JGordon’s Profile

Recent Comments

From Serious Eats

Unique Food Trends: Denver, Colorado

Yay for a Denver post! I used to think Denver didn't have much going for it in the way of unique food offerings, but then I started to travel more and realized how hard it was to find fast-casual food outlets (Chipotle, Tokyo Joe's, The Spicy Pickle, Noodles, etc.) and decent green chile anywhere else. You can find anything you want here, as Denver's "Crossroads of the West" location pulls in good representatives of all types of food cultures.

From A Hamburger Today

Grilled: Ashley Todd of Dream Burger

Finally, someone who shares my dislike of ketchup on a burger. I definitely agree that ketchup is too sugary and flavorful for a burger. It's great on fries, though.

@dmcavanagh: 4 posts down from this one we have a burger that has "tomato, lettuce, onion, fried egg, beet, bacon, pineapple, and cheese" on it. While lettuce and tomato might be too much for you, I think very few people would classify it as "tons of shit on a bun."

From Serious Eats

Houston: Boudin Kolaches at Shipley Do-nuts

I too grew up eating savory kolaches (and cream cheese kolaches!) in central Texas, but hadn't had one in over 15 years since moving to Denver. So when I happened to drive by a place called Kolache Factory here in Denver (http://www.kolachefactory.com/), I immediately pulled in. It was, perhaps, the most satisfying meal I'd ever eaten. The satisfaction of a 15 year craving is incomparable.

From Recipes

Gluten-Free Tuesday: Juniper Berries

I use Juniper berries when I make my bastardized carnitas in the crock-pot. They add a delicious, fresh flavor that no one can ever identify. This simple addition really elevates the flavor.

See more comments by JGordon ยป

Recent Posts

JGordon hasn't written a post yet.

Recent Favorites

JGordon hasn't favorited a post yet.

Recent Polls

JGordon hasn't answered any polls yet.

Recent Quizzes

JGordon hasn't taken any quizzes yet.

Recent Comments | Response to Comments

From Serious Eats

Unique Food Trends: Denver, Colorado

Yay for a Denver post! I used to think Denver didn't have much going for it in the way of unique food offerings, but then I started to travel more and realized how hard it was to find fast-casual food outlets (Chipotle, Tokyo Joe's, The Spicy Pickle, Noodles, etc.) and decent green chile anywhere else. You can find anything you want here, as Denver's "Crossroads of the West" location pulls in good representatives of all types of food cultures.

From A Hamburger Today

Grilled: Ashley Todd of Dream Burger

Finally, someone who shares my dislike of ketchup on a burger. I definitely agree that ketchup is too sugary and flavorful for a burger. It's great on fries, though.

@dmcavanagh: 4 posts down from this one we have a burger that has "tomato, lettuce, onion, fried egg, beet, bacon, pineapple, and cheese" on it. While lettuce and tomato might be too much for you, I think very few people would classify it as "tons of shit on a bun."

From Serious Eats

Houston: Boudin Kolaches at Shipley Do-nuts

I too grew up eating savory kolaches (and cream cheese kolaches!) in central Texas, but hadn't had one in over 15 years since moving to Denver. So when I happened to drive by a place called Kolache Factory here in Denver (http://www.kolachefactory.com/), I immediately pulled in. It was, perhaps, the most satisfying meal I'd ever eaten. The satisfaction of a 15 year craving is incomparable.

From Recipes

Gluten-Free Tuesday: Juniper Berries

I use Juniper berries when I make my bastardized carnitas in the crock-pot. They add a delicious, fresh flavor that no one can ever identify. This simple addition really elevates the flavor.

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

Interesting. I've been using Classico sauces for a few years, and they are good but not great. We also make a big batch of homemade marinara periodically, so there's normally a jar or two in the freezer, but those can take 2 whole days to defrost so they don't always fit into the quick category.

I'll give this a shot, but at $6/jar it had better be ROCKIN' compared to my $3/jar Classico.

