Chris Amirault

I'm tempted to find one superdry white, but maybe I should stick to the precedents here. I just worry about the lemon peel and saffron getting lost with a too-big red.

As Erik (eje) has well documented here in the Spirits & Cocktails forum, Paul over at Cocktail Chronicles has been organizing a monthly online cocktail event he calls Mixology Mondays. Once a month, hearty imbibers, studious cocktailians, and other assorted tipplers submit drinks in accordance with guidelines provided by a host blogger. This month's event is being hosted by the Scribe over on his blog, A Mixed Dram. The theme is New Horizons. Wrote the Scribe: If you would like to participate, please post a cocktail in this topic before Monday, January 19th at 6 pm EST. I will compile a list of cocktails posted and email them to the organizer. I'm already thinking about a method I'd never seen until Dave Wondrich and Dale DeGroff made New York Sours at the NYC Food & Wine Festival this past fall: the claret float. What about you?

I used the Lustau Escuadrilla amontillado I mentioned above, and Rittenhouse BIB for the rye. Wow. This is a fantastic drink, with the spice of the rye and bitters picking up the nuttiness of the sherry, all shot through with the citrus from the Aperol and twist.

Something similarly unglorious.

How would you rate the taste as opposed to freshly cooked? I have been anti-freezer for sometime, especially for meat. Nowadays though I'm trying to buy in a little more in bulk and get along with my freezer. We're taking it slow. ← I think that I can detect a very slight loss of brightness in the flavorings -- the oregano is a teeny bit less pungent, for example. However, it's barely noticeable served in sauce at a family-style meal by anyone but me. You are vacuum-sealing them, right? I'm not talking about freezer-burned stuff here.

Just got two beautiful hind shanks from Whole Foods. (Waterman St. store has them, for the locals.) I think I'm going to use the Hazan recipe from Essentials, splitting it into a two-day affair this weekend. My question involves wine. What's a good choice? Can you buy for both the braise and the meal?

Mine looks like Sam's without the cool stuff: basic Rancilio Rocky and Silvia models, two portafilters, two inexpensive tampers. Did you get it here? Or, more importantly, for about $400? And what does "fairly tricky" mean? What tools and skills did it require?

You can also vacuum-seal the cooked meatballs without freezing them first. Since the grinding and the mixing are a production (and the kids like rolling them!), I always make a massive batch whenever I make them, cook them on sheets in the oven, and freeze the majority for later.

What the heck does "Chefs with Lives Like in the Movies" mean?

Based on that fantastic name, it's now my favorite place for breakfast, too. Does Johnny Rivers perform "Secret Agent Man" there while you wait for your eggs?

What did that set you (or your wife) back?

I'm confused. Is one supposed to remove the marrow prior to braising the shanks, use it in the risotto, and not have it in the braise?

And deny the diner that lovely scoop? Heavens! I'm increasingly a convert in braising to separating the cooking from the reduction, doing the former at 200-250F and then if needed the latter stovetop.

I've been using the Gekko for a while and wanted to report back. I mostly love it. The knife is beautiful, well-balanced in my (big left) hand, and was terrifically sharp out of the box. I've been using it once or twice a day -- and for several long holiday cooking marathons -- and it's doing just what I'd like it to do with vegetables, meat, and fish. Adjusting from French/German chef knife profiles to this smaller blade and much straighter edge has been a breeze. I'm also really looking forward to sharpening it with my EdgePro. I think that the real boon is the thinness of the blade. When I have done a tri-directional dice of an onion in the past using a chef's knife, it often ends up looking pretty messy, which I've understood is par for the course. Take a look at Marsha's photo from the great eGCI knife skills course that she taught: As she does here, I struggle to maintain the curl while keeping the pieces together; you can see that her thumb tip is exposed to the blade. Using the nakiri, you really notice the difference a thinner, sharper knife makes: the onion doesn't splay as you do the first two sets of cuts, allowing you to do a real curl, keeping your fingers out of the way and making the third, final cuts a breeze. I do have a few minor issues. The blade height is about 1/2" or so less than I'd like, both in terms of knuckle clearance and scoopability (making me wonder if a Chinese cleaver is in my future), and there are moments when I miss a pointed tip (see previous parenthesis). I've had a Wusthof classic chef's knife for nearly all of my life; it's the one I have grabbed nearly every time to do most kitchen chores for over 20 years. But I'm starting to think that it's not the right first knife for many people. If a friend who does light home cooking and takes care of his or her tools asked me where to start, I think I might suggest this knife and a paring knife, which would cost about as much as the Big Daddy Wusthof alone. Anyone else find a nakiri in their stocking?

It can be done! I saw someone once use the plastic wrap trick and then place the egg into a triangle made from heavy-duty aluminum foil shaped to toast-half dimensions. Follow the rest of the directions, peel off everything (saving the foil triangles), and viola! My best tip from last year, prompted by too many good experiences with Rancho Gordo dried beans, showed up in Mark Bittman's Minimalist article today. Each week, cook a batch of dried beans and keep them in the fridge. It's cheaper and much better than using canned, and if you have a Food Saver they last for a long time in there.

Deborah Madison makes a butternut squash gratin that's first sauteed and then roasted with cheese and herbs atop onions. It's a pain in the butt to do the sauteeing (and you need to use 2-3 times more oil than she suggests), but it's excellent, a very savory approach to a usually sweet squash. If you can get away with it, it's great with a bit of anchovy with the onions. ET correct a few errors and add the comment about anchovies. CA

Jalapeños, which I'm pretty sure Mia's uses.

Didn't mean to suggest that they were interchangeable, but it's clear I'm not cooking off entirely all of the sweetness. Next time for sure. Thanks!

That CIA recipe is excellent. When you were grinding, Chris, did you notice any grease that was released into the meat from the spot where the worm meets the motor? When I've had meat that was more stiff than crunchy, I've had that problem.

No holes. Kevin, what's your thought on temperature?

The show also devotes a lot of attention to the negative effects of drinking: lost jobs, blackouts, drunken dalliances. More fun are the shots inside classic NYC bars. I definitely recognize the bar at the Plaza, for example.

I grabbed a bottle of La Botija pisco acholado at a local liquor store (Quisqueya on Broad St for the locals) and I really like it. It's a hell of a lot better than the Barsol I've been using, sweeter on the nose and tongue and more complex. I left a pisco puro quebranta on the shelf there for next week's allowance.

Though I had to deal with old, stiff gorditas, these turned out very well. I think I was right on the umami, and a pinch of beef bouillon coupled with a few drops of Maggi seems to have done the trick. (If they use homemade beef stock there, I'll eat my hat.) Extremely well caramelized onions and brisket trimmings also help the braising liquid a great deal. Finally, using the beef fat that you pull off the top of the liquid the next day to sauté the fresh onions and peppers will make you happy. But you knew that.

Of course, our own Alchemist, aka Toby Maloney, is all over this. From Paper:

Of the many lessons learned from "Mad Men": as soon the light makes your retinas burn, have a drink to cool them off.