slkinsey
-
Posts
11,151 -
Joined
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by slkinsey
-
-
SuzySushi, I think you're thinking of lamb's lettuce (Valerianella locusta), not lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album).
-
I agree. I think Old Overholt is a wonderful rye. I keep on hearing that they're going to come out with a new version of OOH, and I really hope it's simply a bump up to 100 proof (i.e., use the same old base spirit as always and just put less water in the bottle). If they did that, I'd probably go over to using OOH as my primary mixing rye over Rittenhouse. An interesting experiment is to try the low proof Rittenhouse versus Old Overholt (which comparison is won by OOH in my opinion). You can understand just how much is gained by the higher proof of Rittenhouse BIB.
It's worthy of note that there are two different styles of rye whiskey, Monongahela and Maryland -- Rittenhouse and Old Overholt being the former and Pikesville being the latter.
-
Nice, Dave!
Ideally we'd want a photograph with better lighting and higher resolution, but these definitely provide the basis for getting into the ballpark. From what I can see, I'd say that the copper layer is around 0.89 mm, the aluminum layers are around 0.17 mm (assuming that they are the same thickness -- the bottom layer is not easy to see in the picture) and stainless layers are around 0.335 mm).
-
A piece entitled "Raising a toast to the martin" appeared recently in the Houston Chronicle in Kristin Finan's "Kristin2Go" column. Within, the columnist talks with Christa Bradley, a bartender at the Davenport lounge which claims to have more than 70 "types" of Martini. The column, as much about the Sex and the City movie as it is about cocktails, makes particular mention of the Cosmopolitan.
Interestingly, the Chronicle ran the following letter to the editor:
Like many of my contemporaries, I struggle constantly to prevent my inner curmudgeon from surfacing to rail against the abundant evidence of the utter decay of Western civilization. But the Chronicle has crossed a line that cannot in good conscience be ignored.In Friday's Chronicle an article appeared that used the term "martini" to refer to some vile concoction involving vodka and cranberry juice, among other things better left unmentioned. (Please see "KRISTIN2GO / Raising a toast to the martini," Page One.) Has the Chronicle no decency?
The word "martini" should never be used for anything but an admixture of gin and dry vermouth, garnished with an olive (Ian Fleming notwithstanding). A murrain on your cattle!
JAMES KINSEY
Unfortunately the Chronicle's editors changed the original "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" to "Has the Chronicle no decency?" -- but one suspects that the copy editors of the Letters section may not be old enough to get the reference. Overall, a fun letter and one could say that I was brought up to agree with this viewpoint!
-
To each his (or her) own, I suppose. I think Gordon's is held in pretty high esteem, and sometimes I wonder what people might think about it if it were sold in the US at a comparable price point to Tanqueray.
Let's see if I can explain better: I feel largely the same way about Bombay that you seem to feel about Gordon's. I don't care for it. Most people whose opinions are worth valuing agree, however, that Bombay is a very high quality gin -- and I guess I'd agree with them, despite the fact that I don't like it all that much. Other people have posted to these forums about how much they hate Tanqueray, as hard as it may be for me to fathom that. Choosing Tanqueray over Bombay (or vice-versa) doesn't strike me as a compromise, and it wouldn't strike me as a compromise even if one were chosen over the other on the basis of price. Rather, while it might represent a compromise on an individual basis due to a personal preference, it's not a compromise on a more universal basis because both products are high quality -- it wouldn't be a "substitution." I would argue that Gordon's is an equally high quality product although, as noted, I'd like it better if the proof were higher. If it's going to be your only gin, it's probably a compromise because of the limitations of the proof (although I'd say the same thing about Plymouth). But if a skilled bartender reaches for a bottle of Gordon's instead of a bottle of Beefeater, that selection is being made on the basis of flavor and I don't necessarily think he's making a compromise.
What is a more universal compromise is choosing a clearly inferior product (MB triple sec) over a clearly superior product (Cointreau) on the basis of price. There may be a few, rare instances when MB triple sec is preferable over Cointreau, but not too many (and most likely you could get a better result using Cointreau cut down with simple if you don't mind the extra step). 95% of the time, if the bartender reaches for a bottle of MB triple sec instead of Cointreau, that selection is being made on the basis of price and represents a compromise.
The larger point I was making about the usual trend to compromise on modifiers is that I believe that a Pegu Club made with Gordon's and Cointreau would be better (not to mention less expensive) than one made with Tanqueray and MB triple sec. I also believe that, even if one does consider Gordon's a compromise from Tanqueray, it's a significantly smaller drop than it is from Cointreau down to MB triple sec. Plenty of people with well-founded opinions hold Gordon's in high esteem alongside the other "top" brands. I don't think too many people would hold MB triple sec in the same company as Cointreau. And this is perhaps another part of the reason I think it is usually unwise to compromise on modifiers. Usually there is one iconic modifier that defines the category, and almost all the other brands are less expensive copies. With gin we have Tanqueray, Plymouth, Beefeater, Bombay, Junipero, etc. -- all of which are considered top quality. What's Grand Marnier's competition? Drambuie's competition? Bénédictine's competition? Chartreuse's competition? No one, really. This is often the case with modifiers.
