annecros

Well, got through on the phone, and the Rascal House is indeed still there! Miami Danny was right, and I was wrong. (I was one who provided Markk with bad information. I'll just point the finger at the Miami New Times in my defense. I really must get out and ride around more...) So now the Rascal House is still there, and now I have to put it on my big fat list! Anyway, Ulterior Epicure, you might want to consider Rascal House now, all things considered. There's a TooJays ("Kosher Style") around here as well. I've eaten in their Wellington, I think downtown Lake Worth? (it was a downtown location somewhere in Palm Beach County), and at the Palm Beach Garden's location. Great stuff, loved the pastrami and cup of soup. We used them for corporate catering quite a bit as well. Chicken ala Toojays, not quite kosher, but great sandwich! Mr. Delicious: Which FCI did you attend? We ate lunch regularly at Cafe Protege in West Palm off of 45th Street. ETA: Toojays does have a Plantation location: Toojay's South Florida locations

I've linked to this one before in another topic somewhere, but it is so nice and easy it is worth linking again: Babbo's Bauvette with Sungold Tomatoes Here's a chilled soup, and I do something very similar: Chilled Sungold Soup

Are you sure about the Rascal House? I never even ventured that way after I read this: Best Landmark Restaurant to Bite the Dust I think there may be another in West Dade? Confusing... ETA: I tried calling this listing this morning and a FAX machine picked up. The mystery deepens...

WHAT? ← I said to the other dude behind the counter" excuse me, whats with the eyeroll and audible sigh. The dude told me to just ignore the guy, he said give him a break cause he's old!! Puhlease. The measly 1/4lb cost me almost 9 bucks. It was good though!! I understand the attitude because I grew up around it, but still, it wasnt pleasant. Oh and there Black and Whites are notorious for being stale. I always ask if they're fresh and when they were delivered. The bagels are so freaking good. I forgive the attitude for the bagels. ← Heh. I know that guy. He calls me "girlie" and goes in the back to pull my bagels from the cooling bin. The paper bag is too hot to handle sometimes. He can be quite the curmudgeon.

That was sad. The guy has really done a remarkable job of showcasing what is best about indigenous Florida ingredients, and somehow has made them trendy. Top Chef Miami has been long in coming. It has done us a world of good. There really is a great deal of remarkable food down here.

Sage certainly has a nice chopped liver. Nova, belly lox, etc. I wasn't real keen on the Matza ball soup either. The thing about Sage is the nice people behind the counter. You may have to wait a while, but when you are at the counter there is no rush and you have undivided attention. They treat the Nova by hand as well, pliers and a sharp knife. Very skilled hands there, sussing out the fine bones. Harriet and Bob's is on the list, that is growing ever longer every day. There can't be too many winks in a topic.

Yes, it does! I have enjoyed adobo and pancit in the past. Will have to pay more attention to the rest of your recco's. Thanks.

I am actually very ignorant of Filipino food. What else would you recommend trying? I am a very adventurous eater, but a little squeemish about raw foods, and shy of overly spicy. Tummy issues. I did, and do, prepare your garlic fried rice. Yummy.

I've dehydrated a bunch this year. Stick them in the freezer, then add a handful to winter soups for a bit of summer. Gave some to my daughter, and she packed them in olive oil and stuck them in the fridge. If you have a food mill or tomato press, you can process them like any other tomato for sauce, etc. as the mill will remove the seed and skin. Sungold sauce rocks!

Well, I'll give it a shot. Saying something new, that is. Perhaps your perception of what "heirloom" means is consumer, end user driven. You would be correct from that perspective. For people who have grown and loved heirloom tomatoes, who pick from their own garden, who grow varieties that they may not like because of type just to see if it is worth eating - the heirloom tomato market is better than ever. There are literally thousands of examples of wonderful cultivars that less than a decade ago the seed were not available - or too expensive to fool with. You pay for convenience. That's a fact. If you take a strictly end user view of heirloom tomatoes - then they have been dumbed down. If you take a creative view of heirloom tomatoes - the world is bigger and more beautiful than you could have ever imagined. Will pop some corn now. This is a really good topic, and the discussion is wonderful. By the way, an incredibly butt ugly tomato can be the best tasting of the season. Cracks, malformations, bad spots that need to be cut out and all. Looking past the cosmetics would help many consumers enjoy a taste treat. That being said, you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear - sometimes they look bad for a reason.

