Get to Know a Serious Eater.

swinburne's Profile

Website:

Location: Madison, NJ

About: Definite street food guy. I can fake the four-star stuff, but the prices have gone WAY south -- when a stiff Wild Turkey/rocks goes for TWELVE DOLLARS I'm gone and under an umbrella on the avenue.

Favorite foods: Sub, cheeseburger, rib-eye (from cheap Windmill in Long Branch to the $30 sit-down kind) bacon and eggs, steel-cut oatmeal, souvlaki, derma (YES!) and God only knows what I'm forgetting.

Last bite on earth: on the neck of the lady who caused my demise.

The Ten Most Recent Posts By swinburne

From Talk

Reheating Pizza

Posted by swinburne, April 4, 2008 at 12:26 PM

Always a problem, but the following works best for me: Put the pizza, slices or pie, UPSIDE DOWN in the oven (on a plate or tray, of course!). Put the oven on broil, and place the oven grate up pretty high, but not too close to the flame. When the bottom gets charcoaly (or more charcoaly) it's done -- it takes a little dexterity to get the red-hot plate or pan out and then flipped into a cool plate, but it's worth it. Sometimes I even put the flipped guy back in for 30 seconds just to ensure the cheese is thoroughly melted.

16 Comments

From Talk

Desert Island Food

Posted by swinburne, April 2, 2008 at 6:15 AM

It's a game I've played with friends and family for decades -- Marooned on a desert island, you have a choice of only ONE meal to eat, over and over. What do you choose? This is an important variation of the condemned man's last prison meal, which is usually an all-time favorite, like grandma's meat loaf, or something out of Lutece. This choice has to be something with legs, something that, over and over, day in and day out, will still get you to the table with an anticipatory smile.
After years of playing, I have zeroed in on three all-time faves. Number one: three basted eggs, bacon, rye bread toast and butter, coffee, orange juice and fruit cocktail. I'll throw out the other two if this thread shows any popularity. :-)

23 Comments

The Ten Most Recent Comments By swinburne

From Required Eating

Meatwater: Hungarian Goulash and More!

I'm still laughing! And I'll laugh even more when some water company actually markets this! Look for the Sabrett's umbrella guys to recycle their H2O, a la LunaPierCook's suggestion. Carbonate it, call it 'Street Spritz.'

swinburne at 1:01PM on 04/04/08

From Talk

Food Heaven

YOWZA! I experienced this heaven once... took a VIP to a castle, a real castle, in CT. While he met with other VIPs I was ushered into the castle TV room, where a stunning, 40-ish blonde Swedish woman sat me down in a big comfy leather chair and fed me colossal shrimps and a rib-eye steak sandwich. Big coke with ice (no booze for the driver!) and the Jets were playing on the floor-to-ceiling TV!! And a big crystal ashtray for my Camels!
BTW, I absolutely LUV every comment before me -- you guys know what's good -- I don't know about Hillary's broccoli cheddar soup :-) but she more than redeemed herself with homemade potato chips!

swinburne at 12:48PM on 04/04/08

From Talk

Desert Island Food

Wow! What a great site! Just about everybody got the gist of my little contest and really ran with it, but Sbelle clearly caught the 'long haul' nature of the question; I'm having (her?) suggestion for lunch this Saturday -- and in her state, (VA) too! I'm travelling down to Richmond's Monument Ave 10K run (2 daughters running).
But sushi? Never could get into the raw fish thingie. When God created tuna, He created mayonnaise a millesecond later.
My second choice? a '21 Club' cheeseburger and Caesar salad, Wild Turkey and branch water. For Show money, a perfect sub sandwich -- good, crunchy on-the-fat-side baguette, ham, soppressata, capicola, proscuittini, provolone, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, vinegar/oil combo, salt, pepper, oregano and a $2 bottle of Froggie table wine.

swinburne at 9:11AM on 04/03/08

Responses to Comments by swinburne

From Talk

Food Heaven

Yeah. I'll need the cheese and olives and good wine too. Plus, all of the above. I look forward to meeting you all in Food Heaven! Come find me. I'll be next to the bottomless pit of mint chocolate chip ice cream. (Just past the Please-Eat-More pizza parlor.)

elizabethw at 7:55AM on 04/05/08

From Talk

Food Heaven

Calichef, I'm in! But my food heaven must also include a wide variety of cheeses and olives, unlimited amounts of good pistachio ice cream (needless to say, it has to be full of whole pistachio nuts) and creme brulee...otherwise, you've pretty much covered it! Oh, and one more thing (or two, to be precise:-)) - I'll have to add good wine and Irish Cream (all right, Bailey's specifically).

brooke29 at 1:26AM on 04/05/08

From Talk

Food Heaven

LOL@ onepercent99! I guess as long as you are chewing tasty stuff, it doesn't matter. But if you smoke enough of that Thai you forget to eat.

Huh, I never realized I wanted my own personal heaven to be an opium den attached to a brasserie with its own garden. Anyway, y'all come!

Calichef at 12:54AM on 04/05/08

From Talk

Food Heaven

I would eat roasted garlic cheesy mashed potatoes with loads of butter and cream every single day of my beautiful life in food heaven. I would also throw in chili cheese fries, bacon cheeseburgers and carnitas and crema in fresh flour tortilas for good measure.

PumpkinBear at 8:31PM on 04/04/08

From Talk

Food Heaven

All of the above. I'll be dropping in on everyone's food heaven!

wookie at 8:18PM on 04/04/08

From Talk

Food Heaven

i think the thai-sticks made me a believer......after one of those does it really matter what you eat?....lmao

onepercent99 at 6:35PM on 04/04/08

From Talk

Food Heaven

Calichef, I am there! Lobster and crab with drawn lemon butter, all I want, with wild rice and a side of four-cheese linguini alfredo. My heaven would serve green chile cheeseburgers with homemade fries. Chicken-fried steak with fried potatoes and cream gravy every Wednesday, fried chicken and biscuits on Sundays and Eggs Benedict Saturday mornings with fresh fruit and home fries. It's a start!

hatlady at 6:27PM on 04/04/08

From Talk

Food Heaven

I wanna come to your party calichef! Hoorah for rum runners!

This thread is starting to sound like that polka song
"In Heaven There is No Beer!"
(lyrics below)
http://www.brave.com/bo/lyrics/inheaven.htm

bisbee at 5:48PM on 04/04/08

From Talk

Food Heaven

OMG! Foie gras, tiny wild strawberries with warm chocolate ganache and whipped cream, beluga or osetra caviar, lobster poached in butter, true prime rib roast, whole-roasted suckling pig with crispy, salty skin, crinkle cut, duck fat fries, duck cracklin's, perfectly ripe fruits and vegetables of all kinds, chocolate, lemon, raspberry desserts of all kinds, a continuous supply of warm chocolate chip cookies and whole milk, real Pepsi-- not diet! Oh, and Rum Runners. Lots of Rum Runners.

Since you included smoking, I'll take an unlimited supply of Nat Sherman's Fantasias, Cuban Romeo Y Julietta, AK-47 from Mendocino, White Widow from Oregon and good old-fashioned opium-dipped Thai.

Who wants to come to my party?

Please, dear G-d, don't keep heaven kosher. We all know that pork and lobster are treif only because they are so tasty you want it all for yourself. You can't fool us!

Calichef at 5:14PM on 04/04/08

From Talk

Food Heaven

@huney.......had to look up bogart. Great word!!!

Since it's legal in heaven and the supply is unlimited, I'm passing around to all who care to join me. I'll even share with my daughters and give them a huge laugh at their novice mother. Bring food!

PerkyMac at 5:02PM on 04/04/08