JAZ

In response to the questions about whether one really has to eat everything, my opinion, despite what I wrote (I was rather overstating my actual sentiments), is that one doesn't. It depends entirely on the circumstances and how one handles not eating a dish. If, as Marlene suggested, you just quietly avoid eating it, or if as Elizabeth did, you eat most of what's served and skip one dish, that's fine. Usually. In my friend's case, the banquet was given in her honor, and the crickets were a big specialty, so yes, she really did the right thing in eating them. In the case when I ate the pasta with gorgonzola, the hostess was a really good friend of mine who was just venturing out in her cooking and she was really proud of the dish. She actually knew about my thing with blue cheese, but it just didn't occur to her that gorgonzola counted as blue. I just felt that it was better to eat a little bit (and blue cheese makes me gag, so it wasn't easy. My advice in this situation is not to breathe while you're eating.). But in other situations, I've skipped salads with blue cheese when they were part of a family style dinner. Like Elizabeth with her tomato thing, I take care in those cases to eat everything else and compliment the host on what I do eat. It's a little different when someone serves something that's just bad or badly made, like the lasagne with cottage cheese, but I actually think those are the times you should just eat some. I remember a dinner at a friend's where she made hamburger helper with a side of Betty Crocker blueberry muffins. Maybe because I had all that practice with my college roommate, I don't have a problem eating that sort of thing if it means not hurting the cook's feelings. Because that, really, was my point -- just be nice to your host. And of course the host has obligations as well, as several people have noted, which I'm tackling in my next column. A host should never draw attention to a guest's not eating something, and never call them on it. But that's for next week.

As dawn approached, the blackness of the night was breached by a lightish purple glow at the horizon, something like the color of blueberry ice cream, but darker -- blueberry gelato, perhaps; after several minutes, while the entire sky grew marginally less inky, the glow changed to more of a reddish orange, reminiscent of the chili oil often served with potstickers at mediocre Chinese restaurants, yet it wasn't until much later, when the sun peeked over the hills in the distance and began to shine with the intense yellow glare of ballpark mustard that Daphne pulled her lips from Theo's and whispered breathlessly, "But you can't leave Margot until you've coaxed from her the secret of her aebelskivers provencal."

They're good added to a salad of beets and oranges.

Well, no grain can ferment without some method of breaking down the starches into fermentable sugars. That's why barley is "malted" -- sprouted just enough to do that, then dried to stop the germination process -- and then boiled. For sake, bacteria is used with rice to get the grain to a stage where the yeast can work. By contrast, yeast can and does ferment fruit in its natural state. I do agree, however, that despite the technical category, sake does stand alone.

Fine Cooking publishes every other month (as does CI) but for the past couple of years has added a special holiday baking issue. That's the 7th.

Jeez, for me Cook's doesn't even rate in the top food magazines... Why? Because it's dull. Boring. Tedious. Regardless of the actual author, every article has the same voice, the same approach, the same predictable results. It's eerie how similar they all are. And who picks the subjects they tackle? The best tuna salad? The best nachos? Come on -- are they serious? Oh, and I hate Christopher Kimball's smarmy little essays. Plus, with the exception of their macaroni and cheese recipe (which they usurped from John Thorne -- with attribution), I've never been crazy about any of their recipes. (Although I did get a great tip from Cook's for pressing/rolling out pizza dough on parchment paper.) Okay, so their product reviews are reliable, but so are the ones in Fine Cooking, which is head and shoulders above Cooks. And, yes, I realize that many people here like it, but I'm sorry. It's boring.

Lately I've been on a Lillet (Blond) kick. I've been using it for quite some time in a martini-like drink with mandarin-flavored vodka (Absolut Mandarin is good; Hangar One Madarin Blossom is sublime). Having run out of the Hangar One, I cast around for other ideas and stumbled across the Vesper from Paul Harrington's book (half gin/half vodka plus a splash of the Lillet). Very nice drink. I've since done a bit of experimentation, and my latest drink is this one: After School Special -- an original so far as I know. Anyone else have any ideas for Lillet? And how about the Lillet Rouge? I've never tried it.

What did you do with the legs once the stock was done? Um, I threw 'em out. They probably still had a little flavor, but I feel like I get my money's worth. A cooking instructor I know once made the comment that making stock is a process of transferring all the flavor from the solids to the liquid, and that if you've made your stock correctly, the chicken parts you've used will have virtually no flavor left. Before I heard that, I used to try to salvage as much meat as I could from the carcass, but now I think it's a waste of time. I also no longer use whole chickens for stock -- I use backs (which my butcher sells frozen).

Strictly speaking, any beverage fermented from grain is "beer"; anything fermented from fruit is "wine." So technically, yes, sake is a beer. However, it behaves more like wine. Rice ferments more completely than barley or wheat, so that sake generally has an alcohol content similar to wines, rather than beers. Also, because less starch is left unfermented, sake has a lighter body and mouthfeel than most beers. (It's no accident that the big American brewers use rice as an adjunct to their brews -- it ups the alcohol without adding body or much flavor.) Finally, although sake really has its own taste, it's closer to the flavor of some wines (dry or off-dry Reisling, for example) than to the taste of beer. No hops are added, so you don't get that characteristic bitter, astringent element.

"Crispy, crunchy taste" (as often seen on boxes of crackers or other snacks). News flash: "crispy" is not a taste. Neither is "crunchy."

