marinade

For years I've been a fan of opaque medicine bottles (to keep out the sun). with jarring results... The above link is my current container source. I hit the outside with a mailing label containing the spice or mix name and the date. Question? How many of y'all are refrigerating or storing your spices in the freezer? I do a smoked yellow pepper powder that seems to hold on to its flavor longer in the freezer as well as my powdered citrus zests. Edited for spelling

We were in Louisville the beginning of October and we stumbled on Saffron's Mediterrean Cusine around 2nd and Market. click... It's not Med-Rim but Iranian with a decent wine list and great rack of lamb. Normally when we're on the road we tend to eat local (their local) not global, but this was close to the hotel. We were nicely surprised.

Sounds like a real find, Hol. I'll stop by and start balking about why there isn't more of this type of cusine.

Thanks Roger, I'll put your suggestions on the hit list.

Interesting post from your friend Leah. That post and Holly’s filled in some much-needed blanks. This is our second Mountain run. We did a trip similar to this in 2002 where we went from Port Royal, VA to Waynesboro, NC by way of Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. In the mornings, it was full-blown country breakfasts with local ham, bacon, and sausage --- and grits. Nothing could be finer … in the morning. (Don’t hate me if do a mental karaoke on that tune after you read this post). We’d kept an eye out for where the local cops ate. Sometimes it worked. We snacked in the car for lunch based on what we were able to pull out of the local markets or stands; apples, cheeses, and good regional peanut butter when I could get it. The best food came out of the little places like Snappy’s in Mt Airy, NC and small local grills. BBQ was a bit scattered in High Country, not that we didn’t find it in some spots (a cluster of pits in Maggie Valley) but I’d head more east and off the hills to get to the wood burners. Tons of threads on this. Maybe a different trip next time out. We hit on the Gamekeeper in Boone here and the Market Place in Asheville expecting Mountain Fusion but ended with mix dinners more like conFusion. It pretty much echoed what Leah said trying to be like the outside world. But we’re going to keep an open mind and mouth. Be back to y’all. Edited for link

Hey gang, thanks for the heads-up on the Shepherstown hits. We're going to do a dinner there and then climb back on Skyline-BlueRidge Pkw to Floyd, VA. Then we're on to Blowing Rock NC and then back into WV to the Beckley-Fayettesville area. Back to you if I find any good chews.

Most welcome. My stepdaughter and son-in-law live in Louisville and we're down there twice a year for a visit and my can't-get-them-from-here bourbon round-up. We'll be there the first week of October for a fall visit and IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Trade show and Fan Fest. This little joint is pretty eclectic and off the wall and good: Ramsi's Cafe 1293 Bardstown Road (502) 451-0700

Another good place to start....

Echo that on the Braised Ribs. Four of us were there last Friday (8/6) and the ribs, along with Truffled grits (app), blew me away. Tim told us that he's in the process of building a smokehouse and will be doing some cured meat as well. Should be just what the doctor prescribed.

Much thanks kayswv! Every other year we do a mountain run and the music and food of that region is what pulls us back. Basically we do a country breakfast in the morning, grab some car food at the general stores and drive and hike. In the evenings it's regional eats and trying to find a jam session to plug into. Thanks again for reco's.

Hi Gang! My wife and I are headed into WV for the first weekend of October. We're traveling thru Harper's Ferry and then to the Caanan Valley (Davis and Thomas) for a night or two and then out to Great Gorge (Fayetteville). Then we're out the back door to I-64 to Louisville for IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Trade show and Fan Fest. I'm looking for farmers markets, regional eats and music venues along the way. I know about the Purple Fiddle in Thomas, WV and it's high on my list. Any help would be appreciated and I will report back when serendipity kicks in. Thanks in advance!

