slkinsey

Wow. That.s 69.95 CAD for a half liter! Expensive stuff.

According to Gary Regan, a "New Orleans Sour" consists of a base spirit, triple sec (e.g., Cointreau) and lemon or lime juice. Famous examples include the Brandy Crusta, Sidecar, Classic Cocktail, Cosmopolitan, Between the Sheets, Pegu Club and Corpse Reviver #2. The most famous example being the Margarita. The Sazerac is a classic NO drink, but doesn't exactly lend itself to pitcher deployment. There are a number of drinks with "New Orleans" in the name over at cocktailDB.

Message to Europe: [stop] Must have Plymouth Navy Strength Gin. [stop] Please send case. [stop]

Hmmm. Haven't heard about it, but it looks interesting. Seems like the publication date is this coming Saturday, though?

I've been very interested in trying Plymouth Navy Strength Gin at 100 proof. This is, I am given to understand, the "real" original Plymouth and I think there are a number of cocktails that would benefit from this higher octane version. Has anyone tried it? Is it available in America? Anyone seen it for sale in NYC?

Oh, I'm not defending them. It was just counter to the other information I've read, including their own materials. But it's entirely possible they applied a nonstick coating to raw cast iron for a short period of time until they figured out it was a horrible idea. I'm still inclined to think wkl's pan is coated with LC's "black stuff." I am thinking here mostly of cocottes (aka French ovens). As Trillium points out, Le Creuset does make raw cast iron crêpières.

Hah! Well, I said "doesn't need to be very good" not "can be complete swill." Of course, a real latte macchiato hardly has any coffee in it at all. I'm curious as to the difference between an American-style "double latte" and a "really big cappuccino."

I think the article missed the point on a few levels: 1. The fact is that there are very few places in America one can go for a decent cup of espresso. For most, it's make it at home or nothing. 2. It is also a fact that is is extremely difficult, bordering on impossible, to consistently make a really good cup of espresso on a machine below the "Rancilio Silvia" level. 3. The fact is, of course, that most people in America don't really want espresso anyway -- they want milk-based drinks. 4. The deal with making milk-based drinks is that, while the quality of the espresso doesn't need to be very good, machines that really steam well for people who want to be able to make 3-4 capuccini in a row are even more expensive than the Rancilio Silvia. 5. Most of the lower-priced machines seem like a bargain, and it may even be possible to get okay results on them. But it's usually so inconsistent/unsatisfactory, or it's such a pain in the ass to get good results that most of them end up in a closet.

Sounds almost like a Mornay with the cheese and egg yolk. Definitely beyond a plain bechamel for sure. Good bechamel information may be found right here in this eGCI class.

So, you're saying that the exterior is coated with enamel but the interior is raw cast iron? Are you sure it isn't coated with a different kind of coating on the inside? I just can't imagine why anyone would go to the trouble of enameling the outside of a piece of cookware and leave the inside raw. To clarify re Le Creuset nonstick, it appears to me as thought the nonstick coating is applied over a base coat of enamel rather than directly onto raw cast iron.

The above is imply not true. I have several Le Creuset pots and pans, from the early 70's, which are lined with a semi-smooth black surface designed to imitate Teflon, although it was not supposed to be non stick. After some use, it flaked and scaled and went to my basement, or under a plant. But it was stamped Le Creuset, and it did not have a smooth creamy enamel lining... ← According to their own PR and marketing material, they make enameled cast iron. What was on the outside of those pans if not enamel? What you describe sounds like they sprayed on a nonstick coating over enamel. It's pretty unlikely that they were or are applying the nonstick coating directly to raw cast iron. What is more likely that they don't use the familiar creamy white enamel when they are going to be applying a nonstick coating, and use a different base coat of enamel instead. That is exactly what is indicated on pages like this one, which says: "Le Creuset's unique Nonstick process combines a special base coat enamel plus three coats of Silverstone® Nonstick finish to the Le Creuset cast iron cookware."

You can usually tell if it's Staub (my favorite) by the nodules on the underside of the lid. wkl: afaik Le Creuset has always made enameled cookware. The following is from the Le Creuset web site:

Hmmm... interesting question. I never measure when I make mine. I just melt some butter, toss in enough flour to make a thick but not clumpy roux (my sense is that this means a bit less flour than fat by volume), cook the roux for a while, and then slowly start whisking in milk. The trick is to make sure the bechamel comes back up to the simmer after each addition of milk. This way you know that the flour has reached its full thickening power. For lasagne al forno, I like my balsamella to be quite thick. This is the advantage of doing it by eye rather than by formula -- I simply stop adding milk when I reach the consistency I want. Going from memory (and I made some balsamella for baked ziti just the other night), I'd say that Mario's 5T butter/4T flour sounds like just about right for a good sized lasagne al forno. Again, you don't want to use all that much anyway. Hard to say whether his three cups of milk is too much, as I never measure. However, if you add the milk a cup at a time and make sure you bring the mixture up to the boil after every addition, it's possible that a fair amount of the milk evaporates. Plenty of fresh grated nutmeg is, of course, crucial.

