JAZ

You could use the puff pastry as a crust and top it with the pancetta and bacon, with some caramelized onion and something acidic to cut through the richness -- tomatoes, maybe. If you braise the artichoke hearts in some of the chicken stock, you could then chill them and serve tossed in a vinaigrette as an appetizer. I wonder if you can borrow a friend or neighbor's freezer space temporarily for the stocks and glace de viande -- it would be such a shame to lose that, but as you've noted, it's not something that's easy to use up this time of year.

I've been making what I call the Orchard Paradise -- Applejack, Apry, a splash of Maraschino, lemon juice and a dash of peach bitters. It's reminiscent of one of the sweeter hard ciders (it was also described as fruit salad in a glass, but in a very good way).

I make a salad that's kind of a cross between tabbouleh and Greek salad -- bulgar wheat, tomatoes, cucumber, Kalamata olives, onion, feta cheese, mint and parsley. Dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. Another favorite is rice, corn, black beans, red and green pepper and green onions, with a cilantro-jalapeno dressing. I've also made this one with quinoa and it was good that way as well.

Today's New York Times includes a feature article on bitters: A Bit of History, Reborn in a Glass. Along with other cocktail luminaries and Society members drcocktail and DrinkBoy, eGullet Society host John Deragon (johnder) is featured prominently with several quotes regarding his attempts to recreate the defunct Abbott's Bitters. Check out his contributions to the All About Bitters Topic here in the eG Forums. John is a host of the New York, New Jersey, Food on Radio & TV, Food Periodicals, and Food in the Dramatic & Visual Arts forums.

A note from the host: Your favorite topics like "Drinks!" wouldn't be possible without the financial support of the Society's sponsors and donors. Your contributions pay for eG Forums upkeep, the eGullet Society scholarship fund and other Society projects in the works. All of the Society volunteers thank you for your support! If you're not yet a donor, there are many ways to contribute. Click here for a list of ten ways that you can help the Society.

I'm also looking for a new table. My constraint is space -- I have a tiny dining nook which is already taken up with a small table and my bar. That means that a dining table has to go in the living room, which isn't that big. I was hoping to find a drop-leaf table that I can keep against a wall until I need to pull it out. The problem is that I can't seem to find any drop-leaf tables that are big enough. I'm looking for something that will seat 6-8 people -- am I looking for the impossible?

Docking?

What made you decide on Chicago for your location, Toby? I've read here and elsewhere that Chicago doesn't have much of a serious cocktail culture. Is that incorrect, or do you plan to be the first serious cocktail place in the city?

Unlike most German knives, the Shuns actually come from the factory with a sharper angle than that. Aim for 17- 18 degrees.

I like mashed sweet potatoes with a little pureed chipotles in adobo; toasted cumin seeds with sauteed cabbage; and broccoli with oyster sauce or hoisin.

Definitely. Don't plan to make anything that requires specialized equipment, unless you plan to bring it yourself or are sure it's available. I made dinner for a family reunion in a condo kitchen that didn't have a blender (we bought a cheap one at the hardware store and gave it to my nephew), measuring cups or any knives but steak knives (I'd brought my own, fortunately). Oh, and only two of the four burners worked. That's extreme, of course -- most rental kitchens are stocked better than that. But it will help if you're good at improvising. And if it's at all possible, bring your knives -- that's the one thing that you just can't improvise. The menu I did was pork braised in tomatillo-green chile sauce, cheese enchiladas, chicken fajitas and a couple of southwestern salads. It worked pretty well, once we bought the blender.

Egg salad (if you like it, of course) is great on a BLT -- use it instead of mayonnaise. In this case, a less chunky version is less messy.

For me, the most important thing I learned was to get the worm (the screw part) inserted in the middle of the cork and straight (a nonstick coated worm helps with this). That part does take practice, at least it did for me. Now that I've got that down, I have a lot less trouble. But it is crucial to have a good corkscrew. If the worm is bent at all, you're doomed to frustration. There are corkscrew styles that don't require the kind of pulling you seem to be talking about. The little table model from Screwpull is really easy -- just place it over the bottle, start turning, and keep turning until the cork comes out. No pulling at all.

