JAZ

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.

Although I found all the seminars I attended enjoyable, I think I learned the most from the gin and vermouth sessions. It's not that I didn't know anything about gin before, but it was educational to taste different styles one after the other (we tasted Bols, a Genever style gin; Junipero, a very juniper-heavy London dry style; Plymouth; and Aviation, a new gin from Oregon that was created as a "sipping" gin). Simon Ford of Plymouth (the sponsor) talked about the history of gin and the different styles, while Francesco Lafranconi mixed drinks and talked about cocktail ingredients and technique. The highlight for me, though, was the "homemade" lime cordial that Francesco made for a Gimlet -- caramelized sugar syrup, lime juice, dried Kaffir limes and leaves, lime salt and gin (which was supposed to have been flamed, but that didn't work out). Maybe because Gimlets were one of the first real cocktails I ever drank, they've always had a special place for me. I know that Rose's Lime Juice is disliked by lots of cocktailians, who swear by fresh lime juice and simple syrup, but to me, it's just not a Gimlet without lime cordial. I've wondered about trying to make a better substitute for Rose's but had no idea how to go about it. This was exactly what I was looking for, and I plan to try my hand at it soon. More about the vermouth session later. Now it's time for a drink.

Unfortunately, I didn't make the ice seminar. A problem I had with Tales this year was that in several cases, I really wanted to attend two (or more) seminars scheduled at the same time. For that time period, I decided to forgo ice and instead chose the Cocktail Family Tree, led by Dave Wondrich, who was joined by John Myers, Jim Meehan and Ryan Magarian. The idea behind the seminar was to explore the history of drink families other than cocktails (in the original meaning of the term). For me, it was interesting to see the relationship, historically, between the various drink families -- shrubs and punches, the sour and the "fix" (a short punch). I didn't realize, for instance, that the Collins actually started out as a gin punch, with the addition of soda and ice. Another revelation of sorts was Ryan's observation that most of the "new" drinks that are being created today actually fall into only a few families -- the Daisy, the Crusta, the Julep/Smash, the Sour, the Mule, and the Sangaree (wine-based cocktails). While I'm not sure he's right, it's certainly instructive to look at cocktails in family terms. It was a great way for me to start the conference, because it gave me a structure in which to place a lot of the information I gathered throughout the other seminars.

It seems to me that a better approach would be to work on frying techniques that reduce the amount of oil that's absorbed in the first place. Then you wouldn't have to worry about trying to get it out.

My "pantry" is just an extra deep floor to ceiling cabinet at the end of one of the counters, in which I've installed pull-out drawers so I can reach what's in back. I don't have a family to cook for, and I don't buy at Costco, but I do manage to fill it. Four or five vinegars and several oils; soy sauce and other Asian condiments; flour and several kinds of sugar; three turntables of spices; pasta, lentils, bulgar and a couple of kinds of rice; a few canned goods like tuna and tomatoes. I do shop pretty much every day, for perishables, but if I didn't have room for the pantry ingredients, it would be a lot more time consuming. And it's nice to know that if I don't have time or the inclination to shop, I can almost always come up with something edible from what's in the pantry.

I make spicy glazed walnuts (recipe here) that work great and are really easy. You could just omit the cayenne if you don't want them spicy.

Well, again, I'll use the pork tenderloin example. Never mind that the supermarkets here package them TWO to a cryo-vac package.........even one packaged by itself, and a small one, is too much for one person to eat in one sitting, if you want sides (starch, veg, etc.) I guess if I were smart, I'd cut it in half before I cooked it. Same with the flank/round/tri-tip steak issue. But usually, its late, its after work, I'm tired, I want FOOD, and the brain just doesn't go there. The brain says "smallest I can find...cook it all". Hence, leftovers. And sometimes, damnit, I WANT roast chicken (not a roast game hen), or roast beef. THEN the dogs are very happy, VERY happy indeed. ← I'm probably not the one to be giving advice, because I actually plan for leftover protein. Except for fish, I almost always cook more than I use in one meal. But I don't think of it as leftover, I think of it as not having to start from scratch every night. And when it's late after work and I'm tired, knowing that I'm already halfway to a meal is wonderful. So, for example, one night I'll roast a small chicken, and have roast chicken that night. A couple of nights later, I have chicken enchiladas, or tacos, or chicken and dumplings (half of which I freeze). I'll make some kind of chicken salad for a lunch or two. Or I'll cook a thick, bone-in pork chop, but I'll slice it off the bone, eat part that night, and use the rest in a curry or a stirfry. I slice leftover flank steak over a Thai-style salad, or make a steak sandwich or fajitas. That still might not appeal to you, but if you haven't considered it, you may want to give it a try.