After School Special Serves 1. Lillet Blond (a French vermouth/aperitif) is essential for this drink. I suppose that (white) Dubonnet could stand in if absolutely necessary, but I can't vouch for the results. If you don't have orange bitters, regular bitters will do but will result in a pink drink. A variation, which I have come to prefer over my original, is to substitute a dash of green Chartreuse for the bitters. 2 fl oz Gin 1 fl oz Lillet Blond 1/4 fl oz Meyer lemon juice Dash of Orange Bitters Shake ingredients over ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange or lemon twist. Keywords: Cocktail, eGCI ( RG551 )

I keep trying to read Saveur, and trying to like it, but I'm afraid I just don't get the appeal. I've finally narrowed down the source of my dislike, though -- it's the formatting. It's simply not pleasant to look at and confusing to read. Too many columns, too may insets and sidebars. If I can make it past that, then the magazine is okay. The ironic thing is that somehow I've ended up with a subscription (never ordered it; I'm not sure why). Maybe it'll grow on me.

Let's face it, everyday cooking for most of us involves compromises; when you work all day, it's tough to come home and cook everthing from scratch. I think the the exact compromises that one is willing to make depend on lots of factors, including what one grew up eating, the quality of "ready-mades" available, and exactly what one is making. And of course, "scratch" is a relative term -- how many of us dress our own chickens, mill our own flour, or churn our own butter?

Hey, I'm trying to get a book published on the taste side of the equation. If we both succeed, there will be no need for any other books. Ever.

I just stumbled across this (cooking with scotch). It looks interesting, with such recipes as malt and honey roasted chicken with barley risotto and scotch medallions of lamb with red onion fennel marmalade. edit: punctuation

I didn't start out toasting my spices, but I usually do now. I've actually grown very fond of cardamom. I had some wonderful iced tea at a quasi-Indian restaurant that was steeped with cardamom and ginger, and I've been trying to duplicate it ever since. You know, I've had beef stroganoff with a touch of fresh dill sprinkled over the top, and it surprised me how well it worked. So maybe a beef curry with a creamy sauce might benefit from it as well, but it still just seems wrong to me. On the other hand, I tend to be pretty traditional with my herbs, so maybe I'm over-cautious.

Great job, even if you did scoop one of my ideas for a future article. Maybe I should be relieved that now I don't have to write it. At the store, it always amazes me how many people come in looking for the one cookbook that will make them a good cook. I'm never sure whether to set them straight or take advantage of their naivete.

Non-stick skillets can come in very handy for many jobs and are close to essential for eggs and fish (at least for me). But it's also nice to have a regular (i.e., not non-stick) skillet for the times you want to develop a fond for a pan sauce, or want to cook at high heat. I like cast iron in those cases because you can get it hotter than the clad type skillets. I've never thought that non-stick saucepans or casserole/dutch ovens are desireable. Not that they don't cook okay, but they require special utensils and more care. And in most cases, you just don't need a non-stick surface in saucepans. In general, All Clad is a reliable brand with a good warranty.

Years ago, I used to get a sandwich at a lunch place that I frequented that contained radish sprouts as a garnish. I generally loathe sprouts, but the radish ones were fantastic -- added an undercurrent of spice. Edit: spelling

Welcome! Most of my cocktail books list bitters as "optional" for Manhattans, and although I add them to mine, I've always thought it was more traditional without them. What I find disturbing is that 95% of the Manhattans made in the world today are made with bourbon rather than rye. You are right about the state of cocktails and bartenders...it's sad. The low point for me was ordering a gimlet and hearing the bartender ask, "That's with an onion, right?"

I absolutely beg to differ, as do several others here (Rose's lime/gimlet thread). While it is true that Rose's is not a substitute for fresh lime, it is essential in the gimlet. That being said, it's nice to see a few new cocktail lovers here.

That confounded NC mustard sauce is an illusive one to replicate; even my born-in-Virginia-raised-in-North-Carolina mama can't do it! You know, you're not the first person to recommend Memphis Minnie's, but I'm so enamored of Flint's that I've not followed up on the suggestion. Perhaps this is the time to live dangerously . . . Just my opinion, but Minnie's is way better than Flint's. Plus, Minnie's sells its mustard based sauce (all its sauces, actually) by the bottle. And where else can you order barbecue and a flight of sake?

I'd definitely second this. For example, my last kitchen was quite a bit larger than my current one, but the layout was awful, with most of the space wasted. My current kitchen, while small (maybe 6'x10' plus eating alcove), is set up quite well -- at least for one person. Because the stove/oven is directly across from the sink with only about two feet of space between, it can get a bit close with two. And it's not really a kitchen for socializing in, although I do have a breakfast bar and two stools at one end. What I would like is a larger dining area, since six people is the max for sitting down for dinner in my place. But, considering that my entire apartment is less than 600 sq. ft., I'm pretty happy with my kitchen. For its size, it has lots of storage and a pretty decent sized countertop.

I think there are two main reasons. First, some people are so conditioned to watch their calories/weight that they automatically chooose the "light" version of everything, regardless of the actual calorie savings and loss of flavor. These people may not even know or remember what real beer tastes like, just as they no longer remember the taste of full fat ice cream or non-diet soda. Second, some people really don't like the taste of beer, so their choice is the beverage that actually tastes the least like real beer. But just why they're drinking any beer remains a mystery. Then, I think that some people who otherwise would drink flavorful good beers occasionally choose a light beer (or a full calorie but less flavorful beer like Bud or Miller) -- for example, on a hot day, when quenching one's thirst, not flavor, is the main point. In those cases, what they want really is beer- flavored water. There's even a generic term for these beers -- "lawnmower beer."

For anyone interested in refrgerator pickles (no canning, no sterilizing), Quick Pickles by Chris Schelsinger and John Willoughby is a great way to start. I've used their pickled beet recipe and have used several others as starting points for some experiments.