JAZ

I've mostly experimented with flavored syrups as components of non-alcoholic cocktails, so I probably use them a little differently than most. In my jalapeno-mint syrup, for example, I'm not sure that a real, fresh mint flavor is what I want. But it would be interesting to try it with a cold infusion of mint into the jalapeno syrup to see. The only time I made ginger syrup (aside from the ginger-mint experiment), it was actually a by-product of making crystalized ginger slices, in which the ginger was steeped in hot syrup several times (it was time consuming, complicated and not something I'll repeat). I liked the taste of the syrup -- it didn't have that fresh "zing," but it was good on its own terms.

Reverse Pomeranian After I created the Pomeranian Cocktail, I started playing around with the proportions to see if I could make it a little more complex tasting. I ended up essentially reversing the proportions of pomegranate and grapefruit juice and this is the result. 2 fl oz white rum 1 fl oz fresh grapefruit juice 1/2 fl oz triple sec 1/4 fl oz pomegranate juice Add ingredients to an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist, or you could float a couple of pomegranate seeds on top, if you had them. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG1073 )

Reverse Pomeranian After I created the Pomeranian Cocktail, I started playing around with the proportions to see if I could make it a little more complex tasting. I ended up essentially reversing the proportions of pomegranate and grapefruit juice and this is the result. 2 fl oz white rum 1 fl oz fresh grapefruit juice 1/2 fl oz triple sec 1/4 fl oz pomegranate juice Add ingredients to an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist, or you could float a couple of pomegranate seeds on top, if you had them. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG1073 )

So, I see that Cooks Illustrated reviewed Santoku knives and rated the Furi (without the granton edge) as "not recommended." Said the handle was too big and clunky and the blade was "dull." Okay, I know knife handles are a very personal thing, and I can see them saying that. But a dull blade? What -- they got a used model? Whatever.

I tried for a ginger-mint syrup, but the ginger was so overwhelming you couldn't taste the mint. However, it was still good. I used it with anejo rum, a splash of orange juice and club soda (a take off from DeGroff's Anejo Highball). And there's that ginger drink from Mas that beans posted on, too.

Oh, yeah, I did that too, for ages. Awful. In fact, isn't that one of Dante's Circles of Hell? Edit to add: Can you post more details of the grapefruit and ginger compote? Sounds fabulous.

Does this take you all morning and into the afternoon? Do you have a method to share? I love grapefruit, but echo everyone else's complaints about it. I once made a wonderful recipe of grapefruit, ginger, and star anise compote, it was truly delicious, but I'd never do it again because it took forever to peel those *%$ grapefruit!! It's not difficult, after a bit of practice. The epiphany for me was . . . USE A KNIFE! (duh, but I'm a slow learner) Cut off the top and bottom of the grapefruit so you can see the actual flesh (no membranes) Cut down the sides, again so you see flesh. Working over a bowl, hold the grapefruit in your left hand (right hand if you're left-handed). Pick a membrane, any membrane, and start there. Cut down as close as you can along one of the membranes, then move to the next one and cut along it, cutting out the section of grapefruit. Continue around until you're left with nothing but a big lump of membranes. Squeeze out the extra juice and you're set. Works for oranges too. Now, for me, the way-too-much-work-for-what-you-get food is fava beans -- shell, shell, shell; blanch, peel, peel, peel -- two hours later, you have. . . beans. Great.

I personally have never been a fan of fruit of any sort in chicken salad, although many people do seem to enjoy it. My standard "American style" is chicken, green onion and celery finely diced, mayonnaise, celery salt and black pepper. I used to add a teaspoon or so of Durkee's, but then they changed the formula or something, and I'm not crazy about the new one. A pinch of dried mustard is what I use instead now. I used to get a great curried chicken salad at a deli that was made with onion, toasted slivered almonds, mayo and curry powder (and chicken, obviously). I believe they are the only restaurant in the world that does not add raisins to their curry-style chicken salad, and I, for one, appreciated it. Something a little out of the ordinary is chicken, diced roasted red peppers, and minced basil with garlic mayonnaise (aioli, if you prefer). But, please. No Fruit.

Although I love them for the sake of convenience (one of the little guys invariably produces 1/2 ounce of juice), I have to say I can't discern much of a difference in taste -- will this incur the wrath of the Key Lime Lovers? Yes, they seen a bit more fragrant, but I think that's due to the higher proportion of skin to juice. I use a Mexican style lime press, though, which really wrings out the oils from any lime's peel, so maybe that's why I don't taste much difference. The lime press also traps almost all the seeds, which is a blessing with these limes.

I think this is going to be my new signature line.

Goat cheese. Smells like a petting zoo. Fava beans. I guess they're okay, but they're waaaay too much work. The ROI just isn't high enough. (Plus, there's that whole Silence of the Lambs thing.)

Yeah, rosemary would be a tough match. I remember reading (somewhere -- Fine Cooking magazine) an article on using herbs in desserts, and I think I recall a match between grapefruit and rosemary, so maybe that's an avenue to pursue. Also, there was this recipe from the New Cocktails thread by member Plattetude, which might provide some inspiration:

Katie, mint syrup can work amazingly well with tequila. I use a mint and jalapeno infused syrup in what I call my "fire and ice" margarita -- tequila, lime juice, and the syrup, blended with ice. It's about the only drink I like slushy. And by the way, weren't you going to start a flavored syrup thread?

