shoes's Profile
New Haven area source for wood chips for smoking food
I'm looking for someplace around New Haven to buy wood chips for smoking food in my Weber kettle grill. I'd like hickory, applewood, mesquite etc. Thanks.
Elm City Coop - 360 State Street, New Haven
I suppose it's similar to Whole Foods, with good produce, meats and cheeses, but the jury's out on some of the choices for sale. I don't think this will be my only grocery shopping destination.
The first time I went I inadvertently spend about $190 for groceries for the week. I usually spend about $130. Part of this was because I wanted to try some of the cheeses and meats that I normally would not get.
On subsequent trips, I paid closer attention to prices. No one is snapping up the $23 local raw chickens, the $14 finger limes or the $9.50 bottles of spaghetti sauce.
But the produce was good and well priced, as was some dairy items and grocery items. The store favors natural foods, but it also offers some mainstays. For example, you can get Cheerios or a few organic Cheerios copycats. But note: the store was out of Cheerios on a recent visit, while the more expensive copycats sat on the shelves.
The store seems busy when I go, but that might just be because it's a small cramped space compared to the usual suburban grocery store.
Cask Republic in New Haven?
Any word on Cask Republic in New Haven? I've heard it described as an upscale pub kind of place with a good selection of beers.
The menu looks promising, but I see that the same group owns the Ginger Man restaurants in Stamford/Greenwich, which have not impressed me.
Soup for a Group; I'm looking for soups that can be made ahead and held for 4-6 hours before serving
A soup such as split pea or lentil would work well. They are the kind of soups that are "better the next day." I'd advise against anything with potatoes or pasta in it - they both tend to get mushy. You also have the right idea of avoiding anything with seafood.
Pepper Mills: your picks and pans
Does the Magnum leave little bits of pepper all over the counter? That's been my problem with all the peppermills I have ever had.
Gingerbread Houses
The Ikea in New Haven, Conn. used to sponsor a contest every year. Not sure if they are this year.
Lunch near South Station in Boston
Can someone please recommend a lunch place near South Station? We're looking for a place that offers salads and such lighter fare, and also has a liquor license. Thanks.
Fresh turkeys in New Haven Area?
The farmer's market on Saturdays at Wooster Square in New Haven generally includes a vendor who will take orders for turkeys around this time of year, for delivery the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
which is your #1 kitchen accessory?
A foot pedal for the kitchen sink. You can buy this at any medical office supply place. You will be so addicted that you will wonder why no one else has one, except your doctor.
Should You Expect a Restaurant to Pick a Lobster for You on Request?
I ate lobster at restaurants a few times recently, and I was surprised to get an argument from a waitress at one place when I asked her if the kitchen would pick the lobster for me.
I know how to pick a lobster. I do it at home, and I'd expect to do it at an "in the rough" kind of seafood restaurant in New England. The issue is that it's messy, and if I am eating at a fine dining restaurant, I think it's reasonable for the kitchen to pick the lobster on request. That also assumes there's no lazy man's lobster or other dish I could choose if I didn't want to mess with the actual whole lobster.
Most places do it, no questions asked. At this once place over the summer, the waitress said the kitchen wouldn't do it because they're too busy. I pressed the issue, and she said she'd ask. They ended up picking it for me. I was very pleased.
At an ethnic restaurant recently, I got a lobster curry. While the lobster was served in the shell, the kitchen had cut it up in such a way that it was not a mess to pick and eat. This seemed reasonable to me too.
What do you think?
Chef's Equipment Emporium is comin' to the Pike (Berlin, CT)!
I've been to the Wallingford store a few times. Way overpriced. You can always find much better prices online.
Southern CT Shoreline - AFTERNOON TEA
Celtica in New Haven used to offer a nice tea at its old location on College St. It's moved to a new location downtown, 1008 Chapel St. I am not sure if it offers tea still. Telephone number is (203) 785 8034 if you want to call.
Lunch on the way to Cape Cod?
We stop at Walt's Roast Beef outside of Providence,. RI in a strip mall near the TF Green airport. It's fast food but made to order, Excellent roast beef sandwiches and fries.
Been to Union League Cafe in New Haven, CT lately?
