corgette's Profile
Red Dye Made From Bugs
I had always assumed it was common knowledge in the realm of food history. Then again, people apparently are still shocked that Coca Cola actually contained *gasp* cocaine in its original formula.
What have you given up trying to cook?
Steak at home. I
love a bloody steak in a restaurant, but for some reason, I get scared that I'm not cooking it long enough to be safe (yes, I know it's not like hamburger and can stay bloody), and I end up ruining it. It's an expensive mistake, so I say screw it; when I want a good steak, I'll leave it to the pros.
Maybe there's something to the whole baker-chef dichotomy. I can make pastry, pies, cookies, cakes, brownies, etc. with no problem. But fish, steak, soup -- those that do taste good took a lot of practice.
Dunkin Donuts coffee: still sux.
I can't be objective with DD coffee because it's what I was raised on (the original DD store is 10 minutes from where I grew up, so we're all die hard New England Dunkies addicts).
While I can appreciate really excellent coffee, DD coffee does hit that nostalgia center in my brain and brings happiness.
Weird experience at Bar Italia (long)
The restaurant could have handled it better by not allowing you all to request separate checks. They are not a "necessary evil." A group of reasonable adults should be able to remember what they ordered, and pay accordingly. To ask the waitstaff to divvy 20 plus checks is unreasonable, especially on a Saturday night, and especially after they opened a closed area to accommodate your party.
the friendly toast opening in cambridge!
I desperately miss the Mr. Haegar sandwich, with sweet potato fries. Best hangover cure of my college years.
A "fancy" veg-friendly place on the Upper West Side?
Thankfully, it's so much easier to find good veg meals when cheese is still in the picture.
A "fancy" veg-friendly place on the Upper West Side?
If the friend eats dairy and eggs (lacto-ovo) she's probably not a vegan.
How is the Recession affecting your relationship with food??
This exactly. As a grad student, I've been good these last few years buying good cheap food, and making it delicious myself.
I'm excited though that now my co-workers and fellow students and I sit around and talk about what we're cooking and making, because everyone's doing it. I used to be the girl who brought mysterious tupperware containers to work for lunch while everyone else paid $8 for a salad.
Now we swap recipes and talk about food. I've sort of rediscovered some cool things about them all as we talk and eat. So, it's a silver lining to being grad-level poor.
I don't care if I never set foot again in a...............
Taco Bell.
I can get down with fast food every now and then, but I find the stuff at Taco Bell is downright vile to look at, nevermind ingest. Aside from a teenage affair with the Cinnamon Twisties, I have no love for the Taco Bell.
How is Vinyl Rest on 9th Ave?
Agree with everything above. It's fine, but not worth traveling for. I had ridiculously bad service there once, coupled with incompetent management, so it's tilted to "not worth it" for me.
Organizing spices - container recommendations?
Have you seen the magnetic spice containers that you can stick to the fridge? I haven't tried them (they're a bit pricey) but they strike me as perfect space-wise for my own tiny NY kitchen.
I have a precarious tower of Sahadi's plastic containers that needs attending to.
Tipping/Cash Only Question
I don't find it entirely uncommon in Manhattan for restaurants, across all cuisines and price ranges, to be cash-only.
I can think of a variety of reasons for this-- not having to pay credit card surcharges is a huge advantage, especially with restaurant profit margins so slim to begin with.
What happened to cheap loose garlic?
Not quite what you're looking for, but I've discovered some of the Korean groceries have good prices on peeled, whole garlic cloves. There's one on 55th (56th?) and 8th ave. that sells a pint container for less than $2.
Feeding The Trolls
For what it's worth, I also learned quite a bit from the wine posters in that thread, and was hesitant to report it for that reason. There's some good CH insight into wine that I enjoyed immensely. Shame it had to be such a waste.
Candy Cane Joe Joes -- tons at Union Square
From what I understand, the Candy Cane Joe Joes are difficult to get after the holidays, so I post as a PSA that the Union Square TJ's had a ton of them as of yesterday. I had never had them until yesterday, and I'm probably going to finish the box by the end of the weekend, so it's best that everyone else buy them to spare my ever-tightening jeans. That is all. Happy eating.
Interesting Lobster Ideas
One of my favorite dishes at a restaurant near me is really great lobster crepes. The filling has good chunks of lobster is a sort of alfredo sauce, wrapped in crepe pouches which are then put under the broiler to crisp the very tops.
They're then plated with a creamy tomato sauce.
