Rachel Perlow

Well, I had it last Monday, so a little late now. I also want to point out that I did not order the pitiful looking Caprese, I was alone and therefore sitting at the bar/counter area (not the drinks bar, more of a diner counter) and watched the salad guy make lots of caesars & more than one Caprese. It really looked like they wanted big round tomatoes with no regard for taste. Sad. Carrot top - I made something similar with the arugula from my garden before Jason left on his business trip almost two weeks ago. (sniff) He's home tomorrow night, and the arugula plants are nice and full again, so I think something similar might be made over the weekend. Steak is great on top of arugula. Mmm.

It was probably the heat, wasn't it nearly 100 F on Tuesday? Even if not, it's never a good idea to get to a Farmers Market in the last hour, everything's been all picked through and sat out in the heat all day.

Would a Caprese Salad count? I made one last week, and since my own tomatoes aren't ripe yet, I'm not going to make another one until they are, so a description will have to suffice (rather than a picture, I mean). On a round plate arrange slices of fresh mozzarella, red ripe tomato and whole basil leaves, overlapping each other. Grind on some fresh black pepper and a sprinkling of sea or kosher salt. Then a generous drizzle of some really good olive oil, and finish with a light sprinkling of vinegar -- I've been using a Spanish Sherry vinegar lately and I vastly prefer it to run of the mill Balsamic (the blonde color is less distracting than dark Balsamic as well). This was served with served with crostini. Nice thick slices of rustic bread, toasted until crunchy throughout (about 10 minutes at 325F), lightly rubbed with a cut clove of garlic and drizzled with more olive oil. What a fabulous lunch. Compare this to the Caprese I observed being made at Umberto's Clam House on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Slices of a sad pink tomato were layered with the mozzarella -- such a shanda. No basil. No salt & pepper. A drizzle of olive oil of no particular consequence, more oil & vinegar at the table. Really, what is the point of this? Salad Caprese is only good when the tomatoes are ripe and in season. It should not be on any menu as a regular item, but only a seasonal speciality, IMO.

Many people have been asking me if we are doing it again this year... I was just waiting for confirmation of the date from Bobolink, it is in, so here we go! Third Annual NJ Potluck and eGullet Society Fundraiser Date, Time, Location: Sunday, September 18, 2005 at 12:30 PM. Bobolink Dairy, Vernon, NJ <-- Click link for directions. Like last year, I think it is a good idea to get a tent and tables for the food area. In addition, people should bring tents, tables, chairs, blankets, or whatever else they'd like to make themselves comfortable (if you have extras, it would be great to bring them to share, too). Please wear comfortable shoes, avoiding high heels, we will be at a working farm and there's a walk down a hill to the restroom. This event is also an eGullet Society fundraising event. Therefore, the charge for this event will be $20 per person (kids under 12 free). This amount covers about $5 for rentals and a $15 donation to the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, depending on attendance. We are requiring attendees to use our secure online payment system to make payment, links below. You may pay by major credit card, PayPal direct transfer or e-check. This enables all accounting to occur automatically and prevents the need for awkward handling of cash at the event. Please consider buying your tickets at the earliest possible date, so that we may put a deposit down for the rentals. We do not plan on selling tickets at the door, but if the need arises, these will be at a higher price. You may now begin RSVPing and posting what you intend to bring to the potluck! We have decided to skip the professional BBQ this year as there is so much food just from the potluck and I'm sure there are many experienced smokers & grillers out there that want to show off their talent. There's even a grill available if you need to finish off your dish on site. For the newbies, if you'd like to read more about our previous events at Bobolink, here are a few threads to check out: Second Annual eGullet NJ Pig-BBQ & Potluck, 9/12/04, to skip directly to the post event discussion and pictures, click here. eGullet NJ Pig-BBQ & Potluck, Sunday, 9/21/03, to skip directly to the post event discussion and pictures, click here. Also, in case you haven't read it, this is the thread that educated us all about Jonathan White's Bobolink Dairy. Here are the payment links: Potluck Admission - $20 per person ($5 rentals + $15 donation) Bread Lover Admission - $35 per person ($5 rentals + $30 donation) Cheese Lover Admission - $50 per person ($5 rentals + $45 donation) Cow Lover Admission - $75 per person ($5 rentals + $70 donation) Can't wait to see you all in September!

Yes, but not ridiculously so. From 15W, you have to get on Rt 21, you must have missed that first turn off (on the left) off the exit ramp. All along McCarter Hwy (Rt 21), there are signs at every underpass. However, you are coming from the side closer to Spanish Tavern, so the very first sign would have been the "turn here" sign, so is easy to miss. You were right there at Iberian Penninsula, I'm surprised you didn't stay there, meeting some friends? Also, you parked on Elm??? You were probably a block from Casa Vasca. Next time drop us a line, we may join you. Any excuse to go to the Ironbound.

