Rachel Perlow

Re: Cannolis The best cannolis are at Madonia Bakery. In fact, I don't even like cannolis except for the ones at Madonia. However, Jason got an inexperienced countergirl yesterday. She was very skimpy with the cannoli filling. It was embarrassing when we were at our friend's house, raving about these cannolis and then we opened the box and they were only 2/3 full. You could hold them up and look through them, there was air space between the filling and the top of the shell. Very very dissapointing. I mean they still tasted great, and really, 2/3 full is enough filling, but it was just wrong. Next time we go, I'm going to wait for the countergirl who I know is good. Hmm, you guys won't know who that is, so check the first one before letting your girl fill the rest. This is what the cannolis should look like Oh! Jason got a picture of my favorite countergirl last year. Not a great pic, though, I should just ask her name!

Look at the prices of the crabs in these two pictures. I was chatting with another woman who noticed that the crabs in the 3 for $3 bin weren't moving as much as the crabs in the 3 for $4 bin, while the ones in the 3 for $5 bin were quite fiesty. I pointed out that they probably reprice the bins each day, and the 3 for $3 crabs were probably the oldest. Spend more and buy fiesty crabs. I mean, what would you even do with crabs that weren't fiesty fresh? Meanwhile, the vongole were quite fresh. They smelled great and you could even see some of them moving their feet in and out of their shells.

Shopping notes: Two weeks before Christmas isn't as bad as Good Friday before Easter, but all the stores were more crowded than on a typical Saturday. In particular, Teitel Brothers was nuts. They had a guy at the door to let in customers just a few at a time. Despite that, the store was packed. You know, I think the problem with Teitel Brothers is that they actually have too many guys working behind the counter. I suppose that keeps the wait shorter, but the more countermen behind the counterman, the more customers they pack in the store, and there isn't that much floor space that isn't taken up by groceries. Don't go in there on a busy day if you are claustrophobic. The countermen like to have fun by busting (customers) balls, which just confuses the situation further. There is no way to keep in communication with the guy who is helping you as he goes back and forth getting what you've requested, going to the slicer, etc. And you can't talk to another guy: they ask if you are being helped, which you are, but say you have a question, the first guy gets all annoyed at you and the second guy if you talk to the second guy. There was some talk that these guys work on commission, is that true? If so, then I feel justified in talking to the 2nd guy, the 1st guy wasn't very helpful in answering my questions, but then a 3rd guy said the 2nd guy is full of shit and didn't know what he was talking about when it comes to whatever I asked him about. The only good part about Teitel Brothers is that thier prices are at least 20% less than the retail stores (for example, the hanging dried sausages and salamis are $6.99/lb at Teitel and $8.99/lb at Mike's Deli; yes, all varieties). But the negatives are as I've outlined above. Also, they push you to get more than you want. For example, I asked for a certain cheese. He held up 1/2 an ~8" wheel of the cheese, "you want 1/2 or the whole thing?" he asked, as if those were the only responses. In the past I would have taken that 1/4 wheel, but I was getting annoyed at this point and said I wanted a 1" wedge. He held the knife (indicating a 2" wedge), I said, "no, smaller!" Don't let them push you around. The moral of the story? Only go to Teitel Brothers when you know exactly what you want. Even better, write down what you want -- a clear list, even specifying the thinness or thickness if you are having stuff sliced -- because your counterman will be on the other side of a crowd when he's slicing it.

Roasted Peppers and Onions Turn oven to 450F. Slice onions, put in a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, dried or fresh herbs (basil, oregano, thyme). Spread evenly on an aluminum foil lined sheet pan, place in the oven. Use a combination of colors of bell and Italian frying peppers. Clean and cut into strips. Sprinkle with the same stuff as with the onions, and spread on its own foil lined sheet pan and put on the other oven shelf. I did them on separate sheet pans because the onions and peppers take a little different time to cook, the onions a little longer (hence they go in the oven about 5 minutes before the peppers). Every 10 minutes or so, take them out of the oven, use a wooden spatula to stir and respread out the vegetables. They should be done after the peppers have been in the oven for ~25 minutes, having stirred them up twice during the process (oh, and switch oven shelves after stirring). Both the onions and peppers were cooked just right. In the past the onions have burned on me because the smaller pieces tend to stay more on the bottom of the pan. Also, it is hard to cook a lot of vegables on top of the stove on on the grill. To serve, either place them in separate bowls or combine them into one dish. Use to top sausage sandwiches. The leftovers are great for omelet fillings, soups, stews, spaghetti sauce.

