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Chris Amirault

eGullet Society staff emeritus
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Everything posted by Chris Amirault

  1. Thanks. I may have flexibility in re the smoking -- it's possible to do it the morning of, then grill immediately prior to, afternoon service. When people down in Texas smoke steaks wrong, what do they do? Oversmoke them? Use the wrong wood? I will likely have only apple and hickory (pucks for my Bradley): go with the fruit?
  2. And you bake with which tater? Aiming for lime-sized spuds?
  3. I'd suggest taking a look at dedicated topics on the spirits you mention and specifically at the "Good Enough Spirits" topic for ideas on the sorts of things Society members value. I agree with Erik -- good gives good and Everclear is to be avoided. Trick is that you should, indeed, taste some of the things you want to infuse. For example, I use a combination of the two base Flor de Cana rums, a bit of blackstrap rum, and some 151 proof demerara rum when I make my yearly supply of pineapple-infused rum. Using Brugal anejo and Bacardi would be a disaster, to my mind, though it'd cost about the same, and using rhum agricole would be a waste of the good stuff. Just take bourbon as an example: line up Maker's Mark, Wild Turkey 101, Bulleit, Jack Daniels, and Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond and you'll see that there's a very wide range of approaches to this single spirit. Those differences will show up in your infusions and thus in your drinks, for better or worse.
  4. After brewing for several months, a project I've been pursuing is taking shape. If all goes well, this fall I'll be presenting a series of mixology classes in partnership with a local restaurant (and as a Society benefit). None of the logistics are set; I'll start an event topic when we have solid dates. This topic is for planning and executing cocktail workshops. I have worked in education for decades, have designed and facilitated hundreds of workshops for adult learners on a variety of subjects. However, the food and drink workshops I've facilitated have been small, in-home affairs for friends and friends-of-friends. As a result, while I'm confident about the basics of a well-organized two-hour workshop, I'm also sufficiently experienced to know that cocktails present their own set of unique issues. To frame the discussion, let me tell you about the crowd we're likely to get. RI has largely missed the cocktail revolution in this country. (I can produce an arms-length list of complaints, but here's a useful case in point: at a newly opened "cocktailian" bar in town, I watched in awe as the owner/bartender shook my Manhattan with wet ice for 30 vigorous seconds.) The workshop would thus start with cocktail basics -- ingredients, technique, and a few base recipes -- and then, should there be interest, proceed as a themed series to be determined. The workshops would be targeted at the home cocktailian who desires to learn about, taste, and create mixed drinks that will be superior to any served in RI. Buzz suggests that a few working bartenders might also be interested, but I think that we can assume that everyone would benefit from an overview/review of the basics and proceed from there. We've got the PR/media angle covered and have already started exploring retail liquor store links. So I'm hoping to gain some ideas about the workshops themselves. I have an existing workshop that I've used to good effect and can revise to suit this session. I've learned a few lessons so far as well: You can't have too many glasses, straws, napkins, fruit, or garnishes. It's really easy to panic as your ice melts and drinks get crappier, so have a plan for access to lots of good, very cold ice. If you bring it, your favorite cocktail glass will be broken. Trust me on this one. Straw tastes in shot glasses are a great way for people to experience a variety of one type of booze, opening people's eyes to the differences between products and keeping them relatively sober. Participation is a mixed blessing. It's fine for participants to do tricks like flaming orange peels or practice stirring technique, but full-on drink-making is best left to the very end -- and they need their own equipment. Advocating for selection really makes a difference on the shelves, especially if you have good numbers and help people see the win/win for both participants and stores. When someone starts talking about industry-based marketing workshops, run in the opposite direction. You can swing a stick and hit a bartender running a Diageo-sponsored event; rare is the workshop devoted to the craft and not the brand. While I have a few clues, I also know that there's a ton I don't know, and our Society membership includes some of the great cocktail teachers in the world. Please, if you will, share your insights. Cheers.
  5. Maggie, do you boil or bake for the initial cooking?
  6. I do have a smoker, and I'm smoking other items the day before. This idea intrigues me -- instead of finishing in the oven I could do it on the grill. So it'd go in the fridge overnight after the smoke, yes?
  7. If they're crispy/crunchy, I'm eager to hear more.
  8. I'm cooking everything for a big (30-40 people) party soon, and I'm putting potato skins on the menu. Shockingly, there's no eG Forums topic devoted to this item, and I need your help! Here are my constraints: -- I can deep fry well ahead of time, but the skins have to be finished in the oven before buffet-style service. No a la minute deep-frying. -- In a perfect world, the potato skins would be two bites each, not massive russet canoes. -- They must include copious amounts of bacon and cheese. I've got some time to do test runs, so throw me your best options so I can get cracking.
  9. I'm cooking everything for a big (30-40 people) party soon, and due to external menu demands I've got to put beef tenderloin on the menu. (Don't ask -- and, yes, I know that there are better options out there. Trust me on this one.) I haven't cooked a beef tenderloin for years, perhaps decades, and I'm interested to see how people prepare it. I have a few preliminary thoughts. I have an insanely overgrown thyme plant that I'm hoping I can incorporate into this dish. I was thinking about wrapping the tenderloin entirely in thyme, marinating it in olive oil and some other aromatics (garlic, parsley, pepper...) for a while, and then grilling it about an hour before resting, slicing and buffet service. (I can't do any a la minute cooking for this event.) I've been toying with some sort of aioli (lemon, smoked paprika... along those lines) as a sauce. I'm eager to hear any ideas at all, but especially about marinade recipes and time, sauces, and any tips for service.
