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franklanguage

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Everything posted by franklanguage

  1. Speaking of recipes...it would be really cool to have a recipe section on eGullet.I've just adapted my standard pumpkin pie recipe of several years to contain no dairy (for those who are curious - since all of my recent posts contain references to "dairy-free" and "vegan" - I've recently been frightened into quitting dairy products, because osteoporosis runs like a river through my mom's side of the family, and if I live to be 80, I don't want to be all hunched over. Word is that the calcium in dairy products is nearly useless, because protein from animal-derived sources causes calcium to leach out of your bones. Many of my mother's family are lactose-intolerant as well. (Surprisingly, I'm not, and it may have something to do with having eaten yogurt since I was about 10.) In fact, my pumpkin pie has made the transition remarkably well, and I've baked several this season. If we had a recipe section, I'd post both the traditional and vegan versions of the recipe, including my award-winning crust. So, the short answer to "Who bakes the best pumpkin pie in Manhattan/Brooklyn?": I do.
  2. And a Zappa reference while you're at it: "God, that was a tasty little sucker!" Has no one had the bagels at Kossar's (on Grand Street)? Those were the absolute best when I had them, but that was a year ago. They freeze well, too. Guess I'll have to get there on the weekend; it will give me an excuse to get down there to get my lens cap (but that's a different story).
  3. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always heard that the best thing to use for seasoning a cast-iron pan is peanut oil. Do we have an "either-or" situation here?
  4. What is a tagine? Do you have a link?
  5. franklanguage

    Offal

    Actually, it's right below St. Mark's place, next to the former St. Mark's Bar and Grill. La Focacceria-128 1st Av @ St Marks Pl--------------------212-254-4946
  6. There's supposed to be a Japanese restaurant on 53rd street west of Broadway that serves monkfish liver; this - I wasn't taking notes, so don't quote me - is a place where a guy I was talking to today said a few of them just went there one night and had whatever the chef prepared for them. They had been advised in advance to order the ์ plate, not the 贄, because you didn't get much more food with the 贄 meal. Because the waitress had such a thick accent, they weren't sure what the first course was: it looked like gray tofu with a sauce poured over it. However, it turned out to be the monkfish liver pâté - which he said was like foie gras to him. Does anyone know of this place? The name escapes me at the moment. (Or should I move this to the Restaurant thread?)
  7. Well, remember: the forbidden varieties of any fruit are always the sweetest of all.
  8. If there are enough American expats (add to that all the curious French who have never even seen pastrami, never mind tasted it) you'd probably do very well. When I'm down on Grand street, I notice there are more Asians in diPalo's mozzarella store than Italian-Americans.
  9. Hmm...I wonder if we should start a new thread about restaurant movies, but to tell you the truth, I've never seen all that many of them. I never saw "Who Is Killing The Great Chefs Of Europe?", for instance. I did see "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover", however, and I loved that one. My roommate at the time (whom I ditched), hated it, but liked "Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer". [Note: both movies came out around the same time, and were both rated "X" (for different reasons, of course); this was before they introduced the "new" ratings including "NC-17".] Go figure. (Edited by franklanguage at 12:57 am on Nov. 1, 2001)
  10. Guess what: everyone is more or less intolerant to casein: it's a powerful glue (what they stick labels on beer bottles with). By some accounts, casein is what killed Florence Griffith Joyner: she ate a pizza one evening and died with a brick of casein in her stomach. But yeah: some ethnic groups have it worse than others, and ironically, Eastern Europeans, whose food is full of cheese and sour cream, are pretty hard-hit with dairy intolerence. Back to the topic: I discovered raw tomato sauce this past summer, and not having a recipe to work from, developed my own version. It's one that follows the basic formula of the raw tomato sauce posted here, but basically I make a base, chopping the garlic along with a few marinated sundried tomatoes (in my food processor), adding some fresh basil leaves (or other fresh herbs). I skin and seed a ripe tomato and add it to the mix, then pulse a few times. Lastly, I add a little olive oil and pulse just once. Goes great on a heap of cooked pasta.
  11. Well, I'll say that since we haven't upgraded to the new software yet, I have been anxiously watching the little number and description under my name on my posts, and posting as much as I could just to get rid of the despised "foodie" by my name. (Clever strategy, Jason, to get us to post; you should call us "pig" after 100 posts; then we'd really post like crazy to try to get to the next level.) "Gourmet" isn't much better, but it's better than "foodie".Oh yeah: and, like, pasta is so over.
  12. Well, I don't have exotic international stories to tell, but I do like the coconut juice you can get from one of many carts on Canal Street on a hot day. It's in the original coconut shell, and they hack a hole in the top for your straw with a cleaver. Also, there is a woman named Stella in Jackson Heights who sells a container of this brown dulce de leche (caramel) along with a stack of Communion wafers the size of 45-RPM records (remember them?) called "obleas". You slather the obleas with the dulce de leche and make a thin sandwich. (A place called Mosaico here in Manhattan used to have them, but the wafers, I was told when I asked, are too fragile to transport.) I made the trek to Stella's cart over three years ago, so I don't know if she's still there. Anyone know?
  13. Funny you should mention Magnolia; I was just there today and had their flourless chocolate cake (they have a little individual one for ū.00). Heaven comes pretty cheap in that neck of the woods. And I second it about the banana pudding at Magnolia; the first time I went there, I got a small cup to go and brought it home. It was enough for two servings - but of course I ate it all at once (couldn't stop). By the way, the banana pudding at Sweetheart Bakery (8th avenue between 13th and 14th) contains just a bit of banana liqueur; you might want to give that a try.
  14. Well, no; supposedly when he was younger he was quite charming, knowledgeable, and debonair. When I first heard about him, however, was in my 6th grade psychology class, and there was quite a bit of classroom discussion - as well as some magazine articles about him - centering around this rich eccentric who had gone right over the edge. Now, they have whole chapters written about him in psychology texts when they start studying OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). (Edited by franklanguage at 12:27 am on Oct. 23, 2001)
  15. Whoa! Howard Hughes? You want a dining partner shuffling around with Kleenex boxes on his feet and complaining of how everything he touches has to be sterilized? Why not just invite Gary Null?
  16. franklanguage

