Chris Hennes

Buy the wrong bird. At the local Asian mega-mart last week I bought a chicken for stock. Or, I thought I bought a chicken. As I was walking to the car I looked at the feet poking out of my shopping bag and though, "hey, chicken don't have webbed feet!" Doh! So, duck stock it is.

The taste. OK, on a more serious note: it's not that I dislike them, I just like every single other confection I've made from this book better. The lingering curry flavor at the end, in particular, bothered me a bit. I'm sure I could play around with different curry powders to achieve a better effect (when making curries I don't usually even use the bottled stuff... why did I start now?), but I don't think this one is worth the trouble of experimenting to get it "right"—it's never going to taste as good (to me) as the PB&Js or the Habanos.

I wouldn't have put it quite like that, but absolutely true. I don't regret subscribing to CI, I thought it was a great resource for me as I learned how to do more than just follow recipes. For that reason alone I still recommend it to anyone who is just getting into cooking. After a few years with it, you grow out of it, I think. Like Pop-Tarts.

What kind of crust is that? Chocolate?

Made the Madras today: it's been a while and took some time to get back into the groove of dipping. Overall, the recipe is OK, in my opinion. Not great, I doubt I will make it again, but OK. I am a bit worried that it will be too much for my wife's co-workers tomorrow, however. We shall see...

That is my suspicion, too, but the website is... poor, shall we say. It was cheap, though, so I figured I'd take my chances. I ordered from Tenzingmomo.com (I think someone uptopic suggested them).

As part of a big order of bitters-making paraphernalia I ordered 8 oz of quinine: I have no idea what form it is coming in (the website was none too descriptive), but I'm wondering if anyone has had success with their homemade tonic recipes.

For me it's a combination of both reasons. For a while I was happy to have them revisit recipes they had done in the past, since I find that many of the early recipes were not as well-developed as the more modern ones. But Cook's Illustrated has done blueberry muffins several times, tomato sauce several times, etc. It would be one thing if each issue revisited one or two old recipes. Or presented one or two "American Classics." But this entire issue is a repeat, and every single dish is a "classic." We are already forced to write off the November issue: it will be about roast turkey. Now we have to write off another? There are only six per year!

Exactly. I got the sense from the ad that this might be a new magazine. Seems like a tough sell to me...

You're killing me here... What are you using the rings for again? I thought you were using acetate to wrap them?

Hmm, I can try... note that I have zero training, so this is just how I do it, not gospel. I also didn't exactly measure the asparagus or the gruyere: you just have to make sure you don't add so much "stuff" that the souffle is too heavy and won't rise. It will still taste good, it just won't be very pretty. Asparagus Soufflé (Makes 2-3 individual soufflés) Preheat oven to 375°F. Heavily butter 2-3 individual ramekins. Coat inside with bread crumbs or grated parmesan. I like to make sleeves so they rise straight: non-stick aluminum foil or parchment work best (just make a tube that the ramekin fits in and use twine or paperclips to hold its shape). You could skip that for a more "rustic" look. 1 1/2 tbs butter 1 1/2 tbs flour 1/2 cup milk Salt Make a bechamel with above proportions and let cool until lukewarm: it will be very thick. 1 shallot 1/2 cup chopped asparagus 1 tbs butter Salt Saute until soft. Add to bechamel. 3 egg yolks pinch black pepper pinch cayenne Mix together, then add to bechamel in 3-4 batches, making sure it gets well-incorporated. Gruyere to taste (I probably added almost a cup of shredded) Add to bechamel, stirring well to incorporate. Bechamel should not be warm enough to melt cheese. Check the seasoning: it should taste slightly over-seasoned (you are going to add three egg whites to it). 3 egg whites pinch salt Beat to stiff (but not dry) peaks. Add about 1/4 of the whites to the bechamel to lighten, then gently fold everything together. Pour into soufflé ramekins: if sleeved, fill 'em up to the brim. If not, leave 1/4-1/2 inch space. Bake for 23-25 minutes. Don't open the oven door at all for the first 20 minutes: they are fragile before then. Eat immediately.

Missed this on my first review: so, there are definitely lemon bitters out there. Presumably there is no reason not to attempt lime?

As I look at my bitters collection I see four different orange bitters, but no other citrus bitters. I have seen references in this topic to grapefruit, but what about lemon or lime? We use the fruit in cocktails all the time, but why aren't there bitters out there based on them? Or are there and I am missing them. Part of the reason I ask is that in the process of making a homemade lime cordial I wound up with a large number of leftover lime rinds. I didn't really have any use for them, but loath to throw them away I covered them in Everclear and shoved them in the closet. They've been there for a while and I was wondering if a lime bitters would be a reasonable route to take it.

