NYC Mike

I was just about to post asking about this! I have had the same issue, twice with sticky buns, the end dough was too wet to roll and shape, even after adding much more flour. It is very humid where I am so I will try to cut the liquid up front and see how that works! eta: the taste was amazing even if they didnt look pretty! Thanks, -Mike

Niice!

Congrats to you both!! Very exciting news! mike

Ok, here is a question for you all on yeast. I was looking to buy "instant yeast" and could not find that exactly at the local market. What I did find was Fleishmann's Bread Machine Yeast for all my "rapid rise" recipes. Are these the same thing? Did I get the right thing? Thanks, -Mike

Its been a while since I worked/visited Boston but I always used to go to "no names" for chowder and fried fish plate. Very good stuff, boston attitude included. -Mike

Nathan, great Torta Tarantina di Patate, we are going to try it today! We took a shot at the focaccia. This was very, very good! We were going to eat it with our meal but in the end, we couldn't stop eating, so it became the meal. ..and a slice view. I think we would like to add more cheese next time. Here is the tomato one, but we used a base focaccia method from Hazan's book for it. Note the half tomato, we have one child here that won't eat tomatos. We will make the potato dough version today for lunch! Pontormo, thanks for the Ada Boni tip! Its on the way! -Mike

Amazing stuff Franci and two of things I most want to learn how to do now that I have a real kitchen, make bread and cheese! Thanks! -Mike

Unfortunatly, we have run into quite a bit of it, and surprisingly more in NYC than anywhere else. My wife is clearly Dominican and at lesser service oriented restaurants we are treated differently, profiled if you will, into a group of customers who are not destined to leave a good tip. Class and Race-ism are real and that is not likely to change, especially in service oriented situations where a human is given the ability to pre-judge based on their sometimes limited experience with people different than themselves. We don't punish on tip though since we would be hitting the also minority bus and runner staff that depend on them. We just don't go back. We also would not wear jeans to ADNY or Daniel but might to Lupa or WD. mike

Made some Plum and Aniseed Gelato on the Sicily thread. here

It is with passages like the one I took the above peice from that make us really love and enjoy Marlena De Blasi's "A Taste of Southern Italy". She is so dramatic and romantic and fun. The plums are not peeled, they are slipped out of their skin. The flame is not high, it is lively! So, we are glad we didn't pass up making one of her gelato to end the month. We chose the Black Plum and Aniseed Gelato and it was fantastic. We questioned the lack of egg and the use of almond paste crumbs at the finish but based on past experience with the book and her 4th generation gelataio recipe we followed to the letter and were handsomely rewarded. -Mike

On price, I am with you guys all the way, I was just using the pic to double-check for the "style" question and if I can grill and smoke with this unit. It looks like yes, grilling on the smaller box with the coals and smoke on the upper portion. -Mike

Ok, one more quick question before I pull the trigger on this thing. Right now I am looking at the 22" kettle and a smoker but would this serve both purposes, charcoal grilling and BBQing? If so I will just get it. click here -mike

WoW Kevin! That couscous dish looks amazing! I have some I've been wondering what to do with, I think I will give that a try. I too will be stealing a day from Puglia, I wanted to make at least one gelato! -Mike

Looks like I have some homework to do! We did try the Galub Jamun, they were great and the prices are fantastic but that and the mango were the only sweets. Reason to go back.... -Mike

Brought them to a boil with a little salt, cover and simmer til done, stir in lots of butter. Serve and top with more butter.

My favorite meal of the day! Been droolin here for quite a while now. Biscuts, gravy, eggs, grits and bacon. Tracey, that sandwich is criminal! -Mike

How do you think these look? Whole milk buttermilk, white lily flour, shortining etc. I picked up some Amberhead Mills white corn grits, I think they are the "quick cook" kind since the boxtop claims 8 min cook time. Well they tasted real good! -Mike

Therese! What a find! No one would ever look to it or find it unless they knew it was there. We went in with Galub Jamon and sweets on our mind but left with a bag full of savories, including the best samosas I've ever had. Nice woman behind the counter said they were mild and they blew my doors off. There was also this one peice of mango fudge, wow. mike

My thoughts exactly! HA! Thankfully, the eggplant is fried to a crispy goodness before building the finished dish. Yes, we used lemon zest this time but we have done orange too, I love it with my morning coffee. mike

Thanks Dave, I know Bob's, ill search it out. I've traveled in the south for work quite a bit and my all time favorite breakfast is biscuts and gravy and eggs with grits. I'd love to make that at home for Sunday mornin breakfast sometimes. Funny about your assistant, I have also yet to meet a native Atlantan, my entire subdevelopment is from outside of Georgia it seems. Instant grits are the work of the devil. Instant cheese grits are too foul for words. Fortunately it's not too hard to find decent normal grits. I get mine at DFM, where you'll find them in the aisle with the pasta and flour (look in the back left corner of the "U" shaped aisle). I can't remember the name, but they're fine. And while I'm at it, don't ask about putting sugar in cornbread. That's corn cake, not cornbread. ← No self-respecting southerner uses instant grits (according to my assistant, who, being that rare thing -- a native Atlantan -- is also my gold standard for practical southern foodways. She says instant grits "taste like poo"), but a lot of them use quick-cooking grits. Read the labels carefully and you'll see them -- just about everyone who makes one makes the other. That's not to say that quick-cooking grits are acceptable; it's to say that southerners, like most everyone else, is susceptible to the argument of convenience over quality.Luckily, as a patron of Kroger, you have another choice. Go to the natural foods section, and seek out "Bob's Red Mill Corn Grits (also known as Polenta)." They're not made in the south (I think they're from Oregon), and they're not white (you'll get some static about this; ignore it), but they're very decent. You can get Logan Turnpike Mill grits at DFM, and they're better -- but not by as much as Bob's are better than Quaker Quick. ←

Therese! You've just become my wife's new best friend! She insists we go there tomorrow. Full report incoming, thanks so much for the rec. On a personal note, we are going to have to take a deep breath and change our people perception. In NYC, a very good neighbor is one who dosen't play their music too loud or jump up and down on the floor above and generally is so quiet you never get to know who they are. oh! No sugar in my cornbread I swear!

not yet! its on the list and we are leaning to the 21' Weber and a smoker.

I think him getting thrown a beatin by the Marine Captain would have been really good FOX quality reality TV! Comeon Bobby, take one for the team. -Mike

Thanks for this, I did see the lowfat buttermilk but thought it kind of defeated the purpose! We have gone through a few jars of jam already over here! Another question. In the Krogers by us they have many kinds of "instant" grits and I couldnt find any other kind. Now don't laugh but I saw My Cousin Vinny where the guy says "no self respecting southerner uses instant grits"....question is what do y'all use. Cool Papa, thats for the take out recs, I've seen China Pearl it is very close. We will be trying Rasa Sayang this weekend. Loved Xian too, will do them again. Mark, thanks for the pub recs, I needed that! -Mike

Yes it is baked, layered like lasagna with breadcrumb topping. We made two, lunch is in the oven as I type! Thanks for the ricotta recipe we will be trying it soon! -Mike