slkinsey
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Posts posted by slkinsey
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The one thing that is amazing about doing short ribs LTLT sous vide is the extent to which any flavorings completely permeate the meat. I included a small (maybe 2 inch) branch of fresh rosemary in a fairly large batch of short ribs I did for 36 hours. It was incredible the way every bit of the beef was infused with rosemary flavor. Even when I deliberately sampled meat from the innermost part of the short rib, it was flavored with rosemary.
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eBay and other places can yield good deals, but be wary. . . The situation is complicated by the fact that there are three copper/stainless lines of Mauviel at 2.5 mm, 2.0 mm (with either iron or stainless handle) and 1.6 mm. And, of course, there is the traditional tin lined stuff in various thicknesses. Often times, if you see someone selling a piece of heavy Mauviel at what seems like an incredibly inexpensive price, it is because it is not actually 2.5 mm. On a place like eBay, where it may be the case that the seller doesn't really know what he has or anyway doesn't have calipers, this is usually simply a mistake. On the other hand, as I believe is mentioned upthread, there are ecommerce sites that sell pieces as "2.5 mm" that they know perfectly well are only 2.0 mm (in at least one documented case, because that particular shape is only manufactured in 2.0 mm).
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There are many variables involved. I imagine factors such as how big the place is, how many people are smoking, what they are smoking, would effect the type of equipment needed. A big place with just a few people smoking cigarettes will need different equipment than a small place full of cigar smokers will.
This is true, of course, but I think it's impossible to create legislation around something like that. The paper I cited below interestingly observed an average of only something like 15% or 17% smokers in the rooms it studied, which is actually lower than the prevalence of smoking in that geographic area. So only a few smokers can still make a lot of problems.
. . .under the DC proposal, cigar bars are exempt (with cigar bar defined as a place that has 10% or more of smoking related revenue).This is a good idea. It's never been clear to me whether this kind of provision exists in the NYC and NYS bans, but it strikes me as a reasonable idea. People I've talked to tell me, however, that it's damn hard for a "cigar bar" to do that much smoking-related business.
Here's a good piece of news: One thing I can say about smoking bans, having closely observed the effect of the ban in NYC, is that all the dire predictions turned out to be little more than crying wolf. The restaurant and bar business in NYC seems to be, if anything, doing better post-ban than it was pre-ban.
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I don't think that's quite right. They're not saying that the outside air doesn't meet the NAAQS. What they're saying, I think, is that the outside air isn't clean enough for air-exchange to clean smoke-filled inside air at any reasonable exchange rate, and that the outside air would have to be 60% cleaner in order for 80 changes/hour to work.
This might mean however, that something like 300 changes/hour with "regular" outside air would clean the inside air sufficently to meet the NAAQS. But the point is that 300 changes/hour isn't workable, so therefore it is impossible to clean the indoor air sufficiently without cleaning the outside air as well.
I mean... think about what 80 changes an hour means: If you've got a 1,000 square foot space with 12 foot tall ceilings, that means you need to change 960,000 cubic feet of air every hour. . . 16,000 cubic feet of air every minute. . . 266 cubic feet of air every second. And 1,000 square feet is a tiny restaurant or bar.
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Cast Iron is so cheap you can just buy a new one. A lot less work.
This can be true, but is highly dependent on the provenance of the cast iron. I have many inherited Griswolds and other pieces of cast iron that are 100+ years old. Those can't just be replaced.
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The unfortunate reality is that even a "really good ventilation" system won't do the trick. As detailed in This definitive article, which was published in the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (46(9):887-905, September 2004. Repace, James MSc), details:
Estimated outdoor air exchange rates were very low, apparent casualties of economic pressures in the hospitality industry coupled with the lack of regulation. However, increasing ventilation or air cleaning to satisfy the NAAQS [National Ambient Air Quality Standard] during smoking would require an impractical 80 air changes per hour if the outdoor air were 60% cleaner than it actually is. At the actual 16.6 μg/m^3 PM2.5 level for New Castle County, the NAAQS could not be achieved without cleaning the outdoor air supply. Nevertheless, even if all these measures were taken, SHS would still pose a carcinogenic and toxic risk to be dealt with.Now, mind you, this is not talking about filtration, but instead about replacement of air in the room. Filtration is even more expensive, burdensome and difficult -- to the point of being effectively impossible from a practical standpoint.
