Dave the Cook

Yeah, Alton Brown calls for it, too, although he steams the wings, and only rests them for an hour. I assume that precooking works, since so many people do it, although I don't think the 7-10 minutes that are usually prescribed are long enough to have the intended effect. OTOH, I've never tried it, and never really felt the need to.

@Duvel, I think that some of the problem here, if we really want to call it a problem, is that you're thinking of the 25% as pre-scriptive, whereas Wondrich intends it as de-scriptive. He's assuming 25% dilution because that's what's expected. But if you read the second part of the Cooking Issues post to which @weinoo linked, you'll see that the de-scription for a batched Manhattan calls for 50% dilution, and an ABV of only 20%. (The blog also exposes the over-simplification I committed in my recent post about determining dilution.)

". . . someone came up with" is a little dismissive. It's not a number without some basis in experience. Anyway, it's pretty easy to check it yourself: just weigh the ingredients before and after making your cocktail. The difference is dilution. Since you're the one who made it, it's your dilution, and you can go from there with Wondrich's formula.

Three things: I get nervous when a recipe calls for fish that's browned on one side, then finished in the oven. It seems subject to too many variables to be repeatable. What works for @Ann_T or @Smithy might not work for me because 1) my pan could be more or less conductive; 2) my burner is hotter or cooler than theirs, causing more or less carryover; 3) my (or their) oven could be out of calibration; 4) my fish is thinner or thicker than theirs; 5) the moon might be in the inappropriate phase; or 6) I'm holding my mouth wrong. I notice that you bake your tots in the oven. I encourage you to shallow-fry them instead. This gives you much better control over browning (unlike, say, fish). But more importantly, tots hold their temp and crunch for several minutes off the heat. Given that, in your dinner scenario, the fish takes practically no time in the oven, you can finish the tots and keep them in a warm spot (they can even withstand a few minutes in a napkin-wrapped basket) while the fish does its thing. Not to second-guess as formidable a cook as @Shelby, but I think 145°F is too high, no matter what the FDA says. I want 125 - 130, with salmon on the low end and firm white fish higher. That's for finfish -- shrimp are about the same, but scallops and lobster can go a little hotter: 135 to 140°F.

Possibly. But this of course only applies to Martinins, and has been pointed out, you're not drinking Martinis😉. So I think you're in the clear.

I used the formula from the article: It's that "1.25" in the last part of the equation.

Using Dave's recipe proportions (3:1) and something like Tanqueray, you're still in jet-fuel territory: 34.9%. You have to back off to 1:1 to get a drinkable martini (this is 32.5%). A few years ago, I was at a panel discussion led by Dave Wondrich and Robert Hess (DrinkBoy). IIRC, the topic was Martinis and Manhattans and how they related to each other. The discussion took a detour into the extremely dry ("pour the gin while facing France") Martinis of the 40s and 50s. One of the guys pointed out that the drift towards less and less vermouth, which actually started in the 30s, was also a drift towards a stronger cocktail, and that the preference for "dryness" was possibly just an acceptable cover for incipient -- or even full-blown -- alcoholism.

Intriguing. But I'd rather not drop that kind of cash without (a) recommendation(s). Got any? I haven't made up my mind on the Florida pepper. Around here, a little Old Bay finds its way into shrimp salad, but mostly it goes on popcorn. I'm sure the ubiquity of Tony Chachere is what convinced Prudhomme and Lagasse (mistakenly, IMO) that they could successfully market their own upscale blends.

I was wondering about that. Thanks. This stuff is pretty good. And surprisingly popular in Louisiana.

This, plus the fact that Penzey's spice mixtures make many geographic references: streets (Galena, Brady, Mitchell and Muskego); cities (Bangkok, Chicago, Krakow, Fox Point and Paris); states and other areas (California, Chesapeake Bay, Florida, the Rocky Mountains, Quebec) makes me wonder. Some obviously commemorate local places of note (the street names, for example). But who gets to decide what a city tastes like—and why does Penzey's Quebec include coriander, but McCormick's has red pepper? And what's the reasoning behind Florida the spice mix containing (among other things) lemon peel, garlic and onion—even though Florida the state doesn't produce any of these things in appreciable quantities? Of course I jest, but finally, does the combination of Parmesan, bell peppers and shallots really evoke the Rocky Mountains?

Sounds good to me, and not at all lazy.

Details?

Whenever we go to the Penzey's store or order from their site, we're gifted with samples, usually of one of their proprietary spice or herb mixtures. To our surprise, some of these have turned out to be pretty good, a couple not-so-good, and at least one that's mystifying. The good: Chip & Dip—nice for just what its name suggests, seasoning for a salty-snack dip. Lots of ingredients, but no salt. Pico Fruta—Good on melons and fruit salad. Chilies, sugar, lemon and a couple of other things. . Sandwich Sprinkle—this is reminiscent of the seasoning you get on a sub sandwich, especially in the Northeast US. It's an easy additive to basic vinaigrettes. Salt, garlic, pepper, oregano, basil, some other stuff, including rosemary, which I can see but can't taste. Justice—Almost all the alliums (no leeks), dried and ground. We keep finding uses for it. Shallots, garlic, onion, green peppercorns, chives, green onion. Sunny Spain—We stumbled across this when we were searching for a salt-free version of classic lemon-pepper seasoning. That's pretty much what this is. Pepper, citric acid, lemon peel, garlic, onion. Mixtures we didn't care for: Northwoods—the blurb on the bottle says it's traditional. Maybe it is in Northwoods, Wisconsin (which is where they say it's popular). We thought it was meh. Salt, paprika, pepper, thyme, rosemary, garlic and . . . chipotle? Ozark—Having lived in Georgia for more than 50 years, I get suspicious when a Northerner claims something is "classically Southern." This is not. It also has too many ingredients to list, which seem to have canceled each other out. BBQ3000—This actually isn't bad, but it's generic-tasting and not worth spending money on. Anyone else the beneficiary of spice-shop largesse? What did you think?

