Jump to content

ghostrider

participating member
  • Posts

    1,754
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by ghostrider

  1. Yeah, but Mozz is a convenient abbreviation for those of us who can't remember how the hell to spell mozzarella (I just googled to make sure I've got it correct here.)

    and it's convenient to say for those of us who sound like complete dweebs saying "mozzerella". :biggrin:

    Well the doc says I'm OK tonight & can cut out the drugs.

    Please continue muzzing & mozzing, I'm already over it. :laugh:

    Back on topic - somewhere, I can't recall where, I ran across "tizers." Apps, appys, or tizers, damn, just put the word back together.

  2. Also "muzz."

    is "mutz" better?

    For some reason I prefer "mozz."

    But I'm on heavy antibiotics this week & will likely disavow all of this next week.

    Don't stop saying "muzz," context is everything & it always works well in your posts.

    Out of context, it just makes me think of those rotting peaches. But that's my problem.

  3. A sidelight on Indian food in Hoboken:

    when I want to the Hoboken Arts/Music Fest back in May, India on Hudson & 3 other Indian places (Saffron was likely one of them) all had stands out at different points along Washington St.

    All 4 of them, despite the different names, were exactly the same, serving exactly the same food, even down to the color-xeroxed signs explaining what each dish was.

    I was wondering whether this mean that they're really all owned by the same person, or they just decided to pool their resources for the day.

    So I had a plate of pretty good Indian food that afternoon, and have absolutely no idea which restaurant's cooking it represented. As a result I've already forgotten the name of the one that sold, if not cooked, the food I had. (It wasn't India on Hudson, which I was looking for thanx to earlier posts here, but didn't find until I'd already succumbed to hunger.)

  4. Apps.

    Did anyone say that yet?

    Appetizers isn't so long or difficult to say that it requires abbreviation. Come on, say it with me now "Appetizers."

    :biggrin:

    Or "appys," which seems to be a uniquely Jersey thing, at least in my experience.

    Also "muzz." Unless you really & truly mean "moldy fuzz" - you know, the stuff that appears on overripe peaches if you don't deal with them quickly enough.

  5. Is the height of the cooking grate adjustable? WHen I was buying a grill 14 yrs ago I looked at those Weber kettles & that was the problem with them.

    I bought something called The Swinger Mark II instead. I forget who makes it , it's more rectangular, the grill has 3 height settings, works brilliantly.

  6. These days I have become a real minimalist with an Italian bent. Lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, maybe some parsley & a few fresh herbs, all from my local farmers' market, the best EV olive oil & wine vinegar I can find. It's all that I need.

    In my younger days, when I was a reasonably accomplished Chinese cook, I used to make a fabulous bean sprout salad. Parboil the sprouts for 1 minute, drain, rinse & chill. Whisk up a dressing of sugar, pinch of salt, rice vinegar, few drops of sesame oil (the smoky kind). Just before serving, chop scallions, toss with the sprouts, add dressing & toss once more. A totally refreshing summertime dish.

    I could look up the recipe if anyone wants, I still have the cookbook from whence it came, I no longer recall the proportions of sugar to vinegar, which is key.

  7. Took a stroll down Park Ave this afternoon after hitting the farmers' mkt & stuffing the fruits/vegs into the car. (Yes we are still in Rutherford.)

    The Spring Grill now has its sign hung on the front of the building. The sign wasn't there 10 days ago. This IS promising.

    Checked out the menu at the newly-opened La Reggia Bistro at 15 Park Ave. Fairly standard, but they do list rigatoni amatriciana, which immediately puts them on my short list of must-try-soon places. It's a dish that's easy to do passably well, but requires an artist to lift to the spectacular level. I've tried to do it often enough! Actually I haven't since I still haven't got it right. A plate of spaghetti amatriciana that I had in Venice about 10 years ago remains the most perfect pasta dish I have ever tasted. I haven't found a version since that even comes close to that one, but it's still fun to sample different takes on the theme.

