Dave the Cook

I had a lovely twist on the French 75 today at Holeman & Finch (actually, I had two, but only one used St. Germain). As best I can tell -- I haven't had a chance to try making it myself -- it's something like this: 1-1/2 white rum (I think they used Myer's) 1/2 St. Germain 1/2 lemon juice Two dashes Peychaud's bitters Shake and pour into a flute, then top with brut champagne. Garnish with an oily lemon horse's neck.

I bake cakes like once a century, but when I've needed to split layers, I've found that the high E-string from a guitar (a set is not too expensive) works really well. As Rob suggests, guides can help: I use 1 x 2s on either side of the layer and drag across them to keep the cut even. Bonus: you get to feel like a button man from The Godfather.

With some sadness, I must report that Margaret McArthur (maggiethecat) will be stepping down as a Society volunteer. That sadness is tempered by much gratitude for Maggie's years of service and her tireless efforts as Editorial Director of the Daily Gullet, not to mention her effervescent presence in eGForums for more than six years. We can only hope that she'll now have more time to post. Please share your thanks for Maggie's work in the member News topic here.

Closing out an amazing and long-running stint as a Society volunteer, Margaret McArthur has resigned her post as Editorial Director of the Daily Gullet. It's not possible to thank her enough for her service, but I'll try. Thank you, Maggie. I'm sure that she will be the first to tell you that she's far from satisfied, but convincing her to take on the job was one the smartest things I've done in my work for the Society. During her tenure, she published more than 70 articles, many of which have been featured in other media outlets, a few of which have led to book deals and awards, and all of which underscore our mission of being the best place to discuss food and promote food literature anywhere. She worked tirelessly to present interesting content, cajoling writers -- old-timers and new talent -- and prodding publishers to grant the Daily Gullet exclusive content and access to many notable authors. And anyone who worked under Maggie's editorial tutelage knows what a gift she has for finding the right phrase, sequencing an exposition and for knowing the difference between "further" and "farther." Let's hope this gives Maggie more time to post -- after all, she started many of the most popular and interesting topics in eG Forums. Thanks again, Maggie. See you on the boards.

How is your supply chain structured, Tri2Cook? I ask because when I was in purchasing, I found that I could sometimes make a deal for a product I wanted but didn't want to take a beating on: 1) The rep would agree to my price for the commodity I wanted; 2) I agreed to buy something else he had without haggling, as long as the price was reasonable. Dairy is tougher than some things because it's so specialized, but I might agree to buy eggs from the dairy guy instead of the chicken guy, if I could get creme fraiche at a better price (this was the 70s). Bonus: about a week would pass, and the chicken guy would call wanting to know what he could do to get my egg business back.

They are the same cut of meat -- the tail end of the sirloin. The problem is that while the sirloin from a steer is a tasty, if not-too-tender cut, the same thing can't really be said for the hog sirloin. It's a knot of homely muscles that are pretty much tasteless -- witness the relative unpopularity of the sirloin chop versus the loin and rib chop.

I'm giving this a bump to check on the current state of this cuisine in the metro area. A friend and I had lunch at Nuevo Laredo yesterday. To call it disappointing would be too strong, if it weren't for all the "Best of Atlanta" plaques on the wall. A place that's garnered so much praise really ought to offer more than good salsa and okay food. I'm just not sure whether I'm disgruntled over the restaurant or Creative Loafing readers and Atlanta magazine editors who seem to equate "huge portions" with "great food." It's not the food was bad -- it was fine, and if I was in the neighborhood and hungry for "Mexican," I wouldn't hesitate to pull the car in. But it's not worth driving across town for. Likewise Taqueria del Sol, though I've only eaten there at a Christmas party. The food was fine, if oddly seasoned, and barely recognizable as "Mexican." Maybe that's their catering menu, and I should give it another try? Any updates? Authentic Mexican would be great, but Tex-Mex and Cali-Mex -- if they're good -- are fine, too.

