Fresh whole wasabi root, kaffir limes in NYC?
Does anyone know where to get them?
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Is there anywhere good to eat in Boston?
I used to live there about 6 years ago. Going back next week for work, and would love to eat well. Not interested in run of the mill stuff, which I remember Boston excelling at, such as crappy Italian red sauce joints, fried seafood and chowder shacks, or lame roast beef sandwich places. I am not looking for pizza, ice cream or burgers either. I'm looking for exceptionally good, inventive and refreshing food. Something on the same creative level as Momofuku, but not necessarily fusiony. Boston is so stodgy, I'm dreading this trip. I know there's got to be something good there though. Sorry for the pessimistic tone, but seriously. Impress me.
The Ten Most Recent Comments By simon
Do you use/like Liquid Smoke?
Ok, snarkiness aside, here is a good thread on the subject.
Seems like the favorite brand is Wrights, because, as stated in the comments, it only contains water and smoke, without other additives.
Personally I wouldn't use it, because I have a great cast iron oven smoker. I live in an apartment in the city, but can still make real smoked food thanks to it and I love it so much I don't roast anything without it anymore, even when I'm not using the chips.
If you do use the liquid stuff, definitely choose a clean product. My snarkiness wasn't without cause.
Great Wines for Under $15
Tons of great French wines for under $15. It amazes me that wine shipped from three thousand miles away is cheaper than wine grown right here in New York state, and 99% of the time tastes a lot better too. One of my faves is Chateau Tour Puyblanquet, a St. Emillion that goes for about $13 and kicks the ass off many wines from the same appellation that go for >$25, not to mention Bordeaux style blended wines from the US that taste like crap and sell for exorbitant prices.
organic/natural butter replacement?
@producestories:
If anyone's tone in this thread is patronizing and arrogant, it's yours. Further, you are the one who seems to have reading comprehension problems. The topic of this thread concerns ORGANIC butter. So you see, YOU are the one comparing apples to oranges.
If you want to compare conventional butter to the product made by Earth Balance, fine, but that's an exercise in the obvious, as we all know the problems in the conventional dairy industry. Even so, conventional butter compared to conventional vegetable spreads is a no brainer, butter wins, despite the fact that most people believe otherwise because they are brainwashed by advertising.
Organic butter compared to organic veg spreads is also a no brainer, in that the butter is clean, and therefore the major health risks involved i.e. hormones and antibiotics are not present, so the qualities of butter in baking far outweigh those of the veg product, no matter how awesome EB is.
The original question makes the assumption that butter is not healthy, when in fact it IS, or at least, healthier than most processed fats designed to substitute butter, and there is nothing wrong with commenters making that point clear. So please, get off your high horse.
I need suggestions on perfecting a recipe!!
Parsley or basil, and lemon to finish are a must. And dried peperoncini in the pan with the oil and garlic. You might want to toss the pasta with a little ground toasted breadcrumbs and some saffron too, for texture and little color. I also like mushrooms with my scallops.
John McCain Is Older Than Chocolate-Chip Cookies
I would rather vote for a ham sandwich.
organic/natural butter replacement?
Butter IS healthy. The reason why you think butter isn't healthy is because of the mud slinging marketing campaigns paid for by the soy and corn industries to promote their highly processed artificial and toxic ersatz butter spreads. If you are a serious baker, you will use leaf lard instead of butter for certain applications. Lard is also quite healthy. Especially if you can get it from a reliable source that makes it from organicly fed, humanely raised drug free pigs. Try your local farmer's market.
For a real treat, make your own butter. A little trick to give it that deep rich flavor you find in French and Irish butter: the night before you will make it, put the cream out on the counter in a clean glass mason jar. Mix in a couple dollops of Crème Fraîche or Mascarpone. Mix it well to thoroughly blend it. Cover with some cheesecloth. This will allow the cultures in the cream to come back to life resulting in a much richer flavor.
Responses to Comments by simon
The Blumenburger — The Most Labor-Intensive Hamburger Ever
I have read "Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection." These books are not a recipe collections or cookbooks, nor is the television show a How-to cooking program. That is not the intent, which has already been pointed out by other posters.
If I had to describe his book(s) I would say that it is a collection of doctoral dissertations on food. As an analogy "cook's illustrate" & "America's test kitchen" is High School....Blumenthal and his colleagues are doing tenured professor work at the university level. It is not the basics, it is not necessarily practical to every layman. The exploration, however, does contribute to the universal body of culinary knowledge by deconstructing (at the ingredient level) both the science & the art of cooking.
That being said, I'd like to raise a practical issue that his exercise (and this post) illustrates:
The ingredients used & where they come from are important in any "recipe" to determine the quality of the final outcome. "Organic, Local & Homemade" are labels many food snobs throw around, but we need to ask ourselves: Do we practice what we preach?
