Chris Amirault

Morning! I'm a bit bleary-eyed: Bebe (the 5 year old) was up coughing at 2a and I was the night nurse. Getting started, slowly.... Nope: standard issue Whole Foods choice. This animal was from a farm in NH, I believe.

So: day one is a wrap. I will share a couple of projects tomorrow involving the Sous Vide Supreme and the Ultra Pride grinder. We've got nixtamal preparation, a pancake and bacon breakfast, another shop or three, lots of stock prep, beef marinading, and who knows what else in store for tomorrow. It's been great to spend the day with everyone! For now, good night.

Not yet, Peter. Any ideas? I'm hoping each night to feature an interesting cocktail, and "interesting" is what many people have said, in an attempt to be polite, when tasting this one. It's from one of my favorite cocktail books, which is sadly out of print after fewer than 300 copies were published: the Rogue cocktail book by Kirk & Maks, a couple of far-reaching bartenders who went whole hog, manifesto and all, in pursuit of libation perfection. You can read my rather breathless take on the book here. In that post/rant/soapbox speech, I mention "lobster cocktails," a phrase I feel like I heard somewhere but can't trace back to its source. Lobster cocktails are the sorts of surprisingly, miraculously delicious drinks that, when you read the recipe, you cannot possibly believe that someone would drink, let alone enjoy. I offer you tonight's beverage, the lobster cocktail par excellence, the 2 to 2: 1 1/2 oz Aperol 1 oz absinthe (Leopold Bros.) 1 oz lemon 1/4 oz gum syrup dash orange bitters (half Regan's, half Fee's) egg white Layer upon layer unfolds beneath a deceptively smooth meringue. Not everyone will like this intense mouthful, which looks like pink cotton candy but hides all sorts of razor blades. Indeed, some here find it vile. Me? I think it's one of the best drinks of the year. ETA: Here's a great recipe from Tri2Cook for gum/gomme syrup. This is my take on that basic recipe.

For my money, one of the greatest single posts in the history of eG Forums was written by Charles, aka busboy. You can, and should, read it here. I think of it often, especially since the move into a house with a dishwasher that's ok on the top shelf -- -- but, due to a host of design issues, requires a nearly empty bottom shelf: Thus someone is left, most nights, with this: When it's my turn... well, try as I might, it turns out I'm no Thich Nhat Hanh, so I can't quite channel the Buddha while washing dishes mindfully no matter how hard I try. (And I do try.) But, with the help of some J.M VSOP rhum, I find I can regularly channel Charles. Cheers, busboy.

Thanks, Leslie: Sadly, my deep fryer is on the fritz, and I'm not going to be able to free up stovetop space for a dutch oven filled with oil. Gotta go the oven route.

Correction I have been advised that this post incorrectly attributes the origin of the Vacuvin pineapple corer/slicer. Though an earlier edition of the gadget was indeed purchased at a yard sale for a buck, the item shown in the photograph was, in fact, a gift -- from my terrific mother-in-law. This fact has been pointed out to me by my loving wife. Ahem. So, in the spirit of honesty and familial harmony, I issue this correction. Back to the foodblog.

Dinner -- as earlier stated, not much to report. Some leftover meatballs and red sauce: Some Shaw's "Culinary Circle" pasta, which was fine but not in any culinary circle of which I'm aware: I was short a few balls, so I went to the freezer: Of the many wonderful things that the Sous Vide Supreme does in my life, defrosting rapidly is among them. I just toss in the bag, wait a few minutes, and presto: Some grated parmigiano reggiano, a glass of Cusumano Nero D'Avola, and dinner was served. ETA: The bowl of pasta itself:

No. Should I? Yes. If you can get it very freshly roasted. Next time I go I'll find out about roast dates. I'm usually just another slob in the methadone line....

Yep: through spring, even: ends May 28, after which the summer/fall markets start. I want to say about 6", max. Hrm. I was thinking a bit shorter, but....

Pichet Ong responded to my gougeres query. More from him soon.

Tonight's shopping excursion. En route to the farmers market, we stopped at Ocean State Job Lot, a RI cut-rate store/institution: For reasons I cannot comprehend, Job Lot (as it's known 'round these parts) has the biggest selection of Bob's Red Mill products, all on discount. I keep trying to find a fine cornmeal they used to carry, but, alas, not tonight. Next, we were off to: This market is pretty darned good, considering New England winters and the small size of Providence. Chef Matt Gennuso of Chez Pascal has, by far, the best food truck in the state, which is always parked outside the market: Inside, I took a few snaps before the vendors were fully set up. Here's the entire market in long shot, with Bebe holding up a copy of the most recent edition of Edible Rhody (for which I am a regular contributor): This is where the cash-poor such as I buy market tokens: A few stalls: On the way home, we stopped at an old favorite: Here's the haul: red and yellow onions, eggs, coffee, carrots, garlic, and celeriac from the farmers market: And from the Chinese American market, pork bellies and shoulder, snacks, gai lan, and... a spaetzle maker???

