Category Archives: Eating

Here we celebrate the best kind of food enjoyment: eating somebody else’s cooking, whether it be in a fine dining establishment or a hole in the wall.

Father’s Day sausage: Rolf’s Pork Store vs. Chester’s Smokehouse

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Burnt My Fingers

Residents of New York’s Capital District are fortunate to have access to several eastern European-style delis. Two of the best-known are Rolf’s Pork Store in Albany’s Arbor Hill neighborhood and Chester’s Smokehouse near Honest Weight. I generally stop at the latter … Continue reading →

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Dominic Colose and the restaurant alternative

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Burnt My Fingers

The other night I tried the new Mediterranean menu from Dominic and Jennifer Colose of Yawning Duck. Flavors were bright, complementary and perfect for summer. But Chef Colose, recently of Chez Nous in Schenectady and before that the Wine Bar … Continue reading →

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Benton’s is the piggie that just keeps on giving

Posted on June 6, 2017 by Burnt My Fingers

In my post on Benton’s Country Hams, I noted that the “Aged Whole Country Ham Deboned & Trimmed” with product code AWCHDT promises to deliver a number of pre-sliced ham steaks plus the bone and skin wrapped separately. The latter … Continue reading →

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Healthy mail order meat from ButcherBox

Posted on May 23, 2017 by Burnt My Fingers

I tried ButcherBox because of a special offer from ChefSteps (which may still be available… read on). I give them a thumbs up for shopping if you’re in an area where healthy meat (humanely raised and free from antibiotics and … Continue reading →

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Wok-Fired Croutons!

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Burnt My Fingers

Turns out the wok is the perfect vessel for making crispy, garlicky croutons. Who knew? The method and benefits: *Start by heating olive to the smoking point, turn down a bit, add chopped garlic and toss, away from the heat, … Continue reading →

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Recipe: German-Style Head Cheese (Souse)

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Burnt My Fingers

[Please also try our Amish-Style Pickled Tripe, which is as good a pickled variety meat as you are likely to find.] A friend gifted me half a pig’s head so, naturally, I decided to make head cheese. It was already … Continue reading →

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Burger Boo

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Burnt My Fingers

My blogging colleague Daniel B had an interesting idea: a tasting tour of seasonal burgers served at the food stands of upstate New York’s Capital District. Winterizing is expensive in this harsh climate, so many food places open only from … Continue reading →

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Bella Viva Orchards: the Steph Curry of dried fruit

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Burnt My Fingers

The other day I was in San Francisco and stopped by the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market to, as is my custom, stock up on dried fruit from Bella Viva Orchards. Sadly, they were out of unsulfured white nectarines. This prompted … Continue reading →

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Amazon’s Prime Sweets Button

Posted on April 25, 2017 by Burnt My Fingers

What if you could press a button and, two days later, a box of delicious ribs and brisket showed up at your door? And each box was from one of America’s finest pitmasters? Would that be something you could get … Continue reading →

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Why I hate restaurant coupons

Posted on April 25, 2017 by Burnt My Fingers

I’ve pretty much stopped using restaurant coupons—those pay-in-advance online purchases through Groupon, LivingSocial or LocalFlavor which typically take 50% off the price of your meal. Part of the problem is the bad juju fostered by LocalFlavor, which I’ve written about … Continue reading →

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