phaelon56

I'vre been absent from my favorite local espresso bar for a few weeks, in part due to a short term financial crunch and for a few schedule reasons. Imagine my surprise when the cafe owner knocked on my door this past Sunday afternoon. She said she was in the neighborhood for a walk, handed me a stack of "free drink" cards and then mentioned that I'd been missed and they wanted to be sure I was okay. Her sister lives in the neighborhood (which is why she knows where I live) and she really does come there to do her walking but I was blown away by this act of kindness. Sure... it was a very savvy business move but hardly one that the average business owner would think to undertake. They already had my business and my loyalty but it's now been permanently cemented as of this occurrence. Share with us some not so random act of kindness that a restaurateur, bar or cafe owner, perhaps even a grocer or butcher has undertaken on your behalf. Something warm and fuzzy or it could even be crazy and funny - nothing wrong with hearing good news in this crazy world of ours. I'l relate one that happened to my former employer Herb. He was a regular (and a big spender) at an upscale local restaurant. The restaurant owners got wind of the fact that he was going into the hospital for some eye related surgery (back in the days when one stayed in the hospital for a few days for cataract surgery). On his first day of recovery one of the cooks showed up in chef's whites and a toque to serve Herb his favorite dinner on a silver platter (literally), complete with side dishes, cultlery and a half bottle of his favorite wine. Brilliant... absolutely friggin' brilliant! Twenty years later he still recounts the story whenever restaurant service becomes a topic of casual discussion. You can't buy better advertising than that. Were they shrewd and calculating when they chose to do this for him? Absolutely. They were also smart and caring. So.... what happened to you?

Yes - me too. My former employer had a similar experience but in a different vein that blew him away so much he still recounts the details to anyone who will listen, many years later. I'll post in the other thread once that gets started.

I post this mostly in jest but because I just had a rather amusing experience. I typically drink one quad shot latte per day and if I'm drinking straight coffee, rather than espresso, rarely exceed two mugs per day. Sure.... I know I'm hooked and if I stop drinking it for awhile, which I do on occasion, I'll get a minor caffeine withdrawal headache on the first day of abstinence. I suppose that the more significant fact is my devotion to the glorious bean. I talk about it, write about, ponder coffee and espresso related issues on a regular basis, and accept it as an integral part of my daily experience. Despite the fact that I roast at home and make excellent espresso drinks in my kitchen, I stop at a favored local espresso café several times each week, in part to show my support and also because it's a part of my social ritual.. The combination of a busy schedule and some temporary financial impediments has restricted me to making and consuming drinks only at home for the past two weeks. So.... Sunday afternoon I'm busy puttering in the kitchen and there's a knock at the door. I open it to find the smiling face of the espresso café owner, who hands me a stack of "free espresso drink" cards and says "We've missed you - is everything okay?". I laughed because it's a bit like the local drug dealer giving you a free sample or two when they think you're contemplating entering a rehab but on further consideration... I was genuinely touched and felt it appropriate to share the tale here. It's only by chance that she even knows where I live (her sister lives in the neighborhood) but I was blown away by this act of kindness and caring. She may have surmised that my reasons for not appearing were in part financial but her actions went far above and beyond the call of duty. I suppose this whole notion deserves a separate thread in General Food topics.... what has some restaurateur, grocer, café owner or other food/beverage person perhaps done for you as an an unsolicited act of kindness that startled you and affirmed your faith in people's fundamental goodness? I'll start a separate thread there on the topic but felt that I should share here first.

I'll wager that it's the oiliness. One of my coworkers was using 'bucks ebans in his Solis Maestro and had exactly the same problem. I store as much as a fice day supply in the hopper of my Mazzer and have never had that problem but the beans have not been oily. At most, there's been a barely visible sheen or just a few droplets that started to appear due to aging but not caused by a very dark initial roast.

Am I right that these are similar to McCann's Irish Oatmeal? That's a steel cut oat product and I love the nutty flavor and texture. It is to commercial oatmeal what an artisan whole grain bread is to Wonder Bread. I cook mine the easy way: two cups very lightly salted water brought to the boil. throw in a cup of ats, cover, remove from heat immediately and leave overnight. Simmer and stir for ten minutes in the AM and it's ready. Leftovers microwave nicely especially with a bit of maple syrup to thin it out a bit. I'm wondering - are the "steel cut oats" from the bag that's labeled as "7 Grain"? I'd love to try an alternate steel cut grain mix for hot cereal, not to mention that McCann's is a bit pricey as it is imported from Eire.

