weinoo

Let me relate a quick story before continuing...so when we arrived at our AirBnB, we were greeted by our lovely host, who showed us around. There's a white noise machine, and supplied ear plugs, because, as he suggested, the area of Portland we were staying in can get quite noisy at times. Even the seagulls can be very noisy, evidently. Earplugs?! White noise machines?!! We possibly live in the noisiest neighborhood (there's a fire station, a police precinct, a hospital, ambulance parking, and who knows what else within like 5 minutes of our apartment), in one of the noisiest cities in the country. However, there are very few seagulls, though crows can be loud at times...so we got a good chuckle from that! On Tuesday, friends from Worcester, MA came up to spend a few days in Portland with us - they stayed at a hotel located less than a 10-minute walk away, which, other than the walk back uphill to our apartment, was great. But we started out the day with a drive up the coast, to Yarmouth, Maine, an old mill town established in the late 1600's. We visited this place... and I snapped a picture of the old train trestle... using a silly app on my phone; it automatically puts date, time, and location right on the picture. Dinner with our friends on their first night in Portland was fun. Yes, we started off with oysters (but without a picture), once again deliciously fresh and crisp and briny. We all shared a few appetizers to start, including these great squid: There was also a less photogenic, yet no less fantastic, smoked mackerel paté, and a few salt-cod fritters. But on to the mains, where my buddy had... this most wonderful grilled fresh bluefish - with a couple of fried baby artichokes thrown in for good measure. I got what I'd wanted... A gigundo (like close to 2 lbs.) expertly steamed lobster. With a shell so hard, I could barely crack parts of it, even though they start it in the kitchen before it's sent out. Shit, even the coleslaw was good! (I don't recall getting around to the corn muffin). There was other food, but who cares after the squid, lobster, mackerel and bluefish? Scales - part of the same restaurant group as Fore Street, so unsurprisingly great service and food. Would return in a nanosecond. Wednesday was cold, windy, rainy; in other words, perfect coastal New England weather, and great for some lighthouse viewing. No less than 6 lighthouses are located within a short drive of the city of Portland (Maine has close to 60 lighthouses!). I mentioned it was cold, windy and rainy... Which looked like this... And one more (with raindrops on my lens)... And a few more from around town... Lunch this fine, rainy day was at another diner, this one more hipster-based, called Dutch's. Bake their own sourdough, nice sandwiches, etc. etc. I can recommend it, and dinner as well, which was at Central Provisions - a place we'd visited on a previous Portland trip. And a place where I failed to take any noteworthy pix. The drive home on Thursday went well; that is, until I reached the NYC limits. From the Triboro Bridge, it took me an hour to go about 8 miles, as if the return home trip isn't annoying enough.

We might need to help your wife with an intervention!

Last week, Significant Eater and I took a nice, long drive. We spent two nights in Beacon, NY, and then on to Portland, ME for another 4 nights. With thanks to the estimable @johnnyd for his input, as well as research conducted independently, we ate very well. As a matter of fact, at one point I mentioned to SE that if we had restaurants in NYC, like a few of the places we dined at in Portland, they'd become part of a regular rotation. Not just for the quality of the seafood, but practically all of the service was stellar, the places were comfortable and not crazy loud as they can be here, and the price/value was very good. The drive from Beacon (as it would be from our location on the lower east side) is long. Like 6 - 7 hours long, and we arrived at our airbnb right at check-in time, which worked out well. A beautiful little apartment, located in a mid-1800's house, in the lovely west end (with a private hot tub!). Now, when your first meal in Portland is at a Portland classic, and you're in Portland, you really need to start with: First of all, these literally were some of the best oysters I've ever eaten. (And yes, Tomales Bay, Hog Island, The Marshall Store are all good too, but I'd put these up against them any day). Something to do with the freshness, I'm sure. Something to do with how well they are shucked, I'm sure. 3 varieties, all local...I could eat these daily. Apps followed...the roasted potatoes and squid knocked it out of the park. In the background, house-made gnocchi with a lamb ragu was also lovely...they had obviously gotten a lamb or two, as there were other lamb dishes as specials; they sounded great, but when in Rome Portland, it becomes necessary to eat fish... And this whole roasted black sea bass, with assorted mushrooms in a lovely, buttery sauce was my choice. Do not pass up Fore Street and its gorgeous open kitchen with lots of fire, if you're ever in Portland and have the chance; I believe it's one of, if not the restaurant, which put Portland onto everyone's dining radar. Look at how beautiful this is! The next day, we started with breakfast at what is evidently a Portland institution, and judging by the crowd, mighty popular... Now Becky's was only a short walk from our Airbnb, but no one really told me about how hilly Portland is. It's not San Francisco hills, by any stretch of the imagination - but it's freakin' hilly, and we walked a lot - 4 to 5 miles daily, which is a lot for an old(er) person. Good way to burn off the calories, I suppose. So lunch was a no-brainer, at least to see what was up with their selection... 2 of each of 6 varieties; once again, all from Maine. All delicious. I didn't love the lobster roll here, though Sig Eater's fried oyster bun was good, so I'd say by sticking with oysters, you won't go wrong. (Those Basket Islands - whoa - big, meaty and briny for days!) Dinner Monday night was a bit of a challenge, since many places are closed, especially during the slow season. We walked, and we walked... This is an old F.W. Woolworth's on Congress Street. And this is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 300+ years-old home, located nearby. One of the issues when traveling, at least if you're me, is the whole where the hell is a bathroom. In Portland, they make it especially difficult... As they evidently enjoying hanging their bathrooms off of cranes... And since I don't do well with heights...(to be cont'd.).

