eunny jang

I've ordered a couple slabs of really good beef spare ribs so we can have a project to do this weekend. So far, the plan includes six or seven hours, a wood-fired smoker, and beer. Ideas for dry rubs, sprays, what-have-you, or some technique pointers? I'd like to do something a little different from the usual spice-rub/barbeque-sauce combo that we've done for pork baby backs. A chipotle rub? Asian flavors? Hmm...

Don't forget Pollo Campero!

I love the idea for using belly to make a vindaloo, but I wonder: is the fattiness a good contrast to the acid of the vinegar, or a confusing extra element? Myself, I'd braise it as red-cooked pork, or maybe smoke it lightly and then braise it, uncovered, with chimay, onions and thyme or rosemary. Roast it briefly at the finish.

There are plenty of other suggestions in the thread.

I am late to this party - as usual - but, like everyone else, I can't recommend this book any more heartily. If it's not as elegantly/thoughtfully written as, say, Judy Rogers' Zuni Cafe book, it's absolutely a solid handbook with some really winning recipes for both old stalwarts and stuff that was new to me. Champs so far: --Zinfandel Pot Roast (absolutely use parsnips) --Coq au Vin --Maple-glazed Short Ribs (I actually think the rosemary in the maple glaze is a distraction - maple syrup and double the horseradish would be better) --Braised potatoes --Smothered Steaks (double the sherry; perfect rainy-Sunday food_ --Salmon Fillets in Red Wine (reduce the braising liquid further before putting the assembled pot in the oven) The only real dud has been the braised whole chicken with bread stuffing - the stuffing is pretty wan (sitting in liquid doesn't help the texture, either), and the chicken ended up being a bit tough. Hooray for All About Braising! I have red-cooked pork belly cooking right now - I'll keep this book out all year, I'm sure, for meat in the winter and fish and vegetables in the summer.

I would be really interested to know a little more about the inner workings of the waterfront markets, or even of fish markets in general - is anyone versed in this, or know where I can find out? I ask because the borrowed-nostalgia-craving part of me instinctively jumps - It's open-air! It's old-timey! Grizzled men in galoshes will sell me shrimp, which I'll peel and eat on the dock! - but I don't really have any idea when any of the wares were caught, how they were stored, who brought them in, or even where they came from. I've never had any problems with anything I've bought from there, but it's probably disingenous for me to be so smug about cooking up a wharf-purchased skate wing if its only street cred is getting defrosted in a market fridge instead of mine.

I actually think that the fabulously marbled cuts you'd grill would be wasted in tartare anyway - lumps of hard, cold white fat sound pretty off-putting. I'd go with hand-chopping a good quality lean piece - maybe a decent sirloin. As I'm typing, I'm thinking tartare would also be a clever, acceptable use of filet - you've certainly got tenderness and uniformity of texture covered, and there's enough other stuff going on, what with the capers and eggs and shallots, to make up for the beef's lack of, uh, beefiness.

I've been there twice, and didn't like it - my main thought was that it is the hoteliest hotel bar to ever bar.

just wait until the inevitable "Tom, eating at Ray's gave me cancer!"

Me too, please. My milk gravy is usually bits of salty stuff bobbing about in a sea of unappetizingly grey milk. I keep trying, but it's never anything anyone can eat. Bear in mind I have absolutely zero first-hand experience with fried chicken outside my own kitchen - the phrase "real fried chicken" carries enough mystique that I'm willing to buy that milk gravy is something one must learn from one's grandmother.

Re: vegetables It's an Alice Waters thing, no? It's all well and good if you're serving pristine, harvested-during-the-narrow-window-of-peak-flavor, in-season vegetables that really shine with just a little heat and seasoning. Not so great if it's zucchini in January as part of the "fire-grilled mixed vegetables" side at a steakhouse.

We've been frying a lot of chicken lately - I marinate in buttermilk and Tabasco, shake with flour and baking powder, and pan-fry with Crisco and bacon grease. It is absolutely delicious - shattering-crisp crust, juicy meat, even when consumed the next day, standing in front of the fridge. My only problem's been finding chickens small enough to cook the insides before the crust burns - thighs from even a 3.5 lb bird skate on the outer edge of the balancing act.

Ohhh, man. Did you make it? My mom is convinced that hoenghwe (along with gaejang) is "dangerous" to make at home, and refuses to give me a recipe. --Eunny (waiting for summer so I can OD on hwe naengmyun every day)

Butter, cold pan. Medium-low heat - the butter will melt, then foam, then settle down. It's brown butter when it's fragrant, uniformly nutty-looking and there are speckly bits of darker (but not dark!) carmelized milk solids precipitated out to the bottom. Go darker, and it's beurre noir - go darker, and it's burned and non-tasty. Was that the question? Edit: Masculine, feminine, who cares

Tear off a handful of whole fresh sage leaves and lay them flat, velvet side down, in a thin layer of quietly foaming butter and oil. Turn them when they crisp and then toss with very hot pasta and healthy doses of parmigiano, salt and pepper. Nothing better in the world - earthy-sweet and sharp and musky. Eating it reminds me of the scent of fallen leaves.