oddcouple1's Profile
Cheese in iceland
I just got back from Iceland; we saw tons of dairies and farms over our week of driving around the entire western half of the country, but nothing indicating cheese. I did find this info from 2010:
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php?topic=4357.0
Good luck!
Prime Rib Roast Successes and Disasters....
My first prime rib came out amazing. It was boneless, about 6.75 lb, a really good amount of marbling and very well tied and shaped. I cut slits in it and stuffed garlic in the slits, rubbed it with rosemary, fresh ground pepper and horseradish overnight. Let it come to room temp, rubbed a little salt, and threw it in 450 oven for 20 minutes- amazing sear/crust! cranked it down to 325 for about an hour and 40 minutes, let it rest for 25, and it was so tender we hardly needed a knife. Rare in the center, nothing was much more than medium rare. I was really nervous about overcooking it, but, now I would not hesitate to do it again!
Pizza and utensils
I spill pretty much anything I eat on my shirt. Pizza sauce/grease etc., is next to imposible to get out. Utensils reduce the occurrences of spillage by a huge amount. :P
What seasonal foods do you look forward to?
Fiddlehead ferns
Asparagus
Hard-shell lobsters - had some last Friday night!
Please tell me if you have experience with a CSA?
I am in the seacoast area of NH, right around 15 miles from where this company docks. Supporting the local small fisheries here is is a HUGE effort, and it is the least I can do, and you just can't beat the product!
http://www.eastmansfish.com/content/7133
Please tell me if you have experience with a CSA?
I was in a fish CSA last summer. It was weekly, you could buy a half or full share. I got ~2 lb of off the boat fresh fish, whatever was caught that day. We had haddock, sole, cod, pollack, BIG fillets. If there was an extra big catch, they would have additional fish to sell at the pickup point, and a few times they had scallops and lobster as well. The prices was the same if not better than the supermarket, and the fact that it came out of the ocean that day made all the difference. You could go down to the docks when they pulled in also. LOVED the experience, may do it again (dates are tough because we will be out of town a few weeks).
Switzerland - Lucerne and Wengen
I will be watching this thread- we will also be in Wengen in July!
Bringing meats and cheeses back from France
We brought back almost 10 lb of cheese from France in November, probably close to the same in cured meats, and a few lb of tinned items, and some fresh truffle. No issues. If you bring fresher cheese, quadruple wrap in foil, plastic wrap, baggies, and put it in with your dirty clothes. You can't tell the clothes stink from the cheese stink!
What regional foods do people just get wrong?
To add to the New England items...
I second the clam chowder. I love taking people out to places where the chowder is "thin" ie made with milk and not a crapload of cornstarch and heavy cream. ANd they usually end up liking it better. It also has to have nothing more than a little saltpork and onion, potatoes and clams. No celery, no corn, nothing else. I am iffy on the saltpork and onions for anything other than a little extra flavoring. I had some once where they though putting sherry on the top was "authentic" - really?
Boston Baked Beans are not anything like the canned ones. Friend's Baked Kidney Beans might be the closest that I have had from a can, but real homemade sauce can never be matched.
My husband is from St. Louis and he is a chef. Every time we go out, if there happen to be "St. Louis Style Ribs" on the menu, he orders them and he is ALWAYS disappointed. I am still pretty unsure of exactly what they are supposed to be!
I am not sure if this is regional, but cold roast beef subs need to have RARE cold roast beef, very thinly shaved and piled on. Not warm, not evenly brown colored. Ick.
Boston rec: French brasseries
We ate at Brasserie Jo on Friday evening prior to seeing Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert at Symphony Hall (a treat in itself!). The food was very, very good, starting with the warm baguette and horseradish pickled carrots. I had a Cranberry Maple Martini which was quite strong and yummy. For apps, I had the roasted bone marrow and my husband had the sweetbreads- both were hot, fresh and very flavorful. Then it took almost an hour to receive our entrees. Yes, it was a busy Friday night, but we had to be out by a certain time to make the show. When it finally arrived, my Steak Frites was perfection. Hot, crisp fries, perfectly cooked steak. Husband had the Duck Confit with Lentils- 2 large duck legs, crispy on the outside and melty-soft inside.
Unfortunately, we had exactly 10 minutes to eat our entrees before we had to run 2 long blocks to the show, so were not able to really enjoy our meals. The maitre d was at our table apologizing for the wait. He mentioned that a new menu had just been introduced the night before and there were still some "kinks" to work out, and comped us appropriately. New menus should be introduced on Sunday or Monday, so that by the busiest days of the week, they are ready to go. We were very disappointed but would go back on the food alone and hope that the service had improved.
-----
Brasserie Jo
120 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02116
What's your "secret ingredient?"
