Chris Amirault

Never mix half heavy cream and half water to make "milk" for cappucino. It doesn't work. Never try to hold a fine crystal brandy snifter in your mouth with just your teeth.

Hmmmm.... In Milwaukee, there are a large number of people who hit the large number of bars after their 12m-8a shifts for a cold one or two. Having peered, with my morning coffee in hand, into many of the eleven bars within two blocks of my house over the course of four years in grad school, however, I can't really say I ever saw any jovial, celebratory -- hell, even not-depressed-as-shit -- people.

Looks good to me, little ms foodie. You've clearly passed muster -- particularly given that Agency Director snowangel approves. Congratulations! In accordance with our ELMO policy, I will make an honorary batch of larb and sticky rice tonight. (Wish I had a bottle of that Erath gewurztraminer handy!) Of course, now you have the larb monkey on your back -- but it's a damned sight easier to prepare than that cassoulet, eh?

Can you do a taste test? Seems like it'd be pretty cheap and I'm sure many New Yorkers on eGullet would appreciate... Here in RI I buy locally made tortillas and gorditas only in latino/a mercados, and the sole criterion I use is warmth!

Wish this would catch on elsewhere. I imagine the argument is that bringing home open bottles allows people to drink while they drive (though the irresponsible drinkers that I know aren't really gonna be slugging down shots of d'Yquem on the way home from bar-hopping). The thing is, in my experience, I become a far less safe driver if, knowing that the last two inches of that lovely red I've been sharing is going to waste, I push another glass back before I put on my coat....

I'm sure that others will have better suggestions, but while I was in LA in Nov I went to Joan's on Third, between La Cienega and Fairfax, which has quite a bit of over-priced foodstuffs, specifically cheeses, as well as a ton of take-home food.

It looks fantastic! What kind of sausage did you use? And other ingredients? Do tell!I must say I love those plates!

That's fantastic! Can you tell us more about what recipe you used and what you put in it?

That was my sense, too. In many photos I perused, home cooks (and, it seems, those persnickety men in France themselves) boned the confit, for diners' ease. I tried to break each piece of confit into two (as per Bourdain), and in doing so some pieces flaked a bit. I also wasn't about to let pieces stick to the bones just for style!

Well, the house is now suffused with a heady, seductive, almost sexual aroma that I can't particularly describe -- garlic and fat and duck roasted into some sort of savory ambrosia? -- which makes the last three days of rather obsessive cooking worth it, let me tell you! I was beginning to lose faith last night.... Now all that's left are three hours tonight and another three or four tomorrow, breaking the crust regularly. Here's the method I used, which basically combined aspects of Les Halles with Saveur Cooks Authentic French. Using LH, I cooked up a few ham hocks with an onion and aromatics until they were tender: I also cooked the beans, which soaked last night, with two strips of fat back from the shoulder, the huge bone from same, and aromatics, in diluted duck stock (from the frame the other day): Then I used some of the duck/pork fat to sautee the sausage, to which I added (following Saveura puree of water, onion, and a full head of garlic: Here's what the duck confit looked like before I boned it, trying to keep it in big chunks: And when it was all done this afternoon, here was the mise en place for cassoulet assembly (note the Diet Coke off to the left, a pathetic attempt, along with some celery and carrot sticks, to feel as if I'm preparing to eat something other than, well, cassoulet): Layer one of the cassoulet, beans and sliced fat back: Layer two of the cassoulet, with the chunks of ham hock and the sausage: Layer three of the cassoulet, the onion/garlic puree and the confit: Layer four of the cassoulet, the rest of the beans and cooking liquid just barely to cover: I then put it in the oven for an hour at 350F, and turned it down for about three more at 250F, keeping it moist. Then it'll cool, then into the fridge, and then back in the oven tomorrow morning. Dinner tomorrow around 12 noon for the three of us and two friends. I don't know if I'll have a chance to get to a liquor store, so I might have to tempt the wrath of the cassoulet gods and serve a nice Chianti I've got. Still hoping to find some decent frisee for a salad. How are others doing? Little ms foodie, how's it going??

Made the sausages today. I used the basic proportions from Aidell's meat book and the tips from Culinary Bear. It turned into an exhausting process just shopping for everything; I couldn't find butt and had to settle for a whole pork shoulder, which required trimming and boning. So here are the basic ingredients, with about 2 lb ground pork meat and a bit under 1/2 lb of ground fat; some thyme, salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander; five minced garlic cloves and a minced onion, sauteed in a bit of duck fat and cooled. And here's a blurry (sorry!) shot of the stuffing process, for which I used the KitchenAid attachment. That went really well, but was time consuming, and I'm a bit afraid that there's air in the sausages.... But I'm just a nervous nelly about this process, increasingly. Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that my gently simmering confit is going to be ok -- that has me stressed out, too. I keep fantasizing about old French men wearing strange hats tasting my casoulet and deeming it "Merde!" Happy New Year! More in 2005.

