MsMelkor
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Posts posted by MsMelkor
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Melkor and I almost always spatchcock our birds (somehow that sounds R-rated!). Anyway, I simply cut out the backbone (and save it for stock, of course), while Melkor also removes the keelbone. Thoughts on this...?
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And the Martini House has an excellent wine list...
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I made lemon curd the other night and have been putting a dollop of that on my fresh strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries.
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I put the dry ingredients in the food processor, then pulse in chilled butter (cut up) and then chilled shortening. It's quick and I don't have to worry about my hands heating things up. Also I use as little (very cold) water as possible - just enough to bring the dough together.
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Goldilocks Bakery looks very interesting. Is the Richmond location near that asian-food mall? I never made it there but always heard good things about it.
Yes, it's in the Pacific East Mall (as is 99 Ranch Market).
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I was raised in *upstate* NY, which many NYCers consider to be the Midwest, and even I know not to cut a bagel in half vertically!
At my local Safeway they carry the most bizarre flavors of bagels, like energy bar and apple crisp, yet they do not have poppyseed. That's California for you.
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Just a question, why do you guys hate Boulevard so much? I'm not going to argue that's it's a destination restaurant, but I've been there a couple of times, and never had a horrible meal. And usually, I get out of there for around $100 (back in the day) - $200 per couple, which seems cheaper than CNH. Perhaps you can enlighten me, as I admit, I'm more about Asian food than Western style food.
--I'll admit the recent dessert offerings aren't my faves.
I just don't find it compelling. Most dishes I tried were fine, but nothing stood out as extraordinary.
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good on you two for taking the leap and checking it out for yourselves. sounds like one yay and one nay.
Actually there were three of us. I had about the same reaction as Melkor.
One thing that struck me as odd: After Pim left a few tomatoes on her plate, the server kept asking her after each course if everything was OK. I understand she wanted to make sure she was happy, but it seemed intrusive.
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I would heartily second the Dasaprakash recommendation. You can probably find a decent steakhouse back home, but I imagine good South Indian food is much harder to come by there.
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I ate there recently with a few other food-oriented people. There was much heated discussion among us on the merits of each item, so I hope my compatriots will forgive me if I have co-opted their reactions.
I'm totally with you on the strawberry gazpacho - David said it grew out of his belief that pureed strawberries and pureed tomatoes are very similar in taste and texture when taken out of context. I'm not so sure I agree with that, since the gazpacho was unmistakably strawberry.
The beet gelee was very...beety. Interesting, though. The black olive madeleines were a bit sweet, didn't you think?
I really enjoyed the corn croquettes. Great contrast of crunchy exterior and liquid center. Also loved the foie gras caramels - I could have eaten about a dozen of those.
I'm guessing David didn't bring his pastry chef to NY with him. That's a shame, as she created some amazing delectables for us. The highlight was probably the cherry crisp, which captured all that is good about the cherry.
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Pere Jeanty is Mediterranean, while Bistro Jeanty is a more traditional French bistro. I've had excellent meals at both.
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Is Johnny's Hot Truck the one that is always parked over on North Campus - the red one? When I worked at Cornell I lived on Wyckoff Ave (across from the Ag School frat house) and walked by that truck every day - I think it's still there. We always knew it as Louie's Lunch Truck. Perhaps there's another truck somewhere?
No, Hot Truck parks down at the bottom of West Campus. They show up late, maybe 10pm, and stay until everyone has passed our - usually around 4am. They claim to have invented french bread pizza - not sure if this is true, but they make some damn fine pizza! Very heavy, very greasy. Perfect food after a hard night in Collegetown.
NYT: I'll be at Reunion next year - hope you have fun at yours this year!
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Pim, Melkor, and I cooked for 16 people when we rented a ski house a few weekends ago. We made a butternut squash and carmelized onion gratin, portabella mushrooms, mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette, apple crisp, and ropa vieja (Cuban pot roast), which we started in the morning and left to simmer all day. One woman didn't ski because she had to do some work, so we asked her to keep an eye on the ropa and stir it periodically. She's a vegetarian, but she said that it smelled so good she had some - score one for the carnivores!
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Breakfast
I think that Sophia's is the best breakfast restaurant in Madison. The place is small, cramped, and crunchy. The service is...well...there really isn't any. That said, the baked goods, waffles, omelettes and all are phenomenal. Even the lowly blueberry muffin is so good you will want seconds.
[831 E Johnson, 10 block walk from the Capitol]
I used to live around the corner from Sophia's...I heartily second slbunge's recommendation!
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Fabulous blog, Pim! So what was your favorite dish of the trip...?
