DerekW

Your recommendations please, for the best [where for us that probably means something like: instructive, enjoyable, varied, good value] introduction to raw oysters in the Vancouver area. I've trawled through the search results, read several Oyster threads [such as this one and this one through. There doesn't seem to be much new information posted in the last few years; has anything changed? Rodney's? Joe Fortes? Somewhere else entirely? Let me stress please, we are raw oyster neophytes, looking for a positive first experience Thanks Derek

Hey, I object to that... oh you meant the board Round boards can be clamped in by a moderate amount using strap clamps a.k.a. web clamps. Serious pressure would mean assembling a jig, but that's not hard if you have some scrap and access to a woodshop [or know someone who does]. What is likely to put the end to repair, I fear, is the oil applied to the open crack - the internal faces of the joint will now be contaminated and gluing may not take . A liberal dousing with solvent, and a bit of mopping out, and the regluing might take, but I'd not offer good odds, [having built some butcher-type blocks...] Blocks are assembled with the wood clean cut for good bond, then finished on the exterior. [edited for spelling]

Other than being tarry from the smoke, there's no visible problem with the ply lid on the firebox - The foil seems to have worked well. I weighted the lid down to discourage warping, and that was probably worth doing, since the flatness is all that's maintaining any kind of 'seal'. If I was more fastidious then a lipped lid might be the way to go, but the simple ply sheet allowed a 'vent control' [i.e. I slid it slightly off to one side to open airflow when needed ]

A little less than a month or two, two pig legs went into tubs with a goodly amount of dry cure. One was more or less the molasses and rum mixture straight from the book; its partner was a variant with kirsch instead of rum, and a few pounds of black cherries. Both had been boned out all the way up [down] the leg. This past weekend they were rinsed and soaked then dried before being hooked into the 'Heath Robinson' cold smoker: That's two-thirds of the Weber 'Bullet' smoker acting as the firebox, and a cold box made from scrap plywood, old broom handles, aluminium ducting, and of course, Duct tape. There was plenty of capacity left under the new plywood lid of the hot smoker, once things were running we did a couple of slabs of organic bacon, and a couple of big racks of ribs. Up in the cold box there was not much to see: You would be hard put to confirm that there were two 20lb hams-in-the-making hanging in there, eh? Cold box temperatures were generally about 6o Fahrenheit, with the hot smoker running around 180 to 200 depending on how carefully I tweaked. Ambient was around 5 Fahrenheit for most of the time. The lid on the firebox end of the duct was 3/4" ply and has a couple of layers of heavy aluminium foil stapled to the underside to try to reflect some of the heat back. The same weights used to press the hams were placed on top to keep things flat and relatively leak-free once the temperature got up. One thing that did take me by surprise was the volume of moisture that built up in the bottom of the cold box, and thus naturally in the duct. The legs will be taken out and hung overnight in the garage to keep them from neighbourhood dogs, coyotes and 'coons before going in for a few more hours in the smoke tomorrow.

It was the opposite problem that led me to the case-order 211 recipes on CocktailDB... Once Aviations and Emersons entered the rotation here it was only a matter of time for the bottle brought home by travelling family. I've never had the Maraska product; how would you describe the difference?

At long last I've managed to get hold of some Luxardo Maraschino, retail, in Vancouver. Doing so has involved ordering a full six bottle case, which I'll be picking up sometime next week. I don't need all six bottles, so if there are any local cocktail explorers who want to go in on the purchase, please consider yourself invited to drop me a PM. This is strictly not a commercial enterprise of any sort on my part, and I'm not going to be making any money on the deal; I just thought that there might be one or two folk who, like me have sought the stuff and wearied of the LDB process. Oh, and as far as I can tell, I'm not contravening the eGullet guidelines in making this post, but if I'm wrong, or am offending anyone then please let me know, and I'll take it down. It may take a wee while to work through all six bottles myself but that's a sacrifice I'm prepared to make

Interesting. We have a number of Pyrex [and similar] glass items in use in the kitchen. Useful equipment. I have an approximately two inch long scar arcing along the side of my hand and up onto my small finger, imparted by a flying fragment of a Pyrex jug which exploded in my hand a couple of years ago. The jug bore no noticeable scratches at the time, was not being and had not been previously mistreated. Numerous stitches and messy blood loss were involved. This didn't happen to my sister's friend's aunty Jean, it happened to me. Stuff happens. Glass, even competently tempered, can retain internal stress sometimes sufficient to cause breakage from causes so vanishingly small as to appear spontaneous, even years after manufacture. This was explained to me by the manager of a reputable art-glass manufacturer, whose team were at that time crafting a replacement for a piece which had cloven itself after a decade or so of sitting peacefully on a shelf. I'd torch the brulee with care but not much concern.

