Chris Amirault

I think that this goes to gfweb's point, in a roundabout way: if you eat with your eyes first, and your eyes see a big, foamy gob of spit....

Nick, what kind of wood did you use to smoke it? I used applewood, which turned out very well. I think hickory, the other choice I have on hand, would have been a bit too much.

Try sautéing it in a ton of butter so that it browns and crisps up. That'll get him/her.

What will your notes note, exactly? The volumes are ridiculously well indexed and cross-referenced. Maybe you should just write notes in the margins of the Kitchen Manual, keep the other volumes pristine.

I think I used white vinegar, and I definitely subbed in gum syrup for the barley malt syrup.

I wasn't too keen on it at first, but that Canton has some very interesting traits. It's killer with homemade rhubarb syrup, for example, in a Daiquiri base (white rum and lime, that is).

We're hoping to have some oregano in the garden this year, and if we do I'll send you a bunch. I suspect that a lot of hot, direct sun -- and not a hydroponic greenhouse -- is what this Mediterranean herb needs, and when it gets it, it is a potent weed indeed!

WF has supplied wildly uneven briskets to this particular customer, sadly.

Two points: 1. The mushroom ketchup is an umami bomb, more glutamate than mushroom per se. You might want to give it a go and see what she thinks of it. You will likely love it. 2. The intensity implied by nearly everything in the MC book is the only thing that makes this claim sensible: a burger subbing bacon for vegetables is the Lite version.

I'd love to try it with a good brisket, but that's nearly impossible to find around here for reasons I cannot understand: uneven quality, no deckle, on and on. Yield is a good question; I'll try to measure next time. Because, oh yes, there will be a next time.

I got one at some kitchen supply store for $5 that worked like a charm. Dorie's recipe was the bee's knees; here's a version converted to weights.

So here are the short ribs that have been cured, smoked, cooked in brine, and rested: Off the bone and sliced: Some Latvian rye bread from the European Deli on Hope St in Providence: Along with some strong homemade mustard, great pickles from the deli and less-than-great slaw from same, the full meal: I snuck another layer of pastrami onto the bread after this photo because -- wait for it: Best. Pastrami. Ever. Like nearly everything in the book I've tried, this pastrami packs more flavor per molecule than anything I've ever had. It's like eating a dictionary definition of pastrami; it's so beefy that you realize, oh, yeah, that's right, pastrami is BEEF. Part of it is probably the quality of the short ribs, which were from a nearby farm. Part of it was probably using short ribs instead of a brisket. But there's no question that the benefits of SV preparation are on full display here: it's hard to imagine a wisp of flavor making its way out of these short ribs. The details of the finished product suit me just fine; I might bump the coriander and juniper a bit, cut back on the red pepper. But, really, this is small potatoes. If you had told me a year ago I would be making pastrami that rivals Katz's on the Lower East Side of New York, I'd have said you were nuts. But, honestly, I think that this is much, much better.

It's insubstantiality makes it an easy target. A transparent pile of fine bubbles evoking whatever seems precious. Of course, if it were, say, zabaglione, you probably wouldn't hear many complaints.

Don't try to plan. Like I said up-topic, it's like the Grand Canyon. You're just going to want to take it all in, and there's no right or wrong way.

My FoodSaver leftover bags are working well with that machine, I'll add, but, yeah, +1 on replacing that variety pack. They are excellent.

Oooh. Didn't realize that but, of course! Ratios?

Since it is, by all accounts, closing this year, I think you're out of luck. Unless, of course, you get a similar email.

A few updates. The Jean-Georges Vongerichten inspired chili oil is amazing. I have been drizzling it on this leftover flank steak I cooked SV for tortillas last week, and just with that oil and a bit of salt it's a revelation. There's something about the multiple infusions -- vacuum-sealed, then heated SV, then cooled, then strained -- that seems to bring out a very layered, nuanced complexity of flavor. Finishing up some bacon soon, but won't smoke until after a business trip. The short rib pastrami is tonight's dinner. I have been mesmerized by this process and am eager to see how it turns out. Pix, of course, later.

Sigh. I envy you, Fat Man. I had to give up my lone reservation several years ago due to travel constraints that were far, far less onerous than your own. Should've butched up.

IIRC, There's a Sicilian grilled swordfish dish that is very simple: olive oil, S&P, lemon, and a lot of fresh oregano. It's fantastic.

And I find that the tipping point is quite sudden: you go from lovely to lousy rapidly.

Fresh "Italian" (as in Italian-American) sausages, such as the ones found in the Ruhlman/Polcyn book.

Norm, you'll get no disagreement around here! Having said that, I'd rather start with a recipe from Dorie Greenspan or a Society member and tweak that, and I'd rather use weights than volume for accuracy and scalability. Anyone get out the scale this weekend?

For now, let's just gather them here. We'll likely find other homes for them -- topics specific to the subject, for example -- but I think we'd learn a lot about how these conversions do and don't work if we have specific recipes to share.

Then it sounds like the choice of the first four bottles is, to a certain extent, arbitrary. For gin you could sub in rum; for rye, bourbon. But what you have seems to fit your needs.