Chris Amirault

I feel like the earthiness of nutmeg could be a stronger undertone in the most recent batch, so I wanted to double it. We crushed them into broken-rice-grain size. It's now steeping in the cupboard, so I won't have an answer on flavor for a few weeks.

I've got a co-conspirator here, and we're making some dram. I scored a bottle of LH 151 so I'm going to be using that along with some Wray & Nephew. I'm also cutting back on sugar (I thought it was too sweet), bumping up the nutmeg, and cutting out the Angostura. Steep for two weeks: 1 c Lemon hart 151 demerara rum 1/2 c Wray & Nephew overproof rum 1/2 c allspice berries, crushed 5 black pepper berries, crushed 5 cloves, crushed 2 cinnamon sticks, broken 2 nutmegs, crushed Strain. Add: 1 c Lemon Hart 80 demerara rum simple made with 1 lb of demerara sugar & 2 c water

Just made a huge batch and added some dark soy to the mix. They're great.

Thanks for the all responses, mikepetro. One question about the IngenuiTea teapot: how well does it hold the water temperature? I'm definitely close to getting one for the office....

Yeah, I'm wondering if you got some other kind of corn. I've never seen this problem with hominy, but green dent corn that's used to make tortillas has that skin....

I keep thinking about Richard Blais's obsession with Malta Goya. I wonder if the smoke would interact with that, some mild chiles or black pepper, and nicely caramelized mirepoix.

I take it that the answer is no?

What with Goody Goody and Pogo's, tis truly remarkable that y'all down in Dallas don't have a good cocktail bar. I could easily have dropped three or four benjamins in those two stores last weekend. Goody Goody has a good selection, it's true, and I was happy to pick up two Laird's BIB at the store for dirt cheap prices. Pogo's was a revelation, though: a full Marie Brizard line, Creole Shrubb, an outstanding mezcal and tequila selection, and all sorts of crazy stuff that is hard to find anywhere. The real prize: Whitley Neill gin, which I grabbed to pack between the Laird's for the trip home. Neither has a good rye or rum selection, however, and the bitters selection at GG isn't as good as it should be (and the one at Pogo's sucks). Jeff, I didn't see Creme de Violette at either place; if I had, I'd have told you not to bother buying it. There are some other things that would be great to have in stock: didn't see Carpano Antica, Batavia Arrack, genever gins, and so on. Hell, if I were a cocktail enthusiast in Dallas, I'd approach Pogo's and see if they want you to do a few free workshops on classic cocktails. Of course, they'd have to find you a bottle of this and then of that....

Jeff graciously took us to the Asian World Market last weekend, and that store was top-shelf. I won't repeat the positive comments elsewhere here, but wanted to add a few details I noticed. There's lots and lots of locally prepared foods on the shelves, and a lot of it looks good: buns, noodles, sauces. Most of it is on end caps and side displays on the left before the produce section. And, on that note, they had the best yard long beans I've ever seen at a store: bright green, thin, beautiful. The pork selection was wide, but the quality definitely varied: I saw some outstanding looking shoulder there but the bellies the day we visited didn't look very well marbled. Outstanding noodle and rice cake selections. If I were trying to get started on learning about sake, I'd start here. There was a very wide selection of different sake styles in small bottles. I know it was 18 months ago, Richard and Kevin, but can you say more about this? Was it packed in hog casings or sheep? Did it taste of liver? I'm very interested to know.

NB that wok and burner topic that hzrt8w started has useful burner information starting about here.

Raoul, do you have any pictures of the harvesting and pressing? And what is written on the labels, pray?

I think that's the big difference. I have had chicken killed in the afternoon that I've served later that evening, and thus would be within that rigor mortis period. The meat is more, well, stiff. It's hard to describe. FWIW, I documented an experience obtaining freshly killed chicken here.

