Chris Hennes

I did some baby backs in the oven last week: 75 minutes in a 300°F oven, texture was excellent. I don't know if "tender" is the word I'd use, though. I prefer ribs with a little bite to them, none of this "falling off the bone" mush. So it's not implausible that rotisserizing them for that length of time would work well.

No, they are all in English volumes.

eGullet Technology Test Tonight: You're Invited! During tonight's episode of Top Chef we'll be testing a new bit of technology, and we're looking for some eGullet members to help us out. We've set up an open chat room: it's a place where you can come and join your fellow eGullet Top Chef fans to discuss (and mock) the episode live, while it's happening. The technology is new, though, so this is a limited test: only the first twenty Society members to get there will be allowed in. If you get a message that the chat room is full, feel free to check in later during the episode. We're going to see how it goes, and see how the server handles it, and we'll just "watch what happens!" The chat room will "go live" five minutes before the episode starts on the East Coast, at 9:55pm EDT/8:55 CDT, and will shut down at 11:15pm EDT. Here's the link to get to the room: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?app=ipchat If you decide to join us, please note that regular eGullet Forums rules still apply! ETA: Thanks to those who helped us out with this test! Hope to see you next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel, for the TC Finale chat!

What advantages does induction have over an electric smoothtop? I guess I don't really understand why you'd choose one, when it severely limits your cookware options, and it sounds like the unit is too smart for its own good.

Chilling indeed. A world in which no one dares innovate for fear that someone already holds the rights to their invention and is just waiting to sue them into the ground. "Gee, I don't think anyone has ever done this cocktail before... but I guess I better hire a team of attorneys to scour the records to make sure."

My copy arrived this morning. I haven't started cooking anything from it yet, so of course these are just some first impressions... Wow, this book is big. I don't know what I was expecting (I didn't pay any attention to the dimensions on Amazon), but this is definitely not a lightweight. It stands easily two inches taller than Wolfert's The Cooking of Southwest France, and is about the same thickness. It is a very well-bound book. I cannot stand cookbooks that don't stay open to the page I am on when I am cooking, so one that does is always very welcome. It even manages to stay open to the correct page near the beginning and end of the book, which is no small feat. I know that seems like a stupid niggling detail, but I get very frustrated with cookbooks that change the pages for me! Of course the photography is beautiful (done by Alan Richardson), no surprise there. The book feels very much like CIA Pro-Chef in its layout and general stylistic cues. Overall the design is quite nice, if a bit unexpected given the "rustic" feel of the cover design. The actual design of the pages feels very modern to me, while the cover appears to be going for the same sort of aesthetic as Wolfert's book (I keep referencing back to Wolfert because she is my touchstone for French cooking, that's the book I've spent the most time with). I was surprised at how short the introduction was: just four quick pages and you're into the recipes. Each recipe is led into by two or three paragraphs giving its background, etc. The instructions seem at first glance to be extremely clear, though that's hard to tell for sure just reading through a few recipes. Overall, it's a gorgeous book, and there seem to be a LOT of promising recipes in here. I guess it's time to get cooking!

I had a lot of leftover mayo, maybe almost 3/4 of a cup? I don't like it on there too heavily. As for the guacamoles, I probably liked the roasted garlic one the best, of the unusual ones. The mango one was very party-friendly, too. ETA: Oh, and the bacon one...

The patent system and USPTO are fallible, to be sure. But that is not the same as them being unneeded or useless. If someone develops a particularly interesting culinary process, I see no reason that should not be a patentable invention, in principle. Patents expire in a relatively short period of time, and obtaining one is expensive and difficult enough that they are unlikely to stifle the innovations of small-scale restauranteurs. I think that for the most part, however, patents are irrelevant to cocktails. The fact of the matter is, while Freeman wishes he could sue someone for something, he has no cause of action, and probably never will. No matter how innovative the cocktail, you'd be very hard pressed to imagine getting a patent on your procedure, especially considering the costs involved. Since your "plating" options are quite limited when it comes to cocktails, I find it unlikely that you could sell it to a court as sculpture, or performance art, even if there were other culinary precedents for such a thing.

I have no objection to websites that want to use Flash on their full version: the public demands a pretty website, and the web designers I have spoken to say that Flash is the most affordable way to do it with current technology. So, fine. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE DETECT MOBILE DEVICES AND OPTIMIZE FOR THEM. Generally that is going to mean a flashless mobile page that contains just the info munchymom suggests.

It's my understanding that the '596 patent (SEALED CRUSTLESS SANDWICH) has been re-examined and the patent revoked.

Right, that's the way the law works right now. But it sounds to me like Freeman is arguing for a change to that law that would prohibit these "freeloaders" from co-opting his recipes and claiming them as their own. Is that not what he's suggesting? I can hardly think of anything that would be worse for the cocktail world as a whole than laws that prevented you from making a drink invented by someone else without paying them.

I'm reminded of an article I saw at Ars Technica which discusses a paper published in the Virginia Law Review called "The Piracy Paradox: Innovation and Intellectual Property in Fashion Design." From that Ars article:

Linda, you and I may just have different taste in potato salad, from what you are describing. In particular, I would not have wanted the mayo to soak into the potatoes. I don't actually care for the texture of a traditional American potato salad and found that change to roasted rather than boiled was a change for the better.

It works fine on my Mac (Safari and Firefox) and my iPhone (though admittedly it's hard to use on that tiny screen). Looks great on the big one, though, excellent work! I like the AJAX-ification of the search, the site feels very responsive.

