BackyardChef's Profile
Community Seders?
I think this is where we will go this year. I have always heard nice things and have many friends that have been recommending....This is from their email....:
Congregation Beth Elohim offers a great community seder on the second night of Passover that is fun and inviting. It is a delicious catered meal, it is led by a Rabbi but it isn't too formal or intimidating.
City and State: Brooklyn, New York (Park Slope)
Location: Congregation Beth Elohim
Organization/Type of Seder:Community Seder
Date and time: April 7, 5:30 PM
Cost: $85 for adult non-members & $55 for children non-members; $75 for adult members & $45 for member children
Contact information: http://congregationbethelohim.org/newsflash/second-night-seder-47/ or Amy Daly-Fisher 718-768-3814 x207
Looking for a tasty lunch spot near 23rd and Sixth
Wow...that's too bad. I've always found the food there to be very consistent.... I guess everyone has their bad days....
Best Torta?
Try Great Burrito on 23rd just off of 6th....it looks like a pizzeria-- it is-- but their Mexican is way better....
Looking for a tasty lunch spot near 23rd and Sixth
There's also RUB BBQ which is on 23rd between 7th and 8th. It is one of the better bbq places in the city-- with all of the quality options for 'cue in the city now, it says alot that RUB still stands out from the pack.....
Grillin on the Bay
It is a good event for a good cause-- raising money for a school that hosts a special olympics team.
Some of the best bbq/grill cooks from the northeast are competing here-- Big Lou from Wildwood, Andy Husbands of Tremont647, Robbie Richter of Hill Country and Fatty Cue...Josh Ozersky aka Mr. Cutlets is cooking....Circque de Soleil will be there...
BBQ Smoking Woods
The Woodman carries apple, oak, cherry, hickory and olive, last time I checked. He also carries Wicked Good Charcoal, which is really good stuff.
http://www.thewoodman.com
Toyo on Metro
I live about a block away from Linda's Shell House-- this place closed a few months back, unfortunately.
Ping on Mott St: Worst dim sum
Or at least not to eat stale looking old dim sum from a cart. There are plenty of places that take pride in serving steaming hot, fresh food....I was at Perfect Team Corporation in Flushing this weekend and it was fantastic.
Tony Chachere's
I've found Chachere's in Food Emporium before and in some Stop & Shops. Have you tried the Paul Prudhomme spice blends? Those are pretty easy to find, too.
Best Scallion Pancake in Manhattan?
I really love the ones at New Yeah Shanghai Deluxe on Bayard. Crispy, hot, not too oily and with a good balance of the scallion to the 'layers' of dough....
Food of Middle Village .
Maybe not exactly in Middle Village, but Stanley's Pierogi on Metropolitan Ave is really good and inexpensive. They have a variety of fresh made pierogi, soup dumplings and more. Also worth exploring, if you haven't, since you are close by are the Forest Pork Store on Forest Avenue. Nice smoked sausages, bacon and hams/cold cuts as well as a decent butcher selection and, for wursts and the like, Karl Ehmer on Fresh Pond is a great choice-- both have an old-school-ish, german butcher charm.
Stanley's 54-01 Metropolitan Avenue, Maspeth, NY
Forest Pork Store
66-39 Forest Ave
corner of Woodbine st.
Ridgewood
NY 11385
(718) 497-2853
Karl Ehmer Quality Meats
63-35 Fresh Pond Road
Ridgewood, NY 11385
1-(800) ITS-KARL
(800) 487-5275
Fax: (718) 456-2270
Bona is a good, solid Polish place on Fresh Pond just off of Myrtle
71-24 Fresh Pond Rd, Ridgewood, NY 11385-5905, USA
http://www.bonarestaurant.com
The lamb-y Bosna burgers at Bosna Express are always popular
791 Fairview Avenue
Kreden's, also on Fresh Pond is a lovely and fairly new Polish/Eastern European place for a nice meal. Not fancy, but nice....
66-36 Fresh Pond Rd.
Queens
(718) 628-5214
Here's Meehan's review of Kredens from the NY Times:
http://events.nytimes.com/gst/nycguide.html?detail=restaurants&id=1128588611167
Food of Middle Village .
Second La Tavernetta....it's tiny and the service may not always be great, but the fresh pasta is good and the place is obviously a labor of love......
Serious Pastrami
Shoulder is fine, too. In fact, I've heard of Texas bbq joints cooking shoulder clod and calling it brisket...unconfirmed of course (insert winky smiley). A whole shoulder might be slightly harder to slice against the grain since there are mutliple muscle groups and it changes direction, but not too bad. If it is just a piece of shoulder, the grain should be easier to follow......
Serious Pastrami
Pecan is great....as are oak and cherry. Anymore I seem to use cherry for everything. Below is a recipe for a dry cure that I like. If you can get your hands on Beef Plate, that's great, otherwise a brisket flat will work just fine. I tend to use brisket, myself.....
Here is a surprisingly good recipe to start with....from Morton Salt. I like using Tender Quick......It is not a tenderizer, despite the name, but a kind of cure.
Deli Style Corned Beef
Prep Time: 5 Days
Servings: 4-6 pounds
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ingredients
One beef brisket, 4-6 lbs
5 tablespoons Morton® Tender Quick® mix or Morton® Sugar Cure® (plain) mix
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon ground bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Directions
Trim surface of fat from brisket. In a small bowl, mix Morton® Tender Quick® mix or Morton® Sugar Cure® (plain) mix, remaining ingredients and spices. Rub mixture into all sides of brisket. Place brisket in "food grade" plastic bag and tie end securely. Refrigerate and allow to cure 5 days per inch of meat thickness.
