Chris Amirault

Only one for each?!?

Thanks, DanM. Mounted to it in a big, ugly box with wires sticking out. Gotta remove that whole thing and stick something else up there. I'll be in touch about that beer....

Just subscribed. Housewarming gift for my wife. Yeah, that's the ticket. On the Cadco: Started a topic on the electrical issues over here. Trying to figure all that stuff out. Meanwhile, I have to say that I'm mighty pleased with the range top: It's so much hotter than my previous gas range that it's taking some getting used to, but that's a nice problem to have. I'm heating up stockpots of water for corn in about 50% of the time it used to take. Being happy with that (we weren't sure it would work effectively) frees up some resources to take care of the oven problem.

Serving entire plates of fried foods all at the same time for a meal, instead of staggering them over time. Not missing out on eating the hottest, freshest food at the table because you're running back and forth dealing with those staggered batches. A legitimate excuse to build an addition to the house for all of the crazy stuff -- commercial deep fryers, wok burners, smokers -- you keep in the garage.

Graters. Citrus squeezers (if you regularly squeeze limes, lemons, and oranges, that is).

My pleasure. I think a perfect version of that drink is a great idea -- and the Bonal sub is genius. Might try to subject that to a customer next week at the bar....

So, Dave, I'll push a bit on this "Define 'gin'" issue. Why do you call 'em gins? Because the distillers call 'em gins?

I'm leaning toward that Sree Sibari Estate Assam. Will report back.

The vodka field is so crowded right now that it must be nearly impossible to introduce a new product with any chance of getting a foothold; not so with gin. Lots more bar and store shelf space, in particular. In addition, I've heard many people say, "I know you say you don't like gin, but you'll like this gin." Suddenly, people who hate gin like it. Or "it," depending on your perspective.

Thanks, xxchef. I try to stay on top of things, and now that my wife is out of grad school and has a nice job, we are able to get to places that, for a while, were off our radar. In addition, working at one of the excellent restaurants in town, I get some heretofore unavailable scuttlebutt. Haven Brothers are still around and still producing food that is good only at 2a when you're snookered. The Greek place on Thayer Street is Andrea's. Still there, astonishingly. Your Dagwood may have come from the Sandwich Hut on North Main St, which is still there and still outstanding. I had an Al Italia sub yesterday, in fact, for lunch! As for family Italian red sauce joints, I'm still partial to Mike's in the VFW hall in Cranston and, of course, Angelo’s Civita Farnese. Model train is still there....

I ran out of quatre épices this morning preparing some pork chops, and I need to make a new batch when I get home. I usally follow Paula Wolfert's advice in The Cooking of Southwestern France (thanks to Chris Hennes for looking this up): 10 cloves 1 T white peppercorns 1 cinnamon stick 2/3 t ground ginger 3/4 t nutmeg Five, not four, but I figure we can give Society member and French food authority Wolfert the wiggle room. Reading around, I noticed that there are versions with black pepper, allspice, and a few other things, and several resources list it as also being prevalent in Middle Eastern cooking. (Hence this topic's residence in Cooking and not French Cooking.) Of course, if you start adding more spices, you can get to seven and beyond pretty quickly. As noted above, I grab QE for lots of pork dishes, and it's essential in many of the sausages I make come fall and in the cassoulet I make every New Years. Given that there's little pork in the Middle East, I'm probably missing out on some interesting other uses for the stuff. What do you put in your QE, and in what ratios? What do you use it for? And what are the rules? When does it stop being QE and become, well, a "spice blend"?

Yes, Tuesdays. Matt and Ben are doing a lot of interesting stuff at La Laiterie these days. They just got a Beard House gig. One note: the terrific Joe Hafner is no longer at Gracie's, which is a true loss. I don't know what else is happening there. I'm always happy at Chez Pascal, and at their hot dog cart in Lippit Park, and at the food truck. I had a good but not great meal at New Rivers Monday night, but, well, it was Monday night.

That's only true if they haven't been treated with sodium tripolyphosphate. If they have, no amount of pre-sear drying will prevent the flood.

When there's a "sustainable" joke in a Hollywood film like the "world's best coffee" gag in Elf, we will know we have triumphed.

I just got the call back from the water testing guy. Ph is 7 ("normal"), and it's hard, with iron, calcium, magnesium, and maganese in it at safe levels. By the by, I am hoping that Dave Arnold of FCI's cookingissues.com can weigh in on the matter, given that he's just given a (by all accounts excellent) Tales workshop on the stirring. Read more here -- and an update is on the way.

As if to contribute to our discussion here, Will Lyons at the Wall St Journal has an entire article devoted to biodynamic wine: Then follows a description of his "epiphany" of wines with greater "energy" and a brief overview of Steiner's biodynamic principles. Those looking for science aren't going to find it; "energy" is a metaphor. I think.

There's a lot of misinformation about scallops out there, and we have a company in New England that really puts the lie to prejudices against freezing. As with high-end sushi fish, the issue isn't freezing but handling after catch, technology on the boat, and chemicals or lack thereof. Most scallop boats go out for a week or so and use sodium tripolyphosphate to treat the scallops, enabling them to retain more moisture over that long haul and to sit on ice for the long trip back home (or out to get more scallops!). Bomster scallops out of the Connecticut coast (read more here) are flash frozen immediately after catch and not treated with sodium tripolyphosphate. The difference is remarkable. Bomsters are very rich and sweet, and you can sear them without them giving up all the water the sodium tripolyphosphate forced them to retain. (If you've ever suddenly found your pan full of water with your fresh scallops stewing in it, blame the sodium tripolyphosphate.) All of the high-end restaurants in the area use them by name. The article I linked to above gives contact information for the company that distributes them. I bet you could get an order shipped overnight to OK. One last thing. As the grandson of a Gloucester fisherman, I've learned not to fetishize "fresh" absent other sensory factors. Day boats are pretty rare these days, so "just off the boat" may mean "just off the boat where they sat for a week."

Ah, the glory of chicken thighs!

What resources do people use and trust for information about these issues?

That seems like a really long time to marinate in an acidic marinade; I'd be worried the meat would get too mushy. How was the texture?

I certainly don't believe that every label marketers use is meaningless. However, I do believe that the vast majority of marketers could care less about the meanings of the labels they use. I was heartened last night when, apropos of nothing in particular, a chef I know and respect said, "... and so he asked about local, sustainable, blah blah blah...." The fact that this chef buys and cooks with items he usually gets from within a 100-mile radius made his ennui all the more enjoyable.

OK, I just got back from an early morning trip to Whole Foods, trying to keep in mind the multiday suggestions that seem so smart. I also was trying to remember what items I have in the house already. The four proteins things I left with were bluefish and squid (for grilling tonight), ~2" thick pork chops, and similarly thick ribeyes (those two were on sale). Now that I've got a Sous Vide Supreme (click), thinking through three or four different meals in a row seems somehow less of a hassle.

Thanks, Merridith. Now that I've made three things -- dry-aged NY strips, pork bellies, and St. Louis pork ribs -- to great success, I can see that I'm changing the way that I think about shopping and proteins in general. Just got back from the store and wasn't daunted by two very thick pork chops, for example.

Just to be clear, I am trying to learn me some electricity so that I can be a knowledgeable consumer of estimates, jobs, and products. I have no intention of doing this electrical work! I have a pal who's smart about these sorts of things, and he wrote on my Facebook page: That last part is not a reflection on marital harmony at Casa Amirault. Ahem.

Is there a core of nonclear ice in the center?