phaelon56

I see these as the key elements of a wonderful recipe

Melkor's are way better than mine Sam. You and I could have a contest and you'd probably be an odds-on favorite to win. I have great crema and can get the righht milk texture but the pouring speed and wrist shaking thing seems to elude me. So true but I'm one of those people who often can't predict shit even from present knowledge (or possibly future knowledge if I was so lucky to receive it)

Here in the central part of NY we have a full range of maple products available at our twice weekly public farmer's market. Several grades of maple sugar candy (I like the cheaper, coarser stuff), granulated maple sugar, multiple grades of syrup (up to one gallon containers) and also maple cream. This last item is might delicious, especialy if spread on warm biscuits or other such baked goods. The NY State fair is held in late August and the Maple Producers Association has a booth. They almost have Miss Maple Syrup or one of the runners-up working in the booth and ina ddition to the other treats already listed... offer maple syrup snow cones and maple sugar cotton candy. The Greenmarket in Union Square NYC usualy has a vendor with most of the products described above including the maple cream. The one treat i've never tried is made by taking freshly boiled still warm maple syrup and pouring it into some fresh snow. the snow is teased back and forth or pulled like taffy and a think crackly sort of frozen candy results - always eaten on the spot. Doc - have you tried this?

If it's in April on a weekend night I could most likely arrange to be in the city and woudl love to join in.

My local Vietnamese restaurant had "Crunchy Fried Cashfish" on the menu for years. It was not green and tasted suspiciously similar to catfish.

Intriguing and interesting but seems like a real hose at $129 with shipping included. I just purchased a 3/4" thick stone of identical dimensions (I'm guessing that it's the same thing) for $35 at a local Italian imports store. I am intrigued by the idea of rasing it up and will see what kind of frame I can fabricate. Thanks for the link.

Something I came up with years ago and always drank at one particular watering hole that stocked my favored brand of rum - this may well be a drink that was created elsewhere but I haven't run into it and it is mighty tasty Total Eclipse: 2 oz Mount Gay Barbados Eclipse rum 1.5 oz orange juice 1.5 oz pineapple juice big splash of cranberry

I really do need to get the digital camera fixed or replace it. That said... there was nothing too visually stimulating. I had some odds and ends to use so dinner yesterday and today was scalloped potatoes with ham - made it with sauteed green onions mixed into a bechamell sauce that had a generous sprinkling of adobo and threw in some Asiago cheese that needed to be retired. Should have sliced the potatoes a bit thinner as they were a bit too toothy the first night but perfect tonight. My appetizer was cheddar flavored Chex snack mix (what can I say - I live alone and it's like that sometimes!). This evening was the second day of the scalloped potatoes and ham. Wow - it rocked today - absolutely perfect! At the moment I have a chicken roasting to last me through the weekend (Friday night is date night and Polish food out is the plan). The chicken is rubbed with garlic oil, cavity seasoned with adobo and season salt, threw in a nice little pile of freshly crushed star anise and then put about 20 garlic cloves in the pan. I've done this one before without the star anise and it was very good. Mixed field greens with a chipoltle cheddar dressing was consumed while waiting for the chicken to cook. The dressing is brianna's - they make a bottle poppyseed dressing that's outstanding but IMHO the chipotle cheddar is too much.

I'm only 48 but I have a long memory. I do recall a Toddle House in the area when I was growing up (Syracuse NY) but as kids we were not taken out to "fancy" places like that. We had no A&W's on my end of town - that treat was reserved for vacation trips (in the non-airconditioned car even though it was the late 60's and early 70's at that point). I can well recall being taken by my mom to "Harvey's Drive-In" for a burger with fries when I was no more than about four years of age. I was duly impressed as it was explained to me that drive-in hamburger restaurants were a new thing. McDonalds opened a year later down the street. It was at about the 100,000 mark on the sign by then. As late as 1971, when we had Carrol's (the central NY predecessor to Burger King), McDonalds and Red Barn (a regional competitor now long gone).... the "hamburger price wars" started. Regular burgers got as low as 18 cents each for awhile before they threw in the towel and went back to regular prices. I don't personally recall a Chicken in the Rough in our area but my dad was always amused by my Irish grandmother, who was absolutely certain that the restaurant was called "Chicken on the Roof". Her opinion could not be swayed despite the fact that she admitted it to ba a rather odd name.

I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that delightful product from the Netherlands: Genever Gin. It's sold in an earthenware style crockery type bottle and comes from an entirely different gin universe. Not for the faint of heart but I recall that it makes a highly unusual Gimlet. Be forewarned that it is completely unlike British style gin bit is a good spirit in its own right.

I recently saw a Food TV show in which they interviewed and spent time with one of the guys at John's Pizza on Bleecker Street in NYC. He advised that their oven run at about 700 to 750 degrees. I can hit 500 degrees in my home oven but can't quite seem to get the results I want even when using the stone. I think the grill on this new beast will easily support the 2" thick stone as it's pretty heavy duty. Clearance will not be an issue as I plan to do pizza or flat bread only.

Shouldn't any well stocked Asian market carry this item? It's used as the outside wrapper of fresh spring rolls in Vietnamese cooking and I believe there are some Chinese and Thai dishes that use it also. Should be no more than $2 - $2.50 per package.

