weinoo

Took a ride out to the beach (Coney Island, that's the Cyclone, above) yesterday, for a walk on the boardwalk, since this is our favorite time of year for the beach. And I love amusements parks (especially Coney) when no one is having fun...there's something quite sinister and scary about them. Instead of the Russian/Georgian/Uzbek food I was thinking of for lunch, we decided to head to Bay Ridge, for some food not quite from the Caucasus, to a place which came highly recommended from a friend. They have an interesting wine program, but what caught my eye... was the Mezcal and tequila program. Not that I was drinking anything except Mexican coke - it was lunch time, after all, and I was driving. And evidently the mezcal prices are not bad (as I checked in with a knowledgeable friend, who wanted to know what they were getting for Del Maguey Tobala - $14 an ounce, which isn't bad, considering the bottle price)! I started with a soup, and this had to be one of the best, if not most unique, chicken "soups" I've had in quite some time... more like a stew, and called sopa Azteca on the menu, so thick and rich. Delicious. Followed by tacos for me, and I like how the tortilla is somewhere between totally crisp and soft... and Significant Eater's favorite, enchiladas... Great stuff...wow. Also - they are so nice! The masa is made fresh in house, and those tortillas are amazing. It's also used in any number of dishes, not via tortillas. I look forward to a return trip, maybe even via subway, for dinner. Cause I really want to drink here too. Coszcal de Allende

Spaghetti with shrimp. Two salads. Signifiant Eater complained the salads were French, and the main was Italian-ish. This is what I deal with!

I go, once again, to the price per portion. Colavita, and their adulterated crap, can kiss my ass. And if anyone thinks there is no difference between a pasta like Barilla (which I use for certain applications) vs. Faella/Rustichella et al. (which I use when i want good pasta) is out of their minds. All one has to do is open a box of each, look and touch, and tell me there's no difference. For a thin sauce, I'd suggest a thin pasta - like thin spaghetti or spaghetti (not a fan of angel hair). For more meat based sauces, or chunky sauces, thicker strands work, as does something like a flatter pasta, or rigatoni or one of my faves, mezze rigatoni.

I'm pretty sure that's the design OXO "improved" upon. Quite similar to how OXO has taken many designs, and improved upon them.

I'd widen my horizons even more - bucatini slash pericatelli is good for one or two sauces, in my opinion. And then, it better be cooked properly, or sauce and stuff ends up all over the place.

Actually you dope, Colavita makes both! I call...marketing. https://colavitastore.com/products/8

Doubtful - I don't know of a company which makes both.

They're essentially the same pasta. Supermarketitaly's pasta selection

Aren't we all?

Like this?

When I was in the deli world, if a customer asked for their cheese grated, we’d use a very large drum grater that was electric. Probably modeled on the old Moulinex drum thing. Worked great.

Check out supermarketitaly.com. They have some nice brands in your price range, maybe a little bit higher. Great selection of other imported Italian stuff as well. Free shipping kicks in at a not-too-crazy $70 or so.

But then you have blended cheese, not grated cheese.

That's because instead of "breaking it down" as they might do in a restaurant kitchen or a butcher shop, you ought just cut it up. One way...

I had this rather humongous grass-fed "steak" in the freezer; over 2 libs. about 1.25" thick. And something got into me. So, I cranked up the broiler (there's only one temp - ON)... and cooked it about 3 minutes a side. And then an extra minute to finish. It really should've gone for another minute or even two, giving me a little more temp, but I was kinda worried about overcooking it; didn't come close to that. Leftovers (and there are plenty) may make a laghman dish.

The Moulinex makes quick work of grating even larger quantities of Pamigiano.

Jersey Italian!

What do you mean by a great paella recipe? Can you show us what type of recipe frustrates you ? A link would help. Paella, to my mind, isn't so much about recipes (though, yeah, they help); it's about technique and ingredients. Excellent rice, good stock, proper liquid to rice ratio - things like that are muy importante. But most of all - it's about the rice (like good pasta dishes are mostly about the pasta) and not mucking it up with a million ingredients. (Oh, I think I said all this shit above).

I've not really utilized the broiler on my Wolf range to any extent. I've used it to heat up the steel for baking pizza, a la modernist something, but to cook a hunk of protein a la steak house - nah. But I had this rather humongous grass-fed "steak:" Over 2 libs. about 1.25" thick. And something got into me. So, I cranked the broiler (there's only one temp - ON)... 3 minutes a side. And then an extra minute to finish. It really should've gone for another minute or even two, giving me a little more temp, but I was kinda worried about overcooking it; didn't come close to that.

Absolutely. Probably posted about it here, I'm sure?! It's a great way to do it, since the mess is de minimis.

It might've, and though I'd like to give @Duvel all the credit for this dish, I won't! Nothing went into the dish with the duck legs, which had been "cured" overnight, with salt, herbs, garlic, as for a confit but slightly less salt. I made a lot of puncture holes in the skin, and removed the legs from the oven a couple of times to spoon off the fat, before it had a chance to get too hot in the final crisping. Slow oven - like 275℉, for the first 2 hours or so, then up to 350 for the last 1/2 hour. Every duck is different so I can't tell you how long it will take - until it's done and tender.

You can all have your Missy Robbins' (whose pasta I have liked in restaurants) book... but how many more books about pasta are really necessary? If only he weren't doing such a mundane task; like making pasta, on a pasta book cover!!

It's like not interchangeable with other dishes, huh? interesting!

See, I think that cooking is more like art, whereas baking/chocolate work, etc. are the scientific jobs, which require much more precision of ingredients, weights and temperatures.