aguy239's Profile
Sifton Replacement
Wow, what a lot of curmudgeons we have! I cook every day with my now four-year-old. It's a challenge, it's never easy, it is often fun and it ensures that she will grow up understanding that food is prepared with love in a home, not in haste out of a soggy cardboard box.
So, for me, Cooking with Dexter was one of my favorite columns of recent years in the Times. I didn't like Sifton particularly. I thought his prose was not just purple, it was papal.
Pete Wells has to be a great choice, and I for one can't wait.
Sean
ps I don't know Pete Wells, and for those who have followed his blog on the subject, in which he called out restaurant shills, I think he showed his hand admirably.
Too much yoghurt - what to do?!
Hey Folks,
Fresh Direct delivered ten, not two as I ordered, Fage plain yoghurts today. I know they'll keep pretty well, but I can see them languishing in the fridge until the new year.
Can I bake with yoghurt? Does anyone have any personal favs with yoghurt?
I need help here.
Thanks
Sean
SOHO restaurant needed
Big recommendation for Savoy. One of the best rooms in the city (I prefer upstairs). One of its staples is good beer, both on tap and by the bottle, so you should be fine on that score.
So sad that it is closing, but happy to know that the indefatigable Peter (he of the bike and the farmer's market) will be back with something new.
Sean
Breakfast in Greenwich
Hello everyone,
I have to be in Greenwich, CT, early tomorrow. Any recommendations for a good coffee shop or breakfast place near the station?
Thanks,
Sean
best burger on UWS
Well now, hang on a minute.
I agree that Shake Shack is great for a quick Shack-Attack and the fries are excellent. But we're talking Best on the Upper West, which is a big claim. And no-one has even mentioned Cafe Luxembourg?
I think Cafe Lux is the only really serious contender for 'Best'. It has been the gold standard of UWS burgers for years, and it's still right up there. Easily a contender for best burger in Manhattan too.
It's a grown-up's burger, on a par with Odeon and Balthazar (there is - or was - some shared DNA among these three, so it's no accident)
Sean
Organic chicken and eggs in Millbrook
Ciao Hounds,
Does anyone know where one could by good local chicken and eggs in or around Millbrook? I never get to the farmer's market, but I've heard there's nothing there.
Thank you!
Sean
wife wants copper cookware. which to get?
Mauviel's line of copper cookware is excellent. They used to be made by the same French company that makes Dehillerin's copper, but I don't know if that holds true any more. http://www.mauvielusa.com/
Williams Sonomo carry some Ruffoni, an Italian brand, which is also excellent. I have a Ruffoni risotto pan that I use for all sorts of things, and I love it.
These are just two brands. The French company, Dehillerin, isn't sold in the US, but everyone regards them as among the very best.
Another option, closer to home, is a new copper manufacturer in Brooklyn. They were written up in the New York Times recently, and they seem to be excellent. http://brooklyncoppercookware.com/
The key to good copper pans is the thickness of the copper (2mm seems to be the minimum acceptable). Avoid thin-walled pans just as you would avoid thin-walled SS pans.
A recent hiccup in all this is chef Jonathan Waxman's claim that all tin-lined copper pans are actually lined with a tin alloy containing lead. So you might want to think about this. I haven't been able to find any definitive information on this since I read Waxman's claim (to my alarm, I admit). No-one I have spoken to seems to care if this is true or not, so you can draw your own conclusions.
Good luck. I love my copper pans (mostly Dehillerin).
Sean
Jonathan waxman's gnocchi recipe in nytimes didn't work
I enjoyed the book enormously, but I won't trust the recipes or quantities without cross referencing.
What alarmed me most about the book, however, which I posted elsewhere, was his admonition not to use tin-lined pans, since all such tin contains lead. Now that is inflammatory, and it has me worried. It is one thing to screw up a recipe, it's quite another to put out information that is so fundamentally related to a major health issue.
Jonathan Waxman on tin-lined copper pans
Hello everyone,
I was avidly reading Jonathan Waxman's new book 'Italian, My Way' and was brought up short by the following line, when discussing his preference for copper pans:
"Please, don't by copper pans that are tin-lined; the "tin" is al lead, which is bad"
I was shocked. I have a dozen Dehillerin tin-lined copper pans, and one Ruffoni risotto pan, again tin-lined, and I use them every day.
Can some expert hounds enlighten us on this? Are even the best tin-lined copper pans, such as Dehillerin and Ruffoni, really lined with some alloy involving lead?
I would be devastated if this were true. But I have to assume that, prima facie, Jonathan Waxman knows what he is talking about.