Pomeranian Cocktail 2 fl oz white rum 1 fl oz pomegranate juice 1/2 fl oz triple sec 1/2 fl oz fresh lemon juice 1/4 fl oz grapefruit juice Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange wheel or lemon twist. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG1065 )

Pomeranian Cocktail 2 fl oz white rum 1 fl oz pomegranate juice 1/2 fl oz triple sec 1/2 fl oz fresh lemon juice 1/4 fl oz grapefruit juice Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange wheel or lemon twist. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG1065 )

Velvet Daiquiri Velvet Falernum is a rum-based liqueur flavored with cloves and almond. fl oz white rum fl oz Velvet Falernum fl oz fresh lime juice 2 dashes peach bitters Add ingredients to cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG1064 )

Velvet Daiquiri Velvet Falernum is a rum-based liqueur flavored with cloves and almond. fl oz white rum fl oz Velvet Falernum fl oz fresh lime juice 2 dashes peach bitters Add ingredients to cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Keywords: Cocktail ( RG1064 )

As far as I know, all the Sur La Table stores should have it, but it's probably not on the website yet, because it's fairly new. SLT doesn't carry the full line of Furi knives, though.

As a disclaimer, I'll start out by stating that I rarely eat at high end restaurants, have never had a tasting menu at the level of Per Se or French Laundry (or anywhere, really -- not in the sense that's being discussed here). But, that being said, I spend a lot of time thinking about taste and texture of foods, sequence of dishes -- all the things that come into play here. I also teach cocktail and "party food" classes, and so I concentrate on "one bite" foods. I think it's the only way to go with cocktail parties, but I don't think it's the way to truly sample a chef's oeuvre. Dinner should not be a series of amuse bouche. One very valid point has been made about "tastes" as opposed to full dishes (whether small or large) -- which is that sometimes flaws in a dish only become apparent after a few bites. But the opposite can also be true: sometimes the subtilties (okay, I have no idea how that word is spelled) of a dish don't reveal themselves in the first or second bite. So a tasting menu can be perceived as either better or worse (or sometimes both) than it "really" is because, damn it, it takes more than a bite to evaluate a dish.

I'd forgotten that you bid on the set -- how cool that you got it. We only carry the "East-West" (they don't like to call them Santokus) in a couple of sizes, so that's the only one I've used. Furi is coming out with an improved/expanded version of the Fingers, with three sets of "fingers" that pop into a base (which will fold up for easier storage) -- a set of tungsten (?) prongs for actual sharpening, the diamond fingers for honing, and stainless fingers for maintenance.

I think an overnight brine for chicken pieces might be too long. I generally only brine pieces for a couple of hours, tops. The wings don't really even need a brine -- they have so much fat they're almost impossible to dry out. If you do brine them overnight, you might want to omit the soy when you roast them. Also, the honey will make them sticky (good, but messy). I've done chicken thighs with a jerk style paste on a stovetop grill -- I don't usually have any left over, but when I do, they're good cold.

How fascinating. A couple of thoughts: "Meaty" is a term often used to describe a texture as well as a flavor, and I suppose what most people mean by the term is a combination of factors: slightly chewy with some resisitance, but not tough; juicy and succculent; and substantial, for lack of a better term. When not applied to meat, it's used for mushrooms mostly. As for the taste, well, meat, like all protein, is relatively high in glutatmates, so you have the umami (savory) flavor going on, plus the flavors of cooking (caramelization and Maillard-related flavors). I'm curious about the salty taste you detected -- was it because the meat was salted and that's all you picked up on, or did the meat taste salty on its own? The "metallic" feel you detected is not surprising. If you've ever bit the inside of your lip or mouth, or otherwise tasted blood, you probably noticed a distinct metallic taste and feel. Although meat (ideally) contains very little blood, red meat contains similar compounds that can produce the same taste and texture, especially if it's rare. Chicken, especially breast meat, is very bland -- chicken thigh meat has more flavor, but it's still relatively mild. I think the lack of strong flavor is one of the reasons that chicken breast meat is so popular -- many people don't like strong flavors, plus the neutrality provides a nice platform for all kinds of sauces and other treatments. A little meat in sauces, soups or stews, even if it's not the main ingredient, can add a lot of "depth" to both the flavor and the texture: not only do you have the glutamates, which give you the umami taste and texture, but depending on the meat, you get fat, collagen and other substances dissolving into the liquid, which will give you a thicker, richer mouthfeel. Yes, I didn't really go into the detail, but that's what I was referring to when I talked about the "regulated doses of fear" that we get from capsaicin.

And sugar also lowers the freezing point, so if you add liqueur or other sweeteners, you're making it worse. If you want something to freeze solid, it has to be mostly water, with the liquor and any sweet elements only there for flavor. If I were you, I'd start with something like a margarita, then add an equal amount of water and see how it freezes. From there you can increase or decrease the water. Also remember that something frozen solid will taste less sweet than something merely chilled.

Thanks, Anna. I'm glad you're finding it helpful. In a way, I guess I presented Part III before Parts I and II, since way back at the beginning of the eGCI I did a class on Menu Planning. Maybe that will provide a little guidance. I'm not sure about a true Part III here. In the meantime, I'll try to provide a little more practical advice on this thread.

Ah, yes -- it's my current favorite.