slkinsey

Mmmmm... A Ramos Fizz sounds good. Usually I end up having a lot of these:

A little diastatic malt powder in the dough should also make a difference.

I don't see why. Just simply multiply the number of quarts by 0.9464 to get liters. Nothing to it!

Spices do carry all kinds of nasty things. Which is why they are irradiated.

Sorry I didn't see this one earlier... To a certain extent, I'd say that using heavy copper on an electric coil stove top is a waste of money. A big part of the reason copper is so nice is that it is extremely responsive to changes in the heat setting. The nice thing about a gas stove is that it responds immediately when you turn the flame down, and that response can be translated into a responsive pan. Electric stoves -- and especially the coil types -- are notorious for being very slow to respond to changes in the heat setting. So it your heat source is slow to respond, it automatically means that your pan will be slow to respond. This means that is is impossible to reap one of the major rewards of using copper. Some people do have trouble with the weight of copper -- although I have to wonder whether there is a truly significant difference in the weight of a fully loaded aluminum pan and a fully loaded copper pan of equivalent size. The only move I could see for which heavy copper would potentially create a problem due to its weight is the "flip-toss" move where you are trying to turn the ingredients over in a fry pan. For that, I'll often use two hands. For the classic saute technique in a saute pan, all you should need to do is shake the pan back and forth on the burner without lifting it. The food should bounce off the straight sides and tumble around in the pan. I also find that, when lifting heavy and brace the rest of the handle's length against the underside of your forearm. Your mileage may vary, of course. I have strong hands and, if pictures are any evidence, "Popeye forearms." I haven't had a chance to measure the MC2 line myself yet, but I have to believe that it still has more aluminum than the Stainless line. Are you locked into All-Clad? You could get a lot more aluminum where it counts at a much lower price going with something like Sitram or another thick disk-bottom design. Yes, I think your instincts are right about getting a saute pan. It's very versatile, and you already have two frypans. As long as your stove is powerful enough, I'd suggest you go for the largest diameter pan. Depth is not so important in a saute pan, so there is no significant functional difference between the 3 quart and 4 quart pans above (as an aside, I think it's silly for manufacturers like All-Clad to list saute pans by quarts instead of by inches in diameter).

At first look, I'd have to agree with gkg680. It appears to be from the 2.0 mm line. One thing to look for is a rolled lip on the pan (which this saucepan appears to have). As far as I know, a rolled lip is not employed in Mauviel's 2.5 mm line.

Sam, what book? Uncorked : The Science of Champagne by Gérard Liger-Belair.

It depends on what makes the pan "nonstick," I suppose. But there is no reason to season a pan with a PTFE coating or similar. "Seasoning" is the gradual buildup of polymerized fats that fill in pores in the metal that forms the cooking surface and provide some degree of "stick resistance" (the "nonstickness" often claimed by cast iron fans is, in my experience, wishful thinking). There is simply no reason you should have to (or would want to) do this on a nonstick cooking surface. Indeed, there is no way any kind of "seasoning" could possibly be less sticky than the nonstick surface itself. So any other stuff stuck to the surface of the pan will only make it more sticky, not less. T-Fal's "seasoning" instructions sound suspiciously like "cleaning before first use" to me.

Less-is-More: you don't season nonstick. mrbigjas: There are a few things leading to the approximately $110 price difference. First off, yes a 2.5 mm copper/stainless bimetal lid really can cost that much. I've seen prices for copper/stainless bimetal lids that would fit that pot at seventy-plus dollars. It's also the case that the more expensive one is overpriced whereas the less expensive one is quite underpriced. FWIW, you can get a 3.4 quart saucepan from Falk for $175 (no lid).

Unlike with still wines, where one is more likely to decant older wine, I would think that sparkling wines might be the opposite. I recently read a very interesting book on the science of champagne, and one of the notable differences between aged champagne and young champagne is the amount of dissolved gas (with the aged wine having less). This leads directly to smaller bubble size and other things that are perceived as being desired qualities.

percyn, was the "D'artagnan Duck Confit" already confit-ed by D'artagnan? I assume that you made confit out of a D'artagnan duck leg using sous vide technique? If it was already confit, I would think that cooking it LTLT sous vide amounted more or less to very complicated reheating.

All: I'm going to say this one more time, and then I'm going to lock this thread if it continues to wander away from our topic. We are a food-focused Society. The guiding idea behind the eG Forums is that they are for substantially food-related discussion. Let's keep that in mind when making any further posts in this thread. If it's not firmly in the realm of food, please step away from the "add reply" button and think it over. I have not done a lot of deleting in this thread thus far, and have left some posts stand that I might reasonably have deleted. From this post on my expectations as to topicality will be much higher, and my next piece of moderation will be to lock the thread. This could be an interesting discussion about how the many ways the transit strike is affecting various facets of the NYC food and restaurant industry. Let's do that.

