Andrew Fenton

I can't speak for Magictofu, but I actually meant the CAMERON stovetop smoker: the cold weather has scrambled my brains. And hey, there are seven letters in each, right?

Sorry your Canadian bacon was oversalted. I hope I didn't steer you wrong! I've noticed the same thing with my Bradley. Smoking anything for longer than an hour or so results in a slightly bitter, almost astringent or chemical taste, very different than the mellow smoke flavor I'll get from my outdoor smoker. My wholly unscientific hypothesis is that the sawdust oversaturates the outer parts of the meat but doesn't penetrate the inside. Food that doesn't require prolonged smoking (fish, chicken wings, fruits and vegetables) work fine, though. It's a shame, because especially in cold weather, it's so much easier to use the Bradley than to bust out the big smoker. Before I moved, and was still living in an apartment with no outdoor space, I used workarounds like smoking a small pork butt for 45 minutes or so, then finishing in the oven: once I'd pulled the meat and mixed it together, the result was fine, if not as good as what you'd get from a bigger smoker. I imagine that for Canadian bacon, a short smoke followed by a visit to Lower Ovenland would work okay.

Seconded! I followed your lead and after a morning's errands in South Philly, hit up Snockey's for lunch. The knowledgeable and enthusiastic oyster guy put together a plate of a half dozen oysters: two each of Fanny Bay, BC (sweet, almost cucumbery), Peacock Coves (briny, mineral-y), and Bennies (a little sweet, very mild). I followed the oysters up with a cup of the Maryland crab soup (not very crabby, alas) and a shrimp po-boy. I don't know how well the po-boy worked as a sandwich-- a hoagie roll isn't the right bread-- but it had the best fried shrimp I've had in years: plump, juicy, great crunchy coating. It's a shame it took me so long to get to Snockey's; it's one of those old-school places that I'm glad are around.

It's worse than that. As I understand it, as grease cools, it clogs the sewers. Grease clogs are the bane of sewer departments: cleaning it is the most difficult and dirty thing they have to do. In lots of cities (including New York, at least for businesses), it's illegal, and it's definitely a bad thing to do in general. If I have a little bit of grease, I'll wipe it up with a paper towel and toss it. If I have a lot, I'll pour it into an empty yogurt container or whatever and toss that.

Depends on how thick the pork is, I suppose. Mine was a little on the thick size, which didn't help. It's a shame you can't test for brining doneness... at least I don't know how.

A followup: the cured pork gave a great flavor to the red-gravy style pasta sauce I made last night. But the lean meat dried out something terrible; for leftovers, I may just strain it out.

Actually, I've never found brining a 8-10 pound butt to be too much of a challenge. And when it's refrigerator temperature outside, why, it's a piece of cake! Still, I think a rub it will be. Maybe I'll try a pic-a-nic shoulder instead, go for a Cuban vibe, and get some nice crispy skin in there. Yes, that will do nicely.

I'm thinking about a butt this weekend-- it's been too long-- and am wondering about brining vs. rubbing it. In the past, I've usually brined (following Klink's instructions) and been happy with the resulting Carolina-style pulled pork. Juicy and straightforward flavors: pork, salt, smoke. But now I'm pondering a rub. Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmmmmmmmm.

I've been to a few events at Davio's; they can definitely handle a group that size.

The menu looks great. I could definitely do with a cup of good chili on a night like tonight. Though I bet you wouldn't get away with an illustration of an elegant smoking lady nowadays...

Phil, you speak the truth! I had the fried rice tonight, and it was great. It's not a dish I often order, but this had a depth of flavor that was really extraordinary. The juicy buns have gotten even better over time, I think: more soup, and with a good dough texture. My friend (visiting from Baton Rouge) was blown away: we ordered a second batch of them.

the food at parc is fine; the atmosphere is fun. it's a little expensive for what it is (and my salad last time was weirdly salty), but overall it's just kind of a fun place to go. it's not like, one of those 'if you want to get the unique flavor of great philadelphia restaurants and understand the dining scene, go here' kind of places -- cochon and matyson and lolita, i think, kind of epitomize that. but it's fine nonetheless. I think this is exactly right. I've been to Parc once, on a Saturday afternoon, and had a great time chilling with a glass of wine and the charcuterie plate. I wouldn't point a visitor to it, but I wouldn't steer anybody away, either.

Another delivery order from Plan Eat Thai. - Thai spring rolls. These are the ones to get: NOT the regular ones! Bigger, crispier and tastier. - Drunken noodles were pretty darn good. Like all noodles, they'd be better eaten right away. But from what I've heard, the restaurant itself is pretty grim... I guess I'll just suck it up and stick with pretty good-but-suboptimal delivery. - Masaman curry is CRAZY. It's a dry curry- only a little bit of sauce- with golf ball-sized chunks of beef and potato, plus some cabbage and asparagus. It's like an Irish stew with coconut milk. It's good, but not much like other masaman curries I've had.

