of it

SeaCrotty and I had burgers at Joe's Cable Car this weekend, and were suitably impressed. Any place that can get a 4-oz patty to be truly medium-rare is worthy of praise in my book. The fries were OK, not stunning... but at least they weren't coated. ~A

Oh no! I fear the end of my beloved Nibby Bars (not to mention the little canisters of cacao nibs)

I suppose Sichuan peppercorn is technically produce and definitely banned in the US, although I have been hearing reports of people finding it in stores again.

Two of my favorite cheap eats in Pasadena: - Pie 'n Burger - Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles [sing]Waffles just pancakes with little squares on 'em[/sing] ~A

Oh, man... a good restaurant in an old church. That has so many possibilities: You could call it St. Bacon's, and of course missing sunday morning services would be a sin. ~A

I don't think its nuts to use plastic, but I'm pretty leery of the stuff: specifically, I don't reheat things in plastic anymore, even the thicker tupperware-type containers. I was under the impression that plastic food-safe containers were relatively stable unless they were heated. On the other hand, I'm not a chemist (nor do I play one on TV) and alcohol is a pretty powerful solvent. And then I read on the vin d'orange thread that Lucy's mother-in-law specifically says not to steep the fruit in plastic because it "does funny things to the wine, and makes the caps pop off the finished bottles". If you get glass canning jugs, you can empty them when you're done (and reuse them for making brandied plums. ;) ) Since all of my canning supplies are in storage for a few more weeks, I'm using temporary steeping vessels for my nocino and blood-orangecello: a 3-gallon glass jug from the foodservice store -- like the kind you see aqua fresca in at taquerias -- and a 1-gallon glass canister with a rubber-gasketed lid, bought on clearance at Pier 1. Neither of them were very expensive. Good luck! ~A

Abra, how were you going to get the walnuts out when the wine was done? :)

I really like the provolone at salumi. they get it (and most of their cheeses) from PFI, according to Armandino.

Given the hash that they've made of the ol' BOB, I don't think anyone would say that you are competing with them, in any sense of the word, unless you opened a radically similar place within a few blocks. Edited to add: I totally respect that you "would never try to hurt their little bistro" but you couldn't hurt them any more than they've already hurt themselves.

Oh, whew... you had me worried there for a sec.