Nope. Molecular Gastronomy, p.307 (English edition), which, as you say, doesn't necessarily mean not to add sugar to brines.

Kiolbasa is one of our favorite smoked sausages, too, even at their relatively high prices. Among store brands of bacon, we also far prefer Kiobasa, which unlike most widely-distributed bacon, is dry-cured -- and also rather expensive. Bacon, however, is no place to skimp.

We make a few spice mixture bases for dishes that we make often: BBQ, Louisiana, garam masala, Cali-Mex, etc. There are also a few mixes from Penzey's that we like: Sunny Spain, Justice, Northwoods, Pico Fruta (the last two contain salt, so we have to be judicious, since the wings have already been salted). The rub is usually one of those, used as-is, or modified according to mood. Sometimes we just grind on some black pepper. In any case, any of these add flavor without wilting the crispness we've spent considerable time and effort achieving.

I see @Kim Shook has already proceeded, but for those that follow: the reason you refrigerate the brine before adding the target food is to minimize time spent in the "danger zone." I'm dubious of most of the things people add to brines. If it won't dissolve in water, it can't pass through the cell membrane. A few molecules might linger in crevices and such -- that's why there's so much pepper in the recipe. Don't be lazy -- if you want pepper on your chicken, put pepper on your chicken.

Good point about weight. For purposes of making stock, one can use whatever one wants, of course. I'd say I'm calling for 1 to no-more-than 1.5 g per liter of finished stock. I'm with you on how to apply heat, and I'm always baffled when my partner makes pc stock that's rich and crystal clear.

Not just flavor, but gelatin, too. A few -- wow, almost 20 -- years ago, I did an experiment to try to determine how much, if any, salt to add to stock. I don't make stock this way anymore, but I still employ the same salt/stock ratio as described in this topic.

Kenji's method works pretty well. A variation of it is our go-to recipe: For each pound of wings (we even use the tips, but that's a separate discussion), we make a mixture of 5 g each kosher salt and baking powder, toss the wings in it and let them sit for as much time as we can allow (minimum 1/2 hour). Then they get a dry rub, get put on a rack in a sheet pan and get roasted in a 450°F convection oven for 25 minutes. Then they're flipped, the oven goes down to 400° and they get roasted for another 25 minutes. The result is very crispy skin, with flavor coming from the rub. We've not found that the overnight rest Kenji prescribes makes much of a difference, although it sounds good in theory. Besides, we often don't know that we want wings that far in advance.

Two things: At first, I thought "1:1 fat:flour" is correct, but "by volume" is not. We're all supposed to be using weights now, aren't we? Then I thought back to the lasagna we made yesterday, which calls for a balsamella: 3 cups whole milk thickened with 1 stick (113 g) of butter and 1/2 cup (65 g) a/p flour. This doesn't follow the "by weight" ratio -- but it does follow the "by volume" ratio. One stick of butter is . . . 1/2 cup. Secondly, the whole thing -- amount of roux and liquid(s) -- depends on end use. You can't get to the 3 cups of balsmella needed for my lasagna by starting with 2T + 2T and adjusting the liquid -- either I will never have enough sauce, or it will never get thick enough.

At the risk of pre-empting Chris, and the further risk of being accused of shameless promotion (the recipe was worked out by my partner, @JAZ), it looks quite a bit like this. Maybe not exactly carbonara, but that little strip of bacon on top brings it awfully close.

It's never easy to follow a class act, and equaling David Ross' performance as Cook-Off Poobah will be especially tough. David led the Cook-Offs for ten full years, from June 2011 (Savory Filled Pastries) to July 2021 (Potato Salad). The Cook-Offs are often cited as one of our favorite features. So we were extremely pleased when Duvel stepped up, offering to succeed David. He has a long history as a knowledgeable, good natured member, and we think the Cook-Offs will continue to flourish under his guidance. To make sure he gets a good start, we've selected an exciting and timely topic, which Duvel will preview for you shortly. When he does, we hope you all will welcome him to his new, challenging role, and ensure his success by participating with your usual glee and enthusiasm.

David had been a member since 2006, which made him quite the veteran. I first "met" him in 2009, when we recruited him for a hosting position. I met him in person at the 2011 Heartland Gathering, where he demonstrated amazing calmness and generosity, offering to help us finish our dish for the group dinner: David Ross: Can I help? Dave the Cook: Sure. Just put a bamboo pick through two cheese cubes, and roll them in flour, egg and panko. Then deep fry them by holding them, by the pick, with tongs, in the fryer for exactly 20 seconds. As they're done, put them on a rack over paper towels. Repeat until cheese cubes are gone. There are about ninety. David Ross (simply): Okay. And then he did it. Perfectly. Later that year, David took over the eG Cook-offs, opening each of them (most of which were the result of his ideas) with a relevant and often personal story. David was also the voice of Gully on Facebook. His disposition, patience and work ethic will be sorely missed around here. I'm not Jewish, but this seems entirely appropriate: may his memory be a blessing.

It's the 31st! One last day to post your birthday "cakes"! Of course, you may donate at any time, in any amount. Just click here, or snail-mail a check (or money order, or precious-metal ingot) here: eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters P.O. Box 1705 Norman, OK 73070