slkinsey

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.

Again, as the people from Maker's Mark told me, they are currently producing only one kind of bourbon -- the same stuff that goes in the red wax bottles.

Skewers of shrimp and cuttlefish.

Okay, it's my turn to post about Thursday's dinner. Sorry I didn't get to this last night, but I was pretty hammered by the time I got home and went straight to bed. Before dinner, Kathleen and I headed to Flatiron Lounge, a favorite watering hole of the NYC cocktail conoscenti. We had a number of drinks. I took pictures of a few, but it was dark and they didn't turn out so well as a result (I wasn't going to take flash pictures in a lounge). I try to go to Flatiron when it's not busy, and often will just talk with the bartender about what sort of things I'm in the mood for and let them make whatever they feel like making me. This was an interesting tall drink made with rye whiskey, strawberry and milk. Just behind you can see Phil, one of Flatiron's many accomplished mixologists, shaking up another one. Whenever he's behind the bar, I love to have a taste of whatever he's been kicking around in his head. He once made us a tall drink with jalapeno-infused tequila, muddled tomatoes and cilantro that the friend I took with me that night is still talking about. This is a drink from the menu, a Mandarin Old Fashioned. More or less a whiskey old fashioned with some muddled Mandarin orange and other things. Deciding to stick with brown liquor, Phil said he had a "scotchtail" on his mind and we agreed to give it a go. This is blended scotch, Drambuie and lemon juice (roughly in Sidecar proportions) with a few big dashes of Angostura bitters. Scotch-based cocktails are not easy to make, and this was a real winner. Sticking with the scotch theme, Kathleen had an excellent Blood & Sand (blended scotch, cherry brandy, sweet vermouth and orange juice). There were a few other drinks, but my memory is a little less reliable after the first four. One great thing about the "cocktails crowd" hangouts in NYC is that it's a very close community and you never know who you're going to run into. Just as we were starting out last drink, who should we see on the next stool over but the Minister or Rum himself, Ed Hamilton. He's traveling all over the country these days bringing in the best rhum agricole you've ever had. If you're in NYC, get yourself down to Astor Wines and pick up a bottle of La Favorite white rhum agricole. It's a steal at around $30 a liter -- especially since this stuff is 100 proof. And you heard it here, folks: Ti Punch (white rhum agricole, a touch of cane syrup and a half-dollar-sized cut of lime peel stirred with crushed ice) is going to be one of the hot new drinks. Ed's got one in his hand. After a while, the three of us allowed that we had worked up a prodigious hunger, and we decamped for Bianca -- a restaurant featuring the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna. We each had a primo and a secondo. Here are the primi. . . Spiedini di gamberi e seppie. Fegatini con aceto balsamico. Gnocchi al gorgonzola. And the secondi. . . Salsiccia e fagioli. Cotechino con pure di patate. Salmone con rape saltata in padella. With all this we had a nice bottle of Barbera d'Asti, a high acid/low tannin red wine that worked very well with everything,

As far as I know, Captain Applejack is the same as Laird's Bonded. My favorite applejack cocktail these days is a simple "throwback" Applejack Cocktail: 2 oz : Laird's 100 proof applejack 1 tsp : 2:1 demerara simple syrup 2 dashes : Fee Brothers aromatic bitters Stir well with cracked ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a fat lemon twist.

Daniel and touaregsand, let's try to keep this on topic and not try to nitpick each other. The premise that Hesser had some kind of substantial financial entanglement with Vongerichten because he blurbed her book is absurd. It's not like she's one of the backers for Spice Market, or that they are working together on a new cookbook. People blurb books all the time as a matter of professional courtesy. To suggest that there is a quid pro quo relationship over a book blurb because of the dollar value that blurb brings to the table strains credulity. Now, there may be valid reasons for Hesser to have disclosed her relationship with Vongerichten. One could make the argument that she should have disclosed the fact that he blurbed her book. I'm not making those arguments, I'm just pointing out that they don't have to do with whether Hesser is profiting in any financial way from Vongerichten's blurb on her book cover. More to the point, going back and forth over this very minute point is not contributing to the dialogue on this topic of discussion.

There are several possibilities why ex-smokers may not perceive any significant changes in "palate" after quitting. Per my post above, we're mostly talking about the sense of smell. Smoking does not seem to affect taste. 1. Smell sensitivity varies widely, and most people don't consciously notice whether their sense is acute or dull. It even usually takes people who develop asnomia some time to figure out what has gone wrong. This means that smokers and ex-smokers may simply not notice that they have reduced sensitivity because everything seems "normal" to them. 2. Similarly, because natural smell sensitivity varies widely, it makes sense that some people with a naturally highly sensitive sense of smell could have this sensitivity reduced by smoking and still maintain good sensitivity. 3. As jayt90 points out, it may be the case that the smell senses have already naturally declined with age. 4. Ex-smokers may continue to be exposed to significant amounts of secondhand smoke, thereby significantly mitigating any potential recovery of smell sensitivity. 5. Per my post above, it may be the case that cessation of smoking does not lead to dramatic repopulation of olfactory sensory neurons (and therefore increased olfactory sensitivity). In other words, it's possible that the decreased smell sensitivity that results from smoking may be, to a large extent, permanent.

