Chris Amirault

I've saved my pennies and I'm going to get an Original Bradley Smoker as soon as I answer the following question: what should a starter kit of bisquettes be like? I definitely want apple (bacon), but expect to smoke salmon, andouille sausage, turkey, gouda, and many other things. What would be a good three or four woods to start?

Spent the better part of Sunday making the items I mentioned above. Some feedback on each: The Nepali cucumber salad (61) was probably the best dish of the lot. It's a pretty basic warm dressing salad, with a sesame and cumin yogurt dressing and a hot mustard oil topping. The pea tendrils with coconut (71) was bizarre: coconut, shallot, pea tendrils, and a few other things put in a pot, stir-fried just a bit, then covered to cook. I'm a huge fan of pea shoots but this just didn't work for me. Perhaps I should've cooked it longer.... I dunno. The chapatis (110-1) were, well, chapatis. I stuck to their more trad recipe and didn't add any oil or ghee to the dough, so the chapatis turned out just fine for the first five minutes or so and then turned into frisbees shortly thereafter. I'm thinking that I want to try them again with either oil or (like a naan dough) with yogurt. The cauliflower dum (148-9) was solid, though it needed more time in the oven than the 20 minutes recommended. I also would up the salt and chili in this dish (had to keep it mild for our pregnant guest). The step of browning the cauliflower in ghee really created a lot of spatter; be sure to dry the flowerets as much as possible before adding the little buggers to the hot fat. The ginger lamb coconut milk curry (261) produced twice as much sauce as we needed, which was just fine with us. I would up the salt, ginger, chili, and garlic in this recipe. They recommend to add lime, and this dish really needs that acid; without that punch, the umami of the lamb and the creamy coconut milk are a bit too flat. Oh, and their basmati rice method for rice cookers was good: rinse 2 c of rice until clear, soak in 2 1/4 c of water in the cooker for 30-60 minutes, then proceed as usual. Fluffy, distinct grains.

Boy, me too. It really communicates something about Shola's care, the intimacy of dining there, everything. Great stuff, John.

Emma cinched it for me: if the neon is ON, then I'm an "A."

Those look remarkable, Kristin! What recipe did you use? And "the smoker" is what, exactly? I'm dying to know all of these things. I have a sneaking suspicion that you and I seek andouille for the gumbo-related reasons.

One of my most magical childhood experiences involved going across the street from my grandparents house in Waterville ME to an overgrown, unremarkable field. Slowly and carefully, I'd hunt through the chest-high grass hunting for the small bursts of field strawberries. I was supposed to be collecting them for later, but somehow they never made it back to the house.... I think of those berries every time I put one of these frauds in my mouth. FFR is right: The tomato comparison is particularly apt. My ex-wife's brother is in CA agribusiness, and in the late 1980s he spent an hour explaining why we'd never eat a flavorful tomato bought at a grocery store. Of course, he was right -- and then wrong: the industry has reacted to the general disgust about baseball tomatoes to produce much better (though, surely, not ideal) fruit than existed twenty years ago. Perhaps the strawberry farmers will follow suit....

Come on now, folks! Who's going to walk us through the menu and wines? It's the man's last meal for weeks and weeks! We need a fix!

The balsamic craze predates Batali by a good ten years, I think; I started using b.v. in the mid- to late-1980s here on the east coast as a go-to ingredient, and if I was using it then, lots of people were.

Providence has been an outie for several generations. For this I am deeply, abidingly grateful.

Absolutely fascinating. Now I know why I love Orville.

Fantastic so far. So, tell me, how is it that you scored this gig? Did you just call and say, "Hey, can I work for you next week?" Makes me wish I had asked at Al Forno instead of just visiting during the afternoon prep....

Ah, yes! Dr. John was there. Even more reason to anticipate feedback: the newbie's comments! Wine pairings, s'il vous plait?

Here's what the U. S. Copyright Office has to say on the matter:

Oh my goodness. This looks astonishing. I hope you have a supply of good strong coffee and many, many camera batteries. Blog on, Henry!

Looks remarkable, as usual. We're waiting with great anticipation here, folks!

Well, that's easy enough: a boilermaker with a Marlboro.

Farid, if you were to suggest a Rancho Gordo bean starter order, what would it be?

Well, ok, but you're getting my point. What do you want in your mouth? Citrus? Salt? Umami?

This smacks of Geraldo Rivera's live opening of Dillinger's secret cache: it's as if the writer wanted to write an exposé of what lies under the WF rock and found dirt. It's also disingenuous, particularly when criticizing WF of being disingenuous: Huh? "[M]iniscule"? What are, indeed, the statistics on this? I mean, is anyone shocked that WF actually tries to market itself positively? And, if not, can't the reporter actually do a little research and tell us why this "sleight of hand" is so outrageous? I'm no WF booster, but, really, give me a break.

Danielle, if I may bluntly cut to the chase: what aromas are sexy to you when on someone else's lips?

I'm definitely in the pro-chinois camp (I've got two). I recently learned the trick of using your immersion blender as a pestle, which speeds things up considerably. But, let's face it: if you're making a lot of stocks, sauces, custards, and so on, it's good to have. If you don't make food that requires that level of fine straining, however, it'd be a waste. edited to add: Oh, and if you do get one, be sure to get one that has a stand like this one. Unless you have three hands, in which case you'll be just fine without.

I'm going to be giving the book a hearty workout this weekend for a dinner for guests. There's no regional theme, exactly; it's a bit more pan-South-Asian than I'd ideally like, but I think the menu works pretty well anyway. I'll be making: Nepali cucumber salad (61) pea tendrils with coconut (71) chapatis (110-1) cauliflower dum (148-9) chile shrimp stirfry (217) ginger lamb coconut milk curry (261) Anyone tried these?

Is that a volunteer I spy?

Foul madamas (beans with olive oil) is the breakfast of choice in many Middle Eastern countries.

It's the foreshoulder, Lucy. Not sure of the French for that cut, though.