My pre-order just shipped, so I guess the book is out early! Looking forward to seeing what's in there, thanks for the details, Dorie.

A couple of updates based on recent trips: Benvenuti's is my current go-to restaurant in Norman: the August specials were uniformly good, probably the best food in Norman right now. They changed their bread for the better, it's not so sweet anymore, so works far better with the mussels. When I'm hungry and can't decide what I want, this is where I end up, nine times out of ten. Big Truck Tacos is still serving very good tacos. They've added chef-selected breakfast tacos (I previously complained about their lack), of which I am a big fan of The Zig and the Sam I Am. Unfortunately, the service here is really slow. They are slow taking orders, and slow pushing them out. So the place always seems busy, but that's partially because half the people waiting haven't gotten their food yet. I've also stopped once at Grand House China Bistro for Dim Sum, but I'll hold off on a verdict until I try them again: especially with dim sum, where you can easily have some misses if you don't know what's rolling around. I have also visited RePUBlic twice and been reasonably pleased, I'll write that up shortly.

I'd amend this slightly to point out that while it usually refers to a non-existent "original," there are in fact a few cases when we do have an original, and we still can't agree on what is "authentic"! For example, the Caesar salad, which is widely agreed to have been created by Caesar Cardini (though there is even some dispute over this, primarily on the internet). Does it contain anchovies? Cardini said "no," but nearly any foodie you run into will scream bloody murder if you suggest that the anchovies aren't essential. Actually, I rather like them, myself. The word "authentic" seems to have morphed in meaning to be more like "meets general expectations about what the item you order is going to be." After all, are we certain that "the original" club was made with turkey? Or is that a recent change, like the addition of anchovies to Caesar Salad?

I find the "truck stop" thing annoying: the prize is too big. It's one thing to have it give a losing team a shot at not getting sent home, it's another thing to guarantee it. I mean, they had HALF the sales of the next worst team!

And don't forget the related question: '"Authentic": what does that mean, anyway?' Elsewhere, in an eGullet Spotlight Q & A, Paula Wolfert was asked "How do you define "authenticity"?" Her response can be found here. In particular, she wrote that "authenticity is always my guide, but I try not to let it become my straightjacket."

That's really interesting, Linda: I'd be very curious to know more. In particular what olive oil, and what vinegar? I think those are the two big variables, right? Otherwise, adding roasted poblano to a mayo doesn't seem that far off the beaten path.

Props to the Season 6 crew, which won an Emmy this evening. It really was the best season so far, Season 7 can't compare...

kalypso - thanks for the clarification. I can't understand why he'd eliminate the canela. He calls for it in half of the other recipes in the book! And considering how much lard appears in these recipes, I wouldn't think he'd eliminate the butter for health reasons, either. Very odd. Makes me curious, I may have to try it both ways and do a direct comparison. Dark Chocolate-Chile Ice Cream (Helado de Chocolate y Chile Pasilla) (pp. 308–309) I'm making some progress on the ice cream front. The texture of tonight's is much better: I mixed on higher speed, which increased my overrun a bit, helping a lot. I was also more careful to ensure that my custard was thick enough before pulling it off the heat. Flavor-wise this one is much simpler than yesterday's: basically just chocolate ice cream with pasilla chile added. The chile adds an interesting flavor, and I've always liked the various chile-infused ganaches I've had, so it's no surprise that I like this ice cream. I think I personally still liked the taste of last night's better, but my wife disagrees, she likes this one more. So, not exactly a decisive verdict: it's a nice flavored ice cream, and I'm sure it would go over well at a party.

I don't think it has a fan in it, and there are a lot of cases out there that are a lot better insulators than this flimsy bag. I doubt that is an issue here.

Chipotle-Glazed Baby Back Ribs (Costillas al Chipotles Enmielado) (p. 261) Roasted New Potato Salad with Poblano Mayo (Ensalada de Papas Cambray Rostizadas con Mayonesa al Poblano) (pp. 156–157) This is almost your traditional American ribs-and-potato-salad midsummer cook-out: except the flavors are all Mexican, all the way. First up, though, anyone who thinks that the only way of cooking ribs is to smoke them, avert your eyes. These ribs are baked, and then finished over a high-heat grill to set the glaze: the only smoke flavor is coming from the chipotles in the glaze. Frankly, that's really not a problem for me. While I like smoked ribs, I like them cooked other ways too. And I'm not sure you would have been able to taste the smoke on these anyway, the flavoring is not exactly subtle! In particular, the glaze is very spicy, being just a can of chipotles en adobo and honey. No reasonable amount of honey can eliminate the fire in that can, so if you don't like spice, these ribs are probably not for you. That caveat aside, I really liked these: very porky, not too sweet, and spicy as hell. Excellent. This was a problem for the potato salad, however. I'm very glad I took a bite of it first, because once I started in on the ribs I couldn't taste the salad anymore. It was a good potato salad: I used half olive oil and half canola, since Bayless says to use an olive oil that is not too strong. What is the point of keeping bland olive oil around in the first place? Still, the mayonnaise had a nice flavor from the olive oil, poblano, and garlic. It was pretty different from a traditional American mayonnaise-based potato salad, at any rate. However, it has "wilted" green onions in it, which I did not care for. The flavor is fine, but I don't care for the texture of partially-cooked green onions: a bit leathery, if you ask me. I'd simply omit them next time, or replace them shopped shallots.

I second this: in the past week alone I've pulled over a half dozen books off my shelf that hadn't seen the light of day in years. I really think that EYB is a revolutionary idea, and I certainly wish them success. Especially since I have a lifetime membership!!