weinoo

That mini baking steel - I have the large one in my oven, but schlepping it in and out of the oven was not in the cards, so I picked up the little one top stay on the stovetop.

Check this out... Found at my local crappy grocery store (Fine Fare, for those who know/care), these tomatoes actually look, smell and taste very good, for having been purchased in mid-March. Now, I don't know if I'll be able to find them again, and this was the first time I'd ever seen them, but quite a nice treat. Together they weighed at least a pound, and they were $1.99.

Dinner with a few friends this past weekend. Appetizers included the usual marinated olives, anchovies I brought back from San Sebastian, pata negra, and I used my new toy for blistered shishitos and... One of the shishitos got away! First course, unpictured, merguez over Rancho Gordo's Eye of the Goat beans. Main course: Roast pork shoulder Basque style (with apples, onions, sidra, stock), saffron infused potatoes and braised endive. Cheese course - 4 cheeses from Beecher's. Dessert - Meyer lemon posset with fresh blackberries and raspberries.

Now you did it: 3 cans of Cougar Gold arrived at my doorstep this evening. I now have enough cheddar to last, well, at least until I get to use @DiggingDogFarm's P-38 can opener and magnesium fire starter. I have a Zyliss, which works good enough. I mean, how many fucking cans of stuff are people opening?

I wonder which is better; the gray or...the grey?

Making a "ragu"... Dried Porcini, fresh cremini, duck, mushroom stock, tomatoes, white wine, onion, garlic, etc. Penne with the above ragu.

"nuff said. Those eggs @blue_dolphin - what's your, as rotuts would say, Rx?

it's a burger in a bao?

If there's a lesson to be learned, and I follow this advice always, after making a dessert cake for a dinner party that even the birds wouldn't eat. Never make something for a first time that you're going to serve at a dinner that first time! And when cooking at someone else's home, try to make a preliminary visit to check on the equipment.

NO, I think what happened is that it was pointed out to you that the recipe linked in your dinner post was not the recipe you were writing about. Until you told us more. Many thanks!

The recipe linked for pork shoulder (picnic) indicates this: Totally different than cooking your shoulder for 11 hours at low temp, no?

The NY Times ran a pretty fun article recently, entitled How the Slice Joint Made Pizza the Perfect New York City Food. Obviously, there are many more slice places than there are sit-down pizza places, but some of the best pizza available in NYC these days is offered only by the full pie, and you'll need to sit down for that. But the slice place was, and remains, a classic NY City joint.

I think if a wine bar had a happy hour until 10 PM, it wouldn't really be a happy hour. Bibi, on E. 4th, has happy hour until 8 PM.

Now with 3 additional locations. And I've had some less than exemplary pizza, from the original Greenwich Village location, within the past 6 months. Expansion may be good for Joe's wallet, but not for the pizza.

I tried the leg of lamb from New Zealand...very mild...I prefer Colorado or fancier lamb from farmer's market. Those artichoke hearts aren't bad. Already roasted beets from France will do in a pinch. I find the cheeses I've tried to be okay, not great. I can't believe I'm going to Trader Joe's.

New Zealand lamb, roasted (I prefer Colorado or any of the really good stuff that we can't necessarily get w/o jumping through a few small hoops). Basmati saffron rice pilaf, which I could've done a better job fluffing. Also, here's a dish (the rice) where I used water, when stock would've made it so much better. Rancho Gordo's Mogette de Vendée beans from France, which cooked quite quickly on the stovetop. Nothing green, though I had a celery stalk while prepping. Re: the beans - I didn't get to them before some had actually split. Evidently a small harvest, and super thin-skinned, the beans in their dry state weren't as beautiful as many others from RG, so I guess their lack of beauty once cooked was to be expected. But they are creamy and delicious, and smashed up on crostini tonight or tomorrow, I'm sure they'll be tasty.

Why not just buy the best chicken available to you?

Eater's Best Happy Hours... 37 best - click

I don't know about "tons of places" with super cheap happy hours; I guess it depends on one's definition of tons and super cheap. There are plenty of places that will sell you a glass of wine or a beer at less than their going rate, along with $1 oysters. And I'm sure there are a number of dive bars where a shot and a beer can be had for $5 or so. But for instance, close to where you're looking, I like Porchlight, because you can get a properly made cocktail...here's their happy hour:

We were at Louie & Ernie's this past weekend, to my taste one of the great NY style pizzeria pizzas to be had. Behold the sausage: The plain pie went so fast, I only got to take a picture of this:

It's pretty hard to find true pecorino Romano, that is, pecorino made in or around the provinces of Lazio/Rome. If you can, it's quite delicious, as are many other pecorinos of course. But very little is actually made around Rome, and to my taste, those that are, are the best.

So far (keeping fingers crossed), I've been happy with the under-counter, 2-zone Summit we purchased...holds almost 4 cases...

Existing Conditions They're doing some special Sunday night dinners, with guest chefs. Best to follow them on social media to find out what's upcoming. And next week, another interesting event called Flaming Cocktails, with David Wondrich and Dale DeGroff.

Everything is a contest...I guess you haven't watched the Food Network in the past 20 years!

A few recent dinners: Mezze rigatoni all'Amatriciana. Side salad of endive in the style of puntarelle, with anchovy, garlic, lemon, olive oil. Got my shipment of the Rancho Gordo bean club, and it included farro. So, a soup of porcini and cremini mushrooms, leeks, onion, celery, carrot, and farro. A play on mushroom barley soup, I like this perhaps a bit more, as it doesn't get too thick like it can with barley. The broth includes the soaking liquid from the porcini, chicken stock, and water. Roasted chicken thighs and fingerling potatoes. Braised endive and romaine. The almost all-white plate of winter.