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If you're talking about 6 weeks, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Just put the corks back in the bottles.
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Cool stuff!
Other than the obvious (warm drinks) what do we think makes for a cold weather, winter cocktail that's different from an Autumn cocktail?
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Definitely more. I eyeball it, but I'd say something like 2 ounces Fernet Branca or Branca Menta to three ounces Coke plus ice.
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Dehillerin is great. And the heavy Mauviel they sell is functionally the same as Falk & Bourgeat (they purchase their stainless/copper bimetal from Falk). It's only really an amazing deal for those of us in the New World if you fly back with a few pans in your suitcase, though. Once you pay tax and shipping and all those other things, it's a long wait to save yourself around fifty bucks (or less, depending on how much you buy) after you figure in Falk's discount. And, to my mind, there is some value in having a relationship with Falk's US distributor who is located in the US and will stand behind his product 100%.
If you can bring some back in your suitcase, though... it's an amazing deal.
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I'd be interested not only in hearing predictions for trends that will make their way from cocktail epicenters like NYC across the country, but also what we think the in-crowd and enthusiasts will be doing in the next year.
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vanilla flavored whiskey? mango flavored rum?
Where've you been? There are several brands of mango (and coconut and vanilla and whatever) flavored rums that have been around for awhile.
I think the point was rather that these commercial product tend to completely suck, in general, and simply cover up inferior, flavorless whiskey, rum, whatever. There's a big difference between Maker's Mark infused with real vanilla beans (pretty good) and Cruzan's vanilla-flavored rum (completely horrible). That said, I used to do a drink with vanilla-infused Maker's, but have come around to the idea that there's not much point in putting additional vanilla flavoring into something that should already have good vanilla notes to it. I had an opportunity to taste Navan straight at a DISCUS-sponsored cordials event, and it didn't do too much for me. We liked Tuaca better, and I'm probably even more partial to 43. That's all for another discussion, though. . .
My predictions is the rise of brown liquor in general. Whiskey bars will be making a comeback (or at least having a good whiskey selection) and will drive the cocktail trend further.Yea. I've noticed that I've been drinking an awful lot of brown liquor over the last year. In fact, I've probably had more rye whiskey over the last 3-4 months than I have gin.
. . .speaking of come backs what about egg whites. . .. . . more herbatious silky vermouth cocktails packing a wallop. . .
I think you're right about the egg whites. I hope we see bartenders going back to that tradition more and more, and I've had quite a few egg white drinks over the last year.
I also wonder if there will be a trend more towards strong drinks, and whether the mainstream might soon start slowly shifting away from "cover up the booze" drinks.
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What do we think the trends are going to be for 2006?
I'll get the ball rolling. These are really trends that are continuing from 2005, and so perhaps easy calls on my part, but they are largely trends among the cognoscenti and I predict that they will begin to go more mainstream in aught-six.
The two "hip" liquors of 2006 are going to be rye whiskey and rhum agricole.
We're going to see more and more bars doing their own bitters.
I also hope to see applejack make its way deeper into the cocktail enthusiast zeitgeist.
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i'm celebrating the end of prohibition with a rye* manhattan. isn't it the generally accepted theory that prohibition killed off rye as a whiskey? i wonder why it never came back. it's damn good booze.
Never came back?! Haven't you heard? Rye whiskey is the new vodka!
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The NY Times Magazine recently did an article on "Bar Necessities", including two favorites from Audrey Saunders.
First is her adaptation of the Tom & Jerry from the Jerry Thomas book:
Egg Batter
12 : eggs
3 Tbsp: vanilla extract
2 oz : rum (Bacardi 8 specified)
4 dashes : Angostura bitters
2 lbs: sugar
1 tsp : ground cinnamon
0.75 tsp : ground allspice
0.5 tsp : ground clove
0.5 tsp : ground nutmeg
Separate eggs. Beat sugar, bitters and spices with yolks. Beat whites stiff and fold into yolks.
Service
1 gal : whole milk
1 bottle : rum (Bacardi 8 specified)
1 bottle : cognac (Courvoisier V.S. specified)
Heat the milk until just below the simmer. Each toddy mug gets 2 ounces egg batter and one ounce each rum and cognac. Fill the rest of the way with hot milk, give it a stir and garnish with fresh grated nutmeg.
