jsmeeker

Ummm I dunno... for smoked salt, I was thinking they would just put some salt into a smoker, like you would a piece of animal protein.

too bad they didn't have mics for the people in the audience asking questions.

Happy Repeal Day! (got my Wild Turkey Manhattan here)

I just finished watching this episode off of my TiVo. Really, not nearly as complicated as I thought it would be. Of course, I haven't read through this thread to learn about other techniques, but his looked pretty good. And the suggestion to make Moon Pies? Oh yeah... I gotta try that! (and really, I want to try his melt the chocolate with a heating pad and keep in temper method) ← Hmmm... did you notice that his chocolate was totally NOT in temper? I'm not saying that you can't do it with the heating pad, but you'd have to keep a pretty good eye on it, though. ← Honestly, no.. I didn't really pay close enough attention. Then again, I bet it would be tough for an amateur like me to tell just via a quick shot on a TV show.

I just finished watching this episode off of my TiVo. Really, not nearly as complicated as I thought it would be. Of course, I haven't read through this thread to learn about other techniques, but his looked pretty good. And the suggestion to make Moon Pies? Oh yeah... I gotta try that! (and really, I want to try his melt the chocolate with a heating pad and keep in temper method)

This is a pretty good list. For Bourdain, I want to see him COOK rather than see another food travel show. And he should team up with Ruhlman. Cook out of Le Halles for a lot of the stuff, too. Gordon Ramsey would be a good addition, too. And I'd keep the "Chef's Story" program too (or something like that). More Mark Bittman. I liked his "Bittman Takes On" Series. Maybe he should do a "The Minimalist" series. That could be good.

when I first started making pizza dough, I did a recipe that called for an overnight ferment of the dough. The recipe went on to say that you could keep the unused dough in the fridge for a few days. And I have done this. I too find that the stuff that stays in the fridge longer is easier to work. However, I've never tried NINE days. Maybe 3, possibly four, is the most I've let it sit. There really is much to be said about overnight fermenting of dough in the fridge. As mentioned previously, Peter Reinhart is a big advocate of this technique. Most of the breads I have made from his "BBA" book use it. (including a pizza dough that calls for CHILLED flour and chilled water). I thinking that next time I want pizza, I will plan earlier. More than a day in advance. For example, I should make up some dough tomorrow for a pizza on Friday or Saturday.

I was at CM today (Plano store) and picked up a little bit (a few table spoons) of the Salt Works Durango Hickory Smoked Sea Salt. It sure smells smoky. Have yet to use it, but I am thinking it will finish a steak later in the week. Maybe it will taste/smell like I actually cooked it over a charcoal fire instead of on the stove top and in the oven. I mean, this stuff really DOES smell smoky.

I can get it here in Dallas at Central Market, but it costs like $4 or $5 for a 5lb bag. Seems kind of pricey to me. What does it run in place like Georgia or wherever it's a lot more common?

Cool.. I'll watch it just for Tre. Finally got to meet him two weekends ago.

I don't think these are "speakeasies" in any sense other than (usually) being small and not copiously signed/advertised. And I think the "modern speakeasy" meme is one picked up by the press more than deliberately promulgated by cocktail bar owners. Dave Kaplan of D&C touches on this when he explains that some places have rules "because speak-easies had them and speak-easies are in vogue " on the one hand or because they're "simple guidelines of etiquette" on the other hand. -- the implication I take from this is that the former is silly and the latter is useful. Of course speakeasies (which is to say, places to get illegal booze during the Volstead Act from 1920 to 1933) were likely horrible places to get a drink after stocks of pre-Prohibition booze ran out. But I'm not sure that modern cocktail spots are trying to emulate them so much as some of them are trying to evoke a time still associated with quality mixology in America. This is mistakenly thought to be the Jazz Age, but more often than not the actual iconography comes from the post-Prohibition period (e.g., the Thin Man movies) or from the (Nineteen) Teens. As to your larger point, I'm sure that many a saloon was a rough and ready place back to whichever day one would like to harken. But I don't get the impression that anyone is furthering the belief that cocktail bars during the previous great cocktail ages were like monastaries. Sam Ross at M&H/Little Branch does say, "Everything we do is a throwback to the early 20th century . . . The bartenders are inspired to bar-tend at a different level . . . We're seen as a draw for the place." But I don't see that as quite the same thing as creating a false mythology. I assume you are thinking of this: I think you may be misreading this part. They're not talking about a doorman making arbitrary choices based on appearance to keep out the Red Bull and Vodka drinkers. They're talking about keeping out the Red Bull and Vodka drinkers by not offering any vodka and not offering any Red Bull (among other things). I'm not sure where you are getting the idea that they are regulating shirts and pants and things like that (one customer at PDT made a joke about Oxford shirts). All I see is that some places ask men to take off their hats or disallow baseball hats. ← I suppose I did misread it, then. Somewhere I saw doorman and velvet rope and automatically came up with the sterotypical red rope and doorman at a night club image in my mind. Controlling the crowd at what seems to be a whim soley to generate hype by making it tough to get in.

I'll have to check this out next time I stop into the Plano location. Thanks for the heads up.