I'm interested to hear why you say that "even if the coating lasts forever, its performance will be gone, anywhere from 6 months to a few years from now." What do you mean -- that food will start sticking to the surface? Do you have any evidence to back this up? As I mentioned above, I've had a Swiss Diamond skillet for 6 months or so. I use it several times a week on average, don't take any particular precautions with it and put it in the dishwasher. The surface is still as non-stick as when I got it. I've also had an Analon skillet for almost 6 years and have used it several times a week (at least) without being really careful, although because I didn't have a dishwasher for most of that time, I washed it by hand (now I put it into the dishwasher.) The surface is fine. Can you ruin a non-stick surface? Certainly. But it's not inevitable.

I don't use mine all that often for cutting vegetables, but I do use them for chicken. I also use scissors to cut through the skin on bacon slices to keep them from curling up when frying.

I enjoy photos in books, but with a couple of exceptions it's not a necessity. I think technique-driven books are helped by photos, and of course books on ingredients need photos of the ingredients (like Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini). Drawings can be distracting and silly, but on the other hand, sometimes that's great. What would The Joy of Cooking be without the drawing of how to skin a squirrel? The photos that I don't care for in cookbooks are of the authors -- Food Network stars' cookbooks tend to be filled with them, which is a major reason I don't have any of them. I don't want pictures of Tyler or Jamie or Paula or Rachael; just show me the food, please.

Raw: and cooked:

You could also roast a chicken (whole, or parts) and serve it over a mushroom risotto. Sauteed spinach or chard would make a nice side. I might start with bruschetta topped with tomatoes and basil, and end with a fruit cobbler or berry shortcake, if you can find good berries.

Creative Loafing has a piece on Element: Lab Experiment. I find it interesting that except for that bit, the author really doesn't talk about the food much -- he's much more entranced with the theory.

I had a great tasting menu at Element a few nights ago. The service was a little uneven, but the food was all great. A few highlights: "Fried fish and some tartare sauce" is a deceptively pedestrian name for a dish that has probably spoiled me forever for fish and chips. A piece of white fish (not sure what) was cooked sous vide (I assume) until it was silky, and then battered and fried a la Heston Blumenthal. Served with a paper-thin lemon slice also battered and fried, which made me never want to eat anything else with fried fish. It was great on its own and brilliant with the fish. Tagliolini with pork belly and parmesan, served topped with a poached egg yolk, was also spectacular. (Forget eggs benedict -- this would be the perfect brunch dish.) The sea urchin with smoked bacon made me realize that I really do like sea urchin. (Admittedly, I'd only tried it once, and it was terrible. I was happy to have a good example of it to change my mind.) The diver scallop with sweetbread hash (which also had tiny cubes of potatoes and -- I believe -- shitake mushrooms) worked remarkably well. I tend to think of scallops as delicate and it always surprises me that they can stand up to strong flavors. This was a great combination, and the scallop was exquisite. Other dishes were uniformly good -- I thought everything worked in both concept and execution. If I had a complaint, it would be the cocktail list -- nothing seemed particularly complex or very interesting. But I'm told that they're working on that, so I hope to see less vodka and more variety in the future.

I don't like the taste of warmed milk, which is probably why I've never been a big fan of cappuccino.

I made a Communist from Dr. Cocktail's book a while back. It's gin, orange juice, Cherry Heering and lemon juice (Here's a picture of it) -- a little sweet, but it bears tinkering with.

I got a Swiss Diamond skillet around the first of the year. I've used non-stick pans by Analon, Look (very similar to Scan Pan) and All-Clad in the past, and never had any problem with them, but I do think the Swiss Diamond is more durable. I've been putting it into the dishwasher ever since I got it and it's been fine. I've overheated it inadvertently and haven't noticed any problems from that either.

Dim sum options are good -- what places do you like?

I've been a long-time customer of Trader Joe's, from way back in the early 80's when it was a regional company in Southern California. I've thought that they diluted a little too much when they expanded into produce, which never seemed to be what they could do well. I buy lemons and limes because they tend to be cheaper than Publix (it's not easy for me to get to DFM, although I love it). But I hate buying pre-packaged produce, so that's about the only produce I buy. However, I've long been a fan of some of TJ's products -- I always buy nuts and chocolate there for my Christmas baking because the quality is great and it saves me a lot of money. The frozen foods do tend to be good -- I don't buy the prepared products, but the IQF products that I've bought have always been good. And their pizza dough is very good.