inuksuk's Profile
What are your must eats/buys at Chelsea Market?
At Buon Italia they sell this stuff called Vincotto ( http://www.vincotto.co.uk/ ). It's used a bit like balsamic vinegar but it has a pleasure all its own. I particularly like the vincotto with figs.
how many chowhounds also homebrew?
I used to homebrew, quit when I move to an apartment where it was impractial (too small, inconsistent temperature) but now I'm in a house where the basement is always a steady cool temp and I think I'm going to pick it up again. I think I'll just brew meads, however, good beer is a lot easier to find than it used to be.
Black Russian Rye?
Have you never been to Orwasher's Bakery? http://www.orwasherbakery.com/products.html Nothing in or around Brighton Beach is near as good as the breads they have been making at Orwasher's since your grandmother, you, probably your great grandmother, was a girl. Go there. Buy some bread. Be happy.
Looking for great pot roast recipe
I make a stracotto, an Italian style pot roast that's mostly like this: http://www.italianmade.com/recipes/recipe324.cfm although I usually use a nicer cut like a cross rib roast or a good hunk of chuck. What I like about a stracotto-style pot roast is that the braising liquid can be pureed in a blender (and cooked down a bit to thicken if necessary) and served as a pasta sauce, either with the roast or later in the week. The people I cook for love that. I don't exactly know why but they do. Well, in part because the little twerps hate potatoes, the natural side dish of pot roast but still...
How do you do your LOBSTER at home?
It's a bit of work (but then I don't serve lobster much) but roasted. http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2006/09/11/200589/roast-lobster.html
And, this is just my own personal taste mind you, I find putting butter on lobster like bringing coal to Newcastle. I like a thin mix of wasabi and soy sauce, particularly a shrimp flavoured soy sauce. Or Amoy brand oyster sauce with dried scallop. Yeah, you could make the coal/coal mining town analogy there too but that's what I like.
Ragu bolognese - question
I'm not Karl, but if I may, part of the reason is simply that the tomatoes that are in good enough condidtion to be canned whole are better than the ones that have to have bad spots taken off them. Those are the ones that wind up chopped up or crushed.
What do you drink with s'mores?
How about a rich, slightly sweet beer with minimal hop bitterness? Try a chocolate stout or a Scottish ale.
King Arthur Flour recipe for "No Knead" Bread
Please reread my post. I never claimed Lahey invented no knead bread. I only stated that his version, as printed in Bittman's article in the NYTimes, "got the ball rolling" or, to put it even plainer, set off the current popularity of the technique. Now reread the King Arthur version of the recipe. Their's is clearly inspired by the Lahey version. All I said is that I would have liked them to mention that.
King Arthur Flour recipe for "No Knead" Bread
How original.
Actually, I may try this to see how the changes from the Lahey/Sullivan Street Bakery recipe affect the results. It's good that the King Arthur people are trying to do new things with the no knead technique but they should at least tip their hat to the recipe that started the ball rolling.
NYers- what restaurants would you defend no matter what?
Two Boots, long ago when it was young and I was younger, was once a fine place. I can understand why someone would stay loyal to it. Not me, you understand, but someone.
how important is a computer in your kitchen?
It's handy but not important. I'm the type of cook who would rather make up an answer than look one up. However, instead of clipping recipes out of newspapers I have taken to copying them off of websites and saving them in text files. Some day (yeah, sure) I'm going to get a good database program and organize those suckers.
meatloaf
I take this recipe from Cooks Illustrated: http://www.shaboomskitchen.com/archives/beef/memeatloaf.html then I add one large, diced Spanish onion that has been cooked to a caramel colour and sweetness. Adjust the liquid if necessary to get the texture right.
Soaking Beans
As long as you cook the black beans in the water they soak in you should have no loss of colour. However, you will also retain the starch from that water and your beans will have an increased potential causing gas. There's your trade off.
Union Square Recommendations [moved from Site Talk]
Chat and Chew, just off the square on E. 16th street is dependable and in your price range. http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/chat_n_chew/ Give them a call first, however, someone mentioned they might be closed for renovations.
