ericthered

I second the recommendation for Prinsen. Was there last summer and plan to go back in a few weeks. Recommend the herring appetizer plate ("sillbricka") for traditional Swedish starter. If they're more adventuresome, the Whitebait Roe (lojrom) is fantastic. They used to have a great seafood salad, but I don't see it on the menu posted on the internet (http://www.restaurangprinsen.com/download/menus/menytest.pdf). There are many other options for traditional Swedish fare including Backfican (bistro in the side of the opera house), Den Gyldene Fryden (classic joint in the old down), and Ullah Winbladh (nice park setting). There are also good buffets at Ulriksdals Wardshus, Grand Hotel, and other places. Beware that Stockholm can be like a post-nuclear zone in July with many natives leaving to their summer cabins and many restaurants closed.

I have the Capresso Infinity--in brushed stainless steel finish. Got it cheap ($69?) at Costco. I've used it daily for over a year with no problems. It's adjustable and works very well for both coarser french press grind as well as for finer espresso grind. To my knowledge, it's the only sub-$100 grinder that can yield a consistent espresso grind. It uses large burrs that are nearly as big as the ones in my Rancilio MD-40 (seriously expensive commercial unit). The only downsides I've noticed are (1) static electric charge builds up and makes it a bit of a challenge to dump out the last bits of ground coffee and (2) it needs regular cleaning because grinds collect in the corners. On the whole, I'm very pleased with this unit.

I have two sharpening stones, the finer is 4000 grit, so it gets pretty smooth. Sliding on the occasional tomato skin is small price to pay for an otherwise razor-sharp edge, so no serious complaints here--just a curious phenom.

When my Misono (UX10) is at its sharpest and the edge is polished, it doesn't go through tomato skin as quickly as my "beater" chef's knife (Frost's), though it glides nearly effortlessly through most everything else. I speculate that the rougher edge on my "beater" knife has micro-serrations that zip though the tomato skin, but lacking a microscope this is merely a guess.

I make Gravlax with some frequency, but have a hard time slicing it. I have a good Solingen stainless steel slicing knife that has granton dimples and is about 1 and 1/4 inch wide. The lox sticks and it's tough to get consistent thin slices. Would I be better off with one of the narrower salmon slicers? Or do I simply need more practice? Anyone with experience in this area? Would it help a lot if the salmon were well-chilled while slicing to firm it up?

I've had the book for about a month. I also have his Whole Grains book and have borrowed the Baker's Apprentice one from the library. I liken this new one to a "simplified greatest hits with a few new tracks." Many of the recipes appear in earlier books, but the ones in this book are simplified and allow for more flexible fermentation times. These fit my busy schedule much better. For example, I'm eating focaccia as I write. The recipe in the new book is very similar to the ones in the prior books, but is simpler and says I can leave the dough in the fridge to ferment for four days (whenever I have time to bake). Though it turns out that four days is pushing it, it did open a new window for me. The focaccia is excellent. Similar experience with a few other recipes thus far. These are NOT speed recipes (the "fast" in the title is a misnomer unless you ignore fermentation time) and the emphasis remains on flavor development, but with more flexibility and slightly simplified. For example, where many of recipes in the Whole Grains book call for a two-part "epoxy" method, this book keeps it all in one bowl. The book is smaller/thinner, contains fewer recipes, and is not as visually appealing as the Whole Grains or Baker's Apprentice volumes, but better organized and the photos are more helpful.

I'm another vote for the Messermeister take-apart shears. Sharp. Light yet gives plenty of leverage to cut out the backbone of chickens. Take-apart facilitates cleaning and makes it fit into my over-stuffed knife bag. The bottle opener feature, however, doesn't work so well--but works in a pinch.

If you weren't in such a hurry, I'd suggest the KitchenAid factory outlet: www.shopkitchenaid.com and click on the "outlet" tab.

I concur on the above suggestion regarding the www.virtualweberbullet.com web page. It has detailed recipes for smoking ribs, pork shoulder, and brisket . . . including some helpful videos. I've smoked all three and all turned out excellent. If you don't have a Weber bullet smoker, the web site has a section on using their popular kettle grills as a smoking device. -EP