Batard
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Posts posted by Batard
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It's hard to beat the Aquagrill in NYC. A huge choice, but since I prefer cold water oysters it makes selecting easier.
Depending on where you are, you might want to try Arthur's Landing, which is just on the NJ side of the Lincoln Tunnel, right on the water. They have a bar special on Wednesdays, $1.00 per oyster. They are usually Bluepoints or Willamette's. Also 1/2 price champagne by the glass, though that is not my first choice at this wonderful bar with the incredible view.
BTW, I have been eating oysters at Arthur's for years, and I trust this place.
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I'm with Zeffer, on the rare occasions that this happened to me, we just asked to be reseated. There is no way the staff is going to "shush" the party of 12. I think it's easier, and certainly makes for a more pleasant meal, to just bite the bullet and move. Life is aggravating enough, I want to eat my meals in peace.
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My wife and I love soup, we could have it every day. We lived in Alexandria VA for a few years before moving back to NJ, and places where we could get superb quality soups to go abounded. We could get plain broth to excellent gumbo (which for the sake of discussion I am going to call soup) and everything in between. Fresh good soups made daily, all over town. We got super-spoiled.
So what's up with New Jersey? I have been back in NJ for over a year and I can't find any place to get a decent bowl of real from scratch soup. We make a lot of soup ourselves but that's not always an option. I though there used to place in Montclair that had like ten fresh soups daily, but that place seems to be gone now.
Someone please help us, we are getting weaker by the day.
Is there a NJ equivalent of Yeganeh's Soup Kitchen International?? Anyplace that cooks up a nice broth, or gumbo, or fish soup? Anything?
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Heat olive oil in your roasting pan at 400º, then sear the outside in the roasting pan in the oven turning it as needed. You might put some garlic in the oil just to give it a nice flavor.
RAH, thank you this tip.
It was my "AHA!" moment of the day. Like most great ideas, they just seem so obvious -- after someone tells you! Thanks again.
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If you like that, try the amazing Potato Shooter!
http://www.amazon.com/Gag-Works-POTATO-GUN...4911111-0218422
Imagine firing your potato gun into an unsuspecting crowd of line cooks.
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A good year for me!
* Cuisinart Custom Pro 11-Cup Stainless Steel Food Processor
* A really nice Japanese Donabe Pot
* Two Korean stone pot covered casseroles for making Jigae, etc.
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I went to Church Street this evening. It was my first time there, and I know you take a chance eating out on Christmas Eve. They were offering their Autumn 2007 menu, and they told me Chef Todd would be in the kitchen that evening, so I was going with high expectations.
Now I checked the reviews before I went, and I know there are supposed to be a few standout dishes, like the small plate Duck Confit and the Lobster and Crab Wontons, or large plates like the Grappa and Grainy Mustard Rack of Lamb. But my wife and I decided to venture off the beaten path and try some dishes that I had not seen discussed before.
For small plates we tried 3: the Salmon Trilogy, the Crab Cakes, and the Foie Gras. The Fois was the best of them, three small pieces with melba toast and a fig, curried apple and eggplant tartar. It was beautiful fois, and the 'tartar' was a classic combo.
The Trilogy of Salmon was was a pretty plate, but otherwise disappointing. I was careful to eat them in them right order.
The Citrus Cured Gravlax didn't really taste like citrus or like salmon. The Hickory Smoked Salmon was dry, a little too smoky, and the they served it over some sprouts. Neither one was nice and buttery or tasted at all like good salmon, . The standout of the three was the Salmon Tartar with Wasabi Tobiko (flying fish roe in a wasabi base) which was perfectly balanced. If they just served this as the appetizer it would have been wonderful, the salmon was so fresh tasting. It made the rest of the salmon pale in comparison, hard to believe all three came out of the same kitchen. The three smallish crabcakes in the last small plate were nicely done, crisp on the outside, but seemed a little bland to me. Maybe the salad of pistachio, fennel, carrot, and dried cranberry was a little too acidic -- it would have gone better with lobster. There was nothing unpleasant about the dish at all, but the combo just seemed a little out of balance. It was all good, but didn't really come together on the plate.
The first large plate was the Masala Spiced Strawberry Bass. The fish was fresh and sweet, but because they chose to fillet it, one side of the fillet was twice as thick as the other. The thick part of the fillet was cooked to medium, which left the other side a little bit hard and overcooked. I used to catch and pan fry these fish when I was a kid, and I think they should probably be cooked whole.
For me the best dish was the Port Braised Oxtail. The flavors were deep and complex, and the meat was at that lovely gelatinous perfection. If you like oxtails this is a great dish, and one that I would go back for.
The desert special was pears poached in port with cinnamon ice cream, and this was a perfect pairing. The ice cream came from right down the street at Applegate Farms, and I recommend you stop there and buy some, it is killer. I am definitely going to steal this dessert idea and serve it at my own New Year's dinner.
Service was OK. In an earlier post, Montclairite pointed out some shortcomings. In our case we did feel a little rushed, even though it was early and the restaurant was not busy. The large plates came out before we were completely finished with the small plates, so the server was standing there with our entrees before the table had been cleared. So we got to join in to help clear the table.
