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Everything posted by Mayhaw Man
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Michael Pollan's open letter to Whole Foods
Mayhaw Man replied to a topic in Food Traditions & Culture
Chris, take a look by the door as you walk into the store. You might see a little stand holding some flyers extolling WF's efforts to buy local and support local products. The interesting thing about it is that, while certainly the products listed will be local, there won't be any perishable items on there (or at least there haven't been in LA (Magazine St) or DC (P Street), where I have seen these flyers. I mean, that's great that they are buying cheese stuff from John Folse and Tabasco (it's local, but, I mean, really, that would be like calling Coke a local product in Atlanta!), etc. I am pretty sure that this is part of a larger national effort and I would be interested to know if any of you have seen the same signs. B -
Dude, I don't know if you could call it a well made cocktail, but Cherry-Limeade from Sonic and Vodka was the first thing besides beer that I regularly drank. It's good. Really. Plus, they deliver it to your car. In a huge cup. Did I mention that it tastes really good? And that it's in a huge cup? OK, then.
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I am writing one for a national mag, but it won't appear until next Spring. It takes a while to hit these things and there are pretty small windows of time to get them when they are really full of stuff. I'll post it when the thing is scheduled or when it appears. It's a first appearance in this particular one for me. Now, back to the subject-another thing that I really liked about that market is that, the one in Dupont anyway, didn't start at 6 or 7 in the morning. Who wants to get up at the crack of dawn and go buy produce. Who can for that matter? Many folks have to deal with the kids, ingest caffiene, read the paper, mash on their blackberrys (it is DC, after all-business 1st!), or do whatever else you people do. Mainly, just not get out of the house at 6 to get the good stuff. Much better at 9, I think. Easier on the farmers coming in from wherever and easier on the shoppers. Very civilized (as I think DC tends to be in general-it's a highly underrated place. You have "courtesy tows" for God's sake! Whoever thought that up deserves to be Canonized, in my book. What a concept).
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I was at the Dupont Circle market last weekend. I have to say that, as someone who, that particular day, was not there to stock a week's worth of stuff but rather to gain fodder for something that I am writing, I was mightily impressed by the variety and the quality that I saw. Sure, it was not all cheap, but, in reality, that's the farmer's choice. As I understood it before I went (and this was confirmed by several sellers that I talked to) many of them could choose to sell everything that they have at the wholesale level directly to restaurants. The issue, for them, is that they can mark the product up a bit more (and reasonably, I thought, based on the prices that I saw last weekend) and make more money at the markets. This is good business-not gouging, in my opinion, anyway. There also seemed to be an opinion among the farmers that it was better for them, businesswise, to develop a relationship with individual customers than with restaurants where, in most cases, their wares are going to be sold somewhat anonymously-brand building on a small scale, I suppose. The quality that I saw, generally, was nothing short of top notch and it seemed that most of the people selling the stuff were either the growers themselves or people who worked on the farms where the stuff was grown. This is, believe me, markedly different from what I have been finding at many markets around the Southeast and deep South (I've been to a bunch this year). In many places I find that there are basically (not in the majority, by any means-happily) people who are reselling things that are, in fact, artisinally grown but not really by them. Now, really, I don't have a problem with that as I am usually just looking for something good to eat, but I find that I am much more willing to pay top dollar to someone who is actually the grower of the product. It's much more fun (to me) to eat things that I know the story behind than things that, well, are pretty anonymous. Another nice thing about the Dupont Market was that bakery (name escapes me-but it was a bunch of French guys) that sells there. I had a number (a large number ) of their wares and they were really, really good. It was nice having that as a breakfast option while shopping. There was an apple tarte that had creme fraiche kind of glopped in it that was one of the best pastries that I have had in years. It wasn't the prettiest by any means, but it was surely tasty. The sour cherries were outstanding (as were the regular ones) and I had a number of cheeses that I really enjoyed. I also reconfirmed that white peaches are not as good as regular peaches. Kind of, well, white tasting IMO. There were beautiful, though picked over, haricots vertes, nice little local artichokes (I had no clue that those things were grown up there), beautiful beets of several varieties, and some really nice tomatoes of several varieties as well. Everyone that I talked to, though very busy, was extremely friendly and forthcoming with detailed info about what they were selling and generally about how their business was doing. I enjoyed it thoroughly and look forward to going back later next month. We should be so lucky down here.
