mjg

Il Pizzaiolo is one of my favorite restaurants, possibly tops in the South Hills. As much as I love the pizzas, it's the pastas that seal the deal for me. Oh, and the outdoor seating out back is among the best al fresco dining in town. My only complaint (and this is entirely selfish) is that they acquired a liquor license. I enjoyed it more as a BYOB restaurant; however, I can't fault them for the change. I'm pretty sure there is some sort of relationship between Il Pizzaiolo and another of the top Italian restaurants in town, Girasole. Somebody is married to somebody or somebody trained under somebody...I can't recall. Whatever the case, both places seem so subscribe to the theory that fresh and simple is best.

In addition to Penn Brewery and Church Brew Works, might I suggest you check out the ample selection of beers on tap at either of the Sharp Edge locations? They have a number of sampler options for their draught beers. A great location for picking up mixed 6 packs of microbrews is the Pittsburgh Bottleshop in Collier/Bridgeville. Buying this way can get pricey, though they do give a nice discount off of the single bottle price on purchases of 6 packs. Either way you can sample a lot of different styles and brews.

I don't think that the Strip suffers from the stigma of being "seedy" at all. In fact, before the completion of the new complex at Station Square, there was no hotter place for a bar/restaurant to be than in the Strip. While the area is far from upscale, the success of Kaya (another big burrito restaurant) and, more recently, Lidia's shows that big names in Pittsburgh dining aren't afraid of investing in the Strip. Granted, both Lidia's and eleven are far from the hustle and bustle of the clubs in the Strip so they don't suffer that crowd. Much of the "grit" of the Strip is gone. Many of the little markets have remodeled and expanded to serve a more discerning and diverse clientele.

Yesterday at the farmers market I picked up a couple bunches of grapes. They are very seedy. Being new to eating fruit (I spent the first 26 or so years of my life eating nothing but meat and carbs), perhaps this is just something that normal people who eat fruit learn to deal with. Is there any way to deseed grapes for eating? Or am I best to figure out some way to press them for the juice and use that as I see fit? And finally, apart from scrubbing off the feet and stomping the grapes, how can I best extract the juice? Food processor and then through a strainer? Blender? I don't have a juicer.

The results are in... Success. Well, marginal success. The flavor of the beer is great, with a very pleasant bitterness from the hops. Still could use some time in the bottle, though, to round the flavors out. Better body than the IPA I brewed from a kit in my first experiment. As far as the carbonation is concerned, it was lackluster. The sugar tabs did produce some carbonation, but not as much as I would have liked. Next time I don't prime (which hopefully won't happen), I'll add more sugar tabs. Once again, thank you to all for your help. And happy brewing!

Thank you, everyone, for your advice. I went to the supply shop on Friday and talked to the owner. He was very apologetic and concerned that the directions they are providing are incorrect. He gave me a couple bags of priming tablets and new caps. Yesterday I uncapped, dropped the tabs in, and recapped. Took all of 20 minutes. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.

I guess since this is the same basic idea as adding sugar right before bottling, it'll take about the same amount of time to carbonate as it would had we done it correctly from go, right? The party we brewed this for is about 3 weeks away. Should we be bubbly by then?

That wasn't the answer I was hoping to get, but at least I can alert the folks at the supply store that they are giving out bum directions to amateurs like me. If I get the tabs, I just uncap each beer, drop the tabs in, and then recap? Sounds a little time consuming, but I'm willing to do it if necessary.

I am very green when it comes to brewing. I've but one successful batch under my belt. My second batch, purchased as a kit assembled by the local brewing supply store gurus, has me scratching my head and wondering if perhaps something was missed. We brewed an American Pale Ale. Dry hopped it after re-racking. So now we prime it with some sugar and bottle it, right? Well, no. No priming sugar in the kit. No mention of this in the directions. With the store closed the day we needed to bottle, we couldn't call to get the skinny. We bottled away. Am I sitting on a couple cases of flat beer or will any of the residual sugar from the brewing process, coupled with the remaining yeast, produce some carbonation in the final product? Either way I'll drink it happily because a home brewed beer is a many splendored treat. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the review. I've been waiting to hear something about Eleven. I really admire what the big burrito group is doing to elevate dining in Pittsburgh, and Eleven appears to be their crowning jewel thus far. I do take issue with their decision to not serve foie gras. Here is some info about said decision: Caving to pressure And some more from these vandals...errrr...."liberators": Quack Personally, I don't "get" foie gras based on my limited experience with it; however, I wholly support any restaurant that braves the scorns and arrows of irrational activists.

In Oakland, in addition to Primanti's and the O, you've got Spice Island Tea House (a sort of "eclectic" Asian restaurant), Uncle Sam's Subs, Fuel and Fuddle (good selection of beers and tasty bar food), LuLu's Noodles, and a couple Indian restuaurants. You'll be a short cab ride from Shadyside. Lots of great restaurants there. I love Girasole (www.733copeland.com). You can also find Thai, Japanese, French, Chinese, and even Peruvian on and around Walnut Street. Oh, and how could I forget...Cafe Zinho. Best lunch spot in town (though by the sound of it you won't be able to get out for lunch).

Thanks, everyone, for your speedy responses.

I'll be visiting some friends in Alexandria this weekend. My wife and I are on our own for dinner on Saturday night, and because we are from Pittsburgh (where we lack a great diversity of ethnic eats), we're hoping to try something new. We'll most likely be in Old Town (I think that is what the area is called) and without a vehicle. Are there any Cuban restaurants in the area? If not, any suggestions for reasonably priced ethnic foods around there?

December 25th, however, I'm not sure that there are any Serbian Orthodox Christians who are "New Calendarists." I'm a member of a Greek Orthodox community and we celebrate Christmas on December 25th. We do, however, still celebrate Easter (Pascha) according to the old calendar.

