New Product Alert!!

Very Good!!

Sorry about the pic. SONIC in Green Brook is now OPEN!!

Doors open at 9AM

http://www.sonicdrivein.com/home.jsp#/home

Kids First BBQ

The two most important things about a good BBQ are food followed people. Luckily this Q had both and more including six babies less then 7 months old and one 19 month old. Those of you who have kids especially you guys out there and those of you who don’t and don’t care know how out of control and loathsome the baby talk can get, which is why it only took minutes for the guys and girls to split off middle school style into two groups. I being a guy went with the rest of the guys and quickly started talking about a gaming addiction amongst our group of friends that has gotten completely out of control (it may actually be time for an intervention). Enough of the meaningless to most chit chat; you gamers out there know who you are.

Let’s get to the meat and potatoes and that is not just a figure of speech where I am concerned. Scott picked up a London Broil that literally looked like it came from the Flintstone’s butcher. Just check out the pics!

The Ham Keeper made his famous bread salad (future blog coming about this) and a potato salad that was more or less smashed cold potatoes and onions. A few great tasting pasta salads were on the table and a giant Mac n Cheese, the word on the back deck was that it contained five cheeses. However I was too busy holding a baby to take notes. The monstrous steak was grilled to perfection with EVOO and salt n pepper and served with a side of sautéed garlic and onions. It was very tasty. For desert there were brownies, cookie topped brownies, and a nice selection of pastries from Calandra’s Bakery. One of the biggest hits of the day was a super appetizer made by a true culinary genius. I will give more details on that dish in the future, when the lover of all things bacon that made it signs up to follow the Ham.

This day that started around 2pm and I’m sure the fun ended when I left around 7PM, would a year prior still have started at 2pm but would have likely gone till 3or 4am. Oh how the times have changed... What a great day had by all!! I would like to thank our hosts Scott and Jodie.

Stay tuned for a summer long of food packed BBQ’s.

Friday Food Porn

Flip Burger in Atlanta.

http://www.flipburgerboutique.com/

Last but not least.

Liquid n2 milkshake

nutella + burnt marshmallow

Enjoy your weekend!!!!

1st BBQ of the year pics to follow.

"OUT WITH AL"

This is the first of many to come of “Out With Al”, a segment in which a friend who has local knowledge of a food they feel should be noted on “The Caged Ham” will suggest and accompany me on my culinary journey. We will get an insiders take on local favorites, mouth watering childhood memories, late night spots, etc

My first journey took place with Montclair ’s finest, John aka “Fowl Ball” aka “Ball” of Nicco’s chicken salad sandwich fame. John, a fire fighter is a life long resident of Montclair and knows good food. As I have said in the past ask a fire fighter where to find good food, just don’t ask them who has the best pizza. As much as this hurts I will admit John whoops my ass on the golf course on most days and I am the one buying drinks at the end of the round. Working two days a week during the warm months can do wonders for a guy’s swing (sorry I had to throw that in).

Back to the trip at hand, the cuisine burgers. The spot, the legendary Tierney’s Tavern at136-138 Valley Rd. in Montclair where I once told my wife I would never eat as much as a peanut at when she told me years ago they had a good burger. For those of you who have never been this is a low down dirty old school tavern that opened in 1934 and looks it. John has been coming to Tierney’s since he was a boy, making trips with his friend Billy’s father. Now John makes frequent trips whether a burger is involved or a just a post golf round victory drink. Don’t expect to get waitress service at lunch time. To be honest I am not sure if you can actually get it anytime but the friendly gentleman tending bar does all and from what I understand they all take turns in the kitchen.

We started with a nice basket of crispy wings served with hot sauce and blue cheese on the side. The wings were not hot but they were tasty. For our main course we ordered bacon cheese burgers (med) and well done fries. When our burgers came out the first thing that I noticed is that the burger is a great size, I would guess about 6oz and cooked to perfection. On top was a nice amount of bacon not too much to overpower the burger, a slice of American cheese (other options were available) served on a perfect fitting bun and accompanied by fries, which based on local knowledge must be cooked well done in order to achieve a crisp exterior. This juicy BCB was fresh tasting and my guess would be it is chuck, 80-20 the ONLY way to go. However I didn’t think the fries made a big impact.

