Squeat Mungry

andie, that sounds quite clever and good. Care to share the method?Thanks, Squeat

If you think you don't like beets, make yourself a roasted beet risotto:Roast your beets at 375 F for 45 minutes to an hour. Let them cool until you can handle them and watch the peels slip away like magic. Start your risotto. I do the cup of wine first method. After you toast your rice and reduce the wine, throw the diced beets in with the first ladle of stock. Proceed as usual with the risotto. You'll like it! Edit to add: Sweat some diced onions in the oil before you start the risotto, and throw in the beet tops before you toast the rice.

I love sembei! I fell in love with them when I was in high school. My friends and I would often hang out in the Tea House in the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, drinking gallons of green tea and snacking on sembei. I go to the Japanese grocers in Japantown about twice a month and always stock up on my favorites. I don't know what any of them are called, though! I like every kind I've ever had except the sweet ones. One type I particularly like has a shiny, varnish-like exterior and is wrapped in the middle with a piece of seaweed, like an obi. Cheers, Squeat

I am obviously working in the wrong office. First surprise tamales, then tapas? On a Thursday? Need a Windows programmer? Seriously, thanks... those pictures have me drooling and cursing the lousy roast beef sandwich I had for lunch.

You'll notice on the Barnaby's pie pictured in my blog that only 4 of the pieces are completely devoid of crust. At my house, those are always the last 4 left in the box...ymmv =R= ← I think this is what strikes me as the worst aspect of this shocking practice, of which I had never before heard. Why slice a round pizza into squares? Why on earth forgo the much more logical radiant slice standard, in which each piece contains the best of both worlds: the cheesy center and the crusty crust? This sort of thing strikes me as distinctly inegalitarian, and can only lead to contention and infighting amongst the ranks. See?If anyone had asserted to me last week that this was done routinely at multiple pizza houses, I would have scoffed! I have only witnessed square slicing of rectangular pies, and that at only one place here in San Francisco, which serves a very different style of pizza (they call it "Sicilian"), which has a thick, bready dough, the outer edge of which does not differ substantially from the cut edge. Question: is this done to Chicago's famous deep-dish pies as well? Appalled, Squeat

I think it should be a combination of a Manhattan and a Brooklyn Cocktail. Maybe add dry vermouth and Amer Picon to a Manhattan? I like the apple garnish. Call it "The Hole in the Ground". Cheers, Squeat

Actually, my Safeway had the Smuckers' but not the Knotts Berry Farm! Go figure.Anyway, I shook up a couple of Blinkers last night for a friend and myself. Delicious. Really, really fine drink. We both enjoyed them immensely, and this is going into my regular repertoire. I can see where it might be a bit drab with Grenadine, but the raspberry and the fresh grapefruit juice really made it sing. I think I still might try it with a fresh raspberry coulis and do a side-by-side comparison, but it will be difficult to improve on. As for the Vesper, I agree the lemon oil on the surface is absolutely essential. I used to pour these using Bombay gin and Stoli vodka. As I recall, I liked to pour the Lillet a bit heavier than the strict 3:1:1/2. Probably closer to 3:1:3/4. I'm sure an attractive secret agent would be an excellent additional garnish! Cheers, Squeat

Apparently the official line is that Gras wants to open his own place.

Fascinating! Thanks very much.

Wow, it's my kind of vegetarian that picks pepperoni pizza and Black Angus Burger for lunch! Glad to see you're back blogging, ronnie. Love it when some of my favorites do a reprise. Looking forward to it, Squeat

Rogov, can I press for more information about the latter? I am a decades-long Nabokov "enthusiast", and have even, in my disorganized and dallying fashion, begun to put together materials for an article on food and dining in the stories and novels. I am aware there either is or was a restaurant called "Quilty's" in SoHo in NYC, but so far I am unaware of a particular dish (is it fictional or real?) nominally associated with "the vain and cruel wretch". (You can PM me if you like. Unfortunately, I am unable to offer money. )Cheers, Squeat

