Chris Amirault

Johnny, I have to ask: Care to share the details of the method?

I'm glad you asked that question, Abra! I've had the same thought. I await a response.

That's the type, yes, but not the actual glass. And, again, thanks, folks!

Sounds like one perfect drink, Gary.

Thanks, Michael and Sandy! That's an interesting distinction, Sandy, and I'm not sure how to parse it out. One difference between habit and practice would be relative levels of openness; as you've probably realized, the act of writing this down and publishing it here is part of the shift from furtive to, well, less furtive. And certainly habits are less intentional than practices. While I can claim great intentionality and like thinking that I have some awareness, I try not to embrace the fantasy of total, intentional self knowledge (though, as you can see, that's hard for me to resist at times). So perhaps it is a practiced habit, eh? I've no answers about how this all happened, really, and I'm loathe to generalize or moralize about it. If I had to describe the process, I guess I'd say that I wanted to figure out what my drinking meant and what it could be instead of deciding that it was bad and trying to excise it. So I think that embracing drinking as a pleasurable, healthy part of my life was the key step -- one that, of course, some people would see as a step into delusion.

We're talking about restaurants of a certain type, aren't we? I mean, there are little holes-in-the-wall that don't have websites much less menus there. That lack doesn't eliminate those places from consideration, does it?

Fried clams and Shanghai soup dumplings. Not at the same time!

Did Tsuji's tempura tonight instead of the requisite long weekend grillin' (it's Memorial Day here in the US): Made the dipping sauce with grated daikon, mirin, dashi, and light soy: Along with some edmame, I made the vinegared cucumber (kyuri no sumomi) in Tsuji's book: Did everything outside, served each round right to the table from the hot oil. Here are the sweet potatoes cooking: And the fiddleheads turned out fantastic; they went very well with the dipping sauce: You can see that, by the time I was cooking the shiitake, the batter started getting thicker, less lumpy: Here's a good comparison: onion slices with smooth batter and shrimp with the new, lumpy batter: You can see that I've still got some practicing, as there are definitely brown spots due to oil that was a bit too hot at times. But given how humid it was, I'm pretty happy with how things turned out!

They look fantastic, Ron. Moving them around: you smarty!

Looks great, Arne! You betcha baby! A Warsteiner at the turn is a tradition with me. Either that or a slug of the apple-juice/bourbon/maple syrup spray I use. I like beer better. A. ← Details, please?

melicob, you win the award for best curing chamber! I wanted to write up a thorough review of my first peperone efforts: I'm pretty happy, overall, with them. They hung for fourteen days, total, in the chamber. I definitely would make the following adjustments: As for flavoring, the substitute of vinegar for wine didn't work so well, and I'd add more pepper. I went a bit light, which brings up the cure flavor of the meat, but it isn't, well, peppery enough. Using a 1:1 vinegar wash to wipe away the mold clearly worked -- and it required a good airing out to get rid of the excessively vinegary flavor it left behind. I think a weaker solution would have been a good idea. It's an obvious thing to do, but it bears repeating: if the links touch each other, it really affects the curing on those spots. Finally, take a look at these two images: These spots may or may not have been touching, but I'm pretty sure that they were spots where I didn't poke enough holes in the casing. They cured at a slower rate -- note that they are fatter than the more slender spots. They also left slimy casing that hasn't quite dried out, and are generally kind of gross (I peeled it off, in fact). As a result, the white mold never got that dusty quality; it's more sticky. So next time: more pepper, wine, and holes; less vinegar and touching.

What are the differences between Spanish and Mexican flan? Is one more eggy or sweet than the other?

Uh oh. This looks dangerously good. Thanks, as always, Ah Leung! What do you eat them with? I'm thinking beer....

Don't want light in there, Susan!

I used pork casings, Abra. They seem to be working fine. [Moderator note: This topic continues here, Cooking with Ruhlman & Polcyn's "Charcuterie" (Part 3)]

Thanks, Ron. I'll be interested to learn what you think "done" is. I have to say it's got a different consistency than the usual sticks, softer but also more... textural, if that makes sense. And unlike commercial stuff, the first thing you taste, the dominant effect, is one of cured meat, not spice and heat. Even the tang is clearly meat-based.

Looks and sounds good, Mark and Russ! I, too, can report the return of good mold: It's chalky white; the fuzzy zits are gone. Here's what the whole gang looks like in the big black box: After a few squeezes like that old woman sneaking around the produce section in Tampopo, I chose the firmest link in the batch: And then I decided that it was time to give the peperone a try. I could report on the flavor, starting off with an intense meaty sensation, followed by layers, in order, of fennel seed, then tang, then pepper. I could brag about that definition and consistency -- notice that there's no dry edge, thanks to my devotion to humidity. I could tell you that I was amazed by the complexity of this suddenly new food, a tired stand-by turned into something profound. While that's all kind of true, what is more true is that, no matter how often I pondered our hale forebears curing meat in caves and basements, I couldn't help but think, obsessively, that I might be making myself sick. It's disappointing to realize that I'm such a fucking pathetic American sometimes. Onward!

Looks swell, Meez! Can you give a recipe for your pickles? In Recipe Gullet, even?!?

Susan, there's pix of the contraption here.

A good opening to update on my peperone. I did the vinegar wipe a few days ago and then was too petrified to check the basement for days. And this morning I found out that... well, how 'bout that? I've got a bunch of fine looking peperone links hanging down there! So I'd say no, don't worry a bit about it. Speaking of which, can someone advise me about doneness? I did go to the trouble of weighing everything pre-cure, but then I lost a few links. Am I going for a feel like a standard stick of pepperoni? Or something a bit less firm?

Folks, this thread is teetering close to the edge of topicality. Please limit all posts to food-related matters. Thanks.

Over in the Charcuterie thread, many of us have been makin' bacon. I've been sticking mainly with the standards -- bacon and eggs; frissee salad with lardons -- and I'm wantin' to branch out. What's your favorite recipe or dish for showcasing really good bacon?

Defrosted the leftover butt today and heated it to 210F first sous vide then in a 250F oven; held it there for a while before pulling it. Much better: I could shred the meat and the texture was perfect. That's what I'll be aiming for with my next butt....

I can't help with the science, I'm afraid, Abra, but I do know the alchemy: here's the cocktaildb.com link for the CR #2. Having read that earlier attempts to smoke salt didn't work, I thought I needed to create some sort of pellicle and just tossed the salt with 1 t of peanut oil, so that it wasn't greasy but had a little tack. Looking good, mdbasile! No thoughts about the lamb, but I'm watching with great interest.

Just a shallow stainless bowl. Couldn't have been easier. Just made bacon and eggs for dinner -- an excellent way to get over the mold problem. Well, that and a Corpse Reviver #2.