-
It seems to me that you're simply making different compromises -- you compromise on gin, I'm willing to compromise on Cointreau. Neither one of us will get the cocktail we really want. However, your arithmetic makes sense: given my local pricing, using MB instead of Cointreau saves only 7% on the cost of a Pegu Club!
I probably wasn't clear: I don't view using Gordon's gin as a compromise. I think it's a very high quality gin that just happens to be less expensive than Beefeater. I would consider using Gordon's a compromise only if I needed a gin with a higher proof. One could make a similar example comparing more expensive Baby Saz against less expensive Rittenhouse BIB (although the proof differential goes in the other direction).
-
IMO, there are simply too many "guestimates" involved in making the weight calculation (e.g., that the stainless cladding is the same thickness on both the Copper Core and the Stainless lines, that we know that thickness, that the handles and other hardware weigh the same on the two lines, that the pan dimensions and amounts of material used are the same on the two lines, etc.) to make it particularly useful. If any one of the several assumptions turns out to be incorrect, it throws off the whole calculation. Let's say that we determine thicknesses based on the blowup of a high resolution picture and that these results are not confirmed by the weight calculations. Should we suppose that the weight calculation is incorrect or that the visual measurements are incorrect? Or both?
If we assume that the metals visible at the lip are representative of the various metal thicknesses -- which is a more secure assumption than the assumption that the stainless steel cladding and handles weigh exactly the same and that Copper Core and Stainless pieces have the exact same dimensions -- the most reliable and accurate way of measuring them would seem to be using a high resolution photo that includes a reliable visual reference for scale (which in this case could be the micrometer measurement of the thickness). Ideally one would saw the pan in half and measure at the base, in case the metals shown at the lip are not representative. But without that possibility, a high resolution photograph should be the most accurate way.
(Fixed typos)
-
Tim, do you mean "Copper Core" or "Cop-R-Chef"? There is no such line as "Cop-R-Core."
I don't think that weighing Copper Core and Stainless pans would provide any meaningful result, because the pans are different designs with different detailing and hardware. We're also making too many assumptions as to the relative weight and thickness of the stainless cladding.
Assuming that the edge detail shows all the layers, it ought to be able to take a high resolution picture and calculate the layer thicknesses from a scaled blowup of the picture.
-
Ideally you'd want someone with a micrometer to measure the thickness at the lip and also take a high resolution picture. Then you'd have some basis for blowing up the picture and figuring out the thicknesses of the various layers.
-
My best substitutions are:
Luxardo Triplum for Cointreau. Less expensive and wins every time in a blind side by side taste test.
Appleton white for Bacardi.
Sailor Jerry for Captain Morgan.
Both of the rums are far better tasting than the name brand folks ask for.
I don't agree that Triplum is a replacement for Cointreau, but it's a good product.
I think that things like the rum choices you're listing here are perhaps not quite the same thing as "substitutions" as we're talking about them. I think of Bacardi more as a "Cuban-style white rum" rather than the leader and perhaps defining example in a given category (as is Cointreau). Using Appleton or Brugal or Flor de Cana is not so much a "substitution for Bacardi" as it is your choice for a Cuban-style white rum. To my mind, "substitution" in this context has the inherent connotation of "choosing an inferior product because it costs less money." If you would choose the other product if the prices were the same, you are making a substitution. So, in my mind, using GranGala over Grand Marnier or Marie Brizard triple sec over Cointreau is a substitution, whereas using Luxardo Amaretto di Saschira over Amaretto DiSaronno or Sailor Jerry over Captain Morgan is a choice. Personally, I like choices and am not so happy about substitutions.
(Fixed typos)
-
I think a lot of it depends on the bar, its clientele and its profitability model. There is little reason to stock Cointreau and 100% agave tequila if you're selling Margarita slushies to frat boys for five dollars a pop.
Most of the time when you hear of people making compromises, they're cutting corners on modifiers. This doesn't make so much sense to me, since these normally represent a high return for your investment. Let's say you're making a Pegu Club with with 2 ounces of gin and 3/4 ounce of Cointreau (the Pegu Club calls for orange curaçao rather than Cointreau, but that's for another discussion). Astor currently sells a liter of Beefeater for 25 bucks (~ $0.75/oz) and a liter of Cointreau for 35 bucks (~ $1.06/oz). Not only will that bottle of Cointreau last you through three bottles of Beefeater's worth of Pegu Clubs, but the Beefeater represents around 59% of the liquor cost for the drink.