Yeah, a smaller-- that is, skinnier-- loin definitely would have cured faster. Maybe the recipe was designed for a skinnier piece of meat? Anyway, that'd be another solution- and maybe a better one than curing it for a longer time.

Just had my first Charcuterie failure, while making Canadian bacon. The problem was that the recommended 48 hours of brining wasn't enough: the finished pork had a bacony, cured exterior, but a roast (well, smoked) pork center. It's very good roast pork-- juicy and tender-- but the contrast in flavor between the inside and outside is a little off-putting. What I have wouldn't be very good for eating straight (though my wife likes it), but will be fine chopped up and put into pasta sauce. And next time I'll brine the pork loin for at least 60-72 hours.

How close does one get if they're into feta cheese and spinach on <whispers the word> pizza? ← There is much to admire about the Greeks, both culturally and culinarily. This does not include their pizza-making skills. Shun the feta pizza; hew instead to the blessed spanakopita. As to spinach... perhaps. If it has been sauteed with a lot of garlic, and all the moisture has been cooked out. Then it can be quite good on a white pie, maybe with some sausage.

Haggis on pizza? Truly wonders will never cease. Anyway, in the spirit of reconciliation, equanimity and good feelings, let me say that if you (that is, "one") wants to put a giant pile of toppings on your pizza, feel free. It's not my lookout if you endanger your immortal pizza soul.

I don't really know why you'd put bacon and egg in the dressing- those go on the salad itself, right? For the dressing, I use bacon drippings, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper. Maybe a little bit of Dijon mustard.

ma dai! Surely you mean "with risotto alla Milanese"? Because that's just about the best. And I'm always, always obsessed with pizza bianca.

Eat around them! They're just empty vitamins...

capers, olives, anchovies, and oregano. I like it! The oregano isn't part of the sauce, but an add-on, so it would technically count as a fourth topping, wouldn't it? ← I'd give a pass on oregano, as an herb rather than a topping. So you're clear!

Anybody who puts more than three toppings (exclusive of sauce and cheese) on a pizza will be eternally doomed to a hell of Totino's. Anybody who puts more than two toppings deserves sharp glances and a fierce tut-tutting.

Helenas, I had the same problem of volume and weight not corresponding, in a different recipe. It's good to know that the issue with salt is the brand, but in my case, it was chopped vegetables: onion, garlic, parsley. It could be that I didn't mince them to the proper size, but... no. I know how to mince garlic. So I'm at a bit of a loss.

A week or two back, I tried cold-smoking a batch of almonds, using the recipe in Charcuterie and a jury-rigged cold-smoking apparatus. (I decided to go with nuts for my first go-round as they're so easy and quick to prepare, and even if the smoking didn't work, I could still roast them for a tasty product.) I didn't meet with a lot of success, and am hoping to get some help troubleshooting the process. First, the setup. I'd read about the tin can/soldering iron method (and seen ). Simple and cheap. Behold, my mighty tin can and soldering iron: I set it up on the grill, with a rack of seasoned almonds above it, plugged it in, waited until the chips started smoking, and closed the lid: I let the almonds smoke for about 2 1/2 hours. At the end, I realized that because I'm not capable of reading English, I was supposed to season the almonds AFTER smoking. Still, three of us tried them and agreed that they had a nice smoky flavor. I then roasted them in the oven, as per the recipe. The weird thing is that, after roasting, the smoke flavor disappeared. This is a mystery to me. So, first question: what's up with the smoke flavor going away after cooking? Second question: how can I improve this setup? Possible problems: - the temperature. Inside the grill, it was about the same as the ambient temperature: low 40s. Is this too cold for the food to absorb smoke flavor? - the length of smoking. Maybe, especially in a cold environment, it just needs longer? - the amount of smoke. There was a steady, but not especially thick stream of smoke; if I could create a smokier environment, I could get more flavor. Two possible solutions: * do the smoking in the offset smoke box, not the main chamber. It's smaller, and so easier to fill with smoke. * ditch the can, and just make a small fire in the smoke box. The problem here is keeping the food from getting too hot (I could put it on the far end of the chamber) and keeping a small fire going. I'm not ready to ditch this technique just yet- but I want to improve on it before I try to smoke something more valuable, like sausages or salmon. So: any suggestions? Smoking gurus, bestow upon me your wisdom!

Parc has oysters on the menu. I haven't tried them, though I imagine they'd be pretty decent quality.