It would help if you have some idea what the eating preferences of the crowd are and also whther they're big eaters or if they're folks who prefer to pick at some things and save room for drinking. If all things balanced ideally I'd think that a half rack of ribs per person and a half chicken per person would be about right. I cook baby back ribs and they're very delectable but not as meaty as spareribs. They also tend to get eaten faster than chicken because thery're so good. Serving people I know.... I'd go with less chken and more ribs. Probably ten whole chickens and about two dozen racks of ribs. Tough call on the side dishes but again - depends on the crowd and also how long the event runs. If people are goign to be there for more than two hours there are plenty like me who'll want to nibble on another ear of corn or a few more ribs after the main meal has digested a bit.

I was wondering when someone would ask The Bumbershoot Festival It's an annual music and arts festival held at the Seattle center every year on Labor Day weekend. Ever think it would be nice to get a four day mix of music, independent film, spoken word performance, an independent film festival and a whole mix of aging hippies, families, chic young Seattlites and tourists like me.... all congregating together for four days? It is. It's worth the trip. I pick up a cheap Priceline hotel room every year and the four day festival pass is about $50 or $60. The musical lineup is incredibly diverse and althought the food served on grounds is not up to the standard of what NO's Jazz and Heritage festival offers, it's pretty damn good for festival food. Best of all (for some of us) is that opportunitu to do the espresso crawl all over seattle in the monring before the festival fires up. The only low point is the fact that only Starbucks has a concession to serve coffee at the festival but I can live in frozen Frappuccino when the weather is warm enough. I think I should arrange a Bumbershoot eGullet confab this year - might be fun. Edited to add: I'm really svelte in real life - the camera and the Totonno's pizza adds pounds in the picture

I'll weigh in to confirm that the pizza was good and the company even better. I could easily justify another day of playing hooky and a four hour drive to NYC for more such outings in the future. Having no idea in advance of what anyone looked like, I was a bit surprised to see two guys standing outside when I arrived who looked like they were waiting for me. Either or both looked as though they could step right into a role as part of Tony Soprano's crew but they were just neighborhood guys - the eGulleteers were already deep into their first pies. It was great to meet all - I had more time to chat with some than others but what a treat it was to connect the real with the virtual. The pies: the white pie was at the top of my list and those with multiple toppings at the bottom, mostly due to the wetness factor (I was not totally enamored of their sausage but that's personal preference). I also thought the first plain cheese pies were better than those on the second round but all told, it was damn good pie. The char on the crust is excellent - very flavorful. I haven't been to any of the other places tried on previous pizza survey visits but hope to visit Di Fara's next time I'm in NYC. What would I like different? I wish the top outer edge of the crust was a bit less cooked but that's just personal preference and I suspect it can't be done in this style of oven. I had some good pie at the UES Totnno's a few years ago (contrary to the experiences of many other people) but their pie was a bit underdone. I'd love to try some that's in between the two. As for a friendly and welcoming atmosphere - it just doesn't get any better than Totonno's in Coney Island. By the way.... those eGulleteers can eat a lot - especially jjgoode!!!

Actually.... a rank amateur cook like me would just tear them in chunks as many recipes suggest or simply stack them and cut on the diagonal. I've only seen one or two recipes that mention rolling them. Keep in mind that I'm self taught, mostly by watching and doing and have never read a book on all the fundamentals of cooking (I know... I really should get around to that!). I'm just curious about the effect of the rolling. The impression I've been given is that the rolling is not just for the convenience of cutting, but rather, that it actually makes the tougher leaves more tender.

It may be folk lore but my African-American friends all have a particular technique for preparation that supposedly makes the older, tougher leaves a bit more tender. This is always in preparation for stewing collards or similar greens so it's a bit OT re/sauteeing but I find it to be of interest. After washing and cleaning (cleaning includes cutting off the bigger, tougher portions of stem), the leaves are rolled up from end to end - you can stack a small pile and roll several at a time. Roll them tight into a cigar like cylinder and then slice on the diagonal before placing in the pot. I don't care for the stems so I usually remove most of the stems from all the leaves. I have no idea whether this practice really helps but it's so common that I'm inclined to think there's merit to it.

