THE GURGLING COD

NYC needs more Evita, less Alice

More coherent thoughts when and as time permits, but quick thoughts on a  Bollywood montage of a long weekend in NYC:

-Not at all mad at the Blessed Thistle, a tasty beverage at Marlow and Sons made of gin and cardoon amaro.

-I'd had some hopes for Lowcountry, which turned out not to be an actual serious stab at at Lowcountry food, but instead was another vaguely Southern Daisy Dukeish ironic shot and a beer spot, with food about as ambitious as Char #4's. The first thing I saw on the menu was baby back ribs, and I knew I had been misinformed. Then I realized the actual serious Lowcountry gone North restaurant I'd been meaning to try was not Lowcountry in NYC, but the Geechee Girl Rice Cafe in Philly. Report tk on GGRC in 2k11. 

-Those new McRib ads have had me seriously questioning my decade or so of no McDonalds, so I was happy that a couple of Chang pork buns sated that craving. 

-Prune with cinetrix and Penny Pascal was fantastic almost all of the way around. Monkfish liver, little lamb sausages, sliced celery and blue cheese salad, sweetbreads, octopus, lambchop -- all fantastic. Trixie's main, however, was braised pork in an octopus broth, and was the second time in a row I'd been there where something sort of meaty and wet and bowlish (previously a weird pot au feu, if memory serves) trailed the rest of the pack. It is, still, however, the kind of place where strangers will share bites of food across tables. 

-Between Larder, Flatbush Farm and the Meat Hook, it appears as if folks move to Brooklyn because they crave some sort of agrarian lifestyle. Excise the fixies parked outside, and Meat Hook has moments of looking like the fanciest 4H fair ever. 

-In what's becoming a Thanksgiving tradition, the folks at Thirst* hooked us up with some of the Beaujolais Nouveau that Kermit Lynch imports -- it is different from the nouveau you can buy at gas stations in that it is made out of grapes, and only grapes. It will wreck you for the others. 

-In general, a highly unscientific survey suggests that it might be time for more passion and less sincerity in the world of NY food. More Evita Peron, less Alice Waters. 

*The folks at Thirst are opening a wine bar. Deets tk. 

 

-In general 

Come sample Pepi Pep Pep Pimento Cheese at the Union Square Greenmarket Wed. 24 November, 2010 11am-until.*

As Pimento Cheese Awareness Month thunders along, here is the aforementioned announcement of  a Very Special Pimento Cheese Event: The Gurgling Cod, in conjunction with Rick of Rick's Picks, will be giving away samples of a very special pimento cheese, made with Rick's Picks very own Pepi Pep Peps, this Wednesday, 24 November, at the Union Square Greenmarket from 11am until.* If you decide you want to bring this pimento goodness into your home, we will have copies of the Pepi Pep Pep Pimento Cheese recipe available with each jar of pepi pep peps. We will be serving the PPPPC up with pretzels from Greenmarket neighbor Martin's Pretzels. Can't make it to the Greenmarket? For your Thanksgiving noshing, Rick will be dropping the recipe on the Rick's Picks Facebook page on Tuesday. I will be updating day of on the Twitters, so check back for photos and availability updates. If you think you might have trouble remembering which Greenmarket will host this very special event, listen to this song a few times: 

 

*Until we run out, that is. 

Open Table bullies?

Not much to add to this piece on the pitfalls of Open Table. But stay tuned for an important pimento cheese announcement.

Homer brings Pimento Cheese SCIENCE

Friend of the program Homer offers this heroic effort:

	Paula Deen		Ruth Reichl		The Penguin “plus”		Dallas Junior Forum
8 oz	Shredded sharp cheddar	8 oz	Exsharp Vermont white cheddar	16 oz	Grated cheddar	2 lbs	Velveeta, grated
8 oz	Shredded exsharp cheddar	8 oz	Exsharp NY orange cheddar	8 oz	Grated pepper jack	8	Sweet pickles, chopped
4 oz	Pimentos w/ juice	7 oz	pimentos	4 oz	pimentos	8	Hard boiled eggs
¼  cup	mayo	2/3 cup	mayo	1/3 t	granulated garlic	6 oz	pimentos
	S & P to taste		Black pepper	1/3 t	granulated onion	2 cup	mayo
			cayenne	½ t	pepper	3 T	mustard
				pinch	cayenne	3 T	sugar
				½ t	Green pepper sauce		S & P to taste
				2/3 cup	mayo
				½ t	Pickapeppa
				1 T	White worcestershire
				½ cup	beer

 "So the question is – Is it just mixty glop (Paula/rural), tarted up mixty glop (Ruth/metro), unique American comfort food (Penguin/regional) or a protein delivery medium (Dallas/west)? N.b. grating velveeta must be a bitch."

