NYC Mike

I love to eat takeout on a Friday night as much as the next person but after two weeks of it I am ready for some home cookin. I'll appologize for the pic quality, left my camera on the front seat for one day and the shutter melted closed. . Welcome to "hotlanta". Made Pasta alla Norma and I think Miss. Norma was a genius! Used the Molto Italiano to the letter. Next time I think I will peel the eggplant after frying but other than that it was amazing! Resting, out of the oven. Plated with ricotta salata. Elie, I'd love to hear how you make your own cheese! For dessert we had an olive oil cake. It may not look like much but its the best 5 ingredient simple cake I've had. Not sure its Sicilian though... -Mike

We tried them, can't stop thinking about how good they were, and want to make them at home. Anyone have a good recipe? Thanks, -Mike

Also, what do you all think of the quality and prices at the DeKalb Farmers Market? We went by yesterday, the prices are very good compared to what we were used to in ny. It was quite a hike from the house though. mike

Thank you all for the great recomendations, I plan on trying them all!! I'll take lots of pics once the we find the box it fell into. We had breakfast there our first hotel day, it was very close to the marriot we were staying. Very good biscuts and gravy with eggs! Kids were also very happy with their buttermilk pancakes. Great chinese food! Kids had the standard chicken with brocolli. We had a very good pine nut chicken dish. A little pricey for regular friday night takeout but really exceptional quality. We are right by Alessio's and will try soon. One surprising bonus for this NYC native is the Mexican food! Its everywhere and it is really good! NYC is remarkably void of any edible mexican food past tacos and we love mexican food! Lastly, a biscuit question. How many of you make your own biscuts and if so, do you use White Lilly flour?? Our inagural<sp> kitchen use was a batch of buttermilk biscuts! -mike

WoW! What a month I have missed!! Everything looks amazing! Unfortunatly, my Lemoncello didn't survive the trip, hopefully that will count as the good luck broken glass. But! We now have a kitchen that we can both stand in at the same time . Pasta alla Norma is one of my favorite dishes, sounds like a good way to break in the new stove. -Mike

Nicholas Malgieri's Great Italian Desserts has two very good versions. mike

That was my first thought too!!!

Thanks for all the great info! Especially that Big Pig Jig link! I will be making a trip to that local store one of my first stops! -Mike

Sweet, thanks guys! Everything I need to get started!

Hi All, As I posted here I am on the verge of having a backyard for the first time in my life and I want to own a BBQ. I have eaten lots of BBQ, even been to friends homes who have BBQed, I even owned a habachi for fire escape BBQing until my landlord threatened to have me and it removed forcefully. But, when it comes to the real deal, i'm clueless. Is there a book for dummies or a site to help me choose equitment etc? Recommend some? I'd like to start out small, charcoal only, no lighter fluid if I can help it. Will want to do steaks, burgers, pork of all kind, dogs etc for a family of 5. Thanks! -Mike

I am a frequent customer at Harry's Farmers Market/Whole Foods in Roswell, but have gotten into the habit of stopping in at Gulf Coast Seafood Market about once a week. I think their fish is very fresh and they seem to be a buck or two / pound cheaper than Harry's. He almost always has tuna, snapper, grouper, shrimp. Sometimes he has harder to find selections like cobia and triggerfish. The owner, Tom Wilder, is a very nice guy. Check it out and let me know what you think - 4055 Old Milton Pkwy 678 624-9997 ← Thanks Greg!

