weinoo

Probably around 10 oz. Looks like they are 8 oz. Both are, in my opinion, too large for properly made cocktails.

Only 1 problem - they're not edible.

I love the Jasmine, which I first tasted at The Pegu Club. I'd also think about an Old-Fashioned with a Campari rinse.

Coffee?

Wow - our pizza at Pulino's last night was very good. We only ordered 1 pie, as an appetizer. The rest of the food was fine, for what it is.

The January, 2012 issue of Bon Apetit has a wonderful piece about the New York restaurant/institution called La Grenouille, which is turning 50 years old. The premise is how wonderful La Grenouille is, reveling as it does in its "uncoolness and squareness." That is to say, it's classically French. But another point that the author brings up is this...the restaurant is good, even great - and there's no celebrity chef at the helm. And the most important position is that of the maitre d'hotel; in the old days, the maitre d' started in the back and worked his way to the front. Since the maitre'd (Charles Masson) at La Grenouille is the son of the original owners, I can understand their (both the authors and Masson's) feelings. Quoting Masson, he writes: One of the greatest enemies of harmony, Masson believes, more pernicious even than foreign herbs, is the cult of the celebrity chef. 'When you make a restaurant all about one person, you're putting one person's ego ahead of the pleasure of your customers,' he says. No cook's name appears at the bottom of his menu, and Masson does not bestow such titles as executive chef. Nor will you ever see a cook schmoozing with clients. I'm sure we can all name a few restaurants ostensibly helmed by a celebrity chef - where we've had less than wonderful experiences. And on the other hand, we've probably all had a great dining experience at a restaurant where the chef's name is a mystery. Agree or not - can you name one or two restaurants without a big name at the top, where you'd be more than happy to dine on a weekly basis?

Nice, but huge.

Agree on Julia's The Way to Cook. Maybe Jacques' Fast Food My Way? You have to admit that most of the recipe's in Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking are pretty simple and use easy to find ingredients. No kitchen is complete without Joy.

Here's a gratin I made last night using 90% chicken stock and 10% heavy cream...

I try to shop for food stuffs produced locally. Really I do. But living in New York City, it's not always easy to make that happen. I mean, there aren't cows grazing the streets and oranges/persimmons/pomengranates et.al. aren't exactly hanging off of the trees in Central Park. So, while I do what I can, I often shop for products that are grown or produced far away. And sometimes, I get surprised by the quality of the stuff I buy. For instance, I'm currently buying blueberries (from the guy on my corner, btw), which come from Argentina, and they totally blow away all the blueberries I've actually bought "locally" over the past year. Sweet, crisp and delicious - and cheap. So - what do you buy that blows you away and is that much better than the stuff you get locally?

I know this is heresy, and I made a delicious gratin ( sort of from The Complete Robuchon) last week using only the ingredients gfweb mentions above (with a hint of nutmeg), but has anyone tried a "lower fat" gratin - that is, using chicken stock in place of all or most of the cream?

What's also interesting, at least in my opinion, is that some of the dishes we found so ground breaking years ago (raw brussels sprouts dressed with olive oil and pecorino! house-cured tuna! warm testa!) are now practically de rigueur in any number of restaurants. Be that as it may, that's no excuse for tired versions of those same dishes. And the place never has felt quite the same without the Denton touch in the front of the house.

I said to my wife two things as the show got under way: 1. Who buys rib eye for stroganoff? 2. Who buys steaks at Whole Foods? The tipoff was at the very beginning of the show, when Beverly talked about karma...we knew it was over right then for the know-it-all.

Not really. I don't believe you add all the dry ingredients together, you just divide by the weight of the flour.

No.

Why don't you buy a bottle or two of some other booze and start drinking the rest of the year .

A couple of years down the road, and Lupa finally has its NY Times review (proper). I agree with most everything Asimov has to say about the place, especially...

Wow - very impressive! That only makes me want to keep my resolution even more.

Now I'm not normally big on making New Year's resolutions, because I, ahem, never keep them. But, for the New Year 2012, I resolve to try at least one new "recipe" a month. Doesn't sound like much, does it? I also resolve to start writing down recipes as I bake and cook. And you?

And I think that method, albeit time-adjusted, is the best way to poach many things, including a whole chicken.

We enjoyed La Regalade St. Honore much more than LC...click Talbot's blog is a great source of restaurant info...click.

Side towels. Dry.

Perhaps it's some weird conservation of water thing. Is it done mostly by people who wash dishes in a sink full of sudsy water? I dated a Canadian woman once, and she did exactly the same thing one night after we had eaten dinner. Once being the operative word.

That sounds a little dilute to me.

Well, I think the main idea about having a concentrate is that it's space saving and it lasts for at least a week in the fridge.