From Recipes

Seriously Meatless: Caramelized Onion, Potato, and Blue Cheese Tart

This looks delicious! To make it a little simpler and quicker, could you use store-bought phyllo dough or puff pastry? I hate rolling out dough, I always fail. :-(

From A Hamburger Today

Prime Meats Burger: One Step Away from Greatness

Looks great, but you call that medium? Medium to me means "a fair bit of pink in the middle" -- that burger has some pretty good red going on, and definitely looks medium-rare at most.

From Serious Eats

Mini Deep-Fryer

I have a small 2qt electric fryer, and it definitely has trouble keeping the temp up after dumping in the food. I'd have to imagine a 1 qt version would be even worse. I really want to upgrade to a 4 qt model for the better temp control and to fry larger batches, but don't have the space for it currently.

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

While I love me a good wilted spinach salad, I partake in raw spinach salads on a regular basis. Raw baby spinach, crumbled chevre, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, and a simple balsamic vinegar & oil dressing is a fantastic starter salad to add on to almost any meal.

This salad looks great. I'm not a hard-boiled egg fan -- would scrambled eggs work? Would some other protein be a good addition?

From Serious Eats

Serious Heat: So Many Spicy Barbecue Sauces, So Little Time

Sweet Baby Ray's Hot n' Spicy is my favorite BBQ sauce. It's really not all that spicy, so I sometimes add a dash of cayenne pepper, but the flavor really can't be beat. That is, of course, if you are looking for a sweet, KC-style sauce.

I've been trying to make my own BBQ sauce, and after trying a half-dozen recipes I've just about given up. The Sweet Baby Ray's is just too good!

From Serious Eats

'Consumer Reports' Rates Fast Food French Fries

@Lorena - While McD's used to cook their fries in beef tallow, they switched to pure veggie oil in 1990. They used some natural and artificial flavorings to make sure the taste didn't change, but there's no animal products in their fries now.

http://www.rense.com/general7/whyy.htm

From Recipes

Serious Heat: Fruit Salsa: Love 'em or Hate 'em?

I'm in the "hate fruit salsa" camp. I love regular salsa, I love fruit, but mix them up and they are nasty. This extends to "hot fruit" as well -- my fruit should be chilled or at room temperature. No canadian bacon & pineapple pizza for me!

From Recipes

Cook the Book: Chilaquiles Verdes

Mmmm. Looks good. Will have to add this to the Chilaquiles Rojo recipe I have from SE that I still need to try.

From Serious Eats

'The Next Food Network Star' Week 3

I agree that they should have both been voted off. Now Teddy is just a lame duck, as there's no way he'll be on the show for another episode or two. Could have used that early vote-off as way to keep all the contestants on for some week when they all do pretty well.

I don't remember there being this much in-fighting, lying, and personality clashes in previous seasons of NFNS. Guess it all depends on the mix of personalities you get.

From Serious Eats

Who Makes the Best Vanilla Ice Cream?

Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla is definitely not just my favorite vanilla, but my favorite ice cream all told. But those of you who are mad it's not on this list need to remember that they were reviewing "nationally available" ice cream. Outiside of Texas, Blue Bell is hard to come by.

I live in Colorado now, and the only way I can get blue bell is to order it online in 4 half-gallon increments for $119 -- I don't have the freezer space to store 4 half-gallons at a time or the ice cream budget to spend $30 on a half-gallon. :-(

From A Hamburger Today

The Kitchn on How to Build a Better Burger

Omit the mayo and mustard, and this looks like my kind of burger.

From Recipes

Grilling: Basic Barbecue Sauce

Looks a lot like the BBQ sauce I make, though I also use liquid smoke and prefer red wine vinegar to cider vinegar. I felt the same way as everyone else about store-bought bbq sauce until about 1.5 years ago when I discovered Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce (especially the spicy variety), which is in all the stores around here. That stuff is the bomb! Now I find myself trying to re-jigger my homemade stuff to taste *as good* (not even better!) as the store-bought, which is possibly the first time I've ever cooked something and actually liked the prepared, processed, high HFCS version better!

