phaelon56

Since when is using sex to sell something clever?! Don't get me wrong, I'm not offended, but geez, its hardly original. I don't mean the concept of using sex to sell something. That's the world's second oldest profession (advertising). I refer to the idea of actually using Sex as the product name. It eliminates the need for allusions or slightly subtle double entendres - everything is just flat out blatantly suggestive. My surprise is that no one has done this with some other food or bevarage product already - or have they? I think having the brainstorm to use something so blatant and obvious as a product name when no one else has done it is indeed clever. What they do with it once they've unleashed the idea is far from original, as you so aptly pointed out.

Scott - I think you might try stretchign the dough rather than rolling it. It's my understanding that the rolling process affects the structure of the dough in such a way that it has a distinct effect on the final texture. Most seem to feel that stretching yields the best results. My favorite local artisan bakery actually uses King Arthur but I think it's not the same variety of King Arthur that is sold in the grocery stores. The chief baker there is an old friend so I'm sure that buying some flour and yeast will be easy enough. We received 8" of snow last night - it may be a few more weeks before I can get the grill out and running

This would be much like my daughter's college friends, most of whom describe themselves as vegetarians but they're not really foind of vegetables with limited exceptions. I happen to be proud of my daughter's stated position: "I eat vegetarian most of the time because it's easier and the meat in the dining hall is usually gross". She doesn't see to feel the need for a label. Personally, I was not offended in any way by the articla but it seems that the author did some labeling of his own when describing the woma in NC who was discussed. He calls her a vegetarin who still eats meat. She describes herself as "eating mostly vegetarian but sometimes also eating meat". I could give a whit - eating healthy is a good thign but eating food that has flavor is also high on my list. I do agree with those who are a bit irked by people who claim to eat vegeatrai or vegan because of animal rights issues but then don't really walk the talk. If it's a moral issue it had better go beyond what you ingest.... leather car seats, shoes, belts, glue with animal by-products - it's tough to do but that kind of a public committment should be adhered to rigorously if one expects others to respect and appreciate the stated position.

Needless to say.... the "grow-ops" folks out in British Columbia could probably figure out how to produce enough in one basement to supply most of us with a year's worth of coffee but i think they'll likely stay focused on smokable, rather than roastable, agriculture.

I can relate. I was in Ireland last spring and when I noticed that the Baby Monkfish I ordered came with fries.... I requested fresh potatoes - boiled or mashed - whatever thay had available (in all but a handful of restaurant in Ireland, fries are frozen just as they are in the US). The waiter returned and informed me that they were OUT of potatoes.... in IRELAND! It's obvious that you did not attend Catholic school....

The tamale ladies on 8th Avenue between 39th and 40th. Ther are usually two - one on the east side and one on the west right by the corner of 39th. Mon to Fri only and from about 4 PM to 6 PM. Choose corn or chicken, dollop with hot sauce (they have a bottle right there) and chow dwon. MMMMMMM!!!! $1 each.`

You may change your mind if you try making them at home. Crucial ingredients are 1) ice cubes made from espresso or extra strong coffee 2) tiny bit of food grade carageenan (1/4 tsp for a 20 oz drink) 3) a dash of chocolate syrup (not a mocha - this is a flavor binder of sorts that brings out more coffee flavor) 4) tiny dash of salt - yes.... salt! 5) a bit of vanilla extract 6) your choice of milk 7) extra strong coffee that has been chilled - I used to make extra strong French Roast and then add a few teaspons of Medaglia d'Oro instant espresso powder to the pot. You can mix up the liquid ingredients minus the carageenan in advance and keep a jar of it in the fridge - keeps for 4 - 5 days or longer (about as long as milk does). Just shake it up well, add carageenan, ice cubes and blend. Regular blenders are too wimpy and Waring' so-called Professional Bar Blender is just an appearance gimmick. Look for this blender Braun Power Max It has a motor with much higher wattage output than just about anything on the market apart from the $300 - $400 Vita-Mix units. It also has a very heavy duty stainless steel blade that's ideal for chopping ice. There may be a version available with a glass jar - mine is plastic but it does make it much easier to heft the thing for pouring when i'ts full.

The heck with reading the menu.... I'm luckier tham most folks my age as I can easily read the print and even in low light but it's disturbing when I have difficulty seeing and appreciating the colors and contrats of the food presentation.