Maybe it was an off night -- it was Christmas Eve, and I certainly wouldn't want anything I say to put anyone off from going there. And like I said, I didn't order any of the dishes that the reviews recommended. The menu is very eclectic, and Chef Todd reaches for a lot. It just seemed to me that, at this price point, the overall quality and the execution could have been better.
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We've been tracking Santa all night on NORAD radar too. Wasn't that really cute? The kids loved the "high tech tracking system".
We left Santa some homemade almond crescents and a glass of chocolate milk. But oddly enough, Santa was more in the mood for a warm glass of cider with a little bourbon than he in the cookies and milk. His nose was red and a little shiny when he left and he seemed very happy.
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7.5 pounds is the usual size of a whole tenderloin when I buy them. Usually I ask the butcher to trim the silver skin; if I'm paying for prime, they better do it for me automatically.
I don't have a stove large enough to brown off a piece of loin that large -- the loin is probably 2.5 feet long. I would either brown it on the grill just to sear the outside -- careful -- and finish in a 200 degree oven until it hits about 5-10 degrees below where you want the meat to finish. It will cook the rest of the way while it is resting. Alternately, I will cook the meat in the grill but away from the heat at the same temperature to the same doneness. You have to babysit more when you do it on the grill, but the results are worth it.
I'm not going to get into the whole high heat versus low heat roasting discussion thing. I have cooked roasts on consecutive nights using both methods, and for me the slow method results in a more buttery texture. Plus the meat loses much less moisture during slow cooking and you end up with a much juicier product. If I were paying for prime, that is the only way I would cook it. Be gentle.
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Go see a nutritionist!
This is really the best advice here on this page!! What works for others may not work for you. If fact, what works for others might actually be unhealthy for you. It's irresponsible for people to advise you to add fat or whatever to your diet unless they know your medical history.
Go to your doctor and have bloodwork, etc., if you haven't done that in the last year (you know, lipids, blood sugar, CBC the usual). You need that as a baseline before you go to the nutritionist anyway.
I got a referral from my old Doc to see a nutritionist, who ended up being kind of idiot. I learned from that. If you google, you can find the best rated doctors by profession in your vicinity. I go the best doctors in NJ not because I am anyone special, but because I did some homework. Oh, don't ask your insurance company for a doctor's name, they know nothing about the doctors they have enrolled and will just pick a name out of a hat.
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I didn't really mean to leave loads of sugar in the beer, but one mistake I used to make -- especially with very malty beers -- was over-fermenting. I've never had bottles explode on me, and since you've been brewing for a while now I'm sure you wouldn't make this mistake. I would still like to see your brewing notes though, if you get around to it.We couldn't leave any sugar in the brew because we carbonate in the bottle via the yeast so if we left any sugar in it we would have exploding bottles on hand.
That's interesting. I haven't had a Tremens in a while, now I have to pick up a bottle to test this out. Hehe.... Delirium Tremens (and some other Belgians, I'm sure) makes good use of ginger. There's no mistaking it when you know it's in there. -
Anchor Christmas Ale!
Our local beerstore has some bottles from 2005 and 2006 stored away for special customers, and so I will be doing a vertical tasting of those 2 years against the 2007. A year or two in the bottle does wonders for this stuff.
The Sierrra Nevada Celebration Ale is tasting really good too, for all you hop-heads out there.
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When I was growing up the conventional (Chinese) wisdom said that the head is the best part of the fish. I don't agree, but it's worth trying to see if you like it.
My wife grew up in Shandong. In her family, the head is the part you give to guests as an honor. I grew up in New York, and we always cut the head off as part of cleaning the fish, and I never saw one on my plate. So imagine my first experience, eating my first fish head in front of my wife's very old-school Chinese parents my first time visiting their home. The things we do for love.
But yes even now when we steam a whole fish, my wife always takes the fish head and, with chopsticks and a little ingenuity, reduces it to a little pile of bones.
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- Nino San Marzano Tomatoes, 6lb can, $3.19
I bought a can of these, and used them yesterday. I believe they say packed in the "San Marzano Region", so I'm not sure they were true SM's.
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What I think happened is that you let your batch ferment all the way out. Over-fermentation gets you more alcohol but thins the beer out and throws it out of balance, and for me was the hardest thing to master. If you want the brew to have a better balance, you need to leave some residual sugar in your beer before you bottle. For me, that would mean adding some gelatin fining to the holding tank (or glass carboy) when the sweetness is right. The finings pull the yeast out of the liquid and mostly halts the fermentation right where you want it.
If you use an inverted fermentation technique, I can't recommend the Fermentap Valve Kit and products like it enough. It allows you to taste the brew without introducing a "wine thief", and it also eliminates the need for a secondary fermentation; both steps can introduce bacteria and wild yeasts to the mash. It also allows you to siphon off active yeast culture for your next batch.
Remember, you control the sweetness of the end product. The yeast will just do it's job until it has converted all the sugar to alcohol and CO2, and that often results in a bland, watery, overly alcoholic beer.
Would you mind posting your overall recipe?
