JAZ

I had dinner last week at Incanto, and this dish was still on the menu. Although I didn't try it (too many other things, including a great artichoke soup) I sat at the bar and watched the salad guy make lots of them. If the asparagus was blanched, it was done whole and, I think, only briefly. (I assumed it was raw, but if Doc thinks it was blanched, he'd know.) Anyway, the cook took a small handful of whole asparagus stalks (green and white) and sliced them lengthwise on the big deli slicer, then tossed with the vinaigrette.

I do understand that; I've seen it often enough. But even though I'm not a bartender, I am in a customer service job, and that attitude is just so short-sighted it makes me crazy. I work in a cookware store, and I want customers who just walk in the door and buy sets of copper cookware or expensive knife sets or a $1000 John Boos kitchen island with no work on my part. It sucks to spend a whole bunch of time with someone who after all that ends up buying a $14 cast iron skillet, and then wants it gift wrapped. But, hey! That's my job, and here's the deal -- customer service jobs suck some of the time. You don't like that? Don't work in customer service. Of course bartenders want easy tips -- that's a given. But, I'm sorry -- they work in a bar, as a bartender. Their job is to make drinks, not just pour shots of expensive vodka. And depending on where they work, if they refuse to make the "difficult" orders or ignore the "difficult" customers, I think it's going to catch up with them. At least I hope it's going to catch up with them.

I've only done this a couple of times (the second time was for my blog), but the trick is to cook them long enough at a fairly low temperature, so they become nice and tender. They won't fall apart the way they do when braised, but they should pull away from the bone pretty easily. Mine have never been quite as good as the ones we did at the Pig Pickin last summer, but I'm not sure if that's because I do them in the oven and those were grilled, or just that we were all really hungry, or if they really were more tender.

I really don't have a lot of respect for this kind of attitude. I've seen the bartenders at Flatiron Lounge bang out one labor intensive specialty cocktail after another while completely slammed on a weekend night. ← I have no respect at all for this kind of attitude. (Anyone else wonder if this guy's boss read this quote, and what happened if he or she did?) Perhaps it hasn't occurred to him that if he refuses to make requested drinks often enough, pretty soon he won't have any customers to pour Grey Goose for, and he won't be making any tips at all. The whole tone of the article bothers me. Really, complaining about having to use sugar and fresh lime juice because they make your hands sticky? Please. Get another job.

Thanks, Chris. I have a question about the shelf life of the ingredients. If I'm ordering ingredients online, can I stock up and get supplies for a couple of batches at once? It seems to me that the malt extract is not something that will get stale or degrade, but what about the hops? How long will they keep? Is one form (pellets, for example) better for storage than another?

Small phyllo dough triangles with various fillings are good make-ahead finger foods -- they can be frozen and baked off as you need them. You can also make phyllo dough cups in mini-muffin tins (wonton cups and toast cups, too) as edible containers. I've made a Thai-style chicken salad in wonton cups that works well -- you can't assemble it too far ahead of time, but you can make the cups and salad and then just assemble right before serving.

It sounds as if many of your guests are from Europe. Do you get many South Africans as guests as well? Many Americans? Do you take the nationality of your guests into account when you plan your menus?

Ingrid, I lived in Cole Valley years ago, so all the places have changed since my days there. Is Zazie the place on the corner of Cole and Carl? I'll have to check it out.

You could substitute some sliced red bell pepper for some or all of the jalapenos to cut back on the heat.

Marlene, this is something I've made for classes. If he likes spicy foods, he might like these. Shrimp skewers with spicy honey glaze Juice of one large lime 2 red jalapeno peppers 1 teaspoon grated ginger root 1 clove garlic, minced 3 tablespoons honey 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional -- great if you have it; not essential) 1/4 teaspoon dried chile flakes (optional for more heat) Puree everything together in a blender or small food processor and then simmer until thick -- you want to reduce it by a third or so. It should be enough glaze for a pound of shrimp. I paint the shrimp right before cooking, reserving a little of the glaze to spread on after cooking.

I followed Fergus Henderson's recipe in my recent Foodblog: click here I didn't really include the recipe, but he's not very precise either. The bones will take about 40 minutes at 400 degrees to roast. I take them out when they just start oozing a little of the marrow. For about a cup (packed) of coarsely chopped parsley, I used a tablespoon of capers, a heaping tablespoon of sliced shallots, the juice of a half a lemon and probably a tablespoon or so of olive oil.

Most drinks come with a garnish, such as a lime wedge, lemon twist, etc. It's part of what makes the drink. But if you don't want the garnish, ask the bartender to leave it out. (Or just take it out and set it aside.) I guess I don't see the parallel here. That is, I understand if you don't like horseradish in a Bloody Mary (it's a variation that's not uncommon, but it's not universal either), but its addition is not like the addition of a garnish -- it's part of the recipe. But again, if you don't like it, ask the bartender not to include it. No, they're not improperly made; if you want them without garnishes, ask for them that way. However, if you want a mojito without mint, I'm not sure what you can do except order a different drink.

For more discussion of induction ranges, here is the most recent topic, and here is another slightly older one.