I think it will be a problem. I wear EEE width but my left foot is nearly a 1/2 size larger than my right. On shoes with a soft and stretchy leather I can generally get EEE in 10.5 or 11 and it works. I bought some Dansko's in black at Shoemania (Union Square - best place around to shop for non-traditional shoes). They're either a 43 or 44 and feel great for awhile, especially for extended standing in limited areas, but if do extensive walking in them it becomes an issue. I was in NYC last weekend to spend some time with.... "mystery woman". She walks A LOT... I really enjoyed that aspect of our wekeend but Sunday mornign my dogs were killing me - I ended up with a blister on the left foot right where the toe meets the outer edge of the shoe. I looked at their web site and didn't see any width options. Hard to believe that European feet come only in one width. Perhaps they just don't sell the same variety of sizes here in the US?

Do you think this approach is better than using high gluten content flour, mechanical kneading, proofing, punchdown and then a rest overnight in the the refrigerator? IIRC, this was one of the strong recommendations on a pizza dough thread I initiated last year but I didn't get back to trying it out. I definitely won't be using the bread machien to bake bread and despite an abundance of counter space I have no burning desire to have more gadgets around. One of the reasons i so rarely use the electric hand mixer is that I'd rather just use a stainless steel whip - it's so much easier than digging out and cleaning up an electric device.

Gramercy Tavern in NYC serves a tiny little (2 oz or so) decanter with simple syrup as a side complement for guests who order unsweetened iced tea. Brilliant idea... so simple and easy... so inexpensive for them to offer but it's little touches like this that make some establishments truly stand out above others. Also the end of mY OT ramblings until we have more food commentary to diverge from

My reasons are mutliple, Sam. First is the fact that the bread machines are apparently ideal for the proofing process because they control the heat really nicely during that stage, unlike the stand mixer, where I'd have to transfer the dough to some other area. Second is the fact that at present I don't see much use for a stand mixer in my kitchen, apart from needing to knead dough on occasion. Money is also a factor at present - I can snag a functional bread machine (functional if I'm only using it for kneading and proofing) for way under $50 but figure about $250 for the Kitchen-Aid mixer, right? Things could change. Until a month or so ago when I moved into my house, my kitchen was so tiny that it was a moot point. I had little space and wasn't cooking. I now have a cavernous kitchen with about a mile of counter space. I've already found myself cooking much more and it could evolve. That said.... I have a small electric hand mixer that gets used only once or twice a year and just last night finally pulled out the immersion blender I received as a gift almost two years ago. For a person who anticipates doing very little baking, do you think a good food processor might be a better choice than a stand mixer?

Having lived in Rutherford for four years until recently... I can sadly advise that although Cafe Eros on Park Ave has a very nice atmosphere and a pleasant covered patio in the back - it's overpriced and neither the desserts nor the coffee drinks are especially good. The owners are Greek and have some wonderful baklava and other homemade Greek pastries but the other desserts are more or less like a high end version of the Sysco frozen stuff - overly sweet and not memorable. Cafe Ecelctic on Bloomfield Ave in Montclair is another story. They have good coffee and decent espresso (I'm very particular about espresso - my version of "decent" is most people's "very good"). I especially like the espresso con panna. They make it with whipped cream floated on espresso and caramel syrup drizzled on the top. Sip the espresso through the whipped cream and syrup and be sure to make it a double - delicious. I've only had the pastries on one or two occasions but they were very good. It's only a few hundred yards from the Clearview Cinema and just a short block up from the Wellmont. Nice post-movie stop.

Wow, this one brings back a lot of memories. Do you have any tips on identifying the plant? My memory from summer camp days is that it's anywhere from 1 to 3 feet high with leaves that look like maple leaves (it's even perhaps a recently sprouted maple of some sort?) Is that even close? -michael Here's an Indian Cucumber photo from the state of North Carolina web site. It's odd that none of the links I could find showed the edible portion, which is the root. I did see one mention that it was used as a food by native Aemrican peoples but in certain quantities can act as a diuretic and even as a purgative (las if we cared when I was in Boy Scouts - heck, we were just thrilled to eat something that we dug up ourselves in the woods and could never find more than a few at a time).

