weinoo

You're not gonna try to convince me, @Kim Shook, that one of those dogs is better than a classic Nathan's or Katz's hot dog, dressed with mustard and sauerkraut. Or, as they used to say: "Gimme a Frank Sinatra, fully dressed!" (Are you?)

We'll be back for a few nights at the end of May - anything new (er) and exciting, @johnnyd ? I see that Helm has closed (as had the Danforth), which was my worry when we were there last year. We do have a reservation at Twelve, so far.

Chicken Scarpariello, over a bed of polenta. Instead of how I usually make this dish (i.e.: on the stovetop), once the chicken and sausage were browned, and the onions and peppers were sweated out, it went into the oven (well, the countertop oven) to cook uncovered, which I don't think is called braising, but perhaps called broasting. Made the skin much more crispy, as it was exposed to the dry heat. (Of note, since I don't usually eat a ton of skin (except at KONO), I'd stick with actually braising on the stovetop, covered.)

I think it would be ridiculous to save water that pasta has been cooked in. What about the salt content and how do you adjust the taste of whatever it is you might currently be cooking?

I do use Cascade here - in my dishwasher. Bottom line is it sounds as if you don't like Americanos, which is fine. Maybe a perfect Americano would be more to your taste, using half sweet and half dry vermouths. Or, just stick with Campari and soda. And remember, the Americano Bolognese also calls for a few dashes of Ango.

A really great take on the Americano is the Americano Bolognese, invented at Nu Lounge Bar, in Bologna... https://www.mixology.recipes/cocktails/americano-bolognese

I don’t understand what you mean by early season? Unless you’re getting these from the southern hemisphere, apple season in North America is autumn, I think.

The hot dogs have been a thing for a while. This one on Ludlow Street opened a few years ago; it drew big crowds for a while; don't know if it still does. https://www.ohkdog.com/ With Katz's around the corner, I find very little reason to ever try a Korean hot dog.

I'm pretty sure that most of the apples currently being sold at any Trader Joe's were harvested last fall. Certainly, their peak texture and flavor has passed. And I would venture a guess that the same has happened to the apples being sold at Monterey Market...and most anywhere else.

This year's one matzo brei, savory style.

Couldn't agree more. Our (now) 6+ year old Wolf gas range (only 30", 4-burner) has had nary a problem. Keeps perfect temp in the oven. I would buy one again in a NY minute.

No- defrosted in fridge overnight.

Go ahead and splurge - they're IQF, so you can take out 1/4 lb. for a meal and seal up the rest as good as new. These were salt and peppered, then cooked 2 minutes on side 1, another minute on side 2, in a frying pan, with butter and olive oil. Removed to a warm plate, pan deglazed with white wine, then lemon juice and butter added to the pan, with a touch of stock. Unless you can get fresh abalone, in my opinion, there's no point.

A couple of days ago, I received an email from The Rice Factory, letting me know that they had restocked many of their rices with a shipment of the 2023 rice harvest; so I jumped. And last night, along with my new favorite item from Trader Joe's, I rice cookered a couple of cups of this: Akita Akitakomachi Japan Organic -無農薬 秋田 あきたこまち- 2023 Crop It's so good. Japanese scallops, with a lemon/butter/white wine sauce, over Akitakomachi organic white rice.

I may have found my favorite Treader Joe's "product." Well, it's not a Trader Joe's product per se, but a product sold via Trader Joe's. And I hadn't seen it before, but when perusing the frozen seafood section a couple weeks ago, i came across these: Referring, of course, to the Japanese sea scallops. Allegedly from Hokkaido, where some of the best scallops in the world come from, I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the bag and it had that faint, sweet sea smell of scallops. They are actually quite good. And at about $18/lb., very reasonable.

I think you'd love it!

Exactly. I'm pretty sure there was a time, not too long ago, where scales were not readily available to most home cooks. Probably a reason why most cook books, especially baking, described how to measure flour. Now that a decent scale can be had for much less than the price of a cook book, showing weight equivalents has become much more prevalent.

What @rotuts said. I think weights are important for pastry and baking; for other types of cooking (braises, stews, soups, etc.), not so much.

So what you're saying is that ferrets are: כשר לפסח?

That's because I took that picture when it was brand new!!!

The exhaust here is also recirculating, and at high speed 600 CFM. What's nice about it is the first level of filtration can be put in the dishwasher; I do this like every 2 weeks. Inside there's a high-quality charcoal filter, which really works well on keeping the odors down (I change that one like every 6 months). But I haven't cleaned my top open shelves in a few years, and I can pretty much guarantee they're covered with crud. And just being here in NYC, there's a lot of other stuff the comes in through the windows, and ends up everywhere (to say nothing of the cat hair).

I don't know that that's necessary. I think ripping hot is really great - if I'm on the line in a restaurant; I don't see the need for it as a home cook. Unless, of course, I'm pretending I'm in a restaurant.

Often, I'll cover the pan almost fully, and I find this helps. Nothin wrong with medium heat, and leaving it a minute longer on a side.

A pretty tasty sushi dinner the other night out... Kanoyama. This is what they call their sushi special. The big roll is toro, hotate next to it, and uni/ikura.

I immediately thought that maybe it had something to do with the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, but when I looked, turns out most of the bananas arrive at the Port of Wilmington, in Delaware.