Jersey Shore -

by gansie

Burns My Bacon: Cold Lettuce on Warm Sandwiches

Exhibit A: Fried egg and provolone cheese hoagie with tomato, onions and…iceberg lettuce from Atlantic City’s White House Sub Shop.

Hot sandwiches should contain only ingredients that can taste good while hot or when turning limp from the warmth. I think spinach, arugula or a mesclun mix works well in warm sandwiches because they maintain their dignity when wilted. Iceberg lettuce, however, just turns soggy and gross. Iceberg lettuce is used for crunch and crunch alone.

There’s no real flavor living in those leaves, so when you put iceberg lettuce in a warm sandwich that dissolves its crunch, it leaves the lettuce totally useless. Iceberg then only takes up space which could otherwise be filled with warm sandwich-friendly ingredients, such as roasted red peppers, mushrooms and pickles.

by gansie

Ignoring Butter

The scene: Hannah G’s, Ventnor, NJ.

“Can I have the crab and artichoke dip and the Chamberlain salad (mixed greens, red onion, shredded swiss, cashews and apples with a sweet & sour vinaigrette) to share. I’ll have the spaghetti. Thanks.” (Whole wheat spaghetti, with butternut squash, fried fresh sage & organic spinach. And holy crap they ended up pan-frying the entire dish so the noodles were slightly crisp and the squash tasted like sweet potato fries.)

“And I’ll have the nut-crusted salmon with sides of snap peas and garlic mashed potatoes,” 80 excitedly said.

“Okay, I’ll bring out some bread and potato chips,” the waiter said as he walked inside.

Potato chips! Potato chips!

Of course I love bread and butter. In fact, I barely can tolerate bread and oil. I really only use the bread as a vehicle for butter. But, anyway, even though we ordered a fuck load of food, we were pumped for those chips.

Although, I was nervous for too crunchy, kettle-style chips. Instead we received crisp, yet slightly bendy, potato-flavored chips. Dipped in a garlic mayo.

And I ignored the butter. When was the last time you ignored bread and butter?

in Restaurants 1 comments

by gansie

Jersey Shore: Converting Haters to Defenders

This past weekend I brought a few skeptics down the Jersey Shore. Many of my friends have only driven through New Jersey and bought into the crap spoken about this lovely state. Or believe what they saw from Snookie and crew on MTV.

But through our overwhelming intake of Jersey-style Italian food, I think I may have turned them into lifelong defenders of Jerz.

Speaking of food, with the pounds of pasta and side salads and creamy crab ravioli, we accumulated a ton of leftovers. Dedicating our fridge space to beer, I figured out a way to feed us all breakfast and get rid of the 4 rolls of garlic bread we still had from the night before.

Garlic Bread and Feta Egg Bake

Egg bakes are perfect for feeding a ton of people and anything can be thrown in, as demonstrated by my collection of baked egg dishes. [See here and here.] But this one was just straight awesome and didn’t need much additional seasoning because of the flavorful bread.

I cubed the garlic bread leftovers from Uncle Gino’s in Ventnor. Placed them in a buttered oven-proof dish and then poured over a mixture of eggs, crumbled feta, a few splashes of half and half (don’t make the coffee drinkers mad!) and salt and pepper. Let the bread soak in the liquid for 10-15 minutes before baking uncovered at 375 for about 30 minutes.

in Breakfast / Cheese / Eggs / Recipe 2 comments

by BS

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– Mariah Carey is ready for some Jersey Shore drinking:

That is one HELL of a drink! It probably should be called the “Chuck Norris.” It would also probably get me to act as silly as the JS cast!

– Nee Nee has our back on the green garlic front:

The Countdown Begins: Thirsty for Some Snookie

I refuse to concede my Jersey Shore to those fuck faces on MTV. I’m used to being mocked because I’m from Jerz. But this show. This show. Ugh. That’s not actually the Jersey Shore. Or at least not mine. Mine is tame. Mine involves sunning on the beach and not in a capsule. Mine is full of bitchy, jewelry-encrusted old Jewish women and not tatted up frat boys.

But fine. The show is totally addicting. And while I may tune in to an episode or two when season two airs–in just one month—on July 29th, I will not, however, indulge in their celebrity status. So you could imagine my terror when I spied these drink specials at Commissary in DC.

My mouth is too ajar to form hateful words. You can, though.

in Drinks / TV 10 comments

by tvff

Cheflebrity Smörgåsbord: Philly Beer Week – Fun for the Whole Family

The latest and greatest news about celebrity chefs, served up buffet style.

– It’s Beer Week here in Philadelphia — a celebration of the wonderfully vibrant beer culture of the city. Unfortunately, our toddlers have shitty taste. Seriously, kid…Miller Lite?

– Paula Deen gets a little handsey with The Situation. Also getting handsey? Paula’s maid, who helped herself to $10K worth of the food personality’s jewelry.

After the jump…a lesson in marketing.

Cheflebrity Smörgåsbord: A Situation at the Bar

The latest and greatest news about celebrity chefs, served up buffet style.

– Slightly hoppy with a strong finish of meathead: Iron Hill, a brewpub in Maple Shade, New Jersey, is celebrating everyone’s favorite Jersey Shore guido with a namesake beer.

– Ferran Adria, the chef that other chefs want to be when they grow up, is shutting his world-renowned El Bulli down for two years. Funny…if a genius closes his business for two years, he’s regarded as quirky or enigmatic. If you or I did it, people would think we’re bat-shit crazy.

After the jump…we learn that it’s important to sound out possible restaurant names before committing to one, that former competitors can pull together for a good cause and that all food writers will be the subject of a movie at some point.