slkinsey
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Posts posted by slkinsey
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I think I'm going to make one of these.
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It's a difference in pans, recipes, techniques and goals. For something like the Keller dish BryanZ posted, my usual crêpes would never work. You need something lighter and more delicate. My crêpe recipe is fairly robust. It is also the case that a nonstick pan can create crêpes that are both thinner, more evenly colored and overall less colored than a those from a traditional crêpe pan.<br>I continue to try to understand the color issue. Bryan's are pale, delicate, and unspeckled, the second set of Grub's are uniformly browned and crisp-looking. Sam's are uniformly speckled/brindled, and mine are on that path, but not there yet. Is this caused by a difference in pans, or is it technique?Here are some examples of different crêpe batters.<br><br>
<table>
<tr>
<th>SLK's Standard</th>
<th>Delicate Dessert</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1C AP flour</td>
<td>1C AP flour</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1 1/3 C milk/water</td>
<td>2 C milk</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3 eggs</td>
<td>4 eggs</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3 T melted butter</td>
<td>4 T melted butter</td>
<tr>
<td>(no sugar)</td>
<td>4 T sugar</td>
</table>
<br>As you can see the second recipe, which makes a thinner and more delicate dessert crêpe, has more egg, more liquid and more fat. There are many variations. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that those really light, thin crêpes of Keller's have even more egg and liquid (and also that they are cooked at a lower temperature on nonstick).
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FWIW, I like the Al-Wadi brand of pomegranate molasses, which is what most of the good bars around NYC seem to use.
Flatiron Lounge seems to have quite the way with pomegranate. Seems like I've had a number of drinks with pomegranate there over the years, including their outstanding "pomegranate martini" which I believe is called something like the Persephone.
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Cool! I remember this place from back in 1981 or so. It was tiny and all in one room... including the kitchen and the dishwasher. I remember one day my mother came home from eating dinner there and she had to hang her coat outdoors for a week to get the squid smell out of it!
And yea, these guys were selling squid (in the early days, that's practically all they cooked) long before it caught on in America.
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So, my issues are: mine aren't nearly as evenly browned as Sam's are. That's probably the fault of my ceramic cooktop. Nothing I can do about that. Or maybe the patina will even out with more use?
That will come with more experience and tweaking on your part. I doubt it's a fault of the ceramic cooktop, because the crêpe pan should be perfectly flat and therefore have uniformly good contact with the cooktop.
More likely what it has to do with is just not spreading the batter around quickly enough. My technique is to pour all the batter into the center of pan all in one go while holding the handle with the other hand, then lift the pan off the burner immediately and tip the pan to swirl the batter evenly around the pan. Usually, by the time I finish swirling, the crêpe batter is almost completely set and it's just a matter of waiting a few moments for the crêpe to start looking "done" on the top before flipping it over.
And I only got 7 usable crepes out of the one recipe, nevermind the two that were hopeless. Probably I should have thinned the batter. And I keep seeing recipes that call for 2-3 T of batter per crepe, but I had to have 1/3 C, or 5 T, to fill my pan completely. They aren't thick, per se, but probably should be a lot thinner, based on how many Sam has in his stack.Keep in mind that my stack was the result of a quatruple batch at least! I also use 1/3 C in my pan. But you have to understand that we have large crêpe pans. There's no way you could fill that pan with 2-3 T of crêpe batter.
Channeling Sam.
These look pretty good to me. I think anyone would be happy to have crêpes like that -- especially on your first real use of the pan. You're definitely getting the hang of it. As I'm sure you can see, once you get going it's easy to just bang them out.
I'm not sure if this is helpful at all in this context of the home kitchen, but I thought a technique I've witnessed could be inspiring. I just got back from a crêpe pilgrimage to Toronto I make from time to time. The place that keeps drawing me back is called Le Papillon, and they make their crêpes on a big flat-top grill. They're never flipped, stacked or moved: the batter is poured onto the flat-top, troweled-out to a paper-thin film, then as it starts to set-up, the fillings are put on top, while it's still on the grill, then it's folded-up, put on a plate, and served immediately.I think you nailed this one in suggesting that it might not be that helpful in the context of a home kitchen. Unless you are either making crêpes for one or have a big stove and multiple crêpe pans. Any advantage that would be gained from this (excellent) technique would be lost by holding the crêpes in a warming oven while the others are finished one at a time.
