John Rosevear

Monin isn't bad -- I like it better than the current iteration of the Trader Vic product -- but it is indeed very sweet... plan to adjust accordingly.

Replacing cilantro with parsley-plus-ground-coriander is a way to approximate cilantro's flavor without setting off those who find cilantro to be soapy ick. But just parsley, not so much. The better canned stocks can be doctored into something passable, via something like Julia Child's instructions in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It's not quite right, but there are worse things. Bouillon cubes, for instance, are worse things. But subbing Worcestershire sauce for soy sauce, which I've seen in at least one cookbook... that's some major ick.

2 oz Hendrick's in a rocks glass filled with ice cubes, top with Polar tonic water from a can (which I don't think I've ever had before tonight, but which happened to be at hand). No lime, didn't seem to need it. I've never been a big Hendrick's fan, but this combo is seriously good, like they were made for each other. Fascinating.

I'm about to attempt Ethiopian cooking for the first time. I have a copy of Mesfin's "Exotic Ethiopian Cooking", which is still apparently the closest thing to a definitive English-language source, but it's not without its quirks. One of those quirks is its berbere recipe, which famously calls for epic quantities: 15 lb dried New Mexican chilies, 5 lbs garlic, etc. I don't really want to make a lifetime supply, and while I could scale it down, I figured it was worth asking this august group: Got a berbere recipe you like?

I'm not sure what you mean by "medium-sized", but plenty of folks barbecue successfully on the 22.5" kettles. Putting a pan of water (or a few big rocks) on the lower grate helps hold the temp in the range you'll want it in.

I had Pepsi Throwback (made with sugar and, supposedly, a '70s recipe). It tasted a LOT different, in a good way.

Just wanted to chime in here... Linda understates. Eastern Standard's bar is a gem of an old-school cocktail bar, one of the best this side of NYC. If you're looking for beers with the boys, there are plenty of other options in Fenway, but if you're looking for something brilliant, ES is your place.

Seconded. A Weber kettle is an idiot-resistant piece of equipment, but apparently not idiot-proof. Close, though. I have one of these rotisserie collars and only realized that I'd stopped using it when I found that I'd gotten lazy and was using my propane Weber's rotisserie instead. Once you learn to manage the fire -- not hard -- you will have superb chickens, time after time. Brine two 3.5-4 lb chickens, dry thoroughly, tie with string, mount on spit, rub with thin coat of oil and sprinkle with seasonings as desired (Penzey's Ozark Seasoning blend is delicious in this application for those wanting a simple way to go, but salt and pepper is fine too), start cooking. Indirect fire, try to hold the temp in the kettle around 375-400 but don't sweat it if it fluctuates upward some from time to time, cook chickens 'til they're a bit past the point of doneness, remove, carve, serve.

Nope. It just salts the skins perfectly.

Ayup. (Though secretly, I don't really like steamers (or steamiz, as we used to say in RI).)

Our local market sells tiny purple potatoes that are wonderful prepared this way. I use the salt/water ratio that Sam mentioned and toss with melted butter just before serving. Simple and good.

Not as long as the technique is clearly explained and equipment requirements aren't too elaborate. Complexity is fine if the results are sufficiently rewarding, but do keep in mind that much of your potential audience -- pro bartenders and home enthusiasts both -- will lack professional culinary training and access to elite restaurant kitchens.

Seconded, all of these. Also worth having are Dale DeGroff's two books, Jeff Berry's books on classic Tiki drinks, and Gary Regan's "The Joy of Mixology". (These might be more Julia Child than Thomas Keller, but they're certainly well beyond Rachael Ray, and well beyond most of what you'll find in a Barnes & Noble.) "Difford's Encyclopedia of Cocktails" might be worth a look as well.

It was VERY popular with my guests. I let the fruit macerate for about 48 hours before we served it, and that worked out very well -- the apples and pears were still crisp and fresh, but well-flavored. For me, the assembled final product was a bit sweeter than I like, and I've been experimenting glass-by-glass as we drink down the last of it -- a little lemon juice, a little extra wine, a bit of lime and a float of Lemon Hart Demerara 151 (delicious, if decidedly un-sangria-like). I think it'll only need minor tweaking to make me happy, but I haven't quite hit on the tweak yet. But everyone else who has tried it has loved it.