Place brisket in Dutch oven. Add water to cover. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer until tender, about 3-4 hours.
For your pastrami apply the rub I described previously and smoke the meat, rather than the cooking instructions included in the Morton recipe.....
Serious Pastrami
You can use a commercial corned beef to save yourself the curing time. Soak it for about a day, changing the water a few times.
Rub it with a coarse grind of black pepper, coriander, a little mustard seed and some garlic. Smoke it to an internal temperature of about 190 and let it rest. I often will steam them too, which is fairly common, from what I've seen...many delis hold them in a steam box to maintain the moisture.....
Is BBQ in NYC hopeless? How is BLUE SMOKE?
They serve pork chops, too.
Alot of it all comes down to personal preferences (obviously) in the style of 'que that one likes. I enjoy RUB, Blue Smoke, Hill Country, Daisy May's, Dinosaur, Rack and Soul and others, but all for different reasons. I think they all do some things very well and others not as well. Their atmospheres are vastly different as well.
I've eaten barbecue all over the country and from competitions as well and I believe that what we have in NYC can stack up pretty darn well. It may not equal your favorite place from some rural spot, but I think there are alot of reasons why that might be the case.....the total experience matters.
A Texan visits Hill Country BBQ
"I couldn't tell if they were parboiling and then finishing in a faux smoker with a gas flame and liquid smoke or what but whatever they are doing differs significantly from what they do in the Texas Hill Country."
But, the whole statement is mistaken and based on no knowledge whatsoever. Based on one meal that you were unhappy with, you discredit their entire process....which is based on many hours of Post Oak....and a simple rub to let the flavor of the meat shine through.
Now you are questioning Rick Schmidt's credibility as well claiming that they essentially bought his approval. I'm not sure what your axe to grind against both Kreuz (BBQ Wal-mart-- is the 'que from China??) and Hill Country is....but you really don't know what you're talking about in this case. Perhaps you are a true maven of the 'que from the Lonestar State, but you are off base.....
You don't work at Smitty's do you?
A Texan visits Hill Country BBQ
That is categorically incorrect. There is no liquid smoke or parboiling going on at Hill Country in the pit area.
Too bad that the food didn't live up to your expectations, but there isn't a vast difference between the procedures at Hill Country or places like Kreuz. They worked closely with Rick Schmidt leading up to opening to perfect their techniques and he seemed satisfied. Sorry that you weren't.
As bbq goes, those are unfair allegations to throw at a place when you don't know what you're talking about.
I do not work for Hill Country but am a fan of their food.....
Pioneer BBQ - current information
Eater is reporting today that it has been sold and will become a French Bistro. From that post--
"I recently started working at an Italian restaurant in Williamsburg and overheard the 3 owners talking about how they had bought the Pioneer Bar in Redhook and intended to open a French Bistro, like the fabulous 360, in the space by the middle of winter. I know a lot of locals that will be very sad about this news and I'm proud to say that I have since quit and am again gainfully unemployed and unhappily drowning my sorrows at bait and tackle!" This one's developing hard... [EaterWire Inbox]"
http://www.eater.com
Oriental Garden - scrumptous dim sum
I believe it is Elizabeth between Canal and Bayard.....
Making jam-using less pectin than the recipe calls for?
I've done that when making strawberry jam and found that the apple wasn't assertive enough to be noticed. Others may disagree.
Hempstead, Garden City.....
It wasn't slammed, but we were there on the early side. Service was fairly smooth, if a little unfamiliar with the menu...I did recognize John Cantwell (he introduced himself after I stared) from River Cafe....he was quite proud of the restaurant and, I suppose, he should be. He took it upon himself to oversee our meal, so perhaps service was on their toes because of it....?
I'll have to go back and concentrate more on the meal. I was with an old friend and were more focused on talking. We had ice cream elsewhere....
Hempstead, Garden City.....
Wound up at Taste-- my curiosity of what Witt was cooking these days got the best of me-- and I was very pleasantly surprised. I don't have time right now for a detailed review, but there was a generally unstuffy air in a comfortable room.
The food was generally solid across the board-- my dining partner enjoyed the ham-stuffed peppers and I had the shrimp hush puppies, which were just slightly under-salted but had a bright, clean shrimp flavor.
My pulled pork sandwich was unexpectedly good, and my friend's lamb looked wonderful, but I didn't get to taste it.
Favorite Queens Takeout?
Interesting...I may have the wife make a detour on the way home.....
Any other spots that you frequent for take out?
Favorite Queens Takeout?
That's a good one. I don't know why I've never done that....especially on days when the wife and I take the 59th St Bridge.....
Hempstead, Garden City.....
Thanks GCGuy-- any more info on these places? Your experiences? I'll do my own searching around the site, too....
Thanks
Hempstead, Garden City.....
Visiting a friend near Hempstead and looking for a nice, relaxed place with better than average and creative food for a dinner. We don't have a cuisine preference, just want a place to drink a few bottles of wine and have a nice meal.
I've heard mixed things about Taste, Ed Witt's new place, but his food at Varietal was really interesting. Not much info on the boards about it, though, which makes me scratch my head a little. What's the word-- yay or nay?
The last time I was out that way, some time ago, there weren't too many options....but I did find a few good taco places.....
Any help?
Pork sirloin roast: Cooking time on BBQ?
I would cook it on the hotter side-- 300 or above until it is about 145-155 and then finish it (glaze) and let it rest before slicing. Shouldn't take too long.