I wrote to Heinz' Customer Service, here's their response:

Hmm, I had a very VERY bad experience after eating watermelon a few years ago. Interestingly, it did not turn me off of watermelon, but has made me phobic about scrubbing the outside of all melons with dish soap and hot water before slicing into them.

Good to know! BTW, I just wanted to put a link to Jason's piece in the NYT in this thread, click for "Tarte au Teaneck." They didn't put the picture on the Times site, but it is very similar to the one of "Fruit Tarts" above.

Mmm, barberueben, my favorite!

The most hilarious part was that the fuck-up "head" chef is now a junior chef at the (busier) restaurant down the road. They didn't say who's running the kitchen at Bonaparte now. I wonder if it is Lee, the somewhat more competant underling?

Did you get your favorite pair of pants back?

Yes, I have the menu right here, it is $58 for the 4-course prix fixe. Here's the full menu with a la carte prices: 13.50 . . . Porcini Salad with Mache, Ham, Walnuts and Fine Herbs *** 15.00 . . . Crispy Oysters with Truffle and Caviar 14.00 . . . Pan Seared Sweetbread with Sauternes Sauce *** 28.00 . . . Confit and Roasted Gouse with Braised Swiss Chard 32.00 . . . Roasted Sturgeon with Sauternes and Caviar Sauce, Leek Fondue *** 8.00 . . . Buche de Noel, Macarons de Saint-Emillion Addition: I received the press release digitally, here it is, so that you could see the French description of the dishes and the actual names of the featured wines:

I know that KT didn't send it in. In fact, they only found out about it when a friend of her son called at midnight to tell them about what he had just seen. KT was watching Letterman at the time!

It's like ketchup, but a little spicier. Hold on I'll look for a link & edit this... Well, I can't find a picture of the Heinz Chili Sauce bottle, but here's a link to the Heinz Chili Sauce Holiday Meatballs recipe. You can substitute hot dogs for the meatballs. I think Heinz is ashamed of their Chili Sauce. I can't find anything about it on their site except for a few recipes that call for it.

But the wasabi peas are always what's left at the bottom of the bowl of Japanese snack mix.

