TSQ75's Profile
Oriental, NC
spending a few days in Oriental, NC. granted, i'll be in a lil cabing and doing most of my own cooking, but are there any good diners or local eats not to be missed? what's the favorite place to buy seafood (not restaurant), or even the favorite grocery?
Old Havana Sandwich Shop on E. Main Street, Durham...
I will also admit, the Frijoles Negros at Old Havana do not hold up at all. I wanted to let them know but it was way too busy. I'm a stickler for beans because truthfully, they need help, and it irks me when people dont offer beans the flavor help that they need.
come on guys, a bit of sofrito, adobo, vinegar...you'd be amazed at how many people are shocked to have delicious beans after a lifetime of marginal bland beans. I've converted passive or non-responsive bean eaters happily for years with Cuban frijoles...lol
Old Havana Sandwich Shop on E. Main Street, Durham...
Latin American Had awesome cuban sandwiches....and great breakfast
*also spent formative teen years living in Hialeah*
Old Havana Sandwich Shop on E. Main Street, Durham...
oddly enough, the bread is generally the dealbreaker for me. I've been having Cuban sandwiches in gringo establishments for years, and always have to say its great except for the bread...lol
Old Havana Sandwich Shop on E. Main Street, Durham...
Cuban Sandwiches arent generally very wet. the interior wetness is generally from the mustard, pickle juice, and overall wetness from the roast pork. the swiss cheese should seal it all together
there's no authentic way for the roast pork to be cut. it all depens on how its cooked. if its well done its falling off itself and a typical cuban sandwich maker with simply tear it off in big chunks and pile it on and hope it stays when it gets pressed. some places will slice it in an effort to be neater. that's all.
as a cuban who has grown up eating may Cuban Sandwiches/Sanwiches Cubanos (we never call them "Cubanos") this is the best i've had since living in Miami. the family is genuine and their hearts are in it.
the maduros were spectacular. someone mentioned they were baked and i'm still trying to figure out how they did that.
i suggested offering a side of Mojo because honestly, you cant get enough :)
Baked Platanos Maduros?
ok, so I'm Cuban, I know my platanos maduros and I know my Tostones. And I know they are both typically fried. the frying gives maduros that great caramelization and edge to the sweetness.
but i recently had absolutely PERFECT maduros in a Cuban owned/run eatery that said they were baked.
could this be? has anyone tried this? I'm assuming its low temps for long times? but how to keep them moist? maybe covered? a blast from the broiler at the end? hmmm
looking around online the only kinds of baked sweet plantains you hear about are baked whole plantains, but no, these were beautifully sliced, plump, brown and sticky...
insights?
Fish Stock question...
so i have a few very small fish (Spot) that were good and fresh when io brought them home, but somehow got a bit freezer-burned since then. They havent gone bad, but I dont think they'll be as forgiving cooked in their whole state.
Is it ok to add whole fish to make stock? Head and guts are gone, they're small and boney. I just dont want to waste them, and they dont have much meat on them to start with...
inventive uses for iced tea?
so i just made the annual visit to Bojangles for their "Tailgate Special" which inevitably comes with a 1/2 gallon of over-sweetened iced tea. we just arent iced tea drinkers, and especially not that stuff, but i'm thinking there has to be something i can do with it other than toss it down the drain?
i could probably cook it down to some concentrated syrup which might be fun, but what else?
other than fun beverage applications, I dont know that i can necessarily cook with it, or that its flavor would make for a decen braise or glaze or reduction. desserts? like the 7-up cakes i've always heard about?
come on, i'm sure there's some ridicullous foodie application for this mundane ingredient...dont let me down chow people!
What's open on Christmas day? Durham/CH/Raleigh area
Hong Kong House on Guess ended up being the ticket, even with the impending snow, Dim Sum still flowed...mmmm
Poll: How do you make chicken soup?
I am a combination of methods.
for one, anytime i make a whole chicken, I either butterfly it and reserve the back for stock, or i keep the roasted carcass for stock. in any case, i make stock, and stick it in the freezer.
the stock will always involve parts of the carcass, an onion, a couple of carrots, a handful of garlic cloves, whole peppercorns, bay leaves, and salt. i'll also add in veggie trimmings from whatever has been prepped: potato skins, mushroom stalks, gignger peels, parsley stalks, lemon peel, etc.
for the actual soup, i usually have some leftover chicken that i want to use up, and that's the chicken that goes in. i usually sautee my veggies a bit first, and sautee the noodles too if they're going in (to keep them from bloating from here to kingdom come), then add the stock and adjust the seasoning. i usually finish off chicken soup with a bit of fresh lemon juice, as my grandmother always did.
another think i like to reserve specifically for chicken soup is fresh pasta cuttings. especially the big misshapen floppy cuttings from lasagna. there's something about those fleshy noodle pieces....
ideas for puff pastry shells or fillo cups?
i've done oyster "pattys". combining chopped oysters, onion, garlic, bell pepper or celery. with mushrooms, butter, creole seasoning, and a bit of flour (roux). heaped into the cups and sprinkled with crumbs or panko and baked.
anything decent in Burlington NC?
i wanted to love Mykonos, but I was so unimpressed at the over-americanized style of it. food was just OK
What's open on Christmas day? Durham/CH/Raleigh area
its fairly popular with Latinos as well. We tend to do our celebrating on Christmas eve, and snooze on Christmas day...lol
What's open on Christmas day? Durham/CH/Raleigh area
yeah, i figured as much about the Crossroads buffet.