And this way, @Duvel can prove his wife right!

I think you need a Weber kettle!! With hardwood charcoal, chunks of wood, wood chips, and more beer! Or bourbon, as the case may be.

I had a beautiful bunch of ramps (my first ramps this year), and took a few of them, along with some leftover potatoes, to make: This frittata. And served it for breakfast this morning: With some buttered, toasted rye bread and surprisingly good cherry tomatoes.

To me, and that's just me, they're as different as night and day. Do you ever sit around a tub of water filled with plastic bags and a murmuring motor, drinking beer, watching football, and salivating because of the smell leaking out of the water? Do people gather around the tub of water all sorts of expectantly? Are people nagging you to ask when the sous vide is done? Just like with everything else involved in prepping and cooking and eating, whether it's getting a 7° angle on a knife's blade, or cooking a hunk of meat with a thermal probe inside so that it comes out "perfectly" (like, what's perfect?), I find that removing the emotional aspect from cooking only lessens the experience of feeding others; after all, in my world, that's what cooking is all about. Other's worlds are most likely different.

You forgot flavor!

I give you the big AND LOUD timer... AKA the time stack by Thermo Works.

But are they really the same? I mean, sous vide is in a closed environment; pit barbecue is hardly that...much more to think and worry about...in no way is it set it and forget it (with all due respect to Ron Popeil).

Isn't this why they make timers?

Go ahead - give them a reason...

And for what it's worth, not that I am any sort of pitmaster, but when a friend invites you over to "make some ribs" and he has one of these in his backyard... I can do a pretty decent job... Pork spareribs, and beef short ribs.

I'll just post this here, @Duvel, from a book written by one of the great pitmasters in the U.S., before BBQ got co-opted by every hipster from Austin on north. With the caveat that every smoker is most likely different, every rack of ribs is most likely different, weather, type of wood, etc. etc. Oh, the book is Peace, Love and Barbecue (eG-friendly Amazon.com link), by the late, great Mike Mills. (RIP, Mike). Here he is, hard at work, at the Big Apple BBQ, back in 2011...

It's not necessarily easy to find, that's for sure.

Do they smoke percebes? Speck?

I hear they're bottling distilled water.

Nice - I've snuck many purchases past my wife, but then again, they tend to be able to be hidden in a cabinet or on a shelf! Is that the temp. the book recommends for ribs and/or brisket, because it seems pretty accurate? And - any dry rub on the ribs, or were they smoked naked, as it were?

One morning, in Beacon, NY last week... Eggs over medium, grits with butter and cheese, ham steak. At BJ’s Soul Food Restaurant. Main St., Beacon, NY.

I’m not moved by much, but I just find so many other things so much more important….in the abundance of caution realm, this is.

I enjoy the extra flavor from the green algae.

I'm not a betting man, but I'd bet something else fucks up in/on the Anova before any descaling is necessary using NYC tap. I've been using the same Hario kettle for years, and a Silvia for over a decade...neither ever needed to be descaled, and they're both still going strong.

Here you go... https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/dep/downloads/pdf/water/drinking-water/drinking-water-supply-quality-report/2021-drinking-water-supply-quality-report.pdf

I don't think, but am not an Anova owner, that you need to worry about using distilled water here in the city.

That sounded like some sort of high school algebra question! What I can say is that medium rare is not 124℉ - it's more in the range of 130℉ to 135℉ - so a probe set to 128℉ or so should work nicely. I don't like pork cooked that low - prefer it int the range of 140 - 145 for chops/steaks.