Jason and I were invited (along with 35 or so other food media moguls) to a "Christmas in Bordeaux" party at Les Halles, which occurred last night. Yes, Tony was there, but for once he wasn't the focus of the evening (OK, just a little). It was a lovely evening, starting with white and red Bordeaux wines and raw oysters minionette. I hadn't tried raw oysters in a couple of years, and I always try the things I don't like every few years (just in case my palate changes) -- and, as someone pointed out, "if you're going to try them, this would be a good place to" -- so I did. They were amazing. Small and sweet, not fishy at all. I think I mostly enjoyed them because they were small -- not as much squishy texture, which is what I mostly don't care for about raw oysters. After a while, we were encouraged to find our seats (the very long table had actual place cards), and Philippe Lajaunie explained to the company how the menu reflects the Christmas dinners of his youth. The table was decorated simply, yet beautifully, with candelabras, red tree ornaments, and nuts in their shells were strewn across the center; the menu for the evening tied with a bow at each place setting. The starter was Crispy Oysters with Truffle and Caviar. These were very flavorful, the caviar nicely accenting the fried oysters and lemony sauce, although the breading was a little heavy to my taste. This was followed by a salad of Porcini mushrooms, mache, fried ham, candied walnuts, and herbs. It was dressed simply with a little walnut oil and each ingredient stood on its own and in interesting combinations. The main course was Goose Two Ways, roasted and confit, with braised swiss chard. The roasted breast was served medium rare, and seemed very much like steak to me. The confit of goose leg was tender as if it were braised. The swiss chard was richly studded with bits of bacon. The coup de grace was the sauce of reduced stock and wine, so rich, it practically made Jason swoon. Finally, the meal was completed with a slice of Buche de Noel. The chestnut filling was rolled into a very moist cake (practically wet with syrup), set on a puddle of creamy sauce and a slash of dark chocolate. I was quote pleasantly surprised by the buche, it was way better than any jellyroll cake I'd ever experienced. We had thoughts of cutting out early after the goose, I'm glad we waited. The courses were each accompanied by various Bordeaux wines, which frankly, I'm not qualified to comment on. I remember the one with the fried oysters went very well, but the red with the goose, was just too tannic for me. So, by now I've made you all jealous, right? Why am I telling you all about this private party if you can't get the goods too? Well you can, that's why. Brasserie Les Halles is offering the Noel 2004 a Bordeaux menu as a prix fixe or a la carte from December 19-26 at both NYC locations. There are alternate courses to the oyster appetizer (sweetbreads, I would have liked to try that) and goose (roasted sturgeon). In addition, the Buche de Noel is available to purchase whole ($50) and would make an impressive dessert to bring to any upcoming Holiday party. We're hoping to get some pictures via email from some of the other attendees (we didn't bring the camera) and permission to post to goose recipe (which was included in the press kit). Meanwhile, here's their website if you'd like to make reservations. Joyeux Noel, mes chèrs!

Jay Leno made fun of Mo'Pho's name during the headlines portion of a recent episode of The Tonight Show. Here he is holding the Mo'Pho menue with his comment, I suppose it was funnier taken in context. He apparently suggested that the owners of the restaurant, being immigrants, didn't know the full meaning of the name. The joke's on Jay, as far as I'm concerned. We're working on getting a downloadable clip of the segment.

What's that?

Mmm, honey roasted mac nuts! I'm forwarding her all the suggestions (even the non-food ones, that soap sounds delightful), since she's probably getting stuff for people other than us, like my brothers and their families, dontcha know.

Oh, that's right, there was a sign on the door, something about lunch hours. OK, back to default rule when going to an out of the way restaurant: call first! Dinosaur BBQ, NYC phone number: 212-694-1777

Thanks for the info on the salt. They're on a cruise, stopping at the varioius islands, for about another week (it's a 10 day cruise). I can contact her by email, and she'll probably call me from her cell a couple times, so keep the suggestions coming.

Hmm, sounds like an eGCI course is in the offing?

Jason put the link to a scan of their takeaway menu (there's a few more offerings on the in-house menu, catfish and boiled shrimp, for example) on the first post of this thread -- the hours are on there. Meanwhile, for this page, here they are: Tues-Thurs: 11 AM - 11 PM Fri & Sat: 11 AM - Midnight Sun: 12 PM - 9 PM Closed Monday

My parents are on a cruise of the islands right now. She checked in with me the other day asking what we would like her to bring back for us. We are actually pretty well stocked on Kona coffee, so we requested good mac nuts and some of the pink Hawaiian sea salt (is there a specific name for that?). What are we missing? Is there something else we should request (that's packable or shipable, obviously -- so no shave ice).

I had to go back and check, because I was pretty sure that there were no pictures of the 4 of us. I was right. Those are two staffers, sorry, I don't have a name, for either.

About the location vis a vis mass transit. Get off whichever train line you are on (someone outlines the appropriate ones above), at 125th and Broadway. Walk one block west, turn left onto 12th. Dino BBQ is about 1 block up the right. It's weird the way the roads intersect up there, but it really is only a two block walk from the (elevated) subway stop. I hope they work out some kind of parking arrangement with Fairway. There was this huge lot right across the street, with big "Fairway only" signs, and a get preventing people from accessing 12th. But I didn't have trouble parking our (big) car on the street, less than 1 block from the restaurant, at 9 PM on Saturday. Regarding the fried green tomatoes, I didn't notice any Cajun seasoning on them, just a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese.