eG Foodblog: Rooftop1000

[rooftop1000]

Just a 20 mile ride from miss Suzy and were here, still in the far northern reaches of NJ.

Ok the fire is started and I am only running 2 hours late

Yes we are smokin' today, let me go get the piggy on the grill.

Tracey

[rooftop1000]

Here is an old shot of our smoker rig with our old puppy Biscuit she no longer is here to help out but Kibbles will be getting her nose into things soon

I have a 7 pound bone in - skin on shoulder on there now scored and rubbed with onion and garlic powder, sea salt, pepper and paprika.

Being "lakefront" our house are built kind of backwards, our street side door is the kitchen door and with the blessing of the nextdoor neighbor my smoker is in that part of the yard, makes things so mush easier. My smoker actually isnt as bad as their mulch pile...just behind it

T

[racheld]

Hello, Sweetpea!!!

I was hoping you'd do this soon. And Chris will be all over these pictures---anything FIRE kindles his interest. After all the grills, smokers, etc. dotting our back landscape, he came back to the car from GROCERY shopping yesterday with a little kettle Weber---just wanted to try it on a chicken or two for supper last night.

And they were mighty good.

Got any sides going yet?

[rooftop1000]

NJ is know for "mobster" accents, traffic, over crowding, pizza and tomatoes...

Now the Sopranos being the Sopranos we will just pass that one by. The traffic is horrendus, my town has 80.4 sq miles and about 27,000 residents, no over crowding up here except maybe the Bears. I will say the Pizza is great but I dont love the superthin crust best....more on that later in the week, and the tomatoes are the best of course.

There is one more iconic NJ food no one mentions though

Taylors Pork Roll a/k/a Taylor Ham, Pork Roll, and Trenton Roll. This is a breakfast meat, well its mostly meat....in a deli it comes about the size of a narrow bologna in the supermarket you can get minis. Its not HAM its not a salami or a bologna, nor is it scrapple. It is a wonderfull thing, sliced and scored around the edges so it doesnt curl up and layered on eggs and american cheese on a Kaiser roll

Now the Kaiser roll itself is a unique thing also, you can't get them in the supermarket, or a regular bakery, you have to get them in a deli where they come from a few select commercial bakeries like Rockland just over the state line in NY or Anthony and Sons out on Rt 80. The roll is chewy but not too and has a thin almost crispy top always dusted with corn meal or semolina and a few poppy seeds

This is the ideal also for the Buttered Toasted roll mentioned in Suzylightning's blog served with a regular....coffee milk 2 sugars...Diet Pepsi for me though.

T

Edited September 3, 2007 by rooftop1000 (log)

[Carrot Top]

Coffee light no sugar for me with a buttered roll (which means not toasted of course ).

Taylor Ham has travelled to the grocery stores of Southwest Virginia within the past several years.

It doesn't taste right though. Must be the rolls. Or the air. Or the lack of Soprano's accents. Something.

[monavano]

Hi rooftop! I'm happy to see another Joisey blog. Ah, Taylor pork roll. I grew up in Philly and this stuff was the best. Do you (if your old enough) remember Tay-strips? These were Taylor ham in the shape (kinda) of bacon. We had it for breakfast with "dippy" eggs.

Kaiser rolls with freshly sliced deli meats and cheese also brings me back...

Looking forward to your blog.

Edited September 3, 2007 by monavano (log)

[rooftop1000]

During a half hearted attempt to tidy up the kitchen I came across a recent grocert receipt so here are some local food prices.

Shoprite

Items sent with the child to her dorm apartment

Francesco Rinaldi tomato sauce 2 for 2.00

Chunk light tuna 3 for 2.00

Pancake syrup store brand 1.50

Bush baked beans 1.25

apple sauce 6pk individual servings 1.50

12pk pepsi cans 4 for 11.00

Ronzoni spaghetti .99

Ronzoni Bowties 1.29

Ramen because all dorms must have ramen 4 for .50

tracey

and my pork butt was .99 per pound

[Utenya]

NJ is know for "mobster" accents, traffic, over crowding, pizza and tomatoes...

Now the Sopranos being the Sopranos we will just pass that one by. The traffic is horrendus, my town has 80.4 sq miles and about 27,000 residents, no over crowding up here except maybe the Bears. I will say the Pizza is great but I dont love the superthin crust best....more on that later in the week, and the tomatoes are the best of course. 

There is one more iconic NJ food no one mentions though

Taylors Pork Roll a/k/a Taylor Ham, Pork Roll, and Trenton Roll. This is a breakfast meat, well its mostly meat....in a deli it comes about the size of a narrow bologna in the supermarket you can get minis. Its not HAM its not a salami or a bologna, nor is it scrapple. It is a wonderfull thing, sliced and scored around the edges so it doesnt curl up and layered on eggs and american cheese on a Kaiser roll

Now the Kaiser roll itself is a unique thing also, you can't get them in the supermarket, or a regular bakery, you have to get them in a deli where they come from a few select commercial bakeries like Rockland just over the state line in NY or Anthony and Sons out on Rt 80. The roll is chewy but not too and has a thin almost crispy top always dusted with corn meal or semolina and a few poppy seeds

This is the ideal also for the Buttered Toasted roll mentioned in Suzylightning's blog served with a regular....coffee milk 2 sugars...Diet Pepsi for me though.

