Tri2Cook

Anybody know of a place that might be willing to ship banana leaves? I'm assuming most Ontario sources will be frozen but they seem to survive refreezing well so I can live with the shipping-time thaw.

I thought the "reduced" stickers/bins meant "if it doesn't sell today, take it in the back and put a new date on it". But no, I don't buy it. Mainly because I don't trust the local store to not do what I mentioned above so I'm wondering how old it really is if they're actually going to let it go for less.

Butter chicken poutine! Talk about pushing the boundaries of fusion.

On the sweet side and it didn't make my regular rotation list but I don't regret giving it a try... Bosom Caresser 2 oz. cognac 1 oz. cointreau 1/2 oz. grenadine 1 egg yolk Shake with ice, strain.

Toasted bagel + cheddar + apple butter = breakfast. I also like it with gooseberry jam instead of the apple butter but I haven't had any gooseberry jam around since the farmer's market wound down for the winter.

I've been looking at that one on the website, let me know what you think once you get into it.

If I wanted to take the Eden cocktail from the Difford's Guide site... 2 oz vodka 1/2 oz st. germain 1 1/2 oz apple juice shake with ice, strain into ice-filled collins glass, top with tonic water ...and not use vodka (with the disclaimer that my nose has not grown long enough to look down it at vodka, I have vodka in my cabinet), what would be a good direction to go? I considered replacing it with calvados but thought that might be going overboard. Maybe replace part of the vodka with calvados and the rest with something else or forget the calvados altogether and then what? Again, I don't have an aversion to using the vodka, just wondered if there might be a way to have the base spirit add a little something to the drink without changing the flavor profile so much that it's no longer even close to the same drink.

Type "menthol crystals" in google, all kinds of sources (mainly herbal store type places) will come up. I think I paid something like $5 for an oz. three or four years ago. You'll use tiny grains at a time, an oz. is a hefty supply.

Fair enough. I won't pretend to know what Adam does or doesn't wish to share regarding the specific science involved so I'll go back to my corner and continue to be a casual observer. edited to remove excessive quoted material

Unless the 37.5% bitters tastes different than the 75% bitters for reasons caused by but not directly related to the dilution. If reducing the ABV of the original 75% bitters to 37.5% by adding water causes changes to the flavor profile due to various possible scenarios that have already been mentioned, then it seems like the two will continue to taste different no matter how you go about constructing a drink with them. They've been changed at a base level that isn't going to repair itself through any carefully arranged drink construction. I don't know the science behind bitters and have no idea what the change in flavor profile in the lower ABV bitters is caused by but I don't see any way carefully arranging drinks to make the concentration match in both would matter if they taste different going in due to whatever happened during the original dilution... unless the difference is entirely and solely due the reduction in ABV and nothing else. I won't swear that I didn't miss it but I haven't seen a post where Adam made a specific claim as to what was causing the flavor change is the lower ABV bitters, just that they are different on a level that is not recoverable through drink construction methods. So the test should be easy, take whatever bitters you have and cut a portion of it to half it's original ABV... then go to it. If the change is based solely on the level of dilution, then what you start with shouldn't matter. Should it?

I know nothing about the science behind all this but I've been following this conversation and I think the difficulty for this outside observer arises from the fact that somewhere along the line everybody abandoned the discussion and set out to prove they're right. What I'm getting from it is that Adam is saying if you use bitters at two different ABVs, you will get two different tasting drinks. Others are arguing that if you do x+x-y with this one and x-x+y with that one, you will get two drinks that will be perceived as equal in taste. Adam is saying that the point is that nobody using the two bitters is going to do all of that stuff, they're just going to dash it in regardless because who really thinks about the ABV of the bitters when they grab them from the cabinet and goes to scientific lengths to correct for the differences. Others are saying "ah, but you can minimize the perceivable differences if you really want to and think it through". It seems to be an argument of possible vs. practical... nobody is going to have the final word on this one no matter how long it goes on. It is entertaining and informative though.