Though I did have the opportunity to make my sauce this past weekend, as I had some Kosher friends coming over for BBQ and I don't think the Sweet Baby Ray's stuff is Kosher. They seemed to like my BBQ sauce just fine, so maybe all is not lost.

From A Hamburger Today

A Closer Look at Le Tub's Cheeseburger

@Blork, if you think a 1/2 pound (8oz) is too much, this burger would destroy you at over 3/4 pound (13oz).

I personally, like 1/2 pound burgers as the upper edge of my size. 1/4 - 1/2 is perfect. And I agree with many others, this burger looks way too rare for my tastes.

From Slice

Beau Jo's: A Rocky Mountain Original

I'm in the Beau Jo's is decent-but-not-great camp. It's fun to eat at every once in a while, but there are better pizzerias out there. You mentined The Oven -- I eat there once every couple of weeks, including this past Tuesday. The toppings (especially the house-made mozzarella and house-made sausage) are fantastic, as are all of the appetizers and salads. But the crust seems to have gone downhilll over the last six months -- what used to be crispy and chewy is now thin and crackery. Unfortunate, as the toppings are so good. But I still go for the overall experience.

I've been meaning to try Buenos Aires pizzeria, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

From Serious Eats: New York

This Week in 'New York Times' Food News

Just an FYI -- the Freezer link goes to an article about beer, which was quite interesting in its own right.

From Recipes

Healthy and Delicious: Pasta e Ceci

@amykjensen - You left out the most important part! How was it? :-)

From Talk

Why do college students love pizza?

When I was in college (2000-2003) the local Papa Johns had a deal that was 2 large 2-topping pizzas for $12. Add on a few bucks for delivery/tip/tax and you've just fed 4 hungry college guys for $15 in the comfort of their own home.

As a value/taste equation for broke college kids who aren't that picky about quality food, it's damn near impossible to beat pizza.

From Serious Eats

Which Pasta Shape Goes with Which Sauce?

I have to admit that I almost exclusively use the smaller, bite-size pasta in my cooking (farfalle, rotini, penne, etc.), as I find they are versatile and it's a lot easier to keep a couple varieties on hand. I'm actually not a big fan of noodles (bucatini, fettucine, etc), as I seem to be thoroughly incapable of eating anything noodle based without getting sauce all over my shirt and chin. So even fettucine alfredo becomes farfalle alfredo at my house.

From Serious Eats

Serious Cheese: On Raw-Milk Cheese

Jamie, thanks for the info. I just saw this today, and it's nice to hear some more background. It makes sense that the "good bacteria" and high salt content would limit the growth of bad bacteria. Maybe I'll have to hunt down some raw milk cheeses at my local grocer and see what I've been missing.

@danirose87, I'm going to have to call BS on a significant portion of your post. The pasteurization of milk has long been (and still is) considered a major triumph of public health policy, and is responsible for one of the largest reductions in infectious disease transmission in history.

Your comparison to eggs and chicken is totally invalid and illogical -- eggs and chicken are cooked before eating, which kills off salmonella. Raw milk is obviously not cooked. There is essentially no comparison possible between cooked products and raw milk -- the vast majority of salmonella poisoning cases stem from undercooked chicken or raw egg consumption. The effective comparison would be to "cooked milk" -- aka pasteurized milk -- where salmonella poisoning is equally rare.

I also have not seen any data to indicate that pasteurized milk consumption is "one of the leading causes of health problems." Overeating, the vast abundance of cheap food, and a lack of exercise are the leading causes behind obesity. I'm about three-quarters of the way towards receiving my Master's in Public Health -- which is a significant part of the reason I'm interested in this topic -- and I've never heard a professor, seen a text, or read an article that referred to pasteurization of milk as anything but a resounding success.

I'd like to see some legitimate peer-reviewed articles backing up your points. A quick search of PubMed did not lead me to any articles with a positive view of raw milk, yet I found many, many articles detailing the pathogen-transmission capabilities of raw milk. In fact, here is a couple of direct quotes from the first relevant article in my search for "unpasteurized milk:"
"Despite concerns to the contrary, pasteurization does not change the nutritional value of milk."
"The consumption of milk that is not pasteurized increases the risk of contracting disease from a foodstuff that is otherwise very nutritious and healthy."
(Food safety: unpasteurized milk: a continued public health threat. Lejeune JT, Rajala-Schultz PJ. Clin Infect Dis. 2009 Jan 1;48(1):93-100. Review.)