T

←

Long time lurker, first time poster, but this post had to have a reply! Wow, I always thought that was an imaginary sandwich, whenever I would listen to Ween's song "Pork Roll Egg & Cheese". They even talk about kaiser buns!

[rooftop1000]

a little tease for Rachel....3 hours in

dried corn pudding for one of the sides, I tasted this a few weeks ago in Lancaster PA and picked some up at Dietrich's meats on Rt 78. That stop was torture since we were on the bike I had about a 4X8 inch space for goodies. We picked up 8 sausage 1lb of bacon ends and the dried corn.

T

Edited September 3, 2007 by rooftop1000 (log)

[rooftop1000]

OMG there is a song about Pork Roll?????? must go find this Welcom to posting Utenya!

T

there is ..there is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KegDMa8BAP4

Edited September 3, 2007 by rooftop1000 (log)

[rooftop1000]

Kibbles and Meow Meow have joined in the BBQ fun....well the lounging around part of it

and I have switched from Diet Pepsi to Spaten

1 more doggie to meet when he decides to get off his 14 yr old but

T

[judiu]

OMG, Taylor Ham! I'd forgotten about it until I saw it in the "pre-sliced" case at my local Publix. So good, but you can't find a decent hard roll her in South Florida, dammit!

[racheld]

a little tease for Rachel....3 hours in

←

and SOUL!!!

(leaving to search MapQuest)

[suzilightning]

dried corn pudding for one of the sides, I tasted this a few weeks ago in Lancaster PA and picked some up at Dietrich's meats on Rt 78. That stop was torture since we were on the bike I had about a 4X8 inch space for goodies. We picked up 8 sausage 1lb of bacon ends and the dried corn.

tracey- just up the road, huh? what time is dinner? isn't Dietrich's amazing but if you don't want to go that far drop down 513 to 46e and Schwind's. not pa dutch but some good meats.

have a blast

[rooftop1000]

So I kept reading that I was having guests but it was just the two of us for dinner, this was planned leftovers for the "childs" 21st birthday party in a few weeks

served with coleslaw from the deli and dried corn pudding

yeah it was as good as it looks

up next peach crisp

Edited September 3, 2007 by rooftop1000 (log)

[mizducky]

Yay! Barbeque and bikes! Two things that I've never done myself but always admired.

So where in north Jersey are you, again?

And are you taking part in any motorcycle travel during the course of this blog?

[MarketStEl]

Hi there! Stand by for the welcoming barrage of questions:

I didn't think there was any room in North Jersey to grow tomatoes! Do they survive the trip up from Vineland?

Your smoker looks like a New Braunfels. Is it?

Where did you acquire your 'cue mojo? Any particular style you favor? That specimen in Post 15 looks mighty fine.

And why did I have this mistaken impression that you were a Staten Islander?

Okay, you can come out of the shelter now and resume blogging.

[snowangel]

Smoked butt Bone in, skin on, no less. Be still my beating heart. Beyond beautiful.

More about the dried corn pudding, please, and the places you have on The Bike to store treasures, please!

[rooftop1000]

Ok first the peach crisp

Then lets see Ellen first....We are in West Milford and our next scheduled ride is on Sunday to the Kibbitz Room in Cherry Hill NJ, there is also the Gold Wing Road Riders Association Rally in NJ Thurs thru Saturday but we probabley aren't to do any of that.

Susan the corn pudding is from a package which just has dried sweet corn, you soak it in water for an hour then simmer for an hour, add milk butter sugar and salt and simmer for 5 min. It really close to what we had in PA.

Sandy the smoker is a Charbroil Silver King, on the South Jersey tomatoes, and I have only driven through Staten Island the smoked butt usually get a Krafty Eastern NC treament...always learning though

T

[rooftop1000]

Hmm 8:43am first full day out of work and bored to tears already

anyone local have thursday and friday free to go cause trouble let me know, one of them I am lunching at the college but the other is open...dont know which yet

I am going to head into Ridgewood later so we can meet some of my former co-workers from food times, at least one of them will offer me a job - no thanks, and both may try to feed me. Should I accept beakfast in case lunch doesnt come through or just bring a slimfast in case

here is the spice cabinet, anything that pantry moths like lives in the freezer though

up top is my girlie booze, Maggi sauce, and 3 drops Balsamico traditzionale

next is some asian dishes and ramekins

then the sichuan peppercorns I finally found in NYC. my cute little blue salt canister with spoon and regular stuff, cayenne, cinn, vanilla

bottom is vinegars - sherry, rice, cheap balsamic, red wine - and soy sauces, worchestershire and sesame oil.

T

[rooftop1000]

Sandy I cant believe you didnt ask about public transportation yet...I will say that the unlicensed will never live in my neighborhood. If you go 6 miles down the main rd (switchbacks down a mountainside) you will arrive at a bus stop in the next town, if you go 8 miles up the mountain and over the river and through the woods you hit the center of my town I assume there is a bus stop there. The most logical option for me to take a bus to the city would be drive 15 miles to the Willowbrook Mall and get a bus there.

BBQ Mojo...I was thinking it was the Behold my Butt thread but really it was many years ago when Emeril did a show from his backyard. He marinated a butt in hot sauce and popped it in a BBQ. I always got sliceable tasty meat that way, then I switched to the crockpot with a bottle of Franks hotsauce and a handfull of brown sugar. Pull the meat and degrease the drippings and you are pretty happy. I still do that in the winter and its great for open house kind of parties - if you pull and sauce the meat and put it right back into the crockpot with a basket of little rolls.

T

[MarketStEl]

Sandy I cant believe you didnt ask about public transportation yet...

I'm obviously falling down on the job! Must uphold my end of the bargain.

I will say that the unlicensed will never live in my neighborhood. If you go 6 miles down the main rd (switchbacks down a mountainside) you will arrive at a bus stop in the next town, if you go 8 miles up the mountain and over the river and through the woods you hit the center of my town I assume there is a bus stop there. The most logical option for me to take a bus to the city would be drive 15 miles to the Willowbrook Mall and get a bus there.

Dirty little secret: I posess a Pennsylvania driver's license -- in fact, I'm the sole licensed driver in my household. Partner, a native Philadelphian, and roommate, ditto, never bothered to learn to drive; in Kansas City, it's a rite of passage.

ObFood: I spent an epic four hours yesterday making the 2.5-hour drive back from Rehoboth Beach, Del., to Philadelphia. 1) Rehoboth is quite possibly the ultimate foodie resort destination (aside from things like the Food & Wine Festival at Aspen) -- unlike many shore resorts, it's lousy with restaurants ranging from good to outstanding, offering a wide variety of cuisines, including, at last count, Tex-Mex, Russian, Japanese, Thai, Indian, global fusion, French, Irish, and, of course, Chesapeake Bay. 2) My last act in Rehoboth was a visit to Peppers, the East Coast's leading hot sauce emporium, located in one of the outlet malls along Delaware Route 1. I departed with more bottles to add to my condiment creep, including three varieties of their own blue crab salsa, one bottle of Original Juan Batch 114 Jamaican Hot Sauce, a bottle of Zulu Zulu Piri Piri and a bottle of orange peel habanero sauce from Belize. Though I note that your own pantry seems a little light on the capsicum derivatives, I suspect you could appreciate all of these.

BBQ Mojo...I was thinking it was the Behold my Butt thread but really it was many years ago when Emeril did a show from his backyard. He marinated a butt in hot sauce and popped it in a BBQ. I always got sliceable tasty meat that way, then I switched to the crockpot with a bottle of Franks hotsauce and a handfull of brown sugar. Pull the meat and degrease the drippings and you are pretty happy. I still do that in the winter and its great for open house kind of parties - if you pull and sauce the meat and put it right back into the crockpot with a basket of little rolls.

←

Think I'll have to try that sometime. I've come to appreciate the Crock-Pot all over again since acquiring a one-hour commute in each direction daily. I often put mine in the service of making thermonuclear chili for parties (see suzilightning's foodblog for a recent example).

You're off to a great start with that spice and condiment rack, but you're gonna have to do some work and maybe buy one of those Ikea bookshelves to hit the big time.

[rooftop1000]

hot sauce you want hot sauce huh?

only 10 right now I sent the sriracha off with the child to school

lets see what other goodies do we have

oh 2 more up there, and my bottle of Apfelcorn which smells just like really good cider and taste pretty good too...had to use up those Euros at the airport

and I must say we are getting addicted to the Lee Kum Kee Char Siu on grilled pork

Lets see from the bottom the blue bag is corn, a local Ramstein wheat beer, orange soda, and leftover spaghetti

moving up knockwurst and bratwurst from the Amish butcher, leftover pineapple, crappy red wine, my good Romano cheese and 1 pickle slice

the egg drawer Egglands Best I do think there is a difference and the cheese bin

then Slimfast diet pepsi and peaches which are now leftover pie

T

Edited September 4, 2007 by rooftop1000 (log)

[lancastermike]

Wonderful to see you blogging, Tracy. And like Susan I also love that pork. I smoke pork butt on Sunday for the first time in way to long. Looking forward to this blog, and maybe you can mention your trip to Lancaster for the big trip to Shady Maple

[rooftop1000]

I took a drive down to Ridgewood to visit some old co-workers that done good for themselves. Bill and Dino now own the Chestnut St Deli, Bill was the chef at the Saddle River Market for a while and did some time in Puerto Rico at a resort and Dino has spent his life in food service with his family who own Marios in Clifton

http://local.yahoo.com/details?fr=dd-local...KoScoYXxmrF51wh

here is Dino, Bill was at their cafe location at the Bergan Record

part of the menu, the other pic didnt come out..

and todays supply of fresh roasted, real turkey breast

I took a little abuse for being out of work on a sunny Tuesday morning and was offered breakfast. I did got a happy responce when I said I was there to blog about New Jersey food and figured I would give them some free international advertising

T

Edited September 4, 2007 by rooftop1000 (log)