paul o' vendange

I don't like to spatchcock my crapaudine. Many do, though. Paul

I'm with balmagowry - s/p, that's it. However, I'm also a big fan of a bit of sauce made from the animal itself, as an extension of the pure flavor of the meat. You mentioned white beans, which I also love, esp. with shank. Have you considered doing a small sauce, using a bit of reduced lamb stock from riblets or the like? I enjoy making a simple integral sauce this way, with in addition to mirepoix, garlic and tomato, an infusion of rosemary the last 1/2 hour, and black pepper the last 10-15 minutes (to get the spice/resiny character, without that much heat). But you still can't go wrong - start with good meat, and trust it. My humble $0.02. Paul

I punch out the marrow in my femur bones and reserve that for finishing, as in bordelaise, or making something with them - crusted, fried, persillade for something truly decadent. As they are essentially nothing but fat, I'd rather remove them up front rather than in the deglazing or clarifying portion of the stock. That said, and I'd agree with most folks it is likely you fried either the marrow (or your bones from a high heat), one thing I'd ask is whether your second batch nicely filled the brazier or whatever it was you were using to roast the bones in? May be a simple question, but if there was space around the bones, they would be more likely to burn (glaze turning to charcoal) in shorter order. Just a thought. I think you are spot on with your final thoughts - paying more attention to the roasting process. No more important lesson have I discovered than to trust no "rule" of roasting, braising, etc. - inherently, each batch is radically different and, in the instance of roasting bones, I try to pick them at the nexus between that rust red/brown and just over the top. Shame about the 2d batch. I hold the animals I cook and eat in high regard, and when I have dumped something in waste I feel it (not as much as the animal, of course). Good luck. Paul p.s.: edited to add, like you I have been cooking since I was a kid. I worked through La Technique by the time I was 12 or so, and had the high honor of torching my eyebrows and forelocks with a rather ebullient crepe suzette, before a collected company of 20 or so, at the tender age of 10. From a fellow self-taught cook, cheers.

Lemon, Garlic & Thyme-Scented Poussin, pan roasted, with a double stock reduction, lemon and garlic confits, galettes, and tons o' parsnip puree, our favorite root veggie (through a tamis with butter, touch of salt and parsnip-infused cream, and that's it). Riesling. Also, poussin ballotine (with oven dried tomatoes and goat cheese), but will not likely keep it as an oven roast - spit roasted, yep. But, overall, prefer it plain and simple, with the lemon, thyme and garlic quick marinade, above. Paul

I love sage as well. Some things I use it in are: oven-dried tomato and three-cheese raviolis, in a sage-brown butter; with braised rabbit and cippolines, infusing the jus near the end with sage and more aromatics; and most especially with pork roast - a blade end pork roast, brined for several days with aromatics, spices, thyme, sage. The day I roast, I split the meat into chops, leaving them intact at the back (chine/rib); pack between the chops with garlic, thyme, sage, black pepper and rosemary; tie tightly together and roast to 130, then butter baste for 10 minutes or so; split into chops, using reserved herbs with butter and finish pan roasting to sear the "interior" side of the meat, to bring it all to 145-150. Tent and eat. Paul

Dumpling, the restaurant will be located in Marquette, Michigan, in the heart of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Our first love for many years and looking forward to the venture. Paul

A Fave - Roast double rack of pork with sage, garlic, thyme and rosemary; parsnips puree (to answer the thread on parsnips - parsnips, YUMMMM!), pinot from some non-descript place and a chocolate-espresso pot de creme with an orange tuile (warm up to our own restaurant, opening in July of this year - all Yooper bound, welcome to Waterstone - the fire is going and your table is ready - there, shameless plug). Cheers all, Paul

Last night, lightly smoked, grilled pork loin, cabbage and pancetta braised in an auslese riesling, soft parmesan polenta. This morning, a large brioche, sliced, dusted with confectioners and broiled a bit, strawberry jam, good turkish coffee. Paul

Oven-Dried Tomato and Ricotta Raviolis with a Balsamic Brown Butter. Roast Lobster with a Roast Corn Timbale, Fennel and Red Pepper Chutneys. Edited to add: Got rid of the rest of my ratatouille of the other night with two personal pizzas, topped with fresh garlic, oregano, basil, mozz, and the ratatouille. Used honey a la Puck v. sugar. Great crust. We downed what we think is a great value, Yellow Tail Shiraz at 6-something a bottle.

Edited to say: Obviously, all things depend on time and temp. 170 for twenty minutes will kill most things. Bringing to boiling temp for 2 minutes will kill more. Sustained boiling will kill all. But merely bringing to boiling temp will allow some things to live through - i.e., spores. I'd agree, the real problem (assuming an effective sanitation regime) isn't the living beasty, but its metabolic by product. Blecch.

