TongoRad

Nice project, those look great. Bring some down this way and I'll provide the ale Maybe I'll even try to tackle those Scottish Eggs I've been meaning to make. I finished dinner a few hours ago and this page is making me hungry all over again. I just love the puffy quiche and the Still Life with Bread, but everything else looks just as great. Most of the past month we've been entertaining on the weekends, nothing exciting (burgers, dogs, sausage, chicken, etc.) but good versions of it all nonetheless, and consuming the leftovers during the week. The repetition is starting to get to me, I must admit (although those brie burgers with grilled onions and horseradish mustard last week were pretty rockin'), so I was thrilled to come home to a nice hunk of monkfish tonight. Cilantro haters avert your eyes: That's the pan seared monkfish (my half of it, anyway) with cilantro pesto, and the bean and corn salad in the back is loaded cilantro as well, natch. It could have used some serranos, but I'm not complaining because it was soo good to have something different for a change...

I'd go for that Old Foghorn or Bigfoot in a heartbeat, myself. I think they're great on draught (less filtration) and I tend to prefer those beers fresh anyway. Somehow an aged Bigfoot just seems to lose what makes it so Bigfooty in the first place. One of my fondest experiences with a barleywine happened to be the draught version as well- Bridgeport's Old Knucklehead in the early 90's (back when the Ponzi's still ran the joint). It wasn't too anything, just perfect in every way. The bottles I had were quite good but didn't blow my socks off like those half pints from the brewery. I'm not so sure you can generalize about such a broad spectrum of styles as Belgian beers. Some may be better aged and bottle conditioned whereas others may not. I know a place that brews a killer Tripel and serves it unfiltered via gravity dispense, pretty darn young too. Best Tripel that I've had in a long time, with a lot of finesse and vibrancy that I would imagine could be aged away if held onto for too long. Something like Orval, otoh..... I've always been a fan of the compare and contrast experiment- particularly when it comes to draught vs. bottled. I think I'd love to find a place where I could give that a go with a few beers, like that La Chouffe (I thought the draught Hoegaarden was the better the last time I did that one, fwiw). Sounds like a fun evening.

Nice shot- one can tell that the linguine was just perfect (always one of my favorites). I also smoked some ribs tonight, and for the first time in a long time I just said "whatthehell" and grabbed the camera at the last second, and I guess I'm following through on that attitude by actually posting the hasty photo. These were really good, fwiw- smoky but not too much so, and tender in the same way. Shelby- I am officially jealous of your dill growing abilities. I grow about a dozen herbs regularly but cannot get my dill to be anything but leggy. I'm sure it was great on that lamb. It is something I'd love to use with more regularity. It's been a while since I've posted to this thread and, jeez, you folks are all amazing. I've got some catching up to do but even the last few pages have been a real treat to look through. I'm looking forward to the rest.

I've always called that simply a "divider." I like the word "flopcorn"! ← Oh Pan, don't be such a Normie! Yeah- flopcorn and facon are good ones, but I think I use toasticles the most out of all of them. I usually pretend-chide my oldest about leaving toasticles on the butter. One of these days I'm going to have to make sure he understands that's not a real word. Blenderize probably also belongs on this list, though it's been a pretty common part of public discourse for a while now.

Y' know, I can't take credit for these, but they are Sniglets that have become a regular part of my vernacular for, well, decades (I guess). Spratchet- the bar-type thingee at the supermarket that separates your groceries on the conveyor belt from the person in front of you. (I can't count how many times I've asked a complete stranger for the 'spratchet, please', along with a gesture, and have had it handed to me without comment.) Facon- fake bacon, of course- like bacos. Toasticles- those little particles of toast that get left on the butter from the knife that is doing the spreading. Flopcorn- unpopped popcorn kernels. and, of course, Cheedle- the yellow dust left on your fingers by cheetos.

In a sense, Wylie Dufresne beat you to the punch there: Rack of lamb with candy cane crust. I always wanted to try that one...

I thought they were called the clothespins, myself. Both parts have their merits- I find the drumettes easier to eat, actually, (especially one-handed) but the meat to skin ratio is higher and therefore less spicy than the flats when consuming buffalo wings. If I had to choose I suppose I'd choose the flats on that aspect alone, but, heck, I honestly have no problem with mixing it up either.