I saw Chipotle Tabasco a few times here... I am a big fan of both Siracha and Sambal Olek, usually used with a little bit of sweet Mae Ploy chili sauce.
Nice at Christmas
We just got back from a week in Nice, fabulous time, though it was snowing lightly when we left! We stayed right on the edge of old Nice and ventured out everynight to somewhere different in the neighborhood. So much to choose from! We did have a phenomenal meal at L'Universe. Husband is a chef so this was a pretty big deal. Other places of note in Old Nice-
La Villa- excellent Corsican /French food. The charcuterie platter was out of this world. I had a perfectly cooked risotto with chevre, sea scallops and asparagus, hubby had a lamb brochette that was slightly overdone but overall this was an excellent -little pricey- experience.
Our last night was at Chez Memere- they were closing up for the holidays, so they probably won't be open for Christmas- I had a lamb shank with thyme, their house special. I was hoping for cassoulet but she had already run out- I would go back there as my first stop next time!
Our last lunch was at Bistro D'Antoine, We didn't have a reservation but we were willing to sit ouside under the awning next to the heater in our coats, gloves and blankets that they offered. :) Excellent choice- rabbit terrine and sausage and lentils.
We ate at Cayenne Kafe one night - they had great pizza and atmosphere. Whatever you do, either try to go by 7-ish or make a reservation for any places you want to try- we were turned away several times.
"Beach Pizza" . . . Tripoli & Christy's . . . please explain
Think "Jersey Shore" of New England. I was a teenager in the 80s and we were there pretty much EVERY night all summer long, getting into all kinds of trouble! It's still gridlocked on summer nights, cruising The Strip.
La Verdad...reviews of things other than their tacos!
For what it's worth, I did read these threads and specifically chose this place in hopes that whatever we ordered would be better than the standard Lansdowne fare, which yes, it was. I didn't see anything beforehand about what we chose, so I guess we were taking a chance. Not victims, just surprised, as most opinions here were favorable and Ken Oringer has a good rep. The place was packed to the gills and if it wouldn't have made us late for the event at Fenway, we would have indeed sent it back. Maybe we can give it another try in September when we are back down that way for a concert. Cheers.
La Verdad...reviews of things other than their tacos!
We ate at La Verdad last night just before Football at Fenway, and we were not impressed. I ordered the Tostada app, which was listed as "Ceviche shrimp, scallop and crab" - what I got was a corn tortilla topped with guacamole and shrmp salad with mayo. I ordered it because I wanted ceviche, ie, lower cal/fat. This was small shrimp (no scallop, no crab) with mayo, cilantro and some spices. While it tasted ok, it was not what was advertised.
For dinner, I had the Mexican Chopped Salad with Chicken. While again, it tasted ok, it did not contain all of the items listed on the menu. Husband had the Pato tacos, which were very dry and didn't have chicharrones (which he was really looking forward to!). I would recommend La Verdad only if you are at Fenway already- don't make a special trip-
-----
La Verdad
1 Lansdowne St, Boston, MA 02215
portuguese restaurant
We ate there on Saturday night and thought it was fantastic. I had the chicken and husband had the pork and clams. Reservation was absolutely necessary!
UNH Alums, et al---Karl's, Catnip Pub, Tin Palace--Durham NH?
Actually, there was a fire at the Tin Palace a while back. It was sold and has reopened as Ballards.I live in Durham... NEC is slated to close next June due to budget constraints. That and Newicks are all that remains of what everyone mentioned... there are a couple good pizza and burger joints now, and Pauly's Pockets (mediterranean takeout, cheap and pretty damn good), The Bagelry, and a Chinese buffet.
Best Food Choices in Granada
Free tapas abound in Granada... stop for a cerveza or sangria everywhere you can to sample the goods!
Porto, Lisbon, and the Algarve
I was just in the Algarve in early July. Lagos is definitely prettier/less touristy, and you are not far from the smaller town of Salema (12km) with the German-owned beach place, Mira Mar- fabulous traditional fish stew! Skip the Atlantico if you go to Salemma. Food was not good and service was lousy. We found a WONDERFUL traditional place, A Eira do Mel, in Vila do Bispo, just east of Salema. Best octopus I have ever had, and homestyle cataplana- prawns, pork, chorizo in the copper pot. They are slow-food subscribers. If you are in this area, be sure to visit Sagres and the fortress at the end of the world.
Rehearsal Dinner in Portsmouth Area?
New England Center aka Acorns at UNH is nearby, large, and fairly quiet during the summer. Lovely food. Huge, architecturally amazing dining room nestled among the tall tall trees.
http://www.newenglandcenter.com/Restaurant/menus.htm
Help - Joe Beef or Au Pied du Cochon
We are in town for the race and we ate at the bar at APdC last night.... started with 2 of the cromesquis, which is basically foie gras that is breaded and deep fried, leaving the inside pure molten liquid gold (foie gras). You HAVE to try one. $3.50 each.
