phaelon56

Make that 2-0 - I second the nomination! Tom - have you tried Cape Cod brand Sea Salt and Vinegar chips? They'll blow you way - really worth seeking out. Thanks for a great drink-a-log.... uhhhh.. I mean foodblog We're looking forward to seeing you show up back here in the States again!

My former GF was willing to wait for 90 minutes or more to get a table at Olive Garden, where she always ordered the same dish. She admitted that it was not a great restaurant and better food was likely to be had elsewhere but she couldn't bear the thought of going to a new restaurant, ordering a dish and then finding that it was not to her liking. Her exception to this rule was that if she wasn't really feeling hungry she'd try out a new restaurant and not worry about whether she liked the food because she wasn't really that hungry. Me? I'm always hungry, don't care for the OG, love to try out new restaurants and new dishes and refuse to wait 90 minutes for a table at any restaurant. One might wonder who on earth we got along but I was madly in love with her anyway - it just didn't matter in the bigger scheme of things (I still am madly in love with her but our circumstances have left us in different parts of the country and I'm busy trying to move on with my life).

I think the "Garbage Plate" at Nick Tahoe's in Rochester may indeed be unique to upstate (for very good reasons). Although I've never attended one or drunk the beverage... there is an eponymous drink / party that younger folks out in the sticks in central NY are known to hold during the summer months. m peopel I know from the Marcellus and Skaneatles areas have told me of them and I'm curiouds to know if this tradition exists elsewhere. The party and the drink are called Wapatula. A brand new, clean forty gallon garbage can has many, many cans of Hawaiian punch poured into it along with blocks or bags of ice. Guests are required to bring the distilled liquor of their choice (any type and any brand as long as it's the hard stuff) and also additional cartons, bottles or jars of any other variety of fruit juice (the base always starts with Hawaiian Punch). Have any of you heard of this? People have also been known to do this on a smaller scale using a large plastic ice chest as the container but there are limits to how small a Wapatula can be - apparently a function of how the blending and mixing occurs.

There is indeed a distinct anti-freezing school of thought. It's been debated endlessly in alt.coffee more than anywhere else but for many of us it boils down to this: do we have a capable and readily available local microroaster from whom we can get a restock of beans every 5 - 7 days in small amounts and therefore always be assured of having fresh beans on hand at all times? If the answer is no then freezing is a good option provided it has been done properly. I'm beating a dead horse here but the major culprit in degradation of coffee (after oxidation which is the #1 factor) is exposure to moisture. Freezing in small packages that are not opened until they are thawed and therefore don't allow moisture to be added to the beans that remain in the freezer is the best bet if you must freeze. Michael Sivetz of Sivetz Coffee Roasters is acknowledged by many to be extremely knowledgeable regarding coffee freshness and preservation/storage issues. He comments I suggest reading the entire section at their web site regarding Coffee Packaging Obviously, commercial freezers that get extremely cold are recommended but the fact remains that freezing CAN retard the degradation process in coffee. It does not suspend it or prevent it - simply slows down the process. Home freezers don't reach the same cold temps as commercial freezers but for long term storage it still makes a difference and is better than leaving coffee at room temp in an airtight container for more than 10 days. Again... the question is this: how can I prevent store-bought or purchased roasted coffee from going flat and stale so quickly if my circumstances (geographic location etc) dictate that I buy a few pounds at a time but I don't use it up quickly enough? The answer is freezing and proper techniques must be deployed. I do home roasting and I don't freeze coffee as a general rule but if I'm going to be out of town for a week and want fresh roasted degassed coffee available on my return for the first morning cup or espresso? I throw some in the freezer before I leave and take it out to thaw the evening that I get home. It is not and never has been a question of fresh roasted unfrozen vs. freezing coffee. Fresh roasted is always going to be better - duh! The typical person who rants against freezing is typically someone who has access to and always uses fresh coffee withing 5 - 10 days of its roasting date. Not everyone is afforded that luxury and discussion of freezing techniques is still warranted. I will advise that I've personally done A/B tests and can confirm that it really works, within reason. I would imagine that 6 - 8 weeks is the maximum time for which coffee should be frozen but I've had both coffee and espresso that had been in the freezer longer than that and was still very good. Not quite up to the level of fresh roasted non-frozen but far better than something that was fresh roasted, and never frozen but allowed to get more than 10 days or so past the date of roasting.

