JAZ

Back to the subject of "house brands," mine are pretty fixed: Gin: Beefeater, and Plymouth for drinks where a softer gin is better Tequila: I've settled on Milagro, although I occasionally splurge on El Tesoro reposado. Brandy: Landy VS White rum: Flor de Cana Dark rum: Bacardi 8, Inner Circle green (when I can find it) Rye: Rittenhouse Bonded or Wild Turkey Apple brandy: Laird's Applejack and Laird's bonded Scotch: I tend to buy whatever vatted malt is available and relatively inexpensive. Triple sec: Marie Brizard (sometimes I splurge on Cointreau) Maraschino: Luxardo Vermouth: Noilly Prat (dry) and Carpano Antica (sweet). Also Lillet Blanc. Various other liqueurs: Chartreuse, Campari, Drambuie, Benedictine, Herbsaint, MB Apry. That's not everything in my bar, but it's the stuff I use most often. I'll switch from my usual brands if something else good is on sale or I feel like splurging, but these tend to be the best values I can find. Are there "better" brands? Undoubtedly, but these work for me.

I finally bought a bottle of Yellow Chartreuse, so I tried a Widow's Kiss (recipe from Imbibe! -- how convenient to find a bottle of Yellow Chartreuse right after I came across that recipe). Laird's bonded, the Chartreuse and Benedictine, with a dash of Angostura. It's a very nice drink, but definitely (for me) an after-dinner type. It'll make it into my stable of favorite nightcaps, though.

There is something to be said for ordering them out, rather than making them. I'm sure the grease (or griddle residue) could be part of the reason, but also there's the beauty of all the effort (by someone else) going on behind closed doors. So your patty melt appears like magic. I haven't used yellow mustard on a patty melt in at least 30 years (leave it to an older sister to expose past sins). Not that I have anything against yellow mustard in the right setting, but it's pretty overpowering in a patty melt.

While I'm sure it's true that some people dislike some foods because they've never had them prepared well, it's not always the case. For instance, I've always hated blue cheese of any kind -- Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola, Danish blue -- if it's blue, it makes me gag (literally). I often hear, "Oh, but if you had it this way, you'd like it" and I can say, with absolute confidence, "No, I wouldn't." (Incidentally, the last time I inadvertently tried it was at Alinea, and I figure if they couldn't make it palatable, no one can.) So don't always assume that you can change someone's mind with a new preparation.

I agree that a small kitchen (to a certain point) isn't such a bad thing. When you're used to limited space, it can work quite well, depending on the set-up. Sometimes a larger space isn't set up well, so the extra space is just wasted. I had one kitchen that was very spacious (for a San Francisco flat), but had almost no cabinet space and very little counter space. Total waste of space. The one thing about a small kitchen, though, is that it can be impossible for two people to work in.

Interesting. Ruhlman mentions the temperature of perked coffee in his blog too. Hasn't he heard of drip machines that brew into a thermal carafe? My Capresso produces coffee that's over 160F when poured into a cup -- and that's a half pot, poured into a cold cup. (It's closer to 170 if I brew a full pot and pour into a warmed cup.) Second cup, 15 or 20 minutes later, is 158F. How hot does it need to be? As for "burning the coffee," again, I'd point to a thermal carafe. If there's no heat source, there's no burning.

My previous apartment kitchen wasn't the smallest one I've -- not by a long shot. But it was long and narrow: My current kitchen has more counter space, a full sized refrigerator, a dishwasher and a much better range, so I'm grateful for that. I still don't have enough storage, so I too keep extra equipment in the bedroom closet.

I've worked in cookware stores off and on for 10 years, and have seen and used just about every new type of coffee maker or "system" that's come along in that time. Lately, I've noticed that people seem to be buying percolators. Not a lot -- maybe 3 in the last 6 months. But that's three more than I've sold in the previous 9.5 years. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Michael Ruhlman was singing the praises of percolators on his blog as well. As far as I know, there haven't been any improvements in percolator technology in the past 20 years, have there? Both from personal experience and from everything I've read on the subject, it's clear that it's just not a good way to make coffee. So what's the deal? Is it nostalgia?

We just did these for a cooking class, so we did a few practice runs. We found that 2-3 minutes fat side down isn't enough time for the fat to render out (wild ducks will have much less fat, so 2-3 minutes might be fine for them). We left them for 5-6 minutes then turned them and cooked them flesh side down for a minute before putting them into the oven. Make sure your skillet isn't too hot -- medium heat should be fine.

I presented this eCGI course on menu planning several years ago. I'm not sure how much help it will be, but it might be a starting point for you.

Gary Regan's Joy of Mixology cites a railroad term as the source of the name: My Webster's Ninth lists both meanings but doesn't link the two.

