chefdavidrusso

What a lovely looking spread, markk. Were the other fruits on the 3-tier farmer's market as well?

WOW!! Sounds like yo've got quite a bit of cooking time on your hands...that's great! So when do we get to taste all of these fine creations?

I'm curious to know what everyone is doing with all the great food they (presumably) are getting at this summer's markets. I went to the Ridgewood Market this morning and saw some excellent eggplant. So I picked them up, along with some fresh mozz from the fresh mozz guy and some fresh basil, and I just finished making a pan of my grandmother's eggplant parmesan. That and a loaf of fresh bread from the bakery stand that's there, and I am one happy Italian!!

My wife and I walked past it today, and stopped in the food store. The menu looked quite good, so I'm anxious to try it out soon. I did think it was interesting that the food store had Mezaluna labels on some of the products (isn't that the former occupier of the space that most of you think was a waste of rent money?)

Not to drive thi thread too much towards Jamie', but I found it very interssting that under the "reviews" section of their website....THEY HAD NONE!!

BRAVO!!!!!

Tommy, you pretty much hit it....it's kid friendly, slightly better than McD's and very much not worth it. I tried it a couple of weeks ago under tha doctrine of "I'll generally try any place once" and was unimpressed. The flavors were just ok, the noodles were overcooked, it was on the oily side, and it was in no way memorable.

AAAHHHH!!!!! That's not at all what I thought you were talking about. But now I see...of course those things work. Can you refill the canisters on your own or do you have to buy replacements every time? Because that's where it could get expensive.

Do those things really work? I've always been a little suspect of them

I'm a bit confused....you say that you were pleasantly surprised by the restaurant yet your "review" is hardly glowing.

I used to be the Exec Chef of a restaurant that sounds alot like what AAG is, and then I spun off and opened my own catering business that targeted the same clientel. One of the things I found MOST successful in terms of getting the word out about my businesses was partnering with the local NPR station. Demographic data shows that NPR listeners tend to be the same people who frequent higher-end, finer dining establishments (mid-30's to early 50's with a larger portion of disposable income). The key is doing things in trade so that you advertising (I know, it's "sponsorship", but who are we kidding) doesn't cost you anything. For example, you host one of there contributors receptions, or give them $50 dining certificates to give away as a pledge-drive incentive...something like that. Now granted, I'm new around here and realy don't know if there even IS a local NPR affilliate outside of NYC, but doing that kind of thing was always hugely sucessful for me. Forgive me, Lou, if I'm telling you something you already know, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

Do any of the wine stores local to Ridgewood carry a good selection of 1/2 bottles? It's rare that my wife and I will drink a full bottle at dinner any more, and I'd rather finish a 1/2 and be done with it than have an open bottle get skunked while it sits in our fridge.

Hey Tommy...I got some of the fresh mozz on Sunday as well, and I asked him about his retail. He said that he does have a shop but in the summer it's only open to prep for farmer's markets. It was too busy to have a long talk with him, so I didn't find out if he is at alot of different markets, but that would be my assumption.

Was anybody here a fan of Gene Shepard, the brilliant (but unfortunately late) comic author? He did a whole routine in his live show about how to judge the quality of a slice of New Jersey pizza. The better the slice, the farther down your arm the grease travelled before it dripped off. The grease of a really great slice made it all the way to your elbow. I know I haven't been around here very long, but I think Brother's pizza in Midland park is pretty good, if you like that kind of pizza. And by "that" kind of pizza I mean the kind that's made in a standard deck oven, uses shredded mozz instead of fresh, and has the streotypical toppings. I know it's not old-style traditional, but it's the kind I used to love as I kid at Al-John's Pizza in Princeton Jct. in the ACME shopping center. I would ride my bike over after school and meet my friends for a slice and some video games. For me pizza is one of those foods that regardless of how intrisically good a slice is, or how traditional it is (brick oven, fresh mozz, etc) I will never truly enjoy it unless it's the same kind of slice I got when I was young. And really, I will always prefer a joint that you can get slices, instead of just whole pies.

