Chris Amirault

Just to be clear: long-lasting isn't the only criterion; works well is high up the list.

Geez, I consider Heinz to be the "good" stuff and the "gourmet," organic dreck to be bad.

The water bath idea is worth trying. Hint, hint. I've noticed that the cubes on the outer edge of my silicone Tavolo trays are clear wherever they could expand -- the corner ones are clearest -- and cloudy where they have another cube next to them, so center cubes are cloudiest. I wonder if filling them in a checkerboard pattern would be worth trying. OK, that's my contribution.

Which one?

You'd think that they were an impossible engineering challenge, like, say, a handheld computing device, one that allow for speech, video, and internet use all in one small package.... Oh wait. We have that. So, again, why can I post this to eG Forums with my Droid but not have dark toast in the morning? Posted from my handheld using the Tapatalk app. Want to use eG Forums on your iPhone, Android or Blackberry? Get started at http://egullet.org/tapatalk

A quick review of our toaster discussions makes it clear: buying a toaster made in the last few decades seems like a really dumb idea. I just grabbed a vintage Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster from eBay and will compare it to the Black & Decker piece of junk we've been using for years as soon as it arrives. So, two questions. What's out there that wasn't built in the 1950s or 1960s and is decent? And why in the world are contemporary toasters, of all things, such failures? I mean, really: toasters?

Industrial tartar sauce. (Hate the homemade stuff.) The more, the better. You?

Where do you live/work, Will?

I also had Bruce's fish sauce question, Nick. In addition, where do you get your SE Asian ingredients? Can you find coriander/cilantro with roots still on? They're great pounded into submission and added to sauces.

Very interested to read about and look at this meal, Nick. Have you been since the remodel? or at all?

Lamb is an interesting idea -- though lamb fat has the opposite problem of chicken fat, melting at a pretty high temperature. You gotta do some experiments, clearly!

Very interesting, Linda. About an hour south, I found a few slabs of fine looking salt cod at the Cranston Whole Foods. It's in the fridge soaking as I speak, just at the end of day one. Needs, at least, another day or so. I work Sunday night, so we're looking at Monday at the earliest. I'm thinking of fritters now, but I'm game for suggestions as well.

Where?!?

Yes, and, by god, it's terrific.

Yeah, they cost 2 bucks each. Posted from my handheld using the Tapatalk app. Want to use eG Forums on your iPhone, Android or Blackberry? Get started at http://egullet.org/tapatalk

It's white grapefruit season -- you know, the grapefruit that tastes like grapefruit instead of that insipid, pink thing in the stores most of the year. Our household goes through a dozen a week, slicing it in half to broil under some brown sugar, squeezed into Blinkers, Colonials, Nevadas, and more, and, of course, eaten peeled and supremed. Just killed one standing over the sink that way. Surely you know some more ways to eat these glorious fruits while they're in season.

Made a variation on Phil Ward's Oaxaca Old Fashioned: 1 1/2 oz Herradura añejo tequila 1/2 oz Chichicapa mezcal 2 t smoked pineapple syrup dash Bittermens xocolatl bitters dash Angostura bitters Stir; strain; flamed blood orange peel around the rim and in.

Give it a go! I'd try it with thigh meat, not breast meat, though.

That is excellent, percyn. What do you think would happen if you kept them in longer?

I've now made these a few times with different tweaks, and can report back as follows: One inch means "one inch." It seems somewhat vague, but that's just exactly the size to get a great rise and firm crust hiding a moist interior. The ones the first time around were more in the 1 1/2" range, and they had some ceiling crashes as a result. There may be some other cheeses worth trying, but the moisture level of the gruyere is just right. I substituted another cheese -- the name escapes me -- that someone said was "better than gruyere," but it didn't melt in the pan the same way and, I think, affected the outcome. I didn't find the "stick to the bottom of the pan" instruction as useful as setting a timer to 6 minutes. Finally, a quart Ziplok holds this recipe perfectly, and you can trim a corner to neat effect.

Quitting? You mean besides your morning pick-me-up and evening apertif, right?

Over in my recent holiday foodblog, I had the great fortune to obtain, share, and use a terrific gougeres recipe from Pichet Ong. We've had a topic on bacon gougeres and one on paté a choux in general, but never one that focuses on getting gougeres just right. Here's that recipe by Ong: Gougeres 250 g milk 4 g salt 2 g ground white pepper 1/16 teaspoon fresh nutmeg 125 g butter 150 g water 90 g gruyere + 50 g more for dusting the top before baking 125 g AP 4 eggs 1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. 2. Put the milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, butter, water, and 90 g gruyere in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, 4 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly by scraping the bottom of the pan and folding the dough over and over with a spatula, until the mixture is smooth and just starts to stick to the bottom of the saucepan, 6 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. 3. Mix the dough on medium speed for 1 minute to allow steam to escape and the dough to cool slightly. With the machine running, add eggs, one at a time, and continue mixing until everything is well-incorporated, 2 minutes. Turn the mixer speed to high and mix for 10 seconds. 4. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch diameter plain piping tip and pipe out 1-inch diameter,1-inch tall rounds set 2 inches apart. Try to form a peak at the top of each. Sprinkle a generous pinch of cheese on top of each piece. Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350ºF and bake until risen and golden brown, 15-18 more minutes. Resist the temptation to peek in on the puffs; do not open the oven door while baking. Remove from the oven and cool completely on the pan. A few comments from my meager experience to follow.

OK, I'm being obtuse here I think, but how do you deploy it for scrambled eggs?? With the whisk attachment while they cook..? Before they cook? Though I wouldn't imagine a blender is necessary for that..hmm. (I don't have an immersion blender, but am in the market for one, so am a heady combination of inept and intrigued). You crack a bunch of eggs into a bowl and blast them for a few seconds with it on low. I don't have attachments so I'm talking about the basic blade that comes on models like these.

I've learned how good it is at eggs -- whites for drinks and scrambled, in particular.

Um... if that video is correct, the device is not the answer. That's not clear ice.