weinoo

Good morning. It's not time for breakfast yet, so I wanted to show you a few more pictures of my neighborhood food options. Remember Kossar's? That's the bialy place... Here's a shot (through the window) of a few of their offerings... Clockwise, from the top left...that's a pletzel, a bulka, a bialy and mini-pletzels. On Fridays, they also offer these colorful braided challahs... The store is quiet, the window almost bare, as they are ready to shut down for the Sabbath...they'll reopen on Saturday night, after sundown... When I want to go to my supermarket, I step out the front-door and this is right up the block, another co-op owned property... It's convenient, they carry Empire kosher poultry, and their produce department isn't all that bad, especially for citrus... And a few greens... Yesterday, lemons, grapefruit, and oranges were all 3 for $1. Last night, I wanted to go to one of my favorite neighborhood eateries, where I would have dinner at the bar and bring home some food for Significant Eater... That's Cafe Katja. Unfortunately, when I got there (early, I thought), the place was packed, and there wasn't a seat to be had... So, instead they made me a Manhattan... And I took my dinner home...plenty to share with Signifcant Eater when she arrived a bit later (and I was passed out on the couch )... Roasted brussels sprouts and carrots, buttered spaetzel and a nice brat. How bad could that be?

We're never apart for more than 5 days, but even that is painful. I go to DC every other week, stay a few days and then we come back to NY together for the weekend and on the weeks when I don't go down, Sig Eater comes back to NY for the weekend. Can you say Bolt Bus?

See, this is where I get confused. I think the place I was in today is Polish. When I asked what the dumplings were called, I don't think he said Pel'meni, because they're Russian in origin. Then I mentioned I was out in Brighton Beach and had some dumplings that started with a "V,"; he knew right away that it was Vereniki, another dumpling of Russian origin. Any other name it could be? In my family (and at work) we call the potato/onion ones verenekes and the cottage cheese or meat filled ones kreplach (see my kreplach demo). The verenekes are shaped like perogies and the kreplach have the ends pinched together like a tortellini. Polish on one side, Russian on the other. Of course, in my family (which has Russian, Polish, Austrian and who knows what other cultural background) the kreplach were always meat filled and served in soup; aka Jewish wontons .

Arrrrgh . Mr. Kindle Goes to Vail and Leaves a Cable!

LOL. No, these are not light by any stretch of the imagination. We're not talking delicate ravioli here. And filled with mashed potatoes - well, you get the picture. Delicious, none the less.

Hmmm, you've given me an idea - white mustard . I believe the tortellini things are "pelmeni". See, this is where I get confused. I think the place I was in today is Polish. When I asked what the dumplings were called, I don't think he said Pel'meni, because they're Russian in origin. Then I mentioned I was out in Brighton Beach and had some dumplings that started with a "V,"; he knew right away that it was Vereniki, another dumpling of Russian origin. Any other name it could be?

Chocolate or Gianduja on sliced baguette is pretty common in Spain and Italy, no? Just expand that to plain foccacia bread. Mario's dad's salumi was $31.80/lb yesterday for the special varieties like mole (cocoa & clove) and argumi (citrus and cardamom). Yikes Yes, and the one I bought (fennel/pepper) was/is so damn good.

Here's what I had for lunch... First of all, is that the whitest plate of food you've ever seen? Consider the mustard a garnish, please. There are 3 potato/onion periogi on the plate, 4 tortellini type things filled with mushroom (and whose name escapes me right now), along with a few thin slices of leftover pork roast. The peirogi are belly blasters and if anyone can eat 3 dozen of them in a sitting, I'm buying.

The slush puddles on the corners are massive today. My hat's off to you. That' a three tums' meal.

That's a little steep for my blood (although Mario's dad's salumi are also crazy expensive). I got gaspe, belly, whitefish salad, pickled herring, sable, mini bagels and a few more odds and eggs...I was out for under $50! Less than Eataly - lol. This is a surprise for the wife tomorrow morning...but she'll probably read this at some point today.

Hi Katie Meadow, We all have pantries that are amazingly well-stocked, so there was no cheating going on. I actually mulled over making a nutella pizza, but couldn't eat another dessert yesterday. Props to your mom; any 93-year old mom who is using an iPad to order in has my vote . And yeah, the risotto was near-perfect (imho)...thanks!

Appetizing it is. I'm still bummed about missing Liz, but really glad I saw her last month down here in my neighborhood. Hold on - I have to eat MORE whitefish salad.