    Quick Pasta

    As a matter of fact, you should always use cold water and bring it to a boil. I'm not making this up; it's just what I always hear from People Who Know.
  17. franklanguage

    Quick Pasta

    Actually, isn't this why we freeze basil and oil for the off-season? If I'm really short of time, I make pesto: take a chunk of the frozen basil and oil out of the freezer, a clove of garlic, a chunk of reggiano and/or gruyere, pour in a dash more oil, put it all in the Cuisinart, and get a nice thick paste. Add some boiling water from the pasta, then add pine nuts (so you can see them in the sauce). How long can that take? It takes me less than half an hour. Pesto is great on ravioli, too: there are plenty of places that serve it. Enjoy.
  18. Do they have to be dead people? I'd choose Fran Lebowitz and Dorothy Parker, for sure, and Frank Zappa and John Lennon; only one of these people is still alive. But of course, then you get into the question of where and what you'd eat. Lennon would probably want sashimi or shaved fish, and would probably bring Yoko along. And then what about vegetarians or other ideologues? What a can of worms you've opened here!
  19. Well, my mom is and has been lactose intolerant for ever; it gives her terrible gas which she makes worse by announcing her farts. (Some people blame it on the dog - not Mom. Maybe it's that she doesn't have a dog.) Because she's Polish and Polish food is full of dairy, she's just become aware of the possible cause of this problem; we seem to have lactose intolerance running through her side of the family like a river. Although I've got hereditary problems directly traceable to her, it seems the lactose-intolerance gene has skipped me. It could be because I've been eating yogurt since I was ten, but I'm not about to speculate. I recently had to stop drinking milk, however, because I've discovered that when I don't eat dairy products, I can breathe a lot easier. The real alarm for me that made me severely cut my dairy consumption to practically nil was the knowledge that my mom and her mother both have severe osteoporosis. While the doctors and medical professionals are scratching their heads as to why my mom's osteo gets worse no matter what she does about it, I've heard from a few sources that excess protein can cause calcium to leach out of your bones, making them brittle and giving you osteoporosis. I don't want to take chances, so I've decided I can live without dairy if it means there's a chance my bones will last the rest of my life; as it is, I may have to have multiple pins and plates holding together my bones if I want to keep eating dairy. As a result of this cutting back, I've found I can breathe freely for the first time - well, ever, actually. I'm inclined to believe what the "Not-Milk" man says: milk is just pus, hormones, and glue. (Casein is glue, which is what they stick labels on beer bottles with.) Your mileage may vary, however. (Edited by franklanguage at 1:15 am on Oct. 23, 2001)
  20. One last one: "Honey, this lettuce taastes funny." "It shouldn't; it's clean. I even washed it with soap."
  21. You forgot what the hot dog vendor said to him when he asked, "Hey, what about my change?": "Change comes from within."
  22. Hey, I brush my teeth with Monkey Brand tooth powder [bought at Alps drug company, 42nd street and 9th avenue], which is basically charcoal with essential oils in it. No mint there. I also add some green tea powder [from Ten Ren's tea shop, either Mott street just below Canal, or Flushing, Queens], which is good for the gums. Actually, you can get mint-free toothpaste at health food stores like Prana [125 First Avenue]. There's this Auromere Ayurvedic toothpaste that has the flavor of anise, and the real bonus is that none of them are sweetened with saccharine. That's what I hate.
  23. franklanguage

    Basil

    Well, first: "puree" is only appropriate usage when the food in question is cooked. Second: "pesto" (I believe) is Italian for "paste" (correct me if I'm wrong; I know you will). That is, it's a non-specific word, and I've heard of other herbs being used; the chef at Verbena once made "parsley pesto", for instance. I've had pesto made with arugula and basil, or just arugula. And of course, there are all kinds of variations: I had a pesto once that was mostly pine nuts. Play around with it! (Life is short.)
  24. Reminds me of the time my parents were in town and we all went to the Second Avenue Deli for lunch. When it came time for my dad to order, he blurted, "I'll just have a sandwich and a glass of milk," (which was what he always had at home) before he realized his mistake. He looked like he wanted to crawl under the table - and so did I.
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