Taste test: Big Peat blended Islay whisky

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Burnt My Fingers
BigPeat

Interesting bottle art on Big Peat blended Islay

I love me a wee dram of Islay whisky. In its best rendition, it remind me of a pair of gym socks which have been washed in the salt water of the cold northern sea, drenched with sweat (and maybe a bit of blood) during an intense rugby game, then dried over a peaty fire. (Thus I don’t like Laphroig, a mass produced brand which reminds me of the sweat without the other nuances.)

I have tasted heaven in the 1991 Bowmore aged in Port barrels. I still have parts of two bottles, squirreled away on opposite coasts, and don’t expect to finish them before I expire. I’ve bought other, expensive bottles and more often than not have been disappointed. Typically, the Scotch is too mild: it doesn’t have the peaty bite which I demand.

Which brings me to Big Peat, which I found on the wonderful klwines.com site. A blended Islay? Ridiculous. But also fantastic. It’s got the peat essence just right, followed by a bizarrely smooth, Dewar’s-style finish which I will forgive because I like Dewar’s. And because it’s a blend it should be available for awhile, unlike other single-cask marvels which excite, then disappear.

This is a product plug with nothing in it for me other than making you happy. Get it at K&L for $56 plus a modest shipping cost (but no tax if you are out of CA). In case they’re sold out, google it. Seems to be widely available which is a good thing.

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Zak Pelaccio pig demo at SPAC Wine and Food Festival

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Burnt My Fingers
ZacPelaccioPig

Zak goes at the pig with a bone saw.

The highlight of last weekend’s Saratoga Wine & Food Festival was the demo by Zak Pelaccio, chef and owner of the recently opened and highly regarded Fish & Game in Hudson. Here is a very successful chef with a global empire (earlier restaurants now have multiple branches in Asia) yet he’s funny, casual and utterly non-stuck up. Listening to him is like hanging out with your buddy and exchanging cooking ideas.

ZaksPiggie

On the left: smoked pork loin on pretzel bread with strawberry mustard. On the right: pork face roulade with bok choy kimchee.

In the first part of the demo, Zak broke down a pig and discussed how the parts could be used. I have to say, he spent a disproportionate amount of time on the head. This guy loves pig heads. He marveled at the “Waygu-like” jowl meat, chatted about the disposition of the ears and other parts, then lovingly peeled back the face and rolled it up for cooking with appropriate aromatics. The belly had already been dispatched to a nearby Green Egg smoker (a sponsor of the event) where it was cooking slowly over cherry wood.

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Jori Emde and Zak Pelaccio cracking up

For the second part of the demo, Zak was joined by his equally engaging wife Jori Emde, who makes all kinds of magic with the local flora found in and around Hudson. Eg. Strawberry mustard with anise hyssop, a wild herb. And fish sauce made with local trout, shad and herring which are salted then cured in a spent bourbon barrel from a local distillery. Zak spent some time discussing the miracles of corn juice which he made in a blender, then combined with fish sauce and spices and whole corn kernels to make a base for the pork belly. And then we ate… and the next few lines of my notes are mostly exclamation points.

Pork BellyCorn

Smoked pork belly atop amazing niblets

Zak (who said this the first appearance they’ve made outside the restaurant since opening Fish & Game) devoted the rest of the afternoon to wandering the event and judging an amateur BBQ competition. I am eager to get down to Hudson and see what else this couple can do. Meanwhile, he gives us all new encouragement to experiment with ingredients because apparently almost anything is edible.

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Recipe: New York Hot Dog Relish

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Burnt My Fingers
SabrettSauce

New York style onion-and-tomato hot dog relish

This is my take on the onion and tomato relish served with Sabrett’s and other “dirty water” hot dogs by vendors on the streets of New York. It’s sweet and sour and a little spicy and goes great on hamburgers too. Makes 3 cups.

