slkinsey

Here is some calvados talk from the thread on the Sidecar cocktail (edited to include only discussion relevant to calvados. If you have a Calvados recommendation I'd appreciate that too. For Calvados, we use the Couer de Lion at Rouge for our Calvados Sidecars. It's about $25 in PA for a 750ml. Undoubtedly less wherever you live. The only other Calvados I have any extensive experience with is the Pere Magliore which is about $5 more. We used to serve that by itself and used the Couer de Lion for mixing. Boulard also makes an under-$30 Calvados that I'm certain would be fine for sidecars. My second and third favorite liquor stores have websites and here's what turned up: Coeur de Lion Pommeau Calvados, France 750ml $17.99/Bottle Coeur Lion Selection Calvados 750ML $24.99/btl Coeur de Lion Reserve Calvados, France 750ml $29.99/Bottle Coeur Lion Calvados Fine 750ML $34.99/btl Coeur de Lion "VSOP" Calvados 750ml $49.99/Bottle Do you know if one of these is the "at Rouge" under a different name? The Coeur de Lion homepage wasn't helpful. The photos aren't too clear but it appears the labels of the "Fine", the "Reserve" and the "VSOP" also say "Calvados du Pays d'Auge". My high school French is well beyond it's expiration date. Is "d'Auge" French for "at rouge"? One of the shops has the Pere Magliore Fine (750ml) at $27.99/Bottle. They also have a Boulard calvados but at $102 something tells me that's not the one you were referring to. I'm thinking the P.Magliore might be the best deal of the bunch. Apparently Chicago prices aren't significantly different from PA prices. Kurt, the "d'Auge" part means "from Auge." It's part of the regulation for calvados d'appellation contrôlée. A Calvados so named must be distilled form apples grown in the orchards of the Pays d'Auge. Very cool article, though. I agree with the authors that some of the younger, less expensive calvados bottlings can actually be better and taste more strongly of apples.

I've only recently begun exploring tequila. By and large I prefer the silver versions. With more wood and age, I just feel that it becomes less and less "tequila like" and more and more like just another aged spirit.

Here's the deal with bread knives: There is no point in spending a lot of money on a bread knife because 1) an expensive forged bread knife won't necessarily outperfom a cheap stamped bread knife, and 2) once the knife does go dull, it's next to impossible to sharpen it back to original condition -- then you have a sixty dollar knife that cuts worse than a ten dollar Ginsu. If I were you, I'd get something like this. It's an 8 inch serrated bread knife with an offset handle. It's made by F. Dick (one of the most respected manufacturers). It will cut bread as well as any knife on the market. It costs twelve bucks.

As a former owner of a Cuisinart and a current owner of a KitchenAid, I lean heavily towards the KA. It's easy to use and clean, the base is heavy, the motor is powerful and the utility of the minibowl cannot be underestimated. Of course, one will always be able to find one or the other manufacturer on a big sale. That's the nature of the beast. Comparing full retail prices, KA seems a clear winner to me. The standard 12 cup KA with 4 cup minibowl has a full retail price of $250 Cuisinart's most comparable model is the 11 cup "Prep 11 Plus" with a full retail price of $320. And, in order to match the KA's functionality, it's another $110 for the 3 cup "Handy Prep." Now, as Steven points out, you can buy an 11 cup "Custom Prep" (which I assume is either an earlier version or the "Prep 11 Plus" or a similar-looking model manufactured for Costco) at Costco for 170 bucks. That gives you another 80 bucks to find a 4 cup food processor for a full match with the KA's functionality at the KA's full retail price. A 5 minute search of the internet turned up a number of sites selling the KitchenAid 12 cup model for around 200 bucks, which narrows the gap considerably. It wouldn't be so easy to find a high quality 4 cup food processor for 30 bucks -- never mind all the extra room it would occupy on your countertop. Given the small ($30) difference in discounted retail price and the fact that KA has the 4 cup minibowl, I think it's crazy not to buy the KA.

In a great bit of irony, only weeks after we've been lamenting that genever is all but impossible to find in NYC, the NY Times does an article on genever. And not only genever, but the even more impossible to find Belgian artisinal genever. Way to do an article on something none of your readers can buy, guys! Anyway, there are some interesting bits worth reading:

Smithy, instead of making what will inevitably be a somewhat dry chicken breast tagine (that's just the nature of the beast), if your friend won't eat chicken thighs or skin why not make the beef and cauliflower tagine? Everyone I've made it for loves it.

I've come up with a pretty good one. It's based on the Improved Holland Gin Cock-Tail as given in Dave Wondrich's new book, only substituting linie aquavit for genever gin. Improved Aquavit Cock-Tail 2 oz : linie aquavit 1 tsp : 2:1 demerara simple syrup 1 tsp : maraschino liqueur 2 dashes : Peychaud's bitters Mix in a glass with ice. Garnish with lemon twist.

