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Everything posted by Hassouni
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Barbecue rubs, as has been mentioned, homemade cajun seasoning, sauces that need to be perfectly smooth, also maybe a bit of emergency garlic at the end of cooking (say if you didn't put enough fresh garlic in at the beginning)
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Lime Shortage Affects Cocktail Bars, Restaurants...and You
Hassouni replied to a topic in Kitchen Consumer
Ahem, looking to export? -
I have no idea if it was used for anything else, it might have been given to the bar as a promo thing for barrel-aging cocktails (just speculation). It's definitely not standard production-size, 5L barrels are typically made only for cocktails or at home for a fast oak treatment for new make spirits, from what I know.
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It's not really any different than what indie bottlers do is it - I mean I assume W&N OP is more or less straight from the still?
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I have to say that I'm quite the novice, I'm still on my first jar, the WF 365 brand. I can't imagine it varies a hell of a lot, except on matters of freshness, though.
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Haha, I was just thinking of what it would take for a 53 GALLON barrel.... 53 gallons, 3.78541 liters per gallon....just shy of 201 liters...114 1.75L bottles....@$33 per handle....nearly $3800. Not so bad!
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It's still not that much more, it's like...$9 for a litre compared to $7 or something
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Yeah I mean I don't buy on Amazon, I just go to H Mart, where they have a huge array of Japanese stuff. The link was just to provide a reference to the specific one I use. I also use usukuchi soy sauce, which is much lighter in color, but if anything stronger tasting (and certainly saltier) - it's used in light colored dishes. I used to have the Kikkoman one, but then I found one whose bill of ingredients seemed even better, so I got that. When I cooked a lot more Chinese food, I had Pearl River Bridge dark and superior light soy sauces, which I thought were excellent.
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We'll see - 5L of W&N is a lot of discretionary budget out the window (it being tax day and all)
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Well it's a Clément barrel, so maybe that? Moto, if you'd like to contribute, you'd get your share back of the aged results
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Lime Shortage Affects Cocktail Bars, Restaurants...and You
Hassouni replied to a topic in Kitchen Consumer
Well fancy that - H Mart was more expensive than Whole Foods, which is still holding strong at 69 cents each. -
The made in Japan Kikkoman. Specifically this one, which doesn't have any bogus ingredients: http://www.amazon.com/Kikkoman-Marudaizu-Sauce-33-8-Ounce-Bottles/dp/B0046GHL9W
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So a while back I was graciously given an empty Clément 5L (I think?) barrel by the owner of my favorite bar in DC when I told him about my idea to barrel up WN overproof. He told me it'd need to be charred. So I took the hoops off closest to the head to open it up and take a look at it (maybe not a brilliant idea since getting it back together will take some effort, but that's neither here nor there). Seems to me that is charred, or at least very heavily toasted, no? Or is that what a charred barrel looks like after something has been aged in it? Is that good enough to fill up with hot water to expand the wood, empty it out, then dump the rum in, or does it need re-charring?
