JAZ

I believe that the Trader Joe's bulk chocolate is actually Callebaut. I've used it for truffles and had very good results.

I use a press sometimes and mince or slice other times, depending on what I'm making. The problem with the press, as mentioned already, is that it ruptures the cells and releases the liquid (not sure it's oil, but that's beside the point). This can be a little harsh, and also tends to burn if you're sauteing. Because of that, if I have the time, I mince my garlic for sauteeing. But I've also found that if you're sauteeing it with other vegetables, you can just start sweating the other stuff until they're mostly done and then add pressed garlic and it doesn't burn. However, the smash and chop method ruptures the cells almost as much, so I've never understood the claim that that method is so superior to a press. In my opinion, if you end up with a smushy paste, it doesn't matter how you get there. One thing I've started doing, if I'm cooking something for an extended time, is to crush the cloves slightly and add them whole to what I'm making. Then I just remove them when I'm at the garlic threshold I want. Way easy. As for presses, if you want to spend $30 or so, Rosle's press really is great. But I've always had good luck with my Zyliss (about $18 now, I think). I leave the cloves unpeeled. Not only is it less time consuming, but the skin keeps the garlic guts from sticking to the press. You can usually just pop out the remainder of the clove whole, without having to scrub and poke out any bits of garlic.

Does she pronounce it E-Vee-Oh-Oh, or Eee-Voh? Either one sounds too precious for my taste.

I have the same experience working in a high-end cookware store near San Francisco's hotel and shopping district, and I do much what you do. There's a small alley lined with pretty good restaurants nearby, and I generally direct people there. It's not that they're the "best, " but a) there's a variety of places right in a row; b) menus are posted, so it's easy for people to see what they're getting into; and c) they are good. Given a little more interaction and info from the customers, I'll sometimes suggest other places, but I don't generally recommend the off-the-beaten-path, hole-in-the-wall places unless it's abundantly clear that they would appreciate such places. But it's different when friends are the ones asking. I do try to put more thought into my suggestions then, and I feel some anxiety that they might have a bad experience. But since I tend to know more about my friends' tastes, it's usually easier to make appropriate suggestions. But my experience is not with expensive high-end restaurants, so perhaps that makes it less stressful to make suggestions.

Can you explain why this is? In a burr grinder, the beans pass once through the grinding plates, so they stay cooler. They also release much less oil during grinding, so they don't clump up. They're ground evenly, which means you don't have a pile of coarse grounds on top of coffee powder like you get in a blade grinder.

Total aside here, but I've had nothing but problems with the Good Cook book club and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Can't wait to buy my final book and have done with it.

Delusional. Willful ignorance.

If you can find a copy of Cocktail: The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century, by Paul Harrington and Laura Moorhead, make sure to get it. (Sadly, it's out of print.) It contains great background information on classic cocktails and lots of basic info on bar equipment, mixing techniques, liquors, garnishes and mixers. It rates drinks on two scales: taste complexity and mixing difficulty, and includes a "if-you-like-this-drink-try-these-too" section for many of the drinks. No pages wasted on stupid drinks with "sex" in the title; no "shooters." I've glanced through Dale DeGroff's book, and it looks good. I definitely plan to get it, but haven't mixed anything from it and don't know as much about it. Michael Jackson's book on cocktails is not great. He should stick to beer and scotch. Mr. Boston's is a good little reference book to have. It's primarily just a list of drink recipes (no commentary), but it's got a lot of those. If I were working in a bar and wanted to make sure I could look up how to make a Purple Hooter or Alabama Slammer or Sex on the Beach, this is the book I'd use.

Bar sugar (extra fine sugar) dissolves better than any other, so you could probably get better results if you ground it up very fine in a food processor. But even bar sugar doesn't dissolve as well as the artificial sweeteners. I use simple syrup instead.

How's it prepared? I love marrow bones and am always on the lookout for a new way to serve them.

"We know what kind of influence we have over our demographic, and we like to capitalize on every opportunity," Mr. Dash says. Hey, at least he's honest...

It's not the fermentation that Roxanne objects to. It's the milk. Roxanne and the "raw" movement don't just espouse uncooked food. They espouse uncooked vegan food. So wine is okay. Fermented nuts are okay. Cheese is not. (And not to turn this into a thread on Roxanne's or raw foods, but I'm so glad someone else realizes how utterly fatuous the raw food movement is. Thanks, Mamster. You made my day.)

Snowy: Yup. Come to my house on day twenty four! Carb, fat , egg, pork freakout. Oh yes. Bacon. Grilled bacon and cheese sandwiches.

Composed warm salad consisting of mixed greens, sauteed prawns, pear wedges wrapped in prosciutto and grilled with a dressing of balsamic, red wine and bacon fat heated and emulsified. Toasted pecans and crispy bacon pieces sprinkled over the top. (Gotta love a salad that contains two pork products.)

