This recent BoingBoing post which covers a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge's ruling that a burrito is not a sandwich, has driven me to make a few statements about burritos.

1. I love 'em. They satisfy in a way that only a food you pick up all at once and push into your face like you're working a push pop can.

2. Most burritos are basically the same. Let me explain. A truly bad burrito makes itself known right away. It's full of dry rice, or tough flavorless meat, or it lacks the usual condiments, or it's got no spices or seasoning. You take one bite and you know it's a mistake.

   But if a burrito isn't bad, then most other variations in quality blend together. There's just bad burritos and not bad burritos. The thing about a burrito is that it blends together so many flavors. You get the rice and the beans and the meat and the salsa and the guac. all at the same time. What you end up with is a wonderful flavor, but it tends to mask the subtle variations that would turn a decent burrito into a great burrito. If the meat is marinated for a long time and cooked perfectly, that nuance is lost somewhere in between the sour cream and the beans. If the guacamole and pico de gallo are fresh and tangy, we can't notice the way we could if we ate them on a corn chip. It's not that there aren't differences in quality of preparation or ingredients between burrito places, it's that they're hard to pick out because of all the background noise.

3. The end result of this for me is that burritos become about the economics. Given two burrito places, one standard and cheap and the other with a great reputation for quality but a higher price-point, I'm going for standard and cheap every time. It's not worth my money because I can't taste the difference. Now, I've learned that this isn't a particularly popular point of view. In Berkeley and San Francisco people are fiercely loyal about their burritos, probably because there are many good burrito joints. And that's fair enough, especially because there are many cheap AND high quality joints. But when I hear someone raving about how amazing someplace is, I wonder about how the blind taste test. Is it really a better burrito, or does it just seem better? But I guess it doesn't matter in the end since people should eat what makes them happy.
4. Having just knocked down the pursuit of a better burrito somewhat, I do have some caveats. First, I think there IS such a thing as a better burrito, and it's one with less ingredients. The best burritos I've had are ones that stick to what they want to highlight and don't muddy it up with a lot of other flavors. You get some amazing tender carnitas, some rice, and some pico – maybe add guac. for richness. It could also be that the truer measure of a place is the taco because it's harder to fake. A good fish taco has three ingredients: the fish, the cabbage, and the aioli. If any one of the three isn't excellent, you'll know
5. The second point I want to make is that what makes a truly good burrito joint isn't always the burrito, it's the condiments. Specifically salsas and hot sauces. (I owe this insight to my wife, Tamar.) Cancun in Berkeley, for example, has not bad burritos (hee hee) but an excellent and diverse salsa bar. For me, that makes it worth going to, but not necessarily taking a burrito away from.

Okay, well, that's a lot on burritos. As I said, I know many people have strong opinions on this, so bring it on!!

Berkeley is flooded with sushi joints – some great (e.g. Kirala) but most not. There are a fair number, though, that are mediocre – pretty good rolls, questionable sashimi, and a decent value. It's a tough market to crack. I can image that it requires some ingeuity to develop a clientele in such a crowded market.

Enter Akasaka, a new place on Telegraph across from the Andronicos. Before I go further let me say: it's pretty good. The fish is quite fresh – fresh enough for sashimi- and the rolls are interesting. They also put a lot of effort into the space. It's very pretty and the waitstaff are all friendly and attentive. It's not an especially good value, but still. So first they put up a banner that advertises daily specials – UC Berkeley day, couples day, family day, etc. Nice idea. Free or discounted dessert, beer, etc. on each day. Then they put up a sign that said 'All You Can Eat Sushi.'

Erm.

Now, because I've been there before and I know it's good, I think '$18 for all you can eat sushi that doesn't suck?! Amazing!' Of course, most people haven't been there, and they think the opposite. The typical all you can eat joint is not one you'd necessarily want to throw your hat in with. (Is that even a real expression?) It conjures up images of stinky fish, chinzy decor, and endless potstickers and cucumber rolls. I had my share of experiences with that in college. So I started to tell friends they should try the place, and they all – universally – have said 'You mean the all you can eat joint?! NO THANKS!' That didn't even occur to me, of course, since I'd already been there. But if I were them I'd take it down. Fascinating how tricky marketing sushi can be.

This weekend my wife and I took a short trip up to the Guerneville area, which is in the Northwest section of the Russian River Valley. I highly recommend it. If Napa has become completely fancy, pretentious, and expensive (which it has… see this SF Chronicle article), and Sonoma is more relaxed but getting quite a bit of the spillover from Napa, then the Russian River Valley is their inbred country cousin. It's very relaxed, quite rural, and absolutely beautiful.

The Russian River area is known (at least by me) for its Pinot Noir. One of my favorites, though we didn't get to visit the winery this weekend, is Marimar Torres Estate. We did go visit Gary Farrell, which has a gorgeous facility at the top of a hill overlooking the river. The tasting is only $5, and they waive it for your whole party if anyone buys a bottle. Their 2003 Pinot Noir – Russian River Valley / Russian River Selection is their lower-priced bottling, though at $35 it's not cheap. Still, it blew us away with a balance of raspberries and sweet red apples and a lot lot lot of clove. But in a good way. We also tasted some of their special bottlings, and they were great but out of our price range.