Quite frankly, this recipe/methodology shows how difficult & time consuming being a purist with those labels can be for even a "simple" entree. It is only because all those assemblies need to be homemade all at once, that this seems like a labor intensive endeavor....and it is....but in the days before SuperTarget, Whole Foods, Wegmans or Trade Joes it is what people did.
Or actually...they didn't.
Our concept of the hamburger, much like most food in our current era, is dependent upon having full access to the modern day supply chain for our food demands. Again, food bloggers are constantly advocating for organic, homemade, fresh, authentic, local, etc...
This recipe adheres to what is advocated: The Blumenburger is a hamburger made with homemade buns, homemade cheese, home ground fresh beef & homemade ketchup. Thus, the ingredients, as well as the final product, can be organic, local or whatever other criteria we want.
e.g. Buy local, organic beef and grind your own hamburger. This would be so much better than the mystery grind that is shipped in from 1000 miles away or come in pre formed frozen patties. Isn't this what the food community is advocating?
Baking your own breadstuffs, canning your own relish & instead of making your own cheese...maybe just seeking out good, workable artisan cheeses, are all in keeping with the spirit I see in the posts on these blogs every day. Again...when it all comes at you at once, it seems over orchestrated & overwhelming. And it is! The exercise demonstrates how adhering to all those labels takes some work, but is worth it in the end.
Molecular Gastronomy, and its practitioners like Blumenthal, should serve as inspiration by making us say to ourselves: "If he can go to that length to make a hamburger pretty much 100% from scratch, then I could at least learn to bake my own buns rather than buy them."
For another person it may be to grind the meat, for another it may be to make their own ketchup...or if they prefer...homemade mustard...or maybe it will be a baby step by asking a local butcher to grind plain old chuck instead of grabbing the prepack hamburger.
The reality is that this recipe/methodolgy is not practical as a daily food stuff....but it illustrates the complexity behind the simple adages of "know where you food comes from" & "know what's in your food."
Do you use/like Liquid Smoke?
Liquid smoke is a boon to any vegetarian. I add a (small!) amount to my New Year's Hoppin' John and to my chipotle-based veg. chili to create the smoky depth that is really required in these dishes.
Already mentioned -- smoked paprika and chipotles can also help a lot. btw, has anyone tried that crazy smoked salt? I've always been curious about that, but haven't gotten around to trying it.
Dinner Tonight: Ramps with Linguine
I made this this week and loved it. I toast my breadcrumbs in at least a tablespoon of olive oil and find that they add lots of flavor as well as texture. I did wish I had added some pasta cooking water for the final tossing--I set a bit aside but forgot to throw it in. Anyway, YUM, thanks for the recipe, and the clue about what to do with the famous ramps.
Do you use/like Liquid Smoke?
I don't think anyone would dispute that smoking food in a smoker or on a grill is optimum. However, it isn't always practical or convenient, and for an intense smoke flavor requires long cook times which isn't appropriate for all foods.
If not overused (i.e. too much....the stuff is potent!) liquid smoke, like smoked peppers, will impart a natural, smokey flavor to anything.
I add a couple drops to my guacamole. A drop in your bloody mary rounds out the spiciness. Last night I grilled glazed salmon which cooks very quickly. I added a little bit of liquid smoke to the glaze to give it a smoked flavor. And of course, there is a favorite from my childhood: Turkey drumsticks marinaded overnight in liquid smoke & grilled....just like Ren Fest!
Also, per other Talk threads, there is the common complaint about gas grills (vs. charcoal) not producing the same "grilled taste" in the food cooked. I have a natural gas grill, so when I have an item to grill with a short cook time (like salmon) I'll add it in order to supplement the "real grilled flavor."
Using chipotle is a great idea, but sometimes you want the smoke without the particular spice. I find smoke...and in this case liquid smoke....to be similar to salt in that it brings out another dimension of food. Too much is awful, but just the right amount enhances the natural flavor of the food.
Do you use/like Liquid Smoke?
ugh. The smell of it gives me a headache. Same with some of the hickory-smoke-flavored barbecue sauces. Maybe there's a good one out there, but I'd rather do without.
Do you use/like Liquid Smoke?
I insist upon using it when I boil my ribs but you have to be careful not to put in too much otherwise that is all you will taste.
Do you use/like Liquid Smoke?
Be careful only to use a little bit, if you use too much it will make you gag! I use it in my veggeroni seitan and its ok as long as its not overdone...
Do you use/like Liquid Smoke?
Alton Brown made liquid smoke in one of the Good Eats episodes. Although I couldn't it on the FN site, here is a link to a forum that discusses it http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=31533&sid=07d4f25fab7911c06206898044a6c0ff
Do you use/like Liquid Smoke?
No. Chemicals give it a chemical taste.
@PerkyMac, I use Pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika), too. It is delicious!
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