My copy of the book arrived in yesterday's mail and I spent a couple of very happy hours with it last night. Absolutely delightful from the dedication ("Nurse Cocktail" -- brilliant!) to the afterword mourning ingredients past. And all the intriguing libations in between! Makes a great companion to Grimes' history, and will ensure many evenings of fun in the coming weeks and months. Last night after work I stopped off at John Walker & Co. downtown and procured a bottle of Old Overholt. They had a couple of other interesting-looking brands as well. I think it is time to beef up this sorely understocked (read hitherto non-existent) shelf of my liquor cabinet -- Anchor's Old Potrero is probably next, since I'm a big fan of Fritz Maytag's products. I'm all set with fresh ripe sour grapefruits from the produce store at home (I'm a bit of a stickler for fresh fruit juices). All I have to do now is track down the raspberry syrup! If I can't find it, I'll experiment with pureed raspberries and simple syrup. I was happy to see the Vesper in the book. I'm proud to say that during my years behind the bar I enthusiastically promoted the Vesper. I've been a fan of the Fleming Bond novels (especially Casino Royale) since they fuelled my adolescent fantasies, and I always felt that Vesper Lynd doubly betrayed Bond not only by being a double agent (and offing herself), but also by prompting him to foreswear this exquisite elixir. (A side note here -- in the novels, at least (I never was a fan of the movies and haven't seen very many of them) Bond drinks at least as much gin as he does vodka, and an awful lot of bourbon and scotch, and oceans of champagne! There's an amusing website about his beverage consumption here.) Cheers, (and Doc: Thanks and congratulations!) Squeat

Celery Victor was invented at The St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco by the legendary chef Victor Hirtzler. How about a play? Green Goddess salad dressing was invented in 1915 at The Palace Hotel at the request of actor George Arliss when he was starring in William Archer's play of that name. Cheers, Squeat

I don't make it to Trader Joe's very often, not having a car, but Yum! on Market Street here in San Francisco had it as of a couple of weeks ago. Cheers, Squeat

Not to worry, Doc! As it happened my Friday night (and my entire weekend, for that matter) turned out very differently than I had planned. No rye was purchased, no Blinkers were made. I did manage to pop into Safeway for a different reason at one point and had a look at their selection... can you believe they had NO RYE WHISKEY AT ALL?!? Safeway SUCKS!Anyway, the Blinker has been rescheduled for later this week with the superior recipe! (I'm sure my favorite local liquor store will have at least a few ryes.) Thanks, and I will post a review. Cheers, Squeat

The October issue of Southern Living has a recipe for "Classic Gumbo". Guess what. No okra! The author of the article, Donna Florio: Personally, I've never met a gumbo that didn't include okra or file, one or the other. The SL recipe doesn't include okra, and lists the file as optional! Cheers, Squeat Eddit: tyypo.

Hi, fatmat!ras-el-hanout (I think it literally means "head of the shop" in Arabic) is a Moroccan blend of spices. See this page for more information about ras-el-hanout and for a Paula Wolfert recipe for making it. I didn't make the blend I'm using right now. I bought it at a local arabic grocery. For what it's worth, sazon is also a spice blend, but it is of Spanish origin. Cheers, Squeat

Cool. Old Overholt it is, then. Thanks! I figure it's about two hours 'til Blinker time! Cheers!

Thanks, Sam. I suspected as much. I think I'll go with Wild Turkey, since it's the rye I'm most familiar with.

I just ordered this, too, and can't wait to get my copy. Congratulations, Doc, on both the book and the website! I looked up the Blinker on the website. Sounds great. I want to try one tonight, but I'm not really a rye drinker, so I'll have to pick some up. Will I be able to find the Triple? Any other brand recommendations? Thanks! Cheers, Squeat

From the Times item it sounds like they are freshly-harvested, right? That's what is meant by "green". And yes, boil with shells on. I didn't even notice that that page had separate instructions for "Dried Raw Shelled Peanuts"! I'm pretty sure that's not what you have anyway. Even if they have been stored in the shell for some time, which I doubt, you can boil them in the shell the same way, it will just take longer -- after 45 minutes or so, test one every ten minutes or so until they are tender -- like a cooked dry pea or bean.Hope that helps clear things up... Sorry for the confusion! Squeat

Current top five: salt black pepper paprika ras-el-hanout lemon

bloviatrix, This page has some pretty good information on boiling peanuts (at the bottom), including instructions for freezing and canning them. Boil them for between 35 and 45 minutes, then test to see if they're tender. I like to put a plate on top of them and weight it with a can or something to hold the peanuts under the water. Basically, the amount of salt just depends on your taste. I like mine pretty salty, and use about 1-1/2 tablespoons per cup of unshelled peanuts, but it is better to err on the side of less salt. If they're not as salty as you like when they're done, you can just let them soak in the brine and they'll get saltier. Have fun, and be sure to give us a report! Cheers, Squeat

The article in today's San Francisco Chronicle. Cheers, Squeat

Thanks for the article. Brought back fond memories of my dear departed mother. Though a Carolina girl, she loved "Co-Cola" and would never drink Pepsi. She used to put peanuts in the bottle, shocking many of our neighbors as we moved around the country as the result of my Dad's transfers in the Coast Guard. Mom was born during the final years of prohibition, which may help explain the tidbit of a radio ad she used to recite, remembered from her earliest youth, in a sing-songy, jump-rope-rhyme sort of modulation: "Go ahead and drink it, Nola -- it ain't nothin' but a Coca-Cola!" Cheers, Squeat