Chris Amirault

I've finished the salmon. Here are a few shots. First, the contraption in which I weighted down the fish: That seemed to work very well: Here's what the fish looked like when I removed it from the bag: And after having the fennel, seeds, and pepper rinsed off: It's certainly a beautiful thing: It cured up very nicely; the texture is great and it's very salmon-y. It's a bit too fennel-flavored for my tastes, but I've only had edge pieces. More, soon, with some cream cheese, capers, and onions on a good bagel. Next time, I think I'd like to try it with a less intricate cure, just the sugar, salt, and pepper....

Update: what used to be a middle eastern store on Route 2/Reservoir Ave has become Mirae Sikpoom, an extensive Korean grocer at 602 Reservoir Ave. 401.941.9419. Their selection was as wide as, or perhaps wider than, that of Asiana in E Providence, but it looks like it's exclusively Korean foodstuffs. (Asiana has Japanese stuff too.)

I've been a couple of times, and it's pretty interesting bar food. Last time was a while ago. Do they still have mezze plates?

Turned out very tasty, yes, a bit too salty but the pepper edge was great. I'm curious as to how the sweeter cure will affect the pork, though, and want to taste it without the pepper. That's also partly bc that lop yuk (sans pepper) was so fantastic.

Oh, and by the way, that salmon needed an additional 24 hours -- still a bit squishy. More on that soon.

hwilson41, that's great about your pork source. I'm curing fresh bacon belly #2 right now. The first one was a black pepper cure, and this one is a dark brown sugar cure. I'm trying to get a sense of the base line for these before I start smoking, since I'm hoping to do this regularly. I'm also trying to convince myself that I deserve a Bradley Smoker. But that's another issue....

Like many good things at the WF butcher shop, you gotta ask -- wouldn't want those ugly things in the case, Ron.

Ron, do they look like this? Those are the ones I get from Whole Foods. A bit more than I'd like to spend, but they're clean, easy to use, and ready to go.

What a fantastic demo! Where's my shopping list pad?!?

That porter sounds like a great idea.... Sort of like the chocolate that I often use. Looks swell!

Ah Leung, thanks as usual. Do you think that one could use lop yuk? I've been doing that a bit lately -- click.

My most recent example was Xmas dinner for ten, which had the following: a. Tony Bourdain's rillettes b. crudités et cornichons c. soupe de poisson d. frisée aux lardons avec oeufs e. Paula Wolfert's daube f. roasted potatoes g. tarte tatin On the day of the event, a and b needed no cooking; c and e needed reheating or minimal cooking; d needed only the eggs cooked for the meal, and the lardons heated; f and g needed to be prepped and cooked just prior to serving. I prepared the rillettes several days in advance, and the daube was an extensive, rewarding multi-day affair. Another very different example would be a Thai dinner I served a few months ago. We started with tom yum gung -- incredibly simple prep that requires some Thai basics and a good chicken stock -- and the main meal had some good, new crop jasmine rice at the center, accompanied by four salads: pomelo salad, cucumber salad, smoked fish and green mango salad, and chicken larb (mai oui). Only the pomelo salad had to be combined just prior to serving.

Actually, many people in food and food media join the eGullet Society forums to take part a bit in the old give-and-take: think of Ruth Reichl, Jamie Maw, and Michael Ruhlman. Bruni could certainly do the same. Habermas would be proud!

A few additional (and, perhaps, repetitive -- no coffee yet ) thoughts: Consider cold or room temp dishes: do-aheads rule. Thai salads and Italian antipasti are great examples of good dinner party fare. Stuff that loses its appeal as it cools is a bad idea, for lots of reasons. There are certain kinds of statements that I think a host should not utter during convivial conversation at a dinner party; if you're like me, you'll find it hard to maintain your facial composure as you quell your desire to shout, "Shut the fuck up and eat it before it's cold!" Enable the picky to expand without starving by putting down a few things that push their envelopes. That provides a conversation topic without forcing people to eat stuff they decide they abhor. Use your larder to plan. Some of the best things I can serve -- sausages, stocks, cured stuff -- are sitting happily and unassuming in my fridge and freezer. When you've set your menu, pull out all of your serving dishes and utensils, label each pair, and if you're doing a buffet, set them where you'll want them when full. I started doing this just recently when I realized that I had planned to put three things in two platters in one place. Doh! When you make your shopping list, remember that old saying about assuming when you think about staples. I never forget the standout ingredients like wild mushrooms or the green mango, but I've had to make trips for kosher salt. Rachel Ray is a ding-a-ling in a lot of ways, but her "prep when you bring it home" idea is smart for a party. Clean and trim everything as you bring it out of the bags; it saves a ton of time at the sink and garbage can when you're ready to cook. Heather's advice not to try to impress doesn't work with me, I'm afraid. I confess to a desire to impress my eight-year-old when I serve her Cheerios, and a dinner party? Fuggedaboudit. The morning of the event, tell your family that you love them dearly, then hug and kiss them, then put on your apron and explain -- while brandishing a knife -- that you'll be treating them very poorly should they set foot in the kitchen for the rest of the day. Or maybe that's just me. Give your knives a loving slide over your steel or, better yet, your sharpener before you start. Happy knives means happy you. Do your mise en place with real devotion. Figure out a way to label everything clearly.

My sense is that Brad's initial post infers that the cost of preparation offsets the initial savings. As someone who always keeps a bottle of red wine around for braising chuck, venison, or lamb, I can see where he's going. But even if you add that expense (I just grabbed a $10 chianti on sale yesterday for this purpose), I think that cheaper cuts offer savings. Let's compare a daube and a couple of rib eye (entrecote) steaks. The two or three pounds of chuck for a daube would cost about ten, maybe twelve bucks. The wine plus other flavorings (onion, shallot, garlic, leek, mushrooms, spices, pepper) wouldn't total more than $12, and that's pushing it. So, $24 max for the daube -- which is, minimum, what the two steaks would cost. Sounds even but here's the catch: I'm going to have leftovers of that daube, probably twice, for sure.

In the lead post of this thread, Elie showed his cured salmon process. I wanted to see if I could produce pretty good results using my favorite all-around cooking tool, the ziploc bag. So: Wild king salmon on sale at Whole Foods: I slipped it into a snug ziploc: The salt and sugars: Skin side with the curing mixture on it: Our wonderful French friend, which was then sprinkled on both sides: The fennel sliced and ready: Onto the salmon -- flesh side up: The fennel seed and white peppercorns: The finished assembly, ready to go in the fridge: It already started to release liquid by the end of the assembly: It's in the fridge getting a good bit of pressure from above thanks to some black bean soup and rubber bands. More later.

Two quick thoughts: To Jeff L's great post I would only add that eating there is one of the least intimidating dining experiences you're likely to have. Part of what is so remarkable there is the affable, warm, sharing atmosphere, a joie de vivre that suffuses the entire affair. Plus you can drink like a fish if you invite the right people . Dude, if we can drive down from Providence, surely you can drive from western PA!

Tazo has a lemon maté and a maté tropic; I like the former quite a bit.

The logo feels plopped onto the image. Makes the great logo look less great, imo.

Looks great. Where are those hanging?

Folks, this thread keeps toddling toward the borders of topicality. Please stick to the topic at hand and its food-related implications. Thanks.

I want a single-serve grape.

I want it. Now.

I think that version is spelled "Brown buddah."

Brown butter.