I was trolling out there a couple of weeks ago in the West Indies grocery stores looking for a spice called “Grains of Paradise” for a recipe I was working on (no luck on the source). As I was heading north on 52nd street around 9:30 I spotted a food truck with a smoker on a boat trailer. I double-parked and ask the two guys wassup with that and when? They told me ribs and chicken and around noon. I headed home and passed a storefront with signage that screamed “Mr. Delicious BBQ”. Hey great! With Dwight’s and Zekes close by, and DeBreauxs on the other side of the Mann I figured I was in the ‘cue epicenter. I did get back to the truck and the deal with these guys is that the truck has no name and all they do is chicken and ribs, only two sides are collards and potato salad. When I got there at about noon the ribs weren’t up there but they had a steady parade of inquiring customers. I sat with them on a couple of milk cases and chewed some bull about smoking and rubs till the ribs were ready. I asked them about “Mr. Delicious” and they chortled and said “He ain’t delicious anymore…his ass is in jail”. I said I hoped he likes cafeteria food now and that seemed to break them up. Now about the ribs. Essentially grilled over briquette charcoal with not much smoked flavor and on the chewy side. They’re grilled hood down Had the hot BBQ sauce and it was a decent catsup base. Potato salad was good. I’m glad someone started a thread on 52nd street; I think it’s the city’s Kasbah. The strip jumps with music and food.

And missing all the fun!

John, I can tell you for a fact that the hot dogs we were running were not Dietz & Watson but more like Smith & Wesson. I was driving for this outfit (Allied Steaks) in the mid-seventies and our routes were from Asbury Park down to Wildwood and points in between (on the way down we drop loads at South Jersey Kressge 5&10’s, yeah the lunch counter food was their stuff). Yes we sold steaks to White House in AC. My best friend got me the gig. We had this deal going where if one guy got a job, he would get the other the guy in. Anyway, about the hot dogs. They sold two types: All meat (which could be anything) and all beef (which was anything cow-like). They came in 5-lb boxes either 8 or 10 to pound. One day they sent me into South Philly to pick-up a load of these things and it was at a non-descript meatpacking joint adjacent to a slaughterhouse. This place was like the third circle of Dante’s inferno. They had a bunch of squat Italian guys with bloody aprons and meat hooks. They were wide as they were tall (or was it the other way around?). They would blare hard rock and Frankie Vali over the intercom with the animals squealing and moaning in the background. Reminded me of Ozzfest. When I got there to pick up the dogs, I asked one of those guys: “What’s in ‘em?” “You really want to know?” He walked me over to a cardboard barrel flipped the lid and said, “Check this out!” Swear to god I never seen anything that reeked with such high weirdness in my life. It was ¾ full of beef lips! No teeth, no tongue, just disconnected smiles of moos gone by. A couple of more guys came over in splattered smocks and reached in and grabbed a bunch of lips and did these perverse Senior Wences’ imitations. Meat madness! Then they told me of a time where a couple of start-up wise guys made off with what they thought was a couple of barrels of USDA prime. Cops caught up to them in a dinner parking lot and they inspected the evidence it turns out they had heisted two barrels of beef sphincters. The cops were in tears. And by the way, that caper worked into their mob nicknames. There is quote about politics and sausage making. “You don’t want to know what goes into it”.

When I was in college I drove a meat truck for a company called Allied Steak. They were located at the foot of I-95 at the bottom of Girard avenue They sold frozen burgers, fries, hot dogs, and steaks (among others) to the grease joints on the Jersey boardwalks. Quite an operation. Their idea of refrigerated trucks was to pack these wired together with gum and duct tape trucks with frozen food and slabs of dry ice. They did make steaks and burgers on the premise. The steaks were mystery meat that were packed in 55-gallon cardboard drums marked "Product of New Zealand" and the gross weight. The meat was packed into two 4-foot L-shaped steel molds (6x8 inches wide). The molds/plates were banded and frozen overnight in a -10o walk-in freezer. The molds were then snapped apart and put onto this slicer that slip-sheet the steaks with wax paper. The steaks were then packed into 5-pound boxes and were packed 12 to a case and then they threw the cases back into the another freezer. Kinda Rube Goldbergesque, nothing pretty about it! Years later when out-of-town chef authors came in for Book and the Cook they would ask how do you know when you get a good cheese steak? I told, them that’s pretty subjective depending the neighborhood, but you can tell when you have a bad one… if you can taste the meat. (edited for info)

Just a quick addendum to the above post. One summer my wife brought home a flat of fresh raspberries. They were almost on the verge of turning so I used the Cusinart plastic dough blade to break them up and the top strainer to separate the seeds. Froze the puree in 1 cup increments and had raspberry puree to play with all winter.

