slkinsey

How much money do you want to spend and how much do you want risotto to be the focus of the meal? Town, for example, has a brilliant escargot and black truffle risotto starter. San Domenico has an excellent risotto as well, and a more Italian orientation than town. I haven't had, but hear very good things from people I trust about Gray Kunz's "risotto with mushroom fricasee," which can now be had at Cafe Cray. All are expensive. The Kunz's "French style" risotto may be an interesting variation that your risottophile friend hasn't yet experienced. It comes in two parts: the bowl of creamy well-executed herbed risotto and a pot of wild mushroom fricasee to fold into the risotto as you see fit. Here is what Hal Rubenstein at New York Metro had to say:

It's usually best to add a short quote for posterity: Here is a recipe from the article: The Sharpie 1.5 oz : gin (Hendrick's is mentioned) 2-3 oz : fresh grapefruit juice Juice of 1/2 lemon 1-2 Tb : superfine sugar or equivalent simple syrup* 0.5 oz : Green Chartreuse Dashes of orange bitters and maraschino liquor to taste * she infuses her simple syrup with grapefruit and lemon slices, cardamom and lavender No instructions are given, but one assumes the ingredients are combined with cracked ice, shaken and strained into a chilled cocktail glass. Also discussed is what she calls "bitter sugar" -- grapefruit peel, cardamom, bay leaf, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar, hibiscus flower and "her own secret ingredients" boiled way down and added to drinks a drop at a time. Sounds interesting. Like a sugar-infused bitters rather than the usual alcohol-infused kind. The Orbit Room Cafe was featured in the SF Chron in 2003 for "best cocktails under $6." Anyone been to her place? Sounds cool.

Hmm. I generally think this is bad advice. If the gin is chilled to freezer temperatures, then the drink is not sufficiently diluted by the melting of ice. Try mixing two Martinis, both with two ounces of gin, one half-ounce of vermouth and a dash of orange bitters. Mix one drink with gin from the freezer and one with room temperature gin. I think you'll find that the Martini mixed with room temperature gin is better.

My favorite easy pasta sauce is one that JosephB reminded me of a while back. It's since joined our regular rotation as the default quick sauce. 1 large can San Marzano or other best-quality tomatoes, roughly crushed; 3-4 tablespoons cold butter; 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut in half, salt. Throw everything in a cold pan, turn the burner on medium low, bring it slowly up to temperature and simmer (total ~30 minutes). Discard the onion and use the sauce. Looks like this when it's done.

No direct experience, but the principles tend to be the same. A micron (aka micrometer) is 1/1,000,000th of a meter, so 50 microns is equal to 0.05 millimeters. This undoubtedly describes the thickness of the anodized layer. The 3 mm figure would appear to describe the total thickness of the cookware. This is okay, but nothing to write home about. Similar to Calphalon. For $24 Cnd you can hardly go wrong with the fry pan. Fry pans are the only pans that I think are worth getting with a nonstick coating. I don't think there are any positives to having nonstick in a saucepan or stockpot, and some negatives (namely the coating eventually wearing out). If you want to improve your cookware, I think you're better off buying it piece by piece over time as you need it. This way you can buy better (which usually means more expensive) stuff from different manufacturers that best suits your cooking practices and needs. I've never known someone to be entirely happy with a preconfigured set. On the other hand, as you say... it is hard to go wrong for $200 Cdn.

I don't think you're going to find anything that gives you that "maraschino cherry red" color without the use of food coloring. This is a color that does not exist in nature. No reason you couldn't make some brandied cherries (or perhaps soak the cherries in maraschino liqueur) for use in cocktails, though.

Gordon's definitely has an emphatic gin taste. You could always try it with one of the lighter flavored varieties (Tanqueray Ten seems to work well for the gin-shy) until you develop a taste for gin. IMO, it's one of those things, like coffee perhaps, where you just have to decide to like it and revel in the flavors. Absolutely. That's me having a drink of Haut Brion at the tender age of 1. I'll let you extrapolate the time period from my outfit as well as the fact that Haut Brion could be had for a reasonable price. Oh yea, it's a good recipe. But there is some question as to whether it is really representative of what a Pegu Club is supposed to be. In recent conversations, it turns out that the earliest recipe he could find actually called for a teaspoon of Rose's instead of regular lime juice (not that I am advocating that particular substitution). Dave's version is very tasty, though. I like them both.