Man, too many to name. But my cornerstones: Jacques Pepin, La Technique (now incorporated with his La Methode in one volume, Complete Technique). It was my bible, beginning when I was 12, when I worked it cover to cover; and I still rely on it. Escoffier. (Duh). Louis Saulnier, Le Repertoire de la Cuisine. Richard Olney, Simple French Food. CIA, New Professional Chef. Madeleine Kamman, The Making of a Chef. LaRousse Gastronomique. Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, Culinary Artistry. James Peterson's books, esp. Sauces, and Fish and Shellfish. Books by Joel Robuchon. I have learned from his fervent desire to grab all that is intrinsically valuable from a material, without extrapolating it to hell. "Food should taste like what it is Thomas Keller, the French Laundry Cookbook. Hands down, my absolute most important lessons over the last year - I have always shied from too much abstraction on the plate; almost an aggression of composition (or deconstruction, post-modernism, blah blah blah), but what I love about Chef Keller is, like Chef Robuchon, his intense focus on composition and flavor - the thing is every bit what it is, intensely concentrated, beautifully inviting, all without bells and whistles (I loathe "engineered" food - my bent; I can't handle more "ice cream of sea urchin beak with salamander toe 'spritzies.'" ). Anyway, enough of the soapbox. I rely on The French Laundry Cookbook a great deal. Lately, Michel Roux's work.

My cousin, Rick Boyer, was Jekel's winemaker and General Manager. I am proudly biased. But I have long wondered why Brown-Forman, as you point out, Craig, a liquor concern, has anything to do with the wine business. Decisions made at a corporate level, far removed from the vineyard, and, beyond, belying even economic or accounting-sheet common sense, all speak to what is wrong with the seemingly ineluctable and mad rush to consolidation. I won't go further, though I have much to say. It's a damn shame. Buy local. Support quality; support artisanal producers who care and have the goods to back it up. Paul

Been playing with "two ways" meal ideas. Before dinner, generous goblets of Lillet with orange twists. Afterward, fully glowing, winter root vegetable and apple soup Duck two ways: seared breast; braised leg stuffed with wild mushrooms and sausage. With port-dried fig duck sauce (thank you Thomas Keller) and ginger-pear chutney. Saffron-parmesan risotto. Duck with a Littorai 2000 (Savoy Vineyard, Andersen Valley) Pinot Noir. Walnut and preserved-satsuma plum tart (plums from my Aunt/Uncle, California), muscat creme anglaise. Oban neat. Cheers, Paul

Ah, to have riggwelter at the source. Love the humor, and just about everything, in the beer. My brewhouse is set to emulate Yorkshire water. Fine, fine area. We only got as far as Stoke on Trent when we were in England, and enjoyed many of Titanic's excellent beers. Hope to get back. I am very sorry to hear of your loss - I hope you and your family heal soon, and are gifted with another pup before too long. Cheers, Paul

OK Chad, will do! Cheers, Paul

Theakston (great name - the Apostate Paul is one of my favorite brewers - love Black Sheep products) - sorry, been out of the egullet loop for awhile - EGCI? Whatever helps, I'd be glad to do. If you guys want a basic recipe and technique breakdown for say, a basic english bitter, you bet. Just need to know what would best do for all of you. Things will change depending on equipment, water, yeast, etc. - of course, a million variables. But I can share what I have learned over the years. Just let me know what you all want. Paul

One thing I used to use in occasions where I oversalted, or over acidified (as in this instance), was to add mirin, japanese sweetened rice wine. It doesn't contribute a great deal of definitive flavor, but a roundness, and sweetness to counterbalance "maladies." Worth a try.

Well, perhaps I can just give a sample brew from my own system - including parameters like my system efficiency, etc.?

Sure - is this a "real time thing," as in posting as the brew progresses, or ahead of time, planning out and resolving questions?

Sorry, I've been lazy - gathering that the group batch is sort of a local gathering on the web? Sounds great, if so. Paul

I won't chime in too much here, except to say I am a former professional (Goose Island), and religious home brewer - my own dedicated 1/2 bbl stainless brewery, lovingly nicknamed "Ugly Betty" for my lousy welding, has been a solid workhorse over the last several years, kicking out 10 gallon batches I am very happy with. I have a home micro lab, and brew a great deal. I just finished bottling an Imperial IPA (at 7.75% abv and 90 ibu's), I am cold crashing an ESB tonight after two days dry-hop, and am about to launch my robust porter, "Cloakstone." All in anticipation of my grandfather in law's 85th b.d. - a lover of beer, god bless the man. I have also trained to some extent through Heriot-Watt University's brewing program. All of the above to say, if I can be of any help with anything, please ask away. Cheers, Paul

Woodford Reserve tops my list. Paul

I was an uchideshi (live in, direct disciple) to an aikido master. After hours of sustained training, when I thought I was going to sweat a lung, nothing, but nothing would marry sashimi as well as my favorite rice beer, DAI Kirin Ichiban, KUDASAI! Unlike most of the mega-brewers, there is a nice malt backdrop even though much of the mash bill is indeed rice. And slakes the meanest of thirsts. Paul

Cheers, mate. Happy hunting. Paul ps: just saw your beer ad. Like it!

Wilson, good points all. How about the following: the line of beers is called ___ (Company name): Due North Ales Couple of ad campaigns: a blank white full sheet, with a bold, black, block: Lost? Then a glistening beer (probably an ESB), with a scraggly black line-arrow pointing to the white head atop, then, Head Due North. Or, my 82 year old Estonian grandmother in law. Handheld TV camera catches her working her garden by the wall of her home, and asks this nice lady, would you try this beer? She downs it in one sweep, and, in the sweetest Eesti voice, asks.. "More please?" (this actually taken from life)... I agree on the humor thing. It's a fun beverage, and inherently, cannot take itself too seriously.