There were very few papers available addressing raw-milk cheeses, either positively or negatively.

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Chilaquiles Rojos

I too am surprised that Chilaquiles haven't made their way up here. I went to Mexico a couple of times last year, and couldn't stop eating the chilaquiles. They are so good! I'm glad to see a recipe pop up on serious eats, its kind of hard to find a good recipe online.

From Serious Eats

Unique Food Trends: Denver, Colorado

I recently moved from Denver to St Louis and didn't think Denver really had a unique food trend. Reading this article reminded me that I've eaten Chipotle, Noodles & Company and drank Fat Tire just within the last four days. Also ate at Beau Jo's on my last trip home. I miss Colorado...

From Serious Eats

Unique Food Trends: Denver, Colorado

Yay, Denver food. I am also puzzled at the failure to mention Tokyo Joe's or Thai Basil. But really excited that Pablo's Coffee got a (small) mention. Check 'em out, they make the BEST coffee ever!

From Serious Eats

Unique Food Trends: Denver, Colorado

Although it's in Fort Collins, not Denver, you can't talk about Colorado craft brewers without mentioning New Belgium Brewing Co - the best beers in the state. And for a huge selection (75+) of tap beers, specializing in microbreweries and imports, you can't beat the Falling Rock Tap House on Blake St in LoDo, near Coors Field.

From Serious Eats

Unique Food Trends: Denver, Colorado

I am popping down to Denver this weekend and no trip there would be complete without breakfast at Snooze. And maybe a second breakfast at Mona's.

Denver is THE PLACE for breakfasts!

From A Hamburger Today

Best Burgers in Denver from 'Westword'

I am an absolute sucker for Bud's Bar, and I too do not care for My Brother's Bar at all (Review Found Here) Cherry Cricket was impressive with it's selection and creativity mixed with good quality and atmosphere. I've never heard of The Counter, haven't yet tried Smashburger (But agree that Culver's makes a darn good chain burger... and GoodTimes as well: Angus beef, thick bacon, homemade custard...) I was sorely disappointed, though, with City Grille, and I'm glad that reviewers are starting to go beyond that to find a "Favorite" burger in and near Denver. Also: I'm looking forward to trying out this "In-N-Out clone" we apprently have!

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

I'm with the other posters on here. If I wanted a recipe i'd have asked for one. Bought Mario Batali's sauce last night at Food Emporium in midtown Manhattan.

"Pasta sauce, almost by definition, is fast and easy to make. Stop wasting your money on these BS, corn syrup-laden monstrosities. " Uh, there is no corn syrup or sugar added to the Batali sauces. They are incredible!

Keep you comments to facts girlie...

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

just bought this at publix in central fl for $6. i chose the arribiata sauce because i wanted some heat. IT WAS HOT!! delicious, but if you aren't into spicy foods..this is not for you.

From Recipes

Gluten-Free Tuesday: Juniper Berries

thanks for the post!

I have had two ounces of Juniper berries (also from World Spice!) sitting in my cupboard for a few months just wishing they were being better used. So far I've been crushing them and adding them to loose black tea, which is delicious, but I've been hankering for some new ideas.

From Recipes

Gluten-Free Tuesday: Juniper Berries

While living in Germany, I learned how to make great sauerkraut with juniper berries, apples and potatoes.

From Recipes

Gluten-Free Tuesday: Juniper Berries

I add juniper berries to the mixture I use to brine pork and poultry. mmmm, not only does it taste wonderful, I love just opening the jar to smell it.

From Recipes

Gluten-Free Tuesday: Juniper Berries

As a game cook, I use several pounds of juniper berries every year. Venison and duck are classics, but they go well with moose, antelope, goose, chupacabra, wild boar, wombat, pigeon, dove and especially hummingbird...