Breadcrumbs.

If you like tequila, don't miss Tres Agaves.

I have no space for a garbage can in the kitchen except for under the sink, and no room for a lid. Guilty. I also live in an apartment complex with no recycling bins. I have no car, and the nearest recycling center is 5 miles away. I'd love to be able to recycle, but it's just not possible. So, guilty again.

We grew tomatoes in the Aerogarden at work, and had lots of fruit. The plants do have to be hand-pollinated (which it says in the directions), but that's just a matter of gently shaking the plants once a day or so when they get flowers.

It seems to me that there are really two issues here: whether someone with a seafood allergy can work in a kitchen effectively, and whether such a person can develop seafood dishes (part of the job of an executive chef or chef de cuisine). I don't doubt that the first is possible; if you have a skin reaction, you can wear gloves, and as has been mentioned, you don't need to taste the food that you prepare. You wouldn't be able to taste any seafood stock or sauces made with it, but it doesn't seem that would be essential. As for the second issue, I think that would be more difficult. I'm sure that, as Fat Guy notes, experienced chefs don't need to taste their dishes to know how they're going to turn out. But to get to that point, it seems to me that cooks do have to taste and experiment, and that's not going to be possible if you're acutely allergic.

As was I, before shopping at some well-equipped beverage sources. Now, I'm just confused. One particular store I can think of carries quite a wide selection (premixed), all with different shades of color, viscosities, and caloric content. To wit: * Collins Mix * Vodka Collins Mix * Sweet and Sour Mix * Sour Mix * Whiskey Sour Mix ← Collins mix is carbonated -- more like lemon-lime soda than like sour mix. Sweet and Sour mix is probably the same as Sour mix: that is, citric acid and corn syrup with artificial or natural lemon flavor. It's going to be more concentrated than the Collins mix, as well as not being carbonated. As for the Vodka Collins mix, unless it contains alcohol and is ready to drink, I doubt it's any different from the Collins mix. Same with the Whiskey Sour mix and sour mix -- same thing, different name.

I like the box of minis, too, except for the 3 Musketeers, which are okay but nothing special. But the Snickers is great, and so is the Twix version -- I might even prefer that to the Snickers. The Milky Way is good too (it would be much better if they had a dark chocolate version, though). I find that the smaller version is sized much better for my taste; the first couple of bites are good, but a full-sized bar gets boring by the end.

In certain -- albeit rare -- circumstances, pre-made sandwiches are the best option. Airports, for instance, if you don't have time to make your own food or to wait for a custom-made sandwich. Some places do it better than others; leaving the condiments off and giving you little packets of mayonnaise and decent mustard is great, if you can find a place that does it.

In Mark Bittman's recent NYT article on burgers, he recommends using a food processor to grind meat. It's not the first time I've heard or read this suggestion. It's attractive to me because I'd like to be able to grind my own beef once in a while. I don't want to buy a grinder if I don't have to. So I've tried it, but with dismal results. What am I missing? I did what the instructions said -- cut the meat into 1- or 2-inch pieces and process a little at a time. I ended up with chunks of meat virtually the same size as when I started, plus a little bit of meat goo. Was it that my blade wasn't sharp enough? It's old, and I have the kind that can't be resharpened; does that mean I need to buy a new one? Or is this really not possible? I know a couple of friends who've also tried it, also with no luck. What's the story? Has anyone done this successfully?