Breaking a glass during the ceremony must be an ethnically Greek thing because it isn't a theologically Orthodox thing. To keep this on topic, I got married in the Greek Orthodox Church a couple months ago and the wine we drank as part of the ceremony was from Cana (where Jesus performed his first miracle). I thought that was pretty cool.

I'm not sure this is a sandwich by definition, but I've dubbed it thusly so I'll jam it into this thread whether it fits here or not. A ramen and cheese sandwich on steak bread. Huh? Exactly. Boil ramen noodles (any variety will do), drain and add seasoning. Next, cook up two Steak-umms. Place one Steak-umm on a plate. Pile ramen noodles on top. Add a couple slices of American cheese and top with the other Steak-umm. Eat with fork. I've done this more than once so it doesn't qualify as a nothing-in-the-house-so-I-just-threw-this-together meal. I have no clue what is wrong with me. As a native Pittsburgher, I second the shout out to Primanti Bros. However, you forgot to mention the heaping handful of slaw and two thick cut tomatoes they put on with the fries. Yum.

You could get rid of the bitter Buddha's hand vodka the way I got rid of cheap, bad tasting vodka back in college...just shoot it down and cringe. Then move on to your next infusion. Last night I started another infusion. Pineapple. Can't wait till that is ready to drink. Has anyone had any success using dried fruits (other than the dried cherries that have been mentioned in this thread) in your infusions? So far I've only used fresh fruit. The only time I've strayed from that is when I added some crystallized ginger to a lemon infusion, but that seems to have only given up its sweetness.

In my limited experience, two to three weeks for citrus fruits is adequate. I zested lemons and limes with a microplane, though, so I achieved the greater surface area discussed earlier in the thread. I guess by doing so I also lost a lot of the essential oils likewise discussed. So perhaps they evened out in the end... I've been amazed to see Buddha's hand at grocery stores here in Pittsburgh a couple times. I balked at the $5+ price tag. If your experiment goes well, I may have to invest in one next time I see it.

Over the weekend I strained out three of my infusions. Here is a picture: From left to right, they are Lemon, Cranberry, and Lemon Lime. I added some crystallized ginger to the lemon after straining out the lemon zest. We'll see how that works out. On sampling, each turned out great. The Cranberry went well with Sprite. I mixed up a couple drinks using the Lemon Lime as well. One measure Cranberry, one half measure Lemon Lime, one measure Apple Pucker and one measure simple syrup was tasty, though my wife preferred the same concoction minus the Apple Pucker. Tasted quite a bit like pink lemonade. I found the six ounce bottles at a craft store. I was hoping to find something a little larger, as the mason jars I use for the infusion hold 12 oz., but in the end I consider the extra 4 to 6 ounces left over the "angel's share" and will use that for testing out recipes before giving away the smaller bottles.

I made Bloody Mary's on Christmas Day with my habanero-infused vodka. They were intense. The first one I made I didn't cut with any regular vodka and it was like drinking really tasty fire. The turnaround time for your gazpacho vodka is pretty tight, but I'm sure that you'll pick up the stronger flavors from the onion and jalepeno at the very least.

My wife got me a small batch bourbon sampler for Christmas and I'm looking forward to a night of sampling each of them tonight. The sampler has "airplane-sized" bottles (one to two shots) of Bookers, Bakers, Basil Hayden, and Knob Creek. I cut my teeth on Jack Daniels and count Bushmills as my all-time favorite spirit, so I'm pretty familiar with whiskies and bourbons. I'm really excited to dip my toes in a little more to learn about some different brands. If anything particularly strikes me, I'll report back.

My wife is making an angel food cake and the recipe calls for a load of egg whites. That will leave us with quite a few excess egg yolks--we're looking at about a dozen. It pains me to just throw them away, so I was wondering the following: 1) Any recipe ideas using a whole bunch of egg yolks? 2) How long can egg yolks be kept in the refrigerator?

That is an excellent idea. We gave away little bottles of wine as wedding favors when we got married in October and I think we still have quite a few leftover bottles sitting around. I'll have to empty them out (into my stomach, of course) and get 'em soaking.

Count me as a member of the infusion club! Of late I've developed a bit of an unhealthy obsession with infusing vodka. This weekend I started three more and new ideas keep popping into my head. I'm using small mason jars (12 ounces, I think) for the infusion and am hoping to find some decorative bottles for storage after the infusion is complete. Anyone have any ideas for a source for such bottles? Right now I have the following in the works. 1. Cranberry--This has been in the jar for about two weeks and still needs quite a bit of time. I poked about a handful of cranberries pretty enthusiastically with a fork before pouring in the vodka, figuring this would speed the process along. The vodka is a beautiful red color but the flavor hasn't developed much yet. 2. Lemon Lime--Zest of two limes and two lemons. Started two days ago and it is already extremely fragrant. 3. Lemon--I'm making this for a friend whose love of lemons has given him the nickname..."Lemons." Zest of three lemons. Again, started two days ago and it is well on it's way. 4. Cranberry Lime--Based on one of my favorite mixed drinks (vodka and cranberry with a twist of lime), this one is also a gift. Figured the green and red would make a nice Christmas-colored gift. However, the red from the cranberries (small handful) has already dyed the zest (two limes) red. Smells great, though. Plenty more to come I'm sure. Next on the docket...ginger and red chile? --Edited because "infusioning" isn't a word.

Miguel, you mention that you don't need to take the fruit out of the infusion. I've seen commerically infused alcohols with fruit still in the bottle but figured that it was treated with something to prevent it from going bad. So I guess it is safe to assume that fruit can stay in the alcohol indefinately without any loss of quality or spoilage? If that is the case, I'll be leaving the cranberries I currently have in a jar of vodka rather than straining them out.