Tag Archives: onion

East Village, Pub Food, Restaurant Reviews

McSorley’s Old Ale House

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McSorley’s Old Ale House is NYC’s first Irish bar, and it is a place known for limited options. For example, the clientele was limited to men from 1854 until 1970 when it was forced to allow women into the bar. Their motto was “Good Ale, Raw Onions and No Ladies.”

As far as beer goes, your options are limited to their proprietary “McSorley’s” dark beer or light beer. You get two mugs that are mostly filled for the price of one beer, chiefly because it is faster to pour two half-assed mugs than it is to properly pour a full mug while waiting for the head to settle on the beer.

While there, you should definitely man-up and try their infamous liverwurst and onion sandwich. If you’re really feeling manly, spread some of that super spicy – and likely dirty – dijon mustard onto the bread. The stuff graces each table.

mcsorleys

Quick story about the wishbones on the light fixture above the bar: They were hung by guys getting ready to deploy in WWI. If they came back they took down a wishbone and made their wish. The ones that didn’t make it back; their wishbone remains on the light fixture. Special thanks to BG for that bit of info.

Also gave the burger a try. For $8 this is a steal!

MCSORLEY’S OLD ALE HOUSE
15 E. 7th St.
New York, NY 10003

Recipes

Breakfast Fried Rice

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My wife and I dreamed up this incredible concoction about a week ago. Last night we finally gave it a shot. It’s a pretty straight forward recipe, so no real instructional videos or any other complicated bullshit to show you.

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What The Fuck Do You Need?

  • Pre-cooked bacon (it’s just easier)
  • Eggs
  • Ham steak
  • Frozen breakfast sausage
  • Frozen spinach
  • Jalapeño pepper
  • Chives
  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Shredded cheese
  • Potato
  • Crispy fried shallots
  • Leftover rice from the fridge
  • Butter
  • Olive oil

How The Fuck Do You Make It?

The first thing you’ll want to do is some basic prep. Dice up your ham steak, potato, onion and jalapeño. Mince your garlic, and slice your chives, bacon and sausage. These will be more like “toppings” for your rice, so as not to moisten the rice while cooking together.

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Fry some shit off in olive oil and butter. I did the potato, pepper, onion and garlic together to form a hash, and then I put it aside in a bowl lined with paper towels to get rid of some of the grease and excess moisture.

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Since we used frozen spinach (you can use fresh), we threw that in a pan by itself to dry it out and remove all the excess water.

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We gave a little fry to the bacon and sausage too. Here are some of the components before adding to the rice:

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Grab your rice and throw it into a hot buttery wok or pan.

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Once its all hot, you can mix in your scrambled egg, which you should first cook in a separate pan:

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Once you get some snap, crackle and pop going, and some crispy browned rice forming at the bottom of the pan/wok, you can lower the heat and fry off the other egg separately for the top of the rice:

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Fill a bowl with rice and start to assemble your dish by adding the toppings. Don’t forget the cheese!

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Here’s a jerkworthy shot of the finished product:

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Dive in and eat. I like to mix it all around, break the yolk, fold the spinach in, etc. Then I get a little bit of everything in each bite.

Education

Cured and Smoked Salmon

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Let me take a few moments to explain why I love this shit so much: Salmon that has been fucked with in some way (whether smoked or cured) is one of the few fish items that has an almost meaty persona. When you start sucking down slices of that beautifully bright colored shit, you almost feel like you’re eating raw beef. The texture of it, the chilled temperature, the addition of some capers, onion or a little olive oil… it’s difficult not to see the similarity to something like beef carpaccio. Just imagine this picture being a red color instead of pinkish-orange:

salmon

One thing I’ve come across in my chowing of this delicious stuff is that it is called by many names. Lox, cold-smoked salmon, Gravlax, etc… and then there is almost invariably a location element, which is sometimes just a way to add descriptive and fresh sounding words to a menu item: Nova Scotia, Scottish, Wild Alaskan, etc. What does it all mean? Check out the essentials below:

Lox: In the days of old, this was strictly sourced from salmon belly only, though now other parts of the fish are used. It is either brined or salt-cured, usually for a few weeks, but it is not smoked or cooked in any way. This would be the purist’s pick.

Gravlax: This shit is the Scandinavian version of lox. Dill, peppers, sugar, juniper berries, horseradish and even liquors like brandy or aquavit are used while curing to accent the flavor. It is not smoked, and it is often pressed while it cures, to eliminate moisture.

Nova Lox: This lox is cold-smoked after brining/curing, and, as the name obviously suggests, it hails from Nova Scotia. That being said, the words “Nova Lox” are increasingly being used to specify the curing process as opposed to being a strict geographical marker. Fuck that. Words have meaning, people. Let’s not get too crazy.

Cold-Smoked Salmon: Essentially it is Nova Lox that comes from a place other than Nova Scotia. Any part of the fish can be used (not just the belly), and “cold” is somewhat of a misnomer, as the temperature is typically about 80 degrees while it is exposed to smoke

Hot-Smoked Salmon: This is essentially BBQ’d salmon. The salmon gets completely cooked through. Like poached or grilled salmon would, the meat will flake apart. It has a smoky flavor but a more firm, dry texture.

So now you’re armed with the lingo, and you’re no longer a Nova Lox Novice: You’re a cold-smoked pro, and you know what to expect from your salmon. Which do you prefer?

What do I like? Pretty much all of it except for hot-smoked. I generally don’t like my salmon to be cooked, unless it’s on crispy skin. My ideal preparation would have all the spices and flavors from the Scandanavian Gravlax preparation, but it would also be cold-smoked to add a little more manliness. Fuck yeah… and with some capers, red onions and a little bit of olive oil or truffle oil on top…