The other reason I don't think it makes sense to cut costs on modifiers is that they often make a very significant contribution to the quality of the drink. Looking at the Pegu Club example above, using Cointreau over MB triple sec makes a huge difference whereas one could use, say, the equally high quality (albeit lower in proof) Gordon's over Beefeater at a substantial cost savings.
For my palate, I've never been satisfied with any of the lower-cost substitutions for the iconic modifiers such as Cointreau, Grand Marnier, etc. I would never think of making something like a Sidecar with triple sec instead of Cointreau -- why adulterate good (and expensive!) cognac with something lesser? If all I have is a low-quality brandy, I'll just make something else.
-
I'll add my voice to those who have never had a problem with bags floating when using a FS-type machine.
-
Where can one find lids for Falk copper pieces? I'd like to find some high-quality, heavy stainless lids that really fit well.
I find that the Paderno lids fit Falk pans nicely. But, really, I've found most any appropriately-sized lid to work just fine.
Do we have any estimates on the composition of All-Clad's copper core line? Their website seems to indicate that the copper core is sandwiched between a layer of aluminum, which could further improve the performance. Do we know just how thick the copper and aluminum layers are? Alternatively, can someone compare the thermal performance (capacity, responsiveness) of the All-Clad Copper Core and Master Chef/LTD lines?No data on the layers in Copper Core cookware. All-Clad used to be willing to tell people the thickness of their various layers, but they clammed up right around the same time they started making their stuff thinner. You may draw your own conclusions. If anyone feels like running a piece of Copper Core through a band saw to take a look at the layers, let me know. I always assumed that's what I'd have to do if I ever wanted to write a book on this subject.
-
That wouldn't work, I'm afraid (although there are other tricks you can do with those cannisters).
In a chamber vacuum machine, the air is evacuated from the chamber and the bag is sealed around the food while it is still inside the chamber under low pressure. This is impossible with a FoodSaver.
Not so! Upthread pounce has a really nifty work-around where a check valve is attached to the FoodSaver bag and the whole thing is put inside a canister. Whether it will compress fruit or not I don't know...
Oh yea... That's a pretty sweet hack. I wonder if it would work.
I am not sure what difference it makes whether or not a FoodSaver pulls enough vacuum to pull all the air bubbles out of a solution. There isn't really any question about compressing watermelon: it isn't strong enough to do it. But it is great for most sous vide applications and is MUCH less expensive than machines that pull enough vac to compress watermelon significantly.Right. For actual sous vide cooking, there is nothing wrong with using a FoodSaver or "semipro" edge sealing vacuum machine. For a very small number of tricks, you'll need a chamber machine.
(Question: what about putting a weighted plate on top of the bagged watermelon when it is being vac'ed and then leaving the plate on? Note: I am thinking out loud without thinking it through -- so don't flame me if this is an idiotic idea.)I think that, once you sealed the bag, there would be noplace for the "extra air" to go. So the weighted plate might crush the watermelon, but wouldn't compress the watermelon.
Maybe I can ask a naive question. Once you remove enough air from the FS bag, does it matter if a higher vacuum is used? Does it change the way you cook?Short answer: No, it doesn't really matter for most sous vide applications.
There are certain tricks that one can do with sous vide equipment (although I am not sure I would call most of these sous vide cooking) that require a strong chamber machine.
-
I've had Elixir Vegetal a number of times. Doesn't strike me as a bitters. First of all, it's not all that bitter. But it doesn't seem to have that intensity of flavor that makes something a bitters in the same sense that Angostura bitters are bitters. You're not going to be able to flavor a rich rum drink with a few dashes of Elixir Vegetal, for example.
-
I think different bloggers have different goals for their blogs
This to me is the most relevant thing in the thread so far. Steven's comments make sense, I think, but only if some form of "journalism" is a goal you have for your blog. The beauty of a blog is that it can be anything you want it to be, and you get to make up the rules as they apply to you and your blog. This is not to say that you shouldn't be aware of potential consequences of your decisions, of course. But if to you and in the context of your blog the shopkeeper's feelings are important, then it's fair game for you to consider the shopkeeper's feelings. Maybe this means that you don't write a post about that place, maybe this means that you make a few criticisms but hold back a bit out of consideration for the shopkeeper, maybe this means that you only focus on the things you liked, etc. The main thing is that you do whatever is comfortable for your own sense of ethics. You're not writing "hard hitting" and "truthful" news for a newspaper or magazine, you're not writing a book that needs to be interesting in order to sell. You're writing an entry in your online journal. The worst-case scenario for you should be that the blog entry is perhaps a little boring. But I certainly don't think that throwing your personal consideration for the shopkeeper's feelings to the wind and posting all your various negative criticisms of the place should be an ethical imperative for you unless you want it to be. If I were writing a blog about musical performances that I pursued seriously as "online journalism" I would feel constrained to give a scathing review to a friend who had given a bad performance; but if the blog were simply "slkinsey's personal reflections on classical performances in NYC" I would feel no obligation to do so -- and if the friend were expecting to read my write-up... well, we've all got plenty of noncommittal phrases in our bag for the times we don't have much good to say about a friend's performance (e.g., "you were really doing some interesting stuff out there").
