slbunge

I'm know a few people who are vegetarians who know 'other' vegetarians who eat cold Oscar Mayer hotdogs from the package on ths sly. Sort of like the smoker who sneaks outside for a drag when noone is looking. And, with the nutritional content being somewhat heavy on the fat, I long ago heard a rather catchy term of art for our homegrown sausage: death tubes. Powerful stuff, the hotdog.

I was thinking this same thing. Looks like the Pompano that I remember people fishing for in the surf off of Gulf Shores, AL. Fabulous grilled with the skin-side down until it is charred. The flesh then lifts off the skin beautifully.

As a control engineer and sometimes beer-maker, you have become my hero. A PID controller should be able to be had for a reasonable amount of money through industrial salvage sorts of places. I can dig if anyone is interested. One interesting thing I have been thinking about is that becaue there is no contract between water and the circulating medium, pretty much any old pump will do. No need to look for stainless wetted parts. As an example, a pump for an outdoor fountain would probably work very well, as long as the parts can take the heat you are trying to achieve. Good show.

No need to hang you head in shame. I like the fact that you still use the low-tech approach to the sport rather than towing a ranch home onto the ice for the season. Do you cook the sunnies similar to the walleye? We've always sauteed the tiny filets in butter nude rather than coating them.

For me, tops on the list would be Starbucks. Not for the regular stuff that people (including me) bash them for, but rather for screwing up their 'holiday blend' of coffee. It used to be their only coffee that I thought was palatable. A bit of winey character that I like. This year it tasted like their regular house blend in a red cup. Bleh.

I was going to suggest similar. Salt the fish and sit in the refrigerator for maybe an hour while you are pre-heating (marinating my also be good but I haven't). Hot, well seasoned cast iron skillet with the oven preheated and waiting at temperature. A quick sear on the skillet and then into the oven. I'm actually not put off by the fishy-ness of the fat so I cook this fish with the skin on and that subcutaneous layer of fat helping to prevent drying. After removal from the oven, I let it sit for two minutes or so in that hot pan and then peel the skin and any of the bloodline away (if near the backbone you may have substantial brownish bloody tissue to remove). Turn it over on the skin side for presentation to see the nice seared flesh. It would be interesting to hear if you get an internal temperature for us. Rarely do fish prep instructions include internal temps. Perhaps because the flakiness of the flesh makes it hard to get an 'internal' temp. I like the smoking idea as well.

Sulmona is, in fact, immediately before you would get to Polcari's. There is also Abruzzese Meat Market which is across Salem Street from Polcari's very near where Parmenter tees into Parmenter. There seem to be the Abruzzese shoppers and the Sulmona shoppers and never the two shall mix. I agree also with the value of shopping at Alba and Guiffre. Alba has hard-to-find Italian green-grocer finds like Sicilian eggplant and cardoons.

menton1 (and others), where would you send someone reading this thread looking for good seafood in greater Boston? I'd say moderately expensive, except that fisherman's platter I had was over $20. ← One solid place would be East Coast Grill in Cambridge. No reservations which can be irritating. I usually go for whatever they have on their specials board. Had an incredible striped bass this past summer.

In a curious aside, is 'Port' the only of the name controlled proposals whose designation is not in the language of origin? Port is most certainly the English version of 'Porto', no? I'm actually in favor of allowing name control of food items that are traditional and tied to a specific region of a country. Using '-style' or '-esque' (or whatever) after the name of the product sure seems to be hardly a burden for producers.

Oh yeah, baby! Only one slight problem: Bobby Short's performance is so mesmerizing (at least I found it so the one time I took it in), it might even distract me from paying proper attention to my date. ← Another slight problem (click).

I won't flame you for your last statement because in my experience I have seen that to be true. Certainly, there are many who do their research but it seems sort of 'trendy' to buy organic right now. I will say that, though you challenge Doc above, I think that Deborah has identified some of the risks of elevating BGH manually that are quite striking. We should not discount the research that indicates significant stress on the herd. Even if the result isn't a direct, measurable difference in human health, we all should be concerned about animal husbandry practices resulting in such stresses that are used solely by a drive to produce cheaper milk. Edit: to correct clunky sentence.

For your future trips, if you flying and find yourself hungry either as you arrive or are leaving, do not miss Jalapeno Loco on Howell avenue right near the airport. Sort of Mexican comfort food with a slant toward Oaxacan specialties. Owned by a very nice couple, the place is well run with speedy service. The food is quite a level above most of the Mexican family restaurant food I have eaten. If they have the empanadas de camarrones with salsa cruda on the menu, try it. Other excellent dishes include their version of chiles en nogadas and shrimp del valle. All that and it would be difficult to spend more than $15 per person, even with a beer. 5067 S. Howell Avenue...just north of the Milwaukee airport terminal.

