Dave the Cook

Does epazote work, even for beans? I thought that had been discredited, but I could be wrong. The cause is the same as it is for beans: an abundance of oligosaccharides. The modern human intestine has no way to break them down. Two two basic solutions apply: either 1) eat more JAs (and beans, too, for that matter), which, over time, conditions the digestive tract to process the sugars; 2) roast them for a very long time -- if memory serves, we're talking 18 to 24 hours. Someone with ready access to McGee's The Curious Cook might be able to elaborate (or correct) on option 2. As I recall, one of the chapters is called something like Taking the Wind Out of the Sunchoke.

Ahem. What Suzanne said. Lately, I've been moving towards Pepin's method (in Complete Techniques), which makes little distinction among protein sources (well, the land-based ones, anyway): beef, veal, chicken, even duck. If I roast the bones, it's a brown stock, if I don't it's white. This has become my "stock" for most purposes. As with the fish, if I need something with definite flavor (say, for a chicken pot pie), I'll make it with a fresh chicken and use the meat for the pie. Or . . . I'll supplement my basic stock with canned chicken broth. Shhh . . . Ask me again in a few months, and I'll probably have changed this philosophy entirely.

Before you decide that you can't get enough Jerusalem artichokes, you should know that, for many people, they rival beans as a cause of flatulence.

I never make fish stock unless it's for immediate use. I freeze lobster, shrimp and crab shells and make stock from them, reducing to a glaze, then freezing that. If I need a more neutral "fishy" medium, I reconstitute with white chicken stock or a combination of white stock and bottled clam juice.

What's the brunch menu, other than Sue's raised apple pancakes?

Great review, Seth. Your experience encapsulates both the strength and weakness of CT. I also agree with marie-louise that Cookwise does not have such great recipes. What is there does a good job of illustrating the principle(s) at hand, but Corriher's imagination as a cook seems rather limited. Why can't we use J&J as our reference for recipes, and use whatever technique is offered there. But before preceeding with any specific dish, we can consult reference tomes like Cookwise, How to Read a French Fry, I'm Just Here for the Food, whatever McGee might have to offer, or anything else for that matter, including our own experiences. We might find that there is more than one way to approach a specific issue. In those cases, some of us can try one way, some another, then we can report and dissect. This also means that the only book anyone has to have is J&J. If other texts are relevant, whoever already owns them can research and report.

Red-eye Gravy Serves 6 as Main Dish. This was served as the staff meal at Varmint's Pig Pickin' the night before. It's based on a recipe from Savannah Seasons by Elizabeth Terry. Her recipe calls for a cornstarch slurry, but Varmint's pantry came up short on that count, so guajolote improvised a workaround using flour. We also substituted some nice portobellos for Terry's shitakes. It was served with Shrimp and Grits. 1 T butter 8 ounces country ham, minced 2-1/2 ounces Portobello mushroom caps 1/4 C minced onion 1/2 C madeira 1/2 C coffee, freshly brewed 2 T flour 3/4 C tomato-based vegetable juice, like V-8 1 T organic* hot pepper sauce 1 T minced fresh thyme 1. Over high heat, sauté the ham in the butter until browned. 2. Add the mushrooms and onion, continue to brown. 3. Add madeira and coffee. Simmer until reduced by half, about 15 minutes. 4. Dissolve the flour in the vegetable juice. Add the pepper sauce and whisk into gravy. 5. Return the sauce to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the raw flour taste is gone. 6. Remove from heat and add the thyme. May be made ahead and refrigerated. * inside joke for those who have attempted, in vain, to find sriracha -- or even Tabasco -- at Whole Foods. Keywords: Main Dish, Sauce, Intermediate, American ( RG733 )

Red-eye Gravy Serves 6 as Main Dish. This was served as the staff meal at Varmint's Pig Pickin' the night before. It's based on a recipe from Savannah Seasons by Elizabeth Terry. Her recipe calls for a cornstarch slurry, but Varmint's pantry came up short on that count, so guajolote improvised a workaround using flour. We also substituted some nice portobellos for Terry's shitakes. It was served with Shrimp and Grits. 1 T butter 8 ounces country ham, minced 2-1/2 ounces Portobello mushroom caps 1/4 C minced onion 1/2 C madeira 1/2 C coffee, freshly brewed 2 T flour 3/4 C tomato-based vegetable juice, like V-8 1 T organic* hot pepper sauce 1 T minced fresh thyme 1. Over high heat, sauté the ham in the butter until browned. 2. Add the mushrooms and onion, continue to brown. 3. Add madeira and coffee. Simmer until reduced by half, about 15 minutes. 4. Dissolve the flour in the vegetable juice. Add the pepper sauce and whisk into gravy. 5. Return the sauce to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the raw flour taste is gone. 6. Remove from heat and add the thyme. May be made ahead and refrigerated. * inside joke for those who have attempted, in vain, to find sriracha -- or even Tabasco -- at Whole Foods. Keywords: Main Dish, Sauce, Intermediate, American ( RG733 )

Sounds like you did do it right. I'm proud and envious. Thanks for the running commentary, especially Lady T, whose steadfastness in posting updates was exemplary (ah, yes, the kitchen ballet!)

