DanM

May I suggest a Cooking with Fuschia Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice thread. It is getting a lot of praise and attention and I would like to see what people are cooking from it! Dan

Isn't there a method from Chef Joel Robouchon where you add ice to the cooled stock to solidify the fat to make it easier to skim off? Personally, I find nothing better than potatoes roasted with a good heaping of schmaltz. Dan

Bump! Are there any new ideas? We just bought one at a really great price. I need to get some ideas for the short period that I will use it as a freezer... before converting it to lagering and keg duties. Maybe I should get some FIFO labels for everything that goes in there? Dan

Thanks Lisa, I was assuming restroom cleaning as part of the janitorial work...

A little more on the 14oz pints that are showing up in restaurants everywhere. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121279252381153273.html

12oz pints of beer... I can't get behid that!!

Amazon shows the book coming out next Feb. Do you have an advanced copy? How practical is it for daily cooking? Is it vegetarian friendly?

IIRC, the tap room will seat around 100, but I dont think they have an official capacity from the city. Beer will be served in glassware. It actually brings up a fun point of law. Breweries are allowed to sell, but not serve, so they must provide tastings in disposable. Under a brewpub license, they can sell and serve and can use glassware. The brewery will use the latter setup. Dan

Any food consumed by customers will be on disposable ware with the expectation that people will bus their own tables. Beer will be served at the tap, no wait staff initially.

Good morning, A group of people I know are going to open a brewery next spring. Thanks to changes in state law and a mixed use permit from a city that is doing everything to make this venture happen, they will be filling growlers on site and serving pints in their tap room. They will not serve food directly, but they have agreements with local food truks to park outside and you are welcome to bring in your own food, within reason. I am wondering what is the best way to calculate front of house staffing levels, as I am sure they will need people to clean tables, bus glassware, keep customers happy, fill pints and growlers, empty wallets, etc... Thanks! Dan

Tonight we will have shredded smoked turkey in barbeque sauce and poutine using what's left of the gravy.

A local organic farm had a bumper crop this year. I was able to buy a 30 lbs sack of reds, blues, whites, and russet type heirlooms at $1/lbs. This should last the winter, assuming they dont go bad first. What is the best way to store them? I am thinking about putting them in beer cases with a layer of news paper between the layers. The boxes will then be left on a shelf in the garage. Can they be chopped or shredded and frozen in vac bags?

We are lucky so far... we still have power and made arroz con pollo for dinner.

My preference for a portable stove is the Coleman 425 liquid fuel camp stove. Mine is 30-40 years old and pretty much bullet proof. They don't make them like they used to (who does?), so I would check garage sales before buying one new. http://amzn.com/B001D22TQC Dan

Dan...you say that you "know there is a similar topic out there." No wonder it seems vaguely familiar to you, because you started that earlier one as well! Here So now I'm wondering...how did you get through that earlier storm? Any lessons you personally learned? Anything you're going to do differently this time around? Anything that turned out to be not particularly helpful and that you're not going to repeat? Thanks for finding it. I dont know why I could not find it earlier. Anyhow. Lessons learned. Luckily, Irene was not as bad as they predicted. There was a lot of outages, but most of the major shopping areas had power, so we lived off of take out for a few days. With the stress of the situation, not cooking for a few days was fine by me. Putting every ice pack and gel pack I could find in the freezer helped keep things cold longer. This time around I made sure my Coleman stove was cleaned, prepped and ready to go before the storm. I also made sure we have more batteries than we needed. I will also put a couple of large 20 gallon rubbermaids in the bath tub to store flushing water as the tub drain does not seal well and will drain after about 8 hours. What did not help? I'll have to think about that one.

I plan on going to the market shortly and will stop by the coffee shop to buy a small supply of preground coffee for the french press. Baked goods can also be baked on the grill, aka the wood fired hearth. Coffee, cookies and beer are great ways to show apreciation. good idea with the bags. I plan on cleaning up the fridge later... one more step. Dan

Good points. I plan on baking a bunch of cranberry muffins, sweet potato pies or bread, and something with apples to use up much of what is in there. I will be bottling 12 gallons of cider tonight so I can refill the carboys with water. I will probably have about 40 gallons of potable water on hand, more if I wanted to bottle. I will call around for ice, especially dry ice. block ice will be especially useful.

I apologize, I know there is a similar topic out there, but for the life of me, I cannot find it. The Mid-Atlantic and New England are about to get slapped around by Hurricane Sandy and the Frankenstorm that will result afterwards. The local utility is expecting 50-70% of the state to lose power. Assuming I have no power, I will be able to cook with a camp stove, barbeque, and camp dutch oven. The pantry is filled with beans, grains, canned/carton soups, tuna, etc... I will expect many grocery stores to be closed for a few days as well, worst case scenario. Any thoughts on what to cook? I have a couple of nice size pumpkins that I plan on stuffing with random goodness and roast on the grill. I will also make a pancake mix for an easy meal, soups, lentil salads, chicken and rice, etc... are all on my list. Dan

IMHO, both are great books and provide a general overview of many techniques. That said, I would steer you to Greuling for chocolates, Migoya for frozen and plated desserts, Hammelman for bread, etc... if there is a topic you want to take a deep dive into. The Advanced book has a lot niche techiques, very difficult and challenging projects. One disadvantage to both books is that the formulas are for production volume. If you are learning at home, you will end up with tons of cakes, cookes, muffins, etc... halving or quartering some recipes may be necessary. Dan

The Whole Foods flagship store in Austin, TX has a selection of heirloom dried beans, including one that they describe as perfect for baked beans. Sadly, I cannot remember the name of the bean variety. Regardless, does anyone have advice, thoughts, insults, etc... about making a killer pot of baked beans?? Thanks! Dan

Cold Chicken and Avocado Salad with Chipotle Chile

Thanks again for the sugestions! I made a stop at Half Price Books in Dallas with the list of books mentioned here. I was able to find Chez Panisse Fruit and Vegetable books. I also found Peterson's veg book, but it was too pricey and it was too big to schlep home. Dan

Potato salad is a good idea. I also have a recipe from Mark Bittman for beer braised potatoes with (Tofurky) kilbasa, cheddar, and horseradish. Tempting, but I don't want to make too many fancy dishes and overhost the meeting.

Some of the people coming will bring their homebrews for blind peer review using nationally recognized beer judging standards. Commercial beers will also be brought for social consumption and inspiration for future brews. As host, my main job is to provide a small spread and be the beer wench. I am also planning on making an apfelkugel or other apple desserts as they will be in season. Dan

I will be hosting the month homebrewers meeting in October, which will feature many german beers. I need some ideas of what snacks to serve that are vegetarian. Right now, I am considering some freshly baked pretzels, rye bread, and to scare and annoy people... Currywurst using Tofurky brats and a jar of pickled herring. Any thoughts out there? What about cheeses? Thanks! Dan