    (NOTE TO SELF: write that piece about that plate of spaghetti amatriciana. Figure out which Forum it belongs in.)

    Strolling back up Park Ave, I glanced across the street and was shocked to notice two places I hadn't seen before. They each have their own awning with the number 36 painted on it, & clearly share the same storefront. Makes you wonder if they share the kitchen too. The one on the right is the Peneil Japanese Cafe. Looked open for biz but had a big CLOSED sign on the door. The one on the left is the Tango Grill / Latin Rotisserie, windows still papered over, looking close to opening but not quite yet.

    The opening splatters from the approaching T-storm kept me from crossing the street & poking around for more info.

    Where do these places come from? Thinking back, I may have noticed Peneil out of the corner of my eye earlier in the year, but I'd swear up & down that there was absolutely no sign of the Tango Grill a mere 10 days ago. It's almost spooky.

  8. I'm still trying to get up to Wondee's for the first time.

    Not to mention sampling the Indian restaurants that folks were kind enough to suggest when I started a thread back in April or so. Or finding the time to write about the first two on my list that we actually did get to recently.

    And then there's China 46.

    And how the heck do you dine out as often as you want when the unemployment checks dried up a year ago? Man, I might have to get a job again! :wink:

  9. I hit the opening of the Rutherford market last Weds. Green beans were, err, interesting, tasted a bit like they were grown near a skunk patch. I remember the same flavor from the same beans last year. Curious.

    Corn was VERY good, first native corn I've had this year. Red lettuce, absolutely delicious.

    Peaches, magnificent. There is just nothing like that first bite of a Jersey Fresh peach. This is the time of year that I live for.

    I'll be back there tomorrow, yes I will. :biggrin:

  10. ..I know exceptional pizza when I find it.)..

    Delorenzo's Tomato Pies, 530 Hudson St, Trenton, NJ. Have you tried it? They're my favorite.

    Nearby is Papa's Tomato Pies (804 Chambers St). They've been around longer than DeLorenzo's and make a Tomato Pie that's practically indistinguishable from DeLorenzo's.

    From what I'm told, Una Pizza Napoletana (1901 Route 35, Pt Pleasant Bch) makes pizza very similar to Napoletana-style pizza in Italy. Is it? I like their pizza but it's different (and expensive). But their pizza reminds me of something I'd get as an appetizer in a yuppy restaurant in Red Bank. Is this what it's supposed to be?

    :Dave

    Haven't got down to Trenton. Read about Delorenzo's in the Philly forum a while back. Then someone took photos of the pies when the local egulleters organized an expedition. Been dreaming about them ever since. (The pies that is. :wink: ) Must make it down there.

    Haven't been to Naples or Point Pleasant either, but this sounds intriguing. Thinking of heading down there at summer's end to catch Southside Johnny one more time, if I do, now I know where to eat! Thanks.

    Most memorable pizza I've ever had - maybe not the "best" in a technical sense - was in Venice. I think the crust was actually kind of mundane, but the piquancy of the sauce &, most of all, the depth of flavors in the sausage & yellow peppers on top, were unforgettable. I can still taste the sweetness & intensity of those peppers. Just the kind of magic that strikes so often in Italy.

    (Well, looking at what I just wrote, maybe it was really just the best "way to eat incredibly delicious sausage & peppers" I've ever experienced. I've actually had better pizza elsewhere in Venice, but the peppers were disappointing.)

    Can't tell you the name of the place, but plop me down anywhere in Venice & I can walk you right to it.

  11. A new Italian place recently (last 2 weeks or so) opened in Rutherford on Park Ave. - Cucina Reggio? - I'm in an antibiotic / sinus infected daze today so I'm not sure if I'm getting the name - haven't been there yet.

    Also, after months of looking desolate, the "opening soon - Thai grill" place on Spring Dell Ave. just off Park Ave. is suddenly looking a lot closer to opening. I believe they are naming themselves Spring Grill. I'm keeping tabs on this one cuz I would LOVE a decent Thai place in my town.