So long as this thread has been bumped- I would recommend that anybody seeking nostalgia steer clear of present-day Elio's pizza. It is quite different from the stuff we grew up with during the 70's. I'm not quite sure when it changed because I wasn't really paying attention until I had kids, but the "original Elio's" is still out there under the name Betzio's (or even Shop Rite store brand), and it hasn't changed a bit. My kids love the Betzio's, but won't even consider touching the Elio's (and I'll even admit to stealing a slice or two every now and then.)

I'm down in South Orange/Maplewood a couple of times a week during working hours. Up until I read about that catfish sandwich I didn't think I would be able to take advantage of this place but heck, that sounds really good. Any other things available that one could eat in their car?

You're welcome- that's a beautiful thing, Elie! Hopefully a little more conditioning time will give you some added carbonation, but the color and clarity are sopt on. You have just described my perfect porter- and that recipe does produce a velvety one. Most of the credit should go to Terry Foster (the original came from his book), though the Munich malt was my (not so insignificant, imo) contribution. IIRC- I suggested this one because I thought it would be a great jumping-off point for a smoked or oak-aged beer. Now that you've tried it 'straight' you can now play around with the recipe with a sort of baseline in your head. (What I eventually ended up with had a 5% substitution of the base malt with Hugh Baird Peat Smoked malt. In competitions half of the judges said that it had too much smoke, the other half said not enough. In other words- just the right amount ).

Yeah- that's definitely the proper way to do it. I once brewed 10 gallons of porter with a guy who did that to his half, and I dry-hopped my half (I'll admit now that his was the better one ). He was really into brewing lambics- even blended his guezes with some portion of 3-year old stuff- and had a good handle on how to do it. Essentially he just separated a gallon of the beer, innoculated it until he thought it was strong enough, pasteurized it and blended it back into the rest prior to bottling. My hope is that I don't have to go through with all of that because there isn't that much left, and it isn't being bottled. Heck- if I plan it right it will probably disappear in one session. The beauty of the keg is that I can periodically take small samples to see when it is 'ready', and then rapidly chill it to slow things down or even stop it. Again, the key word there is 'hope', but I am feeling adventurous.

I've had success with both dill and fenugreek bought at the market, just because those bunches that one buys generally contain too much for me to use in a week. (I figured hey- it's better than throwing them out.) They both work out very well in a number of recipes, particularly my stuffed cabbage.

<<Bump!>> (FWIW- they still carry the mole poblano jhlurie mentioned in the last post .) Anyhoo- recently I've started working in Englewood, and have taken advantage of that fact to enjoy the fine offerings of El Paso for lunch a couple of times each week. Favorites so far are the chorizo and egg torta, even though the chorizo is not as good as La Batalla's. But still- the combination of things on that sandwich make for an amazing $5 experience. And when in the mood for a splurge: overkill thy name is Alambres. Last week I noticed this being prepared for a bunch of other customers, and it immediately made me wish I'd changed my order. Essentially it's a meat-lovers combo plate with the kitchen sink added, served with six tortillas to scoop it all up. Let's see...there's chorizo, beef and bacon (!!), lots of onions and peppers, all cooked on the flat top, a few handfuls of shredded white cheese (queso blanco? it is pretty mild whatever it is) are added and melted in, and then slices of avocado go on top. Pickled jalapenos and carrots are there for the taking if you like. It's big and it's rich and it made me miss dinner last night because I was still full. Duuuude...this is the stuff! If I only had a beer to wash it all down with

Thanks for the concern, guys. Man, I have been remiss, haven't I? Sorry about that. The 'craziness' I alluded to earlier in the thread centered around a long-term project I had been working on that was coming to an end, and I was searching for a new position. I am at a new job now, and things are going very well, couldn't be happier , actually (no more commuting to NYC!!!), but the downside is that I no longer have time to do (ahem)"online research" from work. Add to that a lot of weekends away from home and I haven't been posting much lately. Anyway... The Porter was great. We had it at my parents' house over Christmas- the recipe is solid, and it was pretty nicely conditioned by the time it was served. The thing is- we only went through about half of it and the rest has been sitting there ever since. I had a crazy thought, lately, and that was to innoculate what was left with some Brettanomyces culture as a bit of an experiment. I've enjoyed that 'barnyard' quality in similar beers and there are a few gallons just sitting there waiting for something to happen, so why not? I'll try to post back more often when I can get that keg to my place. Sounds like you guys have been up to good things. Enjoy the brews!