We've been twice during the past six months and had great meals. The place was hopping both times. I tend to favor the fish there too, and my husband will go for any organ meats they offer.
Sorry to say, but yes, it is tacky to bring a cake to a restaurant, IMHO, whether at a family-style place or an upscale place. At Union League, get whatever fruit desserts are in season.
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Union League Cafe
1032 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 06510
New Haven : need recs for variety and a great seafood/raw bar?/lobsters
For Ethiopian, try Lalibela on Temple St. Very tasty, especially the vegetarian selections. (The place that closed, Caffe Adulis, was Eritrean.)
Raw bars are kind of hard to recommend in the city itself, as you can see from the other posters. Heirloom, the restaurant at The Study Hotel on Chapel St., listed a bunch of oysters when I was there a couple of weeks ago, but I did not try them and can't vouch for them. The restaurant itself is very good - farm-to-table kinds of things. They also do a great upscale breakfast.
Takeout in Trumbull Conn?
I ended up getting a gift certificate from Panino's. The new parents liked it very much and enjoyed several meals out of $50 worth.
Marion's Pie Shop, Chatham (Cape Cod)
We visited Marion's Pie Shop a few times during the past week, since it was a short walk from our rental beach house in Chatham. The muffins and seafood pie were phenomenal, but the garlic bread was so-so and the peach pie was a sad disappointment.
The good news: Get the seafood pie - nice chunks of scallop, shrimp, lobster and cod in a cream sauce fragrant with nutmeg. (Pictured) The crust is amazingly tender and tasty - my guess is they use lard in the crust. A large one would serve 4 hungry people. The instructions for reheating were perfect. Leftovers were very good the next day.
The other plus were the blueberry muffins. Loaded with wild blueberries, not too sweet, with a crunchy streusel topping. A great breakfast with some fruit or yogurt.
The garlic bread was nothing special - it tasted more like a supermarket or frozen loaf than something homemade.
The big disappointment was the peach pie. Canned peaches, a bland crust on top and soggy to the point of ick on the bottom. It looked like the bottom crust was lined with a custard or something. Anyway, it in no way resembled the seafood pie, which was super
I'm curious if the other fruit pies are also such disasters, or if we were unlucky.
Cape Cod Farmer's Markets
Don't bother to go to the market in Chatham. We were terribly disappointed this past Tuesday. The market had hardly any produce! There were a bunch of stalls selling baked goods, flowers, granola and herbs, but seriously hardly any veggies and no fruits. I bought a bag a pea shoots for $4 and a couple of little cucumbers for $1 from one guy because I was counting on something from the market for dinner. There was one guy selling shellfish and another with cheese. I didn't check these out. In my mind, farmer's market means produce primarily.
regular vs greek yogurt $$$
I agree it's worth it. I buy Fage and pay a premium. I have tried the cheaper Greek-style yogurts, and none of them compare. The Cabot brand is particularly nasty.
It does seem like your shop had a really drastic markup for what I assume was Fage. (It's always the most expensive.) Buy a smaller cup and try it. You'll see why it's worth it. And shop around for a better price.
Olde School Saloon & Bistro, New Haven
What do we think about the food at Olde School Saloon & Bistro in New Haven? We've had such a mixed bag in two recent visits that I wondered what others have experienced.
We went in early June for the first time. We had a wonderful experience. The food was delicious, expertly prepared, interesting and a good value. For starters, we had escargot and a pate. The chef sent out a plate of fried calamari, gratis. Then we had two pasta dishes - a ravioli with smoked mozzarella and a pasta with mixed seafood. We also enjoyed some cocktails and a bottle of wine.
The only weird thing was that were were the only people in the whole dining room. It was a Friday night. We ate a bit on the early side because we were headed to a concert, but still, it was strange. The waitress was friendly and attentive. The bar room was hopping, so we thought "next time, we'll sit in there."
We sat in the bar again this week, and we had a polar opposite experience. The food was very off. A steak ordered medium rare came well-done and tough as a brick. We sent it back. We waited almost half an hour to get yet another well-done steak. The waitress took it off the bill. The accompanying potatoes and salad were very good, so one diner made a meal of that.