Yellow Pear is an example of an "Heirloom" tomato that is just awful according to my taste, no matter how well it is grown. It's been around forever, and is probably the first heirloom tomato that most people are exposed to - although they don't know it is an heirloom. I don't care for most of the Japanese hybrids either - Sungold being the exception. Momotaro is way to sweet for me - but that's my taste. There seems to be a market in Japan for very sweet veggies - there is a super sweet corn hybrid that is supposed to hold onto it's sugars when kept out of Japan. Tomato flavor is so subjective. Then you have first fruits that are never as good as later fruits. I think it is more the wider range of heirloom varieties in the market, not the decline of heirlooms as a label. At one time the only heirlooms you could find were just three or four very good varieties.

This should be fun! Hubby loves ceviche, but I've never prepared it for him. I guess now's the time.

Eh, courses for horses. I stayed there several years ago, and it is certainly Old Florida. I know a couple that make it a stop every time they drive down to Key West, and have a sentimental attachment to the Cheeca Lodge. I think they stay there about twice a year. I have a fondness for Old Florida, and like to take the Card Sound Road route sometimes, just to get that comfy feel and slow down a bit. Now that I know that a stiff drink can be had there, I think I need to investigate next time! Service can be very spotty in the Keys, but that often happens in very casual/laid back destinations.

I'd go for one of the B&B's on Duval Street for accommodations in Key West. Duval Gardens and Avalon are both nice, super clean, comfortable and are sister properties. They are on the quieter end of Duval Street as well. I like the staff there - full of local tips and reccos. I'm a bit north of where your staying, in the Aventura area, so I'll let the guys down there help you with Miami. I think MiamiDanny lurks around here, and has a good handle on things. Here's some recent reporting on Keys Dining: Click Me Be sure to come back and let us know how your trip went!

Thanks. I grow herbs, and storing them for an extended time would help. I guess I have to seek them out, and take one (or a dozen) home with me!

Tell me about the "green bags" please. They seem sort of pricey. So they work?

Well, yeah. It is. She would have used those ingredients if she had access to them. I have found that sometimes, when I update a recipe, that people are disappointed. Something about that "home" taste that is missing when I go and get all fancy.

Pecan is fantastic on pork. Alder and Maple on chicken. Lucky you!

I miss Tre. Not only great in the kitchen, but why do we have to lose our eye candy, when the guys get to keep Casey? I think Sara is quite the dark horse here - I have a new respect for her.

I have a quilt top that my Grandmother pieced from old flour sacks, after the flour sacks had been recycled into clothing. Sour cream containers, Cool Whip containers, sauce jars. They get washed and reused for storage containers. I also freeze the ginger and microplane frozen. There are just two of us here, and using up a hand of ginger takes some time. Whole chickens get butchered and frozen into two person portions, and the backs and giblets and wing tips make chicken soup later.

Our triannual vacation spot as a kid was Carrabelle Beach, FL. Sugar sand, a very natural beach at the time and my first real introduction to seafood, as my mother did not cook it. It "smelled up the house" too much for her. There is a lot of good pizza around Florida. College towns, as you have surmised, are especially good for pizza and bagels.

Welcome to Florida! You will find that attire even at fine dining establishments is often more casual than what you are probably used to - panty hose, black suits and makeup don't cut it in the heat and humidity. Wait until you take the extra few hours to run down to the Keys. It can be eye popping. Unfortunately I don't get over to the Gulf Coast as often as I should. I think we may be taking a drive down I-75 in a few weeks though, and will look around.

It needs garlic, I think. Maybe some dried mustard.

Here's the Chipotle Beef Brisket in RecipeGullet: Click I'll PM you some instructions on hyperlinks llc45. Yes, recipes please!

Well, I can try, and agree with you that cracking in my experience and that of others I've spoken with does have a lot to do with uneven watering. There are some varietal problems as well. Sungold will crack some years with a heavy dew, other years not at all. We have had an active rainy season this year, and theoretically my 'maters should be cracking, but aren't except for one or two, which is rare. But, I do have unusually tough skins this year as well, and I understand that has more to do with environmental conditions than varietal as well. Heat will induce a thick skin, I've heard. I think there is a difference between radial cracking (cracking from the stem end to the blossom end) in which case I can usually point at uneven watering and concentric cracking. I think concentric cracking, the cracks around the stem end, seems to have a more varietal influence. I see more radial cracking than concentric cracking in Sungold. I see more concentric cracking in my beefsteaks. I've also heard the tendency for blossom end rot is expressed with uneven watering some times. The only time I have a problem with it is with a couple of plum types and beefsteaks late in the season. Sheesh, I wish I had all the answers. Just lost two seedlings for my fall plot to the crud. They are Russian varieties though, so I will resow and see how they do when the UV and heat goes down next month. I think we could have much better tasting tomatoes on the market, if we could convince the consumer that an imperfect tomato still may be a great tasting tomato.