mkayahara

Made a Last Word variation last night with La Favorite rhum agricole blanc substituted for the gin. A tasty and, I think, worthwhile rendition. I'm sure I'm not the first one to do this, so I'm wondering if there's a consecrated name for this variation. For that matter, is there any base spirit that doesn't work in this drink?

Without trying to drift too far off topic here, faced with the option of 80-proof Beefeater, 80-proof Tanqueray and 80-proof Gordons, is Gordons my best bet? Having done side-by-side tastings of 80-proof Beefeater and Plymouth, the flavour intensity of the Plymouth made it my go-to gin for everything. I'd welcome any advice... especially advice that can save me money!

In my experience, it probably won't correct itself. I've had this happen to several batches of pickles in the past and, according to my copy of Putting Food By, it comes from the cucumbers sitting around for too long at room temperature before being immersed in the brine. The good news is that you can still eat them, they're just not as nice aesthetically. And be careful biting into them, unless you want to spray your family and friends with pickle brine!

Yeah, the interesting thing to me is what effect proof has on flavour. Where I live, I can buy only 80-proof versions of Beefeater, Tanqueray, Gordons, Bombay Sapphire, and Broker's. I never understood what the fuss was about Tanqueray until I bought a bottle at duty free. As for ways to account for the higher proof when mixing drinks: I build my Gimlets, rather than shaking them, and I find they're pretty tasty at a wide range of proportions, but I always, always, always let some of the ice melt before drinking. With a higher-proof gin, you could just let it dilute a little longer. Either that, or make a point of reaching for the lower-proof stuff when you make a Gimlet.

The two such cocktails I've done both involved Canadian whisky, so I'm thinking that won't be much help to you. (For the record, I did a Canadian Daisy last year, and a Canadian Collins this year; in both cases, they were for our Canada Day party.) The one I did with sparkling wine is outlined here.

Yeah, this was my thought, too. The first time I tasted Cherry Marnier, I was unimpressed, because it tasted so much like cough syrup. Then I learned about the Blood & Sand cocktail, and my perspective changed. In other words, you might not be doing anything wrong at all! What are you planning on using the final product for?

Yes, botulism is a big concern with dry-cured sausages, which is why you acidify and use nitrates in them. But some molds can raisee the pH of the sausage, opening up botulism as a risk despite these precautions.

I agree with Dave's "on the rocks" suggestion. For that matter, I've only ever made bottled cocktails when I was planning to lengthen them with club soda or sparkling wine, but I find they do quite well under those circumstances.

The May/June 2009 Imbibe magazine had a feature on stocking your bar that you might find interesting, Chris, if you haven't already read it. For what it's worth, my list would be: Gin Bourbon (but only because American rye is unavailable in Ontario) White rum Cognac Sweet vermouth Dry vermouth Cointreau Maraschino Campari Absinthe (or pastis, in a pinch) Angostura bitters are certainly a must, but the bottle is so small it doesn't count toward the 10.

Checking my supply of pectin products, it looks like only the liquid pectin has sodium benzoate in it; the powdered ones I have on hand do not. (Most soft drinks do, however.) If it's something you're really worried about, you can make a pectin stock jelly out of apples and use it to beef up low-pectin fruit jams and so on. I just tried this for the first time (using the recipe in Christine Ferber's Mes Confitures), but I haven't actually used it yet, so I'm not sure how well it will work!

Couldn't beurre noir/black butter be considered a brown butter variant where the solids are simply taken to a darker shade? I agree with you that, if you go too dark, it's just burnt, but I think there's some room to manoeuvre in there. One other thing I've learned about brown butter: don't try making it in a nonstick skillet. It's too hard to tell what colour the milk solids are when they're against a black background.

Even nori is pretty fragile when it's totally dry; the humidity in the rice often softens it up nicely. I wonder how a herb sheet would handle if you dehydrated it, then misted it lightly with water - or a flavourful liquid.

If it were me, I'd blanch it first, then puree and dehydrate. If necessary, you could probably add a touch of methylcellulose, but I'm not sure it'll need it. The thing I'd be most worried about is that it might not taste good...

Pics, please! Bonus points if you can make the basil into sheet form and use that in place of the nori.

Thanks for the pointers. The brine was 50g/l, and there was no scary-looking black or orange mold growing. I've submerged the rest of them with a plate, and will finish fermenting them, then boil the brine, bottle and store them in the fridge this weekend. I really need to find a better way of fermenting large quantities of veggies! If only I had a proper pickle crock.

I recently put a bunch of cucumbers in brine to make pickles (using the "Natural Pickle" method from Ruhlman's Charcuterie). Unfortunately, some of them didn't end up fully submerged, and those ones have started to go moldy after about 5 days. Obviously, I'm going to throw those out, but can anyone tell me if it's safe to eat the others - the ones that stayed fully submerged? Is there anything I need to do to rescue them? Or do I just have to pitch the whole batch? Thanks!

Although it doesn't speak directly to your question, since it's not in the US, the trend is alive and well in Toronto. Here's a writeup that provides something of an overview of the scene there.

Ditto here. The Negroni is my go-to drink under nearly all circumstances. You can't screw it up, and it never fails to satisfy.

Tweezers.

Does this mean the English-language media will correct all the "dangerous chemical" references and ridiculous assertions that liquid nitrogen and molecular gastronomy are inherently unsafe? ...of course not.

Yeah, method is key here. I've had agar/oil ones that lasted for weeks (though they tend to weep after a couple of days, and don't taste as good as they get older). If you're using alginate, then it depends on whether you're putting the alginate in the base or the bath. If it's in the base, they really should be made to order, or else they'll lack the characteristic "pop" of caviar. I've never made them by putting calcium gluconate/calcium lactate in the base, so I can't speak to shelf life on those.

For those that are interested, there is a detailed article (in German) found here. The money quote is this: In other words, the liquid nitrogen caused the container it was in to explode, because of the pressure buildup. This is why it is important never to put liquid nitrogen into a sealed container! The German article is, in this and other respects, far from the fear-mongering nonsense that's been propagated in the English-language press. The article notes that his left hand was ultimately saved, not amputated as previously reported. Also, it's probably important to note that he was working in a house, not a professional kitchen, at the time of the explosion.

Actually, Erik, I think it's 2 oz. rum, 1/2 oz. lime, 1/4 oz. syrup. Which isn't actually that unreasonable for a Daiquiri, I suppose, even though I might personally prefer a little more lime and sugar. And David's point about Embury calling for 3:1 simple syrup is well taken as well. Still, the fact remains that he uses that ratio for pretty much all his sours. And while it might work for a Daiquiri with 3:1 simple, I don't think I'd like a Sidecar that's 2 oz. Cognac, 1/2 oz. lemon juice, 1/4 oz. Cointreau, though I suppose it's worth a try.

Yeah, what's the deal with his 8:2:1 ratio for everything? Those are some boozy Daiquiris...

Last week, I made a Chrysanthemum for the first time, using the "new" Noilly Prat and Kubler absinthe. It was certainly enjoyable, but didn't blow me away. Then, last night, I made another one, with the same vermouth, but with my recently acquired bottle of Taboo Absinthe from Okanagan Spirits. Much nicer drink. Clearly the particular absinthe is an important factor here; I'd love to try it with St. George! Still, I'm curious what people think of the Chrysanthemum made with the new Noilly Prat versus its previous incarnation.