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From the Pegu Club thread in the NY Forum:
This is a great sweet-sour drink created by Jerri Banks.Juniperotivo2.0 oz : Junipero gin
1.0 oz : fresh lime juice
1.0 oz : simple syrup
0.5 oz : pomegranate molasses
2 sprigs of mint
Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and garnish with mint leaf.
This is one drink where the brand of gin makes a big difference. There really is no substitute for Junipero in this one, although Tanqueray might do in a pinch.
The name of this drink is curiously commonly misspelled, even on bar menus. It is Juniperotivo, after Junipero gin, but one does see Juniperitivo. Regardless, it's a tasty drink and, like the Last Word, is fairly friendly to modification with other spirits.
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I'm going to go season my skillet right now, but since I don't have or ever use shortening, I'll use canola.
Don't forget that you want to reseason the pan just before using it.
Can you share your recipe? I know they're pretty standard, but I want crepes that look exactly like yours do.My crêpe recipe goes something like this (based on the recipe from Julia Child's "The Way to Cook"):
1 cup : AP flour
3 : large eggs
2/3 cup : milk
2/3 cup : water
Pinch : kosher salt
3 Tbsp : melted butter
Liquids and eggs into the blender. Turn it on and drizzle in the flour until combined. Let the crêpe batter sit preferably for an hour before using it. You can thin it out with more water for a thinner, more delicate crêpe.
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But could you give us an idea of how hot you want the pan? For example, about how long before the batter bubbles as in your second picture -- is it 3 seconds, or more like 15?
My crêpe batter tends to bubble somewhat immediately after it hits the pan. It's usually a race to get the batter spread out over the whole surface of the pan before it sets up.
I also noticed that you don't use a crepe spatula (or whatever that thing is called that is about 1 inch wide, 8 inches long, and has a bend in it). Do you find that the spatula pictured below works well? I don't have the crepe spatula either, because I don't make crepes enough.You're talking about an offset spatula. I've never found them to be particularly useful for making crêpes.
The spatula shown in my picture is called a Peltex spatula. I like this one for crêpes because it's thin enough to get under the crêpe with ease, and the wider surface area affords more support. The Peltex is also awesome for delicate fish.
That said, if I've really hit the groove, I don't need any spatula at all. I just shake the pan to loosen the crêpe after it has set up, and then flip it in the air. No spatula required.
Lastly, I noticed you didn't put wax paper between the cooked crepes. Do you find they stick together at all when they cool?I've never had a sticking problem. If you are having this problem, it may be partly due to undercooking the crêpes (this is a guess based on thinking that your cooking temperature may be too low). I also have a procedure I use when making crêpes in bulk: When a crêpe is done, I slide it out of the pan onto a thick, clean dishtowel. The crêpe then cools off while I am pouring the batter for the next crêpe. After I have flipped the new crêpe, I transfer the cooled crêpe to the stack and then slide the new crêpe onto the dishtowel. This allows each crêpe to "steam out" a bit before being added to the stack, and I think it helps to reduce the risk of sticking.
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That's a thing of beauty, Sam. What's the diameter of that pan?
I'm not exactly sure. Around 9 or 10 inches, I'd say.
Sam, do you temper that pan? I think that's what mine would look like if it weren't currently more of a dull silvery gray.Yea. You season carbon steel just like you do cast iron. Sometimes if I haven't used it in a long time, I'll scour it a little bit with steel wool and reseason it. In fact, you're sort-of supposed to reseason the pan every time you use it. Heat it up with some shortening in the pan, let it stay hot for a while and then wipe it out. I find that getting the temperature just right is key to avoiding sticking, but once you hit that sweet spot you can easily bang out crêpe after crêpe after crêpe in short order.
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Some action shots with the black steel crêpe pan:
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There's actually an article on snopes.com about the various legends surrounding the creation of the champagne coupe. According to the article, it was designed in England around 1663. That would rule out any inspiration from Marie Antoinette, who was not born until 1755.
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Interestingly, the jist of what I got out of the "Good Pigs" panel at this years Big Apple Barbecue Block Party is that what the pigs are fed and how they are treated has a much larger impact on the flavor of the pork than breed -- exactly what jsolomon says.
As one of the panelists mentioned, "when it comes to pork, there is Spanish pork and there is everything else." What makes Spanish pork so great? Well, some of it is breed, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that they are free roaming and fed on acorns. And let me tell you, when you bite into a piece of jamon iberico, you can absolutely taste those acorns (among other things, it produces a softer fat). American pigs used to be fed on peanuts, but this is virtually unknown today.
