Well, the first big thing I'll mention about about San Francisco is that there's a huge cocktail movement going on. New ideas and re-vamped classics made with premium ingredients are all over the place. And any town whose tradition of drinking Fernet Branca extends beyond geriatric Italian men knows something about booze that most drinkers out there can’t begin to fathom.
You may have heard of a speakeasy called Bourbon & Branch, and if you live in the Bay area, you most certainly have. Well it's worth learning the password and checking it out. As long as you don't expect to order a drink every five minutes. Their approach to drink making is, shall we say, deliberate.
I'd also recommend a trip to Farallon Restaurant. The food is wildly overpriced even for SF (so much so I never tried it), but the drinks are creative, polished and very VERY tasty. And if you're lucky enough to get Craig behind the bar, he's a wealth of information on the local scene.
A very good referral Craig gave us was Heaven's Dog. It’s a bright, high-ceilinged, colorful bar, with great smells wafting in from what looked to be a very talented noodle kitchen just a few feet away. Alas, we arrived too late for victuals. I particularly enjoyed the Bumble Bee cocktail.
Both these places had PISCO on the menu, and used EGG WHITES in the drinks. "Impetuous . . . Homeric!"
Heaven's Dog is also where we met a pioneer in cocktails, the charming Jennifer Colliau and her luscious line of hand made, small batch cocktail ingredients. And now you too can possess them, juts visit: http://smallhandfoods.com/ Yum.
Much more to come.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
New Search Engine, But Not Exactly
Somewhere between Wikipedia and Google, lies this new engine that, instead of diercting you to links, actually tries to compute an answer to a specific question based on its own store of data. It's a work in progress, but it includes nifty charts, graphs, and other visual aids.
Try it: http://www96.wolframalpha.com/
Try it: http://www96.wolframalpha.com/
Monday, May 18, 2009
Boy, the GOP can still still get the press to carry its jock now and then, huh?
Holy Fucking Dogshit!
Let me see if I get this straight:
President Cheney's cabal and that coke-addled tool bag he sent out on fundraising and brush-clearing trips lied, prevaricated, concealed, tortured, conspired to wage aggressive war, committed war crimes; took a giant dump on international law, the US constitution, numerous treaties, and the morals so unambiguously espoused by aforesaid tool bag's "favorite philosopher," and the blame lands on . . . wait for it . . . Nancy Pelosi.
Enough already!
Nancy, some advice, at the next press conference, just say this: "It seems to me that all you fine ladies and gentlemen of the fourth estate were bamboozled enough by the Bushistas' lies to beat the drums to war, so before you ask me what I heard in classified briefings SIX FUCKING YEARS AGO that I could not BY LAW discuss in public, take a look in the mirror!"
San Fran was great. More on that later.
Let me see if I get this straight:
President Cheney's cabal and that coke-addled tool bag he sent out on fundraising and brush-clearing trips lied, prevaricated, concealed, tortured, conspired to wage aggressive war, committed war crimes; took a giant dump on international law, the US constitution, numerous treaties, and the morals so unambiguously espoused by aforesaid tool bag's "favorite philosopher," and the blame lands on . . . wait for it . . . Nancy Pelosi.
Enough already!
Nancy, some advice, at the next press conference, just say this: "It seems to me that all you fine ladies and gentlemen of the fourth estate were bamboozled enough by the Bushistas' lies to beat the drums to war, so before you ask me what I heard in classified briefings SIX FUCKING YEARS AGO that I could not BY LAW discuss in public, take a look in the mirror!"
San Fran was great. More on that later.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Roast Chicken
OK, everybody from the divine Miss C. to Thomas Keller has suggested trussing poultry for roasting.
Chickenshit, I say.
Sure, nothing is as pretty as a lovely, browned bird with demurely folded legs pressed against the breast meat like a push-up bra. But we are EATING it, right?
Trussing (like Bugs Bunny "dressing" chickens in mini tuxedoes in "Forward March Hare" http://www.jogyjogy.com/watch.php?id=19b8e) is a maddening waste of time and twine. And most of the chefs who recommend it should know better.
Why, Gomez? Why should we ignore the admonishments of the men in white toques?
Glad you asked. What is the biggest problem with roasting whole birds? That's right, dark meat and white meat don't cook evenly. And why? First, the dark meat is denser, with more bone and connective tissue. Second, the leg, especially the thigh, isn't as exposed to the heat as the breast, and no amount of flipping, beer canning, basting, etc. can do anything about it.
So why dear readers, WHY would you insist on complicating matters by tying the leg meat tight against the body and reducing further the heat that can reach it. Not only will the breast get done well before the meat in the groin (or armpit, or whatever you call it), but the skin in this area will not, CAN NOT get crisp. Instead it will hit the table with the consistency of a recently sponged and shaved geriatric scrotum, and at about the same temperature!