¼ c salad oil
3 medium to large onions, sliced thin
3 c water
1 T cornstarch
6 T tomato paste
1 T sugar
1 ½ t Kosher salt
½ t red pepper flakes
¾ c cider vinegar

Method: Saute the onions in a big saucepan till limp. Mix the cornstarch with a little of the water till dissolved; add to the onions along with the rest of the water and all other ingredients. Cook over low heat until water has reduced by half and the sauce is thick—probably about 1 to 1 ½ hour. Lasts a few weeks in the refrigerator.

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Saratoga Wine and Food Fest is TOMORROW

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Burnt My Fingers
ZakPelaccio

Watch celebrity chef Zak Pelaccio break down a pig and turn it into delicacies!

A little less than 24 hours from now, I hope you’ll join me at the Grand Tasting of the Saratoga Wine and Food Fall Ferrari Festival, where we’ll have lunch, education and dinner in a beautiful setting with what promises to be perfect weather. Tickets are available at spac.org, by calling 518-584-9330 or at the Route 50 Box Office.

I’m going to drop in the event list for the afternoon, but first a few words of advice. a/arrive at noon when the gates open, or soon after, and come hungry; b/even though the events through the afternoon are included in your admission price (except for the Kevin Zraly wine seminar, which is a separate ticket) you may need to make a reservation to be sure there’s space for you, so do this first (ask the ticket taker how); c/give yourself a Grand Tour first rather than just diving in; get oriented as to what is where and plan a logical tasting sequence of spirits, wines, appetizers, savories and dessert; d/even if you’re squeamish, don’t miss the pig demo with Zak Pellachio. I have had the pleasure of seeing Paul Bertolli of Olivo in Oakland break down a pig and it’s a fascinating way to learn what you eat. Bon Apppetit! And now the specifics:

CULINARY TENT COOKING SHOWS

➢ Learning to Cook with Mo Rocca & Mamma Theresa from DZ Restaurants: Inspired by Mo Rocca’s hit Cooking Channel show, “My Grandmother’s Ravioli,” this session pairs the celebrity host with DZ Restaurant’s beloved Mamma Theresa, as she shows him how to make select family recipes and traditional Italian specialties.
➢ Heritage Pig Butcher Demo Led by Chef Zak Pelaccio: The top wine and food festivals in the world have been featuring pig butchering demos as part of a commitment to sustainable, ethical farming and locally sourced food. Chef Zak Pelaccio of the Hudson Valley’s hottest new restaurant, Fish & Game, demonstrates the finer points of butchering a heritage pig and innovatively utilizing the various cuts of meat.
➢ Zak Pelaccio Chef’s Demo: Chef Zak Pelaccio prepares creative dishes using heritage pork and locally sourced produce from the Capital Region and Hudson Valley.
➢ Big Green Egg Grill Games sponsored by the Times Union: TU food writer Steve Barnes judges the final round of competition among Capital Region amateur chefs who will each be given a basket of ingredients and asked to create a unique recipe using Big Green Egg Grills.

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Recipe: Tomato-y Bloody Mary Mix

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Burnt My Fingers
Bloody Mary

The unconventional stir stick in my Bloody Mary mix is due to the fact I ate all the Pickled Celery.

Unlike the popular canned brand, this bloody mary mix  doesn’t mask the taste of tomato juice. About 6 servings. A good way to use the leftover juice from your Ultimate Blender Gazpacho.

Ingredients:
32 oz Campbell’s tomato juice
1 T Worcestershire sauce
½-1 t Tabasco
½ t celery seed
2 T lime juice
2 T Sherry vinegar
½ t sugar
1 garlic clove finely ground into ½ t Kosher salt

Method: Combine all ingredients and chill at least 4 hours. Strain out the garlic before serving. Add 1 1/2 oz vodka or just drink the way it is.

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Guss’ Pickles, Oy Vey!

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Burnt My Fingers
GussPickles

Guss’ “New York Refrigerated Fresh Deli-Dill Pickles”

One of the most heartrending tales ever told on Burnt My Fingers is the saga of Guss’ Pickles. I hope you’ll go and read it in its entirety, including especially the comments. But in a nutshell he said, she said, until one entity ended up owning the rights to the name Guss’ Pickles and the other the shop where they were originally produced. (Which she then relocated to Brooklyn… like I said, the saga goes on and on, with occasional sparks of new conflict that flare up like embers in a dying fire.)