I'm not so sure if this is the case. At least based on what I read in the article about some of the bars in Los Angeles. There were references to the types of shirts and pants people were wearing in one place, plus another mention about the doorman keeping people out who don't belong. How does the doorman know if you are the type to order a Negroni or a Red Bull and Vodka? Does he ask? I somehow doubt that. I DO understand having a "velvet rope" and door man if the goal is to control the size of the crowd in the bar and not to allow it to exceed actual SEATING capacity. But maybe I am reading too much into this or the reporter didn't do a good job explaining.

It's also American to allow proprieters to run their businesses as they see fit. If you own a bar and don't want groups larger than four, I think you should do it. If it works, great for you. If it doesn't, you either change the rule or say "forget it" and close up shop. That said, I don't know how many of these rules I would put up with. What I want is a really great, comfortable, inviting place to get a very well made cocktail. I don't want to be some one special or to have to have the right designer clothes on to get past the velvet rope. Yes, I'm more than willing to keep it "low key" in a place like that. But I don't really need to be TOLD to do that via a set rule. It's something I would do naturally. And I wouldn't go to a place like that if I was with a large group or with a group that didn't appreciate a good cocktail or people who just wanted to get bombed off of vodka and cranberry. After readign the article, I'm a bit confused as to where these great places are in L.A. The writer spends a lot of time about talking abotu places in New York, too, hoping back and forth between there and L.A.

They still have Bobby Flay doing that "Throwdown" show. Of course, it's not a traditional how to cooking show. I like Emeril. His "live" show is over the top in the same way Letterman can be. Filiming/taping in front of a a LIVE audience isn't like filiming on a set with no audience. His "Essense" show is pretty good, and he is FAR more "normal" there than he is in the ampled up "Live" show. If I was in the same boat as Emeril, I think I would ahve ridden the gravy train for as long as possible, too. He IS a real chef. He worked his way up through the industry. If you can be fortunate enough to rake in some serious bucks, why not do it? I don't think it's too shameful. Also, I've had good experiences at two of his restaurants in Las Vegas. I'd love to go to some of his places in New Orleans.

Interesting.. The restaurant is only open 3 nights a week, plus Sunday brunch. And there are only 4 rooms. At $500 a night. (A room gaurantees you a table at the restaurant). I wonder how many seats the restaurant has?

I was surprised the plating scores were so close. I really thought Dean/Cora stuff was much better looking.

My guess is that the "shake" mode is probably a more aggressive/faster stir. I don't see how it could possibly shake something, like the aforementioned paint can shaker machine.

While surfing through Amazon, I stumbled upon something that I had never seen before. There are all sorts of specialty appliances out there these days. Something just to heat frozen pizzas. An appliance to make iced tea. Electric egg poachers. The bar has been pretty safe. Maybe the worst thing I have seen is a frozen margarita machine. Well, I have found something that takes the crown of useless appliances for the bar. The The Waring Professional Electric Martini Machine It's $100. Yup. One hundred US Dollars. (and that's the sale price)

For Thanksgiving. A cranberry-apple pie. Recipe is from Cook's Illustrated. The pie dough is their dough that uses vodka. first time I have ever made this pie or used this dough. The dough was easy to work. Just used plenty of flour to roll it out. We'll see how it tastes. For now, while the pie cools, I will simply post pics of the the whole pie. After we dig into it later in the day, I'll take pics of a slice and come back and post it.

can't offer adivce for your area, but I too ran into this a lot when looking for chickens under 4 lbs. I finally started to find them at a fancy supermarket in the Dallas area. But getting one under 3 lbs? I haven't seen that. (except cornish game hens, which I understand to be simply small, young chickens)

I'll be back in San Francisco in mid January. I would be nice to find a decent bar/lounge that's within a convenient walk of the Union Square/Moscone Convention center area. Looks like most of the places mentioned so far here aren't in that area. However, I have been known to hoof to/from that area and places like the Ferry Building (someone mentioned Slanted Door, which I have been to for lunch) and Taddich Grill (been there a copule of times, including last year where I DID get a nice Manhattan while waiting for seat for dinner). . Just looking for a decent place where I can get a nice cocktail. It will most likely be a "spur of the moment" type of decision as to when I might want to go or have free time alone or with willing companions.

I got a chance to read the review for Fearing's. Looks like the supposed issue with the food is his attempt to cling to much to the past. At least, that's the way it read to me. I'm sure it's gotta be tough for a chef like Dean, who was working at one places for a long, long time and doing a style of cooking he became very well known for. When you move onto a new place, do you continue on, or change styles? as far as the current Mansion is concerned, wasn't the menu largely revamped when the new chef came in? (I think just a few old menu items remain like the tortilla soup and the lobster tacos)

haven't read the full review yet, but I believe the Mansion (when Dean was there) was pretty much 5 stars across the board, wasn't it?

Thanks for the sneak peek. I know Ruhlman had his eyes opened by veal stock when he went to the CIA to write "Making of a Chef". Nice to see he still feels strongly about it, even if it seems to have fallen out of favor in lots of restaurants. I gotta get my hands on some veal bones. Somehow, someway. I Gotta do it.