None of these seems like the Thing to me. Readers? 

   

 

Friday Free-for-all

One of our NOLA correspondents checks in with news that a niece, last spotted by me in a toddler mode, is spending a junior year eating her way across Korea. Stay tuned. 

In other news, chicken expert Gwyneth covers Cee-Lo, SFW-ly. Leaving the question of whether or not the Cod has ever considered drinking Ms. Paltrow's bathwater to one side for the moment, it's hard to get mad at this. More still, the analysis of this performance on ML offers a live performance by Mr. Green himself. You will notice two things - 1) his backup band is from a mixture of anime and cryogenically thawed babes from Dr. Detroit. 2) looking like nothing less than a giant baldheaded Canada Mint sporting Cazals, and diamond earrings the size of jawbreakers, Mr. Green is sexual Kryptonite.

Have a good weekend: heed DeAndre McDaniel's advice, and go boldly in the direction of your dreams. 

Pimento cheese update

An FOC we will call Wooly Bully checks in with a pimento cheese bisque. Bisque? Unorthodox, but not mad at this: 

In honor of the month, and all, I made this yesterday for my dinner co-op group. Recipe from 'Sundays at the Moosewood,' a relic of my vegetarian college days . The book has a 'southern United States' chapter (though not northern - what of that?) which includes pimiento cheese soup. It's a base of onion & celery sauteed (and I added celery seed and pimenton plus S&P) and then diced sweet potatoes (i have a GLUT from our CSA) and "vegetable stock or water" (I used chicken stock), simmered. Then shredded sharp cheddar (i used cracker barrel b/c it was 2 for $5 at waldbaums) and cream cheese softened in the hot soup. then the thing is pureed with a handful of diced pimentos (goya) and some more diced pimentos are mixed in. delicious.

Also: 

Thanksgiving WTF?

Yesterday, it was Popeyes unleashing a spicy Cajun inferno of fried turkey. Today, alarming news from our friends at Williams-Sonoma. If you happen to be one of those poor souls who does not live within an easy drive of a Popeye's, Williams-Sonoma will mail you a fried turkey. Yes, they are now in the mailing fried things business. For Christmas, look for the special bar fridge that can store Martinis. And kisses. 

Popeye's to Turkey lovers: "We will bury you."

Welcome EDSBS shoppers. As it happens, circumstances call for a rare theft of a category tag from our friends at EDSBS. But! Our friends at Popeyes are looking to make this the trillest Thanksgiving ever:

ATLANTA (November 8, 2010) – Everyday’s a party at Popeyes, so why not jazz up your Thanksgiving with Popeyes famous Cajun style turkey? The once-a-year limited time offer is available at participating restaurants through December, or until supplies last.

Popeyes Cajun Style Turkeys, approximately 9 to 11 pounds, are infused with a unique blend of Louisiana seasonings then flash-fried, creating a unique, crispy coating. Roasting finishes out the process and leaves the turkey crispy on the outside while remaining succulent and flavorful on the inside.

“The holiday season is centered on fellowship with family and friends,” said Amy Alarcon, director of culinary innovation. “The easy preparation of Popeyes Cajun turkeys—pop in the oven, heat and serve—leaves more time with those you love, and leaves guests enjoying a Cajun culinary masterpiece.”

Popeyes Cajun turkeys are flying out of the fryers this holiday season, so stop by or call your local Popeyes today.

"Cajun turkeys flying out of fryers"? This is EXACTLY the kind of thing that will keep any number of volunteeer firefighters from watching the end of the Lions game. 

And it's not just Poindexters at State Farm alert to this danger -- the TFH is second only to cute kittens on the Youtube. Start typing "turkey fryer" in the search box, and glory in the number of debacles you can watch. 

Kissing Valentino....

Yep. 

Pimento Cheese Awareness Month: Red Mule Grits with Pimento Cheese

The Cod has been falling down on the PCAM job of late, but the folks at Garden and Gun make it easy with a pimento cheese and Red Mule grits receipt from the folks at Dogwood. It's available as part of a "grits flight," which flirts rather boldly with too fancy, but you can't stay mad at folks promoting pimento cheese awareness on the cold, hard streets of Atlanta.