I like Lorna Sass's book too, but now that I've gotten more familiar with my pressure cooker, I've started to adapt regular recipes. If I have a regular recipe I want to adapt, I find something similar (in terms of ingedients -- meats, vegetables, whatever) in the Sass book or the Kuhn Rikon booklet and use that for the timing, cut down the liquid (usually, depending on the recipe of course) and give it a try. I've had good luck that way with split pea soup, goulash, and short ribs.

because the idea would be to teach them the vocabulary and skills that would help them improve -- elevating their abilities -- rather than lowering the level of the recipes. ← I don't think you can expect a single recipe, written by a food company to promote a product, to educate new cooks, but you can expect cookbook authors to try to do that. It seems to me that Joy of Cooking is doing that by including a glossary of culinary terms. Cooking is like any other skill -- take sewing as an example. If I picked up a pattern and started reading about flat-felled seams or blind stitches, I'd know what was being referred to, because I've sewn for a long time. But I didn't know those terms when I started sewing, and I certainly wouldn't expect everyone else out there to know what they mean. I think the difference with cooking is that there's still an expectation that everyone somehow should know how to cook, whereas sewing -- which used to be pretty common -- is no longer considered an essential skill. But if you think about it, it's obvious (or should be) that, in the US at least, it's no longer necessary to know how to cook -- with money, one can eat well without setting foot in the kitchen. So I think it's unfair to call someone "stupid" simply because he doesn't know what "fold" or "cream" means. Unknowledgeable, yes. Stupid, no.

I'd like to thank everyone for reading along this past week. I'm leaving soon to meet my brother, who's in town for a conference, and I'm not sure I'll have time to post after I get back home. I hope so, but if I don't, I wanted to wrap things up. If I missed anyone's questions, I apologize. I meant to talk more about teaching, but I think I'll start a topic on teaching cooking classes, so we can discuss the subject there. I'll talk a little more about what and how I teach. One very different thing for me this week was following four new recipes -- well, sort of following them, but it's a lot closer than I usually come. It's something I want to work on, so this was good practice. Thanks for the suggestions and the encouragement. I hope to see you over in Cocktails.

Back when I started, a couple of you asked me for some of my favorite kitchen gadgets. I haven't forgotten, but it took me this long to get organized. You've already seen one of them, the Kyocera slicer. The next few are maybe a little pedestrian, but they're still great. My Messermeister scissors. These come apart for cleaning (and after about three years, I can finally get them back together on the first try); the handles are offset a little, so you don't strain your wrist using them; and they're strong -- I use them ffor butterflying chicken. They're also like the Swiss army knife of scissors -- they have a bottle opener and several other features that I never use. My Rosle can opener. It's the "safety" style that opens a can at the seam. The Orka "Squid" is a combination basting brush and bulb baster made out of silicone. I admit that when we first got these in the store, I thought they were incredibly silly. But a few weeks later, when I needed to make three or four sheet pans of crostini (at the store, for a class) and saw it in the drawer, its usefulness became apparent. You can fill up the whole body of it with olive oil (or melted butter, or marinade) and baste away without having to keep dipping back into the bowl every time. When you've used all the oil, you can just suck up another bunch as you would with a bulb baster. Very cool for pastry and phyllo dough too. For cocktails: Lemon and lime presses. If you don't have these, you should. If you only get one, probably the lemon sized one is best. Caper and olive spoons. (I included the lemon for scale; I couldn't find a ruler) These are not only indispensible for getting cherries, olives, cocktail onions, etc. out of jars, but also great for fishing out the errant lemon seed that slips by the juicer. But wait! There's more! OXO mini measure. Great for measuring cocktails, which I almost always do. It measures in 1/4-oz. increments on one side -- up to 2 oz. On the other side, you get measurements in tablespoons. And as a bonus, you get ml measurements on the outside. (Terrible photo; sorry.) End of commercial.

There are several farmers' markets in San Francisco (and more in other Bay Area cities, of course). The one I went to on Sunday in the rain is one of the three largest in the city -- the other two being one on Alamany Ave and the one at the Ferry Building, which is the best known. That one gets most of the tourists, although plenty of locals shop there too. The shoppers, overall, are probably more affluent and the products more upscale at the Ferry Building than at either of the other two big ones. Then there are a few smaller "neighborhood" markets like the one I went to yesterday, with fewer vendors. These tend to be frequented by neighborhood shoppers, rather than being "destination" markets like the big ones.