I've never tried CRS but may do so this year. One of the owners at a local espresso joint where I stop a few mornings each week knows of my interest in all things food and drink related. A few weeks ago he gave me a heads up about the recent availability of line caught wild Pacific Salmon and the soon to be available CRS. This guy is a 'fishetarian' if ever there was one. He lived in Alaska for twenty years and eats very little meat but plenty of fish. He gave me a quick tutorial on why line caught fish is often better than net caught fish (has to do with the balance of muscle and fat in the flesh - along the lines of marbling in beef). It's his contention that CRS is at the optimal point where the ideal balance of fat and muscle exists to offer the most desirable eating characteristics. Being the thrifty sort that I am.... I questioned if it was really worth $20 per pound or more. His response was simple: it's not about the price - it's about the fact that it's really good eating fish. I see this as a "point of diminishing returns" issue for which there is now concrete answer and no right or wrong. Does $20 - $25 per pound CRS taste 4X better than some other salmon I can get on sale for $5 - 6 per pound? Probably not but it's a goofy question to begin with. It's all about supply and demand. I'm a coffee freak and really enjoy a cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain on occasion. Even buying the beans in green form and roasting them myself I can still expect to pay $20 per pound. In pre-roasted form they're $30 for the real thing (much of the Jamaican Blue Mountain one can buy on the open market is not the real thing). I really enjoy JMB but am the first to admit that it's not worth the price in relative terms. I can get Indonesian, African, Central American and other coffees for far less money that are just as good in most respects and perhaps better in some. JMB, however, is perhaps the best balanced cup of coffee I've ever had when it's a good one. I don't think about the price - I just enjoy it for what it is and accept the fact that the price is high due to supply and demand. Perhaps someone here knows of a link they can point us to that offers specific information on line caught fish in general and CRS in particular?

If you're heading back to DC it might be wise to try heading out through Brookly to the Verazzano Narrows bridge and across Staten Island to get back to the NJ Turnpike, rather than driving back into Manhattan. I imagine it depends very much on what time of the day you're leaving - perhaps someone whose driven this route more than I have can confirm or suggest an alternate method. I do know that getting from Brooklyn across Manhattan and over to NJ by car after 2 or 3 PM on a weekday can be a nightmare.

They've also started doing something new that I find extremely helpful - a capsule description of the varietal's or blend's characteristics are printed on the bag label, along with suggested roasting level. Much easier than jumping back to their web site or to my notes to determine that info when choosing some beans from the drawer and roasting them.

Are you implying that you had dessert first?

My town has a couple good examples of that. there is one particular cursed location that stumbled along for nearly thirty years wit a variety of tenants, themese and cuisine types, none very successful. Eventually, it became Ruby Tuesday's and survived by virtue of the chain's popularity alone, yet the parking lot is never full. The Ruby Tuesday's at the local mall often has lines waiting outside on the weekends yet this one is never really busy. Acorss the road and half mile up is our second cursed location - it started a s fast food place in the 60's and has since been everything from Grandma's Pie Shoppe, Swenson's Ice cream, a hot dog chain and several different Mexican and tex-mex themed joints. Today it still sits empty - decrepit and waiting for the next sucker. Not surprisingly, Olive Garden bought the adjoining property (probably at a bargain price because of the location) and is jam packed every night with a line out the door. It is worth noting that of all the places that operated in both of these "cursed" locations, not a single one of them offered consistently good quality food and service or anything unique enough to draw peopl out of their way to eat there.

It's really quite appalling - Starbucks has already bastardized the concept of a properly made cappuccino or latte but now Mickey D's will complete the destruction. At least the 'bucks raised the bar for coffee quality in general by making people aware of the world beyond Folger's, Maxwell House et al. The pictures of the banner with Coffeemate was a real gag-me moment - I just walked into the breakroom at work and noticed that the new Coffeemate packaging (which is like that shown in your picture) has a delicious recipe for makign "real" whipped topping using Coffemate and cold skim milk. Yum. I typically have one cappa/latte each morning that contains 3.5 - 4 oz of espresso and about 10 - 12 oz of 1% milk. Even that limited consumption has me calculating fat grams. It's a good thing summer is coming - I can switch to iced drinks with less milk and drop the fat content to 1/2% (but then I'll drink twice as many!). BTW, yes he swears it's really a turkey.

I was a buyer/manager at the Campus Store for four years in the early 90's. I had many a cup of damn good Guatemala Antigua at the little coffee bar in the Ivy Room. Also had some pretty passable lunches considering that it was a college dining hall.

He says he tried a variety of methods including oven roasting with added moisture. His contention is that it as dry and "just didn't taste good". The only method he found that worked was cutting the meat into strips, pounding to tenderize, then cubing, breading and frying. He's now gorumand but I think his wife knows how to cook and he seems to do well cooking vension and wild duck. Perhaps there's more than one variety of wild turkey? This one was described as having little to no "dark meat".

