Jason Perlow

Sliced lenghwise, tossed with olive oil. In this case seasoned with a arabic 7-spice blend, sumac and zaatar. Baked on a sheet pan until crispy.

After smoking/grilling a lot of meats tuesday afternoon while testing my new CyberQ Pit Controller we served the Adana Kebabs tonight, along with some Roasted Okra Chips, Hummus and Babaghanouj. Here is how they looked on the grill The previous night we had the Picanha, which is a Brazilian-style also referred to as Sirloin Rump Cover. Beef was Australian. This was served with collards and quinoa. And here's how it looked on the grill:

Seabra's Supermarket in Newark sells a Argentinian brand of lump charcoal that is very dense and burns for a very long time. I don't know the brand but I know for a fact they carry it at least during the summer months.

This is a dish I encountered at at Cantonese restaurant in South Florida, it was called "Pi-Po Tofu" I've never had this dish before, even in Chinatowns in NYC and SF. They were deep fried dumplings of processed tofu stuffed with Chinese sausage and mushroom, in a black bean oyster sauce. Is this considered to be more of a home cooking dish? Is it even Cantonese?

Shrimp, Okra & Sausage Gumbo made with shrimp stock

They are a varietal of bird, as to what kind, no idea.

As we live in Florida now, we drink it all the time. We typically buy the basic Publix or Luzianne decaf black tea for iced tea prep (big bags) and add fresh mint and other things. This week we tried lemon balm from our garden. Nice.

Today I participated in the first BBQPad Ultimate Rib cookoff. BBQpad is a new social website which helps people track their BBQ cooks. These pork spare ribs used a rub of Dijon Mustard, with Grace Habanero Hot Sauce, with Elgin BBQ Seasoning on top. Sauce was a combination of Jack's Secret Six and COSTCO Pineapple/Habanero Salsa. You can see all the photos and the play-by-play here. I was the first to cook this weekend, there will be a few more people cooking tomorrow, so no idea if I'm gonna win it or not.

Made some nice turkey wraps with the trussed smoked turkey breast I BBQed over the weekend.

Well, those are older posts. Since the earthquake and nuclear accident, the importation of Japanese fish and meat and any number of other goods have become a serious concern, and these markets have had to find alternative sources. If there are condiments and things, they may not be of japanese origin. Absolutely the fish and meat will be local origin nowadays.

Ten Ren, in NYC.

When I lived in NJ up until this last summer we went to H-Mart frequently and Mitsuwa less frequently. 90 percent of the ingredients you need for Japanese cuisine will be avaliable and cheaper at H-Mart, but there are specific condiments and things you can only get at Mitsuwa. That being said Mitsuwa is crazy expensive, and I found myself buying less and less from them. Probably not worth the trip up from Philly, you're probably better off buying specific items on the internet, it may actually be cheaper that way. The food court is fun though. I've blogged about Mitsuwa a bunch of times. http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2006/05/19/nj-dining-mitsuwa-marketplace/ http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/the-mitsuwa-tuna-cut/ http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2007/05/28/takoyaki-its-octopussylicious/

If I want to truly satisfy my umami cravings lately I have a portion of really pungent and salty blue cheese with a bunch of nice whole grain crackers. Doesnt give me that disgusting junk food feeling and keeps me satisfied. Danish Blue and raw sheeps milk Roquefort have been excellent lately for that.

Today was a big BBQ and grilling day. Lots of stuff cooked for different meals this week, but highlight of the evening were these charcoal grilled lemon pepper chicken wings

Shrimp Boil with Florida wild caught head on large

Yeah, that is a lot of dough, as shiny and cool as that thing looks.

The IT'S IT is probably the greatest contribution San Francisco has made to mankind. If I had to choose between Apple and IT'S IT, well, I would choose...

Indeed. Another coffee geek friend twisted my arm and got me to order a VST 22g filter basket today.

This is getting extremely geeky

You asked for it, you got it.

I had it at 205 before. Right now I am experimenting with lower temperatures. 224 which where it was set at default was definitely way too high, it was burning the coffee and it was tasting bitter. The more videos I have seen on Youtube using Rancilio and PIDs appear to have the temperature between 195 and 205, I've seen a few as high as 215.

This one was done with a nutating tamp.

Yes, the drip tray on this Rancilio V3 is white. When it's not being splattered. Are you sure there's not some sort of a vinyl shield on that drip tray that is removable? Just looked at it. You're right, it's packing material I forgot to take off. It's been stuck on for weeks. Just removed it. LOL!

Ah. The nutating tamp. Yeah, I've been playing around with this as well.

Yes, the drip tray on this Rancilio V3 is white. When it's not being splattered. A pour from a few minutes ago: http://vine.co/v/b6iUF9TFMwl I centered this one a little better. Still slight splatter. Used "Don Pablo" from COSTCO, an older bag I needed to finish. Less crema but still tasty.