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I do a fair amount of "with recipe" magazine work and I can tell you that what I receive from most of the people I work with (including my so called close or even closer friends who are chefs) is basically useless other than, most of the time, I can glean the main ingredient and PERHAPS the vessel and method for cooking. Beyond that? Lots of phone calls following up and, eventually, calls from editors wondering if I just made the whole thing up. Currently, I am working on a book with two chefs and just getting them to WRITE DOWN the recipes is turning into a battle of will. I'll win, but we'll all need a beer or two at the end of the process. And just for the record, the process that Russ describes is pretty much exactly how it works-unless you are lucky enough to be working for a publication that happens to have a swell test kitchen and a cooperative and reasonably well humored staff. In this case, things are much easier in the long run and the recipes usually end up getting published in some sort of usable form.
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I have one of these and it works perfectly. I only grind very small amounts for drip coffee, though a friend has one just like this, but a slightly older model, and she grinds for espresso in her Solis and it works really well for that. Very consistent and very dependable. It is a good option, imo, for someone who is only grinding small amounts of coffee for immediate use. Though neither of us, come to think of it, ever change the settings. For some reason I would think that if you were making changes all of the time that it would not be nearly as nice a unit. We both just have the thing set where we like it and it seems to work like a champ. Yes, I know. Reccomending inexpensive coffee equipment here is asking for trouble and derision, but, well, until I have a maker that costs over a thousand bucks, I'm good with this. It's dependable and makes the same, exact thing everytime. That's really all I want.
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I get mine at Sam's (Costco would be about the same price I would guess) and they are really inexpensive there. Cheap, actually. And they are plenty strong enough for sous vide
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John Edgerton, nice guy, friend and one of my all time personal lifestyle heroes, gave a great lecture last year at the Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium of Sweet Tea. I'm pretty sure that the majority of the remarks were off of the cuff using brief notes, but I have written him for a copy anyway. There is a recipe here that is pretty much standard and works out pretty well, though, as was said above, it's not rocket science-sugar + tea = sweet tea. Personally, though I was born and raised and still live in the South, I'm not much of a sweet tea man. I drink gallons and gallons of iced tea, year round, but not so much sweet-though I am crazy about that Lebanese iced tea with the rosewater and pine nuts. It's pretty swell. Edgerton's basic premise was that the sweetness of the tea was related to the type of BBQ served in the region-and at the time it made a ton of sense. I hope that I can get a copy of it.
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I had to drive down Carrollton this morning out to UNO and passed by Brocato's and they are indeed working on the place! Of course, the rest of that part of Carrollton is pretty damned depressing (no news there, this whole place is depressing once you leave the comfortable environs of the miracle strip along the levee), but it will be great to get some ice cream, some cannoli, and what was and will be again the best cup of espresso in New Orleans. I took some pics, but have no usb chord here at work. I'll get them up sometime tonight.
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Unlike my colleague, who has posted a fine recipe here for Doberge Cake, I happen to believe that this really is descended directly from the Hungarian dobostorte-and I have lots of evidence to back it up, but it's at home on my desktop computer in my office. I have made this recipe (in fact, I did it while we were on our Hurrication and I had nothing to do but watch the 24 hour disaster channel and cry-it was a cake of great solace and comfort-especially as I knew that both of the Gambino's in Orleans Parish were deep under water while I was baking it) and, though pretty complex, it turned out great and it was enjoyed by all. Doberge Cakes are rich, rich, layer cakes, basically, and are so moist that they tend to keep for days and days. In fact, this is one of those cakes that benefits from being refrigerated overnight before serving. The cooling part, aside from obviously being a preservative for all of that buttercream, makes the cake more dense to the tooth. I love the things. And, it was a lemon and chocolate. I had a piece of both and it's likely that before I go home I will cut the all important half and half spot, just to mix things up.
