Chris Amirault

I have to admit, I don't understand spoon rest love. Not that I'm a hater -- I just don't get it. Enlighten me. Photos help.

It's that time of year again! We're finally getting the first of the outdoor farmers' markets up and running. (Here in RI we have an indoor winter market too; click here for some pix.) The Providence markets are starting this weekend, but now that I live in the 'burbs I'll be checking out one that starts next weekend. I'll be interested to see how big it is and what sort of crowd it draws, as the Providence markets tend to be big and busy. What are your farmers' market plans? Same as usual? New places?

Elbow is sore -- but it turns out that all three drinks are going to be stirred: a rocks drink with Old Tom, a champagne cocktail, and a cobbler. We'll be bottling a few different components and leaving others in their original bottles, especially since there are likely to be many people there who aren't familiar with stuff like Old Tom gin. And -- sorry, ScoopKW! -- no off-menu drinks. Thank god.

We talking charcoal or gas?

I can't believe I hadn't found this topic before now. I am a die-hard fan of Triscuits, and I believe, without a doubt, that they are the best cocktail hour cracker when you really want your guests or self to be able to taste the drink itself. When I'm testing recipes -- which I'm doing right now, in fact -- I always reach for Triscuits, which give a foundational snack against which to judge the quality of the libation. How anyone could hate on Triscuits is beyond my ken.

Got a few mushrooms to grill the other day, and looking at the sign, I remembered exactly why I used to break off the stems: Bought entirely whole mushrooms. Scout's honor. Oh, and while I was there I picked up a gift for Steven -- and it was free!

So plans are progressing. We've visited the bar and sorted out most of the logistics there, including ice, glassware, and getting a hand during the event. We also have three drinks-in-the-making that we're finishing up; I'll post recipes here when they're set. Now it's estimating amounts, securing sponsorships for the booze, arranging to print recipe cards, and a few other things. In short: more soon.

OK, I know I'm late to this party, and I'm rocking a simple Presto stainless steel model. But I used it for the first time last night to get some black beans on the table for a kid who, I feared, wouldn't like the ribs I'd made. (I was right.) I kept rereading the chart that said I should cook them for two minutes, assuming I was misunderstanding. Nope: up to pressure, 2 minutes at pressure, then cooled down. Done. My goodness. If you're on the fence about a pressure cooker, take the plunge.

Welcome, chefhenry! Do you have access to water baths at work? I'd think that the ability to cook and hold until service would be a boon in that situation.

What other sorts of food are served in this manner? Is the key that items are served in the same progression -- unlike, say, a conveyor-belt sushi joint -- and you just say when when you're done?

Thanks. I'm going to head out early and grab it at a nearby library. I really appreciate it!

Looks very interesting at the Amazon page. Can you give an overview of what she brings up while I await interlibrary loan?

Update: Paul Clarke is pushing the question up the Imbibe editorial food chain. Will report back.

Very simple, uses something I usually toss out, and addictive to boot.

They're added for lots of reasons, including to add a bitter element, sure. But in most cases it'd be an overstatement to say that they "make the cocktail bitter," as if their function is to transform an otherwise tasty beverage into a simply bitter one.

Wow. Nothing for months -- but I definitely use my Momofuku cookbook regularly. This week, for example, I snooped around trying to find ideas for a pork rib marinade (more on that later) and made a few pickles (cuke, daikon, shiitake) using the basic pickle recipe. But I found the topic in order to report that the watermelon rind pickle is to die for.

OK! I have the rice bran, and I found a large crock from a crock pot at a second hand store. Now it's time to make the nukadoko base over the next short while. I've got a few different proportions for the bran/salt/water mix, but I can figure that out. All have kombu, so I'm going with that. Then it gets tricky. If anyone can comment on the ingredients listed (from Helen's blog, Kondo, and Tsuji), I'm all ears: Dried chile peppers Dry ground mustard Beer Ginger Garlic Cabbage leaves Garlic Bread Lemon peel Apple peel Reduced iron (kangentetsu) or a rusty nail Which are flavoring agents? chemical agents? both?

Jaymes, you need to get yourself to some new generation bars! You'll find many, like my own, refuse to serve anything BUT classic margaritas. Speaking of which... I feel the urge comin' on right now....

Bitters.

And I don't understand why this is frustrating. Don't you smell and taste them first, anyway? Then figure out how they might work for you? Of course I smell and taste any new product before using it in a drink. But that misses the point. Allow me a comparison. Let's say that, like generations of shoppers before you, you've gone to the grocery store and purchased vinegar hundreds of times. Then, one day, you get home with a new brand of vinegar you've never had before, and you start to make your favorite vinaigrette, using your usual proportions and so on. You taste it and, lo and behold, it is terrible, far too sweet to remotely resemble vinaigrette. You go through your checklist: oil is same, salt and pepper are the same... and you taste the vinegar and realize that, for reasons you cannot understand, it tastes of a slightly savory, slightly sweet brew. It is not, by any definition you'd previously held, vinegar. You go back to the store, perplexed, and the grocer says, "How about that stuff?! It's this new breed of vinegars we're getting! Pretty amazing, aren't they?" But you say, "Well, it's tasty and all, and maybe I'll use it for marinades or something, but... it isn't vinegar, is it? It's not acidic in the least!" And the grocer says, "That's what's so great about them! They're non-acidic vinegars! I mean, they don't say that they're non-acidic vinegars. But, well... aren't they just the coolest things?!?" And now, forever more, you cannot simply assume that the bottle of vinegar you have in your hands will be acidic -- even though that characteristic utterly defined the product for as long as it has existed. None of the recipes you have for vinegar work with the stuff as a result, and you have to fend off more and more pretenders who, as a marketing ploy, choose not to let you know whether the bottle you are holding in the store aisle is truly vinegar or some other, non-acidic ersatz brew. Perhaps you wouldn't find that frustrating. If not, then we've found our disagreement, and your capacity for relativism exceeds my own! Not at all -- indeed, I'd argue the opposite. Avery's Xocolatl Mole bitters are absolutely classic bitters, even if some of the flavors, in this combination, are unique. It's complex, is aromatic, has distinct and lengthy stages of flavor across your palate, and is of course bitter. There's a reason that those bitters is central to the Oaxacan Old Fashioned, arguably one of the most important cocktails of the current renaissance. Agreed!

Pastrami, potato salad, sauerkraut:

Andy, I think the simple definition to which Adam refers appears up-topic: Put simply, bitters are a compound of herbs, roots, barks, spices and spirit which were originally used as a medicine. The final product should have layers and layers of flavour with a pronounced bitter, or bittersweet, flavour. I think that's that, particulary given that the only two members around here who produce commercial bitters are Adam and Avery, and given that both insist on this pretty simple definition (bitters are made with bitter things and are bitter). Personally, I honestly don't understand the debate. As a bartender who gets new "bitters" samples at work very often, I find it very frustrating to grab a new product labeled "bitters" in the hopes of using it in a drink as bitters only to discover that it's not bitter, has no bitter component at all. Sure, we can treat them like they are tinctures or some other compelling product with which to experiment. But given the critical role bitters play in cocktails, particularly as classically and originally defined (spirits, sugar, bitters, water), I don't see why we can't agree that bitters should be made with bitter things and be bitter.

You might like tequila por mi amante, which is blanco tequila that's been infused with fresh strawberries until the berries are grey. It's fantastic in this drink: 2 tequila por mi amante 1 St. Germain elderflower liqueur 1/2 fresh lime juice Shake & strain.

Not me. Once I clear up this shiitake thing, it's smooth sailing to St. Peter's gates.

Do you forget or "forget"?