weinoo

In a NY Times article entitled The Wrath of Grapes, Bruce Schoenfeld discusses a group of pinot-noir winemakers, who have formed a loosely based coalition called In Pursuit of Balance. Since I tend to like this style of wine over the big, jammy wines that score highly, the article was pretty interesting to me. Maybe it will be to you too.

I gotta step it up a little...those probably work great with Clamato.

Black bean tacos. Homemade tortillas, which I will someday master. Broccoli. I'm a vegetarian - for 5 minutes.

I make mine at home with Brooklyn lager.

As summer and the heat and the humidity roll in, we often like to drink something a little less boozy, more refreshing, spicy, etc. And that's when the Michelada enters the picture. I think classically, it calls for beer, lime juice, tomato juice, "hot" sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salted rim. Or maybe clamato juice in lieu of the tomato juice. But the other day I checked out clamato juice in my grocery store - like the 2nd or 3rd ingredient was high fructose corn syrup, so I took a pass...I'll stick with tomato juice in that variation. Does anyone else drink Micheladas? And if so, what's your favorite recipe?

Right. I know a few people (not Silicon Valley types, either) for whom eating is basically just taking in calories along with, hopefully, some nutrition. After a few meals out with these types, I just stopped going out to eat with them - it was no fun. You know, ordering the same, exact thing every time - and then eating it quickly and with as little pleasure as possible.

Composed salads are great - good job, Shelby!

Thanks - they are 16-20s, and I literally cook them for about 2 minutes before the heat goes off. Jealous about your local spots. But, but, but - Rancho Gordo! I've been stocking up on cazuelas, and lots of other great Spanish stuff at Despana.

Nothing reheats better than the Steam Girl, in my opinion. 350F steam for about 10 - 12 minutes, and I end up with perfectly reheated rice dishes, pasta, etc.

I put pizza on the tray - on a piece of parchment or foil. I like to preheat (and waste electricity) on steam 450 for about 5 minutes. Then I change to plain old convection bake at 450 and throw the pizza in for about 5 minutes.

Wild shrimp in garlic, lemon and parsley. Rancho Gordo Santa Maria Pinquitos beans. Vegetarian except for the bacon. And has some Hatch green chiles in there as well.

An excellent cocktail, in that family of Old Pal, 1794, New Friend, etc.

Don't let the cronut guy see this.

Phil Ward's Cornwall Negroni: A really excellent drink, heavier on the gin to make up for a little lighter on the modifiers, but it works just fine. The sweet vermouth in this version was most likely M & R or Antica, its sweetness tamed by not being an ounce. Created by Phillip Ward, Pegu Club, New York, 2005. 2 ounces Beefeater gin 1/2 ounce Campari 1/2 ounce Punt e Mes 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth 2 dashes orange bitters 1 orange twist, as garnish Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add the garnish.

Mighty fine looking brisket there, Norm.

Yep - the Schlesinger/Willoughby books are also in my library - the East Coast Grill was damn good back in the day.

I own a few barbecue cookbooks, some even from back in the day when I had a backyard and the ability to, well, barbecue. For instance, The All-American Barbecue Book, published in 1988, is an excellent primer. I have a few Sunset books, circa mid-80s, which were great for my introduction to smoke cooking. Then there's Peace, Love and Barbecue, BBQ Champion Mike Mills' great book. What I don't get is the profound outpouring of love and need to have this book; a book based on one barbecue guy's one product. Sure, his brisket may be wonderful, but you're never going to duplicate it exactly; not unless he lets you use his smoker and his beef and he stays up with you all night. My guess is that what's made him such a barbecue maven is social media. To whit:

The NY Times is on it.

Sometimes I see them for $3 a container, usually $4. But then again, in summer, at the farmer's market, most tomatoes run in the $3 - $4 per pound range.

One of my favorite brands bands.

God forbid.

I had to bring this up now. Because I was going to post something about sponges the other day, but Shel beat me to it .

LOL - it's a tri-folded omelet! But, the pan was just a tad hot. And that's 2 different breads. One is a 100% rye, from Grindstone. The other, Pain D'Avignon, seven-grain. The tomato - Campari!

We've all, for years and years, bemoaned the off-season tomato. As a matter of fact, we've often bemoaned the in-season tomato, but that's another story. But I remember Fat Guy once extolling the virtues of a tomato called Campari. Now, there seems to be a wondrous world of off-season tomatoes. Kumatos, Camparis, all sorts of little guys, you name it. Now, they're never going to be as good as walking into your backyard (you lucky devils that have backyards with gardens) and plucking a vine-ripe, juicy tomato off the plant, walking inside, cutting into it, adding a little flaky salt and going aaaahhh. But you know what - they ain't half bad. What are your thoughts?

Here is my "You're not getting that cooking job at Restaurant Daniel" omelet from this morning. With ricotta salata from Di Palo's. The ricotta salata is a Roman one, with a greenish tinge due to the grass that the sheep graze on - it's amazing, and Di Palo's is still one of my favorite shops anywhere.