tommy:eats

Fairway's steak: with tomatoes, Asparagus: with fried egg

A few weeks ago, I posted a throw-away Facebook post about some steaks at Fairway which, to my novice eye, looked pretty good at $18/lb. As often happens when I open my mouth, a long, convoluted debate emerged, primarily with my nemesis from the north, who I will call "Ant-nee." As if Ant-nee and his strong opinions weren't enough, the discussion took some additional turns with input from some other nice folks, visiting topics like editing Facebook posts, the source of Peter Luger's beef, and if these steaks were actually expensive. Adding to the mix was the recent Facebook change which causes comments to appear out of order for some reason.  Nobody knew what the hell anyone was saying.  Which was probably just as well.

Ant-nee, who no doubt has a lot of experience with eating and drinking and drinking and even husbandry, proclaimed that he would "pass" on these "ghetto ass steaks." There was only one thing to do, after arguing.  I mean two things to do:

1) not invite Ant-nee to dinner

2) cook these steaks to prove him wrong

Red's Dips and Flips: West Caldwell, NJ: Chicago Italian Beef

Chicago Italian Beef in New Jersey

For a while there, I guess my entire adult life, I was finding myself in Chicago somewhat regularly, eating.  Chicago is a fantastic city, like no other I've visited, and it has a great food culture.  While many may think "hot dog" when they hear Chicago, or worse yet, "deep dish pizza" (an abomination by any reasonable barometer), I think "Italian beef."  This is because of the undeniable fact that Chicago Italian beef is one of the greatest sandwiches ever invented. I'd say it even comes close to the roast pork Italian coming out of Philly. Close. 

Unfortunately Chicago Italian beef isn't easy to come by in the NY/New Jersey area.  We did have J's Beef in Linden for a brief moment, but after they closed up I figured we were left with nothing.  And we were, until recently.

A place called Red's Dips and Flips opened in West Caldwell.  You heard me: Red's Dips and Flips. And damnit if they aren't serving Chicago Italian beef.  And I suppose flips, too, whatever they are.

Pizza at home: Easter Eve

As usual the ovens were preheated for over an hour.  The stone was up to 650 by the time I slid the pizza in.

At 2.5 minutes in, I switched to the other oven, which had the broiler going, to finish the pie in about 3 minutes and 20. 

A Family Affair Italian Deli: Fair Lawn, NJ

A Family Affair may well be the best Italian deli in the Bergen county area.  I've been to many, many delis, in search of a place that uses great bread and can put together a sandwich with a smile.  Haven't found one that can pull this off other than A Family Affair.

It's a family affair indeed.  It's very likely the owner, Eddie, will be making your sandwich.  And I think that's his mom manning the register on some days. There are no grumpy old dudes, no jaded kids carelessly throwing some meat on some bread.  Hell even the customers are really really nice. 

This isn't a deli where you'll be getting homemade salumi, so get that out of your head (A&S Fine Foods in Wyckoff fills that niche, but doesn't make a sandwich to my liking...too much bread).  But if you're looking for an Italian-style hero, something perhaps in the vein of Vito's in Hoboken (the gold standard), you'll be pleased with what you find here.  What sets A Family Affair apart from A&S and Italian Riviera and Cosmo's is the bread. My goodness the bread. The bread at A Family Affair is top-notch stuff.  It comes from some place in Jersey City, and it tastes like it.  This stuff is as good as the bread I used to get in Hoboken back in the day, from places like Antique and Marie's.

But too much of a good thing isn't necessarily good, and these guys get it.  Your bread will be gutted without having to ask.  You have to gut the bread, otherwise you have a terribly large and unbalanced sandwich.  Vito knows this, and so does Eddie.

Get over to this small family run place.  The tunafish with some hot peppers on a hero is spot on.

A Family Affair Italian Deli and Catering : 23-17 Broadway : Fair Lawn, NJ : 201.796.2882

Pho Thai-Lao Kitchen : Maywood, NJ

I've only had take-out from this a place a few times, but this dish was so good that I'm compelled to share some details.

 

Crispy Fish Larb, Lao-style

This friendly, family run restaurant has two menus:  Thai, and Lao.  The owner has both Thai and Lao family members (dad and mom, from what I understand), which goes to explain the combination of cuisines.

2011: Tasty reasons to be thankful

We here at t:e headquarters are very thankful for everything at Chengdu 23.  Even the dopey flowers.

2011 wasn't a terribly active year in t:e posts, but make no mistake, food was eaten, spirits were stirred, and finds were found. 

Looking back at the past year, here are some things that the t:e army of editors is very thankful for...

Sook Pastry : Ridgewood, NJ

I don't know much about pastry.  I'm more of a savory fella.  But I do know what I like, and I've liked everything I've had from Sook, a newish Ridgewood Pastry shop.

Sliders: at home

A recent episode of Food Network's Food Feuds got me thinking about sliders again.  During this episode, they pitted Hackensack's White Manna against Jersey City's White Mana (not related).  

When I say "sliders," I'm talking about a specific style of burger, and not simply a "small burger."  A slider is a thin patty of beef, cooked with onions on a flat top, and served on a small, steamed bun.  Yes, that sounds a like like White Castle.  But it also sounds like a bunch of joints throughout New Jersey which have been making this style of burger for longer than I've been alive. 

Watching this Food Feuds episode will make any meat eater hungry, and certainly got me going.  Three minutes into the show I determined that the next day would be committed to sliders.  Using the clips in the show as a guide, I was off and running.  Trust me, this isn't challenging stuff.

And here's what I did...

Weekend: pizza

Margherita

There's generally a good amount of cooking going on at t:e operations headquarters.  There's also usually no reason to share any of these dishes, as they are simple and not earth-shattering in the least.  But taking a page from the some other blogs that I read, I see no reason to not post a little something here and there, when something looks decent, or tastes good, or might get some of you out to the store and in the kitchen.

Weekend pizza, with mozzarella di bufula from Fairway in Paramus. 

I don't know of many sources in New Jersey for mozzarella di bufula, so Fairway is a Godsend.  They do fly this stuff in from Campania, so check the expiration dates.  The last few batches I had were luscious and creamy, like eating warm ice cream.  Worth every penny, especially if you're making Neapolitan-style pizza.

I aim for a Neapolitan-style pizza.  A Margherita, in this case.  There's nothing more than uncooked pureed canned tomatoes, mozzarella di bufula, salt, basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano and EVOO on this sourdough pizza.

This pie was cooked in about 3 minutes 30 seconds, using two standard electric ovens, using the broiler in the second oven to finish it off.  The stones were heated for well over an hour, and were at about 680 degrees.

Westwood Prime Meats: Westwood, NJ

I've been telling anyone who will listen.  I've been running through the streets.  Shouting on corners.   It's as if it's 1988, and I'm going on about Nine Inch Nails at frat parties whilst being ignored by the ladies who loved Cool J.  Or 1994, singing the phrases of D Generation at Newark's Studio 1, screaming over some horrible metal band's attempt at art.  Or 1997, rambling on about Belle and Sebastian at bars in Hoboken, as backward-baseball cap-wearing dudes put another dollar into the jukebox to play Seven Mary Three for the 10th time in a row. 

But it's 2010, and I have an internet connection and a blog (I forgot for a while), so damn it, my words will be heard!  Read!

Sal Petruso, the proprietor and butcher at Westwood Prime Meats, is doing things the right way.  And you can all be beneficiaries...if you would just tear yourself away from the supermarket for a few minutes.