JAZ

In A Real American Breakfast, Cheryl and Bob Jamison use slightly more corned beef than waxy red potatoes, together with a medium onion, all finely diced. They use a combination of butter and oil, which doesn't seem right; seasonings are black pepper and 2 teaspoons yellow mustard. I don't know how traditional the mustard is, but it seems like a good match. They also call for a cup of the liquid from cooking the corned beef, or beef broth. The idea seems to be that you it covered with the liquid so that it coheres, then cook it uncovered to get a crust. I've never made this; I've actually never made any corned beef hash. But what I have made from this book has been good and worked well.

Fine Cooking has an online index here. Since that's the only magazine I subscribe to or keep, it makes my life very easy.

They're about 8 by 9 inches.

I'm saddened to report that I bought a bag of Munchos that was disappointing. I buy them from time to time (love them; don't want them around all the time) and have always, until now, been delighted. But not only was this bag filled with mostly small, broken pieces, but there was actually a bad Muncho in the bag. It seemed to have missed the "puffing up" step or something -- it was hard and tough and entirely un-Muncho-like. it wasn't enough to warrant reporting the bag, but I feel as if my universe has changed.

I also missed the deadline, but I inadvertently came up with a combination of the classic champagne cocktail and the Kir Royale. I poured what I thought was only going to be a dash of homemade grenadine into a champagne glass, which I then intended to fill with a California sparkling brut. Turned out to be almost a quarter-ounce, so then I decided to add a very healthy dose (a teaspoon) of Angostura bitters to balance the sweetness. Turns out to be a really great drink. Who knew?

I recently bought a set of liquid measuring cups from Zyliss, which usually makes great kitchen gadgets. This set has a lot of great features -- it consists of a one-cup, a two-cup and a four-cup measure, all of which stack, with a lid that fits over the whole bunch, or over the largest one if you want to store something in the fridge. The measurements are easy to read, and it can all go in the dishwasher. The problem? The so-called "pouring spouts" are mere bumps in the contour of the cups -- you may as well be pouring from a drinking glass. Why would they make a liquid measuring cup that you can't pour from? Second example: Why don't the manufacturers of cooling/draining/roasting racks make one that fits in either of the most common size pans used in a home kitchen -- a half-sheet or quarter-sheet pan? Chicago Metallic makes both sheet pans and racks -- you think they could match up the sizes, but no. Or rather, yes, but only if you buy a set of two non-stick half-sheet pans and one rack. Otherwise, tough luck. You can buy a rack that's too small or one that's too large. Or end up with two non-stick pans you don't need. Any other examples out there?

How recent is this move by Foster Farms? I've been seeing pre-brined poultry and pork, too, in supermarkets for a while now. But it's really frustrating if a product you've been buying changes without warning and you don't notice until it's too late.

I finally had a chance to taste the Tabasco and L&P side by side. Tasted alone, the Tabasco is (as I mentioned above) hotter, but it's also deeper tasing -- more rounded, I guess -- than the L&P. The L&P didn't taste sweeter, despite the high fructose corn syrup. It actually tasted brighter, more acidic. When I mixed them with Clamato, the differences were much less obvious, although still there. The biggest difference was actually in texture. The Tabasco is much more viscous. The only time I can see this making a big difference is in a glaze, or for basting over a burger, where you might want more viscosity.

Although I've never been a fan of the "fruit-smoothie" style of drink like strawberry margaritas or peach daiquiris, this past summer I've been using fresh fruit in drinks in a more subtle way -- muddling or shaking them for flavor, and straining out the pulp. At Tales of the Cocktail in July, I tried a Clover Club, mixed with Plymouth gin by Francesco Lafranconi. The drink served by the kitchen was made with syrup, I believe, but the one he made for the demonstration used fresh raspberries. I was lucky enough to be the recipient of the drink he made (note: it pays to sit in the front row; I did share, although I really didn't want to), and it was so fabulous I had to try it at home. My version was 2 oz. gin (Plymouth really does work best in this -- you want something light), 1/4 oz. simple syrup, 1/2 oz. lemon juice and egg white. Plop in 8 or so raspberries and shake like mad. If you get the balance right, it's simply ethereal. I've also been making a drink with fresh peaches and basil, mixed with gin, Falernum and lime juice. I tried this one with rum, but, call me contrary, I'm not crazy about fruit and rum, or at least not the combinations I've tried. My latest experiment was with fresh cherries -- gin, Maraschino, Cherry Heering, lemon juice and cherries -- it was good after a couple of iterations, but wasn't quite there yet, and I ran out of cherries. Around here, it's past cherry season, so I guess I'll have to wait until next year. Has anyone else tried or made any drinks with fresh fruit? Is this just my obsession?

