Chris Amirault

Looks great! What is the dressing you use for beets? I just bought six fatties for tomorrow....

Some of the Del's shops are serving, so that's good. Be warned that Chris Schlesinger sold the Back Eddy a while back, and the reports are that things are no longer what they were. Persimmon is great; the Rue is still a solid option.

George Germon, co-owner of Al Forno restaurant in Providence, claims credit for wood grilled pizza. Their version of pizza margarita is definitive, and happens to be one of the greatest things you can put in your mouth. They prompted a slew of imitators; many people are fans of Bob and Timmy's. However, I'd head over to Al Forno, sit at the bar, get a glass or bottle of good red wine (Kyle is a very thoughtful bartender and sommelier), and enjoy a pizza there. All over the place! Carrie's, Horton's, and many other places have great no-frills seafood. The Providence options are less than optimal, however, so if you have a car and can take a twenty minute drive, go have clam cakes and chowder at Iggy's in Warwick on Oakland Beach (click here for a post with pix at Iggy's) -- or drive a bit further down Aquidneck Island and have the fantastic fried clams at Flo's Clam Shack in Middletown.

Thanks, Susan. I knew that, with you, my butt surely would not be in a sling. I last put my butt on my Weber kettle, but had some real temperature problems with it. As a result, my butt turned out a bit dry and crusty -- and who wants a dry, crusty butt? Not me. Since I've got the Bradley, I'm feeling a bit more confident that my butt will be moist after its long smoke.

I just reread the thread and ordered a Magnum direct from Unicorn. It cost less than half of my Peugeot (which I will be using for white peppercorns, I guess)....

After months of being badgered by snowangel about smoking a butt, the day has finally arrived. I can't tell you how excited I am about my butt! My butt is a 6-7# Niman Ranch boneless butt, waiting for me at Whole Foods. I'm planning to brine my butt lightly overnight, use no dry rub, and smoke my butt in my Bradley with hickory and alder. I'll be serving my butt with =Mark's South Carolina Mustard Barbeque Sauce, along with a few sides to compliment it. Of course, I'll be taking lots of pictures of my butt. I'm assuming I should be aiming for 215-225F in the Bradley, yes? I'm also assuming that there's no such thing as too much smoke -- though I'm aiming for a 2:1 alder/hickory ratio. If anyone has any Bradley tips, I'd love to hear them. Feel free to tell me what exactly I should be doing with my butt. Indeed, I would be happy to place my butt in your hands.

Folks, some posts are straying from the topic at hand. Please stick to food-related matters. Thanks.

It sounds like you want the roller and cutter. They also have an extruder.

I've had a Peugeot for a few years now, and while it works great on smaller black and on white peppercorns, it is a PITA when it comes to larger black peppercorns. I've been getting Penzey's extra bold lately, and now I'm really ready for something else. (And, yes, I have a mortar, pestle, spice mill, etc.) Does anyone get consistently excellent results from their mill using those big Penzey's 'corns?

Dean, what you wrote here really struck a chord in me. We're one vent hood away from finishing renovating our kitchen on a shoestring (total <$3K -- thank you, craigslist, Building 19, etc.). We realized that the location of our appliances, the cabinets, the walls, and total square footage weren't going to change, so we found a granite sideboard that provides additional storage and, essentially, a new counter, moved our shelving unit up onto the wall and took out the table on which it rested, and hung a big pot rack from the ceiling. So, in addition to a new range and fridge (both of which increase happiness significantly, to be sure), getting things out of the space enables the two tall adults (cook and baker, respectively) who use it regularly to get around far more easily. And -- this is probably obvious but is worth saying -- that $200 sideboard creates six feet of counter space that has geometrically increased marital bliss.

I wonder if the salt needs the equivalent of a pellicle. Perhaps tossing it with a few drops of neutral oil would do the trick?

Oh god I love dim sum - is it cart style or do you order off the menu? How does it compare to NYC and Boston dim sum (Boston's being inferior)? ← You order off the menu, and Lucky Garden is absolutely superior to anything you can get in Boston. Hands down, no contest. It's comparable to, if not better than, the best dim sum I've had in New York, greater LA, and London.