  12. Any rate, I have posted a few times on the Heartland board (specifically for St. Louis restaurants) b/c I lived in St. Louis for a few years and am planning a dinner party for a friend who is getting married there this August. I am NJ born-and-raised, however, and proud of it!

    Welcome emilymarie! I guess we travelled in opposite directions, I was born & raised in St. Louis, now happily ensconced over in Rutherford. I'll have to seek out your Heartland posts, I'm hoping to get back to StL in Sept. to visit mom.

    OK back on topic - the best pizza in Rutherford comes from Cafe New York, 57 Park Ave., a block up from the station. (They were originally New York Pizza but expanded their menu & have become more of a dinng out place than when they started out.) Standard commercial oven, but they get all the little things absolutely right - a medium-thin crust that always comes out with a nice char, a decently robust & garlicky sauce, proper quantity of cheese. They slice the red onions thin so that they actually get cooked through along with the pie (I hate places that serve you essentially raw onion on their pizza). They also use wonderful fresh mushrooms that pick up a little bit of char & really put their pies over the top.

    I recall their sausage - the ground crumbly kind - as being decent, if not as raveworthy as their other ingredients. Can't give more details cuz haven't had the sausage in well over a year, it's way off my post-heart-attack diet. As is pizza itself, for that matter, but a man's gotta live, once a month or so my system can handle the indulgence.

    Making no best-in-state claims here. (Somebody above mentioned John's Pizza in NYC, I was a serious consumer of their pies for the 20 years that we lived in the West Village. I've also been to Italy a few times. I know exceptional pizza when I find it.) All I'm saying here is that, after we moved to NJ 14 years ago, I tried every pizza joint in town & the closer sections of the surrounding towns, & it was no contest between New York Pizza and the rest. I never looked back.

  13. Ultimately I have to go to all 4 stores (my local brick ShopRite, the  glass ShopRite in Lyndhurst, the S&S in L'hurst & the  Whole Foods  in Montclair) to get everything I want at a reasonable price.  They all have their virtues, & failings.  It's a pain, but what's a foodie to do?

    Just to clarify: Glass Shoprites are ONLY the ones owned by the Glass Brothers, they only own Englewood, Paramus, Rochelle Park, and Rockaway. ShopRites are a cooperative, and many groups own different stores, and they can be quite different, even though they use the same buying group and same advertising. The ones run by Glass are IMHO the absolute best in the state. I think the one in Lyndhurst is a Singer Bros. Shoprite. It's definitely not a Glass. Try one of the Glass Shoprites, and you will never go to Stop n Shop again. You will also save about 15-20% off your shopping total at Shoprite vs. Stop n Shop.

    P.S. Glass Shoprites have Bell & Evans Chickens, and also the fabulous Murray's chickens!! The Englewood store also has the nicest supermarket fish dept. I've seen anywhere, including Wegman's!

    Oh. Thanks. I seriously thought that "glass Shoprites" was an architectural term. Well I guess that was obvious. D'oh!

    as an aside, i would hope that ongoing discussion of which supermarkets suck and which supermarkets are favorites could happen on a different thread. while i find opinions like that fascinating, i was hoping to have a discussion on ground beef from supermarkets in the northern jersey area, or anywhere for that matter. if, as punishment, this needs to be moved to the "general" board, fine, but the geographic nature of the question lends itself, in my eyes, to the NJ board.

    and back to chef russo, you missed a nice night at Village Green on saturday. there were like 6 egulleters floating around being loud and eating

    So, it's OK to talk about ground beef, &/or the Village Green, but nothing else in this thread? :wink:

    Seriously, point taken. Sorry if I for one took things off course.

