Chris Amirault

Dan, I'd be very interested to read more about the development of the book from your end as a contributing writer. Let's take the first six pages of the "Breads & Batters" section, where the simple white bread recipe demonstrates crucial foundational information. It's all provided both via text and images in that very effective DK style. How did the design process work in developing those pages? What was your mandate, and what did Jill Norman and the DK team provide? Along those same lines, were you asked to provide material for a certain number of pages, leaving the number and selection of recipes to you? Your section seems to be significantly international in a manner that, say, Pierre Hermé's is not.

I'm with Mitch and Brooks: for everyday use I use Goya EV or Whole Foods 365. They're now marketing a wider variety of 365 olive oil; I like the Spanish one a lot.

Every weekend here as well, though the real marathons are Sat/Sun affairs. Lots of things need to sit in the fridge overnight to be defatted, to marinate, or to brine. ETA: That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

I had hoped that someone with a more definitive answer would chime in, but I'll take a crack at it. From my reading (and pretty decent awareness of David Thompson's Thai Food), I think that most of the recipes are new. They also tend, as I mentioned above, to be dishes that showcase techniques, ingredients, and concepts, and are in no way exhaustive or even representative.

I've got reservations for Oleana tonight but I'm wishing I were taking the kids to Providence Place Mall for some Popeyes now. Why does KFC suck so badly? What happened?

Elie, what's the texture of those onions like? I've never steamed an onion slice for 20 minutes.

Z Kitchen fans will want to read the NY Times Magazine article on Bryan announced here. What'd folks think of that menu?

Society members have probably come to know the talents and enthusiasm of our own Bryan Zupon (bryanz), an active member in many topics and a past eG Foodblog blogger. (Click here for his "Alchemy" opus.) Well, the NY Times Magazine caught wind of Bryan's endeavors in his Z Kitchen, and this Sunday the world will learn more about his amazing work: You can read the full story here -- and watch Bryan in action! If you'd like, you can send Bryan a PM with your own reaction. But speaking for all of us, congratulations, Bryan!

Does it have a lard-based crust? Any ideas about the process they use to freeze it?

I've had similar experiences, and get credit instantly on any purchases I deem lousy for whatever reason. Still wondering if other WF customers have tried to place special butcher requests. I am currently in the midst of trying to arrange for a 50 lb purchase of pork bellies. Fingers crossed. Also, have other folks noticed that their WF is carrying less conventional produce? It used to be that most items were both conventional and organic, but now there's less and less of the conventional. It's too bad for me (and ultimately them), because I'll forgo an absurdly expensive organic scallion to get a bunch for less at an Asian market.

Sadly, the place where I got mine went out of business, so I can't help you there -- especially not in Winnipeg!

That KA commercial I got ain't just purty; it's also a workhorse. Had another sausage session and it plowed through everything with ease.

Has anyone tried the onion carbonara?

That's exactly what I used: medium heat, had a good fish turner out to scrape 'n' flip, added the liquid now and again.

Wow. I find this remarkable. I was going to weigh in on Popeye's, expecting another smack-down like the one I received for backing pie in the Cake v Pie topic. But there's nary a vote for the Colonel. What gives? Oh, and: Popeye's. I mean, really.

One large onion sauteed in bacon grease, 3 cups potato, 3 cups corned beef, salt, pepper, thyme, and liquid from the corned beef braise as needed: It's just wonderful, with the flavors of the corned beef really coming through. I think that the key for me is treating the hash a bit like cassoulet, but instead of pushing down the crust as with the beans, you scrape and flip to bring the crust into the hash mixture. Divine.

Made Marcus Wareing's pork belly -- an in-process shot by Daniel is above. Here's what mine looked like plated: Along with halving the recipe, I made a few other adjustments: made mirepoix with the vegetables instead of half-carrots and so on; lowered the oven heat to 275F (from -- yikes! -- 350F) and went for an extra hour or so; strained and reduced the sauce by about 1/2 and then mounted it with butter. I plated it with roasted garlic and white pepper squash puree and very crispy sage potato pancakes. (Not that I'm cracking on Petrus, but their presentation is pretty one-dimensional texturally.) It's a great dish and a fine technique, especially with a very good pork belly. I think that I'd cut down on the soy sauce by about half, especially if I'm going to reduce the sauce. I'd also not spill extra sauce onto the plate, for that matter.

Good points, Lilija, so I changed the title to be more ecumenical, even if I still think that this cream idea is wack. I'm certainly not going for traditional here (though I think that red flannel is absolutely traditional). I'm going for a dish that brings out the flavors of quality corned beef and has that textural wonderfulness that good, simple hash always has. I'm leaning toward bacon grease, 1/2" dice onion and potatoes, slightly shredded, slightly diced beef, and low and slow. I'll keep a bit of the braising juice near the stove in case this liquid idea seems to make sense.

As I mentioned here, there's a fine European Food Market on Rolfe St in Cranston. There's now a second location, at 756 Hope St in Providence in the space where the last Jewish bakery in RI was located. It's a great place for eastern European (mostly Russian and Polish, I think) goods, including half sours, smoked fish, deli meats, cheeses, jams and jellies, breads, and candies.

The octopus is great; I don't know about the other items, though my dad (a notorious finick -- is that a word?) loved that flattened chicken. Chez Henri billed itself as French-Cuban for a long while, but it's mainly quite solid quasi-fusion stuff with a French, or at least continental, base. It ain't No. 9 Park, though. Have you considered the Butcher Shop? It's of a different nature than the other things here, but it's got remarkably good charcuterie. Worth a stop at some point.

If you can wait, I'll be eating at Oleana next weekend and will report back.

Hi Harry. A few quick thoughts: Kale's a lot tougher than swiss chard, so right there I'd want to know whether you're finishing the roulade quickly in a sauté pan with duck fat (chard, maybe) or whether you're braising the entire contraption with the leafy wrap (kale, maybe). I think that this question depends on what else is in that roulade. To me, a corn sauce with a potato cake is too much starch. Also, if you can get some genuine wild mushrooms in season.... If it's breast meat, it's not that similar to chicken because it's all dark meat (different type of muscles/protein) and is a bit more forgiving than chicken. However, there's nothing as grainy and awful as overcooked duck. So, are you rolling pounded breast meat? What are you rolling it around? Are you wrapping the roulade in duck skin? Tell us more!

So, if I wanted to make a basic raspberry syrup that would work with, say, an East India Cocktail, what proportions of fruit, sugar, and/or water am I looking for? I realize that the sugar question depends on the sweetness of the fruit, but am I looking for something as sweet as grenadine? Or is this all to preference and then to be tweaked, YMMV, etc.?

Driving up from Jamestown today, I stopped and got some hot peppers at a farmstand, and I'm wondering about what I'd need to do to pickle 'em. Any thoughts on making powerful pickled peppers that this person previously picked?

What is this cookbook "madness" of which you speak? Broke in The Cook's Book with a little pork belly fat today.