This isn't true. The association with cancer is to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is used to produce PTFE. PFOA is a carcinogen, but is scacely traceable in the finished product, if at all. The EPA says:

Hi, Chefb28, and welcome to eG Forums! Despite its novelty, MG is nothing new around here. I invite you to check out some of our previous topics -- all of these are Q&A sessions; if you do some browsing in the Cooking forum, you'll find tons of practical application advice. Heston Blumenthal -- 2002 Grant Achatz -- 2003 Ferran Adria -- 2004 The Alinea Project -- 2004 Jose Andres -- 2006

Then there's the middle road, amply straddled by Mario Batali: braise for an hour, then puree it and put it in ravioli. Serve with a sauce made of chicken livers.

Can we back up a bit? The only thing I've canned (though I've done it several times) is Worcestershire sauce. Being ignorant, I just put the jars in a stockpot -- no rack, no towel. Sometimes they stay upright, sometimes they tumble. It's always turned out fine. So what's the point of the towel and/or rack? To keep the jars from cracking on the bottom of the pot? eta: begging pardon for my ignorance.

Have you seen this course?

I'm guessing Nick was your barkeep -- he's tops. I had the same experience with a Eugene hanger steak as you did with the ribeye. I had to check my surroundings to make sure I wasn't at Lobel's or some other pantheon of beef. I also agree about the local thing, but if you consider scallops and steak potential components of a great meal (as I do), you're going to have to cross a few borders to get the best. I think the donuts must be a dish shared with Holeman & Finch (across the street). They left me speechless.

Just for the record, skillets don't usually come with lids.

crinoidgirl and saturnbar, I see what you mean, and I apologize. I'll try to include more scale clues in future installments. The resulting pot roast is about a pound and a half -- good for two peeps with some leftovers for the next day's lunch, or a crispy hash dinner a few days afterward.

Blanching should soften the skins up. Then I'd try the hazelnut method: vigorous rubbing in a towel. I think Sam's right -- you won't be able to remove the skin completely, but if you succeed even 50% -- and I think you could do better than that -- you've reduced the tannin problem by half.

Is it really a triangle? I'm not trying to be pedantic, but it looks more like a trapezoid. If that's right, how wide is that back wall? Also, how far are these shelves from the floor?

Sigh. They're so pretty when they're new. LCD panels are cheap -- that's why they're so common. But that readout, even in bad light, seems like it would be mighty handy. It looks like you've got a lot of link-to-link contact, Chris. How long did you smoke? Why did you choose to smoke at 170? Most importantly, how did the sausage turn out?

Most of the tannins in nuts are in the skins. Maybe blanch the nuts to lose the skins, toast them to develop flavor, then grind to maximize surface area? If you get significant oils, you could try fat washing (chilling and skimming), as Katie suggests. I wouldn't bother with smoking the nuts right now, unless you want the smoke in the finished product. One step at a time.

In this case, it's Blais's way of recognizing Keller's (for whom he worked) dish, and the name thereof. In fact, it doesn't bear a lot of resemblance to the original. Blais's take is typically a pristine oyster or three graced with one of his various Dippin' Dot-style confections: I've seen lemon, Tabasco, melon (served with a sliver of prosciutto) and (I think) Guinness, sometimes alone and sometimes a mixture. Extremely tasty in any version, I might add.

"pork short rib" was (maybe still is) on the menu at Home. It was a joke -- it's really just a way to say "pork belly" without invoking what's become an overused (and for some, off-putting) term, though not necessarily an overused ingredient.

Your lower shelf seems to be substantially shorter than your upper shelf. Is that right, Chris? Like, that Creole Shrubb isn't going anywhere.

Most consumer-level pastrami these days is made with round. With that as a benchmark, how could short-rib pastrami not be an improvement? With respect to Chris's post above: I did a pastrami (brisket) a few weeks ago that turned out so well that I decided not to share it: I found that for main courses, where the meat has to be the star, steaming was best, but for sandwiches, pre-steamed and gently microwave-reheated was just fine. I'm not saying this is the authoritative way (or even my definitive way) to do pastrami; I'm just saying it worked very, very well.

After being missing for a couple of months, Rittenhouse BIB showed up here in Atlanta last week. I paid about $17.50 for a fifth; it would have been less if I'd had real money on me instead of just plastic (it's common in ATL liquor stores to have one price for credit and another for cash -- there's usually about a 2.5% difference).

Just to show how far bar food has come, Atlanta's Holeman & Finch Public House recently won Atlanta Magazine's "Restaurant of the Year" award: Full story here (scroll to bottom). My report on H&F is here.