Dave, your post reminded me of something I've figured out but haven't yet shared about the appropriate amount of cure. My first batch I put waaaaaaaay too much cure on the bacon, and it produced an unpalatable saltiness. I've realized that a good guide is to think that I'm dredging the belly; I don't want cure caked onto the belly in any spots, but I want it coated thoroughly with the cure. If that makes sense.

I wonder if Campari, lime juice, and cucumber water might be combined to good effect....

Welcome, vegardkristiansen! Though you're a pro and I'm just a home enthusiast, your situation is similar in some ways to my own, as I'm trying to build up a flexible liquor cabinet by adding a bottle or two at a time of new ingredients within a limited budget. In doing so, I've found that cocktaildb.com is an excellent help, because it allows you to search on specific ingredients and produce a list of possible drinks that you can make given the availability of the ingredients you have on hand. It also allows you investigate other possibilities, enabling you to to target specific gaps to fill given your interests and existing stock. Most recently, for example, I've bought a bottle of Laird's applejack and Luxardo maraschino doing this, two decisions for which I am enduringly grateful!

I had an Atlas for years and recently dropped the benjamin-plus for the KA attachment. I love it. My main problem with the Atlas involved securing it somehow -- my tables don't have the requisite flat edge -- and my lack of a third arm and hand. Honestly, if I had a motorized Atlas and an easy way to attach the thing, I'd have been a happy clam.

In this post, WHS made the following statement: Now, I've had my (un)fair share of overcooked meat and two veg from my New England forebears, but I got a bit miffed at that statement (and to the word "cuisine" being in quotation marks). After all, while "New England cuisine" could be defined by the traditions established by the Yankee settlers, it could also be defined by the Italians in the North End of Boston, or the Portuguese or Quebecoise along the coast, or the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Thai folks here in Providence -- or by Jasper White, Lydia Shire, Gordon Hammersley, Neath Pal, George Germon and Johanne Killeen.... Harumph. Having said that, I don't think that I really have a clear sense of what New England cuisine was or is. Seemed like an interesting question to toss your way. Thoughts?

Do it and report back, man!

I was going to suggest Modern Diner, too -- and, of course, dim sum at Lucky Garden in North Providence.

I'm sure that someone more expert would be a more useful respondent, but I'm pretty darned sure that the answer is no, you can't use lard, schmaltz, or bacon drippings instead of uncooked fat. The texture of the fat is crucial to the emulsion, definition, texture, and so on. There may be recipes that use lard, bacon grease, etc., that's not what you want in the recipes in this book. Again, I'm pretty sure.

I posted a query about Bolivian food over in the New England forum (click) because I discovered two Bolivian restaurants in Providence. It got me to thinkin' that I really have no clue whatsoever about Bolivian food. A search here produced nothing and a google search didn't help much. Can anyone share insights on Bolivian cuisine?

I've only hunted morels in Montana. Where do you hunt in New England, newsbabe?

Elie's comments about his food processor's capacity prompted me to add that everytime I use our 6 qt KA mixer to get that primary bind with 5+ pounds of meat, I test its capacity. The paddle tends to push up the meat as it mixes, so I have to use a large spatula to press down on the top of the meat as the mixer beats it.

It sounds like they use a salt slurry instead of just moist salt. I'd follow the usual rinse-and-soak directions -- or give them a call at Butcher Packer. They were very helpful with my initial dumb-as-a-stick questions. Now slightly smarter than a stick, Chris

"Simply put, the grape is a dud" is a far more sweeping indictment than "overrated." This article reads as yet another overblown food piece using absurd hyperbole to make an obvious point, this time about the character of a particular grape. News flash: SB isn't chardonnay. Gimme a break. As someone who buys only affordable wines to drink with food, I regularly and happily pour SB. Not only have wineries bottled SB at price points that work for me; it's also one of several varietals that make sense with what we eat. (Meanwhile, it's rare that I'd want to serve some buttery, oaky powerhouse chard with dinner -- or spend the several Jacksons to buy it in the first place.) Speaking of price points, the writer's suggestion that one can substitute, say, $25-35 bottles of Vouvray sec for $10-15 bottles of SB indicates a basic lack of understanding concerning budgets and, perhaps, mathematics. Finally, did anyone else wonder about this writer's subject matter given his propensity for seeking out irritable experiences: he ordered crab at Joe's Stone Crab even though he's "not a fan of crabs served in the shell"?