I've been craving it lately.
Looking for low calorie food/snack ideas (aside from Konjac/Konnyaku)
Unless they're aiming for low-carb, when I lost weight I relied on some good carby foods (back in the day before people freaked out about them), and like popcorn best for its satisfying crunch, and stomach-filling goodness.
Christie21 names pretty much everything else that got me though losing weight: apples, milk, string cheese, etc are all good filling choices I have found.
Buying and tasting grappa or a good eau de vie in NYC
Hi all. I'm looking for somewhere in the city (Manhattan or the boroughs) where I can talk to someone knowledgeable about grappas or some really cool eau de vie. It could either be a bar that had a nice selection and someone willing to geek-out about what they know, or a really great wine shop that could reliably recommend a good bottle.
I tried Astor wines, and they were beyond useless, which was disappointing (and thanks, hostile management for dealing so well with that!). I'd be sad to think there wasn't some little bastion of nerdy glee about these things around here somewhere. The city has come through for me in other food/drink quests, so I have high hopes for this new adventure.
Thanks for any tips!
Burger recos please (NOT shake shack)
I'll put a word in for Island Burgers and Shakes on 9th. I go there often, and find that they do an excellent job of using good quality meat, and cooking it perfectly to order. I do miss not having fries, though.
What do you love best about your neighborhood, food-wise?
You know, I don't actually have a favorite, but I'm up for suggestions. The 9th ave. Pizzaria is near my house, and it does in a pinch, but I also like the personal pizzas they have at the Amish Market on 9th. I've heard good things about Joe G's (the place next to Patsy's on 56th), but I don't actually get pizza here often (I know I'm a bad New Yorker). Am I missing a gem?
What do you love best about your neighborhood, food-wise?
I live in Hell's Kitchen, and the sheer range of options is why living here is so great. Within a 10 minute walk of my apartment, there is fresh homemade pasta, brick oven pizza, Greek food, several Thai places, German beer and wurst, greasy spoon diners, fun Japanese desserts, cheap burritos, wine bars, etc. All literally within a 10 minute walk.
I also love the mix of people that come through here: theater goers, nice old neighborhood couples, bachelorette parties, families, loud bankers , my super and his family, snooty wine tasters, tourists, young first-daters, etc. It's a bit of a culinary and social whirlwind, which I find rather exciting to walk through on a Saturday night strolling with my beloved. Good times.
Best Turkish and Greek in NYC
For Greek, I'm a big fan of Uncle Nick's Ouzaria on 9th avenue. You can get an assortment of small plates, which can be fun. You can easily get lots of small plates and stay under $30 each. I particularly like the baked tomato with feta, the seafood plate, the spicy meatballs in tomato sauce, and they have some excellent lamb dishes. Plus, you can always go the flaming cheese route, which is exciting.
The best thing your school cafeteria served
Ahh, they're a Sysco staple that I've seen in school/summer camp kitchens. Not too bad, actually. They're best cooked with some sugar and cinnamon in a crumble or as a pancake topping of some sort.
Not as incredible as fragrant, fresh, farmer's market apples, but definitely better than some of the grocery store apples I've seen.
The best thing your school cafeteria served
My junior high school had the best apple crisp as I remember it. I would go home and try to recreate it, which is what put me on the path to baking early on. I'm sure it was just canned apples, but the oatmeal crumbly top was so damned good.
It was so uncool to buy lunch when I was 12, but I loved it. People looked at me strangely "you're gonna eat that?" kind of looks, but it was divine.
Summer fruit pie S.O.S.
A bakery trick I learned was to lightly brush the bottom of the pie crust with egg wash, and let it dry before putting in the fruit mixture. And though I have no scientific basis for this, in my experience, using frozen fruit seems to make a much better, less soupy pie. I freeze my good fresh berries and fruit, and toss them frozen with the flour, sugar, etc., plunk into my egg-washed pie and never get a soggy crust.
A butterscotch pudding recipe quest
I'm trying to get down all my family's recipes, and I've been having a difficult time because so much of what my grandmother made was just of the "until it looks right" school of cooking, with times and amounts resting on instinct rather than formula. Brilliant cooks all of them, but I weep for the loss of some of those recipes that no one got down.
I think I'm going to pick and choose from some recipes based on what I remember. I think letting the sugar get nice and almost-burnt is the key.
A butterscotch pudding recipe quest
Thanks! I'll be experimenting this week, and that seems like a good recipe to add to the collection.