Instead of a trip to the gym today, I decided to take a 3 mile, 2 hour walk around the neighborhood. You know, it really hasn't changed much... You see the same people hanging out on the same corners... Though today there are more of these... And parks that rarely look like this... I know there are probably some people who wonder why I haven't been here yet... But I was interested in something a little more off-beat... Where I ended up buying a few dozen of these... I also popped into... But came out empty handed, since they didn't have any minis on hand. That's okay, though, because the real object of my affection is just down the block... Perhaps the greatest appetizing store in the country. I know, I know, there are those who'll argue for Barney Greengrass, those who love Zabar's, and I'm sure Zingerman's is wonderful, but they ain't Russ & Daughter's, folks. First, when you enter, it may look intimidating... And don't forget to... Because if it gets crowded, and you don't have one, you won't get served. Now, what to buy? You can start with the cans and jars lining the walls... But that's not really what you're there for. How about some salads... Maybe some herring? What about pickled lox? Kippered salmon, smoked whitefish, smoked trout, sable, sturgeon... Or something which people have been known to liken to addictive substances... But really, you're here for this, I think... There are 9 kinds of cured salmon in that case, so don't forget this, which goes so well with, well, all of the above... And finally, something to put it all on. I prefer the minis... Significant Eater will be mighty happy with breakfast tomorrow .

Hi FoodMan, Yes, the grenadine is home made; when I moved in the direction of the Ward 8, I checked my fridge and realized I was out. It is a quickie grenadine - 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup Pom - shaken till your arm falls off. Works in a pinch. And I'll be able to make Significant Eater a Jack Rose, one of her favorite cocktails. John or Sam or Chris can explain the gum syrup much better than I, but it adds a certain viscosity to drinks that doesn't come from plain simple syrup.

I have no problem conceding to John, with the following parenthetically noted: 1. Dessert was not a necessary component of the meal. It was the two courses. 2. One of my "Italo-centric" friends, who shall remain nameless at this juncture, had a not very nice thing to say about the fried egg on the pasta. Poached or raw, yes. Fried, never! I think everyone is on John's bandwagon because of his booze stash... . Me too !!

I know this is incredibly trivial, but what's wrong with Miele? Do they suffer from 'Fiat curse' in the US, or something of that sort, owing to mandated import modifications? I'm curious, because in the EU they still have a reputation for reliability. Not luxury or anything, but something you can pretty much count on. You're going to have to go over to this topic, where I'm pretty sure I added my two cents.

There was indeed. But it was good old bacon.

Precise language in a restaurant maybe...at home or in a friend's kitchen, not so much.

Good morning, all. I figured after eating fairly heavily and pork-ily yesterday and the day before, I should start my day off with a somewhat healthy breakfast. Back to the oats! Untoasted, this time... And I wanted to show you one of my favorite pieces of kitchen equipment. Or at least part of it... That's the cool top shelf of our Miele dishwasher. I know some people like to dis Miele; whatever. They patented that silverware shelf, and it's a great place for lots of odds and ends and knicknacks. And, everything gets clean as a whistle. Breakfast... I'm off to share some more of my neighborhood with you. See you later.

Wow, Significant Eater said that your main course looked really good; "very French," if I recall the term correctly. OTOH, she said my risotto looked amazing, and is pissed that she didn't get any. The surprise for her is that I saved the leftover risotto, and she'll be getting risotto cakes at some point. Now, if I could only talk to the fairer half of your family and find out how well your dishes were seasoned...

As well as their profit.

Well, they're chefs so they (theoretically) should be allowed to. However, to use the term "break down" and apply it to broccoli rabe is just pretentious. As is the use of "component parts" in reference to a stalk of broccoli. I used to have to trim the artichokes when I worked at Spartina (hey, I told you I never made it too high on the totem pole ) . No one ever said to me to go "break down" a case of 'chokes. They said to go prep a case of artichokes; strangely, I knew exactly what they meant. It's time for breakfast. You'll all excuse me while I go break down an egg, fire it, and then plate.

We did actually meet in an eGullet sort of way. Way before the wave of true cocktailian bars opened here in NYC, another eGulleteer used to host a speakeasy-type every once in a while in his apartment. These were the young-turks trying out all their cocktail-making skills, some of whom went on to work in the finest cocktail bars this city has to offer. I got invited to said event and met John there (along with the host and others). As major foodie geeks, we're both pretty high on the scale; John's a grad of FCI and I one of ICE, so that was another pretty good connection. That's it in a nutshell.

I'll vote for you for those Hermes bitters and a bottle of Stagg.

I always have bacon and chicken stock. C'mon, the risotto rocked! Fried baby artichoke hearts .