Seriously, the berries are soft and resinous, making them very tough to grind to a powder. You need to toast them first if you want this. I typically just coarse grind them. More rustic that way...

From Recipes

Gluten-Free Tuesday: Juniper Berries

Yummmm. Carnitas with juniper berries in the crock-pot--I'm trying that one. Great column, as always.

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

@Mayab7: if you are in NYC area, sauces will be in Food Emporium as of this week.
The Sauces have no added sugar, paste or puree and use fresh ingredients. That is why they taste fresh but also carry a higher price tag than the Pregos and Ragus and Classico or Newman's or Barilla which all use these additive ingredients.

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

I just discovered MB's Vodka and Marinara Sauces. Because I'm such a fan I bought one of each. We had the Vodka sauce the other night and I decided I never need to make pasta sauce again! I could never touch the quality of this sauce. It had a little heat, bits of fresh tomato and garlic. It was so yummy. Now I have a problem. I cannot find the sauce anywhere! Either I can't remember where I found it, or where I got it has run out, or they aren't carrying it anymore. I am obsessed. I must find where to purchase this sauce.

From Serious Eats

Serious Cheese: On Raw-Milk Cheese

Jamie,
Love your stuff. I'm a fellows Brooklyn Cheesemaker.
Have a look at my blog at: http://cheesenbread.wordpress.com/

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

@carriebwc : hear, hear!
Personally, I simply cannot make a huge batch of sauce and freeze it -- my miniscule apartment has a miniscule fridge with a miniscule freezer in it... all it holds is one ice cube tray and a couple of chicken breasts.

As others have said, spaghetti is my "I'm dog-tired and I'm not cooking tonight" meal. When I want to dirty a bunch of pans and stand over the stove for 30 minutes, I make something a lot more interesting than spaghetti!!

I haven't seen Batali's sauce in my supermarket... I'm a little taken aback by the price tag, but I'd be willing to try it once, just to see if it really blows my old stand-by, Classico, out of the water.

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

I found them at Whole Foods in NY Columbus Circle. I tried the Alla Vodka and Arrabiata, both were wonderful. The Alla Vodka actually had real Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in it. The Arrabiata was truly hot but I loved it. I tossed it will Parm Regg cheese and it was yummy.

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

So, I have now officially had all four sauces. The Marinara and the Vodka are tied as favorites, but I'll tell you this: the Arrabiata packs serious heat. I stirred into some penne with an unorthodox scoop of ricotta, and even with the cheese, it was fiery!

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

@Walter F: What I've been doing is cooking the pasta to al dente, putting the sauce into the pot on fairly high heat, and then tossing the pasta in and cooking it until the pasta has sucked up the moisture. It's been working brilliantly. Maybe try that next time?

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

The sauce was light and tasted good, I loved that it wasn't overwhelmed with basil, I enjoyed it because it was different from most bottled sauces, and the price was good. Thank god it didn't have sugar in it. The only negative thing was, it was a little watery., Wally Fredrickson

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

I found Mario's sauce at Publix in Nashville. They offered three different kinds...all of them had a tag mentioning they were "a new item". I bought it...tried it...and it was delicious.

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

I like Newman's Own, good and not a ton of sugar (no corn syrup), Mid's (a regional brand) is also darn tasty

From Serious Eats

Mario Batali's Jarred Pasta Sauces

If you watch Batali's "Authors@google" talk(youtube it), you will see that one of the audience questions is a man essentially begging him to bring back his line of sauces. Appartenly, they originally were released through Trader Joe's exclusively, but Batali terminated the agreement when TJ's altered the recipe without consulting him. I think $6 a jar is just too much for a broke college student like me.
:(

Recent Posts

JGordon hasn't written a post yet.

Recent Favorites

JGordon hasn't favorited a post yet.

Polls

JGordon hasn't answered any polls yet.

Quizzes

JGordon hasn't taken any quizzes yet.

About JGordon

Website:

Location:

About:

Favorite foods:

Last bite on earth: