mrbigjas
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Posts posted by mrbigjas
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I just think you're failing to give her a fair hearing on account of the fact that you failed to find them yourself. As I mentioned, whilst I haven't bought them myself recently, I've been told by people I trust that sichuan peppercorns can be found in NYC if you know what to look for.
Yeah so anyway, this whole "can you find them and how easy is it" thing has been going back and forth for a while with no clear winner, but no one's brought up a related question: when kaffir lime leaves were banned, people planted the trees here. Now I can buy U.S.-grown kaffir lime leaves, no problem. Can't people grow sichuan peppercorns here?
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I may have to get stinking drunk on Saturday night, just so I can go there on Sunday and properly enjoy the tripey goodness.
Now see, now you're talkin my language.
Regarding your first question, I do know one person who has. He said it was good, but a little pricier than he expected. But I think his basis of comparison was El Rey Sol, which is dirt cheap, and Pico de Gallo isn't the same kind of place.
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Last night in a snowstorm at a local bar I asked for an interesting whiskey of some sort (hey, I was feeling indecisive), and the bartender gave me a Connemara, which is a peated single malt Irish whiskey. I'd never had it before--it was excellent. The peat definitely makes you think "scotch" at first sip, but once you get past that the distinctly mellow, slightly sweet Irish profile is there.
A quick glance around the web pulls up this site that says it's Ireland's only example of the stuff, but this one would seem to disprove that.
Anyone else had one of these? Are there others?
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As to Suze, I've never had the chance to try it. I gather it is primarily gentian flavored, though have no clue what gentian tastes like.
Gentian tastes very bitter, medicinal, and is kind of astringent.
Edited to say that I have an Italian digestif called Genziana which is gentian flavored, which I'd be happy to share. It's brutal, but kinda good in a really weird way.
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is it still on the list? I checked a few months back and it didn't come up on the computer database. Just checked again, and it's there now, but with a minimum order of 6 bottles, and at 18 bucks per. If I'm really jonesing for it, I'll stop in at Astor when I'm in NYC.
Put together a six-bottle order, and we'll share! I'll take one. Katie?
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They did come out with a book of his, last year I think, called Savoring Philadelphia. For some reason I got the impression it was just a collection of his reviews and so didn't bother getting it, but now looking at the cover at Amazon, I'm thinking I could have been wrong about that.
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So, I asked if I could get the bottle out of my car and use their so-so glassware. Nothing doing, I was told. It would jeopardize their license. Allegedly, the owner of the restaurant could not even bring wine from home for his own use unless it had been supplied by the state under his license. Is this for real? I don't get it. What's the point?
No, it's not for real, as this thread shows. (Look at the last post in the thread)
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The truth is, I got so sick of it popping and spraying hot fat all over that I decided enough fat had rendered (it had), so even though the bits and pieces weren't brown, I pulled them out--and since they weren't brown, I didn't feel like eating them, so I tossed them.
Don't worry, there are several more chunks of salted fatback in the fridge. Lard for all. There are very few things in the world that aren't improved by it in some way.
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Interesting. Thanks for the replies.
Why, then, does nearly every recipe about how to render lard tell you to start with a little water, to kinda get things started? And in the past, when I've done that, it never happened?
Could that be because in that case I wasn't actually blanching the fat, so the water didn't actually get into the fat, and therefore boils off before things have a chance to pop?
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Don't forget my favorite: WTF?
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So I'm making a stew tonight, and the recipe starts by blanching some salted fatback (to remove the salt I assume) and then rendering it to brown the beef in. So I did, and the weirdest thing happened: the little bits and pieces started "popping," like popcorn! It would splash little bits of hot fat around, and a few of them flew out of the pot.
So why would that happen? I've rendered fatback before and that didn't happen. Hell, I have a container of lard in the fridge; I don't know why I didn't just use that. See what happens when I use recipes? I stop thinking.
Anyway, my theory is this: the recipe called for cooking the fat over medium heat, which I did--my theory is that the heat was too high, causing the outside to sear a little, and when the fat melted inside, it would expand and pop like that.
