pjs

Chad, what brand and kind of cutting board are you using? End-grain boards are obscenely expensive but, as I'm sure you know, they are the only way to go. Of course I could make one in my spare time if I had any. PJ

"Some people even say that garbage-fed pigs taste sweeter than ones that are grain-fed." --Orville Schell, "Modern Meat", pp83. PJ

I'll bet she rehearses all those histrionic hand gestures before taping and the crew keep their distance lest they're inadvertantly knocked out. It comes across as someone signing on crank. PJ

Airline lost your luggage again? Yeah, you can find chops that look like that in your local supermarket but obviously it's the provenance that makes these special and worth an arm and a leg. I did a thick beef sirloin a few days ago using the Ducasse slow-cook method for the first time. Although I wound up slightly overcooking it, this technique is definitely worth experimenting with. Maybe with a big fat pork chop. FG, thanks for the pix. PJ

That's what I'd do with the tenderloin. Pork chops have always been a problem for me. Searing them over high heat doesn't deliver the same flavor punch as searing a good piece of beef. Maybe because it's become the other white meat. My current favorite treatment of chops is to dust them in flour, dip them in eggwash, coat them in FRESH breadcrumbs--panko works, but not as well--and fry 'till slightly pink in the center. If they are large chops I finish them in the oven. Done right you get a extremely juicy chop with the flavor of the meat predominant. If you select your chops carefully these can be quite good. FG, I'd love to see a picture of those chops. PJ

Nick, unless it's a big, expensive drill bit I won't even try to sharpen them. I just chuck them. I've thought it through and here's the problem with expensive diamond stones. They're like sandpaper--when they don't work anymore you throw them away. No way to restore them. You're shortening the life of your diamond stone every time you use it to lap a finer one. Think about it. The finer stone you're trying to dress is always doing some grinding itself, albeit at a much slower rate. I researched all this shit a couple of years ago until it made my head hurt. Once again, Chad's article is an excellent overview. PJ

Correction: He was using the course diamond to lap a waterstone when he ruined it. Guy's name is Brian Burns and he's a double psycho with serious sharpening AND woodworking fixations. His book taught me the wonders of double bevels in plane irons. A different concept and purpose from your double bevel for knife blades but interesting in that he also found references to his technique in colonial-era literature. He claims he can hand-plane aluminium. Now that's freakin' scary. PJ

I've heard horror stories from very reputable people who tried to lap a diamond bench stone. Using one to lap another stone whould be equally scary to me. It might be a brand thing. The stones reportedly ruined were DMT by the way. I'll stick to the sandpaper. PJ

Well done, Chad! Speaking of Japanese waterstones--mine take a hell of a beating. Besides the kitchen knives I have 20+ woodworking tools that need constant sharpening. Has anyone found a simple and easy way to re-flatten and true them up? Preferably without spending 75 bucks for a flattening plate? I read somewhere you can do it on a cinder-block. Haven't had the nerve to risk my stones trying it though. Bruce, I love that tip! I'm going to listen really hard during my next session. PJ

This is completely off-topic, but I grew up in Elmont. And it's not in NYC, it's Nassau County. But that's where they sent me. If only the Belmont Racetrack was open at the time. I'd be independently wealthy. PJ

Mark, Never heard that story, but I love it. I would of kicked him into the traffic. PJ

Got a bad seat at the restaurant? Just do what Hollywood's Cohen Bros. did at Le Pavillon back in the 50's. Tell the gas-bag owner Henri Soulé that you are raising his rent from 18 to 40 grand a year if he doesn't give up the table you want (BTW, the Cohen's owned the fucking building). Of course Soulé in his infinite wisdom stonewalled and moved the restaurant to 57th. Only to return and pay the 40 grand/year with Le Côte Basque. PJ PS: The above gleaned from the P. Franey bio, "A Chef's Tale."