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Once or twice a summer I drive down to Lancaster PA to stock up on salt and pepper (and other unique) sausage, pork (there are real Amish butchers with heritage pigs), and eggs taken from the nest that morning. Quarts of whiskey strong home made chicken broth.
This is the only place I know of where I can actually buy raw milk, and actually shake hands with the cow it came from.
I must admit to being a little bit leery of drinking it as is, but I love to use it in custards and other recipes where the milk is cooked. Ultra-fresh raw milk and same-day eggs can turn even a simple custard into a lavish feast.
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Took a trip to Costco today. I bought a lot of the usual suspects, but there were a couple of nice finds:
- Nino San Marzano Tomatoes, 6lb can, $3.19
- Kirkland Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, 16oz: $5.99 (!!!)
- Delice d'Argental, 7oz: $5.89
I was lucky, my Costco still had the Garofalo bufallo mozzarella.
Someone mentioned the Kirkland Balsamic vinegar. It's aged only 28 months, but it has excellent flavor. It's my goto balsamic.
Three big disappointments:
1. No 100% pure blueberry juice.
2. No Kirkland Toscano olive oil. This is an excellent oil, not overly heavy but fragrant, perfect for vegetable sautes. This has always been my got oil, I don't even know what to buy now.
3. I could not find Carnitas!
I am getting over my disappointment by munching down some marcona almonds.
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Both David Drake and Serenade are doing a Christmas Eve 3-course for $65.00:
http://www.daviddrakes.com/holiday.html
http://www.restaurantserenade.com/calendar/calendar.php
If they are booked, Bernards Inn is a romantic-type spot.
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A friend of mine has been searching for fermented carrot juice since he had it in Turkey this summer.
Does anyone have a recipe or know where to buy it in Chicago or the NW suburbs?
I can't remember his description that well, but it's very carrot-y...and fermented.
Hello, could you possibly be referring to "carrot wine"? I've never had it, but if you google search the term 'carrot wine', you will find a bunch of recipes. There's even an online retail source where you can purchase bottles.
If you decide to make it, please keep us posted.
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I spray most of my fruit with a water and vinegar mixture, then rinse it off with tap water.
My wife taught me this trick a long time ago, it's something her parents always did with fruit back in China. Apparently it is a traditional way to clean fruit. I like to wash grapes and even berries with a mix of mostly water and a little fruity cider vinegar, then let them dry off. You can't taste the vinegar, but it definitely makes the fruit taste better. I'm not sure why, it it just does.
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Thanks Pat the menu collection is amazing.
The NYPL has a great digtal acrichive here:
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital...=menu&x=12&y=10
After looking through the vintage menu, I can understand why you would want to collect them. Some fo them are works of art.
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Last night I threw together a salad (from Bon Appetit) that was persimmon slices, prosciutto and pomegranate seeds on arugula with a pomegranate vinaigrette. It was very good as well as lovely.
I followed a very similar recipe from Epicurious, and it really made lovely salad, with the slight bitterness of the arugula, balancing nicely with the proscuittto and persimmon, and a nutty crunch of pistachios. I can't seem to find the Pomegranate vinegar anywhere though. I made the vinaigrette with a very clean cider vinegar and some reduced pomegranate juice. It tasted good, but the color ended up a little too pink.
There are surprisingly few savory recipes using persimmons, I was not even able to fine one. All desert-type stuff. I can imagine it working well with pork though.
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Thanks Susan and Curlz for your suggestions. Actually Curlz, Bernardsville is 35 miles, and that is not too far to go for a nice Christmas meal. I know I am really narrowing my options by leaving NYC out of the investigation, but my Mom is a little older and for some reason is scared to go to NYC. And I'm not going to argue.
In the past I used to go to Il Tulipano in Cedar Grove for holidays, but the quality there has really slid in the last few years. At the last event there we were served *gasp* defrosted shrimp at cocktail hour. No excuse for that.
Man I wish Cafe Matisse were open.
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This year is it just going to be me, my wife, and my Mom for dinner on Christmas Day, so instead of cooking we decided that we would go out. But I have had my share of disappointments in the past with the prixe fixe menus that most places put out, everything seems to taste like you are at a lousy catered event -- always a step down from their normal fare. Even though it will be a small Christmas for us, we still want to have a memorable meal.
I'm not extremely worried about price or even the style of cuisine. I know most of the Asian places will be open, but we eat Asian all the time and we're looking for something a little more western and classic. I'm just hoping to find a nice place that's open and where the food doesn't suffer on the holiday.
So I was hoping someone might have recommendations for Northern New Jersey. I'm not afraid to take a drive, but just so you know I live near the Rutherford area.
Thanks in advance,
Mike
What did I just eat?
in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Dining
Posted · Edited by Batard (log)
I've seen pictures of people eating tiny, tiny clams and picking the entire meat out with the tip a toothpick. The size would be about what you describe. My Chinese friend says that little clams like this come from the South China sea near Vietnam and are usually just picked out and eaten raw. You can find them in Guangzhou too, but I think they are more of a Vietnamese ting.
The amount of work it would take to clean a thousand of these would seem to make cooking with them impractical. I would love to know what these were. Did you think of calling the restaurant and asking?