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Today has been a rather slow day at work, what with people sneaking out all round the country for a very long holiday weekend and I have been wishing that I had done the same. But, no, I have to work on Monday in order to get finished preparing for the three day sales battle that is the Fancy Food Show. I was feeling kind of sorry for myself, but, miraculously, Uncle Sam (really) just walked into my otherwise lonely and desolate office with one of these babies! A really nice person that I did something for this week sent it to me (nice touch on the Uncle Sam guy) and I couldn't be happier with it. Had I known it would generate a reward this fine, I would have done a better job (just kidding-I did what I was supposed to do quite nicely, thanks). Happily, I am now still going to be bored, and probably, not long from now, slightly queasy with that "too much cake and icing feeling" but I would just like to confirm, in public, that really good cake is better than pie. This cake, this delicously complex boat anchor of a cake, is really just about the highest form of the bakers art and when it's fresh (as this one is-the bakery is all of 4 blocks from here), it's pretty danged skippy. I just thought that you would want to know this. Back to your work now. It's not time to go home yet.
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You could just cover it tightly with a layer of fondant and call it a wedding cake. Everyone else does.
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Make some. You'll be glad you did. Ever had an egg fried in lard? You'll never go back. Trouble maker? Well, Ok, but, really, I see myself more as a moral compass trying to guide the lost souls in this world to a land where pie is something to be enjoyed occasionally and cake, delicious cake, is something that will sit on the altar to be worshipped and studied-and then happily consumed at the end of the service.
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← I believe that it's important to take a firm, clear stand on the things that are important in this world. No need to mince words. Just consider the issue from a well informed point of view, weigh it out, and proudly let your choice be known I don't need no stinking public opinion. I like cake.
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As Michaleen Oge Flynn said to Feeney when he saw that Feeney was betting against the Squire, "Ooh, ya traitor ya!" Or perhaps, more accurately, this seems to me kind of like a drug dealer who convinces himself that he is somehow better than his clientele because he, "doesn't use the stuff." Cake is how you make your living. Pie is not how you make your living. Perhaps you need to sit down on the edge of the river and watch the barges go by while you ponder this important moral conundrum.
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Thanks for explaining all of that. Now I get it. Even more reason to take a stand for cake over pie. We don't even have pie here in the States. Perhaps I should retitle the thread: Delicious, skillfully made Cake vs. Fruit Goo between layers of poorly made pastry That should take care of any confusion.
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Sexton's A little piece, sadly one of the last little pieces, of old Destin that's left. It's a great place. Really great. Fresh seafood of all kinds. Also, you might want to head down to the docks and see what you can find in the late afternoon. A quick chat with a deckhand cleaning fish can sometimes yield some real bargains. Beer helps to sweeten the deal.
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smoking first pork shoulder this weekend
Mayhaw Man replied to a topic in Southeast: Cooking & Baking
Well, I feel pretty sure that you can handle it because everything, and I mean everything, that you could ever possibly want to know about butts is right here in the Giant thread of Butts Of course, you'll need to start reading now, because, otherwise, you won't have time to cook the butt. -
I would support the wadding up and throwing of fondant at brides making their otherwise glorious exits from wedding receptions. I suspect that, in a very short time, bridal magazines would have editorials warning of this new trend and that the result would be wedding cakes that were not constructed of ammo for inebriated wedding guests. Problem solved. Good Plan. You heard it here first.