  10. Though I was dying for a pink gin tonight (finishing up Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy post-vacation), I decided to take one for the team. Try it I have. Even with a fairly sweet cognac (Landy VS), it's a puckermouth wonder, with the Cointreau barely noticeable. I like my drinks tart, but this is whack. So here's the question. In the section on Sidecars, he writes, The digression about lemon vs lime derails the parallel and reveals the critical error, in which Cointreau can be subbed in for his 3+:1 simple syrup. By the measure of someone with as meticulous a palate as Embury's, this is nuts. I don't get it. Is it carelessness? Did he drink few Side Cars? The same problem doesn't occur with the next cocktail, the Jack Rose, which I think actually works with 2 oz applejack, 1 oz lemon, 1/2 oz grenadine. (Again, I like 'em tart.) So why this outlier? To be fair, let's remember that the guy wrote this as well: Well, it ain't sweet, I'll give him that. ETA: Very strangely, as my drink warmed during the above writing, it improved. Go figure.
  11. That's what I do: the machine moons do the dirty work of cooling things down (brines, most often, here), and I keep a steady supply of actual cubes for drinks, and not just cocktails but also any tall drink like lemonade or lime rickeys. I now have four trays -- thank you, Savers! -- and am well chuffed.
  12. Maybe Trader Joe's actually trains people to bag. That's impressive. I had this exchange recently: "What's that?" "Lamb." "Lamb. Huh. Is it meat?"
  13. Or the water-logged sacks of blah some other parts are stuck with.
  14. Yes, some basic concepts related to density, fragility, and geometry seem absent. For a while I thought that, if I organize the cart items so that the heaviest item rolled down the belt first and the lightest, most delicate last, the bagger might get the gist of things. No such luck. And using boxy items to anchor the corners of the bag? Fuggedaboudit.
  15. As I have been keeping count, I can say with confidence that, today, I said for the one thousandth time in my life, "No, thanks, really. I'll bag." Sometimes I say it in a friendly, "let me do that for you way," but sometimes I'm just nasty about it. Frankly, one thousand times is one thousand times too often. Bagging groceries is a lost art. Poor arrangement, no accounting for fragility, and fear of lawsuit from overloaded bags are my three biggest pet peeves. Anyone with me, or am I just a grocery bag dinosaur?
  16. Thanks to Mud Puddle Books and Adam at the Boston Shaker, I now have a copy of David Embury's incredible Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. It's a decisive, encyclopedic book, filled with compelling discussions -- or, perhaps, more accurately, pronouncements -- of virtually every aspect of the cocktail experience. (It's also dated, not only in regards to available ingredients but also to gender mores and the like; keeping its historical moment in mind, however, even the lengthy diatribes are entertaining.) Embury is unapologetic about most things, and, to this reader, his self-embrace is most heartening. Indeed, writing in the sad, watery wake of Prohibition's repeal, Embury suggests that it is the obsessive home mixologist, and not the carefree bartender, who must carry forth the spirit of the cocktail. As an obsessive home mixologist, I find this ennobling. As has been noted in a few places (including the reviews at the Amazon link above), the current edition of the book contains a shocking number of typographical errors. One of the reasons I started the topic was to be able to track any corrections to recipes that we find. But this book should prompt more discussion posts than errata finger-points. Who's got it? What do you think of it? What have you made from it?
  17. Vice, I have found that the recipe in Cucina Simpatica, their cookbook, is easy and rock solid. I usually blast the heat, myself -- tasty char or aggression, I'm not sure. As for grilled pizza, well, the gang's working on it over here.
  18. It's got a lower abv, no doubt, but the watery strawberry problem up here required the double infusion: the berries just were not as flowery and delicious as before.
  19. I use Moby's recipe in the eGCI course here, which is 4 whole and one extra yolk. Sam's idea intrigues me, having a few extra yolks in the freezer for just the reasons he cites....
  20. 80-90% sounds about right to me.
  21. Indispensable at our house. I mix maple syrup and blackstrap molasses 1:1 to have on all breakfast items that others put just syrup on: french toast, pancakes, and, especially, johnnycakes.
  22. FWIW, I got an 11-piece Sitram Profiserie set from Bridge a while back about which I posted here and then later in response to a Cook's Illustrated review here. I also have a 28 cm Catering fry pan shown here. For all this I spent under $200 and have items I use every day. I generally agree that package deals are a bad idea. I have no other "kitchen sets"; all cookware I have is single-brand (25-years-old Leyse aluminum for popcorn, Lodge cast iron skillet that's about as old, SLT 18/8 stainless roaster, Calphalon nonstick fry pan, etc.). But that Sitram package had everything I needed (plus a steamer I didn't), and until I win the lottery or find rich friends, I'm unlikely to be able to front $300 for anything that's the next step up (i.e., Demeyere or Mauviel copper). If anyone has questions about the Sitram stuff, I'll happily try to answer them. But, as several have pointed out, Sam's eGCI course is the place to start.
  23. I forgot to mention that, when I grill steak, I nearly always also grill some onions and toss them in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, S&P, whatever suits.
  24. Using the chimichurri sauce tonight with a flat iron chuck steak & thought of this topic. Any new ideas under the sun (or, if in the northeast, clouds)?
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