The Mother of all Electric Sharpeners. Don't forget to order the Japanese waterstone wheels! PJ

Although I'm not well-versed on them, Florida has two types of licenses. One is for beer and wine only and the other is for everything. My understanding is that the beer and wine one is relatively easy to get. The full-blown liquor licenses seem much harder and much more expensive to obtain. For sale ads of restaurants and bars tout the size of their all-inclusive licenses. This is expressed as a one-cop license, two-cop license, three-cop license, etc. I have no idea what this refers to. Also--as to be expected--county law trumps state law. For example, no alcohol sold on Sunday in Highlands Co. before 12pm. There is also a ban on receiving spirits delivered from across the state line. PJ

Yes it was. I remember it fondly from my early childhood as the afternoon paper. And fuck Mudrock. PJ

In order, best to worst: Publix here. Publix there. Publix everywhere. Winn Dixie--I don't do cards. (I still can't fathom how a brand-new store with a fully equipped bakery turns out bread with a four day expiration window that tastes worse that the shit in the aisles expects to stay in business. Don't get me started on their deli or meat depts.) Albertson's--I don't do cards-- or shop at stores that vary service and quality levels dependent on the neighborhood. Food Lion--I just don't. PJ Former long-term Pathmark drone in the NE.

There is a great pdf file to download explaining Balsamico Tradizionale here: The Rare Wine Co. They also sell signed copies of the Pamela Sheldon Johns book. I can only vouch for their olive oils--which are fantastic--because I still have a problem spending $55 for 100ml of 12 year-old vinegar. I hope to overcome this irrational fear soon. The 100 year-old Balsamico for $275/100ml. will forever scare me though. PJ

The depot for all the metro area NYC Good Humor trucks was in Queens Village off of Springfield Blvd. They would supply the truck, gas, white pants, and sell you the frozen goods. New "employees" would come to work with a white shirt and a soon to be dashed hope of making a living. Your first unpaid day on the job was going out with a "lifer" whose route was the Prospect Park area of Brooklyn to learn the ropes. The "lifer" sat in the driver's seat of the upscale step-van complete with service windows and watched you like a hawk to make sure you weren't skimming while you busted your butt selling. After an exhausting day of selling tons of ice cream in Brooklyn they'd let you loose on your own route in Elmont. I think I did it for a week before forgetting to show-up. The coin-changer thing on the belt was way-cool though. The 45mph govenor on the truck's motor wasn't. PJ

Choco C: I just remembered words of wisdom given to me from a hospital nutritionist--one of the few good ones. Carnation Instant Breakfast. Yes it's still around. PJ

Here's a tip. As soon as you request or signal you are ready for food they will cut-off your morphine. After your first post-op hospital meal you'll be wishing you had that delivery button back in your hand. PJ

Oil is oil. To keep your conscience clear dispose of it at the same place you dispose of used motor oil. Usually at a receptacle at the the local fire station. PJ

I had a really hard time justifying spending 50 bucks for a freakin' pepper grinder. Until I got my Magnum Plus. The BIG one (Chad: ). The Magnum is unique as you adjust the grind from the bottom of the mill. This design lets you adjust the grinding surfaces much farther away from each other than ones that do it from the top. In other words, it does crushed pepper. I've stopped smashing peppercorns with a skillet on the counter-top for Steak au Poivre and Pollo alla Diavola. Worth every dollar spent. PJ

They used to put a piece of cardboard printed with the reasons why your "burgers" had all those holes in them to stiffen up the bottom of the take-out bag. I didn't care about the holes. All I wanted--and demanded--was that my burgers were steamed after assembly in that contraption on the counter. PJ

Great Show! For some unexplicable reason I had to go out and buy a case of Coor's Light at the conclusion of the show with my American Express Tin Card. Since I had no intention of actually consuming the Coor's Light, I dropped the case off under the bridge where the homeless gather to overnight. Only one can of the piss-water beer hit my car. I was getting away as fast as I could. PJ

There is a Hooter's directly across from the Daytona Int'l Speedway. Twice a year when the NASCAR circus is in town, I've heard large portions of the waitstaff call in sick from the Bahama's on Monday. Of course, this is just from my mentally-disturbed observations and questionable hearsay, nothing whatsoever implied as being factual. They're all juniors in my opinion. PJ