I represent that remark. Seriously though.... it's currently available in FOUR states, uses only the finest grains (they said so - must be true) and is made with a FOUR column distillation process. Notice how the fabulous Colt product has the number FOUR figuring prominently in its name? Coincidence? I think not

Their tag line.... not mine. Is this product new? I'm surprised I haven't seen it here on the cutting edge in eGullet but a forum search turned up nothing. Just spotted it on sale at a local liquor store. The cutesy things they are trying to do with marketing are just too much but I'll give them credit for a clever idea. Sex Vodka

Isn't that lake Woebegone you're describing? Perhaps not. I always found Seagram's to be suitably assertive for balancing the Rose's Lime in a Gimlet despite its being a "cheap" brand. In my bar-tending experience, I found that my younger African-American clientele frequently ranked Seagram's as equal or in many cases preferable to Tanqueray. It was not about price or reputation - it was generally about taste but the most popular drinks were G & T's and Gin 'n Juice. Perhaps this preference is because Seagram's cuts through the tonic or juice better than the higher priced and smoother gins - I myself definitely find there to be a better balance of gin flavor with the mixer. When we had events that drew older clientele (age 40's and up), the preferred brand was always Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire, regardless of cultural background. This despite the fact that we still served precious few martini's - mostly just G & T's. I find it interesting that most of the "martini's" served in most of the new "Martini Bars" have no gin or vermouth in them. Since when did pouring something into a martini glass make it a "martini"? (I'll be the first to admit that some of the drinks look very tasty but martini's they are not).

Yeah.... but I think we're talking about REAL drinking. 144 ounces is only nine pints. Spread out across a six to eight hour tour that should be quite tolerable for all but the very slight of stature or low of tolerance. It's been years since I've had a drink or a beer but on the rare occasions when I could remember to match every beer or drink with a 12 - 16 oz glass of water, followed by another tall water or two with two aspirin when I got home... hangovers rarely occurred or were very mild in nature.

"Indian cucumber" is really good. We used to find it and eat it on occasion when I was at Boy Scout camp in the Adirondacks. It grows under pine trees in shady areas and is a small carrot shaped root vegetable - about the length of a baby carrot or a bit onger but much skinnier. It's white in color and has a nice mellow taste and a good texture - more subtle than regular carrots and not at all like cucumber.

Moopheus - get yourself over to Gimme Coffee in Williamsburg. They just opened there a few months ago and trust me that they are very good. Great fresh roasted coffee made properly and excellent espresso. They serve only double ristretto shots for espresso and pay great attention to the crucial details. I've sampled the wares on repeat occasions at two of their three original Ithaca area locations and have been advised that the Brooklyn spot is up to the same high standards. Here's a web site with some profile info on their roaster - he appears to be the real deal John Gant - Master Roaster I say this in spite of the fact that on the home page of his web site his picture bears a scary resemblance to Hannibal Lecter (but I assure you... those are coffee beans he's holding.... not fava beans)

I guarantee you that Herr's Guacamole Spread is always the best it can be. And it undoubtedly travels well.

Apparently the grill I'm picking up on Friday is actually an 8500 series. An acquaintance just assembled his and started using it. He says the stated output is 40,000 BTU but there are some specifics to the design that may allow it to actually produce the claimed 800 degree temp. 1) Special ceramic briquettes are included - not just lava rock. These retain heat. 2) Bronze burner - stands to reasons that it can get hotter and produce higher temps than the cheesy burner assemblies on cheaper grills. 3) Very heavy duty porcelain grates I'll be testing this and starting a new thread on "brick oven pizza in gas grills" once I get some results.

I have a friend (fellow eGulleteer) who loves candy bars and chips. She fell in love with dark chocolate Kit Kat bars and they were produced on a limited run... when they were gone they were gone. Then she discovered Cape Cod Chips jalapeno and aged cheddar flavor. They introduced it this past fall and quickly stopped production. I inquired at their company store and was told - "we make them once in awhile - keep checking back". Yeah right.

I spent some time in North Carolina this past year visiting a friend. A few of the soul food takeout restaurants down there have croaker on the menu and treat it the same way that fresh water pan fish is prepared for soul food here in the northeast: dunk the split cleaned fish in milk, dredge with cornmeal and fry in oil or shortening in a very hot cast iron skillet. Some folks use season salt or its equivalent before dredging in the cornmeal. Very delicious and yes, it's bony, but one quickly acquires the technique of flaking meat and the crispy skin off the bones to eat. Blue-gills and sunfish are both every good this way. Rock bass are just a bit too bony for most people and aren't as flaverful as the other pan fish. Popular in my area at certain times of the year is fried bulheads. These are a small variant of catfish and way more flavorful than farm raised catfish. All-you-can-eat fried bullhead dinners are generally under $10. Don't look for ambiance but the food is great.

The company who makes this unit was just acquired by the parent company of Vermont Castings - much larger outfit. I have not se this same gril anywhere else for less than about $400. My local "discount outlet" busilding supply store got in a half dozen on some kind of deal and will nto have more at this price.

No... I have not. But I was advised never ever to sit under the fornt edge of the balcony in such a place. Makes sense to me.

Yes - my range is new but I had already verified temperature accuracy with an oven thermometer. I used a somewhat heavy flat pan - thicker than a standard aluminum cookie sheet. I also used a roasting pan - it cooked far slower in there. It seems to me that longer roasting is crucial for reaching the point at which it transforms. Up to a certain point, it still tastes like cooked cauliflower, albeit much tastier than boiled or steamed cauliflower (at least it tastes much better to me). That said... there is a certain point of golden brown at which it really takes on an entirely different flavor. Slicing the pieces thin seems to make this transformation easier but I still need to play with roasting times and temps more. My first batch started at a high temp, was lowered and was then raised back up to a midpoint. Took longer to cook than the second time I made it but was a bit tastier. I go very easy on the oil - perhaps a 1/4 cup at most for one head of cauliflower.