-
Flatiron Lounge has been doing flights of cocktails ever since they opened, as far as I know. The secret is to batch the cocktails and keep them under refrigeration. If you pre-dilute, you don't even need to shake them with ice (I don't know what FL does). Even if you do shake with ice, it can't take too much longer to shake out and pour two small drinks made from a batch and pour out one batched rocks drink than it takes to measure, shake out and pour one regular-sized drink. Needless to say, logistics have to be taken into consideration when designing the flights and you only offer one flight at a time (themes are good for flights).
Flatiron Lounge also has really nice little wooden boards with three circular depressions that fit the bottoms of their glassware. Once the flight has been prepared, you just bring over the whole board and set it in front of the customer. Here's a picture taken by Snowy is dead:
-
Thanks for your nice thoughts.
1. Why buy the 11" skillet over the 11" saute pan? What purposes can the skillet serve over the saute pan? (Assuming both Demeyere atlantis, which, I think, has smaller sides so I could still crisp well? I'll look the diameters up for you if needbe) Or, if there is a crisping issue with the saute, when would I use my 11" skillet over the cast iron? Or are there some other functions that I'm not considering?Have you ever tried to fry an egg in a sauté pan?
The main advantage of a frypan is the low, sloping sides. This makes it easy to get in there with a spatula for things, which is especially important for things that are delicate (trout fillets, for example), and also facilitates crisping. You can fry crisp and have room to turn in a sauté pan, if you put one piece in the center and give it plenty of room, but it's difficult and not optimal. Meanwhile, what is your projected use for the sauté pan?
One piece of cookware I've seen that most people want to have is a large, heavy duty nonstick frypan. If you have access to restaurant suppliers, you can probably get some thick Vollrath or Lincoln frypans (12" is a good size) with a durable nonstick coating for not too much money. If you don't think this access will last forever, buy four or five of them and store the extra ones, because eventually the coating will wear off. If you like making eggs, you might think about an 8-inch nonstick frypan as well.
I'm not crazy about the design of the Demeyere frypans. The sides seem too tall and too vertical for my taste.
2. Am I making a boneheaded mistake with the Demeyere? I know it's ludicrously expensive, but I've managed to avoid that with the 50% cut - so is it really the best quality for my buck?Demeyere is the best fully-clad cookware, IMO, so long as money is not an object. If you can get 50% off, it seems like a very good choice.
3. Am I wrong about copper?Wrong about what? Copper has advantages. Other materials have other advantages. It all depends on your priorities (and budget, of course).
What I'm not quite clear on is your projected use for these pans. If you read through this thread you'll see that one of my recurring themes is that I discourage people from buying a lot of fancy expensive cookware based on some notion of putting together a "complete battery of cookware." What do you think you'll cook with this stuff? Why don't you have a stockpot with a fitted strainer for pasta? Why do you want expensive Demeyere sauciers? (It's not clear what pans you're talking about, by the way. Demeyere doesn't make anything called a "saucier.") These are all questions I'd ask myself.
-
That wouldn't work, I'm afraid (although there are other tricks you can do with those cannisters).
In a chamber vacuum machine, the air is evacuated from the chamber and the bag is sealed around the food while it is still inside the chamber under low pressure. This is impossible with a FoodSaver.
-
By the way, I don't know if it's been mentioned that it's under the same ownership as the Zinc Bar catty-corner to it.
Not that it's particularly important, but for the sake of clarity: this is only partly true. The owners of Zinc Bar are among the owners of Pegu Club. Audrey Saunders is also an owner.
-
Question: Isn't the pecan a New World tree?
-
Rob... Seriously, I think you'd do just fine to roll out fairly traditional middle eastern dishes.
-
I have all the ingr except for that tea which i doubt i will find here, is there any other similar (and common) tea i can use?
Try an Asian Market.
It's also sometimes called "Long Jing" in English.
Another loose leaf Chinese Green Tea of some sort? Just not a Jasmine Tea. That would probably be pretty bad.
There are so many, it's hard to know what you have, what might be available, or what it might be called.
Looks like this, with the leaves in long needle-like bundles:
So, you used a green tea rather than a black tea? Don't you figure the original probably called for black tea?
-
Is there any way you could reproduce a bunch of dishes invented by Puccini and pass it off as your own work?
Looking for a large/huge pot
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
Sounds like you want a rondeau.