PetersCreek

One of the gee-whiz features that caught our attention when we bought our house is a built-in, swing-out spice rack: Now, don't ask me to show you what's behind that rack. It's chock full of more herbs & spices.

I hope I'm not resurrecting a thread too far gone but this is a great topic. I've been making the summer sausage recipe Charcuterie for some time now but after making a few dry cured salamis and doing some more reading, I've been really interested in making it with a culture instead of Fermento. So, I tackled it this weekend. Unfortunately, I did not document the project with pictures. I settled on the recipe in "The Art of Making Fermented Sausages" by Stanley and Adam Marianski, with a couple of minor changes. I used a ~50/50 mix of pork and beef rather than the 70/30 ratio called for (I felt like a beefier product this time) and I substituted Bactoferm LHP for the recommended F-LC, which I did not have on hand. The pork shoulder I bought was skin-on with a nice layer of fat, so I didn't feel the need to add additional fat to compensate for the increase in lean beef. I broke the meat down on Friday night and prepared my cure and dry seasonings. Saturday morning, I prepped the oven with a heating pad set on high under a baking dish of water and I turned the light on for additional warmth. I then ground, mixed, and stuffed the mixture into 1½" fibrous casings, hog-ringed to 6" lengths, with little extra left over to make a mini sample sausage. All went into the oven for 24 hours of incubation at 95-100°F. Today, the sausages went in to the Bradley smoker for 4 hours over Jim Beam oak bisquettes at 115°F, followed by gradually increasing smokeless heat to finish. Of course, the sample piece didn't survive the night. This is, hands down, my new summer sausage recipe of choice. No disrespect to R&P but Fermento just doesn't compare to the mouth-watering tang the little critters gave this sausage. It's not even close. Chris — I can sympathize with you on taxing the KA capacity. This batch was a touch over 6 lbs and my 6qt KA complained a bit about starting up. I do believe my next equipment purchase will be a small mixer bin.

Many things are hard to find up here. High on my list is Pappy Van Winkle's 20-year-old Family Reserve.

I had an epiphany about raw oysters about 12 years ago. I'm a Southern boy by birth and upbringing, so I've eaten fried oysters since my youth and later enjoyed them broiled. I had tried them raw many, many times over the years but never liked their flavor or texture. Then I moved to Alaska. I don't know if it was just a change in my tastes or if the provenance of the oysters made a difference but it was as if someone had thrown a switch. I didn't have to get used to them or develop a taste for them over time. They had suddenly become silky, simple, briny perfection on ice. I haven't tried any Gulf or Atlantic oysters since then but I would be curious to see if they have the same effect on me now.

I once had a girlfriend named Epiphany. Then one day, out of the blue, she suddenly realized I wasn't the guy for her. Okay, more seriously: My earliest epiphany was somewhere around the age of 8, during a trip to Mexico, where I ate and thoroughly enjoyed goat. In the same general time frame, my school teacher offered our class some candy that turned out to be chocolate-covered caterpillars, grasshoppers, and ants. These episodes gave me my first realizations that the world was filled with weird and wonderful things to eat. A more recent "discovery" was offered by a favorite local restaurant: maple-apple bread pudding with a bourbon cream sauce...topped with bacon. Yes, I'm a relative late-comer to the salty-sweet movement. Bacon really does make (almost) everything better.

In the bar: It annoys me when bar staff don't have a basic familiarity with their liquor stock. I can't count the number of times I've asked about their single malt or bourbon selection, only to hear the likes of Johnnie Walker Black or Jack Daniels on the list and frequently topping it. It would be better and faster if they just gave me a drink menu, instead. I suppose I should stop asking for my whisky neat since a lot of the younger bar staff don't know what the term means. Some aren't even real sure about "straight" either and pour it over ice. "Oh, I thought you meant without Coke."

The Wife® and I tried the Chobani low fat and thought it was pretty good but all we can find now is the 0% stuff. For us, that's "Meh, why bother?" stuff. It's not widely available here but we really like the Greek Gods brand. The traditional flavor really steps her tzatziki up a couple of notches.

Thanks for mentioning DrinkUpNY. I'd never heard of them but gave them a look and wound up ordering a couple of whiskies. Of course, I don't qualify for the free shipping (Alaska rarely does) but the shipping cost was quite reasonable at $19.99 for the two bottles. As for what I ordered: Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Cask Strength Straight Rye Whiskey Parker's Heritage Collection 10-Year-Old Wheated Mashbill Cask Strength KSBW (off topic for this thread, of course)

DOH! I thought about that type but I wrongly assumed you wanted grads flush on both ends.

I've never used LN2 in food applications but I did use it and gaseous N2 in military avionics applications. Some gases contain petroleum products used to lubricate compressors, inhibit rust in storage bottles, and what-have-you. We purged and pressurized our components with "dry nitrogen", a mix of 95% N2 and 5% O2, that was certified free of oil and other contaminants. My guess is that the LN2 your hardware store carries wasn't condensed under food safe conditions. Remember, small amounts of contaminants in a gas can be greatly concentrated during liquification, depending upon the process used.

This immediately brought the machinist's rule to mind. Item #1276 from General Tools seems to meet your requirements, except for metric graduations. I could not quickly find a similar rule that sports both metric and imperial.

I had your response up until that last statement. I often tell my wife, "It's not always about need" but that's not really going to serve your purpose, I suppose, because it will only justify her shopping spree. Sorry. Wait, an additional use just came to mind. I vacuum seal whole meats for curing, which eliminates the need for turning/redistribution.

I have a bottle of that put back for a cigar & whiskey tasting planned for this spring. I'm really looking forward to it. You mention of Christmas gifts made me realize I've completely forgotten another open bottle: Macallan 18 Sherry Oak SMSW...a birthday gift from my wife.

