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Everything posted by Jason Perlow
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If we are talking kebabs and such, I would go with a gewurztraminer or an off-dry reisling. Or I would bring some ouzo. :) The turks have a drink thats basically the same as ouzo but I forgot what its called. afghans being muslim generally stay away from hard liquor.
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Yes, I passed this by a few times but never been there. I also noticed from a bergen record article that was framed up on a wall at Hirams that apparently Cubby Q's italian dog (also in hackensack, right across from the bergen county jail) was in the top 3 rated dog places in NJ, right below Rutt's. I've had Cubby's ribs (which are ok) and their pulled pork sandwich (very good, BIG!) and chicken bbq sandwich (also very good and big portion) but never tried their dogs.
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BATTLE ROYALE When I lived in the Fort Lee area, I used to go to Callahans on Palisade ave, as I was introduced to the place by Jhlurie and his family, who were avid fans of the joint. Callahans makes a serious hot dog as well as italian dogs, and is also known for its massive foot long super dogs "So Big! So Good!". They also make really good italian sausage and beef sandwiches. For years, however, I was intrigued that no less than 200 feet away from Callahans, on the same side of the street, was Hirams, another hot dog joint. Hirams always seemed to attract a seedier crowd, and the act of going there represented a major transgression among my group of friends, so I never went there. Hirams has been in business a long time, although i suspect Callahans has been around longer, but both were around during the time of Palisade Park was in its heyday. This evening, jhlurie and I decided to risk life and limb to try BOTH hirams and callahans within minutes of each other and to compare them to each other, strictly on the basis of who had better dogs. The results may surprise you. We first went to Hirams, being that neither Jhlurie or I had been there before. Hirams is different than Callahans in that it is more of an actual "hangout" and it serves alcohol. Its a much smaller joint, with a much more limited menu. When we walked in a group of people were having beers and dogs and watching a football game, and from the feeling I got, I suspect that this same group did this every week. In both restaurants, both of us ordered the simple dog, choosing not to go with more aggressive toppings in order not to marr the intrinsic qualities of the actual specimen. I had mustard on mine and jhlurie went with a mustard/ketchup combo. The hirams dog appears to be grilled or quickly flash fried, and appears to be a pork/beef hybrid. Outside was a natural casing and had a nice crunch when you bit into it. Buns were also lightly toasted, and had no unusual qualities -- it was a hot dog bun. The inside of the hirams dog had a pale pink color when compared with the grilled outer casing -- the actual flavor was neutral, not having the intrinsic garlicky/paprika taste of a kosher/jewish style frank. The regular Callahans dog (as opposed to the super)was slightly larger than the Hirams dog, and exhibited very similar taste and texture characteristics in both the casing and the actual filling. In fact I was hard pressed to tell the differences between the two. Both are deep fried with natural casing and both appear to be pork/beef hybrids of the same proportion with a similar neutrality of seasoning. (According to http://www.foot-long.com, the Callahans dog is deep fried.) My opinion of both of these dogs is perhaps a more aggressive topping such as chili/cheese or Italian style (not avalaible at Hirams) is probably necessary to have a more meaningful experience -- personally I prefer an all beef hot dog done in the kosher style with a more pronounced seasoning, so that the dog itself may be appreciated on its own, with simple, less obfuscating toppings such as mustard or kraut. But this is probably just a display of my ignorance, so if Holly is watching, may I simply say that given my admitted bias, perhaps I am not worthy of judging such legendary dog establishments.
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Well, if we are talking San Juan, and price is not a concern, my utter favorite is the Caribe Hilton. Why? Its the only hotel with a private beach in San Juan. And they make a killer Pina Colada.
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Yep, they do. www.bevmo.com (the place I bought it) has it for ั.99 and they show 2 in stock. They also have 1 Plantation 1991 Trinadad left.
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Ron Zacapa... why is this rum impossible to get?
Jason Perlow replied to a topic in Spirits & Cocktails
ELA: If you'd permit it, and if your supplies arent critical, I'll swap you a fresh bottle of Appleton 21 for a bottle of Zacapa. I think its a fair trade. -
Burnet Barbeque. Locations In Union and Burnet. Yep, definitely belongs on the list.
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No, Ed doesnt have them listed. Call the importer.
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just had a sip. The flavor profile is more similar to cognac or armagnac than it is a smoky rum... definitely french style. basically, like kaniche but obviously much more advanced in years. very nice.
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Gabriel and Andreu is the importer and producer of Kaniche, so I am presuming that Plantation is produced in the french style. They also produce cognac and calvados and poire. their website is www.gafrance.com
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The bottle is a tall 750ml, sealed with red wax at the top. the label reads Old Reserve 1983 Vintage Old Artisanal Rum from Jamaica (picture of the island of jamaica) PLANTATION Rum Jamaica produce of Jamaica %45 alcohol back of the bottle indicates importer, Gabriel & Andreu, NY rum has a very nice amber color.
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The one time I went to nobu a few months ago for dinner I also felt the service was pretty lousy. In a sushi restaurant I think thats probably the worst thing you can do, because you are serving fresh fish. We were sitting at the bar too. The food was really good, we tried all the signature dishes, but I wasnt blown away. I vastly prefer a more traditional place like Sushisay or Karumazushi or Yasuda.
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My mother in law likes to put in dill but rachel and I both detest it in chicken soup. However cilantro and lemongrass in asian and mexican chicken soups is good.
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Jon no offense but how can you say the dim sum at Bo Lings was better than Silver Pond when you dont even eat shellfish? That omits everything with shrimp in it, which Silver Pond really excells at..
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This evening Jhlurie and I invented a new drink after opening a bottle of calvados and wondering how it might work in a stinger. In a moment of sheer brilliance we realized that perhaps a cinnamon schnapps instead of peppermint might match well with the French apple brandy. It does. I give you the Goldstinger. 2 shots vsop calvados 1 1/2 shots Goldshlager in a shaker with crushed ice pour in the ingredients, shake well, pour and serve in martini glasses.
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I bought a bottle of it in California at Beverages and More but I havent opened it yet.
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Ok, I'll start. This is Yahoo's entire directory listing on Mojito recipes: http://dir.yahoo.com/Society....o
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Rachel makes a good "deconstructed summer roll" salad which is essentially thinly sliced rare sirloin or shrimp tossed up with cooked rice stick noodles, lettuce, mint, cilantro, shallot, thai basil, toasted peanuts, chopped up bird chilis, lettuce, and fish sauce, vinegar and sriracha and whatever other veggies we have from our garden that are lying around.
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Last night Rachel and I ate dinner at the Stinking Rose's San Francisco location (http://www.thestinkingrose.com). Rachel and I had eaten at a garlic-themed restaurant before, the Garlic Rose Cafe in Madison, NJ (41 Main St Madison, NJ 07940 (973) 822-1178 ) which we under the impression was inspired by the California restaurant. So we decided to try the original. In one of the rare cases, this is where the inspired is actually better than the original. Stinking Rose is a casual restaurant, and as you would expect all the dishes have garlic in it. The waitress informed us that they go through 12,000 heads per week -- and that doesnt surprise me. The use of garlic here is VERY aggressive, much more so than its NJ clone, which aspires to be more of a fine dining experience and who's use of garlic is much more subtle and refined. This is not to say that Stinking Rose is a bad restaurant -- its not -- the food is great. But be prepared to be utterly assaulted by garlic. All of the dishes we had except for one were overdoses of garlic: 1) Bagna Cauda: Effectively just a lot of cloves of garlic slow cooked in a lot of olive oil, with a minimal amount of herbas and some anchovies. The garlic cloves are very soft, this is eaten as a spread/dip for the big basket of dinner rolls they give you. If you order this, it will set the tone for your entire meal and basically overpower everything. 2) Pan seared Mussels with garlic . Probably the best appetizer on the menu, these are mussels which are rock salted, with a small amount of garlic added and then broiled very quickly, after which some kind of a wine/sherry sauce is poured over the top when it it brought to the table on a sizzling platter. This is served with a garlic butter, which Rachel felt wasnt even needed. 3) Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. This is a roasted half chicken that we expected to be stuffed with garlic cloves but wasnt --they are served on the side, basically the same stuff from the bagna cauda. Not at all like a good pollo ajillo at a decent spanish place. Rachel ordered this, I had a taste, wasnt thrilled with it. 4) Whole live dungeness crab with garlic sauce. Great dish, but the combination of this cooked in a messy olive oil/brown butter/roux/crab guts mixture with tons of garlic seemed to amplify the innate saltiness. Dont wear a nice shirt if you plan to order this one. I'll also note that they serve some kind of herb/garlic spread mixture that is supposed to be used as a dip for bread -- its made with raw garlic, and is extremely aggressive in its flavor, almost inedibly so. Its NJ clone serves a similar dip on the table, but I think it uses cooked garlic, has more herbs, and has parmigiano reggiano in it -- and extremely addictive. We had like one taste of Stinking Rose's version and couldnt handle it.
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Yesterday -- Crab salad sandwiches, fried clams and clam chowder in a sourdough bread "bowl" at a non-descript street vendor at Pier 8 on the Wharf in San Francisco.
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Anyone have any good simple mojito recipes, or is it a black art? I'm thinking of having a mojito party when I get back from California..
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The 83 that I picked up at Beverages and More here in the SF area was a Plantation 1983 vintage. Should be good.
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Given that its a Cuban rum and we have embargoes for goods coming from there into the US, you're gonna have serious problems getting it in the states.
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Appleton Extra (12yo) and Appleton 21 year old, the two rums that are above Appleton V/X, are difficult to get in the US but they ARE avaliable via mail order through some of the better internet liquor retailers. Ed's web site has the Rum Finder where you can look up a rum and it tells you where you can buy it. I beleive Sams Wine (www.samswine.com) had Appleton 21 for 55 or 60 dollars a bottle but dont quote me on that. I brought back 2 bottles of Extra and 2 bottles of 21 back from my last trip to Jamaica, both are really phenomenal premium rums.
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Yesterday in SF I tried a nigiri-sushi with white tuna topped with chopped garlic in olive oil... Intense.