    I tend to treat Net threads as conversations, one thing leads to another, they go where they will go. Some folks view straying off topic more harshly than others, & etiquette in this area varies from board to board. I'm a serious regular on several other non-food boards, obviously more of an occasional contributor here, I guess I'm srill trying to get a handle on the etiquette here. Anyway, if staying on topic is a big thing with the Jersey egulleters, then I'll try to reign in my straying tendencies in the future. Focused discussions have their place in the scheme of things too!

  14. I gotta stick up for Stop & Shop! I think they're great! At least the one in Lyndhurst. They have the best seafood counter in the area (tho not as good as Whole Foods, which I consider out of area) & quite a few other delicacies - e.g., the Bell & Evans chicken that schmooty mentioned - that ShopRite simply doesn't carry, not even the glass ones.

    Ultimately I have to go to all 4 stores (my local brick ShopRite, the glass ShopRite in Lyndhurst, the S&S in L'hurst & the Whole Foods in Montclair) to get everything I want at a reasonable price. They all have their virtues, & failings. It's a pain, but what's a foodie to do?

    Oh, the ground beef - can't really help you there, I don't do that stuff any more. Unless it's Australian. Which shows up at my local brick SR once in a while. It reminds me of European beef, interesting flavor.

  15. Doesn't sound silly to me. I remember gettng some excellent fried chicken (not to mention mashed taters & peppery chicken gravy!) at the Food Lion in Front Royal, VA, on my way up to the Blue Ridge. All depends on who's handling the birds & spicing the batter (& the gravy!).

  16. Has anyone been to Sonny's in Asbury Park?  This is where Springstein played for the Today show.  They do a real nice job with their honey fried chicken as well as short ribs and other assorted goodies.  Very non pretentious, funky, good grub. :rolleyes:

    Ha! This is what a search on "Asbury Park" will do for you.

    Times like this, I love eGullet! :smile:

    Sonny's sounds like our target for tomorrow, assuming that crowds permit. Thanks for mentioning it, if we get there, I'll post some details.

  17. Pity. Never got up there. Just a little too far afield I guess to mesh with the way I live.

    David & Lou, I feel for you guys, keeping your independent businesses going as you do, & admire you.

    The homogenization of our culinary choices is another topic, all I can say is grrrrrrrrr!!!!! :angry:

    I do my best to keep my local non-chain (Rutherford) restaurants afloat.

    Good luck to Fink's & good health to everyone there!

  18. For some reason, the Rutherford Market didn't make the list this year, but it's back in biz according to my town's website:

    July 7 - Oct 7:

    Rutherford's Famous Farmers Market

    Wednesdays 11-6pm (Jersey Fresh Products and more)

    Williams Plaza, Park Avenue, Rutherford

    Call 201-460-3149 for more information.

    It's small - 2 to 5 farmers depending on season - but I got some very good produce there last year (particularly corn & green beans - peaches were pretty good too). Having had a long acquaintance with the NYC Union Sq Greemarket, & having a good palate for freshness, there was never a doubt in my mind that the stuff wasn't Jersey Fresh.

    If you're in the area at the right time, it's hard to beat for convenience.

  19. Heading to Asbury Park tomorrow. Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes 8:00 - 10:00. Who could ask for more?

    Planning on dinner of some sort down there before the show. If we discover anything eGullet-worthy, you'll read about it here! :smile:

  20. Asparagus / strawberries / corn / green beans (flat & pole) / peaches

    Apples & pears aren't bad either, but it's the peaches I live for, my favorite fruit

    All from Jersey / NY / PA, at various farmers' markets in the region

    And, for a couple of weeks end of April / early May, there's this green that they call "wild mustard." Tastes like a hybrid of mustard greens & watercress. I always think of the flavor as concentrated essence of springtime.

    I think I read somewhere that it's not a true mustard green. No matter.

    I have only ever found it at the Migliorelli stand at the Union Sq NYC Greenmarket, which I mention in case any other locals are interested. Mark your calendars, this year's crop is probably done now.

×
×
  • Create New...