I wonder if hong kong will be open for dim sum? hmmm
What's open on Christmas day? Durham/CH/Raleigh area
so far:
Washington Duke Inn Christmas buffet @ $59pp
Crossroads @carolina Inn @$49/pp
Irregardless Cafe raleigh
Possible, need to call
Marriott Hotel Resaurants
Golden Corral
any info?
Decent lunch spot near the Capitol/Fayetteville st area in Raleigh NC
will be showing the mom unit sights around the Capitol, Museum, Fayetteville st....
where can we pop in to for a moderately priced and good lunch? walking distance of these areas a bonus...
thanks
Taramasalata
so I have some FRESH beautiful golden Mullet Roe--fresh from her belly--and i'd like to make a taramasalata...
should I cure (salt cure) or cook the roe first? or will the heat of the motion from beating it be enough? or not even worry?
Achiote paste in Durham/Chapel Hill?
Compare foods in durham carries the pure ground achiote, whole achiote seeds, and achiote paste.
CHICKEN Carnitas???
if i had been speaking with any of my family members growing up (of Cuban and Dominican stock), using the word "carnitas" would simply be a way of referring to bits of meat, likely beef. "Carne" is meat, generally beef, so "carnitas" would have been that...
we would have referred to crispy fried pork bits as "masitas" or "masitas de puerco"
Much in the same way "chicharrones" is commonly pork rinds, but "Chicharrones de Pollo" are equally as common.
CHICKEN Carnitas???
my point was just reactionary to the Puritan reactions i tend to encounter around here anytime something is presented in a different way...;)
Durham Food Truck Rodeo - Today 6/27 - 4:00-7:00
I know this has managed to happen at least 2 more times since june, anyone know if there's one scheduled for september? no word on the DCP site...
Pork Stock
Actually, I can do one better and check it out from my local library, as they apper to have it. thanks! :)
that's actually an excellent suggestion about the leeks, as i'm pretty funny about celery at times...
Pork Stock
thanks to everyone....excellent discussion, keep it coming!
I may need to make 2-3 differnt batches flavord differently...
Pork stock is really common in Latino cooking applications such as Posole and chile verde, but i think i could stand to add it to my tamales as well...
It is, of course, painfully common in american bean applications...
and as many of you have noted, common in asian cooking...
I'm beginning to assume it may be useful in some eauropean and french type things as well...
more than anything, i find it valuable to have "flavored waters" on hand for cooking, hydrating dishes, simmering fresh shell beans, sauteeing veggies, braising, etc.
It def cant hurt :)
Pork Stock
So, i've got a lovely bag of fresh pork bones from the farm who supplies my CSA and plan on making stock.
My biggest question is, what should flavor this stock? I dont feel its the right decision to flavor it the same way i do my chicken stock, with the same veggies and chicken-y herbs...
so what works?
should i brown the bones or not?
onion and garlic seems like a given, peppercorns and bay leaves, but what else?
coriander seeds? Marjoram? a smoky dried chili?
do I just let the pork speak for itself?
opinions welcome...
Seafood CSA expands to Raleigh
I've been doing the Walking Fish CSF since its inaugural season. Getting ready to start their 3rd season next month.
We've been getting a weekly full share, which is plenty of fish and seafood which is fine with us, because we love it, and can freeze portions for later.
we get our portion headed and gutted only because we want more fish for less $$ lol
the biggest thing i would say people need to GET OVER is that you wont always get what you want, and sometimes there will be repeats. because gosh, maybe you can control what these fishermen catch in a perfect world, but not in this one.
this past summer, CSF members dealt with strange weather patterns, rain, and and odd influx of stingrays in the shallow areas. It made me so angry to see people complaining about getting flounder again, so sorry, its FRESH.
so, i'm really happy there's another CSF in town, the area needs good local fresh seafood at hand, but unfortunately, trekking it out to raleigh or carrboro from Durham isnt in my plans...
TTT - Turkey Tasso in the Triangle? (Durham/Chapel Hill, NC)
you might be surprised. check out wherever they have hocks and fatback. but who knows, i havent been to that one in a while.
TTT - Turkey Tasso in the Triangle? (Durham/Chapel Hill, NC)
ha...of course i followed you to this post. I mentioned in the other post that i actually hadnt bought it here in the triangle. But i do frequently buy smoked turkey (wings or necks) at Compare supermarket on avondale. its actually a nice sub for smoked pork. i let it simmer in the beans, then fish out the pieces and pull off what meat there is (more than one would expect) and add it back in.
it did well for my New Years peas...:)
for the record, this was the Tasso that came home with me from NOLA this summer, both turkey and pork, i have to say I would imagine SS will charge infinitely more than $3.85 for this bit of peasant goodness...
http://www.cajungrocer.com/savoies-tasso-turkey-2-p-367.html