Have a look in this thread before you make a Pegu Club. Dave's recipe is good, but quite sour and not really "standard" for a PC. A classic Pegu Club would be more like 2 oz. gin, 1. oz orange curacao and 1 tsp lemon juice, with one dash each of Angostura and orange bitters.

It's hard to give any advice without tasting, but my initial reaction is that it doesn't have very much in common with a French 75. A French 75 is gin, sugar and lemon juice on ice topped with champagne. The first step in improving the drink would be to decide whether you think it's a good idea at all. If you think it's worth working on, then you should decide what it is that you don't like about it. From what I can gather, you didn't like the brandy part. Okay, delete the brandy. Maybe replace it with something else, or just leave it out. Beyond that it's harder to make any guesses. There's an awful lot going on in your drink. If I were you, one of the first things I'd do is thing about ways to simplify it. Even some of the more complex-sounding drinks can often be reduced to three ingredients. For example, Audrey's Tantris Sidecar has cognac, calvados, Cointreau, lemon juice, simple syrup, pineapple juice and Green Chartreuse. Seems complicated. But when you break the drink down, it's just a three ingredient drink: the cognac and calvados combine to be a sort of apple-brandy (that's 1), the Cointreau, Chartreuse and simple syrup combine to be a sort of herbaceous orange liqueur (that's 2) and the lemon and pineapple juices combine to be a slightly different flavored lemon juice (that's 3). Of course, the composite flavors she created for each one of the three constituents work both by themselves and in combination, and that's important. With your drink, it's not clear from reading it where the flavors are supposed to be going. In my own practice -- and in full recognition of my own limitations in this regard -- I rarely use more than three flavors when trying to come up with a new drink. Fewer flavors means it's easier to make adjustments. Some day I'd like to do a roundtable discussion with a few cocktail pros about methods of approach for creating new cocktails and turn it into an eGCI class. One question I have is why you're using the pear eau de vie. I would think that the flavor of the pear cider would completely obscure any contribution of the eau de vie. Also, adding pear flavor to pear flavor doesn't seem all that interesting. Not quite sure how the raspberry flavor of Chambord is worked in either. What would you want to change about it?

Thirty-two raw oysters?! Sniff.... I'm so proud of you JJ.

Since Liz put Sidecars in my mind, but finding myself without brandy, I made a variation tonight: an Applejack Sidecar. 2 ounces Laird's blended applejack, 1 ounce GranGala and just unded 1 ounce fresh lemon juice. I'd love to try this with Laird's bonded applejack. Since the blended applejack is a little rough around the edges, I used GranGala instead of Cointreau to give it a bit more roundness. Very nice!

Tanqueray is very good, but I have a fondness for good old Gordon's gin. It's got a nicely emphatic piney-ness that I like in drinks like the Aviation.

Yea... at some point we get into the whole question of how much does the cocktail have to change before it's no longer a Sidecar. Using GranGala instead of Cointreau is close enough, I think. But the Cherry Smash strikes me as more Sidecar-inspired rather than a Sidecar variation. On the other hand, it's probably no more a deviation than Audrey's Tantris Sidecar -- perhaps less. Here is a link to a recipe for the drink, which seems to contain Courvoisier VS cognac, orange curaçao, Schladerer Edel Kirsch, lemon juice and muddled brandied cherries. The thing that's so great about a classic formula like the Sidecar is that it can be the basis for so many diversions. It's just brandy, triple sec and lemon juice. Substitute maraschino for the triple sec? You've got a totally different drink. In fact, it's almost impossible to go wrong with some variation of the classic combination of base liquor, orange liqueur and citrus. That's how I came up with the "Eighteenth Century Cocktail" which, while nowhere near as complex or inventive as the sorts of things a real pro like Julie or Audrey can come up with, still turns out to be the most popular drink I've ever thought up.

