vice

Is that the same Eric Taylor who used to be at La Laiterie? I wondered where he had gotten off to.

I'm pretty sure I saw some Old Overholt at Cask on Friday, in addition to the upstart boutiquey ryes.

In addition to what David mentions, there's a potential benefit for when your product is done. Any molds that develop during curing can be easily removed (if desired) by peeling back the casing, rather than by trimming away the exterior of an uncased bresaola.

Perhaps the pieces of charcoal were actually too big. I imagine most of the heat reaching the steak is being radiated from the coals closest to the steak (i.e., those that are sitting directly on the grate in the chimney starter). If that's the case, you'd want to break up those large lumps and pack the chimney starter nice and tight. Might surface area of the coals be another reason that smaller is better? It seems that coals would initially be lit primarily on their surfaces, and small coals have a greater surface area to volume ratio than do larger ones. edit: surface area

How small is a small producer? And what style of rum? Flor de Caña, El Dorado, and Barbancourt all make quality white rums commonly priced under $20. They are very different from one another, and are produced in greater quantities than a typical craft distillery (but much smaller than Bacardi et al).

Interesting, I eat more sandwiches in the summer (it's BLT season after all). I wonder if there is a seasonal trend one way or the other for the whole country.

Interesting, how close is it to orgeat (in flavor, if not proof)? edit: I see I'm not the only one intrigued, just the only one to get distracted for half an hour in the middle of a reply.

I've been meaning to pick up a bottle of the Landy. At a slightly higher price point, I really like Dudognon Reserve ($36 from Saratoga Wine Exchange) and Marie Duffau Napoleon armagnac (commonly $30-35). As for drinks, one gem that gets far too little attention is the Brandy Special, of which Erik (eje) says:

I underfill the trays a bit. The water expands enough to fill the mold once its frozen. I haven't used any other silicone trays so can't compare, but I don't have problems with twisting once they're filled with water.

Fully recognizing that insignificant details to one can be a herculean ordeal to another, I have to ask: is it all that bad to have to fill up each cell? A whole tray takes maybe 20 seconds tops.

There is no slot; the dividers go right to the top of the tray.

Meaning that folks just didn't dig the new look or that there was something different in the bottle? Yeah, I've found that most of the Ambre has been snapped up but the Hors d'age is still lingering around. Sad.

Chris, I've only come across Neisson out here in California (either Bevmo or K&L for those in the greater Los Angeles area). I've been meaning to spring for a bottle of the Reserve - I really need to keep a note in my pocket to remind myself that the 1L bottles actually make it a great value.

You lucky dog. In my experience (and opinion), the aged bottlings from both St. James and JM are great across the board. I've never seen the white St. James in the US; is it imported here? For whites, my favorite by far is Neisson.

I think someone on the pizzamaking.com forums was experimenting with 1/2" steel slab above the pie to radiate heat back down and balance out the cooking between crust and topping. I'd like to try it if I can get my hands on a piece of steel that thick.

The part in bold, I think, is key, and I've learned to follow the procedure nickrey suggests after much initial trial and error.

Chemex also makes pour-over pots that are great for larger quantities.

Not to mention bartenders like Tony Conigliaro and Jeffrey Morgenthaler experimenting with aged Manhattans. It seems natural enough to extend the concept to the Martini. What would a cask-aged Martini taste like? Who knows, but I sure wouldn't turn it down if it was offered to me.

A brief soak and it should rub right off. I think you'd need to see the immense ease with which the dried dough comes off a plastic bowl. No brief soak. No soak of any sort. No rubbing whatsoever. Just an upending, maybe a smack, and a rinse. Absolutely agree. I was just commenting that of all the hard to clean things one might encounter in the kitchen, dried dough really isn't that bad regardless of the surface.

A brief soak and it should rub right off.

Depending on how hot your smoker was, I might be a little worried that the fat has started to degrade. Here's a post from Ideas in Food on the merits of smoked tallow.

Great topic. This diagram really helped me understand the many vagaries of pork ribs. Much more detail given here.

I understood wet cement to mean hardened cement that had been moistened. A subtle difference for sure, but perhaps not to a discriminating nose.

And definitely be sure not to speculate on how much time it would take to rearrange a freezer to accommodate a 10 qt cooler. (Answer: about half an hour, well spent).

I wonder how this approach would square with the increasingly stringent regulation by many liquor control boards of things like house-made infusions and bitters.