ChrisTaylor

A Manhattan - 2:1 Ritt and Punt, a couple dashes of Boker's. EDIT Another barrel aged Negroni, too. This one seems to be significantly different to the first, even though it's only had another week in the jar. Wondering if it's a product of: Same quantity of wood chips to a lesser quantity of liquidImagination -- it's not like I'm doing a side-by-side, hereAn extra week really making a huge difference -- sort of how things fall at a greater rate per second per secondA greater amount of air in the jar (the jar was previously filled almost to the top) having a positive impact on proceedingsWith the jar half finished I'm wondering what to age next. Manhattan? Old Fashioned? Sazerac?

I buy bagged lettuce leaves maybe 95% of the time I'm eating lettuce. Mid-week especially. I'll buy bags of 'slaw, too. I load it up with my own dressing and sometimes extra vegetables or other ingredients but the base is as bagged as, well, a bag. Stock? Sometimes. On the weekend I'll usually dump some bones or a handful of mince or off-cuts from a cut I'm using into the pressure cooker to make a small batch of stock. Weeknights? A tolerable commercial stock does the job. Shit, sometimes even on weekends I'll use off-the-shelf. I've been on a fried chicken kick lately. Most local options are shite or very expensive. And the methods I've experimented with are quite different to what I can buy, anyway.

Last night: a St George dry rye-based Last Word. EDIT: Daiquiri o'clock. EDIT 2: Dante o'clock. It's okay. Fernet seems to smash everything, leaving only scattered Benny/Chartreuse herbal notes in its wake.

I use them in a mushroom risotto. Lightly cook and add them at the end. They have none of the resilience of buttons--a few seconds too long and you're eating rubber.

I'm sure I've seen duck fat at Costco too. I mean, you can buy duck fat at the supermarket, anyway. I'm not offended by Pepe's or Luv-a-Duck.

Sure, a haresfur-related drink that contains mostly ingredients that I can't get my hands on. I could probably handle 1/4 oz of Cruzan Blackstrap though (not very fond of it in general and at that rate a bottle would last as long as my absinthe. Zacapa is readily avaliable. Let me know if you find Blackstrap. I purchased some aged Cruzan I found locally and only realised later that it was not at all the same thing as Cruzan Blackstrap. Once you go black you never go back, they say. Only I don't think I have the chance to go black.

The salt rub + fridge dry technique became part of my go-to method after I first tried it. Works well for other things, too--it's not just a chicken technique.

23 Feb. Daiquiri weather slowly draws to a close. Altho' I'm kidding if I say that'll stop me. JM 50. A lime's worth* of lime juice, a little over a half ounce of simple and two generous ounces of JM. * A unit of measurement that can refer to anything from 50mL liquid to 10mL musty pulpy goo

I suspect that this one would be much better than your supermarket one: at $3.95 for 75g, it works out at $10.53 for the amount you bought at essential ingredient for $25. Must be those vestal virgins picking the stuff that Chris Taylor was talking about up thread. By far the best place for herbs and spices is Herbies, as ChrisZ has said. Hands down. I think I pay about five, maybe six, dollars for a 100g tub--so close enough to the $3.95/75g one you buy--at Oasis Bakery. I used to buy the stuff in the cute little painted tin but I'm not convinced it's any better--or different at all, really--from the Oasis stuff. I've even wondered if it's the exact same product just purchased in bulk and repackaged. Either way we're avoiding The Essential Ingredient prices (aka Prahran tax) for what is probably the same product. EI is a little out of the way for me but the prices seem very similar to those at SJ. The whole vibe of the store is similar, even if they've a much larger sideline in books and pans. I mean, maybe I'm just a lowly public servant, but at $25 I'd be reluctant to use the stuff care-free in spice rubs and barbecue. At a price that is the same or or only slightly more expensive than what I'd pay for most other spices, though, I'm happy to rub the stuff all over a pork shoulder I'm going to smoke. I cook a lot of barbecue. I use a lot of spices. Tubs of things like chilli powder and paprika don't last for very long. An ingredient like that shouldn't be so costly that you're reluctant to just use it as the need arises.