Most likely, this is a kind of thing where they bottle a whole bunch of the sauce and then they bottle other things for a while and then they do another run of the sauce, etc. This is more or less set forth in the final sentence of the article, which says "although Baumer posted $54 million in revenue in 2004, a large percentage of it was private-label bottling for other clients." (Emphasis mine.) Baumer, of course, also bottled all kinds of things under its own label besides hot sauce. My guess is that they lost some stock in the storm, but didn't lose all or even a substantial percentage of it. If Crystal's process is anything liks Tabasco's process, they're aging the mash for multiple years. That makes it somewhat unlikely to me that they had a year's worth of fermenting product sitting around in barrels at the bottling plant. This supposition is reinforced by the article when it says, "Four different companies are bottling the hot sauce" and "[baumer] will continue using private bottlers until he can build a new plant or buy and retrofit an existing building" and "though the sauces have been off shelves for several weeks, Baumer Foods began distribution to Publix Grocery Stores in Florida last week and will begin deliveries to local Winn-Dixie Stores this week." These things all suggest to me that their problem is the need for a new bottling facility rather than catastrophic loss of stock (although I am sure they did lose some stock). This is all good news, I think, for people who hope to see Crystal hot sauce back on supermarket shelves soon. The article also makes it somewhat clear that the eventual departure of the Baumer plant from Orleans Parish was a foregone conclusion, hurricane or no: "Baumer has been seeking a new location for its plant for about a year."

All: I have had to do some minor deleting of quasi-political and off topic material. Nothing egregious, but I thought it was prudent to nip this in the bud before we go any further astray. Let's keep to our topic here, and stay away from any temptations to expand into speculation as to motivations, culpability, etc. Thanks!

Until after the strike or the holidays? Same here. Until after the holidays. Since most places are booked to capacity, I can't imagine it would be possible to reschedule until after the holidays. Given that deposits have been paid, etc. I would think that most firms are locked into their venues.

Things like conspicuous amounts of gold leaf and rubies and XO cognac in cocktails are simply conspicuous stupidity for rubes with too much money in their pockets and not enough good taste (not to mention good sense). What's the point? I could see putting a tiny bit of something in a cocktail if it made a really striking visual effect, and maybe some of the gold garnishes are cheap enough and make a nice enough effect for this to be worthwhile. But really, I can't imagine that this sort of thing often adds anything to the drink to justify the price. Then again, the price is sometimes the point isn't it? It's all part of the competition to have "the most expensive [insert food or drink item here]." Not dissimilar from the "world's most expensive burger" nonsense that followed DB Bistro Moderne's "super-luxe burger" -- which is very good and was designed with culinary goals in mind -- with absurd and bad-tasting creations designed to ratchet up the price and volume of luxury ingredients (usually inappropriately, as things like waygu beef are not only overkill for a burger, but are actually not good in that form). Ultimately, I suppose superexpensive drinks like this are all about the publicity. I can't imagine anyone is buying them. Edited to add: I see that the use of gold leaf doesn't have to be super-expensive, but it still seems a bit silly. Than again, maybe it's my bias about garnishes being edible and contributing flavor that's talking here.

Alas, Malacca is no longer being produced & can only be found among those of us who have secreted away a stash for the future. One of the more interesting products to come along. I was sad to see it go, and I know I'm not alone in that respect.

I guess there really isn't much value to keeping the bones in when you cook short ribs sous vide.

IMO the hands-down best starter book on cocktails is Dave Wondrich's Killer Cocktails : An Intoxicating Guide to Sophisticated Drinking. For more information, see this thread on the book

With respect to making pasta asciutta (aka dried semolina pasta) at home, I've tried it any number of times and with any number of technologies. Ultimately, I determined that it's a lot of trouble to take for something that won't be nearly the same quality as a good artisanal brand like Setaro or Latini. For preserving fresh egg pasta, nothing maintains the same quality it has when it's truly freshly made. But freezing seems to be the best alternative.

No dice. I could only find a few syrups there: orange, almond, and a couple others. I'm looking for ginger and apple. Apple syrup?! Feh! Anyway... try Zabar's. You can likely get jiggers and whatnot upstairs, and they heve plenty of syrups downstairs. For ginger syrup, I think you're better off making it for yourself to order. The only bought syrup I think is really worth having is oregat.

Yea. The problem with drying fresh pasta is that it doesn't really have the strength to withstand drying and storage. It's not designed for that, and I would go so far as to suggest that the properties that confer good drying/storage characteristics are inimical to the Emilia Romanan pasta aesthetic.

Just about, yea. Angostura bitters have wide availability, and should be on the shelf of any well-stocked grocery store. Bodegas and neighborhood delis are another story, of course.

Go to Chelsea Market. You can get the flavored syrups ar Buon Italia and you can get jiggers, Hawthorne & julep strainers, mixing cups, pint glasses, stirring spoons, muddlers (albeit not very good ones), etc. at the "Bowery" store also in Chelsea Market. For fancier and antique barware, eBay is your friend. WRT bitters, you can get Angostura bitters anywhere. Peychaud's and Gary's Orange Bitters you can buy from Audrey at Pegu Club. Fee Brothers, I'm not sure where you can buy that at retail in NYC. The other bitters you may read about in these forums (Stoughtons, Abbot's, Hess House, etc.)... most of them aren't for sale. You have to know someone.

Here are some maraschino cherries I've had going since the early fall (NY State sour cherries put up with Maraska maraschino). This is a small jar I'm going to give as a gift. I probably have around 10 times more than that. They're getting very tasty, although not all that attractive (the color is going towards a washed out brownish purple).