I've been to Angkor Restaurant on Wickenden a few times now, and it's been uneven. Some staples are pretty solid, particuarly their lot (fried pork and taro rolls). However, the medicine soup and street noodles were both middling: the former used cheap dried ramen noodles that hadn't been cooked properly and precooked chicken breast that was off-tasting; the latter way oversalted and sticking together. I want to like it: I work down the street and the people seem very nice, but at least the times I've been the quality wasn't there.

Here's another: what is the "gan" taste? Click here or here for examples.

We talked about perfecting grilled chicken wings in this topic, and I think with some smart slaws or salsas, you could move these up the scale a bit.

Hickory? Or...?

It would be to use the unit as a low-heat, high-humidity oven for 24-48 hours to ferment dry-cured sausages. I'll contact the company and see what they say. ETA: I'm assuming that the fan is an exhaust fan to promote dehydration, and not merely a convection-type fan to distribute the air.

Portfolio.com did a piece on Gaston Acurio and La Mar:

As we're moving off the Asian market tea theme, I started a topic for tea basics here. Not merely because, you know, I'm completely incapable of answering that question.

I've already paraded my baking dumbness over in the Baking 101 topic, and as I try to learn a bit about tea I'm going to do the same. I mean, really, just a few weeks ago I learned that most tea was fermented. Who knew?!? So let's use this topic to ask really stupid questions about tea. My first comes from reading this post by Richard Kilgore: After reading this, I felt like an American listing to a UK sports report on cricket. So here are a few introductory questions: 1. I see that most teas have recommended steeping temperatures, with some being "boiling water." Of course, by the time water hits the leaves, it's likely to be below 212F/100C immediately if not before. So when do I take the temperature of the water? Or is it a feel thing? 2. What's up with these second and third steepings? Are these for another cup later in the day, using the reserved leaves? And you increase the steeping time with the older leaves for pretty obvious reasons, yes? 3. Why rinse the leaves? I read that it's to reduce caffeine, which I don't need to do. Is it also to rinse off oxidation? Why would that be a good thing? Is it comparable to cheese rinds?

Greg emailed me the name of the market where he found this Ding Dong Oolong. It took me a while to find it -- three aisles of various teas and herbal/medicinal teas and it was tucked back in a hard to reach corner -- but persistance paid off. Now marked $7.99, and still a bargain. I also found one lonely tin of another tea that looked promising, but have not brewed it yet. Greg is right. This tea is worth looking for. ← I found this exact tea at the Asian World Market in Plano TX last week. The tea is in a yellow tin with flower decorations, for those looking for it. I'm just starting to learn about quality tea and my palate is still developing, so take this advice with that in mind. However, I have to say I really, really like this tea. I'm also doing a single, basic steep (4-5 min in boiling water with no initial rinse) at my office, and I wonder if a more thoughtful steeping approach would bring out even more from it.

Is the switch for the fan independent on the 2400, or is the fan on all the time?

Andie, I noticed that the Excalibur claims that "temperature is adjustable between 85° and 145° F." Have you ever checked that claim with a thermometer? And can you set the 2900 to 85F without the fan on and maintaining humidity with, say, a hotel tray of water? (It would be a perfect environment to ferment sausages if so.) I'm also wondering what features you'd miss (save for the obvious fewer trays) if you had the 2400 instead of the 2900.

Freshly killed chicken that is quickly prepared after slaughter and chicken that has been chilled/iced for a day or two and then cooked has a very different texture. I'd urge you to try both and compare them.

I too believe lox isn't smoked, but a quick perusal of google results shows evidence for both sides. Is "lox" like "cocktail," a term once used in a precise manner in relation to other like categories that has come to refer to the broader category itself? That is to say, a cocktail was a type of drink along with others (shrubs, slings, sours, etc.) but now refers to the whole category of "mixed alcoholic drinks." Did "lox" move from "cured, non-smoked salmon" to "prepared salmon," another example of taxonomy creep? ET clarify -- CA