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nyfirepatrolchef

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Posts posted by nyfirepatrolchef

    Gage & Tollner (Closed)

    in New York: Dining

    Posted

    I was enroute from my firehouse to the subway this morning after work, picked up the local neighborhood paper...and staring me in the face is an obituary for G&T.

    They closed last night, as I understand after dinner service.

    The reason cited was they didnt get the business they expected with the development of Metrotech nearby. On another site I belong to, someone made the point that the location wouldnt draw the local residents. In light of the fact that Smith Street..alias Restaurant Row....is blocks away....somehow I cant stomach that concept.

    I could kick myself for procrastinating about dinner or lunch there. Now I missed my chance.

    sweet potato powder

    in Cooking

    Posted

    while at Kam Man Foods recently I discovered bags of sweet potato powder. Of course no englsh directions....but the illustrations include with the instructions...someone mixing in a bowl....the front of the pack shows all sorts of things youd batter dip or bread.

    Talked to a non cooking chinese friend....who directed me to his hard to catch wife...least he told me its used as a batter and as a dough.

    Anyone use the stuff? Any ideas for proportions for mixing into a batter...and what liquid and/or other ingredients to use?

    Saw in a book the chinese sweets are white meated....do they still taste remotely sweet even?

    Pronouncing "Foie Gras"

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    February!  There's an R in there!  "Feb-u-ary" is like taking a bleeping rake across a blackboard.

    hmmmmmmm...of all the nasty annoying things Ive tried in life just to be a putz, I never THOUGHT of THAT one...fingernails of course...the teacher annoyed the crap out of me so I evened the score a bit...wow thanks!!!~

    By the way 99% of the time I say Febuary too...and Noo Yawk. Dont you DARE tell me theres an R in THERE too!!~ ;)

    Luchows Book

    in Cookbooks & References

    Posted · Edited by nyfirepatrolchef (log)

    I know certain aspects of Luchows menu wouldve hit my tasebuds squarely on target...pork sausages in some form...german potato salad....beer...dessert...beer.....

    I was 21 when the 14th Street spot closed.....I was certainly old enough...but I was from a single parent home...and somehow I think if my mom couldve afforded it for a special occasion...if Id thought to ask...shed have taken me.

    I remember the commercials too. Was the area *that* salty then? I was used to being a bit further uptown hanging out then cuz thats where my mom worked.

    Last German food I had before this @#$%^&*ing diet was right from Karl Ehmers in Ridgewood. We had one of the guys in the firehouse bring the stuff to work with him and we pigged out for lunch....grilled bratwurst, German potato salad, sauerkraut ....no beer of course....oh man what a feast.

    Luchows Book

    in Cookbooks & References

    Posted

    was cruising 6th Ave this afternoon headed for the subway, when I saw the name LUCHOWS on the spine of a lil russet colored book. Further looksee showed a 1963 printing of the Luchows German Cookbook by J Mitchell. All of 3 bux it set me back.

    I read the intro and story of the place.

    I miss it and I was never there.

    Did it in fact close in 1982?

    Who was Ludwig Bemelmans (the guy that wrote the intro)

    Someone please share recollections of the place. Preferrably the GOOD ones of its real heyday not the decline and fall lamentations.

    mouse in the oven.

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    Both excellent solutions.  Who's going to try them?

    actually....when I discovered that my tarantula was tired of pink mice as a dietary staple, I had to remove the first one she wouldnt eat while it was still alive...see I might come across as a totally crass little shithead...but Im really a nice guy.....I felt itd be really uncool to let the little sucker just starve to death in there with my arachnid...so I tried dispatching him in the most humane way I could think of...snap the neck kinda thing...Ive been stuck underwater before and it was the most horrid sensation of my life...well...to this day Im really haunted by the way the employed technique turned out. It was quite effective...but...very....unpleasant.

    mouse in the oven.

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    I am entirely serious.  Poison and glue are slow cruel deaths.  I've seen mice die this way, and it sucks.  Get the snap traps so it dies quickly, or humane traps if you will take the time to release the mouse elsewhere (like you'd ever do that). 

    When I have seen these mice dying, I have killed them off myself so the thing, carrier or not, doesn't suffer longer than is necessary.  I just don't believe suffering is right.  For any reason. 

    Sounds like you got waaaaaaay too much time on your hands to be so concerned about a germy lil vermin...

    youd probably call PETA if you were around the night I dispatched a full sized rat in the kitchen of my last firehouse in East NY...I snapped the little shit in half with the bottom rim of a steel garbage can. After an annoyed SQUEAK (I knew damn well I got him...) he took off under and behind the dishwasher where he was pronounced and removed (by me) bout an hour later when he FINALLY stopped moving. There was no way I was going in after him while he was still alive.

    Fluid Intake

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    I have had stones....miserable lil critters they be....but I CANT drink tons of water all day a) Id be living in the john and b) I feel bloated like an engorged leech.

    But with dinner I could easily kill a quart or more of fluid...usually fruit juice or soy milk. When I remember to throw a jug in the fridge I have plain chilled water.

    fried sweet plantains

    in Cooking

    Posted · Edited by nyfirepatrolchef (log)

    Don't deep fry.  Shallow fry, nice and slowly. Using canola is not a problem unless, like elyse, you can taste it; peanut is probably better then. 