I have had it on my bucket list to make it to the Cedarhurst neighborhood of the Bronx and meet with the Liebowitz family which currently owns the name, but that turns out out not to be necessary.  As Adam, who surely is Guss’/Liebowitz’s biggest fan, points out, unlike the competitor’s pickles Guss’ are widely sold including at Whole Foods. And this week they showed up in upstate New York, at my local Price Chopper. Which is why it was, harboring nothing but good will and curiosity, that I brought home a jar of Guss’ New York Refrigerated Fresh Deli-Dill Pickles.

And guess what. They contain vinegar. And while they’re superior to a jarred brand in the relish aisle, they have a lot more in common with mass-produced brands than anything ever cured on the Lower East Side.

The back of the impossible to read label (because it’s printed in a dark color over a clear background) informs us that these pickles are made under license by United Pickle Packers of Demarest, NJ. Maybe the Liebowitz family was convinced they had to Vlasic-ize their pickles to reach a mass market. (Which can’t be true: Bubbies and Ba-Tampte are two examples made with nothing but a salt cure, and they’re widely available at high end markets.) But there can’t be any doubt that Izzy Guss is twirling in his grave like a lamb on a rotisserie.

For me, this is solved. Patricia Fairhurst may have a waspy name, but she’s selling the authentic full sour. Next time I am in Brooklyn I will need to make the pilgrimage to Clinton Hill and ceremonially dip a pickle in honor of Izzy and his heritage which, in a circuitous way, is preserved after all.

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Start your gustatory engines… Saratoga Wine and Food Festival is coming!

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Burnt My Fingers
Wine Glasses by Tom Stock

I plan to try all these wines, in this precise order. Photo by Tom Stock of Stock Photography (no, really… great shooter)

I like to think of the Saratoga Wine and Food Festival as a “locals only” event which definitely isn’t accurate… for one thing, the concourse portion of the event includes several gatherings of classic car collectors who come from hither and yon. But it’s the week after racing season has ended so the crowds have died down, the trees in Spa Park are starting to show fall color, and you can actually get a parking spot downtown.

This year’s festival is Friday through Sunday, September 5-7. The bulk of the events are on Saturday, the 6th. Admissions are a la carte and not cheap; if this is your first time I’d recommend the Grand Tasting on Saturday afternoon ($85). Strategy: come hungry and thirsty and plan to compress lunch, cocktails and dinner into an extended strolling and noshing experience. This year the Kevin Zraly wine tasting symposium is priced separately, but that may be okay because it’s at the same time as the demo by chef Zack Pellachio of Fish & Game in Hudson, currently the white hot restaurant in the region. I’m not sure if advance reservations are required for this; check in at the information station when you arrive to be sure you are covered for admission to this and any other special sessions within the main event.

If you do come, because of the amount of wine and spirits you might possibly consume, consider bicycling; there’s a great trail that cuts through the park behind the Dance Museum and dumps you out near the Festival grounds. Or, better yet, book a room downtown and walk to the event. By the time you return, you will have burnt off the hydroxyl radicals and calories and you’ll be ready for a new gustatory experience.

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Food for thought… Foodspin

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Burnt My Fingers

This morning, while trolling for Johnny Football trivia, I ran across the Foodspin section of the sports blog Deadspin.com. I think any reader of Burnt My Fingers would enjoy this. A good place to start is the post called How To Cook Bivalves, The Life-Affirming Pain In The Ass, where author Paul Boreko Albert Burneko points out that if you don’t take your clams or mussels home after buying them (vs, say, stopping to see a movie on the way) they will die and rot and you will get sick when you eat them. Good point!

However, Boreko Bruneko spends most of his time in the comments area, ragging on readers who offend him for some reason. A good example is this thread, castigating a normal-looking guy who, like us, enjoys cheese with his peanut butter. Check it out.

