TAPrice

I had pie, my wife had pie, and our 1-year-old son had pie.

Thanks for the tip. I first simmered the heads and shells in the butter (which already had garlic, shallots, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary and dried herbs). Then I cooked the shrimp for about 7 minutes at 180-190. I was planning to cooked them only 5 minutes, but the temperature dropped a lot when I added the shrimp. Other than using massive amounts of butter, I guess there isn't a way to avoid that drop. This is where using at least a modified SV technique comes in handy. You could have put the shrimp and the butter into a large ziplock bag, sucked out as much air as you could and sealed the bag. Then you could have heated up a large stockpot of water to your target temperature (I like 47C/117F for cooked-through-but-not-hard shrimp) and dropped in the bag. The large thermal capacity of the water would keep the water bath temperature from dropping too much, amd your shrimp would cook in a few minutes. The easiest way to do this would be to overheat the waterbath by 5 degrees or so, drop in the bagged shrimp and then adjust the temperature downward with cold water. If the stockpot is fairly large, you shouldn't have to boost the temperature back up during the short cooking time. ← Could I have used one of those Ziplock bags with the batter operated pump for this (or maybe I should search for the answer to this question on the sous vide topic).

I can get a nice grenadine at the local Middle Eastern market that's not too sweet and not loaded with HFCS. Has anyone tried a homemade grenadine against a product like this? Given how little is used in most drinks, is the homemade grenadine adding enough flavor to justify the hassle?

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Wellll... I guess we can let you do that. Yep, you can. And if you poach enough to get a nice shrimp flavored butter you can chill it and make shrimp biscuits or shrimp brioche or something. ← It seemed like the clarified butter would work, but all the recipes I saw here and elsewhere involved incorporating butter into boiling water. What's the advantage of the other approach? Is it just a way to use less butter? Could you point me to a recipe for shrimp biscuits? Thanks for the tip. I first simmered the heads and shells in the butter (which already had garlic, shallots, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary and dried herbs). Then I cooked the shrimp for about 7 minutes at 180-190. I was planning to cooked them only 5 minutes, but the temperature dropped a lot when I added the shrimp. Other than using massive amounts of butter, I guess there isn't a way to avoid that drop. Yeah, yeah, I used a digital thermometer to check the temperature.

I wonder if that was really the reason. It is hard these days to know who "speaks" for New York on food. That will probably be clearer now. Could have been an editorial decision. (Just wanted to note that she was at New York magazine, not the New Yorker.)

I've got a massive amount of clarified, seasoned butter. Can I poach some shrimp in this?

Well, "mulato" would be the Spanish. If it's a Cuban drink, wouldn't it be likely to be listed in Spanish? Daiquiri is a masculine word, so you're right that it would end in "-o." Just confirmed with my Spanish officemate that it's not generally pejorative in Spain. Can't say how it's perceived in other countries. (Ok, enough about language)

Although it seems terrible un-PC these days, I'm going to guess the drink combines dark and light rum. My guess it won't be returning to menus anytime soon.

Yeah, I sadly had to leave without even tasting a po-boy. My wife was also 8 months pregnant at the time, and crowds were so thick she worried about her safety. Easy to get pushed over when you're off balance. I certainly want to see how it goes this year. Here's hoping it's great.

Last's year festival was pretty much a nightmare because it wound up being about 10 times more popular than anyone expected. You couldn't move down that street. Sounds like they're much better prepared (and more spread out) this year. I've also heard that vendors will be selling sample sizes of po-boys so that you can try several. Should be a great event.

I only caught the last half, so I'll say more when I see it all. One comment: it surprised me that Padma was so disgusted by the avocado dessert. Maybe it was done badly, but it doesn't seem that unusual.

I can't believe any high profile chefs like Bayless would want the job. But could it be a stepping stone to culinary stardom for a young chef? It never has been before (at least that I'm aware of), but who knows?

Thanks to the detente between Apple and Universal, I was able to download episode one and watch it on my iPod. A few quick thoughts before the second one airs. Quickfire: I liked this. Good to sees a skills test at the start. The unprecedented early elimination set a serious tone. I was surprised that the culinary student did so poorly here. While I can understand an experienced chef being rusty in his basic prep skills, shouldn't this be second nature to a culinary student? Or does the CIA just teach the skill and assume their students will ultimately master it on the job? Was I the only one disgusted by those bloody apples? Yeah, I understand that everyone cuts themselves from time to time, particularly in a speed trial. But if we're testing basic skills, shouldn't contestants be able to perform those skills with a basic level of sanitation? Anyone bleeding should have been forced to stop, dress the cut, and redo the bloody apples. [On a sidenote, is there any practical reason to peel an apple with a knife? Isn't a peeler always more efficient? Should I be working on dexterity with a paring knife?] Main challenge: I liked this as well. Someone is really thinking on the production staff, because the head-to-head challenge made it easier to keep track of who these people are. It bodes well for future episodes. Edit: I've got no favorite for the winner, but I really want the handsome guy with good hair to lose. I'm sure he'll get his one Food Network series as a consolation prize.

I noticed today that a preliminary menu for the Butcher is posted on the Cochon site. Donald invited me down to see the space for the Butcher. Again, if I get a chance I'll snap some photos and post them.

No, not until February. It's for an in-flight magazine. It's more about Donald Link (and others) than the Butcher. I can't remember if Donald said much more about the Butcher, but I'll be happy to post the interview when I have time (probably not until the weekend).

According to this link, he hasn't written a story for them since December of 2007: http://www.newyorker.com/search/query?bylq...yType=nonparsed Maybe he's on leave? Who else covers food?

I interviewed Donald last week, and he's firm on January. Haven't heard a precise day yet. My sense was that it depends somewhat on when the city signs off on everything.

The digitial edition of the New Yorker "food edition" arrived in my inbox, and I was surprised that Bill Buford didn't contribute anything. I know the New Yorker masthead is loose and secretive, but isn't he still on "staff"? Isn't his main duty covering food? Does any other New Yorker writer regularly cover food?

You're absolutely right. I have no idea why I wrote "produced." Maybe I meant that "it's still produce [overseas] and also still distributed in the US"? Sorry for the confusion. I've been getting by on very little sleep recently.

I'm not sure what the issue is, but I'm pretty sure that it's still produced and distributed in the US. The brand has an up-to-date website full of really hot models and info about 2008 promotions. I've contacted the US distributor, and he hasn't indicated that there is a disruption or problem. Edit: As Sam notes below, it's not "produced" here. Not sure why I wrote that.

My local liquor store, which always had Cherry Heering on the shelf before, says the distributor has been out for over a month. Are we sure it's still distributed in the US? And if not, what would work as a substitute?

I'm doing some research for an article about the prohibition era in New Orleans. Hopefully some of you could help me out with some general background on the period throughout the country or references to works on the subject. Here are some questions that I have: How much alcohol was actually flowing during this era? Was it really that hard to get a drink? How did it change drinking habits both during and after prohibition? And what was the impact of prohibition on restaurants in the U.S.? I can't put my hands on it at the moment, but I believe Williams Grimes said in his history of cocktails that it devastated fine dining in America.

Or not. Just spoke to the Country Club, and they said it's just a change of chefs. The sous is taking over, the hours are the same, and the menu is similar for now. Over the next few months, the menu will probably change.

For some reason he's never ranked it among the top since it's opened. It's also not clear that Iris can maintain the quality. It's a much a bigger place. I hope they do, but there isn't a guarantee.