Chris Amirault

Times announcing that there's a Picnick, Smoked trailer gonna bring barbecue to Battery Park starting today. Anyone planning a trip down?

I agree about the fat: it's a particular pleasure only enjoyed hot and by a few. (My wife hates 'em.) I found that my local halal butcher (on Rolfe St in Cranston for RIers) is a good source for lamb ribs.

Sound suspiciously like a Kitchen Aid mixer.....

When I can find good looking oyster mushrooms, I try to make David Thompson's simple, delicious mushroom salad. I made it early, blanching then shocking the beans and then quickly cooking first the oysters then the shiitake. A few more ingredients and... lunch: I made two dishes, as I mentioned above. I was going to sub out the black for green peppercorns, but then decided to stick to the Riviere recipe for shrimp with black pepper and cilantro: This very simple recipe is really good. The step that intrigued me was adding the shrimp, garlic, and oil all at once to the caramelizing sugar. I made this in a wok -- mistake -- so I had a hard time reading the darkness of the caramel. I added the shrimp too early, stopping the caramelization before it was sufficiently dark. As a result, I was worried about overcooking the shrimp, so I removed them to reduce the sauce and then add the pepper, fish sauce, and coriander. Next time: no wok (stainless saute pan), less oil, and darker caramel. But this was great, the sweetness of the caramel and shrimp playing off the bite of the pepper. I added minced coriander root to the dish to brighten it up a bit, which was a good idea. Here's the grilled eggplant with pork. I had variations of this dish in Chiang Mai, though with holy basil instead of cilantro, and so I subbed that in. I also added a couple of minced kaffir lime leaves -- again, like the coriander root above, to add a bit of an edge. Though it looks like -- well, you know what it looks like -- it's a truly classic dish. The key is to let the pork and aromatics fry for a good long while, until the meat has started to brown. That gives a nutty quality to the dish that is lacking otherwise. I added the sugar a bit early, to let it caramelize slightly as well. Very eager to continue with the book. However, I'm wondering if it's a bit cleaned up for the generic reader. In particular, I'm wondering how bitterness plays in the cuisine when not framed for Westerners....

v., I'll try to see what I can find out about the kroeung, but given the focus of the research I'm doing (it's on Khmer-American home cooking), I think I'm going to get variations within a general theme. The kroeung sold at the Narin Market is, I think, very basic: ground (or processed -- no pounding here) lemongrass, kaffir lime, shallots, galangal, and that may be it. No spices, no heat, no roasting in evidence, no garlic -- all iirc. Next time I go I'll pester them to see what I can learn. Turns out a tall white guy buying lort, sdao, galangal, and so on gets a lot of friendly attention/advice. When a friend texted me today and asked me what I got, I realized that some people tuning into this topic might benefit from an ingredient primer, so: From left to right, cilantro or coriander (with roots -- important), holy basil, and sdao, or what Riviere calls bitter Khmer leaves. Riviere compares them to sorrel, which makes sense only if you add an astringent, bitter edge to the sorrel; spinach would miss the point entirely. I was strongly discouraged from buying sdao by three different people in the store. Left column: winged beans, very fresh today, so I got a few to add to a mushroom salad I was making for lunch; Thai red and serrano chiles; the cleaned and trimmed coriander roots. Center is scallions and galangal. Right: kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, ginger. A simple pickled chile condiment found throughout Thailand; green peppercorns in brine (at about a 95% savings over Williams Sonoma); krachai in brine. One day I hope to find both of the latter items fresh at Narin.... Oh, and breakfast: Lort (or lot), the taro, pork, and peanut fried snack (good looking recipe here). I could eat fifty of these per day. Sriracha in the little dish.

Chris, do you have a recommendation for some easier-to-source rums for this? I can't get the Lemon Hart OR the W&N here in OK. Flor de Caña? Bacardi 8? ← Matter of taste. Up here, Andy prefers Wray & Nephew overproof with Meyers dark instead of the demerara. I have my MIL doing an emergency two-day steep with three things in her cabinet (Bacardi white, LH demerara, Meyers). You're getting a ton of flavor from the spices and sugar, and you need proof from somewhere. Bacardi 151 & Flor de Caña?

Moderator's Note: I moved the "cooking" discussion over here to the topic dedicated to that. Dashing pimento dram into many rum sours, including a Daiquiri, can really work wonders, especially if combined with a few drops of Angostura. I've been fiddling with this take on a Waldorf, subbing out gin for rhum and adding a wee dram of the dram: Ja, Mon Cocktail (tx to Dave the Cook for the name) 2 oz punsch (Erik's Underhill version) 1 oz rhum agricole (I've used both Neissen and DePaz) 1 oz lemon 2 dashes pimento dram (homemade) 1 dash cinnamon tincture I usually have this shaken and strained over rocks in an Old Fashioned glass, but it also works as a fizz.

I had no control over or knowledge of the venue, so it's a good thing I brought these two ready to go, with juices added just before I left but with no extra water. Good thing, too: wet ice and warm soda was right -- and given the wine-dominated event I was "making" the drinks by stealing glasses, scooping ice from a chest, pouring a glug or two, and topping with soda based on my read of the recipient. Given that it was all kludged, they turned out damned well. Erik's Underhill Punsch was a real hit in that Ja, Mon, in particular.

Got it: "slow" rather than "pause" makes sense to me. Thanks to both of you for the explanations.

In re cooking: Now I'm confused. Over in the gin proof topic you referenced the Cooking Issues blog and wrote, I had always understood -- and had been told by a couple of bartenders -- that dilution continued after you stopped stirring, thus the "cooking." Why does dilution stop when you stop stirring? Wouldn't the same principles apply as in the chart above?