Though I don't have a definitive answer on that one, my guess would be the quality of the live cattle from which the ground beef was made. Are there any indications anywhere of the breed that they as a supermarket use, or something like that? And not to start a whole VG discussion here...somehow I didn't think that a rambunctious 8 month old would do well in such a dignified establishment. But with so many eG'ers being loud and rowdy, perhaps he would have fit right in

There's also a new Spanish (or it may have been Cuban...I can't really remember) restaurant that opened in Ridgewood over July 4th weekend. It's across from the train station right around the corner from Gazelle. I have no idea what the name of the road is at that point, or really what direction that is from downtown. But hopefully you all know where I'm talking about. (feel free to chime in with clarifying directions) I don't know anything about it...anyone have any info? Update: I drove by today (7/13) and saw that it is called Sazon, and bills itself as Nuevo Latino

The ratio of lean to fat is actually pretty strictly regulated by the USDA. Certain sections of a cow (like the chuck, or sirlion, etc) have pretty standard and well established natural ratios. In other words, ground chuck is naturally going to have 80% lean and 20 % fat. I can't remember exactly what the margin of error is allowed to be, but I know that it's pretty tight. What your even more reputable places will do is literally seperate all the lean from all the fat and then weigh out the exact proportion. So the long and short of it is that within a very small margin of error, "80/20" is going to be the same from batch to batch, store to store. What makes the difference in the quality of the final ground beef is going to be the age of the animal at slaughter, as well as the length of time between grinding and consumption. And if I can add a thought to the meatloaf discussion (such as it is)...I have always found that the key to juicy meatloaf (and the same with meatballs as well) is adding alot more breadcrumbs than you would ever think is normal....almost equal amounts breadcrumbs and meat. I know it sounds like you're trying to cheat and stretch things, but that's exactly the point. Meat was never so abundant as it is now and, traditionally, people wanted to get the most out of what they had. It just so happens that it was good food science. When you cook meat, the proteins expand leaving less space between themselves. The water that was there has no place to go but up and out. That's why cooked meat is always less juicy than raw meat. When you add the breadcrumbs, the starch in the bread absorbs the water and holds it in the ground meat, thus producing a juicier loaf (or ball) Sorry....that's the culinary instructor in me coming out to play I know it's not a supermarket, and I don't know how many of you are near to my area, but I have beccome hooked on Goffle Road Poultry for all my poultry needs. Anything with wings they have, plus they retail a small selection of dry goods, frozen items, some cheese, butter, and stuff like that. Their eggs are the best I have had...they almost have a faint sweetness when you cook them, they're so fresh. I've cooked their Cornish hens, and have eaten their rotiserie chicken (they do 2 cookings a day...one that's ready at lunch time, and another that is ready at about 5 o'clock. You order it, they cook it) I've had good supermarket luck at the A&P in Midland Park, but I'm also about 4 minutes from the Whole Foods in Ridgewood. I'll go there for meats and fish and some specialty things, and then do my day to day shopping at the A&P. But the butcher across the street from the Whole Foods is pretty good....he cuts from sides of beef and whole pigs...he doesn't just get box beef. And he does some of his own dry aging, makes his own sausages, and does his own smoked meats. Ok...that's enough topics for one post

I don't know if this is common knowledge (and I apologize if it is) but test marketing and other such studies have shown the 77/23 is the perfect lean-to-fat ratio in ground beef for hamburgers. It's juicy without being greasy, and the fat content isn't so high as to cause the burger to shrink too much during cooking. Just a random bit of food trivia on the issue for anyone who cares

Well...the babysitter fell through, so it looks like our trip to the Village Green will have to wait for another day

I'll get the ball rolling on resurrecting the other thread and post my comments over there on Sunday or Monday.

My wfie and I are going to the Village Green for the first time on Saturday night (woo-hoo!!! date night without the kid!!) Needless to say I'm very excited. Any particular dishes that are "don't miss"?

One of my favorite culinary misnomers....along with anything martini just because it's served in a martini glass I've driven past Chakra numerous times...what kind of restaurant is it? And is it worth checking out? I stopped into Blend while I was out and about in Town today...I checked out the menu. I thought it sounded more interesting than some other's I've seen around. Probably worth a date night with my wife...

Hey m(a)ce....where is you gelateria? The next time I'm down that way I'd like to try it. I'm in the mood for something other than a Thomas'....

Hello squashblossom....welcome to eG. I get to Princeton every so often to visit my parents, so I'll be sure to stop by the market and say hello. Good luck with the season, and welcome to NJ.

I speed.