Yea, I don't recommend them for fish unless you live in the 'hood and don't want to go to Citarella (of course, if you're really serious about fish, you'll go to Sea Breeze on 9th Avenue). Their fish is from Wild Edibles, and good quality. But it's more or less an add-on. Meat is the reason to go to Oppenheimer. Honestly, I'm not sure I approve of the whole "butcher/fishmonger combination" thing. I'd rather have a good butcher and a good fishmonger separately. The considerations, skills, suppliers and connections for these two different types of purveyor are very different.

The customary brief excerpt for posterity:

We really like Oppenheimer Prime Meats on Broadway just about 96th. They are an old fashioned, full service butcher. Nothing is pre-cut. If you want a porterhouse, they bring out a whole shortloin of prime porterhouse, discuss how you are going to cook it, and cut the steaks to order. The last time I was there, they turned this: Into this: They are my go-to guys for custom cut high quality meat. Their pork chops are something special too.

One last thing, for those of you who may be wondering what I am doing while bergerka is cleaning the dishes and I'm all tired out from cooking a big dinner. . . Usually this.

Sorry about missing your question earlier. I'm not sure it makes sense to change vermouth brands for the purposes of cooking. You're unlikely to taste a significant difference in a pan sauce made with Martini & Rossi white vermouth and one made with Noilly Pratt white vermouth. Certainly you wouldn't want to use red vermouth, except for a few special applications (Batali has a "sweet garlic cloves" thing he does with red vermouth). The only case where you might want to switch would be if you wanted to go drier. I'm not familiar with M&R, but if it's a little bit sweet you should notice a difference switching to Noilly Pratt.

Thanks everyone for your kind comments and a fun time, and special thanks to my counterpart Marlene. It's always interesting to see how different people approach the same idea. Throughout the week I've found myself thinking that, although I wouldn't have cooked what Marlene cooked, I would have been very happy to have been eating at her house that night. I suppose that says something about the personal style or approach to cooking one develops over time, and the fact that it doesn't necessarily include all the things one likes to eat.

I've come down with a very bad cold that just keeps on getting worse. This means that cooking dinner tonight is more or less out of the question. Sorry, but no mystery basket. If we order something in, of course I'll document it here. Anyway, this morning was yeast-raised waffles. This is the legendary Sunbeam Model GC Waffle Baker & Grill, widely held to be the best waffle baker of them all. It has separate removable waffle and pancake/sandwich plates, commercial quality components, a very accurate temperature controller and heavy duty 1250 watt heating elements. They were made in the late 1950s, and this one has been in my family for around 50 years. What I like about it most is that it has very deep pockets without going over to being a "Belgian waffle" style. It makes 4 waffles at a time. Here is the batter and some condiments. Yeast-raised waffle batter is significantly thinner than baking powder-raised waffles, resulting in a much lighter and airier waffle. I also beat the egg whites and egg yolks for additional lightness. Here is one finished batch of waffles, and a single waffle on the plate. The Italian butter (made from the cream of the milk used for parmigiano-reggiano cheese) rocks.

Very cool, Marlene. I regret that I don't have much interesting food stuff for today. For dinner tonight we went to see our friends The Logistical Nightmares perform at A&M Roadhouse. I had a "fried chicken sandwich" with gravy, bacon, cheese and onion. Kathleen had a pulled pork sandwich. Both were, more or less, Applebee's caliber -- but we were there for the music, not the food. We did, however, drink quite a few glasses of nice Stella Artois.

I did try your cane syrup when we tried all your rums that first time down at Flatiron. This is actually roughly comparable, although I think your syrup might have had some vanilla as well. Anyway, you can find dehydrated cane juice at just about any health food store. You can even get a less refined version called Sucanat that is also widely available, but I thought that would have too much of a molasses character to match your syrup (which was my goal).

Here's what I have in the refrigerator these days. From left to right: 1:1 simple syrup, 2:1 cane syrup (made with dehydrated cane juice), 2:1 demerara syrup, 1:1 ginger syrup (infused both hot and cold), 1:1 lime syrup.

Err, would you care to deconvolute "red vermouth" for those of us unfamiliar? Sure. Vermouth is the name for a class of aperitif wines made with white wine that is infused with herbs and fortified. The name "vermouth" comes from the German name for wormwood, wermut (pronounced ver-MOOT), which used to be one of the principle flavorings. There are two different kinds of vermouth. A white/dry/"French" variety, and a red/sweet/"Italian" variety (the red color comes from caramel, not red wine). In practice, however, there are red vermouths made in France, and there are sweetish white vermouths, etc. To my palate, the principle difference between the two schools of vermouth is best described by color. Red and white vermouth have markedly different flavor profiles (it is also the case that red is usually sweet and white is usually dry). The classic white vermouth is Noilly Pratt and the classic red vermouth is Cinzano. I prefer the red and white vermouths made in America by Vya.

Fixed.

