Shucked To Order Apizza

Pizza fanatics are generally well-acquainted with Connecticut’s glorious fresh clam pizzas.  There’s nothing like them anywhere else.  Oh, sure, you can find clam pizzas elsewhere.  Most of them use canned clams, a few of them may use fresh clams, some even label them as New Haven-style, and we’ve never found one that even vaguely resembles the classic Connecticut pie.  But Zuppardi’s Apizza (Roadfood.com review) of West Haven has raised the bar even higher: they shuck the clams for your pie when you place your order!  Jane and Michael Stern appeared on Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table this past weekend to talk about Zuppardi’s, and you can listen in online.  Here is the Sterns’ segment, and here is the whole show if you’d prefer.  One more note: if you order a clam pie, don’t ask for mutz!

“The Best Delicatessen in America”

“The best delicatessen in America!”  Those were Jane Stern’s provocative words when she recently appeared with Michael Stern on Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table to discuss Harold’s New York Deli, of Edison, NJ.  Lynne sounded skeptical but we totally agree with Jane’s enthusiastic assessment.  She continues: “Harold’s . . . hit every single taste memory on the mark.”  Michael is impressed with the super-light matzo balls, and they both rave on about the rich chicken stock that forms the basis for chicken-in-the-pot.  You can listen to their Splendid Table segment, or the whole show, online.  And be sure to check out the Roadfood.com review of Harold’s.

Taco City

San Antonio, TX is a city with hundreds of worthy taquerias, almost all of them using fresh, homemade flour tortillas.  Jane and Michael Stern talk about one of their favorites, Taco Taco, on this weekend’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table.  Michael recommends a weekend visit, when you’ll be able to enjoy the unbelievably juicy and tender barbacoa, as pictured above, from the Roadfood.com review of Taco Taco.  You can hear The Splendid Table on your local public radio station, or you can listen to the Sterns’ segment, or the whole show, online.

Buy ‘Em By The Sack

Invented in Kansas at The Cozy Inn (Roadfood.com review) in the 1920s (or possibly by White Castle around that same time, also in Kansas), sliders have become a craze in America, although to look at what are called sliders these days, you’ll have a feeling that you’re not in Kansas anymore.  Pretty much anything served on a miniature bun is tagged as a slider.  Jane and Michael Stern appeared on this past weekend’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table to discuss sliders and, traditionalists that they are, they focus on four places that engage in fundamentalist slider cuisine.  You can hear their segment, or the entire episode, online.

“The Best Boudin Sausage Anywhere In Cajun Country”

“The best boudin sausage anywhere in Cajun country,” says Michael Stern about the boudin from T-Boy’s Slaughterhouse of Ville Platte (is it really necessary to note that this is Louisiana?).  Jane and Michael Stern recently appeared on Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s radio show The Splendid Table to discuss the delectables to be found at T-Boy’s: the talk is principally about boudin but Jane adds a shout-out for T-Boy’s incredible cracklins.  T-Boy sent a batch to Roadfood.com’s Blue Plate Award dinner in New Orleans earlier this year and, let us tell you, they are one of the most delicious things to be consumed on this planet.

You can listen to Jane and Michael Stern’s segment, or the entire Splendid Table episode, online.  Also, take a look at the Roadfood.com review of T-Boy’s.

A Pizza Beyond Apizza

Not on Domino’s menu: pizza topped with shaved black truffles, jowl bacon and a fried egg. It is one of several interesting combos at the Tarry Lodge in Port Chester, New York. You also can get a clam pizza that includes the shells. We assumed that they were to be discarded before eating:

Fresh Whitefish, and Their Livers

At extreme northernmost Wisconsin, in the town of Bayfield, Maggie’s serves ultra-fresh whitefish.  They also serve that harder-to-find local specialty, fresh whitefish livers, which Michael Stern says has a bright taste that little resembles the livers from land-based creatures.  Not a fish-liver lover?  Jane Stern raves about Maggie’s four-cheese burger.  You can hear the whole story on this week’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table.  The show aired this past weekend but you can listen to the Sterns’ segment, or the entire show, online.  And be sure to check out the Roadfood.com review of Maggie’s.

Harold’s Famous In-Between Triple Decker

We’d made plans to dine at the tres-chic Stage Left in New Brunswick (NJ) for our anniversary earlier in the week.  When the time came, we realized that what we really, truly wanted to do was dine on corned beef and pastrami at Harold's in Edison (hadn't been there in months).  So we canceled New Brunswick and pointed our car towards the Edison office parks.

We'd always wondered what sort of people would order the Harold's Famous In-Between Triple Decker - never seen one go out to a table.  Well, we’ve met the gluttons and they are us.  Choose corned beef, pastrami, or brisket, or a combination of two meats.  We selected corned beef and pastrami.  It's much like a regular triple-decker, except... they replace the rye bread with their foot-wide, inch-thick potato pancakes!

The pastrami was, as usual, the finest in the tri-state area (which means, in the country).  The corned beef, good as it ordinarily is, was better than it has ever been – absolutely perfect, moist, briny, fragrant, tender, with just the right amount of fat.  About those pancakes: we’ve always been lukewarm on Harold’s potato pancakes (and all other restaurant potato pancakes, for that matter), because they are finely grained, doughy, and a little sweet.  We make them at home to be more like hash browns: shredded, oniony, and crisp.  But we found that the soak in the cured meat “juices” elevated these manhole covers a level or two.  Of course, we had access to the pickle bar and the stacks of chewy crusted rye bread found there.

We chatted with Harold on the way out, and he noted that his cardiologist – in fact, the whole cardiology practice – dine at his place regularly.  Reminds us of the story about how Nathan of the original Coney Island Nathan’s would allow doctors from the nearby hospital to eat free if they dined in their hospital garb, which was meant to reassure potential customers about the wholesomeness of Nathan’s franks.

Here’s the box score: we both ate till we were stuffed, perhaps a pound-and-a-half of meat total.  One of us dined the next evening on leftovers – maybe another pound.  We then wrapped the rest and froze it for Harold’s ‘n’ Eggs breakfasts.  We weighed what was finally left – three pounds of meat!  Cost of the sandwich: $56.95.  We’re glad to have done it once, but would we order one again?  With first-time guests in tow, perhaps.

Put on Your Buffet Pants at Whitey’s

Jane and Michael Stern visit with Lynne Rossetto Kasper this weekend, on her radio show The Splendid Table, to talk about all-you-can-eat wild catfish at the Florida fish camp known as Whitey’s.  Unlike most catfish found in restaurants around the country these days, Whitey’s catfish are not farm-raised, and it makes a big difference in the eating quality.  Specify large specimens, for big forkfuls of juicy meat, or small cats, which old-timers enjoy bones and all.  You can listen to The Splendid Table on your local public radio station, or catch the Sterns’ segment, or the whole show, online.  The photo above comes from the Roadfood.com review of Whitey’s.

13 Summer Treats in the Twin Cities

The Pioneer Press of St. Paul, MN has published a list of 13 of the best summer treats to be found in the Twin Cities region, and it’s tempting us to plan a long weekend there soon.  Here’s a sampling: house-made pineapple ginger ale by the pitcher at Brasa; blueberry pie at Lucia’s Bakery; ribs and greens from Pastor Hamilton’s Barbecue in front of St. John’s Church; a cone of the best ice cream in town at Izzy’s; and, a 90-minute drive away in Pepin, WI, a meal at the Roadfood-recommended Harbor View Cafe (that’s a photo, up top, of a dish called The Bishop’s Fish Pudding, from the Roadfood.com review of Harbor View) .  See the whole story and list here.