Searching for Canda Hot Cereal in US
Canadaonly.ca will sell you Red River Cereal in 3 package order. Does that help or is it merely half as bad?
http://www.canadaonly.ca/canadaonly.ca/market/namerica/cereals/index.html
Where can I get a Robot Coupe food processor? [Moved from Not About Food board]
Robot Coupe USA has a website http://robotcoupeusa.com/ and, even better, a 1-800 phone number (1-800-824-1646) so you can call them and ask. Good luck finding what you want.
NYers- what restaurants would you defend no matter what?
La Caridad 78. It is what it is and it never pretended to be anything else. Although, even I can't defend or even explain some of the stuff on the Chinese half of the menu.
ISO Sam's?? Bowery
Any chance you mean Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse: http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7084922/ ?
Killer appetizer needed
A real killer and one serious foodies will adore is rillettes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/glossary/r.shtml?rillettes If you start today or tomorrow you have plenty of time to make them. They may seem complicated but it is really just a little work today, a little more the next day and let them sit. They can be out on the table with no work involved the day of the party. I didn't include a recipe because I didn't know if you would want traditional pork rillettes, duck or something else. However, recipes abound on the web and are a google away. Personally, I like Anthony Bourdain's version in his Les Halles Cookbook. Have a fun evening.
Alcohol-Free Wine
Part of the problem is that no sensible winery would take good wine, go to the trouble and expense to dealcoholize it and then have to sell it for less. Alcohol free wine is made from the worst your friendly vintner has to offer, stuff he can't sell any other way.
hot dog casserole, i dare you!
I think it bears a distinct resemblance to one of KFC's Famous Bowls.
Worst food writing ever?
The issue re: Danyelle Freeman was discussed some in this thead: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/431079
You know you're a Chowhound when....
" You know you're a Chowhound when...."
Soon after you realize that canned soup is not an ingredient.
Things you like slightly burned or burnt?
Ah, we part company here. Burnt bacon is... just burnt. And crispy bacon is bacon with the fat, that is the flavour, cooked out of it. It's just salt and crackle. Crispy bacon tastes like pork rinds but has a less interesting texture.
Don't want to starve the Vegetarian at my Summer Party
It looks like you've planned thoughtfully and well. And you have some very good advice upstream. Just the same, it never hurts to have a few extra bowls of peanuts about the place. Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men... but everyone likes peanuts. Even the people who are deathly allergic to them like peanuts. Er, check on that too.
What is the Difference between Shawarma and Donair? [Split from Western Canada Board]
Oh, you just opened up a can of worms that I've been lugging about for years. What is the difference between shawarma and donair? In New York we had shawarma. (We had gyro too but the less said about that the better.) Shawarma was lamb or at least it was supposed to be. Sometimes it was turkey pretending to be lamb. Either way I knew what was what. Now I'm in Edmonton and, as you said, we have donair not shawarma. I have no idea what donair is made out of. I can't tell by looking at it or by the scent. What are those big hunks of revolving meat made out of? Do I really want to eat some of that?
Do You Ever "Cheat" With Ingredients for Dinner?
Now I'm the sort of purist/unbearable food snob (I answer to both) who makes his own mayonnaise. Hell, I make my own ketchup. But Patak's is brilliant. It's every bit as good as Mae Ploy Thai curry pastes. I could make curry pastes at home and make them just as good as... well, actually I can't. I could when I lived in New York but here I just cannot get the ingredients. Patak's and Mae Ploy are actually better than I can make, than a lot of people can make, at home. You gotta love that.
Things you like slightly burned or burnt?
First of all, almost everything cooked directly over a campfire needs a little touch of char, especially anything cooked on a stick like a hot dog or a marshmallow. A wee touch of the black never hurt a chunk vegetable or piece of fruit cooked on the outdoor grill either.
Now, in the kitchen, it's just not the same. Where there's not smoke folks just don't look for fire. Still, roasted tomatoes or peppers never look truly roasted without a bit of black for contrast.
Arby's, just how is their roast beef made?
This article on Snopes.com will not completely answer your question but might allay the worst of your fears. Arby's roast beef is not made from some sort of meat-flavoured congealed gel. I think, just my own guess mind you, that Arby's beef is just cheap round roast that has been tenderized with papain (or something) to its peculiar, almost gelatinous texture. http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/arbys.asp
Worst food writing ever?
I'm more bemused than offended but clearly Mr. Duncan is trying too hard to impress.