This is a great drink for a special occasion on a cold night. But, as you can see, it serves a lot of people. This recipe makes around 24 servings. It's probably possible to make a smaller recipe -- perhaps as few as 6 servings -- but that would take some serious precision measuring with the spices (I'd recommend making a spice mix of the regular amounts and then simply dividing the whole works by 1/2 or 1/4 according to how you are scaling the recipe).
Another fun choice for the winter is her Hot Port Sangaree, which has the advantage of much better storage characteristics compared to the T&J. You can make up a bottle of the stuff and drink it off and on for the whole winter.
3 cups : port (Graham's Six Grapes specified)
2 oz : pomegranate molasses (Al Wadi specified)
3 oz : simple syrup (1:1)
2 oz : fresh lemon juice
2 oz : Cointreau
5 dashes : orange bitters (Regans' specified)
5 dashes : Angostura bitters
Lemon twists
Combine all liquids in a bottle. To make a single serving, heat 4 ounces together with a lemon twist to just below the simmer. Strain into a toddy glass and garnish with a new lemon twist.
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I make veal stock whenever I can get plenty of veal bones. And I always make my stocks for sauce making... which is to say that I always reduce the stock to a glace and freeze it in cubes. So I can use the cubes for a sauce as-is, or I can add water to get a broth.
It's really handy to have a bunch of glace cubes in the freezer, because you can always melt a few for a small sauce, to flavor rice/make risotto, etc.
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I'd say yes. Just mix the syrup to order with vodka to get the right proof.
See? I knew I'd find a use for vodka if I kept thinking about it long enough!
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I've experimented with making chicken stock by running all the meat, bones and vegetables through a commercial grinder and then cooking it all substantially below the simmer (at around 80C) overnight.
All the bones? Even the leg and thigh and back? Must be a large mouthed grinder...
It's pretty decent-sized, yea. Chicken bones (I am usually making a white stock, so nothing is roasted) aren't all that big. I do tend to split the breast bones and backs in half.
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Common sense, of course, tells us that cocktails with lots of cream, eggs or fruit juice are going to have more calories (and, with the eggs and cream, fat) than others, or than a glass of wine. I would not have put gin and tonic on that list, though...huh.
Actually, even though it is not intuitive, I'd bet that a strong Manhattan has more calories than eggnog or a fruit juicey vodka cocktail. As my body keeps on telling me, alcohol is very caloric.
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I've experimented with making chicken stock by running all the meat, bones and vegetables through a commercial grinder and then cooking it all substantially below the simmer (at around 80C) overnight.
How did it turn out? Is this an improvement?
I was pretty happy with it. The main thing is that by rapidly increasing surface area you get much more efficient extraction of flavors and other things. I could probably go for a shorter period of time at a higher temperature, but it's convenient to leave it steeping overnight. Needless to say, this is one way to get maximum gelatin.
One of the great advantages of this method is that all the fat is liberated and floats to the surface right at the beginning before it even melts along with a prodigious amount of scum, all of which is easily skimmed off.
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I've experimented with making chicken stock by running all the meat, bones and vegetables through a commercial grinder and then cooking it all substantially below the simmer (at around 80C) overnight.
I don't like to use too many vegetables, and I've found that parsley in particulary can impart too much vegetal flavor if you aren't careful.
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I believe that pastis was "invented" by Pernod and Ricard as a replacement for absinthe after the ban.
Not sure I'd call pastis a liqueur, per se. I don't think it's sweet enough.
Edited: I see I cross-posted with Marco. What he said.
The absinthe ban went into effect in something like 1915. Why do we suppose it took Pernod an additional 11 years to start making pastis? I'd think they'd have gone over to pastis right away.
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We had an okay discussion going on about lobsters & pain in the eG Forums a while back:
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=61469
An informed understanding of what pain is (a psychological phenomenon) and lobster neurophysiology strongly suggests that boiling live lobsters isn't such a big deal.
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What are you doing with the bread? Have you considered using a Pullman pan?
Rock & Rye
in Spirits & Cocktails
Posted
The earliest recipe for Rock & Rye I can find is from the Jerry Thomas book (click here). It calls for nothing more than rye whiskey and rock candy syrup, which I take to mean a highly saturated simple syrup.
Thus the name Rock (candy syrup) and Rye (whiskey).