I have the large and small stainless-hand-crank-three-disk type food mill that I use over measuring cups and bowls. They work but there has been occasional tipping. More the fault of the operator than the tool. For straining large amounts of veggies, fruit puree’s or sauces I use an attachment for my Cuisinart that sits over the bowl and is powered by a spindle that connects to the motor stem. It’s all-plastic with a fine mesh and a good capacity. And that sucker just strains (without strain). The strainer was an add-on to an add-on, the juicer attachment. This attachment was made in an era where Carl (S) still owned company. There were more blades and add-ons available that one could possibly use. Speaking of that era, does anyone remember a slick mag from Cuisinart called “Pleasures of Cooking”? Wish I could be more help on this in terms of locating a site that still carries them. I have the KA meat grinder and my only issue with that attachment is the capacity of the hopper, which may be or may not be an issue for you.

Here and over over here!

Thanks for the info andiesenji. If you were to describe the process would it be closer to a wide base blender?

Thanks Steve. I seem to be noticing that on line as we speak. The price range I seem to be getting on the few hits that I get is arount $90 + shipping. Is that about average? On the other hand if that falls througth, the unit that JAZ recommended looks pretty interesting as well. Either way I'm leaning towards one of those units.

When my mother was undergoing radiation for colon cancer she was also on a "cocktail" of support meds that seemed to blow out her appetite because of the chalkiness feeling left in her mouth. The lack of appetite made food less appealing and we were trying to get her to eat even more to offset any additional weight loss. My workaround was bringing over varied batches of sorbets. They were cooling, had a little bit of acidity, and had a single pronounced flavor to them. They did their job as palate cleansers and actually worked as an appetite stimulant. PM me off line and I’ll be happy to flip some recipes over to you. I’ve always felt that the first rule of good food is to nourish and everything else comes next. That nourishment can be both physical and emotional (simply making someone feel good). Good luck with this and I hope there’s a happily ever after for all of you. (edited for copy corr.)

Steve, that sounds like the way to go for me. I do something similar with a bourbon and maple syrup caramel, cooked and then flipped onto a silpat to cool to a praline consistancy. Then it's ground to a coarse powder which I combine with kosher salt for curing salmon. I had my eye on some of the grain mills but stepped back because some of them use grinding stones, which may be flavor absorbent. The Multigrind looks interesting and it seems to have a small footprint which is fine for my already diminishing counter space.

The way the attachment works on the Bamix as far as I can see is that it is a small-enclosed container a few inches deep that fits on the shaft and the blade is encased and it does the grinding. The grinding regiment that I'm involved with usually involves: 1. Small batch seasonings (about 30 seconds) 2. Large batch runs (about 45 minutes). The large batches occurs when I've smoked and dried chilies. or after I've run batches of carrot, fennel, or red onion through my dehydrator. Why the large batches? I get bulk produce out of local “chain” called Produce Junction, e.g. 2 lbs of red or yellow sweet peppers @$1.99 a bag. It’s cheaper by a long shot than $3.99 a pound for them at the designer food markets. Besides the veggie powders, I like to do a large quantity of rubs, then vac seal ‘em and freeze ‘em. That for me involves toasting and grinding a lot of spices. I do have heating issues with the tabletop grinders and was wondering if they would start to cook the spices but I’ve never to get a temp reading. On the other hand the spices aren’t exposed to the heat for any really long periods of time. A couple of suggestions have pointed me into the some interesting directions. The Sumeet needs to be checked out and I’d like to go after the Vita-mix when my blender dies.

Thanks JAZ, I found a site thats's selling them out of Chicago for about $139. There are a few Indian markets in Philly that may stock them so I can get a look at one. I noticed a crank on the top of one of the jars, is that attached to a scraper?

Thanks for the feedback. A number of issues seem to be hitting the fan here. The biggest is grinding vs. chopping. That may be an issue. If there's a small batch spice combo that I need in a hurry for a recipe, I run it through the blender, which is a chopping process. Ideally I like to use a mortar and pestle but it kills my wrist for large batches. Alex have you ever gone back and forth between a grinder and a blender and noticed any differences in flavor? Ruth, the idea of a grinding add-on to a mixer or juicer is interesting because of the torque or strength of the motor. I was eyeing the Bamix immersion blender with its spice grinding attachment as well. Bamix Suzanne your bucket brigade approach makes sense because I’d be using existing equipment.