Just curious - what percentage of chicory should be added to ground coffee is one is doing custome blending at home?

Yes.... welcome WTTM! Good to have you here! Doc - Check a Price Chopper "Super Center" (I'd suggest Wegman's but I think they don't play in the Golub's back yard). PC most likely carries the Hoffman's brand, which will be labeled as either "Snappy Grillers". They're a Syracuse area phenomenon in terms of NY state popularity but have German origins.

Seeing as how anchovies are already in Worcester (sp?)sauce, I'd try a bit of that, a bit of allspice and..... cinnamon.

I'll bite. Was it "Fat Guy"?

Ask and you shall receive.... TopSecretRecipes.com Heinz Ketchup "clone" recipe

Well at least Australia is known for good coffee and espresso (so I'm told). I'm under the impression that the coffee offerings there, even in smaller communities, are typically better than they usually are in the US.

There have been discussions in other areas of eGullet lately that poo-poohed the idea of water being such an important factor but I disagree. Where I was living in North jersey until recently, we had one truly great local pizzeria (Cafe New York). Their other and original locationw as in Brooklyn - they made the dough in Brooklyn with NYC water and brought it over to NJ on a daily basis. I would have to think that they must have tried to make good dough with NJ water and just couldn't get the results they wanted. Fat Guy contends that there are excellent bagels in NJ and that this fact alone disproves the water theory. I don't know what's different about pizza dough from bagel dough but will admit that the bagel shop in my little NJ town had great bagels. It's also worth noting that some parts of NJ most likely have good fresh water reservoir systems that provide good quality drinking water. My little NJ borough shared the same water distribution systems as Newark - totally undrinkable crap. Even here in Syracuse where I now reside, we have both good and bad water. The good stuff comes from Skaneatles Lake (one of the Finger Lakes) and it's just as drinkable straight from the tap as NYC water - as good or better. New parts of the city and outlying areas towards the northern and western suburbs get their water from Lake Ontario - 'nuff said about that - it can be salvaged only with a Britta filter or its equivalent.

Wonderful! But the acidity will still rot your enamel. My elementary school Phys Ed teacher (we actually called it "Gym" back then), "Mr. A", loved to regale us with scary tales of things we should avoid (one wa s to stay away from guys who hang around in locker rooms at the YMCA and we were way to naive to understand what he was talking about). His very favorite story was about his Model A Ford that had a rusting chrome on the bumper - he was advised to rub it dwon with a rag soaked in Coca-Cla and sure enough - that did the trick - removed all the rust! (all part of his pitch for healthier living I guess)

It's not that I can't be bothered but I go to much greater lengths and make more complex dishes (or more of them) when I have someone else to cook for. I did the foodblog thing a few weeks ago and had guests for dinner for every evening meal I cooked. I enjoy the socializing and also the process of doing the final stages of food prep while a friend or friends hang out in the kitchen/dining area and we chat. There is also the satisfaction of seeing the pleasure friends take in well prepared food, especially if it's something they would not customarily make at home for themselves. The reality is that much of the time I cook just for myself. I alternate between quick thrown together meals and more elaborate dishes. If it's something other than a quick saute or braise with a made-in-the-pan impromptu sauce, I tend to make large quantities, then portion it off and freeze for use as future dinners and lunches. Thankfully I am not one of those people who has an issue with eating leftovers or thawed and heated home-made frozen food. I had a couple of incredibly tasty lunches this week that were leftovers fromt he foodblog week. My staples for cooking alone include: Rice cooker "Better than Boullion" beef and chicken stock concentrate gel Chicken thighs that have been deboned and frozen in packs of four Little 8 oz screwcap bottles of Merlot and Chardonnay for wine sauce reductions Good quality jarred marinara sauce Fresh garlic, onions and plum tomatoes to add to the sauces Bagged salad mix

I can't comment on what tradition or even current practice calls for but having tried it made with turmeric for color and flavor and also with saffron - I really prefer it with saffron. I was getting Mexican saffron realy cheap but the latest container I got is (supposedly) of Spanish origin. You can't skimp on the saffron if you really want the flavor but it is a unqiue taste that IMHO cannot be duplicated with anything else - not even close.

I concur. I'd venture to say that's what your pizzeria was doing with the semolina. Unless their crust had a slightly yellow hue, I would say the semolina was being used on the peel and not in the dough. They were buying it in multiple 50 pound bags and the dough did have a slightly yellowish hue. I'm guessing that they were using it in the dough. Even one 50 pound bag would last one hell of a long time on the peels.