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Right. Exactly. We agree. Cool looking stuff should also, just as importantly, be good to eat. Otherwise bakers could just use those bakers dummies and make a stack to the ceiling. Good cake that looks great is even more fun than just good cake. My complaint is good looking cake that is not good tasting because it has been covered in a sugary version of plastic. What's the point in calling it cake? Wouldn't it be more accurate to call it a one of a kind, sugar art, centerpiece?
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I was reminded of this thread in another important thread concerning cake (or more accurately-fondant-the ultimate enemy of good cake enthusiasts) and I thought that perhaps some of you might have been remiss in casting your votes. The polls will be open until I say that they are closed. And, until victory is clearly mine, well, they will probably remain open.
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Right here. Pie vs. Cake. The thread. The megabattle. There's still time to weigh in. The polls won't close for a few more hours yet.
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This is where you and I disagree. It's bad. That's that. That's the right answer. But seriously-judging from the answers here- admittedly a small sampling but lots of decorators and bakers are in the mix-I would say that I have hit on something: Apparently many people are willing to sacrifice flavor and goodness for good looks. I suppose that I am not suprised-after all, people pay crazy money for things all of the time that don't work as good or for as long as something that they could have paid much less money for that would have worked just as well, or even better. It's a status thing, I suppose. But carrying that out just a bit further-many of the responses here have suggested that you just don't eat the stuff. Well, ok. My question is why would/do you spend so much time working on something that even the baker and the decorator don't expect to be tasty? Shouldn't cake be good to eat? Isn't that the point? It's a treat, not a construction project. If you want them to peel something off, just put a cake covered in a nice icing in a little box, beautifully decorated, and let them peel off the box and EAT the cake. While it's true that I'm kind of pushing the point just a bit, I am being kind of serious. In what other food craft do people spend so much time making something that is basically inedible and that most people, apparently, do not enjoy?
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Riots? Hardly. Only a search for a deeper truth and the need to promote and foster intelligent discussion on burning topics of the day. Unless I bring up Okra. Then, well, I'm looking for a fight. All comers. No holds barred. Maggie- what set this off was that a friend of mine brought me a big honking hunk of wedding cake that was left over from a job that she worked on (she's a caterer). Turns out that it was a big wedding and that there was actually a BACKUP cake just in case the rabid guests wiped out the other one (but of course, they didn't-it was covered in fondant so, as one would expect, the first cake was not finished at all). The mother of the bride didn't want the extra cake (natch-it was covered in fondant) so my friend whacked it up and shared it among her friends. I was very happy, until I opened the box and saw the little sculpted, perfectly formed hunk of sugar art that resided in the box. I gamely PEELED the stuff off and enjoyed a very nice almondy kind of wedding cake with some butter cream between the layers. It was very good. But, it's that whole peeling thing-hell, I don't even peel shrimp. Why would I want to, or be forced to, peel CAKE? I want to eat it all-not just the delicious interior that lays hidden beneath that plasticy outer layer (no matter how beautifully decorated). That's silly. That would be like sucking out the red jelly and leaving the donut (well, not really-I could SEE doing that-but you see what I mean). A cake, with icing, should be considered a sophisticated food delivery system and ALL of it should be readily and happily consumable. Peeling Cake? If that's the plan, why not just make some kind of round, cake like box suitable for decorating and use that to COVER the cake? When it comes time for the bride and groom to whack the thing up and feed each other they can just remove the cover and cut the delicious example of the bakers art that lies beneath. This also would raise the safety factor as, though I can find no evidence to back this up (but that never has stopped me before-ever-and it vertainly won't now), I'm sure that many a groom has had to be rushed to the local hospital as he gamely tried to chew his way through the covering on the cake that the bride shoved in his mouth during that all important and oh so cute photo op. Carry on.
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Casa Vasca-I really liked the place alot. Plus, it's really fun to be on a trip to Manhattan and be able to tell people who are checking out your dinner plans, "I'm going to Newark! And I'm really excited about it!"