Red wine, red meat. Cheetos. Caramel. Not chocolate, especially, for me either. Red wine (did I say that already?). Cognac, which ordinarily doesn't do much for me.

Just found a new (to me at least) gin from Bend, Oregon, of all places. It's called Cascade Mountain and the label states that it's made with "wild hand picked juniper berries from the heart of the largest juniper forest in the world." I have to say it's one of the best gins I've ever tasted. It's been a few years since I tasted Junipero, but I'd say the Cascade might even beat it. It's 95 proof, but isn't harsh or hot like most high proof gins. The juniper is extremely aromatic but somehow subtle at the same time. The website, bendistillery.com, says that they also make a lower proof gin with more pronounced juniper (also a vodka, but who cares?). It's a bit pricey ($28 at Beverages & More) to become the house gin, but I'm thinking that if I start using Gordon's for other cocktails, and save the Cascade for martinis, the cost will even out to something reasonable.

Actually there are two Lillets: one white (Blond) and one red (Rouge).

About 90, with another couple dozen that are about food but in no way cookbooks, and a dozen or so books on cocktails, spirits, wine and beer (these do contain recipes but I'm not sure if they count).

so does the ass always come cured, and sold as ham? According to Aidells and Kelly's Complete Meat Cookbook, the uncured leg can be difficult to find, since apparently not many butchers know how to cut up a whole leg into smaller roasts. So most are smoked and end up as ham. But they say you should be able to order one from a decent butcher. Look for it as "pork leg" or "fresh ham."

A salad of blood oranges and beets, if you want a side dish.

The other night I was caramelizing onions to serve with steak. I had also steamed some brussels sprouts, and was toying around with some ideas for finishing them when I was struck by the idea of adding the sprouts to the onions. A splash of balsamic vinegar and a fairly heavy sprinkle of salt, and it was a wonderful dish.

The first cookbooks I owned were a couple of Sunset books -- Cooking with Spices and Herbs, and Breads. I still have both, and use them for a couple of recipes. Shortly after I bought those (some time in college) my mother gave me a book on crepes and omelets -- one of those paperback books that was divided into two, so that if you opened it one way you got the crepe side and if you flipped it over and opened it that way you got the omelet section. I somehow only ever used the crepe side, but I made a lot of crepes back in those days. I don't know what happened to the book; I kept it for quite a while, but hadn't used it in ages and it disappeared in one of my moves.

Since I was planning on scrambling some eggs anyway, I just took the opporutnity to do a little experiment. I whisked three eggs separately: one plain, one with a tablespoon of water and one with a tablespoon of whole milk, then cooked them separately. I used the same pan with a little butter. The egg with milk didn't blend very well -- when I poured it into the pan to cook, there were big streaks of unwhisked whites. The egg with water blended quite well, and turned very very pale. They seemed to cook at about the same rate. The egg with the water was fluffier than either the plain one or the one with milk, but felt and tasted watery. The one with milk was fluffier than the plain one. The texture was nice and creamy, but the flavor was weak. Usually when I scramble eggs I blend in a little butter right as the eggs are finishing (unless I'm adding cheese), so the plain egg seemed a little dry compared with my usual eggs, but it was definitely the best tasting of the three. The only time I add liquid to eggs for scrambling is when I make what I call quiche lorraine eggs. In that case I add quite a lot of half and half, whisk the eggs constantly until they're just set, then fold in some diced cooked bacon or ham and gruyere cheese. In that case I want more of a custard taste and less of a plain egg taste, which is exactly what I get.

No, not terrible at all (at least I don't think so). But to me, what you asked is worlds apart from what the WSJ folks did. You asked about a daily special that's usually available, at a restaurant you're familiar with. And I imagine that if the waiter had returned to your table and said, "sorry, sir; the chef couldn't get them today" you wouldn't have insisted on ordering off the menu. (I can't help wondering why, though, if the short ribs were already prepared, they weren't on the menu. Think they were being saved for the dinner menu?) On a more general note, I began reading this thread wondering why on earth anyone would think they should be able to get something off the menu, but I have come to understand why in certain circumstances, one would want to ask if it's possible. Insisting or assuming that the restaurant has a duty to comply, though, is still a notion that's beyond me.

I did get a copy of the article to read, and on this point, I had to infer that they behaved badly. Phrases like "Some restaurants wouldn't take us seriously until we graciously insisted" make me think that they were in the obnoxious camp (how can one "graciously insist"?). And the fact that they provided " few parameters" leads me to believe that they probably came across poorly -- it probably seemed as if they were just being difficult, rather than trying to get the best from the kitchen.