Daniel, Jason was talking about Casa Vasca, I'll edit the quote in his post. The best part about going to Spanish Tavern, is that it's easy to get to, what with the countdown of signs pointing the way (X blocks to Spanish Tavern, X-1 blocks to Spanish Tavern, etc, turn here for Spanish Tavern). Although that seafood dish looks good, was it Mariscada?

The Absinthe expert also tried to point out that most of the tragedy of the "Absinthe Drinkers" was plain alcoholism. Absinthe is very high in alcohol, but because of the sugar and water added to it, it is very easy to drink. Therefore, you drink a lot of it, more than if you were drinking, say, straight whiskey. You drink more, you have more chance of getting addicted and becoming an alcoholic.

I've been making a lot of pickles lately. But, I can only bring them if we drive down, we haven't checked flights yet. So, possibly, but no guarantee.

Right now, you'll smell fermenting pickles. I've got to find a better place to cure them besides the cabinet over the fridge.

I thought I'd revive this thread as I've been making (cucumber) pickles the past week. My cucumber plants are thriving -- one of them looked like a nuclear mutant it was growing so fast in the beginning. Anyway, I got tired of eating fresh cucumbers for breakfast after the first couple of weeks, so I started picking them smaller and made some pickles. BTW, I planted two varieties, neither of which are Kirby, you just pick them when they are small (3-5 inches) to pickle them. Frankly, they are good that small fresh too. I just used a basic garlic dill pickle recipe I found on the web. They fermented much faster than I expected (they're in the cabinet over the fridge, so it's probably a little warm in there) and it never produced much scum either. They were at least half-sours by the fourth day, so I took them out of the crock* and packed them in quart sized plastic containers and put them in the fridge. I got two quarts out of the first batch and I imediately started a second. I used the remainder of the brine from the first batch, but added more salt, pickling spice and water to cover. I think I'll get at least three quarts out of this next batch. I'm curious, does anyone know which ingredient really starts the fermenting process? I think it is the garlic, so am wondering if you blanch the garlic in water, roast it, or soak in vinegar (I used no vinegar in my brine), wouldn't that afftec the fermenting process? Or, are those methods for the non-fermenting type of pickle? * The crock I used is a large FoodSaver cannister, with one of the next size smaller container's lids. This keeps the cukes down in the brine, but it has a small hole in the center (I took the vacuum sealer cap off) to allows the bubbles to escape.

There's no barbecue beans on that list. Watermelon? Watermelon's always good.

Each week's promo said there was to be a big surprise the following week. Standard promo stuff. The surprise this time was for the contestants not us, as they were genuinely surprised by their relative's visit -- even if we weren't.

Yes, please all, let's keep any political spats offline. Thank you. I got to watch the show, but it was not in its finished form. I'm looking forward to seeing the final edited version. Hmm, how ever could we get Tony to see Bobolink on a nice day?

Regardless, he was happy to have me post his experience, just forgot to tell me to in the email...

For the last time, Nizza is not the one who had the dinner. He was just posting a request for someone else. I sent the person in question an email. If they reply that I can post their email, I will.

That's up to them to register at eGullet and report. He emailed me, but not with the instructions to post his email. You wouldn't want me to publically post correspondance without permission, would you? If he emails me and asks me to post it, I will.

Here's a link to the NYT review, it won't last long. Referring to his mocking Rocco DiSpirito: "Because it's such a mean thing to do, with no context and no explanation." Ah, the no context or explanation part is what makes it so good for those of us in the know. We watched The Restaurant, we know what he's talking about. It makes the show extra special for Tony's fans. The lack of exposition is a slight risk when it comes to attracting a new audience, however.

Nizza is the 3rd person, not the traveler in question. It was someone new to the boards and Nizza offered to post for him. That's all.

Show premieres tonight. First episode? "Why the French Don't Suck" -- I love that title!

But those little stickers are put on the fruit by the packers, not by the store. The stores use the PLU as part of the register's pricing database, but I don't think the stores have control over which PLUs are on which fruit. And since a Fuji apple is probably not packed by the same packer as celery, I don't think they can be transfered casually.

I immediately thought of an Arnold Palmer (1/2 black iced tea, 1/2 lemonade) with a kick (add a splash of bourbon, although I'd probably prefer rum). This would make a good punch. Float some lemon slices and/or mint sprigs in it. Varmint -- want me to bring my punch bowl? I've been looking for an excuse to use it. (It's been sitting on a shelf in the garage ever since we moved here in 2001!)

It sounds like you need to make something very aromatic and kid friendly, like macaroni & cheese, something that the kids will clamor for until she can't say no.

Thank you so much, Curlz. I know that some of the restaurants used something from Newark, my parents' country club, for example, but I didn't know the name of the producer (besides Bindi -- which has a retail store in Totowa NJ). Here's a link to Nasto's website.

Around me, most of the sorbet in fruit shells at restaurants are by Bindi. Here's a link to their catalog page with these items.

re: Gardening. An herb garden is definitely worth it. Tomatoes, especially plum, too, if you have too much, make some sauce for the winter. But I'm getting really sick of cucumbers. I need to make some pickles, I think. I've alread started giving to neighbors and family.