weinoo

Tammy, the guy who wrote The Spice Companion has a highly-regarded store here in NYC. The store is called La Boîte, and Lior collaborates with a diverse array of chefs and others, from Jim Meehan on cocktail seasonings to Eric Ripert on, well, other stuff.

No more you say?

I've heard somewhat the same thing, Paul. A friend mentioned it wasn't terrible, but it was no Franny's.

Nothing's hidden in this city. But, Le Coucou has been a favorite since its opening. An old classic like Le Bernardin (where we had dinner a week ago) is still wonderful. Other very enjoyable meals we've recently had include Beatrice Inn, Wildair (which is casual and doesn't take reservations), Ssam Bar, and Le Coq Rico. If you want to go to Brooklyn (which is basically a short subway ride), Olstead and Faun are both worthy choices.

I just added these 2 used books to my collection...trying to up my game:

Slightly off-topic, but good Sichuan restaurants have really upped their game in New York City over the past decade. Even in Manhattan, there are a good dozen places to get quality Sichuan food in restaurants.

I want a hot pot specific pot simply because they're the only ones I've seen with separate compartments for different types of cooking broth. I'm sure I could use an enameled cast iron casserole that I already own to play around with one broth. I've also seen both the clay pot versions (I think they're used for shabu shabu?) and the ones that get filled with charcoal in the center, though using one of those in my apartment might not be the wisest choice .

I have no bias against appliances; I actually like Zoji products and own one or two of them. I am looking for a hot pot which has two separate sections for two types of cooking liquid, and also might take up a little less room to store.

Well, some answers are below. I'm also of the belief that a heavier pot on my dining table, with a bunch of people sticking stuff into it, might be more stable. I'm sort of about the same thinking. Thanks, Li. This restaurant, which opened a year or so ago, is all dry hot pot...MaLa Project.

Seriously, no advantage? Other than maybe better quality?

Thanks, Li...

I'm looking to purchase a Mongolian/Chinese/etc. hot pot, so that I can do hot pot at home. There are lots of them for sale on Amazon and other sites, and just yesterday I saw one in an Asian grocery I visited in Queens. But, they seem to all be made of the same thing - really, really, thin stainless steel. So while it will work on my induction cooker, or with a butane single burner unit, I was wondering if anyone has seen or owns one that might be a little bit heavier?

Kim Severson's piece in the NY Times, about Paula Wolfert's battle with dementia, is to me quite moving. I've seen it first hand (via my maternal grandmother), as many of us probably have; it's a miserable and scary disease. Paulas' books were for me, as they obviously were for many, eye openers into foreign cuisines and cultures. The recipes, while often rigorous, produced wonderful results. And the stories along the way piqued my curiosity. So the article, while bringing back some sad memories, also made me chuckle a bit, and how often can that be said about an article in the Times? I like that she's a fighter; maybe she can give us all some hope.

I think this has been written about before, but I use plain white vinegar as my rinse aid, in the rinse aid dispenser. And Cascade powder as the detergent, but I use much less than the "recommended" amount. My dishes come out sparking clean, and no etching from too much detergent.

It's taken a while, but I've gotten these to the point where they've become my daily nonstick frying/sauté pans, and I've relegated the purchased nonstick pans to a back shelf.

When you're making chicken salad, how do you deal with the cooked chicken? Do you shred it by hand? Dice it? Cube it? Or cut it into slices?

Wanting to relive a little bit of our Spanish vacation, I purchased these at one of the fish mongers up on Arthur Ave. These 4 weighed a pound... They were good, but certainly not as good as the ones we ate there. This was dinner the night before: Strozzapreti fagioli. Served with a side of sautéed Tuscan kale.

I enjoy baking some stuff when the weather cools down. Pierre Hermé's Korovas, aka World peace cookies. Thin and crispy and salty oatmeal cookies.

I'll let you know when I've corrected it!

Q: "How long do I cook that for?" A: "Until it's done." People even get mad at me when I say that.

When baking, I basically follow recipes exactly. I don't bake all that much - some cookies, flatbreads, a banana bread every now and then, and I know the recipes that I've used which work, and continue using them. I don't believe anyone said to "never use a recipe again?"

It was not a great recipe. I think there were one or two steps left out that would've made a difference. And maybe even an ingredient or two. As Jacques says about the particular recipe he's referring to in that video, different pears and pear ripeness will, of course, affect the outcome. We've all been there trying to figure out what type of apple to use for something, or whether a tomato is worthy of a particular recipe due to its ripeness and flavor, or lack thereof. In the recipe I followed to a "t," the ingredients were not the problem. It was more the prep of the ingredients as well as the steps in the overall recipe. For someone who religiously follows recipes (something I rarely do), this would've been a big disappointment.

Bologna was, and I imagine still is, fascinating and wonderful.

Last week I wanted to try a recipe (for the first time) from a cookbook I've had for over 20 years. So I did just as the recipe instructed, even though after reading the recipe I felt like it wouldn't work properly - as it was written. But dutifully, I followed the many steps. The damn recipe took hours (fortunately, there was no rush), and when it was finally finished, it pretty much sucked. As a matter of fact, I didn't even give a taste to Significant Eater. Of course I should've known better, but I wanted to give the written instructions their shot. And then I thought of this video/essay from Jacques. Which is really what a "recipe" is about in a nutshell. http://www.pbs.org/video/2365717095/

Local (South Shore, Long Island) line-caught black sea bass. J. Kenji López-Alt's best ever roasted potatoes. (These really came out great - using duck fat.) Charred broccoli.