Oh, yeah . . . What-all is on the smoker? And how's it doing?

What (or who) is getting spatchcocked? I recall no spatchcockables on the menu. P.S.: Spatchcock.

Food coloring: all is forgiven. Cunning carrot decorations are of course exceptionable. Two-tone pepper thing: Varmint's fuck-up is your gain. Dammit. Brisket snackies: yum Steve Martin: Matthew's a fan. Whodathot? Wine in a can:

Yeah, we did. Yeah, it is.

Yes! We were promised pictures! And -- -- I think we're owed an explanation for the food coloring. It had better be good.

After re-reading Chef Paul's prime rib technique, I'm not sure it's suitable. But since I promised, here's a synopsis: When the meat is done -- one level below your target doneness -- refrigerate for three hours. Portion the roast into steaks and make a spice rub: 1 part each: dry mustard and cayenne 2 parts each: salt, white pepper and whole fennel seeds Make sure your exhaust fan is on "extra-high" or do the next part outside. Rub about 4 teaspoons of the mixture on a steak and blacken in a screeching-hot cast-iron skillet. It takes two to three minutes per side to develop the crust -- hence the lower target doneness and the refrigeration. ******************* Hope everyone has a great day. It sounds like tremendous fun.

Well, I don't have it either, though I intend to get it. Someone on eGullet recommeneded it highly. It seemed to me that it might suit one aspect of our "club" (for lack of a better word), in that it layers (again, for lack of a better word) techniques: you make the basic version of a dish, then create successively more elaborate versions of it. The downside would be, to go through all the versions of one dish would take five lessons. Just in typing this out, I'm inclined to go back to J&J. Absolutely.

Excellent idea, Susan!

Good for you! In Raleigh, we couldn't get guajolote to put on an apron -- even one with scantily-clad beauties. Well, I noticed that singalongs tend to distract those two. We're looking forward to it. I understand the chef is very, very good. Don't forget the wine notes! Cooking with Maggie, Aurora and the G-man is a blast, but I guess you already know that. sigh

Please keep us posted. We expect plenty of pictures, too.

I think this is an excellent choice -- a good range of technique and taste. And if we get really stuck, we can always check the video! I'm pretty sold on J&J, but let me toss in a wild card, just in case: Simple to Spectacular, the Vongerichten-Bittman collaboration.

I think pulling at 115-120 would be best. Maybe get 3-5 more degrees during the rest. Prudhomme's method sounds delicious! I'll look up the spice mixture when I get home and post it. Varmint, it's not too late to catch a plane!

I think you can use the kettle. I guess there's nothing wrong with splitting it, except for the aesthetics -- but you can't really discount those, can you? I like 215. Pull it at 120 - 125 F ? What do you expect carryover to be? Or: Paul Prudhomme cooks it to about 115 and lets it rest fully. Then he slices it an inch thick, gives it a generous Cajun rub and sears it -- maybe a minute on each side -- and plates it. It's awesome.

That WSM recipe seems to be more roasting than smoking. Even though it's over wood, the surface temperature is going to rise awfully fast, and limit the amount of smoke penetration. This recipe is kind of fussy, what with the veggies and all, and I'm definitely against using a roasting pan for the meat, but it's more of a traditional low-temp smoke.

If the kettle grill is the 22-1/2" model, I'm not so sure you couldn't do the whole roast on that. I know Klink has smoked some pretty big turkeys on a kettle. The little bit of reading I've done indicates that a full rib takes about six hours at 225, which is less than I thought. Dividing it in half won't make much difference in cooking time. Apparently, very little prep is required -- a decent rub is about it. I would rub it, then let it sit uncovered on a rack in the fridge until you're ready to put it on the grill.

I'm thinking about doing my own prime rib in parallel. So: how are you gonna to smoke that sucker? Have you done this before? If not, let's decide quick before Klink arrives and tells us we don't have the slightest idea of what we're doing.