Anyway, I turned the heat down but it kept happening.
Weird. Any thoughts?
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We were at a place in Portsmouth NH called Toast, I think. We were there for lunch one day, and they decided it was a good idea to play the entire Journey's Greatest Hits album. Classic.
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Hi, now I'm craving mexican and it's SO COLD out so I don't feel like going down the market, and Pico de Gallo (which is now open) doesn't open till 3.
I shoulda never read this thread.
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deprofundis, order something other than the tacos. Their tacos are OK, but Veracruzana's are better IMO.
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For mole, check out Plaza Garibaldi on Washington, or Las Cazuelas.
Hey speaking of Mexican, Pico de Gallo is finally finally open at 15th & South. I'm hoping to check it out this weekend.
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Maybe this is not the place to ask, but considering that people are discussing these sorts of things: what IS it that makes hot dogs taste like hot dogs?
I mean, to some extent, good frankfurters, regular grocery store hot dogs, kosher beef franks, turkey franks, tofu dogs, etc. all taste the same. What I'm wondering is what the spices included are that make [random protein] taste like hot dog.
I've done searches on this and I can't find a recipe for making your own hot dogs. I have to admit that I don't really want to, but I'm really curious as to what's in them.
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The first time I ate there I got barbacoa, chorizo, and ... something else.
I threw up later that night.
But I shared with a couple people who didn't puke, so I gave it another chance. Mighty tasty. I've been back a few times since, and enjoyed it ever since.
I admit I have to wonder, though, when you complain about a chorizo taco dripping loads of grease everywhere--that's pretty much what chorizo does. From the nicest restaurant to the crappiest, chorizo is what it is, and it's greasy.
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Side Note: What has replaced Palladium? University offices?
Dunno, but not a restaurant.
Mad4Mex does very respectable tex-Mex food.Beg to differ.
Agreed with Andrew about the Terminal, and with Sara about the Italian Market, although it's a little tougher to get there, eat indoors, and get back to Penn easily, especially with the weather we've had lately..
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Lowe's is a very nice hotel, yes. It's downtown in a business-y area of town, but is also convenient to Chinatown, the Broad St. Subway (if you want to head to some of the South Philadelphia places people will undoubtedly recommend), the el & trolleys (for quick access to Penn), and whatnot. It's pretty centrally located.
Don't forget White Dog for lunch while at Penn. Also if you really have two hours you might want to head a little further west for lunch at one of the Thai places out around 40th St.
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I don't know why a food critic would feel like he'd be keeping anyone from being honest about restaurants on a food site.
Besides, this is Philadelphia--everyone says whatever they want anyway.
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I'm on my last bottle of it at the moment, as the PA liquor monopoly stopped stocking it a year or two ago... Will miss it when it is gone.
They might have stopped stocking it, but it's still on their list as available through a special liquor order. I mean, if you want to bother with that. Oh and also you have to order half a case minimum.
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You mean the one with Vietnamese cold cuts?
That's the one. I don't know the name of it--I say "banh mi" and they either give me that one or ask which one, and I say, I don't know, the regular one. Either way that's the one they give me.
I've had that, not in a while though.Where do you get yours?
Usually Ba Le, although I have gotten them on that place on Christian or Carpenter, just west of 8th St.
I did a search on line for head cheese and banh mi, and didn't come up with much other than passing references.
Moderators, feel free to move this to the head cheese thread, since I've never had fried brain sandwiches--although I did learn how to prepare brains for cooking last night.
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Also I'm pretty sure the regular kind of banh mi has souse/head cheese on it. At least the ones I get here have something on them that sure has both the flavor and texture of head cheese.
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Actually headcheese sounds interesting.
So it's "sausage or jellied loaf made of chopped parts of the head meat and sometimes feet and tongue of a calf or pig "?
Sound good actually. Where is it served?
Gonna hafta add it to the list.
Mountain oysters, haggis, and now, headcheese.
Herb, you can get head cheese from any of the amish meat stands in the terminal. They call it souse.
One Last Meal - Philly
in Pennsylvania: Dining
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Or under it, as the case may be.