srgoodman's Profile
ktichen torch
I recommend the Bernzomatic TS3000 torch, which any hardware store or Walmart type discount store will have for $25 - $30, including a 1 lb tank of propane. It's got a self-lighting trigger mechanism and a pressure regulator.
The pressure regulator is an important feature for culinary use. It allows you to invert the torch (as you'll want to do for creme brulee) without putting out the flame.
http://www.bernzomatic.com/PRODUCTS/KITS/TORCHKITS/tabid/215/ctl/Detail/mid/1147/xmid/6963/xmfid/3/Default.aspx
Restaurants in Portsmouth NH
Yes, yes, yes!
Sit upstairs by the windows, if you can, overlooking the harbor.
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Black Trumpet Bistro
29 Ceres Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801
Quick early dinner near Lahey Peabody?
Legal Sea Foods at the North Shore Mall has the advantage that you don't have to go out on the street to get there from the Lahey - the mall access road is adjacent. (Traffic in that area can be quite bad at 5 - 6 PM.)
And, after having had bad experiences at the Legal at both Burlington and Chestnut Hill, I'm still happy with the NS Mall branch.
My Technivorm quit--service?
Although Sweet Maria's is an excellent source of information, they buy their Technivorm Brewers from Boyd's, who are indeed the only US distributor.
Looking for good lattes in greater Boston - like in Seattle
I was in Seattle a year ago, and Victrola was absolutely the best I've ever had - straight shot, brewed coffee, or cappuccino. And Zoka was pretty darned close. (Vivace, or the other hand, was a bitter disappointment (pun intended). Given their reputation, I must assume I hit them on a bad day.)
Though I haven't tried some of the newer places (Voltage, et al), no place I've tried in the Boston area has hit the mark as well as the better places in Seattle. Almost to my surprise, the best I've had locally is at Atomic Cafe in Beverly.
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Atomic Cafe
265 Cabot St, Beverly, MA
Please help me find a Non-Plastic auto-drip coffee maker.
I've read in several forums that the Bunn commercial coffeemakers have a full stainless path, but I cannot easily find an authoritative web page on their site (www.bunn.com). I'd suggest you call them:
BUNN Corporate Headquarters
Operators are available from 6:30 am to 5:30 pm CT. Monday - Friday
Phone: 217-529-6601
Phone: 800-637-8606
Please help me find a Non-Plastic auto-drip coffee maker.
You didn't mention your price range. Bunn commercial coffee makers have a stainless steel tank, and either come with a stainless steel funnel (most don't), or one can be purchased separately. $225+ for the coffee maker, $50 for the funnel if you choose a model that doesn't include it.
Bunn coffee makers also store a tank of water and keep it at brewing temperature. This allows the brewer to brew a pot of coffee in three minutes. This is useful in a commercial environment, but wasteful in most home environments, unless you're brewing multiple pots of coffee a day.
Looking for green/unroasted coffee beans
The Atomic Cafe Roastery in Salem, MA sells a large variety of green beans at very reasonable prices - about 40 - 60% of roasted prices. You can pick up at the roastery in Salem, or their retail cafes in Beverly or Marblehead.
http://www.atomicafe.com/pages/webstore.html
and select "pickup" as your shipping method
Terroir used to be a good source of green, but they seem to be phasing that out. Their web site now shows only three coffees available green.
Teresa's of Middleton
I've eaten at Teresa's a couple of times, and I agree with mcel215.
The only thing you missed out on is if you were so angry you forgot to go across the street to Richardson's to pick up some milk and ice cream!
Not happy with Trader Joe's coffee.
I-Roast-2s and i-Roast-2 parts are back in stock at the manufacturer, and new iRoast-2s are starting to show up at the online vendors.
https://www.i-roast.com/asp/pro_02_05.asp
It's not clear if Sweet Maria's has decided to restock Hearthware products, given their 14 month or so absence from the market, and failure to honor warranties in that time frame, presumably due to lack of parts.
That said, I've got two i-Roast2s, and really like them. I may pick up an extra glass roasting chamber, just in case, while they are available.
Microplane - Issues Grating Parmesan
Using a food processor with a grating disk is the best way I've found to grate Parmesan in quantity. I use a Cuisinart DLC-835 grating disk for my older Cuisinart. It goes through hard cheeses like a buzz saw.
Amazon reference:
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-DLC-835TXAMZ-Grater-11-Cup-Processors/dp/B00004S9CE
Newburyport? Soup, salad, sandwich type place? Veggie friendly? {Not a requiement}
I also recommend the Purple Onion.