I also wanted to write about the 1999 Martinez Bujanda Conde de Valdemar Reserva. I looked for a long time for this wine after having a bottle about 4 months ago, and finally found it at BevMo in Jack London Square. I cleaned them out. This is a moderately fruity wine where the spice and earthy tones mostly dominate. The tannins aren't too big, and I found it was wonderful to drink with nearly any food, but also without food. At $14.95 it's a real value.

This morning's 'Morning Edition' on NPR included a story about the community that has sprung up around a makeshift kitchen outside the Yellow Cab lot in San Francisco. (Janete's Midnight Cabyard Kitchen)

It's a fascinating tale about spontaneous connections, sharing culture, and the unexpected mechanisms of diaspora.

One thing the story doesn't tell us much about: how did it come to be that so many people from a small Brazilian town called Goiânia happen to be cabdrivers in San Francisco?

Because we already got our bottles, it's okay to let the secret out: Premier Cru has Pol Roger for $24.95. Pol Roger is perhaps the best value in champagne, and our absolute favorite. It's a drier style than you might be used to from other sparklers, especially from California, which tend to be sweeter and extremely fruit-forward. Pol Roger is more complex, quite yeasty and toasty, and holds up very well with food. Certainly it's a good pair with olives and most cheeses, but it's a knock-out with boiled shrimp (easy on the mignonette), crab, raw oysters, etc…

If you live in the SF Bay area, or in a state that allows wine shipping, check out this deal. This is at least a few bucks less than I've ever seen it sold for before, and you won't find a better champagne for the price.

I thought I would recap last year's Perfect Turkey post with a few important updates. If you follow these steps – both the ones about what to do and what not to do – your friends and family will grovel at your feet and beg for your recipe. But you won't give it to them, because it's our little secret.

So here are the five foolproof tips for cooking your turkey this Thanksgiving. (Note: This method requires a 2 day prep period. But don't worry! The flavor steps will only take you 15 minutes a piece.)

Update (11/2010): I've re-visited this recipe for the first time in several years and made a few small changes based on recent experience. The main change is to cut way down on the brown sugar in the rub, and to add some butter. This will reduce the potential for burning and the butter makes a slightly damp spice mix that will adhere better and make the skin crispy and delicious!

1. Brine It

   This is the single best thing you can do to improve the flavor and juiciness of your turkey. In a large pot on the stove add:

   • about 1 cup of table salt (or 1.5 cups of kosher salt) for each gallon of water
   • 2 whole lemons + juice (just squeeze them in there and throw the lemon halves in)
   • 3-4 whole cloves
   • a whole cinnamon stick

   Heat the mixture up just to dissolve the salt and infuse the spices and then cool it completely. Tip: If you're going to make a gallon of brine, no need to heat it all up, because it'll take longer to heat and an eternity to cool. Add the full amount of salt and aromatics to less than half of the water. Then stir that mixture into the rest of the water. You can make any additions to the brine for additional flavor. For instance: bay leaves, thyme or rosemary, a bit of honey or brown sugar, cardamom. This year I'm going to infuse the water with some black tea. I don't expect it to give big flavor, but I think a hint of the smoky, earthy, nutty tea flavor will be great. The only way to tell if it's salty enough is to taste. It should taste like sea water.

   Brine the turkey whole, in the refrigerator, for up to 24 hours, at least overnight.

2. Dry Rub

   A dry rub is entirely about two things: creating a crispy, flavorful skin and making your bird look sexy. You can't honestly expect something you rub on the outside of a turkey to seep down into the meat very much, but it's a worthwhile step and a foolproof way to actually get a crispy, dark skin on your turkey, as opposed to the basting method which, as I explain below, is crap. So:

   After you've brined the turkey, take it out of the solution and lay it on a bed of paper towels. Pat it dry. While it's drying a bit more on the counter, mix up the dry rub. You really don't want to skimp on the rub, so try this recipe out, but don't hesitate to make more if you need it:

   • 1/4 cup brown sugar
   • 1/4 cup butter, melted
   • 1/4 cup salt
   • 1 tablespoon. garlic powder
   • 1 tablespoon finely ground mustard
   • 1 tablespoon paprika (use spicy Spanish paprika for a wonderful flavor!)
   • 1 tablespoon cumin
   • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
   • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
   • 1 teaspoon ground cloves

   Be creative here. Add any spice you want – add some cayenne to give it a kick. But avoid dried herbs as they may burn and give your skin a bitter taste. Once the turkey is fairly dry, generously rub the mixture all over the turkey. Refrigerate overnight.

   You're going to have a lot more rub than you need, but it's better that way, since you really want to add it liberally. Most of it will fall off before the bird ever hits the oven. I like to rub the turkey inside the same roasting pan that I'm going to cook it in. I use a V-shaped rack. Just before the bird is ready for the oven I take the rack and turkey out, rinse the extra rub out of the bottom of the pan, give it a quick dry, plop the rack and turkey back in the pan and then pop it in the oven.