Wow. Thank you for this information. Have you been to the restaurants?

We used to drive from Milwaukee (Wauwatosa, actually) just to have dinner at Il Ritrovo so I understand how you feel. It's a bit of a hike farther from Madison but I've been tempted.

Outstanding. Thanks for the great photos.

Simple answer is: rarely. In the eyes of the current-day Milwaukee restaurant, smelt (sometimes, smelts) and fish fry seem to be two different animals. Smelt can still be seen on some Milwaukee menus in the spring but as a sort of specialty item unrelated to the regular fish fry. Sightings of good fried smelt seems to be getting rarer. Sad.

While I agree that many a Friday Night Fish Fry in the Milwaukee (or Madison) area might not be worth eating, there are some that still offer Lake Perch and Cod. It is worth checking before you go to see what sort of fish they use. I've even seen seen bluegill at Palm Garden (not great at all). Also, we haven't even touched on the coleslaw 'issues' with the fish fry. Tangy vinegar and oil based slaw? Creamy slaw? Of course, that brings me to a question, where are these restaurants getting Lake Perch? Is there any commercial fishing in the Great Lakes? Or, is it similar to Walleye where it is coming from Canada?

As a former Milwaukee resident, I've had the fish fry at 'Serb Hall' a number of times (in addition to going to a couple of wedding receptions and bowling a few games). Quite and event on a Friday night during lent. I do think that they do well for the number of patrons they serve on any given night but for the quality of the food, it is certainly not the best in town.

Haven't been in about 2 years but it is very good. Interesting 'tasting' concept on the menu with the items loosely organized by categories that help identify how to pull flavors together. My memory fails me now so I dont' have good examples of the category names but it works. Nice wine list as well.

Depends. If you want something fast and fantastic with little atmosphere I would go to Mei Sum Bakery (formerly Mix Bakery) for a Bahn Mi. Order it hot to get some nice slices of bird chilis. Carot, cuke, and fresh cilantro. Great french roll (although I've heard they changed their rolls recently). Their secret sauce is amazing (rumor is that the secret is duck fat). Around $2 for a sandwich made to order. [36 Beach Street, Chinatown]

Over on Chowhound there is a post indicating that Herbsaint is opening tomorrow. The post is from someone named Joe Briand and Google tells me he is the general manager of the restaurant. See the post here (note: bandwidth hog). Edit: google result included.

I went down to help an old friend demolish the finishes on the first floor of his home in New Orleans over the weekend. To get there, we had to drive through Metarie on Metarie Road. There is electricity and gas throughout Metarie although phone service isn't up and running yet. What I did notice is that small players on the food scene at the edge of New Orleans are beginning to open. There was a few coffee shops open and a couple of small bar and grill (e.g. Metry Grill?) sorts of restaurants that were either open or had signs indicating they would be open in a week. Good signs for the food-economy I think. Also, while watching the news in Baton Rouge we saw a reporter on Bourbon well after curfew and there was a smattering of people moving along the street getting to the watering holes. If I remember, it sure looked like power was available.

As has been pointed out by those more familiar with publishing than yourself, it's common practice and we don't even know if they were sent the whole book, or the final copy. ← But with your assertions that the world of professional cooks at this level is full of people who may as well be hit-men, it seems like people with the chops of Batali and Pepin would be well aware of the dangers of blurbing based on a preview chapter. Perhaps we'll see less blurbing from them in the future since they have been burned on this one.

Also, for a late dinner on Friday night, go to the Franklin Cafe. You will need a cab from the Financial District but it isn't too far. The Franklin has great food and the kitchen is open until 1:30am on Weekends. You will likely be dining with people from the local food-service industry (cooks, mostly). Great value, strong drinks, and really good service. [278 Shawmut, South End]

There are some good threads on Boston but I'll chime in specifically regarding your request. For a decent Irish Pub that isn't too hard to get to, I would go to Matt Murphy's in Brookline. Fantastic fish and chips, good beer selection, solid wait staff and a decent atmosphere with music. [14 Harvard St, Brookline] Southie would probably be a better spot for Irish but I never spent much time there while we lived in Boston so I can't recommend a spot. I mention Tim's Tavern in another thread (click) which is a good spot for locals. Another nearby if you want more of a hipster doofus feel is a place called the Delux on Chandler Street. A good bar with well-made meals. [100 Chandler St, South End] Also in the thread about Tim's I mention Daily Catch (aka Calimari Cafe) which, in my opinion, should not be missed. Also, that puts you in the North End which is certainly one of the best food neighborhoods in the city.