P.S. Post updated. The Foodspin author contacted me and pointed out, in typically genial fashion, that I had misstated his name.

 

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Recipe: Pickled Celery

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Burnt My Fingers
PickledCelery

Pickled Celery

Do you have trouble getting through an entire package of supermarket celery? Here’s your solution. After using the first couple of stalks for your stuffing or tuna salad, pickle the rest of it. Pickled celery great with wings or Bloody Marys.

Ingredients:
A bunch of celery
Kosher salt
Garlic, a few whole cloves
Red onion, a few slices
Hot water

Method: Find a big wide mouth jar with a tight fitting lid. Quart canning jars are good, as are recycled pickle containers. Wash the jar thoroughly with soap and hot water and rinse completely; thoroughly wash the celery under cold water. Cut the celery into pieces that are a little shorter than the top of the jar and stuff them in till full. Wedge the garlic and onion slices between the stalks. Prepare a 2% brine with 2 1/2 t Kosher salt to each pint of hot water; stir to dissolve then pour into the celery jar. Repeat until tops are submerged. Cover with a dark cloth and keep in a dark cool place (like a basement) for at least a week, opening and closing the jar daily to release any gases which may accumulate.

The water will turn cloudy and bubbles will start to form in a couple of days, indicating fermentation has begun. When the water starts to clear after about a week, the pickles are ready to sample. If you like them as-is, pour off the water and transfer the pickled stalks to a Ziploc bag; plan to eat and enjoy over the next few days. If you’re willing to have them more sour, keep in the jar a few days longer then transfer as above.

Note: Celery retains its crunch when cold-pickled because the water doesn’t permeate the woody cells. You get celery texture with a nice tang and a hit of the allium which is perfect for wing sauce dipping, Bloody Mary stirring or a plate of crudites.

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Stewarts and the Deli Dog

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Burnt My Fingers
DeliDogs

A duo of Deli Dogs (Cajun on the left, steamed on the right)

I realize I’ve been a little negative about my adopted region in a few recent posts, so let me tell you something I really like: Stewart’s Shops (hereafter Stewarts) and in particular their Deli Dog.

Stewarts is a chain of convenience stores that’s like 7-11 but with a few quirks. They’re is headquartered right here in Saratoga Springs, NY, but their locations are all over eastern New York and western New England, often just a few blocks apart. (In my own town of 30,000 people there are 9 Stewarts.)

On the outside, Stewarts are typically drab brick buildings though they occasionally occupy a leased space. The interior is absolutely devoid of any attempt at décor. There are hand-lettered signs and the fixtures and counters look like they were put together by a guy in his garage out of Formica and particle board. Each Stewarts has an ice cream counter serving their own (pretty good) flavors in cones and fountain treats. (50 cent discount for kids in sports uniforms.) There’s a seating area that is typically well-used by retired folks and well behaved transients. And… there’s the Deli Dog.

The Deli Dog is a quintessential hot dog that is either steamed or roller-grilled, depending on the preferences of the manager at each store. (A very few stores sell them both ways.) Buns are provided in a heated drawer below the dog display, and condiments are available in soda fountain cups with a hole cut in the top. There is deli mustard, onions, sauerkraut and ground red pepper relish, and there’s also meat sauce which you can add for free (there’s also chili which looks the same as the meat sauce, but costs extra).

Once you’ve loaded up a dog with mustard, followed by condiments, then a dollop of meat sauce, you’ve got a pretty good meal which will set you back $1.49 for one, $2.49 for two, though they often run two for $1.99 sales. I often go to one of the stores that have both the steamer and the broiler and get one of each. (There’s also a fluorescent Cajun dog for the same price.) The steamed dog has an appealing delicacy about it—you have to carefully fish it out of the steamer or it will break apart, and the interior is almost custardy. While the broiled dog has that crispy skin that reminds you of the ball park. Really, no way to choose between them so I’m going to go to Stewarts and have both right now.

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