We also ordered a duck dish that was overcooked but still all right. The waitress informed us that the dish was completely different from the menu description, but the revised dish sounded good, so we tried it. It came as two duck breasts swimming in a bland watery sauce that tasted vaguely of oranges. The accompanying risotto and broccoli rabe were good.
We started with a beet salad that was tasty but artless - gigantic slabs of beet fanned out with four tiny nut-crusted morsels of goat cheese and some dressed greens.
We'd like to give the place one more try, but we're reluctant. Any feedback is welcome. Thanks.
http://oldeschoolsaloonandbistro.com/Olde_School/Home.html
Vegan food shopping in New Haven, CT
The "J" buses 5, 6, and 7 and the "B" buses 4, 5, 6,& 7 go down Campbell Ave. in West Haven where the Turkish markets are.
You can pick these buses up downtown or get the J also at the train station.
favourite watermelon or melon salad recipes?
The New York Times published a great recipe last summer for a Greek watermelon salad. It had cooked barley, feta, cucumber, red onion, olive oil and watermelon, as I recall. A meal with some good crusty bread!
Vegan food shopping in New Haven, CT
For south Asian produce and groceries, you also might want to try #1 Farm Market on Ella Grasso Blvd. They also carry Latin American and African foods.
Edge of the Woods on Whalley Ave. has lots of vegetarian/vegan foods, including a full bakery, juice bar etc. They carry some local produce and products and have bulk fresh tofu.
I agree the Wooster Square farmer's market is the best of the New Haven ones. The Westville one gets better once the growing season is in full gear.
Food foreigners take back home when they visit America.
My sister's friends from France took home maple syrupand chocolate-covered pretzels. My husband's friend from Holland took home A1 steak sauce so he could make what he called "cowboy food."
Funniest Thing a Server Said to You
A waiter at a BBQ place years ago once told our dining party that we were ordering way too much food. "I don't like to see food wasted," he said. Way to push the entrees and get a higher tip for yourself!
He could not have known that two people in the party were hardcore Atkins Diet followers.
Sources for hard-to-find edible plants and fruit trees
Broken Arrow Nursery in Connecticut also usually sells unusual varieties of fruit trees. But I bet they are already sold out too.
Packing Kitchenwares for Summer Beach House Rental
Thanks for the ideas, everyone. We are only going to Cape Cod for a week - neither a long-term nor remote area. We do plan to do most of the cooking either on the grill on in a lobster pot, but I intend to keep it simple. I think I will mostly prepare breakfast foods, salads and maybe some quick desserts.
I kept mental note of what I've used this week, and I think I have settled on these items:
I think a colander is a great idea - I am picky about mine.
I also think I will bring a couple of small Pyrex dishes for many uses - cooking and marinating as well as providing something that meat and fish can sit in while in the fridge.
Knives and cutting boards, plus the gadgets you recommended - peeler, microplane, pepper mill, citrus reamer, workhorse spoons and tongs.
anyone have feedback on dishwasher drawers?
We've had a Fisher & Paykel dish drawer for several years and have loved it. It uses a tiny amount of water and soap, and a load is done in 54 minutes.
We originally bought it because it was the only thing that fit in our old-house kitchen using the weird plumbing we had to deal with when we bought the house. When we remodeled the kitchen a few years ago, we put in a standard dishwasher but kept the drawer style for its versatility.
Today, I use it mostly for things that need gentle treatment, such as china and stemware, and for quick clean-ups.
It's probably unsuitable alone for most people. Platters, large casserole dishes and bowls don't fit well in it. You have to clean out the scrap tray manually - there's no built-in disposal for heavily soiled dishes.
Packing Kitchenwares for Summer Beach House Rental
We're renting a beach house this summer. The place comes with basic kitchenware - plates, cutlery, a few pots and pans. I'm willing to "make do" for some things, but I will want to pack some stuff from my house that I am particular about.
I will definitely pack my good knives, cutting boards, a nonstick skillet, and coffeemaker and coffee grinder. What else should I plan to pack? I want everything to fit in one standard plastic tote - about the size of a recycling bin - so there's some control and for space in the car. Thanks!
