Chris Amirault

Not laughing at you at all, though it's funny you should bring this up. I was working at the bar last Sunday and some customers asked me and another bartender this question. We both answered the same way. There are a few cocktail families or "base cocktails" that tell you a lot about ingredients, ratios, spirits, and so on. (Gary Regan's Joy of Mixology is a great place to learn those.) If you learn those basics, you learn a lot about "what works" and "what doesn't work" for the majority of bartenders and guests. Once you know the basics -- Martinis & Manhattans, sours, Old Fashioneds (cocktails proper), punches, champagne cocktails... -- and have a sense of the characteristics of the spirits, you just start screwing around. You know how to do this with food, clearly: you know the basic paradigms and you know the ingredients, so you might sub in parsnips in a beef stew but would also know that broccoli wouldn't be an appropriate substitution. Same is true with drinks: maybe Fernet Branca would be a good substitute for bitters, but creme de cacao isn't going to do the same thing. Of course, that's where it gets interesting: maybe broccoli transforms beef stew -- who'da thunk it? Lots of fascinating drinks depart from those basic paradigms and make us think about ingredients differently.

This one may make an appearance at Casa Amirault in the coming days. Assuming you don't need to rest pre-slicing?

You're right about that Handy. It's a blockbuster. Sam, I agree about the Redemption. campus five, that's a great idea, and I've got a good armagnac on hand....

Nick, what were the temps & times for this pork? ETA: Ignore that. Here's the recipe a bit down the topic.

What paté recipe?

Here's the one I have. Click around the others shown using that (eGullet Society friendly!) Amazon link and you can compare. Seriously. Change your life stuff there.

The Zojirushi makes perfect rice (and oatmeal, and...), every time. Perfect. Every. Time. If you've rarely had perfect rice -- and if you're like I was, it was a rare occurrence indeed -- and you eat it regularly, well....

The answer is sort of. We have a comprehensive index for the charcuterie topic, and another you'll be hearing about a lot in the coming days. But this sort of project requires an expansive effort and constant monitoring and updating that expands beyond the bounds of our volunteer corps. For starters, perhaps we can use this topic to gather the best of what's out there.

Shockingly, when I've tried to do that in the past, it looks a lot more Zimmern, with a big, ugly gash, and a lot less Keller.

Actually, it can. The machine and detergent designs assume that you're putting food into the box: the detergents are designed to eat up some of it, and the machine chews up that broken down mess. If you have no food, then it throws that engineering out of whack and you're left with excess detergent on your dishes.

Directions depend, though. When we moved recently, we left behind a brand new Kenmore dishwasher that didn't need prewashing or a ton of detergent. Our new house has a circa 1978 warhorse that requires prewashing, extra detergent, and it still doesn't get stuff clean enough -- though we don't have the cloudy problem people describe. Oh, and the Xmas present I'm getting from my wife? It's the same as the gift I'm giving her: half a new Kenmore dishwasher.

Can't one adjust bite with either noodle? Thickness, doneness: if the only difference between T&P is width, those variables are, well, variable.

And you remove the wish bone how, exactly?

I don't think it's a hijacking. There's something about a wide, flat, soft noodle that's quite different than one that's slim, and I suspect that mouthfeel -- or perhaps tonguefeel -- has something to do with it.

What's the green veg on the right? Nopales?

I think an experiment is necessary using older vs newer eggs.

I grabbed a bottle of Marie Duffau Napoleon Bas Armagnac for holiday cooking & drinking, and it's remarkable. I think I paid $32 or so for it, and it's as good or better as most of the VSOP cognacs I've had in the house. Making a Saratoga with it now, in fact.

Chris who?

I'll trade you my copy of Les Halles for a Falk copper pan or two.

Your life is about to change for the better.

Wow: my tongue is ~1" wide. I guess I have a thin tongue. What width do you go for with yours? ETA: I guess I mean "surface area," not the whole thing splayed out....

He's using a chef's knife, to get through those joints, I think.

I cannot justify it, but I'm hoping that the hints I keep dropping about Thermapens will take root somewhere....

What's the perfect width? About the width of your tongue?

I have been breaking down and boning a lot of chickens and ducks lately, making stock, preparing for confit, and so on, and I realize that I don't have a set routine. Sometimes I do the index finger under the ribs to release the breast meat; sometimes I use a knife. Sometimes I start by cutting out the backbone with shears; sometimes I start with removing the thigh and leg with the boning knife. I haven't gotten out my Pepin Techniques to see how Jacques goes about it; impressive though it is, the video below of Hung Huynh "destroying" chickens on Top Chef isn't exactly step-by-step: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnMiyBLhonE So I'm wondering how you do it. What first? What last? What's your preferred break down?