haresfur

Gets my vote, too. Use an espresso roast to get something resembling a flat black.

Did they add crushed ice to the rose or did they partially freeze it?

I just made my first risotto (thanks for the help eG!) and I think it was as good or better than any I have had in restaurants. I found the traditional method gave me control over the result. I used a large skillet (ok maybe that's not traditional) and a flat edged wood spatula so it was easy to mix. Adding the broth as I went along meant that I knew how fast it was getting absorbed as I got to the critical end point where you want to have the right thickness when the rice is just cooked. I started tasting at 15 min and stopped when I liked what I had. I can see how parboiling the rice could work but advance preparation wasn't an issue for me. Maybe I could have saved some stirring up front but I can see how there might be temptation to beat the crap out of the rice at the end to get the creaminess. A pressure cooker might work fine, but it seems to me that there would be some work to get the timing and the water content just right for a given type of rice and recipe. Overall, I think the attraction to the traditional risotto is that it is easy. Heck you don't even have to measure the broth. I have trouble seeing a lot of saving in time and effort in the other methods for the home cook doing a single batch. What's 15 minutes in the grand scheme of things? Maybe a better cook could use that wisely to get another dish out but I would probably only be able to do a little cleaning or get the table set.

Not a sazarac- 1.5 oz Old Crow bourbon, 0.5 oz limoncello, 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters. Rinse of absinthe in a glass; build over ice. A bit heavy on the absinthe but that helps cover the weird aftertaste I've found in the Old Crow when used in cocktails. Overall a successful way to use bottom shelf bourbon and I imagine similar to the inspiration for many cocktails.

I confess to using amaretto in tiki-ish drinks as a lazy way of going. Generally shooting from the hip on everything else, though - a bit of rum(s), a bit of fruit juice, a bit of lime, adjust to taste. Only you can decide if it would be up to your standards and suit your philosophy. I don't think I can get Luxardo here.

Could you tell us a little about your work environment? Does the wonderful looking street food influence (flavour?) the other dining options?

My first Ward 8. Rittenhouse rye, blood orange, and new home made grenadine. I think the lemon is too dominant. I'd dial it way back. It's always a bit of a dilema whether to use the precious hard to replace Rittenhouse on a new drink or to go with the easier to replace (but more expensive if you don't count the airfare) Wild Turkey rye. But blood orange season is short here and I wanted to give this one my best shot. Imperfect as always in politics but I'd vote for this one.

Interesting. I thought I read somewhere that Cascade gin was infused spirits and not redistilled afterwards. Anyone know if that is the case? I guess if it works, cool.

Well I hope they at least have some gin!

Whew! I thought it was a red cabbage

I've heard that pee isn't the only bodily fluid to be affected.

These are the ones I have. Need to get more if I see them again.

Seems you are fast moving out of the beginner category. A couple of thoughts. You may want to explore sours more. A challenge with them IMO is to figure out the sweet/sour/booze balance that works for you. And of course that depends on your citrus so recipes are only a guide. Maybe try to perfect your margarita and sidecar. The next challenge with them is how to adjust for other people's tastes (usually add sweet). You seem to like boozy drinks but highballs might be worth checking out, too.

Great read, Scoop. Could you describe the different uniforms worn by various people in the kitchen hierarchy for us outsiders? Are they pretty much universal or vary from place to place? Maybe I'll take up cook-spotting.

I have 4 and 8 oz cafe glasses from Ikea. Not fancy but they work.

I'll have to try that. I assume the ocean trout is farm raised too. Farmed Atlantic salmon is nothing like fresh Pacific Chinook or Sockeye. Then again it's nothing like Atlantic salmon freshly netted by my coworkers early Sunday morning (um, poached - then grilled).

Oh, I forgot to add that one of the steel Thermos bottles was an award for bringing my own plate to a company picnic that was touting energy savings. The packaging that the bottle came in contained more cardboard and plastic than the little paper trays used for serving the hot dogs...

Thanks for starting this topic, I was thinking of asking the same thing. I do try to consider the energy implications but it isn't always easy to consider the trade-offs. Here in Australia energy is very expensive compared to my last abode, in the land of hydroelectric dams. My oven is electric and the range gas, so I try to use the range more and the oven less - Australia is one of if not the highest per capita greenhouse gas emitters, primarily due to the reliance on low grade brown coal for electric generation. So between that and the higher cost than running gas, makes the stove a preferred choice for me. In the rest of the house the considerations get a bit harder. I just put in 1.6 kW of solar panels, not much but a help and the excess is sent back to the grid at a premium feed-in tariff incentive scheme (or will be if the power company ever finishes the conversion). I have a swamp cooler but didn't use it much last year and when I wanted it the humidity was up, too so not as good as it could be. The trouble is, water is in short supply (or was up until it started flooding). After that I would need to look at major investment to insulate the house - a foreign concept, here. Just because running the oven is a small part of the energy use, doesn't mean it isn't worth doing for energy savings - especially if you aren't going to reduce the other elements. And comparing the the American over-dependence on climate control in often excessively large houses, isn't completely valid. And I used to live in an region of cold winters and hot, very dry summers. If there is a place to cut back with only minor impact on quality of life (or even net quality gain, since I believe there is value in voluntary simplicity), why not? And yes, for me it is important to cut my carbon footprint by looking for nutritious food that relies on smaller quantitites of meat is an option I want to pursue further. Oh, and I'm getting to know my pressure cooker and I think bacon works well in the microwave.

I'm really ashamed but I have a tendency to accumulate: And that's not the complete collection, but you get the idea. Yes, I probably have more carbon footprint tied up in keep-cups/travel mugs than I would ever use getting throw-aways. In my defence, some were freebies, some were inferior designs that were replaced, and some were bought when I realised that I didn't have anything to drink from on a camping trip. But still...

Don't worry, you'll start craving Campari soon enough, especially if you didn't spit out your first Negroni. I like americanos - leave the gin out of your negroni and top with soda or tonic water. Lemon slice is good. Then mix yourself a martini with a reasonable amount of dry vermouth.

My Dan Murphy's now carries Wild Turkey 100 proof rye for the same price as the bourbon. Not that any spirits are cheap in Australia. I think they started to stock it after I asked - before they just had Jim Beam Rye. I've seen obscenely expensive Rittenhouse on the web. But hey, if you drink good whisky and cognac... I find it interesting that blended Scotch gets more respect than Canadian rye. Aren't they both more or less whiskey cut with neutral spirits? Not that Canadian rye is the same as American 100% rye. I actually like CC, partially because the taste evokes good memories, but I don't drink it very much.

Glad you liked it. Which rye?

My previous encounter with tearing apart my couta to get rid of the bones got me thinking about deconstructed fish & chips. So today I went to the Borough Fish Shop for ingredients. Paid 40 cents extra to get the couta grilled. It's accompanied by an order of potato cakes, and order of pumpkin cake, and a dollar's chips: Some other ingredients including salsa made with an over-ripe mango, tomato, and red onion: My feeble attempt at plating: And for the kid in me: The mango/pumpkin cake was better than the catsup/potato cake, no surprise. The grilled fish was really nice.

Let us know if you figure out any way to make tempeh not taste like tempeh.

I think Canadian rye has it's place. Sazaracs are great with all kinds of spirits and are particularly kind to more subtle flavours (like genever) so I can see using your rye in one.