Chris Amirault

More on those burnt bread bitters. After two weeks with the spices I strained and gave them a try. The yeasty nose suggested apple to me, so I grabbed some Laird's BIB and made a sloppy Old Fashioned: lots of bitters, some demerara simple, and a good dose of the apple brandy. It's fantastic. I have never seen any bitters recipes that use burnt bread, but I'm becoming convinced that it's a remarkable bittering agent, particularly with a gentian-based component added for complexity (the gentian has a sharper edge). I've created a 2:1 combo with Hess house bitters as the minor chord. The yeasty quality gives it a fruity roundness that's not available in any other bitters I've found. I think I'm going to give this another go, and take better notes.

Realized I hadn't played with the Bee's Knees (gin, honey or honey syrup, lemon) and thought it might be interesting to try it with genever. Works pretty well: Bee's Nose 2 oz genever (Boomsma oude) 3/4 oz lemon juice 3/4 oz lavender honey syrup dash Angostura Shake, strain, flaming lemon rind.

I have a crappy ice crusher on my fridge and don't like getting out the hand-cranked ones for one drink. I've developed a handy little trick using the barspoon I have to get cracked ice easily: holding the spoon end, I snap the weighted handle (a thick circular disk) against each semi-circular "cube," which usually cracks the ice into two or three large pieces. Does anyone else do this? Would images help?

So, Jason, that suggests that using that significantly smaller amount works just fine for your (excellent) product, yes?

I'd like to revisit the issue of Bactoferm ratios as discussed in the first topic. Here's the relevant exchange: So I'm assuming that Ruhlman suggests 5g/5 lb meat, yes? Does anyone have a second (or third, or...) edition of the book in which the Bactoferm ratio question is explained? ETA the relevant passage from Butcher-Packer's website: I don't understand the relation of the two sentences: in the first, it says 220 and the second it says 100.

The Kitty Hawk? Say more. Ratios? What does "lavender" mean?

One more tip: empty the water when you adjust the lettuce; if you leave it in the bottom it spits up into the lettuce. And no one wants anything spit into their lettuce.

Just made it: fantastic drink, a nice riff on a variety of tiki themes but hardly a tiki drink. Made it with Plymouth, which I think works very well. And, yeah, really: 4 dashes of the Peychaud's. Trust him.

Maggie's done so much behind the scenes to support the Daily Gullet that I don't know where to start. I'll just say this: she's been the most honest, supportive, and helpful editor I've ever had. (Chicagolanders, take note: she's also a great dining and drinking companion. ) Thanks, Maggie. You're the beans.

Ooh. Say more.

Glad that worked. I was thinking about using some reduced porcini liquid for the stock and the mushrooms themselves for the truffle -- although if I can find a fresh truffle that I can afford without remortgaging the house, this is the first dish I'll make with it.

Weird. OK, two quick thoughts. I wonder if Audrey's Earl Grey MarTEAni principles would work (simple, lemon juice, egg white) -- though tea ain't coffee and gin ain't either. The other thought I had involved Averna or some other amaro, but that would take a lot of fiddling.

I learned a lot about Japanese pastry in, of all places, Chiang Mai, Thailand thanks to Nikom Tanawa. He told me that he had both European and Japanese patrons at the shop, and thus he kept a variety of pastries available that would appeal to both. There were many remarkable laminated dough pastries -- there's one with banana in that topic -- but the ones that I hadn't seen at that quality before were the Japanese ones. He had a fairly sweet dough (that reminded me of a very good doughnut dough) that he filled with sweet red bean paste and fried, for example. I used "sweet" twice in that sentence, but the final product wasn't half as sweet as a typical American "danish."

I've got three Lac Brome ducks in the freezer that I found on supersale. Those thighs are going to be confit for cassoulet; those breasts are going to be brined and smoked for duck ham; those carcases are going to be roasted and used for stock.

What's the charcuterie selection these days?

We've been very happy with Alterra Coffee in Milwaukee for years. They roast every morning and ship every afternoon, so you get the freshest beans possible via the mail, I think. Not sure you can order from the website, though; I always call the order in.

Maybe you can make a wee bain marie in a muffin tin, put three little pebbles or beans in there as a base, add half or the egg shell and then the yolk, and cook it that way... ETA that I think Michel Richard in Happy in the Kitchen suggests wrapping egg yolks in plastic and poaching them, but I may be making that up.

Moderator's note: we've started this topic devoted to cooking with the Alinea Cookbook.

Many of us have been rubbing our hands together over the last few days in anticipation of receiving our copies of the Alinea cookbook. Those lucky ducks who have theirs in hand: what're you doing with it? Those still waiting: where do you think you'll start?

And how about those who ordered it at the Alinea website?

The 5 lb NT stuffer many of us have and love is on sale: $81 down from $90 during their 10% sale. (Same for the grinder: click.)

The NT grinder many of us have and love is on sale: $108 down from $120 during their 10% sale. (Same for the stuffer: click.)

[spicoli] Sounds good to me, man! [/spicoli]

I'd be interested to see how it plays with something quite bitter, like Fernet Branca in a Toronto Cocktail.

Great post, HKDave. Thanks (even though it's strike three). So: the bind is a mixture bound by proteins, and not an emulsion at all. I agree with this strategy. I've been letting the strips sit overnight in the spice and salt before grinding and mixing, and I never go 4 minutes before getting that telltale sticky white lining. Now we know why that works. These are extremely useful distinctions. I never mix breakfast sausage meat at all except to distribute the spices and salt because I don't want that tight bind. Instead, I press them out as patties so that they fall into meaty chunks. The sausage isn't broken at all; it's just not bound.