No. But the thing about the bird cooked at the lower temperature is you can pull it from the oven, crank the heat and then roast your vegetables, returning the chicken in the last few minutes to crisp the skin. I have done this before successfully. We're talking a matter of, what, 45-60 minutes out of the oven. It'll be fine. And that rest will allow the internal temp to drop a little--a good idea if you're going to place the bird in a screaming hot oven, right? You don't want the high heat to carry the bird above that low internal temperature you carefully brought the breasts up to. A word of warning on the Blumenthal roasting method, though: the temperatures he suggests are perfect for breasts but the thighs at that low temperature are disgusting. Toxic? No. But inedible nonetheless. If I was to repeat this method I'd remove the legs from the rest of the carcass and keep them in the oven a while longer. A lot of people like 60C for the breasts and 65C or so for the thighs. If you accidentally let the thighs creep up to 68C they'll still be good. Just remember to keep the legs splayed like Blumenthal says. Trussing is not helpful. If the advice with this particular bird--and I'm totally unfamiliar with the kind of chicken you're talking about--is to go low and slow I'd stick to that. I'm a fan of a dry 'brine'/high temprature roast for chicken--it's my go-to method--but I'd heed whatever advice I was given if I'd coughed up for some fancy pants bullshit bird. I guess my mind jumps to 'road runner'--vastly superior to even the most expensive organic bird I've had here but not something that'd stand up to the usual 170C-220C temperature range. Give the vegies a kick start by heating the oil/animal fat on the stove. EDIT I am not a fan of roasting vegetables much above 180C. I don't think they respond well to such aggressive temperatures as 220.

Rabbit. Nothing complicated: - 2 * wild rabbits - store-bought peri peri marinade - rabbit cooked slowly on gas grill - when pieces about 75% cooked wrapped in foil with a little water and parked in the oven while I finished off the other things I was serving

My first attempt at making hot sauce. I'm using a blend of Zimbabwean bird's eyes from my own garden and an assortment of varieties I found at the local grocer. Everything they had, really. Six kinds all up. I'm using the Tabasco-style hot sauce (meaning fermented) recipe from John Currence's Pickles, Pigs and Whiskey as it seemed as a good a place to start as any. I feel like I've got the bug now. I'm tempted to go buy another bagful of chillis and make a sauce using a different method.

Oh, I'm not dismissing the quality of the truffle, etc products. To be honest, I find the appeal of truffle oil/salt/et al to be limited. There's a real fake taste and smell, all palate-dominating and preserved, about truffle paraphenalia--whether it comes from Simon Johnson or someone else. I don't think it's a case of artificial flavourings so much as it is a case of truffle being something that isn't well-suited to being preserved. My point was that the perfectly ordinary stuff, the things you can buy for a few dollars per kilo elsewhere--beans, spices--are insanely priced for no reason other than they are packaged in a jar that says 'Simon Johnson' on the label. I buy most of my spices, beans, etc from Oasis Bakery, which is all of five minutes drive from my home. The quality seems to be a step up from the local Indian grocers but the prices don't quite hit the heights of SJ's. I'm always a sucker for the lamb shawarma, too. Spring Street Grocer is on Spring Street in the CBD. It is next door--and tied into--The European. As annachan says, the downstairs cheese room is very nice. The vac-packed wagyu steaks are reasonably priced, too, if that's your idea of a good time. Unsure if they sell any/many truffle-related products but I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, I'm sure I've seen miniature bottles of truffle-infused olive oil at my local Coles. And put it this way: I'm not exactly living in an area that would give Simon Johnson a lot of business. I've ordered some foie gras-related goods from Franckfood but I probably wouldn't bother again. The stuff is okay but ... well, it tastes like foie gras that is canned and, if you read the fine print on the label carefully, it's made a whole lot closer to Stellenbosch than it is Toulouse. MFD is a good store. I have purchased from there before but also from The Red Spoon Company. The RSC's 'complete creation pack' is decent value.

That looks lovely, Shelby.

Nice. Just last week I made cooked salsas with some San Marzanos and tomatillos. The San Marzanos were hitting that overripe stage so I had to think quick. The salsas, especially the tomatillo one, were pleasant enough with some tortilla chips. My Zimbabwean bird's eye plant has produced a lot of fruit. Going to make some hot sauce today, I think. There isn't quite enough fruit to make a sizeable batch of sauce and my other chilli plants are a ways off from producing anything, so I'll have to cut the bird's eyes with something else.