If you're up by the rotary/courthouse area, try the Carry Out Cafe. Despite their name, they do have some seating.
http://www.carryoutcafe.com/
Blow Torch? Recommendations please
I agree with the others - that one (the Bernzomatic TS3000) is *exactly* the model you want. It's got a regulator, which will prevent the flame from going out if you invert the torch. It also has a self-lighting feature which, while not essential, is very convenient.
You can buy the replacement propane tanks at any hardware store and many supermarkets, for a couple of bucks. A one pound tank will last a *very* long time in home use.
Why did Julia Child use electric burners?
A little Googling finds that Julia Child used a Garland Model 182 six burner commercial *gas* stove in her own Cambridge kitchen. That stove, along with the rest of her kitchen, is currently on display at the Smithsonian.
From the Smithsonian site:
"Via a restaurateur friend (a man nicknamed "The Buffalo"), the Childs bought this used, six-burner restaurant stove for $429 in Washington, D.C., in 1956. They shipped this Model 182 Garland commercial gas range to their Cambridge home in 1961, where it remained until Smithsonian staff removed it in late 2001. Julia cooked meals, tested recipes, and gave cooking lessons on her much-loved "big Garland" for over forty years. During the three cooking shows taped in her home kitchen, she used a handier electric wall oven but was never as pleased by its performance."
http://americanhistory.si.edu/kitchen/tools01_01.htm
Thermapen: Where to get the best price?
Why not contact Thermoworks anyhow? They may surprise you. If not, you've lost nothing.
andouille?
I believe you mean Leidy's. I like it, too, though it probably wouldn't fly in New Orleans.
Thermapen: Where to get the best price?
Need that level of accuracy? Probably not, but the Thermapen read 212 for nearly five years when immersed in boiling water, so I was irked when it changed.
Thermoworks provides a boiling point calculator on their web site:
http://www.thermoworks.com/software/bpcalc.html
which allows you to adjust for both elevation and current barometric pressure.
This is more important in Denver or Mexico City than Boston or Toronto, of course.
Thermapen: Where to get the best price?
You can also recalibrate on your own - there are two recalibration screws under the label. If you email Thermoworks, they'll send you complete instructions. They even sent me a new label to cover up the screws when I was done. (I bought my Thermapen in 2004, and it was reading 214 for boiling when I recalibrated it last year. It's been spot on ever since.)
Apple Picking close to Boston
Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury may still have pick your own apples. Probably worth a call first. They definitely have pumpkins and yummy freshly made cider doughnuts (and cider).
http://www.ciderhill.com
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Cider Hill Farm
45 Fern Ave, Amesbury, MA
Food vouchers at Topsfield Fair and what to eat?
I've been going to the Topsfield Fair, off-and-on, for over thirty years. And, overall, the food is disappointing.
Exceptions:
Anna's Fried Dough, when freshly made - don't get fried dough from any other vendor (Anna's has three or four booths at the Fair), and only get it fresh from the fryolater. (Last year I fell victim to another vendor offering "cherry" fried dough - of course it was canned cherry pie filling on a cracker hard piece of fried dough. Into the trash, and back to Anna's!)
Some of the freshly-cut french fries are good, too - look for vendors cutting up potatoes in a hand-operated machine.
Actually, some of the Italian sausage subs can be pretty good, too. Look for a high-turnover booth, and sausages hot off the grill.
Some places and things to avoid:
the booth selling hot corn - it's awful!
corn dogs - they're never fresh
the B'nai B'rith booth - I know good deli, and that's not it!
any food booth that isn't busy.
Lastly, don't waste your money on a food voucher. They're good for combo "meals" at places like the Kowloon booth, and worse.
Ithaki, Ipswich MA
Well, we finally got to Ithaki for lunch this past Saturday. Overall grade: B- .
First of all, none of you mentioned that they moved the front door! It took us a couple of minutes to find the new door. We later watched another couple go through the same confusion.
The main dining room was closed - they were only serving lunch in the bar area, which was mostly full. We ordered things we'd had before the renovation, to try to do an apples-to-apples comparison.
They still serve the same bread, red pepper and feta dip, and excellent olive oil when you arrive. No change there.
We shared an order of the meatballs to start. They were as good as ever, and Ithaki's tzatziki remains world-class.
