September 8, 2008
From A Hamburger Today
Posted by The Serious Eats Team, September 8, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Editor's note: Anyone with the drive to eat 12 burgers in 8 hours and spend 30 hours making hamburgers might be a little crazy but is probably a good person to listen to when it comes to burgers. That's why we're poking the burger-loving mind of AHT contributor and Cooks Illustrated writer Kenji Alt for this week's Grilled.
Name: J. Kenji Alt
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Occupation: Chef, test cook, food writer, burger fiend
How often do you eat burgers? I've been known to eat 12 a day from time to time. During the nine months or so that I was trying to perfect my own recipe—my personal testing continued long after finishing the Cook's Illustrated Drive-In Burger story—about a dozen burgers a week. Currently I'm down to about two per week, give or take.
Where did you eat your most recent one? Franky 'N The Boys, a new retro joint that just opened up in Brookline Village, across from my office. It's going for the low-brow, vintage, Coca-Cola, drive-in, chrome-and-leather feel. Super-simple menu. I love their concept, but their execution falls short. "Low-brow" comes off as "cheap," and the burgers are served on buns that are a little too Wonder Bread-y. They also coat their fries in some kind of gunk that makes them taste like Cool Ranch Doritos. Coating fries is a sin in my book akin to adding stuff to the patty before forming it.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, September 8, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Check out the mop on Bourdain's head from his Dwight Englewood high school years. Almost a year ago on Michael Ruhlman's blog, Bourdain criticized the hairdos on the Next Iron Chef America:
Ruhlman's hair is the scariest and most offensive aspect of the show. It looks like it's taking over his head! Like it's going to crawl across the table and swallow up half of Alton's face! With Andrew Knowlton's luxurious tresses bookending Donatella's lustrously flowing locks, it looks like the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar up there.
Ruhlman serves up his revenge today, and Bourdain should talk! Though he seems to visit the salon pretty regularly now, looks like he could barely get a comb through that thick forest before.
From Photograzing
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From an interview in the Independent: "He is a brilliant cook. But his restaurants are lacklustre, I'm told. I don't know. I don't eat in them. I don't want to risk being poisoned." One of Britain's most outspoken cooks, Dickson Wright has long been a critic of Oliver. Sidenote: Dickson Wright's full name is Clarissa Theresa Philomena Aileen Mary Josephine Agnes Elsie Trilby Louise Esmerelda Dickson Wright.
Posted by Ed Levine, September 8, 2008 at 8:30 AM
Randall Stross compared Yelp and Zagat in the New York Times on Sunday. While he correctly noted that Yelp now covers more restaurants than Zagat, and uses this as a launching pad to compare and contrast the two companies, he leaves out the most relevant points. Most notably, he completely whiffs on recent business goings-on in the world of user-generated restaurant reviews.
My first question is what do serious eaters think about both Zagat and Yelp?
And while you ponder that, here's what Stross should have pointed out in his comparison.
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Posted by Ed Levine, September 8, 2008 at 7:30 AM
I've been waiting for someone to make bacon cologne (are you listening, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren?), but Blogadilla tells us how to make the next best thing: bacon soap. Actually, what I would really like is a bacon-scented deodorant. Wouldn't that be awesome?
Blogadilla had two missions: to see if making soap from bacon fat was possible and to make the result look like bacon. Both were accomplished. It's pretty similar to making regular soap, except in this case, Liquid Smoke is an optional fragrance option.
Previously
Wake N' Bacon Alarm Clock
In Videos: How It's Made—Bacon
Posted by Leah Greenstein, September 7, 2008 at 8:00 PM
Photograph from Freshandeasy.com
Everywhere you look in the greater L.A. area these days, it seems likes there's a lime and olive-green sign telling you that there's a Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market coming soon. The new market chain, owned by British giant Tesco, is like the love child of Trader Joe's and Whole Foods that looks like a culinary Ikea. It's smaller than your average megamart, with wide, dimly lighted aisles stocked with house brand goods in simply designed, often recycled packaging: Organic Maple syrup and Organic Fair Trade coffee, snack foods free of trans fats, artificial colors or flavors and even preservatives, whenever possible. Their eggs are cage free and the meat is raised in the U.S. without the use of hormones or antibiotics. And the stores are LEED Volume Green Building certified, in addition to a number of other environmentally conscientious initiatives.
So who is this new kid on every block? In an era where people are realizing the far-reaching implications of their food choices, how different is Fresh & Easy from Ralphs (owned by Krogers) or Vons (owned by Safeway) or everyone's beloved Trader Joe's?
The answer, on the surface, is: not so much. Fresh & Easy is a small supermarket owned by a multi-national, corporate behemoth. They aim to provide consumers a store that's easy to get to that fills all of the consumers' food shopping needs. They advertise high quality and low prices and provide lots of prepared foods for busy people.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, September 7, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Our weekly contributors on Serious Eats have blogs of their own. If you like them here, you'll like them there. Here's what they've been up to recently. Give 'em your clicks!
The Price of Peanut Oil: Cooking with Kids contributor Matthew Amster-Burton finds that peanut oil prices aren't rising and discovers that it's a great medium for pan-frying.
A Weekend in the Capital: Serious Eats New York correspondent Kathy Chan eats her way around D.C. in three blog posts.