Forget truffle/vanilla/Texturas. Look at the prices for products like dried beans! My God. It is like they have been hand-packed and then hand-delivered by virgins that bathe only in the finest grade milk. The Essential Ingredient is no better. The products are very expensive. There are huge gaps in a line dominated by packaged biscuits, jarred curry pastes and the like. And quite often, as in the case of modernist ingredients, you can only buy an almost industrial amount. Some products they import exclusive are still cheaper elsewhere. The red and yellow tin of Ortiz, for instance, costs $10 at Spring Street Grocer in Melbourne. You pay, what--$15?--in a Simon Johnson store for the same product. The product that they import. I sometimes come away with the impression that these stores aren’t for people that like food or take cooking seriously but are for people that want to spend a lot of money on things. Don’t get me wrong--I like the cheese rooms at Simon Johnson--but the shop is more a sinkhole for money without really earning that privilege.

My first barrel-aged Negroni. Four, five weeks ago I built an equal parts Negroni (Punt e Mes/Tanq + three kinds of orange bitters) in a jar with a product known as rum soakers. Essentially chips from a barrel. It ... probably needs to be tasted side by side with a normal Negroni but it seems to have lost a certain sharp edge while retaining the bitterness. The difference is not huge. I will revisit the jar in another couple of weeks.

PPX. With added Cynar. EDIT I hate to say it, Rafa, but the drink just isnt satisfying. I had to make another some one to fill the hole.

PPX. Like it a lot. Another winner, Nadal.

Search: ragu. See also: bolognese. The bolognese threads tend to become catch-all ragu threads. Still, for your question. Sear the meat in batches. You want to sear it, not steam it in its own juices. You want vegetables. A nice base of onions, carrots, celery. Cut small. Saute until soft. Towards the end some minced garlic, even a minced chilli or two goes nicely. The idea with the chilli, for me anyway, is to add a nice peppery hint to the background. Not making meaty Tabasco here. Depth/complexity. Don't be shy with the vegetables, either. Especially the onion.Some kind of salt-cured pork product. Bacon works. Pancetta, too. Use your imagination. I like to sear the meat in fat slow-rendered from a cured pork product of some description.You've seen The Shawshank Redemption? Pressure and time. Emphasis on the latter. You need time. A good meat sauce, bolognese-style or otherwise, requires time. It's not a midweek option unless you eat crazy late or work from home. Two hours at least. Three or more won't hurt matters. Gentle cooking. Take the edge off the fat/wine/tomato content.You need a happy balance of liquids. I go for a mix of red wine, which I cook down for some time, stock (pressure cook some roasted beef bones and/or pork bones) and tomato sugo. Don't put too much liquid. Slightly too much is okay, as it will reduce some, but if it's crazy soupy to begin with that will not change a whole lot. You can use a lager instead of wine.Hope the mince is coarse ground. I like coarse ground mince but I've recently become an advocate for finely, unevenly chopped meat.A blend of meats is a nice thing to have. You've got beef? Great. Invite some diced pork shoulder/neck to the party. Lamb can work too. Anything, really. A touch of Marmite/Vegemite/*mite at the start of cooking--and I mean A TOUCH, you're not trying to create some malty meaty monstrosity here--is inauthentic by anyone's standards except maybe an Australian dad's but works.A pasta more robust than spaghetti. By the end you're aiming for something with texture but NOT for liquid plus lumps of mint plus stray bits of onion/carrot/misc. That takes time, the right balance of liquids-to-solids from the outset (slightly too much to cover what's there but not too too much) and attention. You need to stir it regular/keep an eye on proceedings.

Haven't gone all-out bitter in a long time. Cynar o'clock. Fernet/Spanish brandy/Ilegal/mole bitters/mint also something I was in the mood for.

Haven't made this but remember it from television a couple years back: http://atablefortwo.com.au/2010/02/beeramisu

This. Apparently, anyway. I'm not guilty of indulging in them. I know the product you're talking about. Small jar. Red label, right? Well, red flower on black. From memory, anyway. All Australian bottle shops sell that product. The idea is you drop the flowers into sparkling wine/bargain basement Champagne. I guess you could maybe work them into something like a Kir. I guess you could maybe even experiment with putting them into some sort of white wine-based granita/ice. I couldn't imagine doing much else with them.

Fat Yak pale ale. Consumed in the shower. A drinkable/accessible summer beer. Didn't lose anything going mass produced.

The first batch of blue swimmer crabs--I had ten--pre-cooked for Fergus Henderson's devilled crab recipe. Served on toast with a couple of poached eggs. So good. Crab coma, even though the ten (they're not very big) was split between two people.