If it does not have a ceramic coating, it is highly unlikely it is Le Creuset. Sounds like a regular raw cast iron Dutch Oven to me, and you should treat it as you would any piece of cast iron (seasoning, etc.). There are, of course, serious limitations that come along with uncoated cast iron. I wouldn't use it to cook anything acidic (e.g., with tomatoes) and I wouldn't use it to cook anything for a long time. Some people don't mind the iron taste, though, so ymmv.

For what purpose?

Well... different people have different priorities. I think you won't find too many owners of stainless lined heavy copper cookware who regret the purchase.

I'm sure it would never be the same. I have a theory about simple dishes like chicken and dumplings, chicken fried steak, etc. Fundamentally these are very simple dishes to make. But that very simplicity means that small changes in technique or ingredients can make a big difference. It's all about just the way she worked the dough, or how she decided when the dumplings were done, or how she judged how much milk to add to the finished product, or how she knew the oil was just the temperature she liked for chicken fried steak, etc. There is no duplicating that. This is one reason I believe that, once my grandmother died, her chicken and dumplings and her chicken fried steak died with her.

My grandmother's recipe always had flat, noodle-like dumplings. She made the dough dough by pouring some of the boiling broth from stewing the chicken into a bowl of flour, salt and pepper. Then the dough is rolled out and cut into wide strips. Although there is no leavening, the they did puff up a fair bit when cooked. Sigh... I haven't had any C&D since she passed away a few years back. I wonder if the style of dumpling varies by region? My grandmother was from Texas.

Just so we're clear, now that two people have made reference to Tuscany, the most famous style of lasagne al forno, and the one upon which my technique is based, is lasagne alla Bolognese -- Bologna being in Emilia- Romagna, not Toscana. "Balsamella" is just another word for "besciamella." Maybe it's dialect? For some reason I am more used to hearing balsamella than besciamella. I should point out, while I'm at it, that Italian-American lasagne al forno with dry pasta and ricotta can be really good.

You don't like mushrooms?! My typical method is to start with a small layer of ragu (and you can easily convert a non-meat tomato sauce to a "ragu" by dropping in some crumbled sausage), then a layer of pasta, sprinkle on some ragu, a little balsamella, a little parmigiano, repeat to the top of the baking dish. It's important, I think, to be stingy with the non-pasta ingredients. Just a few blobs here and there for every layer, as though you were topping an artisinal pizza.

Whoa! Hold on there. Neither ricotta nor cottage cheese is required for lasagne al forno. These have become somewhat standard in the Italian-American version of the dish, along with dry rather than fresh pasta, but are certainly not required ingredients. When I make a classic lasagne al forno I use only four ingredients Fresh lasagne (lasagna is the Italian name for the wide pasta used in lasagne al forno, not the baked dish, which is named lasagne al forno to indicate that it is baked in the oven) Ragu Bolognese Parmigiano-Reggiano Balsamella (aka, béchamel, aka "white sauce") To vary from this I might use a regular tomato sauce along with, say, mushrooms or sausage slices. But rarely ricotta and never cottage cheese.

You know... you really can't say this too many times. Yea. It's a decent gin, and it's one that has enough presence to come through in a G&T. There's little point to making a G&T with a delicate gin like Hendrick's.

If I am not mistaken, there is a certain amount of interlinkage that happens automatically when water and gluten are mixed. And, needless to say, there is a certain amount of gluten development that happens as the ingredients are incorporated and as the dough is rolled out, etc. I've never found that it wanted any more working than that. Certainly not ultra-minimal as one might do with a pastry dough, but not really anything I would call "kneading." Hmm... Maybe, although I am a little dubious about infusing modern-day words with meanings according to their ancient origins.

Thanks for the info on the Yellow Chartreuse. Now - you state that the choice of gin is important for the San Martin. I have the Noilly Prat, which gin do you like? Plymouth? ← I believe he's saying that the choice of gin is particularly important when you're making 1:1 gin:vermouth martinis.

This is very odd. I've never heard that one wants to develop the gluten when making gnocchi. In fact, I have always proceeded with exactly the opposite assumption: that one should work the dough as little as possible in order to avoid developing the gluten. I've also always heard that the word gnocco, which most sources seem to agree is of relatively recent, late 19th century provenance -- can probably be traced back to Middle High German, perhaps knöchel (knuckle), and comes most directly from the Italian (Veneziano dialect?) word nocchio meaning "a knot in wood."