Since you were making substitutions under the guidance of your shop's operator I am sure that it will still make a great beer. There can be a whole lot of flexibility with these things so long as you stay within the framework of the original recipe. Just to add to what Chris said, I wouldn't be worried at all at this point, but I would check it after a week or so (maybe 10 days like Chris suggested)- not for contamination, but to get a handle on where your gravity is. Just post back at that point before you do anything with the beer.

Well said, aschbren, and welcome to eGullet. Here's what I love about the so-called Imperial, or Double, IPA's...IMO they are a pretty tangible way of trying to access the appeal of the 'original' IPA. O.g. in the 1.070's or above, check, IBU's in the 100's, check, PALE (meaning no real caramel character aside from kettle caramelization), check, seriously attenuated, check....(if it seems to anybody following along that I am describing Stone Ruination, well, ...I think that's the point). In other words, the Brits abandoned the style and have taken to just labeling their highest gravity beer as an IPA...so hells, yeah, I'm more than happy that we reclaimed it. As to the Imperial ESB... I guess I'd have to try a few first. Imperian Pils definitely border on Hellesbocks, but still stand as a substyle of their own, IMO. A lot of substyles have historically done just that, though. We beer geeks may be able to tell a German Pils from a Helles from an Export from a Czech Pils on sight but yer average consumer probably couldn't pick between those shades of grey. So what if it takes a bit of experience to navigate the sub-styles? It's not a new concept.

I don't go to nearly as many Indian buffets lately as I was during the 90's, but in the past few years I have noticed that the naan situation has improved pretty much across the board (my region includes northern NJ, NYC and Long Island), where you will generally get a fresh order brought to your table. As to the Tandoori Chicken, a friend and I used to be of the opinion that a certain place's version was renowned to be the best simply because it was refreshed almost continuously. Other than that it was pretty ordinary. I think an overall problem with the buffets is that there are only a few 'meat' dishes available, and they are usually selected or prepared to have a universal appeal- toned down flavors, all white meat chicken, not served on the bone, etc. The upside is that the vegetarian dishes are where a good place will usually connect. Quite a few of these, a regal sarson-ka-saag in Edgewater, and outstanding aloo gobi in Hicksville, etc., have stayed in my memory years afterwards while everything else is a blur. I don't know if you are going to get the better value, but to me the better meal is gotten by going all or mostly vegetarian at the buffet. (The exception being another place in Queens that is known for their butter chicken, and always has it on the buffet).

You can't make a good Lablabi (chick pea soup) without some good Harissa

Thanks for the tip on Northern Brewer. I checked, but it seems like they're out of stock for now (maybe a lot of people were brewing Oktoberfests in the fall... ). It is definitely something to keep an eye out for. I'm sure there is a technique involved with the late DME addition, but I really had a big problem with clumping and sticking to the spoon and getting it to dissolve. I lost track of how many times I said "Aw Crap!" Funny thing is, that didn't happen during my initial addition of the DME. I'm thinking that 3 lbs was too much to add all at once and it really brought the temperature down too fast, and that the right way to do it is a little at a time. At the moment, though, it's still a little too soon for me to think rationally about it.

Is there a benefit to using more yeast? ← A shorter lag time is what I was looking for, but in general you'll get a much better end result if the yeast isn't stressed. It is possible to overpitch, but my gut tells me that it is very difficult to do it as a homebrewer. The dry yeast is also cheap enough that it made sense to go with the extra one just in case- mostly because I knew that the og would be in the 1.060's and could handle more than one pack. I miss Portland, it's been a while since I've been there. Two of my college buddies moved out there in the early 90's and started working at some of the local breweries. I visited a number of times and became exposed to the beer scene, went to the beer fests as a tag-along insider, visited Newport and Bend just to have a few pints, stuff like that. I had just started homebrewing about that time but those trips really gave me some focus and drive; I wanted to make fresh hoppy beers like those I experienced on the west coast (cask conditioned Bridgeport Blue Heron was really something special back then), so that's where a lot of my brewing energies were concentrated. I'll have to crank out one of those recipes for the next batch, though I might just have to ramp up the hops even more to get in line with how times have changed (the guys in my club thought I was nuts to use 4 ounces of aroma and dry hops, but that just seems par for the course these days, now doesn't it?).