So? What do we think?
Sean Dell
Lunch/Dinner Options with Toddlers
For the Natural History Museum, there's only one call - Shake Shack! Plenty of room downstairs, and if you are there at slightly off-peak hours, you'll be fine.
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Shake Shack
366 Columbus Ave, New York, NY 10024
ICM Le Pentole pots n pans
Ooh, now you're getting technical.
The closest I can get by a quick search is to offer th ICM website, http://www.morinox.it/jsp/eng/cataloghi4_prodotti_lista2.jsp?codicemother=AFAB&livello=2
It says there that the bottoms have different thicknesses. If you find any better information, let us know.
The original design was by Niki Sala in 1979 and these pots and pans became hugely popular in the UK in the 80s, when I lived there.
ICM Le Pentole pots n pans
Ciao Hounds,
Does anyone know where I can get Le Pentole pans in New York? Or in the US?
They are Italian and wonderful. I have a large braiser that I have been using for over twenty years and it is perfect. I'd love to have others.
Any leads welcome.
Sean
Suggestions for French Copper Cookware
In case you are wondering, Dehillerin's store is easy to find, quite near Beaubourg. Here is the address: 18 Rue Coquillière, 75001. Tel: 01 42 36 53 13
I seem to remember that they close for lunch (it's Paris after all!) so give a call to check their opening times. While there, pick up a couple of their knives, excellent value. And they have cute little pastry scrapers for a dollar that are great to keep in the kitchen drawer.
Bon chance!
Can anyone identify this ice-cream scoop?
Ciao Hounds,
This is my favorite little ice cream scoop, a present from several years ago. Now I need another, but I have no idea where this one was purchased. Can anyone identify it for me?
Grazie
Sean
Italian restaurant in the theater district
Same here tonight. Had a reservation at Trecolori at six. Because of a six-block traffic jam down Broadway, arrived at Trecolori to find that they had given away our table (fair enough) and couldn't guarantee another table within half an hour. There was a line of twenty or so yelling for tables and staking their claims to be there first. Clearly, something's going on at Trecolori!
So after a fifteen minute wait I walked next door to Scarlatto and asked if they could do anything. They could not have been more helpful and said it would take between five & ten minutes to seat us, but she could guarantee we'd be in time for the theater.
And so we were. The food was very good, and the service was perfect. The lamb ragu was worth coming back for, and we had big approval from my picky eaters for their courses.
Goes to the top of my list for Broadway pre-theater joints.
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Scarlatto
250 West 47th Street, New York, NY 10036
Panettone - fresh if possible
Ciao, Hounds,
Top of the morning.
My two Italian step-children are demanding panettone for Christmas. They are very demanding.
They claim that they had freshly-baked panettone recently at a friends, but I have my doubts.
Any recommendations for panettone, either fresh or packaged?
Thank you,
Sean
Tonight in Ft Worth - Tex Mex or Burger recs required
Yes, quite a leap, but a good one. I get a bit desperate stuck up on the higher floors of the Omni, where I stay more or less once a month. I've also found your various recommendations, and enjoy them. I've been to Lonesome Dove, which I thought was excellent. And to Del Frisco's downtown which is what you'd expect of a steak house (I love the hat hooks inside the front door) Am keen to try Reata, which I will do in January.
Thank you!
Sean
Lunch rec needed: Madison Square Park
Thank you all. A Voce was perfect. Excellent in every way.
Sean
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A Voce
41 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10010
Lunch rec needed: Madison Square Park
Thank you, that is a great idea, but it was fully booked at 10.00 this morning. It's clearly a hot spot!
Lunch rec needed: Madison Square Park
Ciao Hounds,
Need a reasonably priced lunch today. EMP is out of the question. I love Tabla, but it's wrong for today. Beppe used to be a personal fave, but it's not worthing trying any more. Any suggestions for a nice, not too pricey, lunch today in that general area?
Thank you, as always,
Sean
Craig Claiborne's Apple Charlotte
Love the picture, thank you! This is not quite as I remember it, I think I remember him using Calvados instead of rum. But it's a great starting point, thank you again!
Sean
Craig Claiborne's Apple Charlotte
Hey Hounds,
I have a request to make an apple charlotte, and I would love to do so using Craig Claiborne's old NY Times recipe.. Trouble is, in the pile of yellowed cuttings that is my, ahem, 'archive', the Craig Claiborne Apple Charlotte is missing. Probably nicked by my wife, who thinks I'm determined to disprove modern science as it is applied to the butter/cholesterol equation.