   Don't worry if patches of the skin look like they're burning – it's bound to happen. I have a tiny Wedgewood oven with no circulation, so I got some significant blackening in one little part. Not a problem.

3. Do Not Stuff! Do Not Baste!

   Stuffing and basting are about the two dumbest things you can do to a turkey. Here's why. You want moist turkey and crispy skin, right? But your oven, which creates dry heat, is working against you, sucking the moisture out of your bird the longer it sits in there. The problem here is that by the time your stuffing has come to a safe temperature to kill the bacteria in the tasty Turkey juices it has absorbed, the rest of your Turkey is going to be over-cooked. If you like dry turkey that's fine, but for me it's not worth drying out the turkey for some tasty stuffing. Another thing you might want to try if you like dry turkey is opening the oven door all the time to baste it and let the heat out. That'll sure make it take longer to cook. And don't be fooled: basting does not make your turkey more moist. How's that juice going to get way down into the meat?

   No, there are only two things that are going to make your turkey moist: brining it and tenting it. If you follow my method, you'll get both. And cooking it to the correct temperature. Ok, that's three.

4. Tent It

   The problem with cooking poultry is that the white meat cooks faster than the dark meat. If you wait for the dark meat to be done, you'll have overdone white meat. If you take it out when the white meat is done, you'll have undercooked dark meat. So what's a well intentioned cook to do? Tent it. Crank the oven up to 425 and shove that bird in there. Let the skin caramelize for about 45 minutes. Then take a large piece of tin foil, folded over and molded to fit the shape of the breast, and snug it over top of the breast like a…. (You might want to shape it in advance so you don't have the oven door open too long to put the tent on.) Turn the heat down to 350 and let it go the rest of the way.

   Update: Take the bird out of the fridge about 45 minutes before it's supposed to go in. If you put it in the oven ice cold it's obviously going to take longer, and we can't have that!

5. Use a Digital Thermometer

   Take my word for it: there is no other way to know when your bird is done except by temperature. The x number of minutes per pound method is terrible because turkeys and ovens vary so much. Buy one of those digital thermometers with a metal probe thermometer. After you've tented the turkey, shove the probe through the foil into the deepest part of the breast on one side without touching the underlying bone. When the thermometer reads 165 degrees, that sucker is done! Take it out of the oven, out of the pan, and let it rest on the counter until it's time to carve.

Follow these simple steps and you can't go wrong.

Andrew pointed me towards Spirit Journal's list of the best spirits of 2005. In particular I was awed that #5 on the list is vintage 1995 Evan Williams Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. I'm familiar with Evan Williams as the cheap swill alternative to Jack Daniels, so seeing this bottle so highly rated was amazing, totally leaving aside the fact that it retails for $25. Wow. Good luck finding it though. BevMo has the 1990 vintage.

Update: I can only find the bottle at one store: Wine Exchange. Drop a line if you locate it elsewhere.

(Via Jono Hey, via Lifehacker):

I've wanted this for ever – and many times said I should just do it – but now someone's done it and not only saved me the hassle, but done it a lot better than I would have.

foodieview solves that problem of, "I have some food and some recipes, but I don't know which recipes I can make with my food. What can I make with what I've got in my fridge?" It not only searches over thousands of recipes all over the web, but it allows you to search by what you have and gives you recipes you can make.

Now all I need is this integrated into my touchscreen fridge door suggesting recipes to me automatically – and emailing my friends to come round for me based on when I last saw them and how much food I have and what they have in their fridges – and I'll be set.

Good find, Jono! Next it needs a social networking element and XML encoding so you can stick it right into your local recipe database (or feed it directly to your FoodieBot, which will whip that bad boy right up for ya)!

Update: I went to subscribe to Lifehacker's RSS feed on Bloglines and noticed that Bloglines won't find the feed if you type in http://www.lifehacker.com and yet 219 people are subscribed to the broken link. To subscribe to Lifehacker's feed use http://www.lifehacker.com/index.xml .

Fine Wine – Skill – Mystery – Passion + Commercialism = Enologix

See the NY Times Article.

(This is a follow-up to another post about the 2000 Guenoc Cab. Synopsis: It Rocks!)

I went back to Trader Joes to get some more bottles of my favorite $9 wine, but was sad to see that the 2000 vintage is all gone, at least from my local store. I checked with an employee and he confirmed that they're now selling only the 2002 vintage. Hoping, but suspecting that it couldn't be as good as the 2000, I bought a few bottles.

It turns out the 2002 is still a very good $9 wine. It has a lot of the same complexity and fruit of the earlier vintage: obviously the winemaker is going for consistency and has done a good job. The 2002 has more of an earthy tang than the 2000 – I wanted to say that it tasted like bramble, but then I realized I don't know what bramble tastes like. It's also more tannic and I was wishing I had let it breathe for an hour before dinner.

Anyway, if you happen by a Trader Joe's, do give the 2002 Guenoc California Cabernet a shot. It's still an incredible value.