Welcome to eGullet, Malkavian. The way I am looking at the extract/all-grain thing right now is that there are a few styles that I most likely wouldn't attempt using extract (Kolsch, Helles, Dry Stout- for example) but there is also a hell of a lot of territory in which to play. As I mentioned just above, fermentability can be an issue for me, but I hope to be able to control that with some trial and error sugar additions. Does anybody have any experience with Munich malt based extracts, if such a thing exists? I sure would love to make a Dunkel on one of my next go-rounds. If you have access to very fresh bulk liquid malt extract, then that sounds like a very good option. My understanding is that the liquid stuff provides greater varieties as far as base malts go, but you will never be able to make as pale a beer as you can with DME (and even that could be a dicey proposition as compared to all-grain). The way to look at it is that both forms of extract have their own limitations as to what you can make, while going all-grain only has the limitations of time and equipment. The Lucky Lab rocks- I heard that they were opening a second location. The last time I was out there they made the hoppiest beer that I ever had in Portland, which is really saying something.

I brewed my beer this past Saturday, and it is fermenting away quite contentedly as I type this. Here's what I wound up with: 5 1/2 gallons in the primary of My Ever Changing Moods Porter (cuz...i kept on changing my mind about it, and it's an English Style Porter, and the Modfather (Paul Weller) is English, and...well, it's all a rich tapestry, isn't it...) 7 lbs. of Extra Light DME 1/2 lb. Corn Sugar (to hopefully dry it out a bit) 12 oz. Chocolate Malt 12 oz. Crystal 60L (these grains were steeped for 15 minutes at 155F. I was compensating for the 'steeping' part by using more specialty grains than I would have used if this were an all-grain batch) Here's where I experimented a bit- I did a concentrated boil, 2 gallons, and reserved 3 lb. of the DME for the end so that I would get less-than-crappy utilization from the boiling hops. I can see how this would possibly work with liquid extract, because it would dissolve much easier than the DME did. Let's just leave this part at 'I won't be doing that again'. Anyhoo- here is the hop schedule I used based on that little adventure: Boiling hops (60 min.)- 1 3/4 oz of Target @ 10% (mid 40's IBU's, hopefully) Aroma hops (10 min)- 1 oz. Fuggles @ 3.3% Aroma Hops (flameout)- 1/2 oz. East Kent Goldings I didn't take a gravity reading because I didn't think I would get an accurate one just after blending that concentrated wort into the cold water. It should be somewhere in the 1.060's, depending on the contribution of the crystal malt. Also- for whatever reason- I am approaching this batch with a very carefree frame of mind. I'm just happy to have something in the fermenter, and I'm sure it will be drinkable. The yeast was the Nottingham dry yeast and I used two packs, and it is fermenting at 66F ambient temperature.

I found this article: Newsday Gold Coast Restaurants while checking if Stresa was in Manhasset or Great Neck. Looks like some solid recs there, but I'm still gonna go with Stresa over the rest ($100.00/head seems about right).

Elie- I'll assume you mean 'Texas-warm', so, yeah- you better get crackin'! FWIW- that recipe will require a few months aging to be at its best, but it makes a hell of a beer. mtigges- input is always appreciated, and between you and my brother (whom I just saw over lunch) I have been swayed to hold off on the spices. Actually, it was the "what in the hell would you wanna do that for?" look of panic on his face that did it. I think he plans on consuming more than one... More details to follow!

Lordy, me, where does the time go? A few weeks my butt!!! Personally it's been a crazy couple of months, and the thought of brewing just kept on getting put off and off (kind of like how I got in the position of not brewing for so many years to begin with) until last week. At our family Thanksgiving dinner one of my cousins started up a conversation about how he missed my brew at these events and was hoping I would start again. Then we found out that my Aunt and Uncle, who usually host Christmas day, are selling their house and can't do it this year. Bottom line is that the party plans have changed to the point where I can include a keg o-beer in the festivities if I so incline. And I do. And I'm going to have something ready in those three weeks or so (I already bought the stuff). I'm definitely doing the Porter, and a 5 gallon batch at that, but I keep going back and forth on whether to spice it up or not. Among the 'pros' is, obviously, that a spiced holiday porter is a much more festive beer. Among the 'cons' is that I don't see it being much of a quaffer. Chances are that I'll do the spices but go easy on them. Somewhere in my notes is a recipe for a Cardamom spiced porter that featured black cardamom pods that I can modify. The black cardamom pods have an amazing aroma, leathery/woody almost, that go quite well with the roasted malts. Some black peppercorns for a subtle undercurrent are also being considered, but all that strong stuff like cloves, orange peel, nutmeg et al, won't be going in this one because there just isn't enough time for it all to mellow out. But, at the very least, there shall be beer!