Interestingly, one of the panelists brought up the essential unsustainability of the current system in use today and pointed out that 150 years ago there were just as many pounds of meat on the hoof in America as there are today, but it was all grass-fed and free-range in the form of bison.
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I am one of those who, if invited out with a group of people that I don't know, will probably be not very likely to do it again if I see a calculator involved at the end of the meal, tallying everyone's individual responsibilities. I'm generally eating out for pleasure, and that pleasure in greatly diminished by niggling negotiations at the end of the meal.
Exactly. I'm terrible at math, so I tend to avail myself of my Palm Pilot's calculator just to add the 20% and divide it up into equal shares. But it's interesting to observe that people who will niggle over a couple of bucks are often the same ones that will go cheap on the tip. For this reason, I like to be the one figuring out shares of the bill so I can make sure the tip percentage is appropriate.
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Like many of us, I tend to just split the bill evenly unless someone's order is significantly lower priced. Usually the difference isn't more than a couple of bucks either way. For example, had the OP's check been split evenly, her share would have been $8.50 instead of $7 -- not enough to worry about for most people. This makes it easy for me to simply whip out my Palm Pilot, multiply the total by 1.2 (this adds 20%) and divide by the number of parties at the table. So, in this example, I would have simply said, "it's about ten bucks and a quarter apiece." I'd be likely to do this if we were splitting the bill item-by-item as well. Again, in this example I'd say something like, "okay, with tip it comes out to twelve bucks for you and eight-fifty for me." If someone complains, that gives you an opportunity to say something about the basis for tipping 20%.
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I picked up a set of champagne glasses (Marie Antoinette?) on eBay a couple years ago, and I am very fond of them.
Well... a "Marie Antoinette" glass is really a curved champagne coupe -- so called on the false premise that this stemware shape was modeled after the shape and size of Marie Antoinette's (presumably rather diminutive) breasts. I'd say that a Marie Antoinette is more something like this, maybe even a little more shallow:
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There is a point to be made here that not all fast food is bad and not all fast food is bad for you. They have been making fast foods in Mexico and Singapore and Vietnam and lots of other places all over the world that are perfectly healthful and absolutely delicious for centuries.
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So... a little while back, I noticed that a new restaurant had opened up on the Southeast corner of 109th Street and Broadway where there had previously been a filthy fried chicken shop into which I had never ventured. The restaurant was called Rack & Soul and purported to be a half-barbecue, half-soul food restaurant.
The barbecue side of Rack & Soul is designed and overseen by John Wheeler, a homebuilder and competitive barbecuer from Mississippi who comes in once a week to tweak the smokers, etc. The soul food side of the restaurant is run by Charles Gabriel from Charles' Southern Style Kitchen in Harlem, where he is known for his pan-fried chicken.
I was eager to give it a try.
The first time I visited, with Eric_Malson, was unfortunately a disappointment. The restaurant had just opened, and was slammed with customers (interestingly, they were around 75% families of Israeli Jews out for some smoked pork after the end of Passover). We were told it would take at least 30 minutes for our food to come to the table. It didn't take that long, but when the food arrived it wasn't particularly impressive. The menu has no appetizers, but each dish comes with two sides from an interesting list, and all the sides are available as invidiual orders. They were already out of pulled pork, so we each ordered the combination platter of fried chicken and baby back ribs with collard greens and macaroni and cheese. The ribs were undercooked, with none of that "pulling apart tenderness" you'd like to see. The fried chicken was not particularly crisp. More to the point, everything was critically underseasoned. I left feeling like I'd give them another chance, and hoping they'd learn how to use the salt and pepper shakers by my next visit.
On several subsequent visits, I have not been disappointed. The fried chicken, as expected from someone with Mr. Gabriel's pedigree and reputation, has been crispy and tender with a nicely salty skin. The barbecue has been performing at a much higher level. I have so far tried the pulled pork, baby back ribs and beef short rib from among their barbecue offerings. All were nicely smokey and cooked properly, although the pulled pork could have bee fattier/moister for my taste. The beef short rib is particularly well done, smokey, sticky and unctuous. They also offer bbq chicken wings, bbq salmon and a bbq half chicken. I'll probably try the salmon one day, and they also offer ox tails which I'd like to sample in the future.