"Suggested retail" means "the price at which the manufacturer suggests vendors sell the product." Some products, for example, are deliberately priced high because high prices are associated with perceptions of high value. For this reason, manufacturers often will not give vendors "authorized retailer" status (which is necessary for the manufacturer's warranty to be valid) unless they sell at the suggested retail price. What Bridge is saying is that they are selling at 30% below that price. It's unclear, however, whether this is always going to beat other prices. Amazon.com, for example, is offering some pieces at up to 48% off the suggested price.

There appears to be no evidence that smoking has an effect on the taste receptors. The smell receptors are a different story. There does seem to be some evidence that people who are exposed to a lot of cigarette smoke have a reduced ability to identify certain odors. One major contributing factor seems to be that cigarette smoke causes greatly increased death rates of olfactory sensory neurons which overwhelms the olfactory epithelium's ability to regenerate. There is also the fact that nicotine affects perception.

Mooshmouse is the winnah! First, of course, I had to have a drink. . . This one I made up on the spot. Two ounces of gin, an ounce of ginger-infused simple syrup, a quarter-ounce of Yellow Chartreuse, 3/4 ounce of lime juice and one raw egg white. Nice. Before the bibimbap, we had a pa jun. This one has kimchi, scallions and red bell pepper. Here's the finished pa jun with the dipping sauce. Here's one dolsot on the stove. Here's the finished dolsot bibimbap. Here I'm starting to mix it up. Note the crunchy bits of rice. Here it is completely mixed up (and slightly out of focus for your viewing pleasure) and dosed with kochujang.

It's a secret. Let's see who can figure it out. Here are my ingredients: Leftover short rib meat, leftover bean sprouts, leftover mushrooms, leftover asparagus, shredded carrots I had around, scallions, red bell pepper, rice, various spicy pickled vegetables, red pepper paste, eggs and two large thick bowls made of stone. Begins with a "B" . . . Ends with a "P" . . .

Cool stuff. I've found those small food processors to be the best thing for making mayonnaise or any other emulsified cold sauce -- much better than a blender. For a food processor, I have one of the KitchenAids with a mini-bowl inside so I could have a large bowl and a small bowl processor all in one. I probably use the small one more frequently.

It should be pointed out that there is a big difference between eating a food that contains enzyme-producing bacteria and just eating a food that contains the target enzyme. The enzyme-producing bacteria may (depending on the bacteria) survive the environment of the stomach, take up residence in the intestines and continue to produce the target enzyme or provide other benefits (such as breaking down molecules we cannot digest into molecules we can digest). That said, presumably some non-produced enzymes do appear to have some activity in the digestive system. Two good examples are lactase pills and Beano. Whether there are enzymes that provide any substantial benefits when consumed in the form of natural raw foods strikes me as unclear at best.

Very nice. Thanks for checking with Sitram!

I think this is easier to do with the whole leg than just the thigh. You have more to work with that way. My usual method of making them, and I usually make enough to fill a small Pyrex baking dish) is to roll them up with the skin on in foil as described above, pack them into a baking dish and bake them in the oven some unspeficied length of time until done (it's hard to overcook leg meat in this context). Then I cut a hole in the foil, drain the liquid into a small saucepan (this becomes the sauce), unroll and place the chicken onto a baking dish and broil them until browned on the outside. I've never had any problems with flabby skin, because the skin seems to shrink a bit anyway during the first stage and render out most of its fat. I've actually never made it your way. For some reason, I tend to stay away from using toothpicks to hold things together.

No spices. Just salt and white pepper. I am, in general, not a fan of heavily spiced chicken skin. I like the salty chicken flavor to come out uninhibited. The vegetables were blanched to not-quite-tender in salted water and then shocked in an ice bath. Then they were reheated just prior to service in a very intense reduction of chicken broth. Once warm, I placed the vegetables on the plate, plated the chicken and mushrooms, then mounted the chicken glace with butter to thicken it and give it some gloss, gave it a touch of fresh lemon juice for acidity, threw in some minced parsley and drizzled the sauce over the vegetables. Exactly. I wrapped them rightly in several turns of heavy duty foil, then twisted the ends to pack everything tightly together. Completely watertight -- in fact, a fair amount of liquid came out when they were opened (this went into the sauce). Prior to browning these pieces, they rested for a while and then I patted them dry. Ordinarily, I brown the skin under the broiler when I do chicken legs like this. But it seemed like a waste to do with just two pieces.