Believe me.... I wanted a Kamado style cooker but $$ is a big issue right now (new house to pay for and we're in the midst of temporary pay cuts at work). I couldn't pass up the $199 price on this grill. I'll be working at about waist level so the flex factor of a metal peel wil not be a necessity for me. Next up is a cheap bread machine to knead the pizza dough. I'm kickign myself for missing the Sunbeam model that Kmart ran on close-out at $8. My brother had one - not all that heavy duty in terms of the lid hinges and that sort of thing but it has a nice little motore and does a great job of kneading and proofing.

I'm a pastry klutz but really appreciate this discussion. Steve - the movement you're describing sounds much like some of the driving forces behind the Arts & Crafts movement. Form follows function but once the artisan has ensured that the functional requirement has been met (in this case it tastes really, really good).... there's an imperative to deliver a nice clean visual presentation that is soothing to the eye and the spirit. Excessive and ornate ornamentation is not deployed simply for the sake of visual appeal but subtle decorative elements that enhance the object are desirable. I wonder if there was ever an extension of the Arts & Crafts movement to culinary areas.... with in William Morris' time in England or during Gustav Stickley's era here in the US. I doubt that such is the case bvut I see interesting parallels.

Update: my digital camera is on the fritz and i don't yet have pics ot post but I finally refinished it and used the Boos Mystery oil. Excellent product and I really appreciate the recommendation. I did end up using straight tung oil on a different project - a cherry dining table. Loved the effect but for a kitchen surface this Mystery Oil is the bomb! This peninsula top was made from an old restaurant kitchen prep table. Many years of oiling and cleaning had left the surface in rough shape. the previous houseowner had done some rough sanding but made little progress. My initial attempts at sanding, usinf a vibrating finishing sander with 100 grit paper, met with no success - the sandpaper gummed up immediately.] I applied a coat of 3M "Safe Strip" (Citri Strip would also be good), wrapped and taped the surface with plastic wrap to cut off the air supply and let it sit for 24 hours. Rubbed down with plastic scrub pad and rinsed throughly with water. Much of the latent oil and wax appeared to have been drawn off by this process. A few days later I did a through scrub down with mineral spirits and then wiped dry with a cloth. I attempted to begin sanding again and still met with gummed up sandpaper although not as quickly. As it turns out.... there was a surface film that could now be scraped off with a putty knife. that was the key. Many, many sheets of sandpaper later... having gone through 100, 180, 320 and 400 with a final hand rub using 600 grit.... it was ready for oil. It's absolutely gorgeous. This was once a real restaurant prep worksurface so there's plenty of character remaining: visible knife marks here and there and some initials carved on the side edges. There were several holes that I filled by drilling evenly and using hardwod plugs and wood filler. I think a bit more wood filelr and some stain to bring the wood filler color down to match will be needed but overall it's fantastic. Can't say enough good things about the Boos Mystery Oil. Mineral oil is okay on a small cutting board or wooden utensils but for a surface that will often have hands and arms and objects on it when being used as a dining area / place to hang out... the Boos oil yields a surface that is glossier and smoother - absolutely no sense of any oil residue on the surface yet it is nicely sealed. I won't be cutting directly on this surface but will on occasion use it as an overflow area when doing major food prep. Thanks to all for the tips and suggestions.

Nice start to the blog. I tended bar part time for several years for a caterer who did lots of kosher events but we did those only when we could use the synagogue's kitchen from start to finish. We never bothered using the dairy side of the kitchen - it just wasn't worth the hassle. The biggest obstacle was when we had a huge event. One year our Citizen of the Year dinner honored Larry King, who was the speaker. We had over 800 guests for a sitdown five course meal and the biggest issue was glassware! Imagine having enough wine and cocktail glasses on hand to do a one hour cocktail hour for people who were tossing them back enthusiastically. Needless to say... we couldn'nt bring in the rental stemware that we used for our large non-kosher events. About iced mocha's -- it's worth seeing if you can convince your neighborhood espresso dealer to start making and stocking espresso ice cubes for you. They're made of straight espresso with a bit of simple syrup added. The beauty of these is that as the ice melts.... the drink retains its punch and flavor. I have an iced double strength latte every weekday mornign when the weather is warm - I don't mind paying the upcharge for the espresso cubes as it makes for so much better and longer lasting a drink.

