nr706

I stopped in there Sat 1/22 and it was obviously in its death throes, as staff was loading a lot of packaged products into large moving boxes. The good news (for me, anyway) was that all their wines, beers and deli products (including interesting cheeses) were 50% off. Much of the stock was rather well picked over, but I still came home with some great deals. ← Now you tell us! =R= ← Well, I did post about it here

I stopped in there Sat 1/22 and it was obviously in its death throes, as staff was loading a lot of packaged products into large moving boxes. The good news (for me, anyway) was that all their wines, beers and deli products (including interesting cheeses) were 50% off. Much of the stock was rather well picked over, but I still came home with some great deals.

Finally got around to starting it. Grains are mashing now. I'll let you know in a month or so how it comes out (or c'mon over and try it for yourself ....) ← Hating to quote myself, but ... Beer is doing pretty well. Has a fullness that I expect might to dissipate a bit as it continues to bottle condition. Coffee and chocolate notes all over the place. Who wants to come over and give it a critical evaluation?

I get most of my beer supplies from Leeners in Northfield.

I don't know the technical aspects of it, but here's what I do - I store beers upright in bottles, using CO2 absorbing caps (which may not be an option with purchased beers), in cases (therefore in the dark), in the basement (mid-60s temp) next to the wine. Flavors definitely mellow and smooth out - I've noticed it especially with fruit or spiced beers, which seem to lose a lot of the fruit or spice flavor - but I've got some over 10 years old that are still very tasty, just in a different way. My best guess is you should start sampling your high-gravity beers after 18 months - two years and see what's happening, but more age won't necessarily hurt. Some of my ciders and meads are just coming into their own now after 8 or 9 years.

Ciopinno - but with a light toomato water, lightly herbed, to let the flavors of whatever interesting shellfish and/or firm fleshed fish the market has. Kinda fun to include a crab or lobster claw reaching out of each soup bowl grabbing onto a thin bread stick straddling the bowl's edges.

Only beer experience I had in Vegas was disappointing. Stayed at the Monte Carlo, partly because they had a brewpub on premises. Not very good beer - appeared to be a mostly extract operation, not whole grain. However, that was a few years ago, so I'm not sure that's still the case there.

Never thought of it that way, but I'm a big fan of the Neo-Futurists, and it's an excellent analogy.

Finally got around to starting it. Grains are mashing now. I'll let you know in a month or so how it comes out (or c'mon over and try it for yourself ....)

Don't know anything about that kit specifically, but you can be sure that the Belgians making their excellent lambics don't use kits. Go all-grain (including wheat), with the right yeast, and the gazillion pounds of raspberries ... then invite me over.

In other words, they taste like chicken. hahahaha ← Try a sulfur shelf - tastes more like chicken. Other great mushrooms: Puffballs (immature) - slice 'em and use them in place of pizza dough, or hollow them out & stuff them Huitlacotche - nothing yummier (or cornier)

I went to a New Year's Eve party a few years ago, and brought a magnum of vintage Deutz Champagne (don't remember the vintage). I was pleased at the obvious excitement on the face of the host as I handed it to him, until he announced to the crowd "Who'd like a kir? Who's like a Bellini?" He seemed a little disappointed when I said I'd take mine straight. But it was my fault, I guess. I should have brought a fine bottle of non-vintage Andre or Tott's.

It's part of a chain based out of S. Calif, so my guess is they've got the formula down pretty well. Seems pretty busy, even on non-weekend nights. Good, not great food, a bit gimmicky (i.e. Yard-long beer glasses available - but you break it you buy it). But you can't beat the beer selection. Info @ http://www.yardhouse.com No connection - I just like a place that has a good beer selection. edited for typos

Here's the draft beer list of a place near here (Yard House, Glenview IL): Abita Brewing Purple Haze Allagash White Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale Anderson Valley Hop Ottin I.P.A Amstel Light Bass Ale Beamish Irish Stout Bear Republic Racer 5 I.P.A. Becks Belhaven Scottish Ale Bells Amber Ale Bells Porter Bells Seasonal Bitburger Pilsner Blue Moon Boddingtons Pub Ale Bud Light Budweiser Coors Light De Koninck Ale Delirium Tremens Dogfish 60 Minute I.P.A. Dos Equis Amber Dos Equis Lager Erdinger Hefetrub Weisse Fosters Lager Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Fullers E.S.B. Strong Ale Fullers London Pride Pale Ale George Killian Irish Red Goose Island 312 Wheat Goose Island Honkers Goose Island I.P.A. Goose Island Seasonal Gosser Dark Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold Lager Grolsch Guinness Stout Gulden Draak Harp Lager Heineken Hobgoblin Ale Hoegaarden White J.W. Dundee Honey Brown Lager John Courage Kirin Ichiban Labatt Blue Labatt Blue Light Leffe Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss Leinenkugel’s Lager Leinenkugel’s Red Lager Lindeman’s Framboise Löwenbräu Magner’s Irish Cider Maredsous Maudite McEwan’s Export Ale McSorley’s Irish Ale Michelob Amber Bock Michelob Ultra Miller Genuine Draft Miller Lite Molson Canadian Moosehead Lager Newcastle Brown Ale North Coast Red Seal Ale Old Style Paulaner Hefeweizen Paulaner Premium Pilsner Paulaner Salvator Pilsner Urquell Piraat Pyramid Apricot Ale Pyramid Hefeweizen Radeberger Pilsner Red Hook Black Nitro Red Hook Blonde Red Hook E.S.B. Red Hook I.P.A. Red Hook Seasonal Rogue Dead Guy Ale Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale Rogue Red Rolling Rock Sam Adams Boston Lager Sam Adams Seasonal Sand Creek Brewing Vienna Lager Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Sierra Nevada Seasonal Smithwick’s Spaten Pilsner Spaten Premium Lager Sprecher Black Bavarian Lager St. Pauli Girl Staropramen Stella Artois Stiegl Pils Summit Brewing Extra Pale Ale Summit Brewing I.P.A. Summit Brewing Porter Tennent’s Lager Three Floyds Alpha King Three Floyds Robert The Bruce Two Brothers Brewing Domaine DuPage F.C.A Two Brothers Brewing Seasonal Wittekerke Woodchuck Amber Cider Wyder’s Pear Cider Young’s Chocolate Stout Young’s Oatmeal Stout Of course, that's just what's on tap. If you include what's available in bottles, the selection gets interesting. Might take a whole afternoon to get through them all.