As I mentioned, I swung through Wayland Square to get coffee this morning, home of pal Matt Jennings's (Society member stinkycheeseman) shop/restaurant, La Laiterie/Farmstead. We'll see him later: Also home to a classic Prov coffee shop/restaurant, Ruffuls: Then stopped for some coffee: Kidding! Went to The Edge: Whenever I'm in line there, I hear Lou Reed singing "I'm Waiting for My Man" in my head. The fix:

Thanks, everyone. A spaetzle idea is coming soon. Catching up: I agree. It seemed a good choice for the ice cream, slightly savory in the midst of the sweet. I guess we'll find out. As for tea in general, more on that in a bit. It's duck ham, and I'm smoking them in my trusty Bradley smoker that's in the garage. Along with the wok burner, the freezer, the grill, and more. Suburban living: it has its perks. CASSOULET!! No. Should I? The latter. This is all going in cassoulet.

Interesting. I have a bit of Great Hill Blue in the fridge....

Thanks! How long were grandma's noodles? Back from the market (and a few other places). Downloading photos and will have more soon.

I'm gonna round up everything I can and see what's what. I need diameters, people. Now: off to the Winter Farmers Market.

No one seems to have spaetzle makers in town, including four stores and several chefs I contacted. (Those chefs do like their iPhones, though!) Wondering if I can make do with a colander or cheese grater....

Thanks. Are there anatomical indicators, or are you basing that on the duck demographics?

A bit more prep from last night: getting my ducks in a row. I grabbed a few duck legs at Champe Speidel's Persimmon Provisions in Bristol RI for confit a few weeks ago, but I needed duck ham and fat for Xmas dinner, as well as duck stock and more confit for cassoulet. So I grabbed two more birds at nearby shops: On the left, the Bell & Evans duck (not sure of the type) from Whole Foods, and on the right, the Lake Brome duck, which is a Pekin variety, I believe, from East Side Marketplace, which always carries them. Both were the last in the case; apparently some food nut beat me to 'em. Here they are in their naked glory. I don't quite know how to tell one duck from another. You? The Brome duck is noticeably fatter across the breast. I didn't weigh them or note their weight on the label, stupidly. After breaking them down, the first order of business was creating the brine for the duck ham following the basics of Ruhlman & Polcyn, though subbing in Lustau Pedro Ximenez sherry for madeira: I do nearly everything with that handy scale that I can, and I recently figured out that I can also weigh water when making brine. You know, 1 ml = 1 gram, that whole "foundation of metric measurement is water" thing. Sigh.... Duck breasts ready to go: Glug glug glug... Out the next day to get their pellicle on for smoking: We'll see them later, post-smoke and SV finish. Meanwhile, I seasoned the duck legs & thighs for confit: Overnight in a pan, cleaned off, and into the FoodSaver bag they went with a bit of duck fat: Those spent the night in the Sous Vide Supreme. Meanwhile, I saved the skin to render into duck fat (or, perhaps, crackle up), and got the rest ready for stock: I have become a convert to the stock-making method I first learned as "Chinese": bring everything to a boil, pour off that gunky mess, rinse it, and then refill with clean water. It beats skim-o-rama by a million miles -- and, really, look at that stuff:

Nicely done indeed! I have started to come to a similar conclusion at home; the waft of the twist rises for even that very last drink. I believe I stand corrected.

I had no idea that they made functional kitchen lights so wee. Thanks for that! Those interested in more shots of the kitchen can amble over to the eG Foodblog I started this morning.

Thanks for all the great feedback. Thanks -- will do. I have - they are great! Do you have a tweaked version of that recipe, Kerry? I have some gruyere awaiting; it is essential to finely cube it or can you grate it? Sam, thanks for the spaetzle idea. Mr. Shaw made a batch of it at the pig breakdown we had here in Providence in March 2008, and I was shocked by how good it was. Very tempted.... Checking sources now for a spaetzle maker. Will report back.

More prep: makin' bacon. I was one of the people who fell whole hog into charcuterie thanks to Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn's Charcuterie, and I now make my own bacon, pancetta, smoked salmon, sausages, and much more. For the cassoulet I have to prepare some fresh garlic sausages, so post-Xmas I'll be getting out the grinder and stuffer. Last night I had to finish up a bacon production session. I get my pork bellies at a Chinese grocer with whom I have a long and excellent relationship, much of it founded on the remarkable bellies that they get from a NH farm. About 10 days of curing they went into the smoker, got finished in the Sous Vide Supreme, and then needed to be sliced. My baby: The old Hobart feet slide around a bit, so I put a Thai wooden paddle to good use: Very happy with this batch, which I'll be cooking up post-sleepover in the morning to serve with pancakes: I've taken to vacuum-sealing batches of things in these rolls: You can read more about the technique for making those roles here.

We use Dark Roast of the Decade from New Harvest Coffee Roasters as our regular, go-to espresso bean. It's local and has the roasting date stamped on it, so we can hit a few different places to make sure we're getting fresh beans. Good stuff: replaced the very reliable Alterra beans some time ago.

Here's the Amazon link for that. It looks great -- thanks!