phaelon56

The easy answer might be that small amounts of salt bring out flavor in other foods or help to meld multiple flavors that otherwise are not detected or as satisfying. This really occurs in many cases despite the fact that one does not taste any "saltiness". Did you know that Starbucks uses a small amount of salt in the frozen frappuccino recipe? Sounds weird but trust me - it works. A rather dry but still fascinating tome worth reading is "Salt: A World History" by Mark Kurlansky Back to salt. I've seen it posited that, historically, pasta was cooked in seawater. The notion is that adding enough salt to replicate the saltiness of the Mediterranean yields a better result. Damned if I know whether it's just historical fluff or not but my pasta tastes better with some sea salt in the water. I'm still on the fence about adding or not adding oil to the water.

Browising in my local Mediterranean foods specialty market last weekend, I noticed this brand of coffee that looked interesting I know the preparation style for Turkish coffee and believe there's a similar traditional style in Greece (dark roasted coffee heated in an Ibrik with the water to steep it and served with the grounds settling to the bottom of the cup). I was surprised to see one kilo bags of green beans on the shelf below the roasted coffee. At $3.99 per kilo for the green beans it's a mighty attractive price but I'm curious as to what beans might be in this blend (assuming it's a blend - not even sure of that). Also - is pan roasting or oven roasting at home a practice that people of Greek or other eastern Mediterranean origin still do here in the US?

I'm curious to know if any of you North Jerseyites have tried the wing place across the street from where Little Saigon used to be in Nutley. I think it's called "Gone with the Wings" - just a little take-out joint. I used to see it after sating my Viet food cravings but never wanted wings at that point. About the crispiness - of one thing I'm certain: wings that have been purchased frozen and then thawed before frying never seem to achieve the crispiness. Only fresh wings cooked in good oil that's hot enough and cooked for long enough will achieve that remarkable crispy crunch in the skin but it's worth seeking out.

You might try direct ordering from Kona Purple Mountain Farms They show only roasted bean prices on their web site ($16.95 per pound). They were strongly recommended to me by another home roaster but I haven't tried their beans. I do know that it's one of the only two Kona's that Sweet Maria's stocks at the moment and they're generally very particular about what they'll stock and sell (they have stocked Greenwell Farms in the past but have none at the moment). You'll likely want to negotiate for a much better price on direct purchase than what they show for roasted. Sweet Maria's is charging $14.40 per pound for the green and shipping from CA is sure to be less than from HI. Here's a detailed Purple Mountain review and roasting recommendations notes from the SM's web site.

My mother doesn't care for the food at buffet restaurants but will go on occasion because my father likes them. She maintains that her real pleasure in going there is that she feels so darn skinny when she looks around in those places. She could lose a few pounds but says she's always way skinny in that context. Who says they really throw it out? Slop is easily reheated

Thanks for sharing. Those same kettles are great for coffee (mine is a four cupper, also B & D brand). Like many offices, mine has "free" coffee btu it's worth less than what you pay for it - rotgut. I have a little one cup Melitta cone that makes a great ten ounce mug and the electric kettle is just the ticket.

If you really don't want to go to the trouble.... check with your local upscale fishmarket. The best one in my area has a few deli type items that they make from scratch and sell for take-out (various salads and chilled seafood related items) and also a chowder or two. I asked them if they carried fish stock,, assuming they'd point me to some sort of bottled concotion but nooooo.... they make the good stuff from their scraps and boines, then freeze it and pack for retail sale. It's frozen tbu the turnover in there is brisk - I doubt that any of it has been frozen for more than a few weeks. Great time saver, it was highly concentrated and at $1.15 for a oint I can't go wrong on price. That said.... I'll still be making my own as I love the smell, the process and gain a sense of satisfaction from reducing waste (now that I have a house again I anticipate having my first compost pile soon).

Wegmans has their own security staff, don't they? Yeah... and most likely a bicameral alegislature as well - that place is huge! I'm surprised they dont' have their own zipcodes already.

Uhhhh.... I'm afraid of running out of espresso beans early on a Saturday morning. I was curious because so few of the recipes I saw called for fish heads. The suggestion to remove the gills and eyes is the sort of information I was looking for - thanks to all who replied.

I was trying to take photos in Wegman's Grocery for my blog and gthey shut me down the moment an employeee spotted me with the camera. Weird. It's not as though their store layouts or dsplays are so unique as to be unrecordable with a simple paper and pencil sketch if one were so inclined. At least they didn't call the cops on me!

I combed the archives of the eGCI course on stock making and saw a post mentioning that fish stock would be discussed but was unable to find the information there or on a forum search. Very simple question: shuld I use the head(s) when making fish stock? I baked fileted and baked some red snapper this weekend and threw the carcass, including the head, straight into the freezer in a ziploc. I understand the general principles of making a fish stock but find that of the five or six recipes I've located on the Web, only one mentions using the head. Your opinions?

has this happened even in the last 10 years? i'm thinking this practice is pretty outdated. i never quite understood it anyway as skate is much different than scallops. the indicators, to me, would be pretty clear. Just last year I was foolish enough to order scallops in a Chinese restaurant - I can't prove it but I swear they were not real scallops. The size and shape was correct but the texture was slightly different and ther was not even the slightest hint of scallop flavor. Yet.... there was some other seafood flavor noticeable. I've never tried skate (knowingly) but these so-called scallops were very suspicious.

Try checking Teros on Ridge Road in Lyndhurst, across from the cemetery and just south of the corner of New York Ave. They had a very smal front dining room that was part of the bar and it was typically smoky but when I moved away from that area in July they were workign on a dining room expansion. It was my understanding that the new dining room would be completely separated from the bar and would be non-smoking. If I recall correctly, I think that Spain, in newark, offers a non-smoking dining room also but I was unimpressed by their food. Teros is good and also moderately priced.

