Chris Amirault

The first thing I ever ate that Steven made was a riff on a course he had recently eaten at a NYC restaurant. (I think it was Daniel, but my brain isn't working very well the last couple of days.) The cooking and serving vessel was a teacup, and the dish was layered: the top was an egg, shirred in a steam bath; the next was truffled mashed potatoes; the bottom was a surprise of wild mushrooms. Steven whipped this all up in his tiny apartment kitchen and the results were spectacular. So here's my (first?) tribute cocktail to Steven. He was something of a rum fan, and though not a cocktail freak, I think he'd like the layered riff on his Boulud (?) riff. It's as dry as his wit. Shaw Sour 1 oz Plantation Three Stars white rum 1/2 oz Smith & Cross Jamaican rum 1/2 oz Lemon Hart demerara rum 3/4 oz simple syrup 3/4 oz lemon juice egg white Dry shake; shake again with cube ice; double strain into large goblet with Luxardo maraschino cherry at bottom. Dot with Angostura bitters.

Those interested in following bostonapothecary in a cocktailian tribute to Steven can do so here.

Those interested in following bostonapothecary in a tribute to Steven can do so here.

We're all heartbroken about Steven Shaw's sudden death. You can read the tributes of others and write your own tribute here. But if your form of tribute leans toward libations, please post your toast here. Dozens of us got our mixological start here on eG Forums; I am one of many folks who learned more here than anywhere else, from some of the brightest cocktail minds around. Our own bostonapothecary got the liquid tributes started over in the Drinks! topic: Last night, I raised a glass of Highland Park 18. Who's making the next round for our departed friend?

I've been unable to function properly since I got the call yesterday from his brother-in-law. Many meals, many more conversations, and thousands of hours of working side-by-side contributing to the projects, people, and communities he created, nutured, and loved: they all keep flooding my brain. I simply can't accept it. As everyone here has said, and as dozens more will no doubt say, we all owe Steven an unpayable debt. I certainly cannot begin to account for it, or even comprehend it.

Yep. We typically bought 1-2 loaves a week but have stopped since I started baking. I can't replicate most stuff, of course, but for daily bread, we're set.

I agree -- though the method also reveals flaws in technique. for example, I didn't evenly fold and shape the boule in the upper left corner, which meant that the crack is off to the side and therefore doesn't allow for a more expansive spring. More work to do!

Ann_T, those breads are stunning. Here's my latest, Forkish's overnight 40% whole wheat: I'm posting it here because I know that the dutch oven method is common for several other cookbooks and bakers. I've consistently been cooking the bottom too much, so today I tried removing the breads from the ovens at the 45 minute mark, letting them finish for 10+ minutes out of the ovens. Will report back. Oh, and, fvandrog, if Forkish can teach me, a baking dumbass, how to make a boule that compares with my local bakery, I assure you he can teach you too!

Just saw this topic. FWIW, I prop up my VP112 at a ~40 degree angle on its rolling cart when I have stock, etc. to seal, and use clips or some other item at the bottom of the bag to make sure the bag edge is where I want it on the sealer bar. No issues at all -- and no $75 insert to create the angle (though I'm tempted...).

Stock made exclusively with legs (drumstick and thighs still attached) is the best solution for me. Legs are nearly always the cheapest part, often cheaper than whole birds, and they have a good balance of components, with enough collagen and lots of meat. I once made stock just with feet and it was worth doing exactly once: almost flavorless but, when cold, about as thick a gel as you can get.

What kind of bread knife is that, Kerry? Here are three overnight whole wheat loaves, going pretty much by the book: Really happy with how these turned out: great crust and crumb, excellent flavor. I think we'll rotate back and forth between these and the white as our weekly breads. Now that I have the basics down and am developing a feel for the different steps, I'm wondering why I was so apprehensive about bread-making in the first place. This book rocks.

Anna, I think those would work even better. And good point, Kerry, about the oval chicken tops. We have bannetons in the house -- Xmas presents to my wife that sat unused for several years -- and though they are circular it's easy enough to place the proofed dough into the oval oven without difficulty. But proofing to the proper shape would probably allow a gentler touch.