Good straight rye whiskey is spicy and a little rough around the edges. Nothing at all like the smooth sweetness of a blended whiskey. Canadian (blended) whiskey is often called "rye" -- but it really isn't what we would call "straight rye whiskey" down here in the US. By law, "straight whiskey" is distilled from at least 51% of one kind of grain to no more than 80% abv, aged for at least two years at no more than 62.5% abv in charred new oak barrels, and bottled at no less than 40% abv. No neutral grain spirits or any other substances may be added. So, for example, "straight bourbon whiskey" is made with at least 51% corn, "straight rye whiskey" is made with at least 51% rye, etc. In practice, the percentage of the base grain is significantly higher than 51% Canadian whiskey, on the other hand, is a blended product. It contains some aged whiskey blended with neutral grain spirits and other coloring and flavoring agents. This is not to say that there aren't some excellent blended whiskies out there. But it really isn't the same thing at all as a straight whiskey. When you figure in the neutral spirits and flavorings, etc. -- there is nothing particularly "rye like" about Canadian whiskey. In making a Manhattan there really is no substitute for using a good (preferably high proof) rye whiskey. Wild Turkey rye is fairly ubiquitous, and an excellent product. It's bottled at 101 proof. Part of the charm of bucatini/perciatelli is that it's a little unruly. I wouldn't say that it gets caught in the tines of my fork, though. More that it doesn't want to twirl up and stay on the fork as cooperatively as spaghetti or other smaller-diameter strand pasta. Just a Canon Elph. I'm glad you like the pictures. Being friends with an accomplished photographer with great equipment like Ellen Shapiro, I tend to view the quality of my photographs as marginal at best. Not me. I never play music during dinner. As a musician, I don't feel it's respectful to either the music or the food.

Dana, this sounds like fun. At this point, I am going to suggest that we don't aim for Franny's and hold off until another time. It really is a very small place, and it may realistically be above some budgets. With places that small (Fornino as well) we really need to set something up in advance -- although if only six people are going this time, that's a different story. I hope to arrange a pizza demonstration for us at Franny's some time in the future. In the meanwhile, there are a number of very interesting places we haven't tried yet that should have less trouble accommodating the group. Luzzo's sounds interesting. There's also Angelo's in midtown (coal oven). Nick's in Forest Hills is a major place we haven't visited yet. For that matter, there's Otto.

I have a number of custom made knives I got about ten years ago. They're made with David Boye's cast dendritic steel. Very good edge retention, very aggressive edge. They have Brazilian ironwood handles. Mine were made by a custom maker in Escondido, California named Russ Smith. I'm not sure he's still making knives. I used fresh mozzarella, but "supermarket fresh" fresh mozzarella. This is to say, it wasn't like the fresh mozzarella I buy from the guys out on Arthur Avenue where the texture is almost shaggy and when you tear off a piece it starts bleeding milk. But it was the kind of "fresh mozzarella" you'll find in a good grocery store. Once mozzarella is refrigerated, it tightens up the texture considerably. After I browned off the meatballs, I sautéed onion and celery in the same pan to scrape up the brown bits. Then I added some San Marzano tomatoes, simmered the whole thing for maybe 15 minutes and ran it all through the food mill, discarding the fibrous material left behind. Then I cooked the meatballs in the sauce for maybe 30 or 40 minutes, removed the meatballs and tossed in some parsley. That's the sauce I used for both the pasta and the meatballs. Very traditional technique. If I was going to change anything, I might have soaked the bread crumbs in a little milk to give the meatballs a softer, springier texture. The first thing that comes to my mind is: "What is she making that Manhattan with? Is that Canadian whiskey I see? You can't make a Manhattan with Canadian whiskey. With Canadian whiskey it should be called an 'Alberta' or maybe a 'Saskatchewan' (if garnished with a saskatoon berry). " If you want to give the Manhattan a chance, get your hands on some rye whiskey (preferably 100 proof) and make the real thing. 2 ounces rye whiskey, 1 ounce red vermouth, 2 dashes angostura bitters, big lemon twist. You'll have a much better chance of liking it then, I bet.

Here is the rest of dinner. First, of course, I had to have a drink. Tonight it was a Ti Punch. White rhum agricole, a touch of demerara syrup and a lime twist stirred with crushed ice. This is one of Ed Hamilton's rhum agricoles. Excellent! Here is the pasta, sauced with the tomato that was used to simmer the polpette. Big plate of polpette. A portion of polpette on the plate.

Okay... I had a bunch of errands to run this afternoon, so dinner is late. It's bucatini with red sauce for the primo, and polpette for the secondo. Here are the ingredients: Nothing fancy. Pork, veal, beef, pancetta, fresh bread crumbs, onion, parmigiano-reggiano and fresh mozzarella. Grinding the meats together. Forming the polpette. A piece of mozzarella is hidden inside. Finished polpette and browning them off. Vegetables for the sauce. A little later, after everything is soft, it goes through the food mill. Simmering the polpette in the sugo. More later. . .

I think there was a time when they produced a few different bottlings (notably Black Label and a few "vintages"), but this is no longer the case. Note that almost everything described on thewhiskystore.de is at 45% abv. This says to me: same whiskey/different bottle.