How much of the prep gets done beforehand at their house? Do you use the hotel kitchen for a la minute stuff (like the fish) and plating only, or do you do more there?

Chantal has a line of items -- "LiveStrong" -- the sales of which benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation. But the pink items benefiting the Susan G. Komen foundation are certainly the ones you see most often in cookware. KitchenAid, Emile Henry and Riedel all have items that benefit it.

Before I even moved to San Francisco, I'd heard of Peet's Coffee. Friends of mine always brought some back with them whenever they visited the Bay Area (and then treated it like gold; I felt privileged to get some). Years later, I went for an interview at the headquarters of Peet's, and the interviewer brought me an individual press pot of whatever they were roasting right then. I didn't get the job, but it was the best coffee I ever had at an interview.

A pastry chef I knew who was interviewing for a new job at the restaurant in Nieman Marcus in San Francisco had to prepare and plate three desserts in four or five hours as part of the interview process. She knew about it in advance and thus could prepare to a certain extent, but she had to use the kitchen's ingredients, so if they didn't have something she was planning to use, she had to improvise. I asked her if that was unusual in her experience; she said it was the first time she'd had to do anything that elaborate or extensive but that she'd usually had to make something.

If you're interested in trying a US product that's made without HF corn syrup, you might try the new Tabasco brand worcestershire (ingredients: vinegar, molasses, water, cured anchovies, soy sauce, Tabasco pepper sauce, tamarinds, salt, onion, garlic, spices, sugar and natural flavoring). I ran across it today for the first time and picked up a bottle. Unfortunately, I'm out of Lea and Perrins, so I'll have to wait to do a taste comparison, but by itself and at first taste, it seems similar -- just a bit hotter. When I taste them side by side, I'll report back.

It would be interesting to see how much of a difference there is between the two -- with all the aggressive flavors and heavy seasoning in Worcestershire sauce, I wonder if one could even taste it. If you can't track down the made-with-sugar version, here's a recipe, which also includes a link to a previous discussion about Worcestershire.

Damn you, Chris! If I were you, I'd immediately make a Picon Punch, but that's because I used to drink them occasionally at my old neighborhood bar, which had a stash of the old stuff (little did I know at the time how rare it was). Coat a collins glass with grenadine, fill with ice. Add a couple ounces of Picon and top with soda. Float a little brandy on top and serve with a lemon twist.

You're talking about California? I lived in San Francisco for more than 20 years and never noticed that the "best" seafood restaurants served it. It's popular, naturally, at Mexican and South American restaurants, but that's all that I saw. And I've never heard anyone claim it was Italian.

Can you find or make miniature chocolate cups? They're great with mousse. Also, in Martha Stewart's Hors D'Oeuvres Handbook, there's a recipe for little "boxes" made out of bread and toasted -- I wonder if you could do that with pound cake.

When we were in New Orleans for the Tales of the Cocktail recently, Todd Price arranged a dinner at Cochon, which was very good. I'll second August, as well. Luke had a nice breakfast menu, although maybe if you're having dinner there you won't want to go twice. Last year when I was in town for the conference, Herbsaint was my overall favorite of the places I tried.

I get that a lot too...weird ← I once had a customer at the store where I used to work ask me if we carried "the tool bartenders use to get the little pieces of ice on the top of martinis."

I've met Katie a couple of times in person, a couple of years ago at the Pig Pickin' and recently at Tales of the Cocktail, but even if I hadn't, I'd feel I know her personally from her great posts. She also makes exquisite limoncello. See you in Cocktails, Katie!

I hope he has a good editor. I've found more than a few errors in Charcuterie.

I've used smoked cheddar in macaroni and cheese, so I imagine the smoked Gouda would work as well. The trick is to mix it with another milder cheese (preferably with good melting qualities) -- maybe Monterey jack, or a regular mild Gouda.

The lost ingredients panel was partly a discussion of making homemade versions of hard-to-find ingredients, such as falernum and pimento dram, and presentations by companies that are recreating, importing or distributing such ingredients as Creme Yvette, Creme de Violette, Batavian Arrack and Absinthe. (For more information on the Creme Yvette, also check out John and Dave's comments earlier in this topic.) If I have a complaint about it, it's that so many ingredients were covered that there wasn't much information on any one ingredient. There's an informative article about the subject in the current issue of Imbibe magazine (we all received a copy), written by Paul Clarke, who was also on the panel.

When I make cold noodles, I mix the noodles with whatever sauce I'm using, and then pile up the chunky things up on top for service.