In any case, would anyone have the Craig Claiborne recipe?
Thank you,
Sean
Tonight in Ft Worth - Tex Mex or Burger recs required
I ended up in Lanny's Upscale Mexican. Excellent dinner, lovely room, delightful staff (including Lanny himself). The tasting menu showed little in the way of Mexican heritage, hewing close to new American. Excellent shrimp crostini to start, soup next, with a solid base. Salmon over wilted spinach in a beurre blanc sauce, followed by excellent tenderloin in a wine reduction / demi-glace. Ok cheesecake to finish. That was $60 and worth it, without knocking it out of the park.
I'll go back, and next time hunt around the menu. Lanny can cook, no question. He might try something a little riskier, but that might be just me looking for adventure when out of town!
Thanks for the other recs. I'll follow up.
Sean
Tonight in Ft Worth - Tex Mex or Burger recs required
Hello Hounds,
In Ft Worth for a few days.
I've looked at the other posts and they are all a little out of date.
Could someone recommend either a great Tex Mex (not Joe-T's) or a great burger, between downtown (Main St), the Stockyards, or out on Camp Bowie near the Modern Museum.
Thank you!
Sean
Tre Otto? (E. Harlem/Carnegie Hill)
Hey Hounds,
Went to Tre Otto for lunch again yesterday, and the place continues to thrive. Full tables, long line (I had a res) and the wait staff hustling around with food and drinks. On the latter, they still do not have a wine license, but according to the waiter, the paperwork is approved, and they are just waiting for their license.
I had the Caponata, which was luscious. And a slice of pizza with prosciutto. The latter was outstanding, as you would expect, since they imported a pizza guy from Bari, across the Italian peninsula from Napoli, arguably the home of modern pizza.
Delighted that their standards remain high. I would love to think that they might have a positive effect on the joints on the same block..but I'm not holding my breath!
Sean
Near the Jewish Museum for lunch
The Jewish Museum is one block from the upscale little village known as Carnegie Hill, and you have plenty of options for lunch. If you want something easy and quick, Yura's on the corner of 92nd and Madison is good. Bistro du Nord (now called Paris Bistro I think) is on the corner of 93rd and Madison and is a local fav. If you feel like a short walk, the new Italian, Tre Otto, on 97th and Madison is excellent.
And there are lots more besides, so you won't have any trouble finding something to satisfy your hunger!
Sean
Defeated by Mayonnaise, my nemesis
A Basque friend of mine who is a brilliant cook told me of Sam's immersion blender method and described it the way Sam did. ONly she used a tall thin beer glass for hers.
I came home, tried it, failed. Tried it again, failed again. And again, failed.
So I resorted to my hand-whisked method, which is almost fail-safe. And very easy.
But, if the mayo does break, don't toss all those eggs and all that olive oil in the bin. Start again with a yolk and a drop-by-drop pour of whichever oil you like to use. When the emulsion starts forming, instead of adding oil, drop by drop, add the 'broken' mixture. It will emulsify as if you were doing it with oil alone.
Then continue until you have the volume, the consistency and the taste you like.
To lighten the color, add a few drops of recently boiled water, no more than a tablespoon or you'll get back to a runny consistency. But the water will turn it from yellowish to creamy colored.
Sean
Tre Otto for lunch
Ciao 'Hounds,
Escaped the miserable day to have lunch at the small bar in Tre Otto, after a yummy dinner there on Saturday night.
I had the Pappardelle with a duck ragu, which was absent from Saturday's menu. The gold standard for duck ragu is Lupa, where they have practically built a pasta reputation based on that one dish (I exaggerate, but not that much).
The duck ragu of Tre Otto is very good. If Lupa's is a ten, then Tre Otto is a good eight. Lighter sauce than Lupa's, with a good background taste of vegetable/tomato, the pasta was perfectly cooked and delicious. I didn't leave a molecule behind.
The restaurant was full - again. Meaning that they have hit a big home run in their opening week. Let's hope they keep it up.
One amusing note. The chef emerged carrying a pizza as if it were the crown jewels. Apparently they have had a problem getting their pizzas going. This one was the first from the kitchen, and the chef sat in a corner to taste it himself. I forgot to ask if it was good.
Sean
Perfect roast potatoes
Each to his own, but I wouldn't cover with foil. That encourages steam, which is not good for browning. But those who use this method probably don't bother to parboil, which is fine.
One thing I forgot to mention is the roasting pan. For reasons unknown to me, dark roasting pans roast to a deep color, while pale ones do the opposite. So make it a dark roasting pan for potatoes.