    But deep-frying cooks the outside too fast, before the whole thing gets the benefit of the heat.  Especially if they are really, really ripe (black skins).  Cooking them slowly allows them to soften and caramelize gently.  Then they need nada más.

    Me, I prefer tostones to maduros -- better for working out frustrations: peel, slice, fry, SMASH, fry again.  And those you can dip in garlic sauce and green sauce.  :wub:

    So....if I pan fry them nice and slowly ( they DID take a while to get them out of the kitchen for us)...I should have a nice sugary experience thats chewy on the outside and gooey on the INside?

    Is it a case of the darker the skin the better?

    Elyse....the question was...in light of what I DID with mine....what do I have to do to get them the way I WANT them?

    fried sweet plantains

    in Cooking

    Posted · Edited by nyfirepatrolchef (log)

    ok...recently had some orgasmically good fried sweet plantains at my fave dominican greasy spoon on Mermaid Ave in Coney Island. I asked the guy ahead if time about sugar or butter...he knows why I ask cuz hes got food issues too. He said neither.

    The suckers came out a lil chewy almost caramelized on the outside...just nice....and soft and sweet as sugar on the inside.

    Heres what I did:

    diagonal cut like they did...the things were soft to the squeezed touch...so they were ripe....got the deep fry cannola oil up to 400F...in they went...they sure as hell browned nicely...soft enough to be palatable...nice flavor...but I want the sweet softness I had THERE!!!~

    Thing is also...they werent swimming in anything that resembled a sauce...

    Input please!~

    This is what happened when you offend the Food God

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    i can't handle anything with goat's milk in it.  i have to make my husband taste all the cheeses on a cheese platter to make sure none of them are 'goaty'.  i don't know what it is, but the taste og goat's milk is really awful to me, and it stays in my mouth for hours.  the last time i accidentally ingested a goat product was in a dessert crepe.  when i got home, i had to gargle with pickle juice to get the taste out of my throat.  beets, on the other hand, i adore.

    I was the same way at macy*s....a good close deep breath of any of the goat milk cheeses (god help me if I got roped into *tasting*) was enough to bring me to the brink of hurling..oh god even thinking about it just now...'nuf said :blink::blink::wacko:

    This is what happened when you offend the Food God

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    I feel the same way about Lamb.  I despise Lamb!  I can avoid it very easily when dining in a restaurant but god help me if I'm invited to a friends house and the entree is moussakka or grilled lamb.  And I don't think I am in the minority not liking lamb so why do people make things for guests that has a high potential for being disliked?

    Anyway, for each food there is a lover and a hater.  I recommend you cook your absolute favorite foods and ingest them all in one sitting.  The food god will see how happy you are and never rain beets on you again!

    maybe you got non American lamb? My late Greek mom always raised the issue of American vs non American lamb. The non American being flavor wise totally unacceptable.

    post blackout food concern

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    My food was without refrigeration/freezer (due to the blackout) for 27 hours. The mainstay of the contents are: frozen veggies/fruit (spinach peas blueberries), frozen soy margarine, frozen turkey sausage and bacon (no preservatives) then in the fridge...eggs, fruit juices, soy milk, brined products (kosher pickles and tomatos), no preservatives bread.

    What, if anything, is safe, and what should go out?

    The fridge was closed all the time during the period, and I let it run two hours before opening it. I could tell the freezer was unfrozen...the bacon was cold to the touch but flexible, and the berries were soft but cold.

    It sickens my to think of losing all that....but its cheaper than a trip to the ER for food poisoning.

    fruit with mint

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    vanilla, raspberries and mint.

    you could also mess around with apple juice as a base.

    ooooooooh nice.....mental note to pick up frozen raspberries next shopping trip....

    and I usually DO use apple juice...along with soy milk. I find if I use straight soy milk, it masks the fruit flavor to a degree. By getting the creamy properties of the soy milk and making it more fruit based and thinner with apple juice I tend to get better fruit flavor.

    fruit with mint

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    hm, vanilla.  Are you working with fresh vanilla beans or vanilla extract?

    does it have to be a smoothie, or can other preparations work (i.e., granita, sorbet, pudding, flan, souffle, panna cotta)?

    are you looking for depth of flavor or something that lies on the surface?

    help me out here.

    Soba

    ps.  good to see you again nyFPC.

    well, the vanilla wasnt my concept...but Id love to hear ideas for a smoothie with mint and vanilla....but yeah unless theres versions of the desserts you mention sans dairy and sugar....all I have is the old reliable smoothie...and ya know...on the BIG plus side...as I found out the mint has medicinal value (I knew already I just didnt know what besides as a digestive aid). Ive had the mother of headaches all day. Within ten minutes of starting to down the smoothie, it was *gone*. I researched it and lo and behold....good for headaches too...aint nature GREAT!~

    Take THAT (snaps fingers) Merck Sharp & Dome!~

    Nice to see you too Soba....thanks for the welcome back...but Im never far ;)

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