Tom - you are rapidly becoming my hero - you don't a lowly ER visit get in the way of some good drinking but you can even follow up a Jewel Bako visit with a TGIF meal and proudly tell the tale. Just curious - to what do we owe the pleasure of your planned return to the US?

Ah the vagaries of human taste. I'll put heated whole milk into a cup of coffee or 2% in a pinch but non-fat? I'd rather put in a slurry of talcum powder and water! Yet when it comes to drinking milk or using it with cereal it's non-fat all the way (and my cappa are 1% or 2% - go figure).

I threw the salt in with the yeast after the yeast had bubbled for a bit and I was putting in the joney and olive oil. Despite using only 1/3 of the package of yeast I got plenty of rising action through the first two days, particularly when the dough was left out at room temp for awhile. Yes, Sam, thanks for the explanation. My local Italian import store has two huge buckets - one labeled as semolina and the other as durum flour. I bough the durum and think that with that as 50% of the dough content I can skip the extra gluten that I added. I had a friend over for dinner and used up the last bit of Sunday's dough to make him a small pie (I ate pasta - not enough dough left for two). He was blown away by the pie - I tasted a bit and damned if the dough hadn't taken on more flavor and texture now that we were into the third day. Interesting. I plan to do another batch this weekend and will keep searching for that perfect (for me) balance. Just curious - what is it that the 20% pastry flour does, Sam? Is it to make the dough lighter or does it affect the flavor as well?

I used way less yeast than the posted recipe indicates - about one half of what comes in a standard package fo Fleischmann's yeast. I also worked a fair amount of olive oil into the dough over and above the two teaspoons or so that went in with the original water. The flavor of the dough is one of the things I don't seem to find with the shorter rising times. I left mine out at room temp for the day on a weekend and punched down repeatedly. It was then refrigerated overnight. I did find myself getting better results when it was subsequently allowed to warm up for several hours before stretching rather than working with it in a relatively cold state. What's the deal with durum semolina flour? I'm using it in my mix because the pizzeria I loved years ago in my old neighborhood used durum semolina flour in their dough (not sure whether they mixed it with anything else) and it was my favorite crust of all time.

I'm reviving this thread in anticipation of getting back into paella preparation on a semi-regular basis. I've always enjoyed it at home and typically make enough to freeze up several containers to for later use as microwaved lunches and dinners. The recipe I've been using for years is from the Jeff Smith's old Frugal Gourmet's syndicated newspaper column. I recently saw a rerun on FTV of the "Best Of Paella" episode with Tyler what's-his-name. Smith's method is nearly identical to the manner in which FTV showed it being prepared among the Cuban community in South Florida. That's fine and it is tasty but I'm intrigued by the enormous shallow paella pans that were shown when it was being prepared in Valencia Spain. I'd like to retain most of the ingredients I'm presently using but want to prepare larger batches - I'm sure the absorption of liquid issues that I have encountered on occasion are due to trying to use too large and deep a container for the amount of rice. I have a heavy duty paella pan by Le Crueset but it's small - perhaps 11 or 12". I've been intrigued by the offerings at PaellaPans.com They offer traditional paella pans in a huge variety of sizes and also sell tripods and propane burners designed for use with the extra wide ones. I'm in search of feedback from people who may have tried the larger pans and can comment on the relative value of carbon steel vs. stainless vs. enamel finish in these products. If you've used the extra large pans (22" is the size I'm thinking of), did you use it on two burners of a gas stove? On a Weber grill? With an outdoor propane burner? Also.... are there specifics tips and tricks in technique that help to ensure better results when making the jump to the larger pans? I'm also open to discussions of new and different recipes. I have been using uncured Portuguese style chorizo that I was buying in Newark's Ironbound section but now that I'm back up here in the boondocks I'll be switching to a cured Chorizo that one of my local markets carries. Am also in search of feedback regarding the use of rabbit. My local farmers market has fresh rabbit available every Saturday morning and I'd love to find a good use for it. Does one use the entire rabbit and if so, how is it sectioned? If not... what sections should be used? Last but not least - I'm using Spanish saffron. Is it worth seeking out Persian saffron? Is it that much better or more intense in flavor?

