weinoo

Blame the dog!!

Penne w/ mushroom tomato "ragu." Endive and arugula salad. Red.

Using the plating skills I learned in cooking school grade school: Chicken roasted and somewhat picked off the bone (though I now see I did put a whole thigh on my plate. Peas and carrots, twice baked potato, with a bit too much sour cream and pan jus. Rib pork chop, sautéed, sliced off the bone. Pan gravy with drippings, stock, mustard, vermouth, butter. @rancho_gordo's white beans, cooked on stove top, and then baked in oven with olive oil, parmesan, herbs, bread crumbs. And now, a thrice-baked potato. Had to get back to Katja while they still had the Octoberfest menu. So I could try the sauerbraten. Which was quite good, over red cabbage with Semmelknödel (and I think I see a piece of roasted winter squash as well).

Silly question, but doesn’t the splatter come from the food being cooked, and not from the appliance being used? And y’all know Martha fries her chicken in a covered pan, right?

Yeah, you do you.

Here's a good web site you might enjoy...Hunt Gather Cook pheasant recipes.

I always find that putting the liquid components in first helps things (tahini, lemon juice, olive oil)? I recently made some hummus with RG’s garbanzo beans and used my high powered blender…in this case, a Blendtec. Best hummus I’ve made and no need to skin the ceci.

They're not migratory: https://www.bassmaster.com/conservation-news/news/understanding-bass-forage-shad/

Thanks! The one-fish limit, the size limit, all instituted so that every last fish (hopefully) isn't fished out of the ocean. I just imagine what it must have been like when the lands and waters of Long Island were inhabited by Native Americans. There were so many different groups:

As mentioned in this post, I went out fishing for striped bass earlier in the week...successfully, I might add. And last night, I took two of the filets I hadn't vacuum packed and frozen... And cooked 'em a little Spanish style. First, I par baked some thinly sliced Yukon gold potatoes, doused in olive oil, for about 20 minutes. Then, I took the seasoned filets, put them on top, and threw some cherry tomatoes and Spanish olives all around. Back into the oven for another, oh 12 minutes, and done. A little more olive oil, some lemon wedges, and one of the best meals you can imagine was had. Oh, I also ought to mention, that when we butchered the fish a couple of hours after they were landed, I took the collars, salted and peppered, and grilled them; they were amazing.

Went out fishing for striped bass this week, with a friend who has a house (and a boat) out in Mastic Beach, which is a bit west (and a bit less fancy than) of Westhampton. At first, during the early afternoon, he wanted to play around (i.e. fish) on the jetties which line the Moriches Inlet... Moriches Inlet Now, I enjoy fishing; it's relaxing, it's fun, it allows me to commune with nature, etc. etc. You see people enjoying it, sitting on a dock or on a boat, perhaps smoking a corncob pipe or chewing on a blade of grass. Like this: This was nothing like that. My first task was putting on waders. I've never put on waders; had it not been for the fishing part, this was one of the hardest things I've ever done. LL Bean Waders These keep you dry, even while standing on the shoreline and casting into the surf, praying that you're not gonna get pulled out by the undertow, which is, let's just say, stronger than you think. (Being told to stand on one leg when you think the undertow is going to pull you down was not necessarily a comfort.) While surf casting on the beach is fun (and driving on the beach is even more fun, though sometimes it feels like driving might be like on the surface of the moon), getting onto the jetties in order to cast into the inlet, is a whole different story. For that, you have to put on boots with spikes on the bottom. Like these: LL Bean Fishing Boots Because the jetty is rocks, which are wet, uneven, slippery and dangerous. Let's also just say I didn't last too long on the jetty; my first cast get caught on the rocks, I lost the lure, and that was that. Here's a Google maps screenshot of the beach we drove along, from Smith Point to the Moriches Inlet on the right-hand side. When the beach is impassable (high tide, dunes, whatever), there's a "road" just behind the beach which gets used; it makes 2nd Avenue look like the smoothest road you've ever been on. Okay, so that was fun, and after an hour or two we drove back to the house to relax a bit, and then went over to the boat to fish again, an hour or two before sunset. First, I had to put back on the damn waders, and we had to gas up the boat on the way out... Gassing up in one of the marinas near the inlet, look how beautiful it is! Also, this is one of the few pictures I could take, as it was one of the few times I wasn't holding on for dear life. Actually...I kid...a little - it was mostly pretty smooth. Getting in and out of the inlet to the ocean, not quite as smooth. One of the little pieces of advice given to me by the captain: always have one hand for the boat; meaning, if we hit a wake or a wave and start bouncing around a bit (trust me, you bounce), you want to be able to grab a rail and hold on. Out of the marina, out of the inlet, and into the ocean we went. My friend is a fisherman; i.e. he knows how to find fish. Every minute or two he would say: "Did you see that?!" My answer: "What?" You're basically looking for birds diving for bait fish, and you're looking for the ocean to boil - or what's called a blitz. While we never hit a true blitz, there were birds, there was bait, and we ended up with these beauties, caught in full view of the multi-million dollar houses on Westhampton Beach. Recreational striped bass fishing is highly regulated. One fish per day per person may be kept - we each caught one. And the size must be between 28" and 31" (used to be 35"), which these are. Successfully we fished the sun going down; coming back in the dark is interesting as well, but my buddy, in addition to being an experienced fisherman, is also an experienced boater. Radar helps! We went out again the next morning (or, as they like to say, at first light (I learned so much on this short trip)), but no fish were around. All was not lost however, as there were plenty of dolphins all around, either playing or chasing food. After a leisurely breakfast, I drove back into the city (as any experienced cab driver might do) with my gorgeous striped bass fillets. He went out again that afternoon, and caught and released a bunch of fish caught surfcasting. I'd do it again in a NY minute! Oh - here's what a real blitz, off Montauk, looks like:

Of course, Sietsema's stock in trade is not necessarily the Foxfaces of the world; in any event, just a hit piece by Eater, which won't make one bit of difference to Foxface or its clientele.

What every cook in every restaurant uses...just make sure it's dry!!

Twice-baked potatoes (one of the more annoying things to make, as it involves first baking the potatoes, removing all the baked stuff (don't burn yourself!) from the skins without fucking the skins up, then mashing the insides with in this case (perfect use for the Foley fork!) butter, sour cream, Parmigiano, herbs and spices, restuffing the skins, and baking them again), which were delicious. And chicken thigh persillade. I was so annoyed by how annoying the potatoes were to make, that I failed to even clean up the plate before serving. Oh - steamed broccoli and carrots, tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, Silk chili, salt and pepper - on the side.

Penne with mushrooms marinara. Roasted heirloom carrots with cumin, parsley, lemon. One of our favorite taco places (in Manhattan) is Los Tacos #1, where the taco is simple, yet elevated by their tortillas, which are made fresh for every order. Their sister restaurant is Los Mariscos, where they also have a full liquor license and make some damn good margaritas, along with various seafood tacos and other seafood concoctions. We went to Los Mariscos last night, before a show at the nearby City Winery. These are fish tacos; the frying is expert and the tacos are great. There was also a shrimp taco.

These leaned to the savory side, just a little sweetness...made everything go well with a nice riesling!

Earlier this week, I'd noticed Cafe Katja put up a short Octoberfest menu, in addition to their standard offerings. So off we went: We had the smoked pork shoulder over sauerkraut, with topfenknödel. We shared this dish, and still had some to take home! Last night... Chicken paella at home. Roasted broccolini alongside.

Gutted. From our many "private" conversations, to her always sensible, often witty, and never rarely condescending comments here in "public," Anna was one of a kind. Rest in Power, and may her memory be a blessing. And condolences to her family, friends, and her eG community.

Is there still a "shortage" of this stuff? Cause if so, I know a guy...

I forgot to mention: I like all Tate's EXCEPT PUMPKIN SPICE. As a matter of fact, anything to do with pumpkin spice, other than pumpkin pie, can kiss my patoot! Wow - I really screwed that link up!!! Try...https://www.tatesbakeshop.com/ instead.

I kinda really like the Tate's line of cookies. Sometimes, they're on sale art $4/bag, which ain't bad.

Channeling the classic roast chicken with a salad dressed in those juices, made popular by Judy Rogers at Zuni Cafe!

This past week, I had a friend ask if I was interested in going to Sailor, a new restaurant in Brooklyn. I replied that I wasn't going to go to any restaurant where Bloomfield was involved. As for Joe, the less said, the better (spoken by someone who had a number of interactions with him).

What dontcha know? I mean, it's the sine qua non of appetizing.