Duvel

One thing to add: of course these claims also carry the romantic notion that the vodka is produced in artisanal pot stills ... and not in a set of regular continuously fed rectification columns.

It doesn’t need to. If you design your distillation set-up properly, one distillation is sufficient. Claims of multiple distillations are meant to suggest quality, but do - in the eyes of a technical chemist at least - in fact showcase an improper set-up or poor understanding of the process. In a very simplistic way, yes. In reality, no. Given a less-than-perfect setup and the fact that you are distilling out a low concentration environment right into the maximum azeotrope of ethanol you are bound to carry over volatiles of the same polarity, independently of their actual boiling point. We are talking 100 ppm scale here, bit they will certainly change the taste and smell. A nice overview can be found here. Filtration over activated charcoal will remove these more efficiently than another distillation attempt, due to the inherent difficulty at high purity as described above.

Ok, so I need to disclose that I never had a smash burger. I looked it up, but I am still not clear whether this refers just to a specific type of burger chain variety or if that is decribing the cooking process (squeezing the patty like a sponge) or maybe both ? Anyway, I am curious: concerning the idea, the benefits / tasty secrets of the style and how you make yours 🤗 Ohh - and a picture ! Because without a picture ...

Light lunch: Kare udon, topped with a slighly overcooked egg, tenkasu & garlic chives ...

I used frozen peas, boiled in salted water for 4-5 min, drained, added butter, a bit of heavy cream, salt & pepper and used a potato masher to get to a mushy consistency ...

Truth to be told: this was the first time I made mushy peas. I just thought that if it traditionally is served with fish & ships, I should give it a try. And it was ok. Maybe not something I’d eat on a regular basis, but tasty enough to make it again next time ... And my apologies for the confusion about the fish: the fish was fried, only the potatoes came from the oven. For the fish I used a batter of equal parts flour & potato starch, some baking powder and a beer/sparkling water mixture to thin it down to pourable thickness. Fish was floured, then dipped in the batter and fried in 170 oC oil ...

That sounds really nice - will try soon ! Sorry about the wine, though ...

Got some nice fresh cod yesterday and was envisioning fish chowder for dinner. Family was feeling like a more caloric alternative, so ... Fish and „chips“ (baked in the oven), with mushy peas. Salt, vinegar and tartare sauce on the side.

Yes, correct ! A popular Spanish brand, Campofrio. Our current house guest goes through a package every two days 🤭

When my wife starts with “Do you know what I’d feel for dinner tonight ..?”, it usually presents some sort of challenge. Today it was freshly baked bread. And dinner within the next two hours 🙄 Challenge accepted. Putting everything together to speed up the process (more yeast, diastatic malt powder, pleasant ambient temperature and 3 fold & stretch cycles in 10 min intervals) I was able to get this in 45 min from the start (30% rye, 10% spelt, rest wheat, 62% hydration): Baked in a preheated (45 min) cast iron at 250 oC for 45 min again ... Served with the content of my fridge ... And for me the leftovers of the last lamb roast, pulled, reheated with a couple of Chinese spices, cilantro & chili crisp as “Rou Jia Muffin” 🤗 Happy faces all around !

I need to dig for the picture, but I had a sampler of four (!) types of beef tongue sashimi in Fukuoka, Kyushu. One would think how many textures and tastes can you get out of a tongue, but the (sold out) big sampler included seven varieties 😉

A German interlude: Stewed beef neck, red cabbage & potato Knödel (commercial - hey, it’s a weekday) ... Served with a nice wheat beer.

Nice ! Is that based on a curried coconut broth or which basic flavor elements you use for the stew (other than lime & cilantro) ?

Funny enough, consistency is the main goal of what all Modernist volumes strive for. Or call it reproducibility, in scientific terms. Taking the guess work out of the path to your desired (good tasting) dish.

Easy peasy korean-esy ... Korean baked chicken wings ... ... with Bibimbap. No complaints 🤗

You know the drill ... Pizza & Movie night on Sundays 🥳 The classic opener: Salami & mushrooms (unfortunately, not as round as it should be) ... Cooking time just short of 3 min. Tuna and onions for our house guest ... Fresh pineapple and smoked lardons for @weinoo Olives & extra cheese for the house guest, too ... Classic Margherita for me ! All enjoyed with „Night at the Museum III“ and this ...

That looks lovely - but are you positive on your matsutake ?

It takes more than a bottle of Malbec to watch that ...

Thanks, @patti ! Of course I haven’t had your bandwidth of experiences and yet - I really feel I can relate 🤗

Yes, room temperature is your friend for any sliced product that is glued together by solidified fat ...

I think this is where the wording „your mileage may vary“ applies ... I am fully with @weinoo on this one: how much better can you get your product if you purchase MP if you are already happy with it ? I am not trying to sound arrogant here, but I am ~95% happy with my pizza (and so is my target audience - my family). I really like pizza: I have read a lot about it, I have sampled really a lot and I have made a lot. For the last ~5 years years practically every Sunday night is pizza night, with ~3 pies on average. I have tailored „my“ pizza to what I like best. And I remember all my milestones: the preferment, the 550 extra fine flour, the long cold rise, the hydration tweaking, the sauce formula (including the drop of vinegar), the cheese mix, the transition from „oven floor“ to baking steel. By now, I make very consistent pies and - while me and my son do enjoy the classics with minimalistic ingredients - I am happy to experiment with new toppings (sorry, @weinoo 😉). But my formula remains the same. I can see the advantage of MP taking the guess work out of whatever you want to achieve and shortening the learning curve to get to a great pizza. I will appreciate the unusual ideas on dough, sauce, toppings for sure. As a scientist I certainly also appreciate the insight into the why's and how‘s. That’s why I will follow the discussions on MP with great interest. But I will - at this point - not invest to achieve the last 5% satisfaction on my pies (which I personally believe are a matter of practice and maybe equipment, not knowledge). But - as I wrote in the beginning - YMMV ...

We are still trying to entertain out houseguest ... today we went to nearby Darmstadt. Visiting the Waldspirale, designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and then doing some window shopping in the city center (as far as CoVid19 restrictions permit) ... After the cultural exposure I decided some more approachable food was in order ... Burgers ! Grilled, with Brioche burger buns ... Cherry Old Fashioned as aperitif ... 4 varieties - each as individually requested: simple cheeseburger with salad for the niece, „Arnau“burger with BBQ sauce and roasted onions for my wife, double „Arnau“burger for me with extra pickles and a burger with fresh pineapple and teriyaki sauce for the little one ... Simple food is sometimes the best ! Served with my hometown beer (for me, of course) ... Little one enjoyed as well (together with a BBC documentary on sharks) ...

There was a nice crunchy crust from the subcutaneous fat layer, that I left on the meat ... The leg was rubbed with oil and salt and roasted with rosemary, garlic and onions in a closed cast iron for 5.5h, then 30 min without the lid. After 4.5h I removed the accumulated juices (for the sauce), put in white beans and finished as described above ...

At the end of a rough week I was feeling for some comfort food - lamb specifically ... Slow roasted leg of lamb, sourced from a local Turkish butcher. Their lamb is fantastic ... Served with oven roasted veggies (eggplant, zucchini, red pepper, garlic, onion) ... And garlicky white beans, cooked in the last 1.5h with the lamb ... Simple, yet very satisfying !

I am certain it will be fantastic conpendium. At that pricetag however I am wondering whether it‘ll make more impact to what I serve to my family than some hardware improvements at the same cost level (e.g. outdoor pizza oven, ...). I will not preorder, but will watch the (definetely interesting) discussions here and probably succumb shortly after ...