Holly Moore

There are at least two wrong ways to serve a hot dog. 1. Construct the dog from chicken, turkey or soy products. 2. Serve it on a cold bun, just out of the package. I prefer mine all beef (ideally from Usinger) split, grilled, on a toasted, buttered New England style hotdog bun with brown mustard (or Raye's Mustard Mill yellow Factory Mustard), chopped fresh onion and a good, spicy Texas Wiener Sauce. The oddest dog and one of the tastiest dogs I've ever downed comes from Flo's in Maine. Their dog is aswim in mayonaise and bbq sauce. Minimum order is three.

Though out of the region, the Hamdog reminds me of the Oki-Dog as served in Los Angeles - two grilled dogs with pastrami and chili, mustard onion, wrapped in a tortilla. Either dog should meet one's minimum daily requirement of nitrates and cholesterol.

Carman's if they can eat in shifts. 150 is a lot of people. There's always Sansom Street Oyster House, if only we knew someone with connections. Also the new Smoked Joint might have the space or Tequilla. Welcome back if only for a few days.

In his review of Barclay Prime Craig LaBan declared that Barclay Prime's "triple plus" wine mark-ups and steep bar pricing - their "drink gouging" - very possibly cost Barclay Prime a coveted 4th Liberty Bell - "one of the few reservations I had in bestowing a fourth bell ... as close as a new restaurant has come to landing the distinction during its debut." While I prefer Grease Stains to Liberty Bells as meaningful symbols of excellence, this could effect Barclay Prime down the road. The question is, long term, which will/would make Barclay Prime more successful/profitable - exorbitant beverage prices or being one of the very few restaurants in Philadelphia to boast four LaBan Bells?

One of the owners stopped by my busienss today. He wanted me to know that Smoked Joint is now serving bread with their entrees. Also, the bluegrass music is being sponsered by a beer brewery and will happen at least once a month. Might be a blues open stage coming up too.

As I said above, I ate a few of Brud's last hot dogs and survived unscathed. Anyone who consumes NYC or Philadelphia dirty water dogs probaby runs the same risk as a Brud's customer. I searched the Boothbay Register and saw no outbreak of food poisoning attributed to Brud. But let's say that Brud was indeed getting too old to maintain safe health standards. There were two ways Boothbay Harbor could have dealt with Brud's problem. 1) Take away his income and his reason for being by not renewing his license or 2) find a couple of high school kids or other residents to give Brud a hand and keep let him stay in business til he wants to quit. Boothbay Harbor chose the big city, cold-hearted bureaucratic approach. Not the small town, help your neighbor approach that I would expect of a Maine community. Downtown Boothbay Harbor is less special without Brud and his cart at Brud's regular corner.

Someone just sent me an email referencing an April 2004 article in the Boothbay Register - Brud's Hot Dogs Denied 2004 License. I just called the Register to see if anything more developed. No. Brud Pierce did not get a license for 2004 and the town is not permitting any more vendor licenses - Brud had the last one - so no one can continue on the Brud Hot Dog tradition. It took me a few trips to Boothbay Harbor to finally connect with the legendary Brud. Brud's Hot Dogs. He sets his own schedule - always the same corner - but only when he's in the mood or needs the bucks. I got to know Brud a bit better when I taped a piece with him for Japanese TV. It was October of 2003 - so I probably got one of Brud's last hot dogs. I remember Brud pulling up in his scooter. We wanted to tape right away, but first things first. He walked across the street and watered some flowers in a window box. There were other interuptions to the taping. Whenever, and I mean whenever a couple walked by toting a camera Brud would say to the lady, "Would you like to have your picture taken with me." The answer was always "Yes." Brud would then wrap an arm around her and tell her husband, "OK, take the picture." Brud's dogs were basic dogs - steamed, served with mustard, onion and relish on a New England style steamed hot dog bun. Each one made slowly, with care. Boothbay Harbor doesn't seem to be doing much to commemorate Brud and his 60 years service as Boothbay Harbor's unofficial good will ambassador. The town fathers won't even let someone take over the cart and continue the tradition. Which is too bad. But I guess progress is progress, even in Maine. Which is also too bad. At the very least, there should be a life-size bronze statue of Mr. Brud and his cart permanently parked at Brud's corner.

I've used this site CyberRentals - Maine on a couple of occasions with great results. If it's not too far up the coast for your vacation, try the Boothbay Harbor area.

Square Donuts

This site has recipes for both a banana ketchup and a blueberry ketchup - either of which could easily be adapted to desserts. The site's faq also assures readers that there is probably no truth to the rumor that ketchup contains pig blood.

When someone calls you a "foodie" and you don't punch them in the nose.

My experience is dated. My parents retired from north Jersey to Seneca South Carolina in the late '60's and I was a regular visitor to the area through the early 90's. At first my visits were always preceded with a shopping list from my mother - all the ingrediants she couldn't find at the local supermarkets. Mostly ethnic items like her favorite brand of canned Italian tomatoes and pasta. As more and more Yankees moved in the supermarkets started carrying more and more "northern foods" until eventually there has no need for me to travel with an extra suitcase of food. I knew it would no longer be an issue when, in the early 80's, I stopped by a small butcher shop to pick up a roast my mother had ordered. There in the display case, along side all manner of pork cuts, was a row of Dietz and Watson scrapple.