I've never made it myself, but I've tasted a few sophisticated home-distilled absinthes, and I was one of those who ordered the stuff from overseas before it was relegalized here, going up the scale over the course of the decade as the best stuff got better... La Fee, Un Emile, the Fougerolles, then finally the Jades... the stuff you can get in a good liquor store in the US now is better than a lot of the stuff I imported at ridiculous expense, and that in turn (at least once we got past La Fee) was far better than most of the homebrews. Unless you're really trying to understand absinthe, or unless you're hoping to produce it commercially, AND you're willing to run the considerable legal risk of having a still, why would you bother?

Katie, that looks excellent -- exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. I'll try it this weekend and let y'all know how it goes.

I find myself, for reasons obscure, with an overabundance of cheap (but not quite awful -- think Black Box) Pinot Grigio. I would love to turn it into a gallon or three of crisp, refreshing white sangria, preferably something that will keep for a few days in the fridge. All I need is a great recipe. Got one?

Most or all of the US-market Bols products are made -- for Bols -- by Brown-Forman, probably in Kentucky. US distribution is handled by Wm Grant & Sons (Balvenie, Glenfiddich, Hendrick's Gin, etc.) I can't attest either way to manufacturing processes for the US products vs those used for EU-market products, but clearly their market positioning and pricing in North America suggests ingredients and processes closer to, say, Hiram Walker than to Marie Brizard. That said, the 2-year-old bottle of Bols orange curacao that I have is a little sweeter than I'd like but not at all unpleasant or artificial-tasting, with a distinct orange-peel character -- it's certainly several levels above "crap". Speaking of Brizard, they list a blue curacao, though I don't recall seeing it for sale. If you've gotta have a blue one, theirs should be worth trying.

While booze-shopping yesterday, I noticed that Bols makes a blue curacao. I haven't tried it -- as far as I can recall, I've never owned a bottle of the blue stuff -- but I have used their non-blue curacao and it isn't bad. It's not up to the level of Brizard etc, but it's significantly better than the bottom-shelf alternatives, certainly something that could be served in, say, tiki drinks without embarrassment.

They're wonderful for curries and stir-frying and perfect for General Tso's or most other Chinese dishes where the chicken is deep-fried and then sauced.

Try it in a mai tai with El Dorado 12 or 15. Wow.

Likewise on all counts. And my current 375 might last five years or more at its present rate of use.

My spirits collection is mostly packed away for the week as we're having new floors installed (did you know that you can fit 60-odd bottles into the bathtub in a seldom-used bathroom? Too bad that's only about half of them) but I'm actively on the hunt for a decent piece of furniture to serve as its home. The Howard Miller pieces are hopelessly inadequate (and hopelessly wine-focused -- who other than NYC studio-dwellers keeps wine in their living room?) and repurposing old bookshelves (my current less-than-adequate solution) runs into The Maraschino Problem. Now, I could stash the Luxardo in the kitchen, but that still leaves me a hundred-plus bottles I'd like to put in a particular corner between kitchen and dining room, ideally in a cabinet of some sort. Has anyone seen a decent freestanding piece of furniture that could accommodate the kinds of collections being discussed in this thread, or will I have to give up and have something built?

At the risk of broken-record-ism, I'm a non-pro cocktail geek who occasionally mixes for a crowd and I use and like the little OXO measuring cup. Mine has been through the dishwasher a few hundred times and the numbers are starting to wear off... but when they do, I'll buy another one. Hopefully by then OXO will have added a 3/4 oz mark, but it's not a must-have.

My rough rules of thumb, based on nothing but home-kitchen experience: 5 min plated and covered for a 1"-1.25" steak (which is almost always high-heat grilled in my house) or 10 min if I want a plateful of juice (which I often do if I'm going to be adding fries). 10-15 min for the 4 lb-ish chickens I tend to cook, up to 30 min for a larger pork or beef roast.