Thanks for the chili information, v. gautam. As you know, some Indian women share their recipes with abandon! I wanted to document today's shop at Narin Market, on Potters Ave just east of Cranston Street. As you can see, it's sitting on the bottom of a typical, urban Rhode Island triple decker: I learned about this market from a friend who is married to a Khmer guy, and on this early Sunday morning it was bustling with folks filling their carts. I convinced Narin to let me take a few photographs (no people, of course) so that you could have a sense of the place. Wide selection of meat, including a lot of pork cuts that are hard to find elsewhere Packaged and homemade roasted rice powder (they also make their own kroeung): Frozen foods, including pickled crab for som tam: Wide array of produce (as you will see, I got quite a few things): They were out of fresh turmeric, sadly; I've seen it there quite a few times. They did have purple water lily stems, which I left on the shelf bc I wasn't sure what to make with them: Big aisle with cooking equipment: Small selection of mortars: I made a note that this dried fish looked as good as the stuff I saw in northern Thailand: Lots of takeout available (I grabbed some lunch): I wasn't sure what these were.... Ideas? I've cleaned everything and am heading out for a few errands. Dinner is the grilled eggplant with pork, a mushroom & wing bean salad, shrimp with green pepper & cilantro, and who knows what else.

Is there any particular reason why a Volcano or Scorpion Bowl would be served in a big bowl? If not, would one anger the gods by serving, say, a Mai Tai in one?

Everything looks great! Here's our story. I took my 11-year-old daughter, Lulu, to "Julie and Julia" last night, and we ended up talking about the food more than I expected. Good thing, bc we had planned to cook together today, and I was a bit worried about boredom. Julia is not, as you know, Beyonce, after all. However, the meal had a large amount of interesting cooking techniques, and the damned stuff tasted really, really good. As I noted before, we chose chicken kiev, green beans, and eggs stuffed with tapenade. The first and third dish are in From Julia Child's Kitchen. First up, we had to cook the eggs and blanch the beans. We poked holes in the base of the eggs (some labeled "N" for newer, to see whether they were harder to peel) in the hopes that they'd release their air. Lulu caught an egg passing gas: The beans after their ice shock, and the eggs post-peel: Meanwhile, we minced some shallots, parsley and oregano for the compound butter: That went into a small loaf pan with plastic wrap and then into the freezer: It's not the famous mortar and pestle that Paul got Julia, but it did the trick for a smooth tapenade: Combining the sieved egg yolks with the tapenade. The filling turned out a bit too salty, but we still ate half a dozen of the things: The stuffed and garnished eggs: Lulu getting her smack on, flattening the supremes between sheets of wax paper: A flattened supreme next to the chilled seasoned butter: The rolled supremes ready for the flour/egg/breadcrumb coating: The coated chicken supremes ready to chill before frying: Julia suggests you fry at 375F, but I think that's a bit too hot for larger contemporary chicken breasts. I had to leave them in for longer than I'd have liked to cook them through, leading to a slightly darker crust. The final plating -- old skool, of course: It was all really good. I mean, fried chicken stuffed with butter: what's not to like?

Trying a New School Daisy -- grenadine instead of liqueur, with lemon and lime -- and while tasty, I'd go Old School next time.

Sorry to hear it, Ray. Some of us haven't had those problems -- and I use our OXO a few times a week.

It's over 80F inside, so: Old School Daisy tonight with Broker's gin, dash of simple, Maraschino, and Creole Shrubb, lemon, soda. Might need two.

It's 90F and terribly humid here, so I just moved an air conditioner from a bedroom into the kitchen. Off to shop!

Which are the two?

I'm definitely eager to partake. I've got Trader Vic's book, the first two Jeff Berry books, and a lot of interest. Always tricky to assemble all of the ingredients just so, and I'm out of orgeat right now. But these impediments can be addressed. Here's a starting point. I have just obtained a (vintage?) "volcano bowl" and have been wondering what drink to make in it. Thoughts?

I had the same thought but decided to go a bit weaker with just the M&R this first time. Next time, though...

Again at Ebisu, and while we had a small problem with chicken wings (removed from the check, I'm glad to say), another good meal. With my 11 year old daughter, who loves those tuna tostadas, also got the squid, eggplant, and that amazing ebi wonton soup.

Grab a canning funnel then, too, another drip-reduction mechanism.

Made the Racketeer just now, subbing in M&R rosso for Carpano Antica Formula, which I lack. I can taste where the CA would provide some middle notes that the M&R lacks, but... this thing is a beast. I love it: very rich, deep, smoky, complex. Careful with the yellow Chartreuse....

We're changing tacks here. My 11-year-old is interested in the chicken kiev, and she's adamant that we make the stuffed eggs. So it's which came first, Julia style. Shopping and prep on Saturday.

Grabbed a bottle of Real de Magueyes anejo mezcal today and started fiddling around with it. I was going to make The Racketeer from the Rogue book, but then found this intriguing post from December: I've never had the Drink drink, but the first few tastes of the RdM mezcal got me thinking that Milk Punch would be interesting to try out. Following Jerry Thomas via Dave Wondrich, I tweaked the classic Milk Punch a bit to get this: 1 1/2 oz cognac (Landy VS) 1 1/2 oz rum (Cruzan Single Barrel) 1/2 oz RdM anejo mezcal 1 oz 1:1 agave syrup Shake and strain into Old Fashioned glass with cracked ice. Fill with milk and stir. Grate nutmeg over the top. It needs work, maybe an egg or a yolk, and a pineapple/demerara syrup or dulce de leche syrup would be very interesting. But I'm understanding what bostonapothecary meant: this stuff has a haunting quality that's hard to describe.