The $5.50 for this hamburger was well worth it. If you are in the area and looking for a beer and a burger while a non-pretentious crowd of local characters hang at the bar this is the place for you.

I would give the Tierney’s burger 3HAMS.

The Best Pizza In Atl??

 I could make the best pizza in Atl.

Varasano's Pizza

NE Atlanta

"Jeff Varasano's Famous New York Pizza Recipe


One of the 'Elite 8' Pizzerias in the US by Every Day with Rachael Ray

Voted Best Pizza in Atlanta for 2009 by Jezebel Magazine

Named one of the 14 Best New Restaurants by Atlanta Magazine

Voted Best Neapolitan Pizza by AtlantaCuisine.com"

I would like to thank my buddy Shawn for putting his life on the line to eat this pizza.

All joking aside, everything put into the making of this pizza is well thought out. Owner Jeff Varasano spent years of his life trying to perfect his craft, pizza that is a knock off of Patsy's in NYC. Some say his pies are better. I would speculate that these people are members of his family.

More info on Jeff.

http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm

This Grandma is HOT!!

What is Grandma pizza?

"Variations abound, but the basic outlines are as follows: a thin layer of dough is stretched into an oiled, square "Sicilian" pan, topped sparingly with shredded mozzarella, crushed uncooked canned tomatoes, chopped garlic and olive oil, and baked until the top bubbles and the bottom is crisp."

Call it what you want, if you find a good Grandma you may never go back to plain pizza.

Bill’s Burger (enjoy the great photos by me)

Located in the trendy Meatpacking District, at 22 Ninth Ave @ W 13th St .,

Bill’s Burger is an instant classic. Their ground beef mix is crafted by none other then the master meat purveyor himself, Pat La Frieda. Let’s face it Pat is a celebrity in the world of burgers and anything coming from him is a huge hit http://www.lafrieda.com/.

Getting back to Bill’s, would I dare say this is the best burger in the city? No, but it is damn good. My favorite burgers are still the Shake Shack’s “Shack Burger” and the Minetta Tavern’s “Black Label Burger” (which is the best burger anywhere, if you can get in or want to cough up $26 bucks for a burger) which are also Pat La Frieda exclusive blends of meat.

That said, at Bill’s they start with a marbled ball of meat and smash it on the grill a la Shake Shack style, then generously season it with salt and pepper. When it is finished cooking it has an awesome crust and it is served on a diner style seeded bun with plain old American Cheese. For those looking for something a little different then the “Bill’s Classic” they have a good choice of burgers on the menu. Next time I’ll be trying the “Bobcat”, which has Mexican Green Chilies and Jack Cheese. I’m not even going to talk about the fries, take a look for your self.

On weekends they are open until 4AM, so after a night of partying you may find yourself eating next to Lindsey Lohan who is trying to beat them on the bill or some regular Joe looking to eat a great burger and have a drink from the finely stocked bar.

I give Bill’s Bar &Burger 4 HAMS. It is a must try.

http://www.brguestrestaurants.com/restaurants/bills-bar-burger/

New Product Alert!!!

Hot Pockets

SideShots

4 Mini Cheesburgers

(hamburger and cheese with sauce in a bun)

It's what you would expect a hot pocket mini burger to taste like.

I Have NO Self Control

I try not to make a habit of eating like a complete animal at lunch but sometimes I just can’t control myself. One of these times occurred recently when I was in the former town of pizza master Scott from Scott’s pizza tours, who may be more excited about pizza then any man alive or even dead for that matter. If you are looking for something fun to do, this is a must (http://www.scottspizzatours.com/).

Long story short I was in the "Boken" and texted Scott, who was on a two week tour of the US eating pizza and doing pizza related things (told you he was crazy for pizza) to ask his professional opinion on where and what to eat. I use to live in Hoboken during my bachelor days, but was looking for something off the beaten path. O boy did he deliver. The place he suggested is Delfino’s Pizzeria at 500 Jefferson St. , an old school hole in the wall that plays homage to all actors Italian, from the cast of The Sopranos, to fellow Hobokenites, Frank Sinatra and Danny Aiello.

