Chris Amirault

Yeah, I was gonna ask about nitrite/ate with the star fruit one. I like that rosy color. I envy you the ability to get Eco-Friendly meats. That stuff is astonishingly good.

Elie, did you toast the nori? I think he says it's optional, but I think it's necessary. You reversed the pork belly order too, I see. Has anyone had success with the book order?

Thanks, Sam. jmfangio, I have snooped around, and can't find a thing. Adam, the antiques folks around here aren't up to snuff on this matter. I've asked around. So what's the verdict on that glass above? Any idea on dates? When did the conical Martini shape take hold? ETA: Shoulda read cocktaildb: A goldmine, that db.

For starters, I have three of these 5 oz etched Martini glasses that have, to my eye, an Art Deco style. I also got them at a thrift store in Miami, which tends to push me Deco: It's one of my favorite glasses. The inverted teardrop stem feels fantastic in my hand, and the design features a pair of straight-line chevrons connected to a pair of curved arcs. I don't really know what else to make of them. Are they truly Deco? When were the likely made? By whom? Is there any way to find that out?

Over the last several years, I've collected over 100 vintage cocktail glasses at thrift stores, yard sales, and the like. A few dozen are 5 oz coupes in the middle style shown here, which I use for classes. (The rounder bowl coupe on the left is also 5 oz; the more conical one on the right is 4 oz.) The rest of them are a wide-ranging set of highballs, Old Fashioned, Nick and Nora, and other styles -- and I know little to nothing about them. Indeed, I'm not even sure I have the correct names for many of them. There are tiki mug forums, galleries, and discussions galore out there on the internets, but I can't find anything on vintage cocktail glasses. Meanwhile, only Dale DeGroff's Craft of the Cocktail and Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide have more than a measly page on glassware: DeGroff's isn't vintage, and Vic's is, well, idiosyncratic. I know I'm not alone among Society members as a collector of these glasses; from their posts, many people here enjoy just the right glass for a cocktail (or rocks drink or...). So I'm hoping that together we can find a way to name, describe, even identify these things, and find resources for all of those activities too.

Yeah, over a decade late to this party, but I'm surprised that there's no dedicated topic for Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pie and Pastry Bible, which I just grabbed in perfect condition at Savers. There are a few mentions throughout the P&B forums, but I'm wondering what the hits and misses are, where to start, and so on.

Shalmanese, were samples from both bottles taken from the top of the container, or was the older one dregs at the bottom? Seems like sediment settling might account for at least some of the effect.

35-40% humidity in the basement, yep.

Similar results here: Stop n Shop has store brand margarine at $0.89/lb, and Land o Lakes at $1.69. Meanwhile, butter is $2.69/$2.99 respectively.

One of the great kid cooking activities, I think.

Salt corrodes stainless steel, so that might be the main reason.

Thanks for the fix. I personally remove at 140F unless we have guests....

Right. Time to hit the Ace website.

That sounds like a storage/humidity problem, not a production difference. Catherine, the TV ads had cakes exploding in the oven and that sort of thing when people used store-brand sugars. They discontinued the ads when a Domino sugar production facility exploded. Oops.

I've tried wiping down the walls and the back plate one in particular, the wet salt tray, and a small fan. I can get it down to 30-40% if I leave the door ajar and keep it turned off, but if I shut it -- even with the unit still off -- it goes back up to >80%.

Dave, can you take a photo of the set-up? I'm getting close to wit's end here, and though I don't want to spend the cash, it is seeming like the only option to keep the humidity below 85% -- even when the unit is off....

What are the prices for butter and margarine in the UK? I will check supermarket prices here next time I go: I don't buy any margarine so I can't compare yet. Butter runs about $3.50-4.00/lb, usually.

I got to thinking about this topic when I was making Barbara Lynch's gnudi from her Stir cookbook. She adds a bit of lemon juice to a standard browned butter and sage sauce, and it's transformative. If I were motivated, I'd juice a few lemons into little cups, a T or so each, and freeze 'em to have handy for this purpose....

The mussels have been great lately around here, so I've been fiddling with a few different approaches, including several here. I've also got a bunch of kroeung in the fridge for an article I'm doing, and 1-2 T added to some thin coconut milk and the usual Khmer aromatics makes a great, if untraditional, base for the little guys.

Had a nice day Saturday making noodles with my daughter. I love this moment, one of my favorites in cooking: We made fat irregular noodles -- which you might call "preschooletti," or in the style of the preschooler -- but I'm interested in branching out and making different shapes. In particular, I'm wondering about making strozzapreti, and this video nails the last step of the method (see ~4:00): It figures: the $8/lb pasta shape is made simply by rubbing strips of 1/2" wide pasta in your palms. That's next up.

Got mine for Xmas and read it cover to cover the first day. I find the writing style engaging and am not bothered by the swearing at all. Have been starting with the pickles. The Tokyo turnip pickles were great and simple, and I made a double batch of the oi kimchi yesterday -- then promptly scarfed half of it at the cutting board. After a night in the fridge, the other batch has given off enough liquid to fill 2/3s of the jar, so I'm interested to see how those are in a few days. And that sauce: I'm tempted to mix it up and serve it as a dressing for hardboiled eggs. I was making a dozen while prepping the pickles and thought I'd dab a bit on an egg: a potent, bite-sized version of heaven.

So much to say! Baron, it all does look fantastic. One problem I've had with porchetta around these parts is over-eager chefs using pork that's far too old, resulting in skin that's impossible to bite through, requiring half an hour of chewing to reduce it to chickle, which you can then swallow whole. These little piggies look far more suitable. How big were they prior to stuffing? And how old? The star fruit porchetta seems more pink than the others. Any particular reason?

The Domino campaign -- message: use our sugar or stuff blows up -- would suggest that there's no difference among cane sugars, since they're inventing a ludicrous one.

Any advice about times is a guess -- and mine is about 1 1/12 - 2 hours. But my big advice is to ignore time and use a thermometer to determine doneness. Standard governmental recommendation for pork is 160F/60C, which many Society members feel is over done. I'd pull it from the oven when the thermometer reads no more than 150F/65C at the thickest point; it'll continue cooking while it rests.

And who make huge quantities of cash money that they will use to try to Rub You Out.