The beef: Enough fat in the patty to be greasy and juicy. 20% works nicely. Sirloin ground from choice grade beef. I seem to prefer certifed Black Angus even though some feel it's a marketing scam. Hand formed, loosely packed patty. No larger than 1/3 of a pound. 5 oz or so. Half pound burgers are rarely cooked properly and usually don't hold together during eating. Thick enough to cook a true medium rare - erring, if need be, on the rare side. eColi free Grilled til there is a bit of a crust and brown freckles are present. Or charcoal broiled or char-broiled. The Bread/Bun: The proper meat to bun ration. More meat than bun. Nothing fancy. I've had bad luck with "brioche rolls" They always seem to crumble. I'm happiest with a basic burger bun, Metropolitan Bakery multi-grain bread, Wonder Bread or a Thomas's English muffin. Toasted AND Buttered. The Toppings California Style with sliced tomato (only if vine ripened and in season - though Ugly Tomatoes are acceptable), iceburg lettuce, a thin slice of Bermuda onion, and mayonnaise. (Anyone know why iceburg lettuce is called iceburg lettuce?) Aged cheddar and bacon A good patty melt is also a great variation - toasted rye bread, fried onions, cheddar cheese. Or, maybe my favorite, a slice of Bermuda onion and red relish. On the Side Fresh cut 1/4" (NOT SHOESTRING), twice fried french fries or real onion rings. To Drink A thick vanilla milk shake made from a decent quality ice cream and milk. Topped with whipped cream, and with the blender container still half full along side.

Making them is brilliantly covered here.

I never followed the original series, so there is one factor I don't get. As I understand it, in each episode there is an Iron Chef and a challenger. ie In one episode Bobby Flay is the Iron Chef and Rick Bayless is the challenger. How are the Iron Chefs determined - the whim of the producer or is there actual logic to the process?

At Sylvan Park, a pleasant meat & three eatery in Nashville they serve fried corn as one of the threes on Tuesdays and creamed corn as one of the threes on Wednesdays. The thing is, it's the exact same corn. I asked them about this. They agreed it was the same style corn both evenings - kernels of corn with some water and starch added. And no, they didn't know why it was called different names on different days. What peaked my curiosity in the first place was the term "fried corn." I hadn't come across it before. Is this a typical meat and three dish, and is it indeed the same as southern style creamed corn? If not, how is it prepared? While I'm at it, why is it "and three" and not "and two?" My theory is that with money being so tight in many rural regions, prices had to be kept low, meaning smaller portions of "meat." To balance out the plate and fill up the customers, places took to offering three vegetables instead of the more miserly two.

To All: Please, no more generalizations about residents of various areas of the state. It's invalid and not in the spirt of eGullet or the eGullet Member Agreement. Otherwise I'm going to have to step in and do some heavy pruning.

I managed to do some foraging around Oxford during October's SFA Symposium. For BBQ try the Handy Andy Grocery and Market. Don't be misled by the name. It's all about BBQ. I'll second Dean's recommend of Taylor Grocery which, despite its name, is indeed all about Catfish. Also head to the Beacon Restaurant for breakfast and the Ajax Diner for down home cookin'. The Ajax is on the square, downtown, but easy to miss unless you see the sign on the door. And if you happen to come across a professor who doesn't really look like a professor, walking about and cradling a bottle of Jack Daniels, follow him. He knows something about eating.

Me too. I'm in Nashville every other Tues/Wed. But if I'm in town, I'll be there.

Looks way too efficient. Takes all the fun out of hanging out in Varmint's kitchen and being in just the wrong place as he moves to and fro. As the project progresses a couple of time lines would be fun. The first, the timing as promised by the contractor. The second, the real time for the project.

Was there last year - Some pics. A beautiful setting and oysters by the bucket full. Best advice - get there early, just as the gates are opening, and BYO-Chair.

If you're up for a bit of an outting, either an overnight or same day round trip, have lunch or dinner at Las Mananitas in Cuernavaca, about 50 miles south of Mexico City. A beautiful outdoor dining patio and one of the finest restaurants in Mexico - also a member of Relais & Chateaux I did four days there a few years ago and can't wait to get back.

One theory on the history of the hoagie says the name came from Hogs Island. The Hoggies where ship builders. Their wives would would fix the lunch the Hoggies took to work by hollowing out a piece of Italian bread and stuffing it with antipasto salad. Used to be a place on 11th just off Locust, Hog Island Hoagies, that prepared hoagies in that manner. Damn fine eating.

A scoop like the Zeroll, while quite good for dipping ice cream, is designed more for lowering a dipping parlor's food cost than for ease of use. It isn't really a "scoop." The correct method to use one is to drag it along the top surface of the ice cream. It works like a plane, shaving off a sliver of ice cream that, by its designed shape, the scoop rolls into a ball - sort of like rolling a ball for a snow man. In the process it traps a lot of invisible air into the "scoop" of ice cream that the customer doesn't see. I forget the exact percentage - but a rolled portion of ice cream may have just 70-80 percent of ice cream as the same dimensioned portion from a regular scoop.

It was better when I was writing for the City Paper and had command over the table. Then I could taste everyone elses without having to share mine.