TongoRad

"Be good or be gone!" Andy's Corner Bar totally rocks, btw, though I haven't done a St. Patty's Day there yet. ← Where is Andy's Corner Bar? ← Here's their website: Andy's Corner Bar

For the east coast hopheads out there who are getting jealous of all these Deschutes references (I can't be the only one...): Troegs has recently released Nugget Nectar in bottles. They're calling it a Double American Amber, and it is a gorgeous, perfectly constructed ale, absolute dripping with juicy malt and hops. It is a seasonal so get 'em while you can.

"Be good or be gone!" Andy's Corner Bar totally rocks, btw, though I haven't done a St. Patty's Day there yet.

Non-existant? Our town is still abuzz about the recent Dunkin' Donuts shop. And we're definitely a destination spot if you want bad pizza... Anyway, we tend to go out to Tenafly as much as we go to Closter or Cresskill or other towns in the area. It's all pretty much the same place to me. Unfortunately we're not such an easy area to get to via 80/95 or the GSP so a restaurant would have to be pretty darn special to pull people in from elsewhere. In theory Tenafly should have more of an advantage in getting customers from bordering Englewood than the towns to the north, so I was surprised to see America go under. (Does anybody know the story behind that? I was there not long before they closed and the place was full.) I can only speculate that Sapphire couldn't compete with the more 'established' Samdan just down the road.

Yeah, mine too. 6 to 8 weeks sounds like it was pretty bad as well. I can only hope that they're up and running sooner than that and this doesn't hurt them too much.

Excellent post Pistachio Disguisey. I've been enjoying the Herold Pils for the first time this past week and I think it is a very nice beer. It's very dry, though, and comes across better at warmer temperatures (45-50F). I think I enjoyed the Starobrno the best of all of the Czech beers that I've had, then again it was on draft and about as fresh as you can expect to get it in the States. I haven't seen it in a while, though, but it is also worth keeping an eye out for.

I hear the screams- make the little bugger happy! 'Tis a great wine. Were you asking what to serve with it? If so, I would take advantage of those cherry/muchroom/herbal notes with a roast loin of venison, a dried cherry demi glace (I love fresh tarragon in this sort of thing), maybe some parsnips or stuff like that in the roasting pan, and a mushroom assortment on the side. Enjoy.

I would go for a lot of these suggestions as well, but those last two sound really good. I came up with another one (aside: I seem to have Indian food on the brain lately. I'll have to rectify that somehow)- Butter Cashew with saffron threads and white raisins, sold in a stainless steel container, of course (since we're blowing $$$ on the saffron to begin with )

It wasn't B&J or HD, but a while back there was a company that made carrot cake ice cream (or was the frozen yogurt?) and it ruled. I don't know why it isn't a more popular flavor. Based on a favorite simple dessert- how about a lemon gellato flavored with cardomom and featuring ribbons of raspberry syrup? I can just taste it now... Or steal an idea from Indian kulfi and come up with 'cardomom crunchies" and put them throughout pistachio ice cream. I love the cinnamon/chocolate combination as well. I'm sure somebody makes a Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream out there, but I wish I could find some on a regular basis. Maybe even fancied up a bit- chocolate ice cream with a cinnamon swirl, or even reversed cinnamon ice cream with a chocolate swirl.

Maybe this is a bit of a stretch, but I used to do these crazy Indian inspired crepes with a bechamel sauce on top (stuffed with keema mattar or Kerala mushrooms, that sort of thing), though there was no egg in the bechamel as one would add to the moussaka bechamel. I think that would work really well with your ravioli, and I particularly like the two sauce idea. Anyway, if the ravioli don't work out maybe you can do some sort of crepe thing, or even an assembled manicotti.

That's Cubby's. I used to go there a lot a while ago- mostly for the cool truck stop vibe, chili dogs, beer, grilled chicken and stuff like that. They do have tasty ribs, but they are not something that a BBQ afficianato would like- if I remember correctly they aren't even smoked. Good place, though- really used to pack 'em in.

Well- here's one that I'm calling a frittata. I only had 8 eggs to spare or it would have been thicker. I had to wait until all of that snow from last week's storm melted away and gave me access to my sage plant, somehow this one just needed to have it. It's a Spaghetti Frittata, but in addition there are onions, the sage, roasted peppers and hunks of mozzarella. And here is a serving plated- some capers on top and some tomato/vegetable sauce from a braised chicken dish that I had lying about, though tomato sauce works just as well. I thought about adding the asparagus as well , but I'm glad I did it on the side:

My sister-in-law works in Nanuet and brings Posa Posa pizza down here about once a month for a Friday night visit sort of thing. My son loves the Sicilian pie, though the sauce is a bit sweet for my taste. I really like their stuffed pizza, however- the crust is really thin and crisp, and they are satisfying yet not leaden. I don't know the name but there is one stuffed with potatoes and veggies that is my fave. I imagine it is even better at the source.