For the first time in the last 10 months I wasn’t at a pizzeria to eat the pizza I was there to eat, drum roll please………………..The Fried Calzone! And yes it is exactly what it sounds like a Fried Calzone, a tad bigger then my open hand. This fluffy fried dough had and explosion of ricotta cheese and ham flying out of the opening like price “Rollbacks” at Wal-Mart on Black Friday and a crust that tasted similar to the “Pizza Frites” from St. Ann ’s Festa in Raritan (I will get back to that in June) was served with a side a marinara sauce. Although it was nice mixture of mozzarella with ricotta and ham I think I had my fill of lunch time cholesterol for a while and can’t see myself rushing back anytime soon. However if you are looking for something a little different then your usual Washington Avenue greasy food spots then give it shot.

Ah'Pizz (Montclair) Some of my facts on VPN/APN may be a little off.

Being one of the best known pizza tasters in the state has it perks. When a new spot opens they look for people that not only will be impressed but can get the word out. Thank God they found me. OK, I’ll come clean, I went to them, but some of that is true. One of the owners recognized me from Nomad Pizza in Hopewell where he used to work http://www.nomadpizzaco.com/.

Ah’Pizz located in a nice space on North Willow St. in Montclair serves Neapolitan style pizza. You might be thinking “What is Neapolitan style Pizza?” To answer your question it is pizza made as it is in the motherland. In fact Ah’Pizz is flying in a crew from Italy to certify them with VPN and APN Certifications. Currently only THREE pizzerias in the entire USA carry these certifications. One of the three also hails from NJ, A Mano in Ridgewood . Not to bore you with this but these certifications are a big deal to pizza aficionados like me. The VPN and APN are Italy ’s version of the “Pizza CIA”. They make sure the correct flour, tomatoes, etc. are used, (San Marzano tomatoes, grown in the shadows of Mt. Vesuvius’ in rich volcanic ash, Buffalo Mozzarella imported daily from Italy and so on) along with all other aspects of how this pizza is made from the cradle to the grave.

Now to get to the stuff you have all been waiting for, the pizza itself. This perfect looking pie tasted as good as it looked. The crust had a nice char around the edges which you can only get using a wood fired oven. This particular oven was ordered and flown over from Italy , (the price of oven should be estimated somewhere between $30 and 40 K)! The sauce is made from San Marzano tomatoes. If you have never had a San Marzano tomato once you try one you may never want to eat any other variety again. They have a nice sweet taste that does not require much of anything else to make a delicious sauce, most of the time it is not cooked before it is put on the pizza. After the sauce the pizza is then topped with fresh mozzarella, which I have to come to notice (after visiting 333 pizzerias) is rarely used by other places in the area and followed by a little bit of fresh basil. The pies are then cooked in the oven for 2-3 minutes (the oven temp reaches as high as 1,000 degrees hence the quick cooking time).upon removal from the oven the pies are topped with more fresh basil, a swirl of imported Extra Virgin Olive Oil and finished with the perfect amount of grated Pecorino Romano Cheese. Hopefully understanding the amount of the work that goes into one of these pizzas will explain why a 12 inch pizza can run you $12.

Although the menu at Ah’Pizz is still in the works, they do plan on featuring a nice salad of some type yet to be decided and a few different varieties of pizza ranging from Margarita to Fresh Clam, when is season. When is clam season anyway? I also know they are looking into deserts from Bindi and that they will most definitely have a NUTELLA Desert Pizza, which I have had at Nomad and is a must try!

I can’t comment on what the atmosphere will be like, I went at an off time of day when it was only the two owners and me. My only real complaint was the “Colorful” attitude of the front end owner. However it was made up for by his friendly partner who spent a year in Italy learning his craft and will be making the pies and manning the oven. I have had his pies at Nomad and they are killer. I do have faith that this place will be a huge hit in Montclair .

WARNING: If you like doughy pizza with undercooked pale cheese this is NOT for you. This pizza is what pizza was created to taste like.

Who makes the best Lasagna? ME!

I do many things well. A few of my talents are golfing, slam dunking a basket ball, and of course eating but at the top of my list is making lasagna (or my award winning pulled pork or bread salad, which I will save for a summer BBQ blog).

Contrary to what you all might be thinking this particular lasagna was not about me.

