To fuck or to cook?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

$25 a bottle is a price point at which I want it to say I spent $25 on the bottle. Not $120, but not $14.95 either, or worse. If I hadn't been served it in a bar first I wouldn't have given the brand a second chance. I don't buy wines based on the typography of the label but I do rule them out, because some aesthetic appreciations shouldn't be qualified ones. I realize this makes me superficial, but I guarantee there's a guy working at Four Roses who gets paid to think about guys like me, and I guess all I'm saying is that guy should be fired.

QED

Ty- can i count this as a loss for you?

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by tmdiva

Care to share the recipe? I have a nice local leg of lamb in the freezer and had planned on cooking it for Easter. My usual recipe uses a red wine reduction and cooks it low and slow--I'd like to see how Bourdain's differs.

tm

4 cloves slivered garlic -- put those inside slits in the leg. Rub the leg with salt and pepper.

Put the leg in a dutch oven along with 4 carrots (whole, peeled), 2 sliced onions, 20 garlic cloves (whole, peeled), a bouquet garnie (however you like to do that - I do thyme, parsley, bay leaf, celery tied in leek leaves), and a cup of white wine.

Cook at 300 degrees for 7 hours.

Bourdain tells you to make a dough/paste to seal the pot. I did that -- his ratios are off (I'd use 1/2 cup water to a cup of flour, maybe less water). I don't really think this is necessary, if you have a heavy dutch oven like a Le Creuset -- ain't nothing coming out of that lid.

Once it's done, I'd suggest pouring off the fat and running everything but the lamb thru a chinois to make a sauce. I didn't do that yesterday but it would've been even better.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

$25 a bottle is a price point at which I want it to say I spent $25 on the bottle. Not $120, but not $14.95 either, or worse. If I hadn't been served it in a bar first I wouldn't have given the brand a second chance. I don't buy wines based on the typography of the label but I do rule them out, because some aesthetic appreciations shouldn't be qualified ones. I realize this makes me superficial, but I guarantee there's a guy working at Four Roses who gets paid to think about guys like me, and I guess all I'm saying is that guy should be fired.

If I may, a $25 a bottle isn't exactly premium, but rather what I would think of as work-horse, nothing special branding. If I buy a bottle of Jameson or Stoli (which I general keep in stock), I don't go around congratulating myself for having made a discerning choice.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Fugee

If the bottle and label matters, get the single barrel or limited edition instead. But if you like the taste, what does the bottle and label matter?

Speaking of trade dress, my 6 yo niece pointed to the label on the A1 sauce yesterday and said "Do you know what the R stands for?" And then she proceeded to tell me it was the registered mark.

Maker's Gold is a great bourbon, but good luck finding it.

Wild Turkey 101 is about as smooth a bourbon as any high end brand on the market, at $25.00 a bottle. And lethally effective.

If you need fancy, shoplift a bottle of Blanton's. You get a neat little metal horse on top. I say shoplift because, though the overload of vanilla hints in the stuff is delicious, they're not worth $49.00 a bottle. At best, it's $35.00 whiskey.

My favorite of the bunch right now is Baker's. If there were Imperial bourbons as there are beers, Baker's would be one. Super-strong, but very agreeable.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally Posted by Adder

If I may, a $25 a bottle isn't exactly premium, but rather what I would think of as work-horse, nothing special branding. If I buy a bottle of Jameson or Stoli (which I general keep in stock), I don't go around congratulating myself for having made a discerning choice.

I get that it's not premium. It's at the same price point as MM and all I'm sayin' is that the trade-dress is more downmarket than its competitors. All I'm sayin'.

[Fugee]

Originally Posted by hank chinaski

this is the most midwestern rube thing you have ever posted.

Thanks! Always glad to fulfill my purpose on the board.

[Fugee]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

I get that it's not premium. It's at the same price point as MM and all I'm sayin' is that the trade-dress is more downmarket than its competitors. All I'm sayin'.

You're saying you're a label snob.

I bet you wouldn't buy the Costco brand (Kirkland) booze even if you thought it was best in a blind taste test.

[taxwonk]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

At a bar on Friday, tried ordering a Maker's Mark. Bartender told me they don't serve it. I say, "Then what do you recommend?" He poured a Four Roses yellow label. I had two, then picked up a bottle the next day. I could've done without the cheeseball brand history on the label, or for that matter anything about the trade dress which is distinctly bottom-shelf, but I think I might drink this instead of Maker's.

I have a distinct preference for the single-barrel or small batch bourbons. I have tried this and found it to be a decent sippin' whisky.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

QED

Ty- can i count this as a loss for you?

If you equate being a label snob with sophistication, go ahead.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

If you equate being a label snob with sophistication, go ahead.

from his perspective it is the same. a true sophisticate is served, and seldom would see a label- that is my perspective FWIW.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by Adder

If I may, a $25 a bottle isn't exactly premium, but rather what I would think of as work-horse, nothing special branding. If I buy a bottle of Jameson or Stoli (which I general keep in stock), I don't go around congratulating myself for having made a discerning choice.

Damn, Atticus -- you've got Adder telling you your tastes are mid-market. Smack!

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by taxwonk

I have a distinct preference for the single-barrel or small batch bourbons. I have tried this and found it to be a decent sippin' whisky.

How 'bout some recommendations? It's been awhile since I've drunk bourbon outside of mixed drinks. When I did, I really liked Booker's.

[Cletus Miller]

Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch

$25 a bottle is a price point at which I want it to say I spent $25 on the bottle. Not $120, but not $14.95 either, or worse. If I hadn't been served it in a bar first I wouldn't have given the brand a second chance. I don't buy wines based on the typography of the label but I do rule them out, because some aesthetic appreciations shouldn't be qualified ones. I realize this makes me superficial, but I guarantee there's a guy working at Four Roses who gets paid to think about guys like me, and I guess all I'm saying is that guy should be fired.

I suspect that the owners of Four Roses are more than happy with "that guy"'s performance. Prolly even give him a raise, if they ever stumble upon this place.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

Damn, Atticus -- you've got Adder telling you your tastes are mid-market. Smack!

I have four kids, a government salary, and a Peninsula mortgage. Mid-market is an extravagance.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

4 cloves slivered garlic -- put those inside slits in the leg. Rub the leg with salt and pepper.

Put the leg in a dutch oven along with 4 carrots (whole, peeled), 2 sliced onions, 20 garlic cloves (whole, peeled), a bouquet garnie (however you like to do that - I do thyme, parsley, bay leaf, celery tied in leek leaves), and a cup of white wine.

Cook at 300 degrees for 7 hours.

Bourdain tells you to make a dough/paste to seal the pot. I did that -- his ratios are off (I'd use 1/2 cup water to a cup of flour, maybe less water). I don't really think this is necessary, if you have a heavy dutch oven like a Le Creuset -- ain't nothing coming out of that lid.

Once it's done, I'd suggest pouring off the fat and running everything but the lamb thru a chinois to make a sauce. I didn't do that yesterday but it would've been even better.

Do you like the Le Halles cookbook? My boyfriend and I went to the restaurant when we were in New York last summer, and we thought it was quite good.