I'm not sure when Tryska's family left the Syracuse and central NY state area but her dad's fear of hepatitis A was well justified. At one point back in the 1980's Syracuse had a Hep A outbreak that was ferocious and difficult to eradicate. It was repeatedly traced to workers in a handful of fast food restaurants every time it happened. In one particular year that I recall, this small county (population about 500,000 at that time or possibly less) had 40% of all the Hep A cases in NY state for the entire year. That includes all of NY city and the entire rest of the state. It was pretty scary. The restaurant glove law ended up becoming a strictly enforced rule here long before it did elsewhere in the state or the country. I was tending bar part time back then. Out of towners who were attending events where I worked bar often gave us nervous and quizzical looks when they noticed that all the bar staff wore gloves on the hand that scooped the ice or touched the fruit that would enter their drink. Now no one asks why... Back to our regularly schedule program. I'll have to try the fresh boiled peanuts sometime. I've had the canned ones served at room temp and they were oddly addictive. I could not say that I really liked them yet I couldn't stop eating them and consumed the entire can. There was a vendor selling them at the Charlotte farmers market last time I was there but both vendor and product looked so funky that I opted for a jar of hot chow-chow and some bread 'n butter pickles instead.

My maternal grandmother had eyes like that but hers were a turquoise green. It was such an electrifying and vivid color that in this day and age one would assume she was wearing colored contacts, were it not for the fact that she was a little 90 year old Irish lady (elderly Irish ladies do NOT wear colored contacts!). I think Pavone's dough is probably still good but I believe they've caved in and gone to using that godawful "Grande cheese blend" from Wisconsin that so many pizzerias now use. It is a blend of Italian style cheeses - not straight whole milk mozzarella - the difference is visible and can definitely be tasted. Manlius is still quite insular and it's so quick to get from the suburbs to the city that the newest and most interesting restaurants develop mostly downtown in the Armory Square area. Cazenovia and Fayetteville still have a few decent options (the Brewster Inn in Caz and Arad Evans in F'ville). I used to really enjoy Wheatberry's in Caz but they are long gone. The indie movie theatre is still there - limping along but staying open - the owner also runs the Westcott, over in my neighborhood. If you should happen to visit the area again my favorite local restaurant, Alto Cinco, is right next to the Westcott theater.

Tryska - you are shameless - that's one of the things I really like about you El Saha is still going along nicely - their pita is still sold in all the local grocery stores and in the Middle Eastern markets as well (we have more of them now than ever). Pavone's keeps expanding - they're now in all the malls except Carousel and have a number of neighborhood locations as well. Cosmo's remains my favorite local pizzeria but as of this week (thanks to eGulleteer tips and tricks!) I'm making better pizza at home than I can buy in a shop. I knew you were originally from or lived in this area but didn't realize that it was Manlius. I'm still baffled that apart from What's Your beef, which remains as a reliable steakhouse, there's really no fine dining in Manlius. A few places have come and gone but none seem to last.

I don't typically have have access to the types of fish that are often recommended for a classic bouillabaise but I have adopted the recommended practice of mixing firm fleshed and soft fleshed fish. I often have both scallops and cleaned, cooked shrimp in my freezer that are used as well (one of our local grocery chain freezes those items when a "sale" ends and offers them really cheap in two pound bags. It's worth checking your local seafood market to see if they sell frozen fish stock. I discovered that my best local fish vendor does this and it's great stuff - very concentrated and only $1.15 for a decent size container (16 oz I think). A crucial step is to avoid overcooking the fish. I throw in the firmer fleshed fish, a minute or two later the softer fleshed fish, follow with the scallops and then add the cooked shrimp at the last miinute. None of the fish cooks for more than five minutes or so. Using the fish stock assures me of rich flavor and adding the fish at the last minute yields a delicate texture - the fish is just cooked and not at all dried out.

Oh yes - very tasty. back in 1968 or thereabouts I tried Hershey's "tropical chocolate" for the first and last time. Bars of it were included as a dessert item in our Chuck Wagon brand freeze dried trail food for a canoe trip. Truly disgusting stuff - even as a 12 year old who loved anything sweet I didn't enjoy them. This item was resurrected and had a brief flash of popularity during the Gulf War when they were being provided to the troops - "tropical chocolate" quickly died a second time, hopefully not to be resurrected. This item even went to the moon with the Apollo 15 astronauts but no one is admitting whether they actually ate them. The history of Hershey's Ration Bars and "Tropical Chocolate"