Serious Eats: FosterSJC's Profile

For a tastier, organic alternative to Ibarra / Abuelita, try Taza Chocolate. We make small batch, bean-to-bar chocolate in Somerville, MA. We're the only producer in the US of 100% stone ground, organic chocolate. We roast, winnow, grind, temper, and mold our chocolate in house and by hand on vintage machines. And we use exclusively organic, sustainable, and Direct Trade ingredients (a la Intelligentsia Coffee) to craft our chocolate. Plus, we make a version with in-house roasted organic salted almonds, so no need for that extra dollop of peanut butter (unless you want it). /me obviously works for Taza, and loves the chocolate.

FosterSJC at 3:12PM on 03/30/09

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Fat'

This is obviously a helluva tough one... I was tempted to say Spaghetti Carbonara or Bucatini all'amtriciana, both with disgusting amounts of guanciale - jowl fat.

Then I thought, well, roast stewed pork belly Japanese style - think Kaku-Ni from the likes of Chiyono or Sakagura - which is basically just hunks of pork belly troubled by modest amounts of meat. In this category also falls the fresh-roasted smoked uncured pork belly sold in the better Greenpoint meatmarkets.

But, I would say number one fat dish for me is not a dish at all: it's sort of an ingredient: pie crust made with fresh lard. Last january we butchered a couple of pigs at a friend's farm... these pigs were fed on whey and lived outside in winter, which left them with a 3 inch think layer of fat all along their backs, as well as tons of leaf-lard inside their bodies. We took some of it back to NYC, rendered and filtered and cleaned it all up, and used it to make unbelievable pie crusts.

Apple pie with pork-lard pie crust is probably at the top of my list.

FosterSJC at 4:39PM on 10/15/08

From Serious Eats

Served: A Little Extra Something

Cute story, Hannah. Hope you're well. Still confused about the monkeys bit... I guess that's the point.

FosterSJC at 9:55AM on 10/07/08

From Talk

Question of the Day: Memorable fortune cookies ...

"A carrot a day, may keep cancer away"

I'm not sure what's more troubling... the dubious medical advice or the oddly placed comma.

FosterSJC at 12:30PM on 02/21/07

From Talk

What's your favorite kitchen sound?

I'd say the "ssshhhhh... WHOOSH" of the coffee in a glass vacuum pot being sucked from the top compartment back into the bottom.

Sizzling bacon, obviously.

My favorite visual in the kitchen happens when you salt almost-boiling water for pasta at just the right temperature. If everything is right, the salt dissolves instantly in a sort of reverse mushroom cloud effect, and the water jumps right up to boiling. Amazing. It's about 3 seconds of beauty.

FosterSJC at 11:17AM on 02/14/07

From Talk

Question of the Day: Where did you have your most romantic dinner?

Marlowe & Sons in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I celebrated my valentine's return from a long trip with a late-night meal at this gem. Started with oysters and champagne, finished with the best roast chicken in the city (cooked "under a brick" - not novel, but this version's delicious).

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

FosterSJC at 10:57AM on 02/14/07

From Talk

Which wich?

I second the Rueben, although I prefer mustard to Russian dressing on my Ruebens. David Rosengarten did a great segment on the Rueben on his show Taste... gosh, that must have been 10 years ago or more.

I'll have to ask him about it.

FosterSJC at 3:06PM on 01/19/07

From Talk

One pot meals?

Hungarian food is always a great place to turn for one pot meals. They've got whole cookbooks devoted to "kettle cooking", a large cast iron pot, hung on a sort of tripod, heated over an open fire.

Goulash, Porkolt, Paprikas, etc. are all great one-pot dishes. Just don't skimp on the paprika! Pride of Szeged is probably the best widely available variety, but you can probably do better at local hungarian ethnic groceries - if your town has one, that is.

FosterSJC at 3:05PM on 01/19/07

From Talk

What's the secret in your chili recipe?

Hand-chopped chuck beef. Roma beans (not pinto or kidney). Five types of chile: dried ancho, chipotle, pequin, habanero, and fresh jalapenos. Blue Point Toasted Lager. A TINY bit of unsweetened Scharffenberger chocolate. Lots of fresh scallions, cilantro, and lime juice.

FosterSJC at 3:01PM on 01/19/07

From Talk

still want to know the best bbq in NC

Hmmm... 'Matt Lang' does have that sort of familiar ring to it. Matt has previously cooked at Pearl Oyster Bar, and perhaps 1 or 2 other spots around the city. He's not especially well-established though, so I doubt you've heard of him. He does wear the part of Williamsburg BBQ cook exceedingly well, though. Maybe that will help your mind's eye to picture him.

FosterSJC at 11:19AM on 11/29/06

From Serious Eats

'How Moist Was My Turkey'

Adam, great post. But two questions have continued to plague me, in spite of this brilliant treatment. What I need to know, and what inquiring minds desperately seek to understand, is: a) Really, how funky is your chicken? and, b) Just how loose is your goose?

'Cause if your turkey is that moist, I can't even fathom the funky-osity of which your chicken must partake, and the sheer looseness of your goose. I mean, if a goose is THAT loose, how does it even keep it together? Huh? Riddle me this...

FosterSJC at 12:50PM on 11/28/06

From Talk

still want to know the best bbq in NC

Keep an eye out for Fette Sau in Williamsburg. Run by the owners of Spuyten Duyvil, this place has an entire wall devoted to the various cuts of meat. Tap handles made from cleavers and butcher knives, a bar built of 4 x 4's, wooden picnic tables, and a chef (Matt Lang) with a tattoo almost as rad as mine, make this place a promising contender. I'll let you know when they open to the public.

FosterSJC at 12:45PM on 11/28/06