I'm definitely gonna have to try that one.

Browsing through the recipes in The Ideal Bartender (1917) and, it being a chilly snowing night, I decided to try the Black Stripe. As written: Pour wineglass Santa Cruz or Jamaica rum into a small bar glass and add 1 tablespoonful of molasses. - If to serve hot, fill glass with boiling water and sprinkle nutmeg on top. - If to serve cold, add 1/2 wineglass water. Stir well and fill up with shaved ice. I did the hot version with... 2 oz Appleton 12 year 1 tbsp molasses 4 oz hot water ...and, in a moment of feeling experimental, added a dash of the Heather Duncan's Christmas Bitters instead of grating nutmeg. In my non-expert opinion, that was a good call. Warming and tasty, just what the evening called for. It might even call for another.

I don't think the classics ever went away. The heart of many of even the most modern desserts are often, if not usually, just a re-imagining of something simple. I'm not saying they're not innovative or unique but most by the best are still incorporating the flavors and textures of the classics in some form. For example, Johnny Iuzzini's Bourbon Peach dessert. Peaches poached with sugar syrup, verbena and bourbon plated with a hazelnut crunch, bourbon honey syrup and peppermint ice cream. It's arranged on the plate differently then a traditional peach cobbler with ice cream would be, but that's essentially what it is. Frankly, I don't think even the traditional versions of the classics ever really disappeared, you just have to go where they still do them. As far as them returning as the popular trend, I can definitely see it happening based on other current food trends... but the truth is I don't really know.

It's pretty much been done. It could be argued that the notable examples have primarily been done more as a novelty in higher-end places than an industry trend but I'm not sure how much potential it has to extend far beyond that. Obviously that's just my opinion... I could just as easily be scrambling to get breakfast on the dessert menu a few months from now.

A waffle maker, a few assorted cocktail glasses, a couple of nice super-hot hot sauces (I'm an occasional pain-junky with that stuff) and a big container of a really nice olive oil. Not directly kitchen related but I got the e-reader I wanted. It also reads pdf files so I'm assuming I can make my own recipe files and uae them on the reader... so it kinda ties into the kitchen.

I took a look at them, even bought a few of the containers and played around with them but never used them in a commercial application. I also bought some of the small freeze pop bags. Fill 'em, seal and toss in the freezer. I had more fun with those than the push pops but still never used them for work. I should include the disclaimer that my difficulty came from logistics, not application. There's really no way to fit them into what we do at the restaurant and the type of catering jobs I generally do rarely provide for adequate frozen storage. Of course frozen isn't really a requirement with the push pop containers but it's the only aspect of them I've played around with at this point.

Seemed like the right day to post the most recent addition to my cabinet...

Agreed. I don't know if "Diamond" and "Black Diamond" are one and the same though. The generic "old cheddar" at the local store is not at all exciting but it's as good as or better than anything I've tried in the Black Diamond line... and cheaper too.

I live a couple good golf shots south of the permafrost so almost everything is better from afar. Walleye and blueberries being notable exceptions.

Piffle... of course it's a Manhattan.

Smirnoff topped your list immediately followed by Bacardi but you're hesitant to mention the Maker's Mark in your list of available ingredients? The bourbon would open up a great number of additional possibilities.

No.

I think there's a point where people just start cooking up their own descriptors so they can sound like they know something we don't. However, "juicy, crunchy" makes me think biting a pear, apple, stuff like that and could very well work as a descriptor in a wine tasting. That refreshing feeling that accompanies biting into something crispy and juicy. Edited to add disclaimer: I'm not a wine expert or even a particularly devout enthusiast so take what I say on the subject for what it's worth.

I've used a 1/2 maple syrup, 1/2 glucose mixture in a pecan brittle without problems. I've never tried honey in brittle but I subbed a honey/glucose mixture for the usual glucose/corn syrup in a marshmallow recipe. I was doing a honey lemon marshmallow and it worked perfectly. No difference between it and the others I made besides flavor.