slkinsey

There is far less thermal mass in a thin pizza than there is in a two pound boule. Furthermore, since the pizza is spread more or less evenly across the surface of the baking stone, the conduction of thermal energy from the stone to the pizza is much more efficient that the conduction of thermal energy from the stone to the boule. 0.75" is fairly thick for a baking stone, BTW. Again, where you are going to run into trouble is with the third and fourth pizza (or boule).

I, respectfully, disagree :) Scott, unless you build yourself a wood-burning masonry oven in the back yard, you won't be able to do it. Not in a home oven. That assumes, of course, that you are trying to reproduce a Neapolitan-style or NYC-style pizza. If you're going for a typical American pizza, such as would be baked in one of the aforementioned Vulcan ovens, it is certainly possible to make a passable approximation in a home oven. Where the commercial stainess and gas ovens have a real advantage over a home oven is in their ability to retain heat. The thermal mass of a Vulcan oven is a zillion times higher than any baking stone you could put in your oven. This means that the Vulcan can bake pizza after pizza all day without losing too much heat whereas your home pizza will start to suffer after around the second or third one.

I am uploading these pictures for Kathleen, who will no doubt have more to add. Ferrets are very active when they are not asleep, so asleep is usually the best time to get a picture of them. Asher and Zebulun asleep: Issachar sound asleep: Asher and Zebulun sharing a nap with me: Issachar guarding the laundry: Asher and Zebulun sharing the tent we have come to call the "house of bites": Issachar having a bath:

The combined results are in this search

Felonius, what kind of place is this and how are they allowing smoking?

Do you mean spicy as in "hot" spicy? None of the dishes on that menu are supposed to be spicy hot, AFAIK. The only dish I found disappointing was the chicken tikka masala, which I found a little underspiced and the sauce not quite rich enough.

Went there with bergerka, Fat Guy and Ellen for Valentine's Day. Had the "something different," which is a sandwich made with brisket and two potato pancakes instead of bread. It was fun food and an interesting time. This was my favorite part of the article:

Sounds like a great time! The only downside, of course, is that you've now gone into that "pretty good, but not like Peter Luger" steak purgatory until your next visit.

Not to mention that I don't want my humble "latte art" efforts compared to Melkor's.

That's why the class says:

I don't know much about Vulcan ovens nor can I find any info doing a web search, but I have done a substantial amount of research on wood burning ovens. From the pizza cooks that I've spoken with, wood burning ovens can and do reach temperatures exceeding 900 degrees. Yes, this is correct. A wood fired oven can get plenty hot, certainly well within the range of temperatures maintained in the coal-fired establishments. The Neapolitan pizzerie use wood.

I call dibs on a pint of Sconzo Maple Syrup!

Doc, you should help your friend by dipping a few quarts of sap out of that bucket and reducing it down on your stove. After all, if the bucket overflows it will only go to waste.

There are certainly parts of Italy that make fresh semolina pasta with water (usually not oil... fat inhibits the cross-linkang oe gluten strands). Orecchiette, for example. Semolina is not generally used, in my experience, in the soft strand pastas of Emilia-Romagna such as tagliatelle, etc. In general, I would not recommend semolina for fresh pasta because it produces a fairly grainy texture and I am normally going for something smooth. Just for the record, because I think there is often confusion... semolina is a coarse, somewhat sandy-textured milling of Durum wheat. When this wheat is ground to a normal flour consistency, it is no longer semolina but simply Durum wheat flour.

Is it distilled from Colt 45?

Edible sea salt is, AFAIK, 99% pure NaCl, and taste tests have shown that it is very difficult (verging on impossible in some cases) to taste the difference between varieties of edible salt when dissolved in purified water. This would make it all but impossible to taste the difference between dissolved salts in the presence of other masking flavors.

They are fresh baby artichokes. The canned ones taste pickled to me. Well, yes and no. My culinary outlook and kitchen learning experience is mostly regional Italian. However, I wouldn't say that most of the food I make is Italian per se. Which is to say that most of the dishes I make aren't traditional Italian dishes, but rather dishes made with an Italian-influenced approach to ingredients. Nothing in our meal of last night, for example, strikes me as particularly Italian.

Right... But of course if you give that restaurant half the customers, they are going to have to double their prices. This is one of the reasons most of the aforementioned three star single seating restaurants aren't making any money.

Um... Moby? You're supposed to take the varnish off the handle (as well as the copper) before you start using the pan. Just rub some oil on the handle the next time you have it in the oven and it will build up a rust-proof "seasoning."

Debbie, that's all the details there were. It wasn't an article in the Times, just a blurb giving the same facts that I gave. Your friend might try calling Second Avenue Delicatessen for more information.

Fairway @ 74th Street, mostly. Zabar's sometimes. I like Oppenheimer Prime Meats for non-poultry (their poultry is good too, but I also like the Murray's chickens at Fairway and it's more convenient). Union Square Greenmarket during the growing season (soon!). Smattering in Chinatown/Little Italy. Smattering on 9th Avenue.

Inspired by this, had for dinner (among other things): No doubt it isn't the traditional preparation. But it does contain kale, potato and Spanish chorizo.

I guess I am of a similar mind with the others. It's actually quite good in the context of a middlebrow chain place -- similar to Burritoville in that respect. I don't hesitate to eat there during the week. But, part of that has to do with the fact that the choices are limited given a day job in Midtown East and 60 minutes for lunch. I'd certainly pass right by Chipotle to eat at Noche Mexicana, Taqueria Y Fonda or even the W 104th Street taco truck if it were in my neighborhood (that speaks more to the good quality of the three alternatives than it does any deficiencies at Chipotle).

Interesting how much more expensive the Jack Daniels barrel is compared to the cask offer from Bruichladdich. That said, to be fair, it sounds like the JD barrel is already aged and ready to be bottled whereas the owner of a Bruichladdich cask would have to wait at least 10 years to realize the fruits of his investment.

You mean Jeffrey Steingarten?