It was about Jodie and Scott Howell and the birth of their beautiful baby girl. Sienna Emily Howell, 7lbs 4ozs, 19.5” long was born 2/5/10 at 12:54 PM with a head of hair fuller then 90% of the men reading this, (which no doubt is a trait from the Howell side of her family).

This adorable baby came out hungry and was ready to eat, so I sprung into action. I could go on, but instead I will let the pictures speak for themselves. I am willing to provide my recipe to anyone who would like a copy, but please don’t waste my time or yours if you are not willing to make the commitment. The entire recipe is from scratch and takes me, a seasoned chef well over three hours to put together so the novice should be prepared.

Congrats Scott and Jodie we are looking forward to spending years watching Gavin and Sienna grow, hoping that history repeats itself and one day they too can attend the prom together this time around not only will both will enjoy it, they will arrive in a stylish (non-brown) vehicle.

It's that time of year!

It’s that time of year again when everyone lays claim to his Irish Heritage.

The Shamrock Shake reminds me of when I was a young lad and my neighbor, Ralph Beavers went ballistic every March because he had to get to McDonald’s to suck down this green shake.

I once heard a man describe the flavor as tasting like Girl Scout Cookies. I would have to agree with this description being that I am writing this with a shake fresh in my mind. My co-worker, Bryan who saw the sign on Wednesday waited five whole days to tell me. Long story short the minute I found out we shot over to Mickey D’s for this seasonal treat. Upon my first sip of this great vanilla based milkshake with the perfect hint of mint I was immediately transported back to 1984 and a mirage of Ralph Beavers appeared before me.

Please remember it is only here for a limited time. Once we all put away our Irish Knit Sweaters and Kelly green ties, toss the last Guinness bottle into the recycling bin and the last stale green bagel into the garbage can and all go back to claiming whichever nationality we truly are it will be a whole year before this shake is once again available.

Attached is a web site devoted to shamrock shakes this may help with you search. http://www.shamrockshake.com/

LENT?

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/02/are-you-giving-up-anything-for-lent.html

Best sandwich in NJ?

What do you think of when you hear chicken salad? Perhaps an ice cream scoop gelatinous ball of chicken and mayo on top of a diner salad (real healthy), someone holding up the line in a deli while asking if the crusted over at one time white salad is tuna or chicken? Or maybe it is my least favorite that comes to mind, a mixture of chicken and mayo containing nuts and fruit… Well what I’m about to talk about is as far from the “Healthy Salad Platters” page in a diner menu as one can get. In fact to some it may be a health risk. It definitely isn’t what Hillary was ordering for Bill’s lunch today (or maybe it was)…

I was talking to a friend and firefighter (people like to turn to firefighters for food options, just don’t ask them about pizza), John F., one of Montclair ’s finest. First words out of his mouth when describing this behemoth from Nicco’s Italian Deli in Caldwell, “I don’t even like chicken salad” some of you guys out there may be thinking that men must speak this way about anything containing the word salad to protect their manhood, but later when I suggested my wife, who truly hates chicken salad, but loves all other things salad try this sandwich, the same words came from her as did the same end result. Men often feel the same way about admitting to liking a salad as they do liking quiche or admitting to watching a chick flick, however I do believe that Ghost was some of Swayze’s best work, but I’ll leave that topic for another blog.

The first thing I heard that knocked the word “salad” from my head was “breaded chicken cutlet”. And that was all I needed to hear to go taste for myself. Nick the colorful owner is not all shy or modest with his claim to make the best food ever and he has no problem talking shit to you about his food as he is making it. Now for the awesome chicken salad, he starts by taking two huge pieces of perfectly cooked and seasoned chicken cutlet, hacks them up with one hell of a chopping motion and tosses them into a large metal bowl, next a few mounds of mayo join the party. I ordered mine with lettuce and red onion, which he added to the hacked up cutlet and mayo, and finally a nice squirt of red vinegar. With a few flicks of the wrist this masterpiece is complete. It is then piled generously on an excellent sub roll, soft on the inside and a nice outer crust (nobody enjoys a sub roll that tears up the top of your mouth).

You will fall in love after the first bite. I can’t think of anything I would add to this monster. I hear his other food is great but I have yet to find out. This may be one of the best sandwiches I have ever had, I would recommend getting this sandwich immediately if not sooner, when this blog hits he may have to take it off his menu.

Enjoy