The sides have also been very good. Long-cooked collard greens have clearly benefitted from spending time in the pot with copious amounts of salty pork products. Asparagus comes heaped in a ridiculously large pile of green stalks. They even have excellent Belgian waffles, creating a serious temptation to double-order the waffle sides with a full order of fried or smothered chicken. Other offerings include broccoli, string beans, baked beans, black-eyed peas, lima beans, candied yams, cole slaw, stewed okra, mararoni and cheese, yams, white rice, mashed potatoes, potato salad and french fries. I've bad the baked beans, mac & cheese and potato salad since my first visit. These have been good to very good. Must-tries for me are the rest of the legumes and the mashed potatoes.
Rack & Soul does have a modest and interesting wind list, including some barbecue and fried-chicken friendly wines like reisling. There are also several interesting beers on the menu, such as Gosser and Abita. I wouldn't know about any of this, because I always have a bottomless glass of either lemonaid or iced tea. These are seriously old-school concoctions, and heavy on the sugar in a way that can sneak up on you after a few glasses. More than a few times I've left Rack & Soul feeling like I needed an insulin injection.
So far I have tried two of the desserts: rather uninteresting and dry pecan pie and an delicious, moist and absolutely gigantic slice of red velvet cake that is not to be missed. Be forewarned, however. This is easily enough cake for three to four people, and it is very sweet.
So... Rack & Soul is a nice neighborhood place and a welcome addition. I wouldn't say that they're quite on the same level as Dinosaur, but the relative ease in getting there and getting a table for those of us on the Upper Upper West Side more than makes up for the difference. If you're in the area, I encourage you to check it out.
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One thing to keep in mind about the line service is that these were people who worked for the event company, not for the individual barbecue purveyors. Unfortunately, the level of competence and service was not high. At one point I wanted to buy $28 worth of food, but only had $25 on my fastpass -- it took literally 15 minutes for the cashier to figure out how to do that (it eventually took persuading the overloaded booth manager to focus for 30 seconds and do the transaction himself).
Still... the Q was outstanding, as always.
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Can anyone give me a definitive recipe for a Petit Punch? if so, what is it?
Cheers!
George
Have a look over here.
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I think it might be interesting to note, as a sort of side comment here, that the only thing I don't like about the Flatiron Lounge is that, at least during the after-work period, it has this very crowded young-professionals pick-up-type scene going on (or at least, it has every time I've been there during that time period).
Flatiron Lounge is absolutely one of the best cocktail spots in the country, make no mistake about that. But, for better or worse, it's located on 19th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues. That means that they're going to get a certain kind of crowd at certain times and on certain days of the week. If Pegu Club were next door to Flatiron Lounge, you'd see exactly the same thing there. And remember that Pegu Club at 11 on a Friday night isn't always exactly a cocktail monastery.
Also... for what it's worth, and this is something we've chatted about a few times, I don't think Julie is going for "serious" or "cocktail shrine" at Flatiron. She's looking for great high-end cocktails, of course, but also for highly accessible high-end cocktails and a fun vibe for the neighborhood. Flatiron succeeds on all these points, and is absolutely a destination spot for the serious cocktailian at the right times.
But yea, I agree... the "after work twentysomething rush" times aren't exactly "our times" for FL.
does anyone really (or should anyone?) go to a place for the sole reason to enjoy the "genius" of mixology of a perfect cocktail?Yes. I do. And I think it's quite clear that plenty of other people in these forums do as well. But then again, as with restaurants and sushi bars, etc. people have different reasons to go. If your reasons for visiting a high-end cocktail bar like Pegu are not the same as ours, then it makes sense that you won't "get it" the way we get it. This isn't to say that you don't "get it" entirely -- just perhaps that your "getting it" is different from ours.
From what you have written, it seems that the reasons you visit bars and consume cocktails are not the same as ours. I think if you read back through these posts, you will see a lot of people saying that they visit Pegu Club for reasons that exactly contradict statements you have made. They do like watching bartenders work, they're not ultimately just "there to drink," they do think there is something to be said for having more than one kind of gin, they do go to enjoy the genius of a perfect cocktail, they do go to be "educated and have a whole 'experience,'" etc, etc, etc.
That's okay. Nothing wrong with that. Like I said, there are plenty of people who "won't get" Sushi Yasuda the same way an experienced sushi enthusiast will, or "won't get" Daniel the way an experienced fine dining enthusiast will. Doesn't mean that Sushi Yasuda isn't the brilliant sushi bar everyone says it is, though, or that Daniel isn't also great.