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A quick perusal through my 1967 edition of Joy of Cooking yields instructions for cooking opossum. Apparently it's best to trap them and feed them on milk and cereals for 10 days before killing and consuming them. Roadkill connoisseurs will be happy to note that squirrels, raccoons, and woodchucks do not need to be fed a special diet before being killed. And who knew that muskrat should be sauteed with minced onions and served with creamed celery? Ah, the joy of cooking!
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I can't believe I was just in Rhinebeck and forgot all about Calico!! *bonk*
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Hey Stone!
I travel to Rhinebeck several times a year for business and to visit relatives. I was just there last week and ate at Terrapin. I had the butternut squash soup and duck quesadillas, both of which were excellent. We were there on a Monday night, and the place was hopping! Seemed like a bit of a pickup scene, actually.
Houses in Rhinebeck can be quite pricey, and it's getting crowded with "city people", according to the locals (no offense). Red Hook is quieter, but there are fewer restaurants and shops in town. You might want to check out Tivoli too if you're looking for a peaceful small town.
In the summer, I like Del's Drive-In for burgers, fries, and shakes. Obviously a different feel from my other favorites (Cripple Creek, Le Petit Bistro, Gigi's, 40 West).
Good luck with the house-hunting, and stay in touch!
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Okay, so once again this topic must have been discussed, but I don't find too much on Julia's at Copia. Any experience here?
I've eaten there a couple of times. The food is good but not outstanding - there are just so many great restaurants in the valley (Martini House, Terra, TFL, Bistro Jeanty, Bistro Don Giovanni...) that it's hard to justify going here unless you go for Locals' Night on Thursdays (Thursdays - Sundays for Copia members) - $29 3-course prix fixe and free corkage. That's a pretty good deal for the quality of the food.
They're part of the Patina group, which also owns Pinot Blanc (which, incidentally, is up for sale).
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Melkor and I went there for dinner last night. The roast chicken was good, especially the skin - and I'm not a huge fan of chicken skin. But we just made the Zuni roast chicken at home the other day, and I don't think there was that much difference. The duck leg, however, was excellent. And I love the atmosphere there.
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I'm with Mudpuppie on this one. Just wish I had a matching nose.
For whatever it's worth, the folks at Cook's Illustrated / America's Test Kitchen did a test and found that garlic with the green shoot removed tastes as good as garlic without the shoot (keeping the shoot makes it bitter).
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I just bought Peter Reinhart's Pizza book, so I will be making pizza this weekend.
I have his pizza book too, but haven't gotten around to making anything from it yet. Maybe I'll try something this weekend and we can compare notes.
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Any comments on the Zuni roast chicken Melkor or Mrs. Melkor?
Did you follow the recipe pretty closely? Did it rekindle memories of eating it at Zuni (if you have)? Anything you would change? Comparison to other roast chickens you've made?
Alot of questions, I know; but Rodgers gives a lot of details in the recipe and I'm curious about...well I guess I covered that part above!
We salted it the day before, slipped garlic and thyme sprigs under the skin, and left it wrapped in the refrigerator. Then we roasted it, along with the giblets, in a cast iron grill pan at 425 for about 50 minutes. The plan was to roast it for 30 minutes breast-down, then flip and finish breast-up, but the back looked so nice and brown, and we liked how quickly the thigh was cooking relative to the breast, so we decided to just leave it on its back.
Once it was done roasting we moved it to a cutting board, poured off the pan juices, spooned the bread salad into the pan, and put the chicken on top of that. Returned it to the oven for 5 minutes, then turned off the oven and let it sit for 10 more minutes inside the oven.
In the meantime, we tossed the greens with some of the drippings and made gravy with most of the rest. Surprisingly the gravy was not too salty. The chicken was moist and flavorful, and the finishing it on top of the bread salad helped integrate the flavors of these two items.
Next time I might try flipping it halfway through. Not sure I would roast only breast-up, since that can make the breast cook too quickly. Usually I brine the chicken and rub an herb paste under the skin, but this way was good too and certainly less work. I really liked roasting it in cast iron - it seemed to speed up the cooking time and was a great size for the bird.
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Melkor and I are making Zuni's roast chicken recipe tonight - any suggestions/refinements?
(We're doing a food blog this week.)
Give me liberty or give me Zin
in Wine
Posted
The fifth is Rabbit Ridge, although I don't think RR wines are in the same class as the other 4 Rs. I'd rather consider the fifth R to be A. Rafanelli, which makes a somewhat hard to find but reasonably priced and very California-style zinfandel. Other ones to try include Dashe (made in the same warehouse facility as Rosenblum), Storybook, Turley (huuuuuge zins with lots of jammy flavor and alcohol), and Robert Biale. Of course, there are hundreds of Zin producers.
You might want to check out ZAP, which is an organization dedicated to Zinfandel.