So - what are your favorite espresso bars and coffeehouses in the area? Be sure to include restaurants that serve exceptionally good or bad caffeinated drinks if you can think of any. Don't hold back - give us the skinny - enquiring minds want to know!

Yesterday was pizza again as I'm still tweaking the crust. Oddly enough, the crust that was really good last week seemed even better after being frozen, thawed and allowed to warm up for the afternoon at cool room temp. The elasticity was incredible - supple and easily stretched - just the weight of the dough across the back of my hands enabled it to pull out into shape. I could have tossed the pie to get it even thinner but it would have gotten too big for the stone! The crust is now really where it needs to be - perhaps another 30 seconds of cooking time might be good but it was damn near perfect. Tonight was one of those dinners where everything went wrong and it still tasted good. This was an epicurious.com recipe for baked red snapper with spicy soy glaze. I think it's a Gourmet magazine recipe - did a number of things incorrectly but my guest was thrilled anyway. Steamed sweet potato slice are supposed to be served under the fish but the fish is cooked skin on and I didn't find this to be a particularly edible skin. The side veggie is snow peas, carrots and napa cabbage with red onion, cilantro and rice vinegar thrown in at the end. I may try some version of this in the future but I'll improvise. I'd rather see a bed of lightly sauteed greens under the fish. Reminder to self: try to put the minced ginger into the glaze next time!

So... what are your favorite coffeehouses and espresso bars in the area? How about restaurant coffee or espresso? Who are the winners and losers? Please tell all!

Vancouver is known for having some good coffee and espresso available but I'd love to hear details - I've only tried a few places there. Also... how about the rest of BC and Western Canada? Let's hear about your favorites but don't be shy about telling which places just can't brew a good cup either.

Funny that you should ask - I used the sauce recipe that you posted earlier in this thread! I had a bit of Maille red cider vinegar left and some white champagne vinegar. Used about 1/3 and 2/3 of those, respectively, along with flaked red pepper, some honey, a bit of cayenne and some Dijon mustard. Most of the pork was packed and frozen for heating up but the small portion I did with the sauce was remarkably good the next day. I didn't even bother with buns, slaw or anything else apart from a fork and a plate. I just picked at a few pieces the night it came out of the smoker because there was a separate dinner already prepared.

I agree, particularly on the Krups brand for a cheap whirly blade grinder and most especially about shaking it to get a more consistent grind. Now I'll point that for espresso I disagree. My espresso grinder cost $375 and after two years of use i've come to realize that it's a bargain. That brings up the importance of context - I use it a couple times every day and more on weekends. Some things don't work well in cheap. Has anyone else noticed how much better the cheap stainless steel stuff made in China is relative to the stuff made in India? Damn - there is really a difference even though they're both cheap.

We should also consider the possibility that this schlub thought a Napoleon was some entirely different type of dessert and realized their error when it was delivered. Probably more face-saving to say it was unappealing than publicly acknowledge the gaffe.

Two more. Moka is coffee flavored and not too sweet or too bitter. I finally got to try the Chinotto. It's nicely bitter but not as bitter as Stappj or Sansbitter (two Italian non-alcoholic apertif products). It's a bitter orange flavor but more like an orange zest essence - not a hint of artificial flavor. All three of the bitter drinks have that a sort of Campari related bitterness (I'm working from memory on this one - it's been twenty years since I tasted Campari).

If you just can't get enough of bubble tea talk and want to know more.... The eGullet Coffee & Tea forum Bubble Tea thread

No red X's here - my Internet is not broken (yet). Gotta love those Greek diners (and yes they are typically owned by Greek families). Let me guess.... do they have a sort of glass pie and cake case that's circular, visible when you enter, as a way to plant the seed for a subconscious desire to order dessert?

There's a store right here in my hometown that has a hot sauyce selection as large as you're likely to find anywhere - if they don't carry it there's a strong possibility that it's just not available - here's their web site The Hot Shoppe Just did a bit more research and it appears that Inner Beauty, a Costa Rican product, is simply no longer available. Matouk's Calypso is suggested as a replacement but is described as more mustardy and a bit sweeter. I suggest getting the regular Matouk's, which is not sweet or mustardy, and adding just a bit of mustard if you find that it needs some. Should be able to find it in any grocery store that carries Jamaican and West Indian foods. Like Inner beauty, it has both mango and habanero - a combination that yields more flavor than conventional hot sauces but still has all the fire.

A coffee nut I am.... a coffee snob I ain't. The Eight o'Clock roast in your pictures, Lisa, has for many years been the most consistent whole bean coffee generally available in supermarkets and IMHO it's quite often as good or better than much of the over-roasted dreck that Charbucks is hawking. Mixing a darker and a lighter roast in 50/50 proportions is actually not only acceptable - it often yields intriguing results that can't be duplicated in other ways. The same coffee varietals can yield markedly different character at differing roast levels. I think it's just grand that you and Mr. Boy™ have the dual coffee thing going on. Ahhhh.... the family home on the water that we almost but didn't quite have (at least as a place to visit). My great aunt took early retirement from her position as a teacher at Julia Richmond School in da Bronx and eked out a living painting birds from her little cottage on the shore at East Patchogue, just up the road from you. Regrettably, due to poor estate planning, her heirs were responsible for such an enormous estate tax based on the value of the land (the cottage was ready to be knocked down at that point), that they had to sell it just to settle the estate. Good real estate decisions were not her forte - she also owned twenty acres of land that comprises what is now the center of Smithtown but was convinced by a "friend" to sell it for about $20K. A year later it changed hands again for a cool million $ or so.... On to the food - we're anxiously waiting!