On to the tequila class/tasting. As I think I may have mentioned, I don't know much about the differences between tequilas, so I was looking forward to this class -- not only would we be tasting some new (to me) tequilas, but we'd get cocktails by Dale De Groff. Then I discovered that Dave Wondrich was also there to talk about the history of tequila. What more could you ask for? It was a great evening, despite the fact that it was pouring during the walk there, so I was soaked by the time I arrived. I got there a little late and missed the first cocktail, which was tequila, blood orange juice, (something else, to sweeten -- triple sec? )and champage. Beautiful drink. We tasted seven tequilas from three producers/distillers: three blanco tequilas, two reposados, and two anejos. Two distributors donated tequila: Partida and Gran Centenario, so those are what we tasted, with a blanco from El Tesoro added for comparison purposes. I won't go into detail here, but I'll post some notes and impressions over in the Fine Spirits and Cocktails forum later this weekend. The other cocktails we tried were the Cat's Eye, which had passion fruit and orange juices, the original tequila sunrise, and a margarita, of course. I'm sorry I didn't get pictures of the drinks -- it was too much to pay attention, take notes and get photos. I'll say that the original tequila sunrise was a great surprise -- tequila, lemonade, creme de cassis, topped with soda. Very refreshing, and nothing like the orange juice and grenadine version. After the event, I did get some photos of what I'd begun to think of as the tequila shrine. We were in a big private room that had some offices and storage off to the side. Close by where we were sitting, there was a wire enclosed room with cases of tequila. I'm not sure if they always do this, but they'd lit some candles and displayed some of the bottles. It was too dark to get photos without a flash, but in real life it was very cool.

I got one of these as a giveaway from the manufacturer. It sat on my counter for weeks while I tried to figure out whether to give it away, toss it, or what. One late afternoon, I heard a big commotion on the stairs that go up to the backyard from my kitchen. A family of raccoons was on the stairs waiting, apparently, for me to open the door so they could come in and eat the cats' food. City raccoons are pretty bold and fearless, so they didn't budge when I opened the door and yelled. I grabbed the first thing at hand and threw it at them -- it happened to be the Twist n Chop. It did the trick; they scattered. Plus, the Twist n Chop broke, so then I could throw it away with a guilt-free conscience.

Skipping around a little bit, here are a few more pictures of my kitchen storage. Since I work at Sur La Table, I have more cookware than I technically need, but as I tell my customers, "need" is relative. This is the cupboard next to the stove. It's really convenient to be able to store my skillets, sautepans, saucepans and stockpots right there. Above that is what I call "the crawlspace." It's not convenient at all, and I have to stand on a chair to reach into it, but it's a place for the things I don't use often. You can see my ice cream maker and chocolate temperer (with a 9-qt. Demeyere pot I can't fit anwhere else). Behind that is my big coffee maker and some giant tupperware bowls. Most of the rest of my cookware is in this cupboard (the one the cats like -- since it's not finished in the back, they can crawl around. I guess that's the appeal).

Yes, I did manage to get a few photos -- I got to the market late, so some of the folks were already packing up. The smoked salmon booth was completely out of fish, so I couldn't get a picture of them, for instance. This market started last year in a little shopping "mall" in the Financial District. usually this area is filled with tables and benches for shoppers and others to eat lunch etc. It's nice in weather like this, because the mall is covered with a skylight, so it stays dry. I didn't pick up much yesterday, since I was going out after work -- just a few tangerines and this pastry from the German bakery's stand: As for the prices, I'm a terrible comparison shopper, because it's not usually possible for me to go to several places to get the lowest prices. For instance, Susan asked earlier if the price for bacon at the butcher's is similar to other shops, and I honestly have no idea. (Lemons and limes are about the only thing I comparison shop for, because I go through so many, and they're available almost everywhere I shop.) But I find that the quality at the farmers' markets tends to be high, with lots of organic produce, which I like. I don't mind paying more for that.

Oh, I completely understand. There are optional freezer items, like the glass bowl that holds ice. When I need the space, the bowl goes away, and I just use ice straight from the trays. Or the bag of sliced bread -- I keep it in the freezer because I just don't go through bread that fast, but it can stay outside if necessary. The wire shelf helps a little -- I can stack more stuff in it that way. But when I've just made stock, for instance, the freezer is crammed so full that I have to dismantle and rearrange it every time I want to get anything out.

Thanks, Genny. I like it too. It's funny -- when I moved in a few years ago, my place and the place upstairs (there are two flats in what was originally one house) were both vacant. The kitchen in the place upstairs had been remodeled and was brand new -- dishwasher, cooking island, built-in display shelves, pantry -- and big. But the place was consequently much more expensive (it's bigger, too, by far) and I couldn't afford it then. But my little kitchen has grown on me. And as I've mentioned before, for its size, it has a lot of storage space. I'll post a few more photos in a little bit, and you'll see what I mean. As for ingredients -- it's hard to claim any of them are very exotic -- especially since I'm talking to eGullet members! What I do have are opened bottles of a whole bunch of different prepared sauces and marinades, that I've used once or twice. Between samples from IACP, which I belong to, and samples from work, I get a lot of them. Most of them aren't great, but they're not bad, and I keep thinking that I might want to use them some other time. Then I just get more, so I rarely do. One that I do like and use is Stonewall Kitchen's Curried Mango Grill Sauce (which I just realized I'm out of, or I'd take a picture). I use it in a beef roll appetizer. Oh, and that's a seltzer bottle, not whipped cream.

On the list of things to do this afternoon is to transfer the rest of the cassoulet to tupperware and get the EH cleaned, but if I don't, I'll post about the cleanup results on this topic. I'll try to post more detail on some of my classes, too.