The Green Fairy: Cocktail man Paul Clarke explores the absinthe cocktails of William Schmidt, a 19th century mixologist, finding one that appeals to modern-day sensibilities.
Sweet Corn Ice Cream: L.A. correspondent Leah Greenstein gives tips on choosing corn—abundant at farmers' markets right now—and makes ice cream with it. With recipe!
'The Instep of the Boot': Serious Grape's Deb Harkness is drinking her way around Italy's wine regions this year. For September, she hits Basilicata.
Goodbye, Brooklyn: Dinner Tonight's Blake Royer is moving to Estonia. He bids head aega to Brooklyn with a salad of community garden greens. (Don't worry: He'll resume Dinner Tonight once he settles in Eastern Europe, hopefully with an Estonian flair.)
Taking Up Baking: San Francisco contributor Jennifer Maiser is inspired to bake bread by a friend of hers whose enthusastic baking diaries prompted her to knead some dough and throw it in the oven.
Market Fresh Mixology: Our man in Chicago, Michael Nagrant, talks to author Bridget Albert about using fresh fruit and herbs in cocktails in this podcast.
"... so that we can eat them while we’re working." So goes some of the pointless banter in this dreadful commercial for Microsoft, after the jump. Fast forward to about a minute in for the relevant food-related drivel.
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From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 7, 2008 at 4:00 PM
This great show is "A tasty, colorful tour of the Los Angeles burger and drive-in scene that also traces its Americana roots from post World War II through the 1990s."
At 47 minutes, it's quite a bit longer than most videos we highlight on this site, so we're running it here this weekend, when you've got plenty of time to watch it. Grab a burger, sink in, hit play, and enjoy! Take a tour of Burgertown after the jump. [via Philip]
From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Hannah Howard, September 7, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Meatball Smackdown: Daniel Meyer praises the well-designed, satisfying Ikea meatball. It even beats its restaurant competition.
Anyone Can Be a Critic: Fans of Yelp and Zagat.com might agree that web sites that use customer reviews are growing increasingly sophisticated.
Pisco Maté, Anyone?: In South America, the dried leaves of the yerba maté plant are crumbled into a calabash gourd into which hot water is added. In Manhattan bars, maté is having its moment in the fancy cocktail spotlight.
Fro-Yo Cold War: Maybe a clearly-defined rivalry is a good thing for Red Mango and Pinkberry.
Summer Veggies, Hearty Fall Flavor: This recipe for healthy eggplant and tomato confit has Provençal roots and a deep, rich flavor.
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From Recipes
Posted by Ed Levine, September 7, 2008 at 12:00 PM
This week's Cartoon Kitchen features Serious Eats' cartoonist in residence Larry Gonick's spin on okra. —Ed Levine
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 7, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Barbecue chicken from The Pit in Raleigh, North Carolina. Photograph from Off the Broiler
Food blogger and tech journalist Jason Perlow blogs about five barbecue joints in the Carolinas that he visited while on several business trips there over the summer. Knowing Jason, I suspect that he visited more than these five. ;)
Jason's blog post is amazing, so do click through. Ed Levine here at SE points out that Jason repeatedly refers to overcooked green beans. "Southerners and Italians would beg to differ," Ed says. "That's the way they cook beans in the South and in Italy."
Jason also visits Maurice's BBQ in Columbia, South Carolina. Maurice Bessinger is an infamous segregationist, and Jason comes back with some scary photos of hoot-hollerin' South Will Rise Again type stuff that decorate the place. We're glad Perlow came out of Maurice's BBQ alive.
Be ready to replace your mouse's scroll wheel after you visit Jason's site. This post is loooooong—and long on goodness.
From Recipes
Posted by Ed Levine, September 7, 2008 at 8:00 AM
There are so many bad scones in the world that it's easy to forget how good a scone can be. These scones, adapted from Lora Brody's nifty book Cape Cod Table, are light, moist, and addictive. It takes a great deal of willpower to eat just one.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, September 6, 2008 at 9:00 PM
Last week we blogged about Very Good Taste's Omnivore's 100 list. A meme in which you highlight the items you've tried from a list of 100 and post it on your blog. (We posted our lists here.)
This week, Sarah DiGregorio of the Village Voice blog Fork in the Road came up with a list of her own. The Traveling Omnivore's 20. Like the 100, but location-specific—e.g., barbecue burnt ends in Kansas City, boudin noir in Paris. Our traveling lists appear here, after the jump. We encourage you to post your own!
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Posted by Adam Kuban, September 6, 2008 at 7:00 PM
From left: Nas, fried chicken.
As Alaina who discovered this via the Guardian, said, "I can’t believe I’m only hearing this song now." I second that. I guess that's what I get for sleepin' on the latest Nas album. "Fried Chicken" is the 11th track on the untitled record and features Busta Rhymes. Sample lyrics:
After you shower, you and your Gold Medal flour/
Then you rub your hot oil for 'bout a half an hour/
You in your hot tub, I'm looking at you, salivating/
Dry you off, I got your paper towel waiting
I keep going back and forth on whether he's using this as a sexual metaphor or truly rapping about fried chicken alone. I guess it's both, of course. Wanna listen? Go here. [NSFW/H; contains explicit language.]