Just cruised through one of our newer and larger local Asian markets this past weekend in search of produce bargains. Lo and behold.... they have Pomfret for $1.99 per pound (whole fish). They also have a tank with live fish for those who want to clean it themselves. I'll pass.

Tonight I have one guest (wow - a nearly full house by my standards!). I will serve: - chicken liver moussse with homeomade pumpernickel bread and cornichons - small bit of the garlic/star anise roasted chicken from the other day with bit of white rice - baby arugula mix greens with poached Asian pear slices and a red cider /maple vinegarette - sauteed string beans with toasted almond slices, tofu and some kind of citrus sauce - roasted cauliflower (I just can't help myself) I hope she brings dessert - this is already more than enough cooking for me.

I added the bold italics because I so often find this to be the case. Back in my early twenties I was working as a waiter and was convinced that I'd already developed a sophisticated palate, especially in terms of booze. One of our bartenders challenged me and was confident that in an A/B comparison, when downing shots of liquor, I would not be able to tell the difference between brands. It's not all that relevant to the gins under discussion here but in a "guess which whiskey" 2 out of 3 contest.... I lost. The brands? Jack Daniels sour mash and Corby's blended bar whiskey. Admittedly, downing shots is far different than sipping straight booze on ice but his point was well taken. So much for my oh-so-refined tasted buds at the time. We had one bartender who was personally offended and deeply troubled when people ordered things like a Crown Royal Whiskey Sour. I think he may even have developed ulcers over this very disturbing practice of brand conscious people. Last time I checked, the Tanqueray sold in Canada was still 95 proof (47.3% alcohol).

That was done many, many years ago but enforcement has gotten far stricter and in many areas (including my own) the blood alcohol level that defines intoxication (as opposed to just impairment) has been lowered to .08 from .10 These, of course are the DWI/DUI laws. Most of the restaurants I favor have long tended to be non-smoking or primarily non-smoking but last wekeend I was visiting in NYC and had the occasion to hang our at length in some bars with a drinking friend. As a non-smoker, I always tolerated the smoke in bars as a matter of course and just figured it was worth the aggravation if I wanted to be there to hang with certain people or see certain live music. The smoking law in NY State had certainly presented a hassle to foplks who like smoking in bars and I'm not personally in support of the law but I'll have to admit that hanging out in bar became much more pleasant for me after this change. There is also a "hardship clause" that tavern owners can apply for. If they can document a loss of revenue exceeding 20% of net profits when comparing pre and post smoking income and it exists for more than three consecutive months.... waivers are being granted. We have one tavern in this area that has already applied for and received the exemption. Note to smokers: the upstairs area at the Campbell Apartment bar on the upper deck Vanderbilt Ave side of GCT is a legal smoking area.

Most likely the case. It's actually cornmeal that's used in most places rather than flour - the granules work nicely at allowing the dough to slide off the peel. The dilemma is exactly what you pointed out - the oven needs to be swept out periodically. I'm planning to try the string technique as my oven was always a mess with stray cornmeal when I was making pizzas regularly.

The manufacturer makes a natural gas conversion kit that's $50. It's intended for use with the next model down in their line and not recommended for mine because mine has an external side burner. I'll just run natural gas to the main burner assembly and run the side burner off a five pound baby propane tank for those rare occasions when I need it. Fortunately, running a gas line to my deck will be a breeze. It's snowing here again today (third day in a row). I won't have this up and running for another month or so but will start a gas grill pizza/bread baking thread once my initial results are in.

I've had nicely charred crust at the John's on Bleecker on repeat occasions but when I've eaten at their place in midtown (44th Street?) there was nary a bit of black on the crust (and the pizza was far more pedestrian). I'm not assuming that I'll really truly match what a good pizzeria can produce but my goal is to make the best possible pizza at home in limited quantities. The conventional gas range has not done it but I think I have a chance of getting much closer with the grill and the firebrick. Just picked up the new grill today. Yikes - this thing is heavy duty - weighs 130 pounds unassembled - this is not including any propane tank (although I plan to run it on natural gas). It will definitely stand up to the weight of 2" firebrick very easily and the aluminum casting of the casing is far heavier than what I've seen on most other grills - should help with heat retention.