To paraphrase Homer Simpson ... MMMMMmmmm ... Shropshire. First had it at an exclusive cheese shop in Kensington, London. A bleu with a cheddar kick.

Did you mean Breyers? Anyway it fits with what you say, 'cept it's not called "Vanilla Bean." So you probably meant Dreyers. Which I've never heard of. Nor Eddie's. Carry on, nothing to see here. ← Dreyer's is a West Coast brand (independent, I think), Breyer's is basically an East Coast brand owned by Unilever. As Dreyer's expanded its distribution into territories where Breyer's was already established, it changed the name of its product to Edy's, to avoid trademark infringement.

French Vanilla usually means there's some egg yolk in the base; flecks of vanilla bean are optional in either French or regular vanilla ice cream.As to the derivation of the term, I don't know (who decided to call a fried thick julienne of potato a French fry), but as a former ice ream marketing guy, I know the American standard for a long time has been, if there's egg in the vanilla base, it's French Vanilla. I believe there's even an FDA standard to that effect - you can't call it French unless it has eggs. (Of course, adding egg to the mix increases cost, but many consumers like "French Vanilla" over plain Vanilla. edited for clarity

I don't know anything about the comany and its products specifically, but as a marketing guy who's done some work with brewpubs and microbreweries, I know that the kinds of people who seek out brewpubs are more sophisticated than BudMillCoors drinkers, and many can detect the typical "extract tang" - it's not a good thing. If you're opening a brewpub, I'd suggest doing it right and going to an all-grain system. Sure, it's more work, but the cost of ingredients is lower, you can offer a wider variety of beers, and most importantly, you'll have a far superior product. edited for typos

Am I missing something? I read the review saw phrases like: "The pork tenderloin, which came with a square of cornbread and a passle of "slow-cooked" beans, was excellent" "The brandade was as good as I have had (including a dynamite brandade in Nimes, France)." "The profiterole small plate showed the ingenuity of the chef and an understanding of compatible flavors." The only negative I saw was that Pat says her salmon was "pretty rare" - which is exactly how I like my salmon prepared. The text of the review certainly sounds like at least another 1/2 star would be warranted. Of course, I haven't been there ... yet.

Don't give up on the Belgians. As the great beer writer Charlie Papazian says, Belgium is "the Disneyland of beers." Duvel is reliable (but more of a macrobrew); my current favorite is Kwak (not just for the name). And don't forget the Belgian Lambics and fruit/dessert beers. Also note there's a huge difference in German Weiss biers - the southern ones with a banana/clove taste, and the Berliner Weiss - more sour, usually served with a little syrup of woodruff (and that's not a reference to a great little town in Northern Wisconsin). And, while I'm not a big fan of Scottish Ales (even though my background is Scottish) - I'm more of a hop-head - I recognize that Belhaven makes an excellent Wee Heavy.

Are you saying you didn't like these beers as a representative of their styles, or you just didn't like the beer style? I've always thought Hoegaarden was an excellent example of a Belgian wheat beer - although I'm not sure it belongs in the discussion here, since it's hardly a craft/microbrew. Haven't tried the Franziskaner Dunkel, although their hefe-weissen is pretty good. But for a good American craft/microbrew, generally true to style, you can't go wrong with Goose Island.

Driving past Dozika (Chicago & Dempster, Evanston) this morning, I noticed a rather large TV crew in there obviously shooting. My first instinct was it might be Check Please. Does anyone know when they typically shoot video - might they be shooting on a Sunday morning? I don't believe Dozika is norally open then.

I haven't done a beef stew in a while, but I love lamb stews, and they always benefit from a little crisply-fried bacon, or salt pork. Really deepens flavors, but don't overdo it.

I did the same - except with my Boker ceramic knife. Lost the tip. and there's no practical way I know of to regrind a ceramic knife that much.

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I've learned a lot from your first two books, I'm looking forward to getting the new version of On Food and Cooking. I once went on a date with a woman, and when we got back to her place, I noticed she had a softcover version of your original book. Mine is the hardcover version. Without going into detail, I can say it was very good date.