We note that an article on the Mint Julep by Gary Regan appeared in the 2004 year end edition of Entree and is now available online. Gary is in the "don't muddle the mint" camp. Personally, I'm in the "lightly muddle" camp myself. Mint infused simple syrup or pre-infused "minted bourbon" is right out, though. Dave, I know I'm responding almost a year late, but I don't see anything wrong with using brandy (and/or rum, applejack, rye, peach brandy... even gin). As you point out, they were made with any number of base liquors back when.

Julie Reiner's Sidecar at Flatiron Lounge, made with Hennessy VSOP and GranGala, is pretty cool too.

Gary Regan's column in the SF Chron today talks about guess what? The Aviation. The recipe he gives is the same as in his book, and it's the one I prefer: 2.0 oz : gin 0.5 oz : fresh lemon juice 0.5 oz : maraschino liqueur Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass (I like mine with the addition of a lemon twist garnish). Gary's recipe actually bumps up the amount of maraschino from the more historical formulae, such as this one from cocktailDB which calls for 2 oz gin, 1 oz lemon juice and only two dashes of maraschino. This sounds like an excessively sour drink to me. No mention in the article of the creme de violette history Dave mentions above (which sounds so cool and makes so much sense I have to find some creme de violette).

Writer and eGullet member Elizabeth Johnson has a great article about the Sidecar that came out today in The Journal News. There is also a nice section on Audrey Saunders and her popular variation, the Tantris Sidecar. She gives a recipe for a standard Sidecar (Dave will be happy to note the 2:1:1 ratio, and I was happy to note that the glass is put in the freezer to firm up after the rim is sugared) as well as one for Audrey's Tantris Sidecar. Thanks to Liz for a great article!

I don't think there is such a thing as "Ruski Vodka." What I have heard of is called "Stolichnaya Lemon Ruski." It's been around since something like 1997, and I have seen it marketed as "a unique blend of wine flavor, genuine Russian vodka and lemon flavor." It's around 5% ABV and is Stolichnaya's entrant in the "premade 'cocktail' market" where it competes with similarly odious products such as Bacardi Breezers, Smirnoff Ice, Jack Daniel's Country Cocktails, etc. In other words, it's Russian Zima.