Good point about tightening the boules. I've been pretty devout about that, too. As for the dutch ovens, the three I have are shown here: The blue is a Le Creuset 2 quart; the red is a LC 2.5 quart cocotte; the yellow is a Descoware 2 quart. I think that the blue LC is significantly smaller than the other two, perhaps because of the height of the Descoware lid. So I use about 25% of the dough for that, and split the rest between the Descoware and the cocotte.

A few additional notes. I've converted to three, not two, dutch ovens, as the ones I've cobbled together are a bit smaller than the 4.5 quart ones Forkish recommends. Not surprisingly, I'm getting much better spring and thus better bread. I've also been experimenting with the outer limits of the triple rise, given that we have a cold (~60F usually) New England kitchen and thus a lot of room for error. More time = better bread, unsurprisingly.

30-day free trial, then the monthly fee applies.

Yeah, the pricing is weird, and seems to reference "the cloud" enough that one wonders what their server costs are. For those of us living off of free Dropbox, Google, Evernote, etc. cloud services, not cheap indeed.

Alex and Ani at Ideas in Food, along with Max Moore, are rolling out Kitchen Scratchpad, a new multipurpose app for all your... um... ideas in food. Here's the link to the announcement; here's the link to the iTunes Store page. It looks pretty freaking great, but I'm an Android user so will be waiting for that app before giving it a test run. Anyone using the iOS version?

Thanks for the compliment on the drink -- I'm glad you liked it!

I would venture to guess that the goings-on on William Randolph Hearst's yacht in 1924 were barely constrained by Prohibition, given, you know, unfathomable wealth and all. So I think you would have license to use basically any classic from the Jerry Thomas 1860s era right up through the 20s. How many folks are we talking about here? And what facilities and ingredients do you have available?

Enjoying The Dry Season by Kyle Davidson, featuring the fruity Del Maguey Santo Domingo Albarradas: 1 oz Del Maguey Santo Domingo Albarradas mezcal 1 oz Milagro blanco tequila 1 oz Cocchi Americano 1/2 oz Aperol Stir, strain, no garnish needed. Yum.

Here's that Saturday bread (made Sunday): Before I started baking from this book I'd have said this was a pretty good loaf. But the flavor development and density don't come close to the overnight loaves. Still, it'll make for good toast, croutons, and grilled cheese.

Is there oleo in those pomegranate seeds? You want that aromatic oil....

This classic topic needs to come back from the archive regularly. Cauliflower florets tossed with olive oil, salt, and homemade ras al hanout, roasted until brown, and then sprayed with a bit of lemon juice is one of the greatest things in the world.

I really appreciate all of this discussion and illustration, which I'm following along even when I can't be near the oven. This weekend I've cracked the book twice. Friday night, I made the dough for the Overnight White Bread (using King Arthur AP flour) and then had to modify the plan due to three guests, aged 9, 17, and 35, unexpectedly coming over. So I switched up and made the dough into five pizzas. No photos -- production was a bit harried -- but a few takeaways: -- If you're experienced with shaping and tossing storebought or industrial (non-artisanal) dough, note that this dough is far more gassed than quick doughs. I think Forkish's recommendation to keep in as much air gas as possible makes sense for novices likely to roll it all out, but I respected the gas to the nth degree on the first two pies and got crazy spring and air in the oven. The last three I admit to squeezing out a few bubbles here and there, especially at the edges, and got a more reasonable edge crust. -- I kept the balls in the fridge (really on the very cold porch) and they were extremely workable, very easy to get thin. However, I was consistently making pies that were bigger than 12", prompting me to plan next time to create six and not five balls of dough. -- As others have mentioned, I regularly precook the ingredients and try to keep things as dry as possible. One good technique is to put sliced mushrooms into the microwave for a couple of minutes between paper towels, which dries them out significantly. Today I'm making the bread I need for the week using the Saturday White Bread recipe for the first time. Does anyone know why Forkish only calls for two folds? I've been doing three on the other breads.

That's been the case with my VP112 from day one: I have to lean onto the cover a bit to get the seal set. Doesn't really bother me.