For lunch, my wife had the Greek salad with a grilled chicken breast. The Greek salad remains as you described in your OP, although I would not call the portion size small. The tomatoes were fully ripe, bland, mealy winter tomatoes - for which there is no excuse this time of year. My wife commented on the blandness of the feta cheese. I tasted it, and if blindfolded, probably never would have identified it as feta. The marinated chicken breast was slightly over cooked, but still very tasty.
I had the chicken gyro. It, too, came with an overcooked but tasty marinated chicken breast, delicious tzatziki, and winter tomatoes. The portion size was as large as ever.
They used to serve very good oven roasted potatoes with the gyro. They've changed that to shoestring french fries, which tasted of old oil. I much preferred the oven roasted potatoes.
My wife noted that there were flowers in the closed dining room, but none in the bar area.
The service was friendly, but a bit on the slow side. Before the renovation, Katrina always seemed to be our server for Saturday lunch, and we certainly miss her.
As I mentioned above, overall I give the experience a B-. I'm ready to try dinner at Ithaki now, and hope for the best. I'm not rushing it, though...
Cooks Illus. April 2010 Issue Tests Staub dutch oven Against Le Creuset
As the OP said, March/April 2010. See "Equipment Corner" on page 52, the last page.
Choosing a Pot for Cooking Lobsters
I use something similar to your canning pot.
To cook lobsters, I use a 175,000 BTU outdoor propane cooker (normally used for brewing beer) and about two inches of water. (I don't worry about the fact that a couple of the lobsters are partially submerged. ) The lobsters are easily removed with 16" tongs, like these:
http://www.amazon.com/Edlund-Restaurant-Tongs-Scalloped-INCH/dp/B001J9U8Q2
and placed into a big bowl for serving. The big bowl becomes the shell bowl after serving.
I can't think of a use for a spigot for cooking lobsters. The spigot is useful for steamed softshell clams, where the clam broth is served alongside the clams. (The broth isn't consumed - it's for rinsing stray sand off the clams.)
What is it?
Yup - egg separator/whisk. You can still buy them:
http://www.wdrake.com/WalterDrake/Shopping/ProductDetail.aspx?CID=Kitchen&SCID=Gadgets+%26+Tools&ProductID=BC00338578&SourceCode=20509000003&mr:referralID=4ad6d2ad-c029-11df-adf3-000423bb4e79
Best coffee maker under $75?
To the wayback machine, Sherman!
http://web.archive.org/web/20060220094600/www.bodumusa.com/shop/line.asp?MD=1&GID=52&LID=280&CHK=&SLT=&mscssid=K8G0UWHVT3L68KKA36WDC798A41X5K3A
The electric Santos was cleverly sold with the exact same name as the manual Santos, which both pre-dated and existed after the electric version was discontinued (around 2006 or 2007, IIRC). You can still buy the manual Santos today:
http://www.bodumusa.com/shop/line.asp?MD=1&GID=3&LID=542&HID=1208-01&CHK=&SLT=&mscssid=MSUX7LDDXV4C8MRS00NH9SJL82490B66
Best Coffee Thermos?
ATK's negative rating was for the Nissan Travel Tumbler, *not* the Nissan Backpack Thermos, which they didn't test. I don't own one, but have read many reviews of the Backpack Thermos where it was highly rated, especially for its failure to leak.
Amazon has it as 4.5 out of 5 stars.
http://www.amazon.com/Thermos-JMW500P6-16-Ounce-Stainless-Steel-Backpack/dp/B000K604P0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1284323846&sr=8-1
If you don't mind the logo, Green Mountain sells it a little cheaper:
http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com/Accessories/Logo-Backpacker-Thermos?__utma=1.4516758737194746000.1284323913.1284323913.1284323913.1&__utmb=1.4.10.1284323913&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1284323913.1.1.utmcsr&__utmv=-&__utmk=33778849
Best Coffee Thermos?
Thermos Nissan Canada is based in Toronto. I assume they can point you at someone local to you. If not, storm their office. (j/k)
Canadian Thermos Products Inc.
370 King Street West, Suite 302, Box 11
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 1J9
Tel: 416.757.6231 Toll Free: 1.800.669.7065
Best coffee maker under $75?
Bee House drippers are still made. I know Sweet Maria's (http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmarias/coffee-brewers/filtercones.html) sells them, and probably some other places.
In fact, searching the web, I found a place with a *black* Bee House I might have to have.
And, in Seattle, Zoka coffee shops use Bee House ceramic drippers in-house for making one cups to order.