To generally address a few points here: 1. Contrary to some opinions, I think it is a bad idea to let the starter "age and become more sour" before adding it to the dough. The reason for this is quite simple: by the time a starter is becoming noticably sour it is already well bast peak growth conditions and the population of microorganisms is actually beginning to die down. When you mix the starter together with the dough, you want the yeast/lacrobacillus population as large and healthy as possible so it can do its thing. 2. One way to add a big slug of acid to your dough and still use a healthy starter is to "pre-ferment" a separate piece of dough. In this case, you would mix up about 1/4 of your eventual bread recipe, inoculate it with the starter and let that ferment until it became very sour (e.g., 24 hours). Then, when you mix the final dough you can mix the pre-fermented dough (full of acid now) together with the remaining 3/4 of the flour/water from your bread recipe and an inoculum of fresh starter. It is possible, however, to make a very sour loaf of bread without adding any "soured dough" simply by using a strong flour and doing a lengthy fermentation. 3. The sourness of bread is largely determined by the ash content of the flour. Sourdough lactobacilli aren't so much affected by acid concentrations, but they are affected by low pH. Flours with a higher ash content have greater buffering power and therefore are able to accumulate more acid before the pH gets too low (growth is inhibited at pH 3.8 and acid production stops at 3.6). This is why whole wheat doughs tend to be more sour than white wheat doughs (whole wheat has a much greater ash content). 4. It may also help to add a bit of diastatic malt powder to your dough. One reason that rye flour produces such strong fermentations is that rye flour has high enzymatic activity which breaks down the starch into sugars that can be consumed by the yeasts and lactobacilli. White wheat flour has comparitively low enzymatic activity, and it is possible that the organisme simply run out of food before they can produce enough acid to be inhibited. Diastatic malt powder includes diastase, which is an enzyme that breaks down starch into sugars (thus providing food for the microorganisms to do their thing). 5. One thing you have to be aware of is the fact that acid breaks down gluten. So you need to have a very strong flour with lots of gluten if you want to go extra-sour. 6. To improve the crumb of your bread, I would encourage you to go with more hydration as others have suggested. You might also experiment with retarding the dough in the refrigerator. I like the effect retardation produces. I also find that a slightly cold dough has less tendency to deflate when slashed and produces a much more dramatic oven spring -- both of which would probably help with your "healing slashes" problem. 7. I'm not entirely convinced on the whole "rising at high temperature" thing. Here is a chart of representative growth rates for sourdough lactobacilli and yeasts: Up to about 28C (82.5F) we have fairly similar growth rates for yeasts and lactobacilli. Yeast growth is increasingly inhibited above 28C, with no growth at 38C (96.8F). If one wanted to create temperature conditions that significantly favor lactobacteria over yeast 30C (86F) would seem to be the ideal dough temperature. However, this is problematic for a number of reasons: First, if the temperature dips much below 30C there is not much effect and you're going to a lot of trouble for nothing. Second, if you go much higher than 30C you're getting into an area where the yeast is significantly inhibited, which is not so good either. Third, remember it's the dough temperature that counts, not the ambient temperature. It's not as easy as you might think to keep the dough temperature right where you want it, and it's very easy to undershoot or overshoot. Fundamentally, though, I think the temperature manipulation method is based on some flawed assumptions. First, it is not the case that the yeasts do all the leavening while the lactobacilli only produce acid. In fact, scientists estimate that the lactobacilli typically do about half of the leavening. So, if the premise is that a temperature condition that favors lactobacilli over yeasts gives the bacteria more time to do their souring thing before the dough is leavened, that is unlikely to be significant. Second, as explained above, the sourness of the bread is largely determined by the buffering power of the dough, although the enzymatic action of the dough (as it affects the available food supply) and the gluten content of the dough (as it affects the dough's ability to maintain integrity and leavening after gluten is degraded by acid) are contributing factors as well. I've managed to make some loaves of mouth puckering sourness fermenting entirely at around 50F. To be honest, though, I don't think sourdough breads should really have that one dimensional up-front sourness like so many supermarket brands do. A mild sourness and greater complexity of flavor is more what I'm after.

Interesting, Stephen. I thought it was something like that. This may be one reason the Pomi products don't contain citric acid (I believe they're ultrapasteurized) and also why they don't seem to sell whole peeled tomatoes.

If you buy the ones that contain lysergic acid, I think you'll find the eating experience greatly enhanced. Are these acids used as preservatives? Absolutely! Produced in small batches by... er... artisans, usually in either "windowpane," "microdot" or "blotter" form. Seriously, though. Acidic products are generally thought to be safe from botulism when canned. There is some question as to whether tomatoes are acidic enough for this, and as a result citric acid is usually added (presumably to reach a certain pH point). Although Pomi doesn't add citric acid, most brands seem to do it. I can't say that I detect a difference.

If you buy the ones that contain lysergic acid, I think you'll find the eating experience greatly enhanced.

I don't like the "fruit salad" variety of Old Fashioned. For me, it's superfine sugar, bitters and a lemon peel in the bottom of the glass; muddle together so the sugar "abrades" the citrus peel and extracts its oils; add ice and whiskey; stir; enjoy. Turns out that's super old-school, but that's the way I like them. Too bad that the author decided to confine her search to the Lower East Side. It's an interesting concept, but the likes of Barramundi, Epstein’s Bar, Motor City, Sin-e and Whiskey Ward don't excite me too much. Milk and Honey, where I am quite sure a definitive Whiskey Old Fashioned can be had, is only a mere half block South of Delancey. Too bad she didn't visit there.

Also interested to see that poultry and pork in the US may not say "hormone free" or anything like that.

In order to qualify for the "free range" Special Marketing Term in the UK, chickens must have continuous daytime access to open-air runs, comprising an area mainly covered by vegetation, of not less than one square meter per animal for at least half the lifetime of the animal. In order to label chicken "free range" or "free roaming" in the United States, "producers must demonstrate to the [uSDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service] that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside." I was interested to read that the term "chemical free" is not allowed at all.