Great thread! I remember getting a ham via mail order about fifteen years ago, soaking it in the tub (pissing off roommates for a day), having to haul it to a butcher to cut it so that it would fit into the oven... and it was a profound, amazing thing. Haven't seen or had that kind of ham since, I'm sad to say. Where do you get yours? What are good and reliable suppliers?

If you mean Thai sweet/sticky rice (refered to by both names) then I think the key is steaming, not boiling, the rice. After the long soak, I just put the rice in a wire mesh strainer and put the strainer on top of something inside a pan filled with an inch of water. Steam the rice for 20-30 minutes until you can make little balls out of it. It stays toothy that way, which is the main reason to make it, I think!

It's great! Sorry I scanned too quickly.

I thought I'd share our dishware -- from a different era and toward a different end. Under the duck pieces you can see the classic Blue Heaven markings on this serving dish: Does anyone else use vintage stuff?

I urge you to visit the confit thread, where Paula Wolfert has dropped by to provide a slew of useful answers to just these sorts of questions. My sense is that the texture of the confit depends very much on maintaining a low cooking temperature for quite a while, which would make 1 hr at 350F too fast and hot. Perhaps this is one of the cut corners to which Chef B refers in his introductions to the recipes?

Thanks. I was trying to get this dish done in the space of this week between Xmas and New Years (when I'm off work), and thus had to make do with what I could easily obtain. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any duck around here save the Muscovy, which I knew was an inadequate substitution. It sounds like I can forge ahead, admitting that it won't be perfect, with the addition you suggest. Next time, though....Edited to add: I used the Saveur Cooks Authentic French recipe for confit to render the fat from the skin, and that clearly was a mistake. About two hours in, I realized from reading on this thread that 3 1/2 hours at 350 risked burning the fat, so I turned it down... too late. Onward! And thanks again!

I don't think I burned it; rather, I think that some of the cracklings got dark and colored it. Could be wrong, though.... So, as for other fat: clarified butter? Or... what? Thanks!

This is a fantastic topic. Thanks to everyone who has posted here. The duck and fat for my confit (for the cassoulet on another topic, the link for which I'm too tired to paste in right now) is ready to go for tomorrow -- but my duck fat isn't pearly white. It's got a slight brownish tinge from the cracklings (most of which actually made it into the fridge instead of me belly!). I'm assuming that the state of the duck fat won't destroy the confit, especially if I cook the duck at a lower temp for a longer time, yes? Please, oh, please, yes??

Got the duck confit going. I had a 4 lb muscovy duck, which is apparently not as fat as a moulard duck -- but I got plenty of fat and skin off of it: That's now in a 350 oven rendering. (I have to hold myself back from eating every one of those skin cracklings and searing my tongue in the process!) I can't quite tell yet, but I think I'm going to have enough fat to submerge the pieces, if barely, tomorrow. (Update: I got 1 1/2 cups of duck fat.) Here's the duck, quartered and sea-salted: If you look carefully, you can see that the left breast is a bit nicked up; getting that duck skin off is a pain in the butt. So the duck pieces are in the fridge, the skin's nearly done, and the frame and wings are simmering in a stock pot. That's it for today, I think. Tomorrow I'm going to take a crack at those sausages, if I can find casings. edited to add the quantity of duck fat I obtained -- ca

If I could find decent garlic sausage here, I'd use it, but I'm not finding any. As for the KA attachment: I'm pretty sure that the attachment I have (gotten off of eBay) is standard for all the mixers. It fits onto the front where that little metal KitchenAid cover flips up. But I'm not sure -- sorry. I certainly hope not! We can disqualify the disqualifier for displaying such intolerance! I would argue that greater variety is the way to go, particularly given the limted availability of certain items in this dish. Beat you to the punch, Al; I PMed him about it already. Perhaps he can solve our sausage dilemma....

Thanks, Busboy -- I'll be happy to see what you find. I think I'm going to take a crack at making them based on your suggestions here.

Sure! I am hoping to do just that, starting tomorrow. In the meanwhile, check out Culinary Bear's amazing thread on making confit, which meets your standards exactly.

Variety, variety, variety. Make lots of different stuff so that you have a varied set of options. Remember also that having other things ready outside the freezer (spice mixtures for quick sautees; your favorite rices and pastas with good stuff to top/toss them with; fruits, cookies, pickles, nuts...) are worth having around. When's the baby comin'?

I made lamb stew for Xmas with some great chianti and a few other things, and I decided to plate it on top of a simple polenta made with Kenyon's stone ground corn meal (from right here in RI), a stock made from a roasted chicken, a minced onion, a clove of garlic, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme. I knew that the stew would be great. But the polenta turned out to be magical.... I dunno what did made it so wonderful, but my first, surprising bite of that corn mush is what I'll remember...... edited to fix a typo -- ca