There stil is a "Squat and Gobble" restaurant not far from me in Vernon NY. It['s been there at least since the early 60's but most likely longer. Syracuse used to have an old Carroll's fast food drive-up (Carroll's was the local predecessor to Burger King) that had been converted to: Mr. Burger Chinese Food Yes.... it was a Chinese burger and fries joint that also sold eggrolls, fried rice and the like. I also like this one I saw in Washignton state - not so much for the name but for the incongruity of the concept... not to mention the clever Hefner joke.

How about a couple different paellas? One Valenciana style, one "traditional style" (with rabbit and snails - no seafood), and perhaps even one that's vegetarian. Paella lends itself well to having lots of precut ready to assemble ingredients, seems to impress people and is fairly easy to make provided one keeps the rice layer thin, browns the rice and is careful with the liquids. I'm in a sort of informal cooking club; we did small empanadas (actually pupusas)at one gathering. Four different fillings were premade and ready when we arrived and there were two different doughs - oen wheat flour based and the other form cornmeal. Rolling/stretching the dough and stuffing were handled at the table where we gathered to drink and converse and two peopl manned the fryer in the kitchen.

Odd that I've never ever noticed this but I suppose I'm absorbed enough in my own food, conversation with my dining partners or the book I"m reading at dinner that I've nevr really looked around. But four inches ?!!! Damn.... that's a lot of tongue - I'm hard pressed to get mine to extend more than two inches yet I've never had any complaints. Uhhh.... about catching food with it

Oh just go buy the camera for cryin' out loud!! My little Olympus went on the fritz and I used my blog as an excuse to buy a new one. Granted.... I did not have the SAF to deal with (Spousal Acceptance Factor) but I did promptly pull it out to photograph the dinner when I was out on a first date. I explained the whole notion in advance and even sent her a link to the blog but it was evident that she found it a bit odd. Fortunately, I suppose, we assessed the whole thing afterwords and mutually agreed that there was some spark missing (might it have been her indifference to food and my fascination with it?). I'm among those anxiously looking forward to reading about the prep methods for the turkey. One of my hunting collegues insisted that wild turkey (the animal of course, not the beverage) is nearly inedible. I was skeptical and look forward to learning more.

I've been less ambitoius about snapping pics of my dinners lately but also cooking less for the past week or so. A recent thread aboiut cheese grits prompted me to make a batch - very good indeed. Used some whole grain white corn stone ground grits from the Callaway Store that I had sitting unopened in the cupboard. Mixed in a dab of butter and a couple ounces of 5X NY state cheddar. Unbelievably good - creamy, cheesy and lots of flavor (unliek the grocery store grits I've had in the past). Served with baked ripe plantain and deboned jerk style chicken thighs. Simpl dinner last night but still good - my first stab at skirt steak. Made a sem-jerk style marinade, a very light cheddar cheese sauce for the steamed broccoli and did some garlic, red onion and caramelized onion smashed red potatoes. Tons of garlic - very tasty and the bright spot in what had been a dismal day (not to mention the good company - my old GF showed up with flowers and a card to cheer me up - go Carmen!)

NY Texan - I'll PM you - I'm definitely available on the 9th and always enjoy meeting other eGulleteers - I'm actually going down to NYC this Friday for the Pizza Survey outing. Rokinrev, who has weighed in on this thread, is the only other Syracuse area eGulleteer I'm aware of. She's in a small Cooking Club that I'm active in - we meet once very few months. There may be some lurkers aroudn but the only other folks up in this general direction who are active seem to be GordonCooks in Rochester and Docsconz in Glens Falls (neither of which is close enough to pop over for dinner). Is Johnny's Hot Truck the one that is always parked over on North Campus - the red one? When I worked at Cornell I lived on Wyckoff Ave (across from the Ag School frat house) and walked by that truck every day - I think it's still there. We always knew it as Louie's Lunch Truck. Perhaps there's another truck somewhere? I'm not sure if it's open yet or not, but Gimme Coffee won a bid to be the espresso purveyor on campus. They're putting in a classic Airstream trailer that's been totally refurbished and converted for use as an espresso bar. I think it may be going in near where Entrepot used to be by Beebe Lake but not absolutely sure.

Yes that's the ticket. A big plate of Goi Ga (Viet style chicken salad), some fresh rolls and a glass of iced coffee with condensed milk. I also love that Thai salad with crispy duck, pineapple and cashews when the weather is hot. What I don't want to do is kitchen prep once it gets over 90 degrees.