I've been eating a lot of asparagus recently, and while I love the simple preparations, you can only eat so much before you want a little variety. My evening plans were cancelled due to inclement weather, so I decided to have at an asparagus cheese soufflé. I can't even remember the last time I made savory souffles, so it seemed like a reasonable element of variety. Et voila: It's just a regular cheese soufflé (a bit heavy on the Gruyere because I love the stuff), with some sauteed asparagus added to the bechamel. I also fried up some potatoes in duck fat and butter, along with the rest of the asparagus (since the soufflé can't hold that much).

I just got an e-mail offer for So Good: The Magazine of Haute Pâtisserie from Chef Rubber: does anyone know anything about this magazine?

So far we have three recipes for Dutch Babies: ned 3 eggs 5/8 cup of milk 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla 5/8 cup of flour a heavy 1/4 cup of sugar generous pinch of salt 5 tablespoons butter Joy of Cooking 2 eggs ½ cup milk ½ cup all-purpose flour ¼ cup sugar 4 tablespoons butter New York Times 2 eggs ½ cup flour ½ cup milk Pinch of ground nutmeg 4 tablespoons butter It looks to me like ned's (besides making a larger batch) is slightly eggier than the other two, and the NYT recipe has no sugar in it, compared to a fairly large amount in the other two. Does anyone else have any other variations, or is this pretty much universal? Equal amounts flour and milk, a couple eggs, and a heckuva lot of butter? Sugar is optional? Recommended or no?

This last batch I made I went ahead and omitted the yeast in the subsequent batch: it worked exactly as expected. That is, it took quite a while to rise, but otherwise worked just great. The rise time isn't a problem, at least for me. When I took the dough for loaf number three (of four) out to proof, that's when I mixed up the next batch, so I just left it on the counter the rest of the day and then popped it back in the fridge before bed. I haven't tried baking with it yet, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work just fine.

Seems like it's been a long time since we've discussed the wonders of asparagus in these parts! I just got a batch from my wife's co-worker who can't eat all the asparagus she's getting. I'm a big fan, especially of asparagus as an omelette filling. Anyone else have any great new asparagus recipes I should give a try?

I have heard fantastic things about these hogs, though I thought they were only available in the US in the Northwest. Maybe there is hope for those of us down south, if you've got them in Jersey now. The fat is supposed to be amazing, so I'd do some things to capitalize on that: BBQ comes immediately to mind, getting that smoke flavor in there should be awesome.

Well, I wasn't sure the day would ever come, but I think it has: I think it's time for me to cancel my CI subscription. Let's take a look at the Table of Contents for the May & June 2009 Issue: Italian-style Grilled Chicken Quick Tomato Sauce Grilled Salmon Chocolate Chip Cookies Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloin Shrimp Tempura Grilled Vegetables Grilled Beef Teriyaki Blueberry Muffins Wow. I mean, blueberry muffins? Tomato sauce? Chocolate chip cookies?!?!? Come on, I'm paying for this?

It's been a while since I've done any chocolate work, but I think it's time to get started back up: to that end, I have a question about the "Madras"—how strong is the curry flavor? I'll be sending these into work with my wife, and this is Oklahoma: not exactly the land of adventurous eaters. These things sound good to me, but, well...

I don't think I've ever seen them when I lived up North, but here in Oklahoma they are apparently in season in January, when they can be bought at the produce market by the zillions.

This sounds fascinating, I'm sorry I live so damned far away! What inspired/prompted this? Paul, this was your first time doing a full-blown plated dinner for so many?

Oh, no doubt that would be far easier! I simply had access to very, very fresh raw peanuts when they first came into season around here. The first batch I made was far and away the best-tasting peanut butter I had ever had. But it was a huge pain in the butt, and probably not worth the effort even to a hard-core peanut-butter eater like me. I'd like to try it again, but I want to figure out what the tricks are first.

Five minutes flat. OK, so that's a soft-boiled egg. Still, my point is that it's not about the time. It's about getting it right, which as far as I am concerned is no mean feat. I don't think that tomato paste in a tube counts in this category, though. At least, not any more than any other tomato product in a can counts. Could you make it yourself at home, from scratch, using fresh tomatoes? Maybe, if you have access to fresh tomatoes. Would it be any better? Unlikely. So to me, tomato paste, either in a can or a tube, is not a "cheater food" like many of these other examples, it's a normal ingredient. Putting it in a tube makes in a "convenience food" in the most positive possible sense.