If you're (re)equipping a kitchen and there's a Homesense nearby then I'd suggest putting together a shopping list and dropping by every couple of weeks - the stock changes fairly frequently, and often bears close inspection. For example, they had a variety of Anolon hard anodised pieces a while back. Most were identical to the current full-price retail offerings, but mixed in amongst them and at the same prices were a few pieces of the older, better, heavier construction. Knowing exactly the specification of the item sought is important, and so is being able to keep your money in your pocket in the face of 'bargains' which you can manage without. Some might question my grasp of the second point

A couple of things. We have one of the large very heavy based ("Commercial Capsule") Lagostina saute pans. It does exactly what I want in that style of pan. Open stock at a local retailer The (12" dia?) pan with lid cost something like $250. I paid about $35 from a local End of line discount store, Homesense; part I believe of the same group that runs TJ Maxx in the US? If you can nurse your current pan for a few more trips to the range then perhaps you can pick up a similar bargain. Second thing. The full price pan had a handle style which Lagostina seem to like, where the entire weight of the pan is transfered to the handle through a narrow horizontal ribbon of metal, and with the weight of this pan the handle design did not look very durable - it was bending alarmingly as I waved the pan around in the store, empty. On the other hand, the bargain priced pan has a cast stainless handle with a cantilevered design, and gives confidence in use.

Having sworn off home-use stick blenders years ago, weary of feeble little motors which whined and smelled of overheating, I'm deep in the middle of soup season, and remembering the convenience factor of blending in the pan. Maybe not fondly enough to buy another underpowered toy though. Our regular blender is a second hand Vita-mix, and that thing is a workhorse, but a batch of soup can easily be three beakers full. Does anyone use a small commercial stick blender at home - maybe something like the 12 inch Waring? - I know that I don't need a double-handed 40 gallon concrete mixer. Your experiences, good or bad, and recommendations please.

You can put metal objects into a domestic microwave, but there are a couple of reasons why you might not want to do so: Metal reflects microwaves [the inside of the cooking chamber is metal, and that's what keeps the energy in there where you want it. Using a metal container will shield the container's contents from the microwaves to some extent. Might be what you want, might not. The microwave cooker is designed to avoid reflecting significant amounts of energy back out of the cooking chamber back towards the source [magnetron]. Too much energy being reflected back can damage the magnetron and by placing a reflective metal object in the cooking chamber you run that risk. Bowls, having curved sides, make poor reflectors from most angles. "Pointy" metal objects can act as handy little jumping off points for concentrations of radio frequency energy, and sparking can occur there. "Pointy" here could be the peaks of crinkles on a piece of foil, or something more obviously pointed like a skewer. Bowls, by their nature don't usually have such forms, but the little specs of metal in ceramic glaze can look pointy to the RF. My guess, without having tried this for confirmation, would be that a metal bowl actually touching the side all the time would not be a problem, but one which was making and breaking contact due to vibration would probably spark, hence the 'no touchy' instruction.

Skate wing? it has a big piece of cartilage, rather than bones. It's not difficult to fillet the flesh off the cartilage before you cook it. What Jackal10 said, although I'd use the juice from your lemon instead of his vinegar. I like to toss a few croutons in the lemony butter, and have been known to finely dice some green chili pepper to add to or replace the capers. That said, you have the capers and didn't mention a chili

You could try Chef'n spatulas at Amazon - they carry some, although not the entire range we get locally [Canada]. Particularly they are not showing the 'square edged spoonula' of which I'm so fond.

Favourite utensil: Chef'n double ender; Large square 'spoonula' on one end & small spatula on the other. With a metal spine entirely encapsulated in one piece of silicone there are no grubby little corners. Favourite non-utensil: Budget price muffin-tray cut up into six 'pinch bowls'. They do everything from holding small mis to capping that leftover half lemon to freezing left overs. Rigid enough to pick up full, flexible enough to squeeze to form a pour spout.

