Chris Amirault

Huh. Once I figured out how to set it up, I now just unfold it and stick it on a table, easy as can be. Not sure what the Transformers reference means.

Dean, how thick are those onion slices?

The (not many) folks I know who did this successfully started with small-batch retail sold out of a few shops. That meant that they could get a sense of the market, price point, and so on without a big initial investment. If you sell out, you create buzz; if you don't, it's only a few hundred bucks lost. The step into contracting out the development and manufacture of the product involved financial commitments that made that sort of initial step prudent.

Another Edge Pro Apex fan here. I have yet to figure out a few things with it (bird's beak paring knife and proper angle for a cleaver), but for my workhorse kitchen knives it's fantastic and has easily paid for itself several times over. My only expertise going in was knowing that my good knives were being ruined by "professional" knife sharpeners, and I still follow the directions step-by-step to get the proper double bevel for fear of screwing up, so if I can get these edges, anyone can. I think that you probably could round the tips if you're not careful, but it's easier to be careful with this than it may appear from watching experts zip through a blade. Set-up and break-down takes a few minutes, but I can't compare it to anything else, and I'd think that a water stone would be as much or more of a mess.

Have you tried the Super 88 markets? I'd think they'd have some, and there's one at 73-79 Essex. I've also seen them at C-Mart Supermarket on Washington St, but I'm not sure how big they are.

Picard was a smart man. Thanks.

Formal opening is tomorrow (Wed).

Any sense of how much meat the 35 pounder provided?

I'm heading to NW Montana in a week, and this foodblog already has me hankering for huckleberry flapjacks and syrup at the Libby Cafe. Yes, please do share -- and if you have any suggestions heading west (Coeur D'Alene ID, Libby or Kalispell MT), add 'em!

Define unusual for us, Steve. What's off your beaten path?

Plenty has been written about them already. Picard and staff go to heroic lengths to establish private supply lines for their seafood. The results are pricey but wonderful. The platters are huge multi-tiered affairs with raw and cooked seafood. Sweet and meaty clams, fresh like I haven't had in over 35 years, oysters plump and briny and tasting simply of the sea, oddities (to me anyway) like whelks and periwinkles, cooked mussels, crab legs, lobster claws, crayfish, raw shrimp, succulent soft shell crab tempura. ← Thanks for this. I've been snooping through the website and can't get a sense of the differences among those seafood platters. Are they simply about different amounts of the same items, or do some have things others lack?

Thanks to a series of excellent yard sale scores in the last month, my glass problem is fixed. I'm focusing on gin (Pegu Club & Aviation) and rum (Beachcomber and Hemingway Daiquiri) drinks, with a couple of surprises in the hole if someone's really eager. I appreciate all the tips.

So, given this byzantine state of affairs (or these byzantine affairs of state), how might one go about getting that Montecristo Premium Blend added to the list of available items? Talk to the distributor of the other Montecristo products? What about adding an entire line such as Flor de Caña, none of whose products are available in RI?

Where was is made?

Do call: we just made reservations for mid-July with no trouble at all.

I agree about the char -- and I really agree about the kecap manis, which is to soy sauce what good maple syrup is to white corn syrup: another beast entirely.

Champe Spiedel (cspiedec in eG Forums) runs Persimmon Restaurant in Bristol, which has won a few awards and lots of stomachs throughout the region. I'd urge you to go there for sure.

Over here, where I was trying to make gin from vodka, I created a large amount of a Stoli spice infusion that I had to cut waaaaay back on in the final "gin" proportions. Long story short, the remaining infusion turned out to be better than the "gin," and I've just set up 300 ml of vodka to steep with: 5g cassia bark 3g green cardamom 3g anise 5 allspice berries 5 cloves 1g mace 1g star anise Hoping to add to Manhattans, Rob Roys, Negronis, and whatever else strikes the fancy. Report back in a few days.

The sugar helps retain the flavor indefinitely, but, as slkinsey said over here, the hot steep which helps to retain the ginger flavor doesn't, sadly, retain the heat. That's why, when you want the extra bite, it's worth grating a bit of fresh ginger. Ginger syrup is more like candied ginger: intense, sweet, but not hot. Either way, the ginger syrup is more potent than the Monin.

My Chicago Cutlery kitchen shears are excellent and get daily workouts with all the ch- words: chives, chicken, chiles...

Any more information available?

Over the next six weeks, one of my family members is going to be the "Big Bean" organizing a chili competition in her community. She's got to take care of all of the details with contestants, judges, and the public involved, and she's not sure where to start. If you've got experience in any kind of community cooking or baking competition -- particularly from the organizing side, though participating probably gave you some insights too! -- please share your thoughts. We're not talking about Iron Chef or the World Pastry Championships here; we're talking a small community with an organizer who cares about doing things right. How did you coordinate the contestants? Determine the evaluation criteria? Gather and train the judges? Structure a public vote? Do the things I'm not thinking about?!?

Eagerly awaiting next posts. While I assume all the cooking will be done in the stall, are you expecting to do all the production in the stall as well? Seems so, from what you've written thus far.

I agree: the transformation of the shallots is wonderful, and this is a great recipe for these very simple but excellent pickles.

These great praline ice cream sandwiches from Gourmet in June 2006 have a pecan praline cookie that works very well. There's a dozen or so in our freezer. Ignore the "This recipe is also delightfully devoid of fuss" line, btw, says the wife, who actually makes 'em.