Chris Amirault

Way cool. Many questions. Drink prices? No simple syrup in the Pisco Sour? What Pisco in use? Is the Royal Bermuda Yachtclub Cocktail ("Lime Juice, Cointreau, and Falernum") missing an ingredient? What's the gin and rye selection? Any scotch cocktails?

That's impressive. How does the wet vacuum seal differ from the dry?

Our very own Jason Molinari (jmolinari) has been spreading the charcuterie gospel for Richard Blais over at his new place, Element, in ATL. Let's hear it for lamb prosciutto!

Would that be Jason Molinari (jmolinari on eG Forums)?

Sure. Works in beef satay, after all.

I remember that! It was in that "Great American Chefs" book from way back when. It sounds vile, I know, but it's surprisingly tasty. I used to make it as a surprise intermezzo and tell people what it was only after.

I believe that Sinclair considered that "industrial society writing" and not food writing, but I could be wrong about that. However, it's certainly true that American writing about food -- as Karen and Molly O'Neill point out -- has always involved a kind of moral tussle. Some would argue that even those who have chosen not to make the "ethical turn" have done so as an explicitly defiant gesture against Puritan morals concerning food, bodies, and pleasure.

It's very peppery, which I was aiming for, but because of the lack of fat the flavor profile is a bit hard to compare with past slabs. Hard to say.

Not sure if your question is generic, but: I didn't ask for recipes with "generic beer" in them. I was hoping that folks would reply as they have, with a range of responses that included a variety of brews, from stouts to ales to pilsners. For example, we currently have a variety pack from Saranac that includes these six brews and one Smuttynose Portsmouth lager. Keep the ideas comin'!

More information please! What's the model? Approximate cost?

Should have specified: cooking with the liquid part of the beer as the primary ingredient.

Every once in a while a guest will bring over a six-pack of beers that we don't quite make our way through at dinner. We're then often stuck with those bottles rattling around the fridge for a few weeks as we're not big beer drinkers and tend to have particular preferences when we do quaff. This morning I realized that there were probably a lot of good uses to which we could put those brews. What are some good dishes besides beer-battered fish? Any swell braises, for example?

Interesting flexnews article on HFCS vs sugar: Only Jones soda has switched to sugar only (in 2006), but there's some hinting that the Big Two are considering the switch as well.

New, perhaps dense, question: I think I understand the difference between the 4500 and the 5000, but what are the differences between the Super, Deluxe, Ultimate, and Better-Than-Perfect? (OK, I made that last one up.) Here's the Vita-Mix link for reference. The J. Hufford website suggests that the Super simply adds a dry blade container for no additional cost ($399 and free shipping there). Is that so?

← Hrm. More expensive than what? I think Waters needs to read that Becks & Posh blog entry up-topic, and keep in mind the many different kinds of analyses of the "cost" of food. Waters and Petrini have actively cultivated the personae of charismatic leaders, and, whether they like it or not, with that comes a need to pay pretty close attention to what they say about the issues that are, I'm sure, sincerely dear to them (and, clearly, many of us).

I took a photo to illustrate this tonight: Within the sealed component of the bag there's about an inch below the seal and above the bacon -- no problem. But look at the extra bag above the seal. Is that typical on most vacuum sealers?

Here's what it looked like after I sliced it up tonight: You can see what I meant up-topic about the meat:fat ratio, which was pronounced after cooking. Aside from that, though, it tasted great. The wet cure seemed to have allowed the flavors (and the sugar, in particular) to penetrate very deeply, moreso than with a dry cure. Hard to say, of course, given that I've only got this batch to go on, but I'm going to be using this method from here on out.

Fascinating! I can imagine the stall and my mouth starts to water. Tell us how you'll set up your kitchen space, if you please. Are you piping in a boiling water line? Or...?

When the weather is good for grilling -- like tonight -- I'll often: stop to grab a flank steak, some bok choy, cucumbers, shiitake, plump shallots, maybe a tomato or two if they're decent; prepare a basic dressing with kecap manis, lime juice, fish sauce, some mint, cilantro, black pepper, and salt; and make a rub for the flank steak that's along these lines: 1t cinnamon 1T roasted red chile pepper 1T black pepper 1T sugar 1T salt 1T ground galangal While I prepare the coals, I let that rub soak into the scored steak at room temp, and then grill it up with the whole shallots and mushrooms all getting charred. Rest, slice, serve with jasmine rice.

In the last six months or so, I've been noticing that the butter we buy for everyday use has been acting up. We typically get unsalted Cabot or Land o' Lakes butter as our stand-by supermarket pantry item, and while it's not European high fat content luxury, it's fine for frying eggs. Well, at least until recently, when a pat of butter on a hot skillet produces very strange spattering, as if the water content of the butter has suddenly increased. This not only produces a lot of mess in the mornings; it also makes it very hard, for example, to brown butter effectively, due to the high moisture content. Has anyone else noticed this? Am I right in thinking that more water is getting emulsified into the sticks? Any suggestions for brands or ways to deal with this?

Any weekend paella meals?

I believe they are operating out of a RISD cafeteria for graduation there.

I second Dan's many of suggestions and especially this one. Click here for a full report from our October trip, and do be sure to look up Juan Carlos. I'd find him early in the trip and ask him what to do where.

I always wear an apron, having ruined too many shirts and pants early on. This used to be my go-to apron for years, purchased at the Tate Modern in London and depicting Yoko Ono's ass: Most of the time, however, I now use an apron made by Vaho, which is a recycling arts collective in Barcelona that uses things like PVC public displays to fashion bags and other things. People really cook -- like fry or sauté? make tomato sauce? stir roux? -- without aprons? Do you change into chefwear first?

Great to see you blogging, Peter! Big question: rappie pie? History, insights, recipes, justifications. (Check my last name if you're wondering why I'm asking. )