Sounds like the blues alright. Show me someone who claims they never have a bad day, never turn out a plate of dog-food, and I'll show you someone suspected of being 'economical with the truth'. In what way 'gagged you'? Disasters are learning experiences, eh? Analyze a bit [texture unpleasant? A matter of balance?] Reading your post it sounds as though most of what you are cooking is turning out OK at least. There are certainly some recipes in print which make me wonder if the writer ever actually tested the outcomes, and there are many more which make assumptions which might not be the same ones you or I might make. Only if you like it

Since stumbling across it in Mark Kingwell's "Classic Cocktails" [a volume which makes up in warmth what it perhaps lacks in titling originality] I've been regularly enjoying something called 'the Emerson': As I put it together, 8 Gin, four red Vermouth, 2 lime juice, 1 Maraschino. That name, those ingredients [in variant proportions] appear dotted across the web, but never, as far as I can find, a hint as to the original source. No history. Merely enjoying the drink is no longer enough; I've been spoiled by Mr Wondrich's "Imbibe", and the flow of information on posts here. Can anyone tell me anything about the origins of this mix? cheers Derek

I have a remote probe digital temperature controller which I have hooked up to an AC extension cord. Several manufacturers make them, they're available from HVAC or process control supply houses. Maybe $100 or so. They're pretty accurate - more so than most kitchen thermometers around our house. Since the controller is external, it is easy to re-purpose it - one week it might be controlling an old refrigerator to give a controlled fermentation chamber, another might see it switching fans and heaters in a DIY bulk dehydrator. As long as the device controlled can achieve the temperature sought, then the controller has only to switch the power to suit. The hysteresis is [if memory serves] adjustable, but in any case is sufficiently short that temperature cycling would not be an issue.

These [rubber strap wrenches] are available all over the place, grip jars as well as lids, are easy to clean, cost next to nothing. Buy two and if the jar slips in your hands then deploy both at once. About the only thing they are not so good at is dealing with little skinny lids [they work, but are a bit fiddly on the really small ones], but then you have the JarPop for those.

Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz's "The book of Latin American Cooking" has been a good resource for me. It's still in print, too, suggesting I'm not alone Covering an entire continent's cuisine in one paperback is a tall order, but the book packs in a lot of things which have become standards in what I laughingly call my 'repertoire' - from ceviche through Matambre and on. Lots of interesting background too e.g. Making your own freeze-dried potatoes by leaving them out overnight in the mountains, anyone? Chuño

I'd strongly recommend Bill Bridges' "The Great American Chili Book" - very readable on the history, and full of interesting recipes ranging all the way from 'meat, fat and peppers' to elaborate 'West Coast' things You'll have to pick it up used, I think, but it seems to be easy to find that way. cheers Derek

A local chocolatier makes a really good lemon basil truffle; basil and chocolate is not a pairing I would have been likely to come up with myself, but it works when he does it. Perhaps a bitter chocolate & basil mousse?

At the risk of beating a dead horse, since you've already pointed out that you have 'Waiters friend' types... How about the Pulltaps Extens? It has a nice substantial feel, is significantly smaller and more rounded, hence pocket-friendly, and has the double lift which draws even long corks straight.

Regarding hedgehog spines: I recall reading that one traditional method of cooking involved thickly coating the hedgepig in clay and baking it in the embers of the fire. On removing the cooked animal from the ashes one cracked open the clay shell and the spines remained embedded. Pity that the animals are so scarce; I imagine them to be good campfire finger food.

Yup. My bad; I wasn't clear enough. When I've done this I'll render a fair bit of the breast fat at a low heat then lift the meat from the pan, drain the fat and jack the heat up. The breast goes back in at skin crisping temperature. Starting with the breast meat refrigerator cold helps prevent overcooking during the rendering. After a duck or two [there will be more ducks ] enough carcase fat has been accumulated for easy confit-ing and the care in rendering from the breast can be relaxed. Duck-fat fried potatoes, anyone?

How have ducks you've enjoyed eating been prepared? Do you definitely want to do something 'whole duck'? If that's not a strict requirement then I would suggest breaking the duck down, serving the breasts pan fried. Score skin deeply but not to the meat, slowly render out most of the fat. Reserve same. Sear the meat and crisp the skin, and make up a simple pan reduction sauce; balsamic deglaze and berry fruit or something simple like that. The fat from the carcase gets rendered out and used with the gently rendered breast fat [boosted with some lard perhaps] to confit the legs. Rich ducky stock results from the carcase and giblets, but I'd recommend frying up the heart as a separate little nibbly. Lots more duck for the buck.