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So I made my first ever batch of (Lebanese style of course!) Falafel, following a Youtube recipe from Chef Rafi of the famous Arax falafel chain in Lebanon(note, video is in Arabic without subs). Incidentally, Chef Crash wrote an appropriately disparaging comment on that video to Chef Chadi Zeitouni, the host of the show (who was really hamming it up and getting in the way). Regardless, the recipe was more or less in line with Foodman's ratio for foul to hummus, except that there are no fresh herbs added - powdered garlic, powdered onion, no parsley, and the baking soda is added not at soaking, but to the ground up beans. Overall it was a bit underseasoned. Next time I think I'll try the fresh herbs and spice ratios of Elie and Crash. Arax is widely held to be one of, if not THE best falafel places in Lebanon, and I was really hoping that by closely following their recipe I'd have a dead ringer. Well, for a first attempt they came out fine, but if the Lebanese experts could provide some input, that would be great: -The baking soda appeared to do nothing - the falafel struck me as denser than the typical Arax/Sahyoun/Barbar stuff, I presume the bicarb is to fluff it up a little? What difference does adding it during the soak make? Rafi specifically says Arax doesn't add it during the soak. -The exteriors were very crunchy - I don't know that I've had falafel outside a sandwich in Lebanon, but they were rather hard, even after a short frying time. Admittedly, they were not too crunchy to enjoy, but the best stuff from the Lebanese street might be one degree softer. I was aiming for the golden color, as is typically seen in Leb and is so well represented here: I'm wondering if my oil was too hot - in the Arax video, Rafi says that the oil is the right temperature when a small ball of falafel rises immediately to the top of the oil after being dropped, but then they go on to fry for quite a while, whereas mine reached gold pretty fast (and seemed fully cooked) -On the subject of oil, Rafi notes that old oil is better, and the first several falafels fried won't be as good as the later ones. I rarely deep fry, but I think this is typical of all deep frying, right? -I don't have a serious food processor, just a Cuisinart mini prep, or whatever it's called - using 600g of beans (400 foul, 200 hummus) yield a huge batch, and I had to do several small grinding sessions in my tiny Cuisinart. I noticed the grind was not even - some of each batch was a bit coarse, some finer. In the video, Rafi says they use essentially a meat grinder, which I imagine is more consistent, and to grind it once on a fine setting. -Related to that, the texture of the final mix was basically the same as that in the image above. In the video, Rafi says to mix the paste until "it's like gum" (mitl 3alkeh for Arabic speakers). I mixed and mixed and didn't really get that - I presume that means it's supposed to be very sticky? I wouldn't say it was particularly moist or particularly dry, and it would hold together when pressed, but it was a bit crumbly just picking up a piece and gently shaping it. Would a more even, finer grind take care of that? PS: All this talk of tarator and none of the "7arr" (hot sauce) that the Falafel joints use - it appears to be pureed red chiles and salt and little else. I discovered that Cortas makes a pretty good jarred version. Also speaking of Cortas, every falafel joint I've been to in Lebanon has a huge bowl of pickled chiles out to snack on - Cortas has a jarred version that is spot-on, great stuff! I wish I had pictures, but my setup and final product looked fairly close to Crash's.
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Well, quite, but for those of us misfortunate enough to be stuck here in Yankeestan, the products of our hopefully soon to be 51st State are a decent substitute (along with a certain Flor de Something from Nicaragua)
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I would say overproof is much more important than the color of the rum. If you want a Velvet-y creation, go for light, but if you don't care, use whatever. In any case if you put in the 40-50 cloves that most people recommend, even white rum will take on a decent bit of color. Overproof on the other hand, will extract your infused ingredients better. I go for Wray & Nephew OP (white) or LH151 (dark). One note about using the WN, its signature funk will be noticeable in the final product, but that's no bad thing as far as I'm concerned
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I agree with that philosophy for the most part, especially if using something better than Don Q. After all, isn't a basic daiquiri the way many people test out new rums? Speaking of Tiki, even the Mai Tai was created to showcase a rum, not hide it.
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Damn that's some quality looking Doubanjiang!
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Yes, that memory is not lost on me...
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Inspired by the lovelies of this subforum, in addition to a Navy Grog, tonight I made a Professional (WT101 and SC for the two variables) and a Tequila Gumption (Camarena Reposado and Fidencio Classico for those two variables). I have to say, I preferred the latter drink. The Professional just seems like it's trying to hide the Campari with other stuff, but the Campari still comes through like a freight train, without the vermouth of a negroni to balance it out.
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Half an hour? Made a pair of Navy Grogs for my friend and me, sans ice cone and adding the soda water at the end, after shaking and pouring (the Tiki+ recipe says to add to the mixer then shake, which seems nuts). Used Lemon Hart 80, Appleton 12, and Don Q for the Dem, JA, and PR rums. I added them to a glass full of crushed ice since I didn't have an ice cone, but I think next time, cubes it'll be, since it tasted a bit watery.
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Lime Shortage Affects Cocktail Bars, Restaurants...and You
Hassouni replied to a topic in Kitchen Consumer
My $0.69 limes made a pair of nice Navy Grogs and a truly killer Last Word - I think I can deal with that -
I don't have an isi thingy, so I think the regular KP is what I'll attempt for my next batch
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Anyone made both Adam E's and Kaiser P's recipes, and if so, how do they compare?
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I made Elmegirab's before, but it seems overly complicated compared to some of the others. Good news though, I found my microplane!