You and I are on the same page as far as the size of the wings goes, Meez. I love the crispiness of the medium-small size, myself. When I get them out they are of the huge-but-rubbery style more often than not and I will tend to reject them based on texture even before the taste begins to enter the picture. Here's how I learned to make Buffalo wings (conceit: this came from a friend who attended college in the opposite part of NYS, Troy, in the early 80's. Probably not Anchor Bar style but still pretty authentic to us Long Island kids at that time): - We deep fry the (smallish) wings in a wok - 50/50 Franks to Tabasco along with the butter, plus a shot of Italian dressing (which seems to be key). Powdered Cayenne or crushed piquin are used to go 'atomic'. - Drain the wings on paper towels before adding them and the sauce to a plastic milk-shake shaker with a sealed top- give a good shake before serving. - I don't see the point of the whole blue cheese vs. ranch discussion. Both are superfluous to me. (That means my wife gets double the sauce .) I do like the idea of drying the wings overnight, but not so long ago somebody suggested dredging them in corn starch prior to deep frying. It gives a VERY crispy end result and allows the sauce to adhere in a much better way. I LOVE them that way, although the whole point of doing it only lasts about 5 minutes. Then they lose that quality. But if you're going to eat them immediately that's the way to go.

I'll definitely vouch for the Karl Ehmer Andouille. I've used it in many a gumbo myself. I shop at the one in Greenvale, on Long Island near my folks, but it's all gotta be the same. It's not as cheap as scott123 wants, though- I looked on line and it is going for around $7/lb. On the upside- if you go to the shop you can get as little as you need for one batch and see if you like it before buying it in bulk.

When I add beer I'm usually thinking sugar first, then a bit of acidity, ( almost like a tomato substitute) and then all of those other complexities are really icing on the cake. With that in mind I don't think that your using the Sweet vermouth will do any damage, and could quite probably give you a good result. I think your aversion to the hoppy, bitter beers is spot-on in this context and the beers you have on hand probably won't do as good a job as the vermouth.

I've used port before and gotten good results, but my mainstay is definitely beer. What was it about the beer that you didn't like? I will either use a Scotch Ale or a Cream Stout myself- something malty with a roasty backbone ( a peaty Scotch Ale is also doubly good if you're using chipotles in your blend.) A half of a can, or bottle, seems about right.

Then you two have got some work ahead of you- time to get a-drinkin' Just a guess here... but it seems that you had a stuck fermentation due to the cool temperature. If you don't already have a hydrometer then you should get one when you buy your next batch of ingredients. Taking a reading while you are racking will give you a good idea whether fermentation is complete or not. I think that you can make a dandy Belgian Strong Ale using extract and candi sugar, and that you'll be glad that you did. The key will be in the yeast, and you will have to use liquid this time. Fortunately Wyeast makes 'activator packs' that are pretty user friendly and don't require the use of a starter. If you don't have any recipes handy then I'm sure that we can come up with something to your liking.

I've seen quite a few live poultry markets throughout portions of NYC myself. I can't recall any in Manhhattan, but there are definitely a bunch of 'em in Queens, Brooklyn and da Bronx. Now you got me curious- do you suppose that they would be willing to do the slaughtering and de-feathering for a fee, or do they leave all that to the consumer? There is one place near a favorite lunch haunt of mine that I'll have to poke my head into next time I'm there. ETA: from the article on Nick's Poultry that Gifted Gourmet posted in the beginning of the thread it seems as though they give you the birds prepped and oven-ready. I'm pretty sure that Nick's is the one near Hunt's point in the Bronx, on the corner of Leggett and Southern Blvd.

Continental style as well. I start in the center and work outwards, operating under the theory that if you're not going to finish that steak you might as well eat the best and juciest part. Funny thing is that's never really been an issue with me... There have been exceptions, particularly at home if my wife and I are sharing a single steak. Under those circumstances I've served the steak sliced and fanned out on a plate, but I do give it a fairly long resting period first.

It's probably a wash for me in regards to travel so I'll definitely make it up there. Now that they're serving beer one can always hope that they will carry Clipper City's Uber Pils Small Craft Warning, the perfect accompaniment to BBQ ( hint, hint )

Congratulations on your first beer jeniac42 and Eric. About that carbonation issue: I may be a bit of a nervous nellie but if it were me I'd put the remainder of those bottles in the fridge pronto. Whatever the reason for the excess carbonation (incomplete primary fermentation, too much priming sugar, maybe even wild yeast, etc.), chilling it now will greatly slow down, or even stop, what may be an ongoing process. You don't want to wind up with 'gushers', or worse.

Chipped ham barbecue- what a great idea! I have family from Coraopolis and when they used to visit they'd bring the chipped ham with them just to make those things. I'm sure those of us in the rest of the country can try to duplicate the experience by getting some good quality ham (no water added) and slicing it paper thin, heating it up in a skillet with your fave BBQ sauce and maybe onions, and serving it up on a hamburger bun. It goes great with beer, though the Augustiner that I may be drinking is more likely to come from Munich

Me too, and it's too darn bad because now I really have a taste for it. Flank steak makes a decent substitute in terms of texture but just can't match the flavor.

Yeah, definitely Stickey's. IMO the beef ribs are the one 'can't pass up' item that they have.