At the time I purchased my first bottle, yes, the Talisker was the less costly of the two. These days, they're pretty competetively priced. And no, everyone should feel free to list their line-up whether it's strictly whisky, strictly whiskey, strictly something else, or an assortment. I'm intriqued by this one. I've only recently started exploring rye whiskey but to date I've had only three: Jim Beam, Old Overholt, and ri(1). I'd like to try the upper levels but choices here can be rather limited and with typical express shipping charges, you've really got to want something.

I reconstructed this salad from a dish I had at a local sushi bar: Snow crab leg meat, whole Cucumber, sliced into "noodles" - toss with a splash of sushi vinegar, - add a touch of sesame oil, - garnish with a couple of pinches of sesame seed This is a really refreshing summertime salad.

For a little variety, I generally keep 3-to-5 whiskies open at any given time. The current line-up includes: Lagavulin 16 SMSW — I discovered scotch (or it, me) about 7 years ago and it didn't take me long to fall in love with the "peat monsters". This is one of my go-to malts...one I keep coming back to. It doesn't hurt that my local dealer offers it on sale regularly. Smokey, peaty goodness. Talisker 10 SMSW — I think Talisker was the second strongly peated malt I purchased, partly due to it's reputation but also because it was a relative bargain compared to Lagavulin, Laphroaig, and the like. It's been a while since my last bottle but I recently picke this one up when it was also offered on sale. In addition to it's forward peatiness, I also like it's sharp medicinal quality. Parker's Heritage Collection Cask Strength KSBW — My first bottle of this was an impulse buy. I spotted it while window shopping the "jewel case" at my local dealer. It's comparatively moderate price didn't explain why it was there so I decided to take it home and find out what other qualities put it behind locked glass. As it turned out, it was there just because it's rarely seen up here but it stands apart from those on the shelf all the same. It's rich, buttery, and far smoother than its proof number suggests. Jameson 18 Limited Reserve Irish Whiskey — Jameson is my drink of choice when enjoying a night at my American Legion post. The bourbon and scotch selection there is pretty run of the mill and for some reason, I gravitated to Jameson as something different. The 18-year-old was another unresearched impulse buy. I rarely keep the brand at home and thought, why not try one of the nicer expressions? A nicer one it is. Pendelton blended Canadian Whiskey — I only buy Pendleton around Thanksgiving and Christmas time. Its subtle notes of cinnamon and nutmeg says "Holidays!" to me and this bottle is an almost-gone leftover. So, what's in your stable and why?

Another similar tool is the Alaskan Ulu. Inuit for "woman's knife", it describes who uses it rather than what it does...which is just about everything in the hands of the skilled. I'll add: Meat grinder Sausage stuffer Sausage/casing pricker

Okay, I have to own up to liking Alton's character on Good Eats...but then I'm a sciency kind of guy with an active nerd gene. Even so, he and virtually all TV chefs/cooks/posers do something that drives me to distraction: mispronounce Spätzle. I've heard spāt-zəl, spăt-zəl, and maybe even a half-gargled spatulas...but rarely the proper shpātz-ləh. Maybe it irks me because I lived in Germany for a few years or maybe it's my persnickety nature. I just happen to think that we should make a decent effort to pronounce such foreign words correctly...at least until they are completely co-opted into our native language.

I use wet/dry sheets to lap my water stones. Wet 'em and slap 'em on a scrap of marble or granite countertop for a nice, flat lapping surface.

I'll echo the recommendations for both the Jim Beam and Old Overholt rye whiskies. As for others, well, I'm not much of a cocktailer except for my summertime mint juleps...in which quality really does make a difference. So I generally don't look for mixer bargains. I don't mind finding a good casual quaff at a fair price, though. It's not available in my local shops but I recently sampled the Ezra Brooks at my favorite bourbon bar and found it quite pleasant. At a similar price point, I'm also fond of Bufallo Trace, Eagle Rare, Bulleit on occasion, and when I find myself in an establishment where the bartender thinks Jack Daniels is a bourbon, I'll gladly take a Maker's Mark, if available.

I also agree with the meat slicer and I'll throw in a dedicated meat grinder, to boot. I wouldn't call mine professional or commercial grade...they're from Cabela's, in fact...but they're far beefier than what's found in your average kitchen store. The Kitchenaid meat grinding attachment got me started but my ¾-hp, #12 grinder is a joy to use by comparison.

Quite right. It's bad enough they turned the Colonel into a cabbage-patching cartoon character. I imagine him rolling over in his blue grass covered grave.

Another vote for the Breville Ikon 4-slice model. We've gone through a number of toasters, the last one being an execrable T-fal model we dubbed the toast launcher because it's top was slanted and would indeed launch a slice onto the counter top from time to time. It toasted so unevenly that I had to rotate the bread left-to-right and top-to-bottom. We bought the wide slot 4-slice model because even the high end manufacturers seem stuck on the square slice concept, leaving little-to-no room for wider breads like artisan loaves. The Breville has been the best performer so far, in along line of disappointments.

While I fastidiously maintain my straight razor with water stones, an ultra-fine ceramic hone, and linen and latigo strops, I'd much rather cook with my kitchen knives and let someone else see to their sharpening. Fortunately, a knife shop is co-located with the cigar shop/club I patronize, so they make fairly regular visits for maintenance. Between visits, all they see is a steel.

The Wife® and I recently discovered a little Eastern European/Russian deli in town and we've been exploring their coolcase filled with all kinds of sausages and salamis. A repeat favorite is Karpatskaya and I've decided that I'd like to add it to my repertoire. My reference books are mute on this variety and I haven't had any luck online, either. Can anyone help?