We then had the Foie Gras Poutine, again, delicious. The sauces/gravy that they use are so rich- I think that the lighter colored one must be some sort of foie gras reduction or something. They cook the foie gras on the medium rare side, IMO, and that takes a little getting used to, but still very tasty.
For mains, Mr. OC had the Duck in a Can - phenomenal, as he said, it was the richest thing he has ever eaten. I had the Happy Pork Chop, which must have been 4 inches thick, seard crisp on the outside and moist and tender and juicy inside- it came on some chocroute and had a nice ragout of wild mushrooms and onions on top- it was so huge, I think I left about half. We skipped dessert- as it was, we needed a wheelbarrow to get out! Sitting at the bar was quite a treat for Mr. OC, who is a chef, as their kitchen is open and RIGHT there. In fact, Martin Picard himself signed the label from Mr.'s Duck in a Can so he has a fun souvenir.
We will return again next year! Be sure to call for a reservation- ours was at 10 pm and the place was still completely packed.
Pied de Cochon summer menu
Yay we just got a reservation at the bar Sat. at 10 pm! Mr. OC is hell-bent on Duck in a Can and I'll take a plate of those little deep fried foie gras balls and some poutine, please!
Visiting Montreal during the Grand Prix: Must try and must avoid?
We stay in the Plateau area every June for the GP, which is not touristy at all, except for the "daytrippers". One of our favorite places in that area is Biere et Compagnie - they have about 30 different preparations of mussels - and at least 100 kinds of beer! La Banquise for poutine... St. Hubert for inexpensive quick chicken dinner. We went to APdC last year, and it was worth every penny.
This year we are going to Justine Bistro au Vin after the race- it is far removed from all of the hoopla. We are also meeting friends for drinks at Gibby's, so we'll see how that goes.. Crescent St. is a zoo on GP weekend- we went a couple times but it is next to impossible to find a table!
And just a hint, if it is REALLY hot at the track, the Casino is air conditioned and has restaurants. Plan on waiting a long long time (2 hours on race day, easily) to catch the Metro back to the mainland after the events at the track each day.
Best place to buy cheese on way out of Montreal?
Thanks, everyone! Last year we did hit the Jean-Talon and LOVED it. The b&b doesn't ahve room (we have asked) and last summer it was VERY VERY HOT 90+ fahrenheit when we were there for the race, so leaving it out wasn't an option- we do like the stinky runny ones! I think we may try the Atwater- look easy to get to the highway- with the Canadian Grand Prix crowd, there is always SOOO much traffic but this is our annual journey and we can't wait. Thanks again!
Best place to buy cheese on way out of Montreal?
Hi, what is the best place to buy cheese when we are on our way driving back to NH? In the past, we have stopped at a supermarket in Broussard, but I am guessing there is probably somewhere else with a little more selection- we don't have capacity to buy it earlier, as we stay in a B&B with no refridgerator in the room.
Grodon Ramsey Restaurants for set lunch or dinner?
We ate at Boxwood Cafe for lunch on Jan. 2 while we were in London on holiday. The rest of our trip we swore by the Time Out Cheap Eats guide also! Boxwood, our splurge, was EXCELLENT. It is a bit difficult to find, and we had to stop and ask directions several times. It was expensive- I know they have a set lunch-21 pounds I think- but because Mr. Oddcouple is a chef, we ordered ala carte. It came to around 100 pounds sterling. The service was impeccable. For his "most casual" establishment, it was still fine dining by any standard! I had the Red wine braised shoulder of Dedham Vale beef with mashed potato, roasted carrots and baby spinach for my entree. It was outstanding. You definitely need reservations. It wasn't crowded when we went (Jan 2 when everyone goes back to work after the holiday) so we lingered for 2 hours, had a kitchen tour... it was just WOW.
best indian food in london?
Indian Brasserie on Rupert St. was excellent. Delicious. Reasonable. The service was a little stiff, but the food was so great I didn't care.
Paddington Area
We stayed in Paddington for a week in December--- Levantine has GREAT Lebanese, esp for lunch and good prices as well- there are a couple of good shwarma stands in the area also, and Pride of Paddington Pub has a great menu that is unlike the other pubs in the area.
Driving from NYC to Bow Lake Estates in Strafford, NH
Duranie70? As in Duran Duran? Do I know you? Do you post at dd.com/ddm.com? too funny if you do- maybe we know each other in an alternate universe! I live relatively near Strafford but don't know anywhere to eat ther- we usually just stop at Dunkin Donuts!
soft shell crab
I had some at Au Pied de Cochon- soft shell crab tempura stuffed w foie gras.... yummy. But beware- the foie gras maintains a "rare" consistency with this preparation!