Although my first "regular" cocktail, back in college, was the gin and tonic, and I used to drink more than my share of sweetened Gin Rickeys, I'm not a particular fan of highballs. But I am a ginger ale/beer fan, and recently I found a new (to me) Jamaican ginger brew at my neighborhood grocery store. So I bought a few bottles, and have been enjoying such drinks as the Presbyterian (rye, ginger ale and soda) and a variation on Dale DeGroff's Anejo highball (dark rum, lime, triple sec, ginger ale). But it made me realize that I don't really know much about highballs. What's the definition? I think of the classic highball as Scotch and soda, and I've always thought that basically they're spirit + carbonated mixer, or with a stretch, a little citrus or sweetener. Gary Regan includes all the spirit + juice drinks like the Screwdriver as well, but I've never thought of them as highballs. So what counts as a highball? Is there a strict definition? And whether or not there is, what other great highballs am I missing?

You'll get no argument from me that there are times when delivery is the only appealing option. What I find curious is that pizza became the delivery food of choice, when there are other foods that travel better. Chinese food, in my opinion, works much better as a delivery food. I used to order from an Indian place, and almost everything on that menu was great when delivered (no surprise, probably, that naan was the least appealing delivery menu item for me). Roasted chicken would be a good delivery option -- why doesn't anyone offer that? Why pizza?

We've been making a variation on the Last Word -- same ingredients, different proportions. The Closing Remark 2 oz. gin .25 oz green Chartreuse .25 Maraschino .5 oz. lime juice

This topic on Domino's pizza tracker got me thinking about delivery pizza in general. My opinion is that it's pretty much all bad. Not that the places that deliver are all bad, by any means. But whoever thought that pizza was a good food to make ahead of time and deliver? The crust is always soggy, no matter how crisp it started out. If it's hot when it goes in the box, then it steams and gets gooey. If it's not hot, well then, it's cold by the time it gets to you. Sure, if you're prepared and have the equipment, you can put a pizza stone in the oven when you order and then slap the pizza on it to crisp back up, but that kind of defeats the purpose of delivery. I think the only way delivery pizza could be really good is if there were roving vans with pizza ovens in them -- then, when you ordered, they could pop the pizza in the oven and start driving. It'd cook on the way and be handed to you straight out of the mobile oven. That would be worth ordering. I can think of a lot of food that stands up to delivery better than pizza -- most Asian food, for instance. Yet, we all order pizza, and we all put up with second-rate products, just because they're delivered. Why is that?

I use a light rye from the supermarket, so yes, it's not very assertive. It's sliced relatively thin as well, so it stays in the background. I like caraway seeds, but that's optional.

And who knows what other claims to first invention might still be floating around out there. ← Interesting, Ellen. Although I did a pretty thorough Internet search, I didn't run across that exchange, and a search for William Tiny Naylor doesn't result in any patty melt mentions. But I wasn't obsessed enough to do a library archive search, so I'll freely admit I could have missed a theory or two. Makes me want to go look up that back issue of Saveur.

If you want the best of a sieve/tamis and a food mill, you might want to try this one, which is, essentially a sieve with a food mill blade and handle. At $36, it's not exactly cheap, but it's not much more expensive than a good ricer with a fine disk.

I also like Italian tuna (in oil) but I mix it with a coarse olive spread -- store bought if you can find a good one, or this is the recipe I use when I make it from scratch: 1 cup pitted kalamata olives 1/3 cup sliced green olives with pimento ½ cup roasted red peppers Pulse these in a food processer, or chop fine. Add: 2 cloves garlic, minced Juice of ½ a lemon 1 tablespoon capers 1 tablespoon minced shallot 1 pinch red pepper flakes 1 can light Italian tuna packed in olive oil, with the oil For color you can top with a bit of parsley. Another topping I like is a spread made with roasted red peppers and caramelized onions.

I think it's a meat grinder. But Dave the Cook did the artwork. Dave? As I mentioned in the recipe, and Keith Orr reiterated, grinding your own beef makes an amazing difference. It's kind of a pain, but if you only make these once in a while, I think it's worth making them as well as you can.

I agree about the Mimosa -- it can be an excellent drink when made well. Blood oranges are great for Mimosas if you can find them; not only do they add a bit more depth, but they make a beautiful drink as well.

I don't think I'm better than people who like to refer to themselves as foodies. I just hate the word. I don't like words that end in "ie" for no reason, and "foodie" sounds awful to me. It makes me cringe, just as "veggie" does. So I don't use it.

I finally got a chance to read this column, and I'd disagree that she even makes a point at all. Her writing is always strained and unfocused, but this column is so confused I don't see how it got into print.

This is a late reply, but in Imbibe, Dave Wondrich outlines a method to approximate the old school version, which is just to make a simple syrup and macerate raspberries in it. I made one, using 1-1/4 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water, which I boiled until the sugar was dissolved and took off the heat. Then I added a 12-oz. bag of frozen (thawed) raspberries, stirred and mashed a little and let cool. Strained, pushing heavily on the berries to get the syrup out. It's not really sweet, but it's worked well in the drinks I've tried it in. I store it in the fridge, because I didn't fortify it with any spirits. Now I just have to figure out the pineapple syrup that so many of the old recipes call for. Any help out there?

I'll second the recommendation for the Rosle. It's great.