Chris Amirault

Precooked and frozen really aren't worth it. Steven's restaurant idea really does work. I'd also suggest a visit east to Eagan's, Capital Grille, and whoever else is going to be serving lobster on New Years Eve in Milwaukee.

This sentence captures the raison d'etre of eG Forums: So you lit one coupe, and then poured into a non-flaming glass, lighting it, and on and on?

I agree with Ron -- though this makes for a good question. Why do some bellies give off no noticeable liquid while others give off quite a bit, given the same cure? I'd guess quality except that I've not noticed that difference with Niman, Vermont Berkshire, and industrial Swift bellies.

Until recently, I have preferred to wear t-shirts whenever I cook, and with long-sleeved shirts I've absolutely had to have my sleeves above my elbows. However, with the colder weather here, I'm cooking more in thicker long-sleeve sweatshirts and so on, and it's weird to have a thick roll of fabric up above my elbows. After seeing Ratatouille and watching Colette lecture Remy on sleeve length, I started folding my cuffs up twice, bringing them to my forearms. I have to say, it works like a charm -- and I feel a bit like James Peterson on the cover of Glorious French Food, which for a man of my age and self-image isn't a bad thing. Where are your sleeves when you cook? Why there? Were you told "That's the way we do it," or is it a feel thing?

$5.99 at Whole Foods in Cranston RI. Bought a pound and a half for our first, quick-dip boil tonight.

Now that Maine shrimp are in season, I'm starting to think along those lines. Ideas?

Yow. More information, if you please: As a Rhode Islander, I must ask: what coffee syrup? (Warm my heart and say Autocrat.) Detail on that last one, if you please. Is this a Blue Blazer south of the border? Do post more.

I don't get 400F for 60-90 minutes, so, yeah, go for it. Or, if you can get two, do another (after a sear) at, say, 250F for a couple, three hours. Whichever method you use, I worry that the lack of braising liquid in a roast will make for some tough shank. I mean, are there any classic recipes out there for roasting any mammal shanks at all?

If it works, note that it's very easy to smoke your own salt. Just toss it into a sheet or hotel pan in a thin layer when you're smoking something else. If you want to really get it smoky, oil it with a tsp of something neutral. You can do the same with sugar. Welcome, rad1964! I've been using a food saver for a while now on bacon, and you don't want or need any air. They should all have a good bit of liquid in them, though. Dumb question: did you have salt in all three bags?

So perhaps I'm inadvertently bottle-aging W&N rum -- and surely the only person in the world who tries to drink the stuff neat on occasion. I should be able to deal with the ridicule, I suppose, if I'm an iconoclast, right?

Someone needs to take one for the team and mix it up.

A Return to Cooking has been remaindered, and it's available at local discount stores here in New England. (For those in MA and RI, check out your local Building 19.)

Aight! Thanks for the information. The two-way indices seem like a great idea.

That looks like a cocktail that would benefit from johnder's grapefruit bitters, to provide a bit more "kina" to that Lillet. I'll do the research tonight and report back. ETA: Benefit it did.

That sounds a bit like the Bairn, a go-to cockail at my house, though with a bit of clove. Seems a bit fetishistic, given the presence of bitters with, I assume, clove in it -- not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. Speaking of bitters: Having just combined about 4 oz of Regan's with 4 oz of Fee's to free up a bottle for John Deragon's grapefruit bitters, I think that this approach benefits both, giving a bit of nose from Fee's to Regan's and a bit of body from Regan's to Fee's.

It's hard to imagine too much pork skin or fat in this dish, I must say.

It's also a matter of layering flavors. Fresh thyme added to a soup as part of a bouquet garni early in cooking recedes nicely into the background, whereas it sits brightly up front if you crush a few leaves and toss them over a bowl at service.

As indicated in this post, I've been a fan of Wray & Nephew overproof rum for a long while. Since discovering it about a decade ago, I had always felt it was a tropical grappa, even though many folks thought that was basically nuts. I tended to drink it rarely and in tiny amounts -- an ounce here or there -- at a time, which meant that one bottle lasted a very long while. Well, I finished up a bottle a few months ago and bought a new one, and, man oh man, the new one sucks. What had been a fruity, potent front nose is now a garish, punitive burnt rubber tire assault; what had been a layered effect, with heat giving way to nuance, is now a safe tossed from a cliff onto your wily noggin. It's a tragedy, I tell you, similar to Gaja cranking out Thunderbird or my foie gras order from D'Artagnan replaced with Frito-Lay chili cheese dip in a can. What the hell happened here? Have Wray and his nephew been abducted by aliens with horrible palates? Or did I score one or two bottles of mislabeled wonder and have now, finally, tasted the true dreck?

The haunting materiality of your father's soup is breathtaking. Thanks.

Say more. Why is it so good?

Welcome, indeed! Let's face it: for many, the thought of munching on pork rind is anathema. My wife, for example, finds the concept repugnant, so I scour the cassoulet (and barbecue pork, and ...) for shards of fat. However, if my paternal grandfather were still alive (he who cut off the fat from pork chops not to avoid it but to save it to the last bite), it would be the finest culinary jewel. That is to say, the right person will kill for that stretch of pig skin. Maybe you just have to turn your back for a minute or two when it's at the table, you know?

As much as I like the idea of chiles, they can obliterate other flavors with great ease, including those of cocktails. I mean, if that aioli is up to snuff, you're not going to taste most drinks, much less a cheese platter or pancetta.

I'm a baking dumbass, but I've always wondered whether you could bake a crust blind with, in this case, a Bourgeat pan on both the bottom and the top, with the top one conducting more heat to transfer to the top of the dough. It wouldn't work with a fat scalloped edge, I suppose.

I'm wondering about Linda's question too. Does Eastern Standard count?

Two five-pound bags arrived safe and sound from the aforementioned Smuckers website.