Chris Amirault

John, any update to share?

So what happened?!?

Chris, what do the asterisks denote? Sorry -- I think that it's supposed to refer to a missing endnote. I've been using a store-ground chile powder I got at a tiny shop in Douglas AZ (the closest nixtamal grinder to my in-laws place in Bisbee) instead of combining those two chiles in particular lately, and it's turned out great. But I can't really use it as a stated ingredient for those outside the greater Bisbee/Douglas area.

That (great) photo makes me think about the ideal size of the bones for roasting, my 5-year-old daughter's preferred preparation. I've been aiming for 3" pieces max but keep finding bigger ones. Maybe that longways cut would solve the problem....

Not unreasonable to me. Very much wondering if anything's changed in the last two years. Well, it's spring, and I'm starting to think that I need to build homemade iced coffee into the morning routine. The options en route are limited and pricey. What are people's basic routines to making iced coffee from home?

I'm wary of light, but not sure why exactly. I've always done them in paper bags, myself.

Les gras de canard, tres Francais.....

Made myself a Bennett Cocktail; made the missus a Daiquiri with a dash of pimento dram. For a nightcap, I made a Rough a Tumble with 2 oz Appleton V/X, 1/2 oz Branca Menta, and 1/2 oz Clement Creole Shrubb.

I definitely feel that using chicken fat with vegetables in a stir fry is Chinese, though I'm not sure why that is. I imagine that there are lots of cuisines that use animal fat for vegetable sautéing, for example. Greens with lard or bacon fat? To me, that speaks of the US south.

I make my own but also have Youjia "chili in red oil."

Two thoughts: wok hei or roasted chile peppers? The Szechuan chili pepper oil I use definitely has a smoky taste from dark brown chiles....

Mekong makes for a pretty interesting Cuba Libre variation (Mexican coke, lime, bitters). Not for all tastes, to be sure, but then, what is?

And don't forget to rinse, rinse and rinse again.

Wow. Do you mean the coffee is brewed with an egg? Or it's served with an egg? Or...? What do you mean?!?

Those who can stand cutified composters will enjoy the Rolypig, which we just got for our school. It adds a gross motor component (the rolling part) to the saving food scraps part. Putting it together now and will report back.

Sounds like a "dry cure" pickle, in which the beans give off moisture that then becomes the brine. Fuchsia Dunlop has a salty green bean pickle in Land of Plenty that comes to mind....

I may have gotten into this game too late, but I consistently marvel at the Chicago Cutlery basic boning knife that I have used many times each week for years and years and still love.

So, little over a year later and I'm back at it: same project, different house. Any updates out there?

This is a great discussion and I've really enjoyed reading people's comments as I follow it. I've hesitated to chime in because we're looking at moving ourselves -- from a cooking-only kitchen into a place with a massive 1950s open kitchen with a cooking area, an eating area, and a "Florida" or "three-season" room all in a row, plus a formal dining room around the corner cut off from the kitchen. In short, I'm looking at the exact opposite move. And I fantasize about it daily, especially when I'm closed off in the current kitchen, unable to hear or see anything going on with the rest of the family. For me, it's become a quality of life issue, not just for special events but for daily living: I don't want to be cut off from the family I'm laboring to feed! We also went through the renovation conversation and realized that (1) we couldn't get much more space moving into the yard somehow and (2) the wall between the K & DR has so much going on in it (chimney, load-bearing, custom corner cabinets) that we can't really do much beside cut out a 2'x2' hole. So I join the chorus saying get yourself a diagram to find out what, if anything, is possible to do long-term. At least then you know your options and limitations.

I'm having a hard time imagining what you did. Did you rub it after putting the curry paste on? Do you have photos?

You can do either hotter or colder smoke, and adjust timing based on what you choose. It's a preference thing. That's also tricky. You want to go by feel, eventually, but I lean toward 5-7 days, as I like a more cured profile. You do want to make sure that the cure gets into the meat, and I don't really think that can happen in only 48 hours. Broken record: up to you. I go for Ruhlman's approach and remove it after the hot smoke. (Then I use it all up: that stuff is gold.) I don't see the point of smoking it separately -- what's the reason? Of course, "best" is in the mouth of the eater. Keep us posted!

The reason for wanting to do this is to stretch myself. I don't want to get to the end of school and be in exactly the same place as the other students. I am a lot older than the typical 17/18 yr old school leaver so this is a do or die career move for me. I read this and thought, "It's fine to stretch yourself; it's not fine to violate basic principles of hospitality and dining at the expense of guests, even if they are F&F." I really agree with what Shalmanese and Jon said: don't try to cram as much into one night as you can just to say you did. The food will suffer, as will the diners, who couldn't possibly keep up with a string like the one you proposed. Why not stretch yourself by trying challenging techniques? designing and executing sophisticated presentations? charting a progression from course to course? That last is my biggest concern. Moving from black pudding to strawberries to curry spices to licorice to horseradish to bacon... it just feels like a rollercoaster instead of an organized whole.

Rice, eggs, meat... any way you'd have a pickle will do, including standing by the fridge door out of the jar.

It's both for work at the bar and for workshops out and about. Having said that, I have a set of tools that I prefer to use at work (barspoons bent just so, a Boston shaker that I really like, the Yarai mixing glass, my paring knife) and often need to bring in concoctions of various sorts (pimento dram, an espresso syrup I'm working on, homemade bitters).

Thanks, everyone. dukeofurl, I'm not going to be able to get a photo up any time soon, but here's the basic kit I imagine I'll want to pack: 3D items Boston shaker glass & tin (one fits in the other) Yarai mixing glass OXO measuring cups citrus juicer IR thermometer More or less flat items: Hawthorne strainer julep strainer muddler barspoons paring knife channel knife cutting board matches perhaps a book, journal, a few sheets of paper Bottles: small (5-10 tinctures, syrups, bitters) large (2-3 750 ml of booze) Based on that, I'm thinking that I want something that is tall enough for a fifth, has a compartment for flat stuff, and sits upright. The Pelican 1430 seems to fit the bill in that regard. Shamanjoe, the gun case idea is a good one as long as I'm not transporting liquids, which I do for workshops and work itself pretty often, and sometimes they're in squeeze bottles and thus need to be upright. I can be swayed hard or soft, frankly. I'm not a 24 follower, so I'm not sure what a JB Wannabe means. Do you have a few examples? Quick search turned up these. Does anyone have experience with 'em? I need something very durable in particular.