LOL! Oh yes, this I am familiar with, I am living and working OTP. Lots of trips to ATL but those will be of my scheduling and never during rush. -Mike

← Awesome info GG, thanks! -Mike

HA! I said something similar but not nearly as kind on my first trip. I flew into ATL rented a car and hit rush hour having to get to Alpharetta. When you say "in town" you mean Atlanta proper? Thanks!! -Mike

Hi All, In a little over a week we will be proud residents of Alpharetta(N. Fulton). I have been in and out for work many times and did the house shopping thing with the Mrs. so I have good maps and know my way around fairly well. Are there any EGers that know the area and can help with my list? The krogers/whole foods/publix are like 100x as big as the one we currently use in Manhattan(1st time the kids saw it they were afraid of getting lost ). Do they replace the need for specialty stores? -Butcher -Fish Monger -Wine/Booze shop -Farmers Market/CSAs -Ethnic Grocery (mexican, asian, carribean)? -Best take out Pizza and Chinese? Thanks, -Mike

This is an excellent point. Enjoying wine while not knowing much about it is a financially dangerous combination. I was one who used to "pay up" as a way of being sure I would be drinking a "good" bottle, $80 and up in most cases. This year's resolution was to not pay more than $25 a bottle and I having stuck to it, I can say I never imagined I could learn so much and enjoy it more than I already did. -Mike

Man! Everything looks really good! Unfortunatly for me, my life is in boxes right now, but we are trading in our 6'x6' NYC kitchen for something much more so its good news. I can't wait to cook in it near the end of this month. Elie, would you mind sharing your wild strawberry (Fraguledda) recipe? It looks amazing in the glass. I'm praying my lemoncello project makes the trip in one peice!

Wow nice start to the month!! Elie, your drink selections look out of this world! That ice cold Fraguledda would be perfect in all this humidity we are having up here in NYC. I have a batch of lemoncello cooking using your recipe in the named thread, I can't wait! mike

I've never tried Oxtail Soup but would love to! Here is a shot of an Oxtail braise my wife makes using a Dominican prep they call Rabo Enciendio. -mike

Good veal too and good even service. -Mike

I agree with you there 100%. I have had some real Sardinian setbacks this month. A clam soup and a polenta dish both unfortunately forgettable. I really wanted to immerse myself in this month since it is a piece of my heritage I am not really aware of or connected to. I started of the month with my mother and my Aunt Mary on the phone for the family history. My grandfather came from the Island of St. Peter, was a cook on a merchant ship from age 14, jumped ship in NYC to skip Ellis Island and never looked back. Not much exists from his culture since when he arrived here he became totally committed to be American, he didn't speak or teach Italian to his children and never went back to the old country. His dream was to become a wild west cowboy like "hoppalong casadich" I've tried to make some sense of why it isn't inspiring me or attracting me and the best analogy I have come up with to explain how I feel is: If Lazio cuisine is worthy of a festival or hearty gathering of friends and Liguria is great lazy day Sunday food, both very fun to both cook and eat then Sardinian food is simply about sustenance and necessity. I know this is oversimplified and uneducated based on my very limited knowledge but it ties it up nicely for me. There have been a few bright spots (outside of the family history lesson which has been wonderful), the wine both red and white has been amazing. I will go out of my way in the future to drink both vermentino and cannanau, they are very versatile, inexpensive and very delicious. The cheese has also been very nice. We found three, Monte Mayor, Moliterno and Feori de Sardegna. They are all hard aged goat's milk with varying degrees of sharpness and graininess. We also found an excellent way to enjoy these thanks to Adam Baltic's Florence Blog, with Sardinian Chestnut Honey. I haven't thrown in the towel yet though, I am hopeful! -Mike

Yea, my uncle Joe, ex Seal. HE is fun when the kids are around. That bit makes me wish HK was on HBO. He is almost as bad as Ozzie was on MTV.

My thoughts exactly. "Ahoy Matey" he says, what an idiot.

Elie, Great meal, that finished pasta in the bowl looks amazing! I love ricotta with pasta. Kevin, I agree with you on the wine availability, I have had a good bit of Sardinia wine this month so far and its all been very enjoyable especially in the $9-$20 range. -Mike

hehe, you might get them since she "can't wait to get to know chef on another level". Seems Virginia has taken right to hollywood. I think he is entertaining, in a truck driver brawl kind of way. I wonder how many of his real life former employees have taken swings at him on the way out though. My $ is on Heather after day 1.