I should add, for what it's worth, that there's nothing insulting intended in suggesting that some people are more experienced in cocktails and therefore able to understand and appreciate things about them that others are not. I think we would all agree that this is the case with haute cuisine, sushi, opera, painting, architecture, ballet, wine, etc. Certainly I know that there are things professionals like Audrey and Dave can appreciate about cocktails on a level and in a context that I can't.
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I actually think that the comparison of a bar like Pegu Club to a sushi place like Yasuda works pretty well. There are a lot of the same elements and considerations at play.
Edited to add: FWIW, I think Pegu Club has a very sexy room.
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I think it's good to get a little perspective when it comes to the price situation.
Yes, spending 300 bucks on an eleven-inch/4.5-quart stainless lined heavy copper saucière isn't cheap. On the other hand, this is an incredibly versatile pan -- perfect for reductions, sautéing, finishing pasta with the sauce, etc. If you're like me, this will quickly become the most-used pan in your battery.
Also, this is 300 bucks for a pan that will last the rest of your life. Think about how much you spend on a computer or a DVD player or a television. More than 300 bucks, for sure. And these are things that maybe last 5 years. How can it be that a laptop with a 3 year lifespan is worth two thousand dollars, and a pan with a 50+ year lifespan is not worth three hundred?
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the ice cubes are phenominal. huge. they don't melt.
but is this idea so revolutionary? huge ice cubes? fresh juices, soda out of glass?
surely someone else in new york can do it at that level with a better view then houston street and a sexier room?
Pegu Club is a place that I think most anyone can appreciate. But just like with haute cuisine and sushi and anything else at a certain level, I think there are things one needs to have a certain amount of experience and education in to fully appreciate about a place like Pegu Club.
To make a comparison, let's suppose someone walks into Sushi Yasuda, sits at a table instead of the bar, orders a California roll and a few pieces of salmon nigiri sushi, then says: "Is that it? Is this idea so revolutionary? Super-fresh fish and high quality rice? Surely it can't be too hard to do sushi on this level in a nicer location?" (Substitute any top haute restaurant in a similar scenario, like walking into Daniel and having a simple roast chicken.)
Now... you might say: "Um... If it were easy to do sushi on that level, everyone would be doing it. Maybe it's possible that you didn't quite take advantage of everything Sushi Yasuda has to offer, and maybe it's the case that you don't quite understand enough about sushi to fully appreciate what they're doing there." Indeed, this is something we have seen written in these forums time and time again about various restaurants and diners.
All of which is to say that there are plenty of revolutionary things about Pegu Club. There aren't too many bars that carry over 20 different bottlings of gin and have bartenders with the knowledge and skills to take advantage of the distinctive properties of all those different gins. There aren't too many bars where you can choose from a menu of distinctive cocktails created by a top mixologist like Audrey and her staff. There aren't too many bars staffed with bartenders who have such a comprehensive knowledge of mixology that they can make all the classics, no matter how obscure -- and if they don't know it from memory, they're happy to consult the first printing of The Gentleman's Companion or one of the other legendary classic reference books behind the bar. There aren't too many bars staffed with bartenders who can create a custom progression of cocktails for customers on the fly based on a spirit, flavor, concept or style. There aren't too many bars that are using only top quality ingredients like Kold Draft ice cubes, fresh juices, soda out of bottles rather than a gun, etc. I could go on. But suffice it to say that, yea, Pegu Club is a special place and no, there aren't a lot of places that are even remotely in the same league.
But, again, depending on the person and the circumstance, I think it's entirely possible to go in there and not be blown away. Just like it's possible to go into Sushi Yasuda or Daniel and not be blown away. Next time, try sitting at the bar on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evening, branch out a little more with your cocktail choices and let the bartenders guide you. I think you'll have a more favorable impression.
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While you're at it, shake up a Flaming Orange Gully for an eG-themed drink:
1.5 oz : Stolichnaya Ohranj
1.0 oz : Velvet Falernum
1.0 oz : fresh orange juice
0.5 oz : fresh lime juice
2 dashes : Angostura bitters
Shake and strain. Garnish with a flamed orange peel and fresh grated nutmeg.
Crepes--Cook-Off 23
in Cooking
Posted
BACON CRÊPES?!?!
Must. Have. Bacon. Crêpes.
And I can make them sound exotic, possibly even healthy if I call them spekpannenkoek.