To add dumb to dumber, trussing further closes off the cavity (it goes without saying you haven't fucking stuffed it, right?) preventing heat from reaching this cavernous night club of salmonella.
And of course, there's the added ten minutes fumbling around the now thoroughly infected counter: spraying chicken blood into the baby food, covering the scissors with schmaltz, and shooing away the cat who looks up at you with that "dude, precisely what the fuck are you trying to accomplish?" look on its face. Meanwhile, you strive in vain to follow the written instructions (there's never a step-by-Goddamn-step illustration, is there?) on how to truss your bird "quickly and easily, with only one length of string"
One piece of string my ass. Unless you're Alain-friggin'-Ducasse himself, forget it. Ten lengths of twine later, your bird looks like something from a bondage-freak rooster's private jerk-off collection. And just try getting that web of string off the finished bird without burning a fingertip and ripping of half the skin!
My suggestion? PRACTICE dear readers. Times and techniques vary with ovens, birds, etc. But do it without string! Let the legs spread free to brown and crisp and cook through! A well-roasted chicken is the single best way to separate the serious cook from the FoodTV tool bags of this world. Have courage and persist! And when you can consistently pull a nice fryer for two out of the oven with juicy meat and crisp skin you will know you've arrived.
(hint: start the bird in a hot pan on top of the stove back side down, or under the broiler back side up, cuz the backs a mother, too!)
Next time? Well, I’ll be off to San Francisco next week, and plan to eat my way through it. Perhaps a report will be in order.
Chickenshit, I say.
Sure, nothing is as pretty as a lovely, browned bird with demurely folded legs pressed against the breast meat like a push-up bra. But we are EATING it, right?
Trussing (like Bugs Bunny "dressing" chickens in mini tuxedoes in "Forward March Hare" http://www.jogyjogy.com/watch.php?id=19b8e) is a maddening waste of time and twine. And most of the chefs who recommend it should know better.
Why, Gomez? Why should we ignore the admonishments of the men in white toques?
Glad you asked. What is the biggest problem with roasting whole birds? That's right, dark meat and white meat don't cook evenly. And why? First, the dark meat is denser, with more bone and connective tissue. Second, the leg, especially the thigh, isn't as exposed to the heat as the breast, and no amount of flipping, beer canning, basting, etc. can do anything about it.
So why dear readers, WHY would you insist on complicating matters by tying the leg meat tight against the body and reducing further the heat that can reach it. Not only will the breast get done well before the meat in the groin (or armpit, or whatever you call it), but the skin in this area will not, CAN NOT get crisp. Instead it will hit the table with the consistency of a recently sponged and shaved geriatric scrotum, and at about the same temperature!
To add dumb to dumber, trussing further closes off the cavity (it goes without saying you haven't fucking stuffed it, right?) preventing heat from reaching this cavernous night club of salmonella.
And of course, there's the added ten minutes fumbling around the now thoroughly infected counter: spraying chicken blood into the baby food, covering the scissors with schmaltz, and shooing away the cat who looks up at you with that "dude, precisely what the fuck are you trying to accomplish?" look on its face. Meanwhile, you strive in vain to follow the written instructions (there's never a step-by-Goddamn-step illustration, is there?) on how to truss your bird "quickly and easily, with only one length of string"
One piece of string my ass. Unless you're Alain-friggin'-Ducasse himself, forget it. Ten lengths of twine later, your bird looks like something from a bondage-freak rooster's private jerk-off collection. And just try getting that web of string off the finished bird without burning a fingertip and ripping of half the skin!
My suggestion? PRACTICE dear readers. Times and techniques vary with ovens, birds, etc. But do it without string! Let the legs spread free to brown and crisp and cook through! A well-roasted chicken is the single best way to separate the serious cook from the FoodTV tool bags of this world. Have courage and persist! And when you can consistently pull a nice fryer for two out of the oven with juicy meat and crisp skin you will know you've arrived.
(hint: start the bird in a hot pan on top of the stove back side down, or under the broiler back side up, cuz the backs a mother, too!)
Next time? Well, I’ll be off to San Francisco next week, and plan to eat my way through it. Perhaps a report will be in order.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Another useless, mentally masturbative message in a bottle is hurled over the gunwale with the rest of the effluent. Let's see if it washes ashore anywhere.
To business:
Mission Statement
I like good food, potent booze, foul language, and being a general pain in the ass. I also like to hold forth on just about everything. I despise right wing nut jobs only slightly more than vegetarians and hippies; and yes, I will be commenting on food, booze, current events, or even past events. Oh, and the Packers and Phillies, too.
Anyway, like most of us, I'm just here to talk shit to people who can't actually throw a drink in my face or give me the beating I so richly deserve. I guess mostly I'll just ramble on . . . kinda like this. How novel.
Me:
Read on and learn
Next time:
Thoughts on roast chicken
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