slkinsey

I've tried Hamptons Gin (no apostrophe, by the way). Thought it was not terribly interesting. By design, they put the citrus way out front and dialed back on the juniper.

Interesting article in today's NY Times about molecular mixology by Peter Meehan, entitled "Two Parts Vodka, a Twist of Science" As usual, Dave Wondrich had something interesting and illuminating to say: The article highlights the work of several mixologists who are puching the envelope. Eben Klemm has designed a Manhattan made with leather-infused bourbon and a puréed maraschino and bitters "cherry," and a vodka Martini with an olive essence lollipop garnish, both for Primehouse in Chicago. Eben Freeman, formerly of wd-50, created many unique takes on the cocktail there, including things like "rum and Coke" made of rum powder and soda-flavored Pop Rocks -- he'll be doing gelled spheres of Cape Codder at tonight's Taste of the Nation event. Homaro Cantu of Moto, José Andrés of Minibar and, of course, Ferran Adrià are all doing interesting things. Unsurprisingly, I fond myself in Dave's camp. Some of these things sound interesting and there are clearly some ideas to explore there. Already certain techniques, such as foams, have filtered down to some level of commonality. But it's not entirely clear to me how far the cocktail can be to transmuted and reinterpreted before it starts to lose it's "cocktail-ness." That said, some of the stuff sounds pretty cool. Homaro Cantu is doing a drink called a "Fizzing & Foaming Hurricane" injected with a substance that provides the effects described in its name. Sounds pretty cool. I'm not sure I think a Hurricane is such an interesting cocktail to be expending that kind of effort on, though, and I often find it to be the case that the cocktails chefs try to "molecularize" are not particularly interesting ones to start with.

If you can get it, use Marie Brizzard orange curaçao.

Dan, the Staub mini-cocottes are made of nonreactive enameled cast iron that doesn't need to be seasoned the way raw cast iron does. There are no flavors working their way into the pot as there would be with, e.g., an unglazed clay tagine. If they have off-flavors in the foods they are serving in their Staub mini-cocottes it's because of something they're doing, not the pots.

More to the point, I think, is that Mario Batali knows a little about making money from his cast iron line. Just because he's coming out with an enameled cast iron "risotto pot" doesn't mean he believes it's the best, or even a good material/design for making risotto. What it means is that someone at the company said, "hey, people are into making risotto now. I bet we can make a mint if we add a 'specialized risotto pot' to the Batali line." The fact is that cookware companys are always coming out with pots that are ill-suited to the material/design used. Because they know that they have built up a certain amount of brand loyalty and that their customers will buy the new piece even though it's not the best material/design. Best example: All-Clad stock pots. I'd agree with this in terms of reacting to heat. I used a Le Crueset tonight to fry chicken and I was not at all happy with the temperature control or lack thereof that I was unable to achieve. Interesting. I assume you were shallow-frying? I ask this because, once you get into deep frying territory, the thermal mass of the cooking oil is so much greater than the thermal mass of the pan that the material/design of the pan won't make much difference with respect to responsiveness. Yea. Heavy enameled cast iron can be okay for a lot of things. I'm certainly not suggesting that it's terrible for soups. Rather, I'm suggesting that better performance can be had for less money if what you really want is a soup, curry, etc. pot. There's no getting around the fact that enameled cast iron is very expensive. So, IMO, unless you want a pot to do the things at which enameled cast iron really excels, it may be a mistake to buy it. I think it's a not infrequent mistake for people to say, "I want to get a Le Creuset/Staub/whatever" without giving much clear thought to whether they really need one. Yea. I have never understood LC's choice for the lid handle. There's nothing quite like lifting up a 400 degree cast iron lid and having the handle slip off so you drop the lid on your feet. I should also point out, while I'm at it, that I'm not sure enameled cast iron has such a great advantage over the heavy clad aluminum designs Steven recommends if you're going to be "braising" in the oven. Enameled cast iron really performs at its best on the stovetop, and you're probably just as well off with Steven's recommendation in the oven. Well, there are a few notable differences. As with anything, you're going to find diminishing bang for your buck as you go up the price scale in cookware. Stainless lined heavy copper cookware is no more a value product than a Ferrari. So... there are things that make brands like Le Creuset and Staub better. What immediately comes to mind is that they're substantially heavier (which makes a big difference when you are talking about cookware that is designed around having high thermal capacity and low thermal conductivity) and they also are coated with more coats of higher quality enamel fired to a higher temperature (which means, among other things, that you are less likely to ruin the enamel if you cook the pan dry for a while). I should also point out that, while it's true that coating cast iron with enamel isn't exactly space age technology, it's not necessarily the case that it's cheap. Every layer has to be sprayed on to the piece, and the piece has to be fired at high temperature, cooled, inspected, re-coated, fired again, etc. This costs money, not only in energy but in labor.

Rock on. Jim is very talented. I've been meaning to get over there and try some of the drinks he's created for GT. Unfortunately, I'm still recovering from sinus surgery and alcohol makes the nose swell. Soon!

FWIW, I'm also not sure it makes sense to buy something like enameled cast iron on the basis of using it as as "all 'rounder." Frankly, at most kitchen tasks, other less expensive and easier to use and maintain material/designs are just as good if not better. To name a few that have been mentioned upthread, I wouldn't call heavy enameled cast iron the ideal material/design for things like soups, rice, curry, risotto, etc. Heavy enameled cast iron is best for braising. Browning meat and vegetables and then simmering them low/slow for a long time in a limited amount of liquid. It is also very good at certain other low/slow applications like cooking beans, things like chili con carne and stews. So, if you're going to buy an expensive specialty braising pan, first be sure that you're really going to do enough braising that it's a worthwhile purchase, then choose a pan and brand on the basis of what is best for braising.

IMO Staub is in most ways the superior pot. It's heavier. Certain aspects of the construction are simply better (the Bakelite handles on Le Creuset are always breaking and falling off, for example). I like the lid design. And the interior is better for browning. Some people have said that they prefer the LC because of the light interior. I'm not sure I understand why. Plenty of people prefer to cook on nonstick surfaces, and yet we never hear complaints that Teflon is hard to use because the dark surface makes it difficult to tell when the food is browned enough. I use a sophisticated technique when cooking called "paying attention" to make sure I don't burn things. Jeff, as to some of the other things you bring up: Heavy enameled cast iron is just about the worst material/design you could use to make caramel. Regardless of whether it's Le Creuset or Staub, if you make a really dark caramel and need to cool the pan down fast before the sugar begins to burn, or if you need to reduce the heat before the caramel boils over, you're going to be screwed if you're using a heavy iron pan. The high thermal capacity and low thermal conductivity mean that it won't be very responsive. I haven't noticed that Staub is any more difficult to clean than LC with my usual "soak overnight" technique. But, of course, experiences differ. For whatever it's worth, I think you will probably find a lot of recommendations to take LC over Staub from people who have actually never used anything but LC. Other than Janet and myself, I don't know too many people in these boards who have used both with any regularity.

There's also the point that mixing rum, lime juice, sugar and crushed mint (and lime zest, if you like) in a big container and then funneling it back into a bunch of large empty bottles just doesn't represent much work. The hardest part by far would be juicing all the limes.

We can perhaps explore this more in the Pegu Club Cocktail thread, but most recipes I have seen assume Marie Brizzard orange curaçao -- which is unfortunately almost impossible to find in NYC retail stores. I have found that one must balance towards more curaçao and less lime if using something like GranGala.

Hi Brigit. I think it depends on the place. Demanding literally fresh-out-of-the-citrus-squeezed juice seems a bit extreme. Most places I patronize squeeze their fresh juices daily and keep them in cold glass bottles. This is, needless to say, not the same thing as bottled faux-fresh citrus juice. Personally, I don't think there is a hugely significant difference between, say, a Daiquiri made using juice from a bottle of lime that was squeezed 4 hours ago and a Daiquiri made using limes squeezed to-order. Now... if the bar has nothing but sour mix and preserved bottled faux-fresh citrus juice, I can see why you'd ask for your juice squeezed to order. Myself, I ask if the bar uses fresh real citrus juices, and if they don't I'll just order a different kind of drink.

This is an interesting and strange one, Rob. If you're interested in trying this one again, I'd suggest trying it with a blended Scotch (I like Famous Grouse) and a regular vermouth. They were certainly not mixing with single malt scotch at that time, as indeed hardly anyone does today, and I find Carpano's Antiqua Formula to have quite a bit more herbal and especially bitter component than most "standard" red vermouths. Try Cinzano or M&R.

Interesting. If you look upthread, it seems that the conventional wisdom on the Mojito is that the limes should not be muddled (which is actually contrary to my practices the last time I was making this drink with some frequency a few years ago). To my tastes, both mojitos and caipirinas need that zest-i-ness in the drink. It's too much a part of the basic flavor profile of the cocktail. But maybe that's just me. It's been a few years since I've made a Mojito, but I used to muddle the limes when I was making them. Just seems like most of the Mojitos I've seen made -- and I spend most of my time in bars where they've not afraid to muddle if it's called for -- haven't muddled the limes. To a certain extent, I suppose this depends on one's mint muddling technique and also on the degree to which one would like for the rum flavor to come through. Assuming a "light bruising" of the mint and a desire for a rum-focused drink, this might influence the choice away from muddling the limes so they don't overwhelm. A heavier muddle on the mint and a preference for a really limey drink would, of course, tip the balance in the other direction. . . . Problem with anything like this is that it requires a lot of forethought and time to infuse and is really not quite the same thing as the muddling achieves with the juice of the fresh fruit a la minute. Well, this is where the whole "compromise of doing it in batch" comes in. I'm not suggesting that a freshly muddled and assembled Mojito isn't better than a batched bottled Mojito. But tommy seemed to be asking about a bottled cocktail rather than a "DIY cocktail bar." Experience tells me that a batched bottled Mojito can still be delicious and works very well at a large backyard barbecue, whereas making drinks to order adds a great deal of work and logistical hassle.

It would taste different and nontraditional with kaffir lime, but it could be really good. Only one way to find out, right? I'd think of adding a dash of Angostura bitters to complement the spiciness.

Interesting. If you look upthread, it seems that the conventional wisdom on the Mojito is that the limes should not be muddled (which is actually contrary to my practices the last time I was making this drink with some frequency a few years ago). Making drinks in batch of course involves some compromises. If one wants to extract significant oils from the limes, I would think something reasonable could be accomplished by peeling off the zest with a vegetable peeler and putting it in the bottle with the rum mixture.

Sean, most of these places are open until around 2 AM on weeknights and 4 AM on weekends. Keep in mind that some of them (Milk & Honey, for example) are cash only.

You know... I don't think I've ever had a flavored rum I didn't hate. Maybe that's for another thread: what are the good ones. Could be I just don't like the largely artificial tastes, though. I've done this before. The easiest thing to do is to make up the whole works minus the soda water (i.e., rum, sugar, mint and lime) and pour it back into the (1.75 liter) rum bottles. The narrow spout of the bottle, as well as the ability to close the bottle with the cap, minimizes the fly problem. Then people can pour out of the bottle into glasses, top with soda water and garnish with mint (and/or sugar cane, if you like). This isn't quite as good as it would be with the mint freshly muddled, but as you suggest muddling the mint to order really decreases the utility of doing it in batch.

Admin: Discussion on making Mojitos has been moved to this excellent thread in the Cocktails forum.

No. Employees Only has different ownership.

I guess I'll echo what others have said: Shiner is a step up from Budweiser and Miller, but not a particularly big one. It's the kind of beer I'd be likely to have in Texas while I was having a plate of brisket at a local barbecue joint. I might say the same thing of Lone Star or Pearl. And that's part of the point... these aren't spectacular beers, but they are local/regional beers and it makes some sense to have these relatively unsophisticated beers with the Texas regional foods. Similarly, I'm likely to reach for a Tsingtao when I'm eating Chinese. But these aren't beers I'm likely to seek out otherwise, like the aforementioned Celis products which were much more interesting and higher in quality. I actually think it's kind of sad and wrong for a beer like Shiner to become available in New Jersey. It's not so special in and of itself that it warrants such wide distribution, and by making it widely available outside Texas it kind of takes away some of what was special about it.

Apple Blackberry Blueberry Buttermilk Chess Chicago Style "Pizza" (which I consider more of a pie than a pizza) Chocolate Coconut Cream Frangipane Key Lime Lemon Meringue Molasses Peach Pear Pecan Quiche (what is this if not a pie?) Raspberry Rhubarb Ritz Cracker Shoe Sly Strawberry Sugar Tarte Tatin Vinegar Various combinations of the above What could it be, if not pie?

Out of curiosity, can you recall any examples of restaurants that offer this service in Manhattan? My guess? Because it seems very expensive on its face before other Manhttan valet or regular parking prices are taken into consideration, most critics are highly focused on the high prices at Del Posto and they're following the pack like lemmings (just like almost all the early ADNY reviews tended to make much of the "pen selection" bit).

Some valet parking prices in Manhattan: Crowne Plaza Hotel Times Square: $39 Edison Hotel: $29 for standard cars, $45 for "oversize" Holiday Inn Downtown: $30 for standard cars, $35 for SUVs and 4x4s, $40 for minivans I understand that both Craftsteak and Morimoto have valet parking. Any idea on the prices?

Happy birthday! Do the rats get anything special to eat during birthday week? I think we need more pictures of the rats.

It all really has to do with how the spirits are distilled and processed. In making a vodka, the spirit is distilled out to something north of 95% abv, and then it is rectified and filtered to remove non-ethyl alcohols and other such things. This has the effect of stripping away virtually all of the characteristic flavor and presence of the primary material. Many people feel that vodkas owe more of their character to the water used to dilute it to bottle proof than to the primary material used to produce the alcohol (it is an open secret that vodka makers add back in things like glycerine and citrus oils, etc. to provide a "distinctive" hint of flavor). An eau de vie, on the other hand, is distilled to a much lower proof and as such preserves much more of the distinctive characteristics of the primary material. Good vodka threads may be found here: Vodka Suggestions NYT Vodka Tasting Article Vodka Infusions at Home: The Thread