Chris Amirault

I sent an email that asked, Meli replied:

Chris H is right, and McGee agrees. In the post above, I point out that McGee gives 140F as the minimum temp for collagen breakdown.

I think it's a combination of both temperature and time -- at least that's what my experience tells me and what McGee seems to suggest: I never pull until the internal temp has hit well above 190F -- but I agree with Qwerty (and Dave the Cook, who told me this first) that it's best not to go by temp but by feel: This has the added benefit of requiring you to taste it more often.

I urge you to behold our butts. You'll learn about the stall, temps, all that for pulled pork. As said above and as you'll learn, 165F is waaaay too low.

Watery is exactly how they are. From Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking: That's why Clarence Birdseye made all that money quick-freezing stuff: if you're fast and cold enough you keep those ice crystals wee.

I just spent the weekend doing freezer prep. Some ideas: Go through the freezer and create a list of what you have in there; if you've dated things (you should) star the ones that are oldest. That way you know what to pull first before it goes bad. When you make anything freezable, make double and triple batches as a matter of course. Learn bulk prep and cooking techniques, which are often different than those for dinner portions. I used to sauté meatballs in a pan and now cook them in a hot oven in a roasting pan, for example. Though larger sizes, often the amount of time you spend does not increase proportionately. Freeze everything in sizes that allow one meal and one set of leftovers. Wash and reuse your Ziplok or Foodsaver bags -- a lot less trouble than you think and a big savings if you do this sort of freezing. I'm eager to hear others!

Our own Splificator, Dave Wondrich, is having quite a year. Fresh off his James Beard award for Imbibe!, Wondrich has just been named Wine and Spirits Editor of Saveur magazine. He joins a host of other Society members at the magazine, including James Oseland, Editor in Chief. Hats off to Dave!

It's too bad you can't find a cannery to seal it up for you. Great tableside presentation, a la the duck in a can at Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal.

We have always done a fresh cucumber pickle with just salt, touch of sugar and vinegar. Last year I took the cucumber idea and added carrot shreds (with the peeler) and some ginger juice and fish sauce. Also subbed some plum jam for the sugar element. It was devoured by the folks who normally favor bland with a capital "B". Their taste buds over ruled their narrow mindsets. Plan the same this year with the addition of some half-ripe mango. Greenish ones are going for $1 a piece here in the big chain market. ← Simple fresh pickles with a twist: that sounds like a really good idea. I'm especially interested in the plum jam substitution, or maybe pomegranate molasses....

Any pickle ideas? Each time I think about this meal my mouth aches for acid to play off of the salts and starches in the dense required savory dishes.

With winter holidays approaching here in the northern hemisphere, I've started thinking about the sorts of snacks I like to have out for cocktails, noshing, and the like. I've been fiddling around with nuts lately: just made a batch of hzrt8w's peanuts with nam yu, and I've gotten closer to an ideal smoked nut recipe. What about you? Is there a perfect chex mix out there? How about homemade potato chips or tortilla chips? Salt and crunch is the only requirement.

I had done the W&N version before and wanted to try the double demerara version this time around. I may end up cutting it with some of the W&N later, but because that's 126 proof and not 151 I went with the extracting power of the LH 151 demerara for steeping.

There are two remarkable depictions of pig killing in In Pursuit of Flavor by Edna Lewis (southern US) and Cooking by Hand by Paul Bertolli (Italy). Both draw the routines of the late fall pig kill. If anyone has those books handy and has time (I've neither at the moment), add them here; if not, I'll try to get to them in a bit.

So what's up with the twig oolongs? I really enjoyed the nuttiness of this Teance roasted twig oolong that I got at Central Market in Dallas. Just got a sample, though, so I ran through it quickly. Ideas for other twiggy oolongs?

Another Rancilio Silvia fan here. Basic summary here. I have many opinions about this and will be happy to weigh in, but we're serious coffee drinkers while not serious coffee obsessives, and the Silvia fits us fine. Nothing wrong with obsessives, mind you.

Not that I need a reason, but that's a good one to score a bottle of Laphroaig, which I've lacked for a year or two....

And I did. I found it at the Pogo's on Inwood and Lovers in Dallas. And I've been going nuts with it. It works well with a Bennett Cocktail and most other things citrus-forward, a 2:1 NP martini, and this 3:2:1 Lavender Sour I've been fiddling with: 1 1/2 oz gin 1 oz Lillet 1/2 oz lavender honey syrup Read more about lavender honey syrup here. Not surprisingly, it's wasted in Negronis and other baritone cocktails that don't favor its high notes.

The instructors couldn't be better, methinks. Take it and report back.

Just to set the record straight, I did have a Shiner Bock or three while I was there.

Amen, sister.

Bring a double recipe of good bread dough. Let the three-year-olds "knead" it. Thank them and take the "kneaded" dough into the kitchen, where you throw it away and replace it with your dough, which you bake.

I'm not sure it's more or less "ethnic" than anything else, but we've got a whole eG Cook-Off dedicated to mafé right here. It's fantastic.

So you cured it for how long, and then air-dried it in the fridge for how long?

It's just not very... very. I'm not a fan, and if you're faced with a massive price tag (likely) I'd try to convince someone else to buy it and you can taste it.

Has anyone tried to make the pancetta that isn't rolled (stresa)? R&P say to wrap it in cheesecloth and hang it for a week; CIA's Garde Manger doesn't mention cheesecloth and suggests 2-3 weeks. I'd very much appreciate feedback on this one, as I've had to toss 30% or more of my previous pancetta attempts due to internal molding from inadequate rolling of the arrotola.