adegiulio

I'm adding my vote to Rao's. It tastes like real sauce, without that sweet, over cooked flavor. Go Rao's!

if anything, the masses don't even appreciate Legal Sea Foods. but Legal is trying to change that, with great product and a great wine list, one naysayer at a time. if they don't get 'em all, well, who cares. ← Well, someone likes them. Excellent points on chains not equating to lousy food. There are definately some chains that execute much better than others, in my opinion. I would rather Smith and Wollensky anyday over Ruth's Chris (why can't Ruth learn how to cook vegetable sides?) And one of the nice, if not under-rated aspects of Legal Seafoods, and other quality chains, is that I don't need to get dressed up to go. I can just pop in with shorts and not feel out of place. I like that...

It was just plain kosher salt. Plain smoky tasty kosher salt.

My friend made smoked salt by putting a tray of salt in the smoker when he made some pork. Use it on steaks, roasted vegetables, anything you want to have a subtle smoky taste. Damn he is smart...

Magnets won't stick to stainless steel...

In Hudson, I would certainly check out Swoon Kitchenbar. Very hip crowd, seems like a NYC restaurant. Cool place. For pizza, our friends introduced us to Baba Louie's , which makes excellent pies and salads. Don't forget to bring lots of money and the SUV, there are TONS of antique shops and other nice boutiques.

Here's a simple question: Is there a home oven/range that offers steam injection? Throwing ice cubes in a cast iron pan just doesnt do it the way commercial steam ovens can. TIA

While you are correct that the servers are being graded, most students hate this part of the rotation. It is also the last part of their education at CIA, and most students have already "left" in their own minds. I have never had good, even passable service at any of the restaurants on campus. Put a gun to my head I would say go to Escoffier. Avoid American Bounty at all costs. It is the most over-rated, underperforming resto there...

A piston type is the best way to go, in my opinion. I have a Dick, which is very heavy and well made. I love it. It also has a pressure valve and an assortment of tube sizes. I like this type because there are fewer air pockets and it is easier to control the flow. Plus its just plain fun...

Uh oh, I sense a road trip coming!

Slice it as thin as you can get it. If you have a deli slicer, use it...

Carolyn is 100% correct. And I will second what she says about being able to use other fats in the place of caul fat and still have a very nice, authentic terrine. Most people, especially for restaurant service, will pull the caul fat away when cleaning up the pate. There is typically a lot of sloppy and loose gelatin intermingled with the fat. Taking it off makes it more attractive, and I think more palatable.

Oh, and if that doesnt do it for you, try Peets coffee on the web. I have used them before and their beans were always fresh...

Well, I roast my own, so I can't speak from experience, but I have heard that Whole Foods has excellent coffee. The roast often so you know its fresh. The people at WF are very helpful in other areas of the store, I'm sure the coffee people will be just as helpful...

I saw that video the other day. Now, I'm not in love with Starbucks, but this guy is just a crank who thinks he's got himself an easy target. First of all, a cup of coffee and a pound cake doesnt cost 7 bucks. Secondly, people always claim that Starbucks somehow "get's away with" charging four bucks for a coffee. Not true. Starbucks charges that much for a large latte or cappucino, not for a regular cup of coffee. For a regular old cup of coffee, their prices arent really that far out of line with anywhere else. For their espresso drinks, I don't think they are any more expensive than a restaurant, probably less... Sorry to get off the subject, but guys like that annoy me. They complain for the sake of complaining, because they know some people out there will sympathize with them.

I like to show up the next day, pull down my pants and return the meal on their doorstep... C'mon Curlz!! name names! Give us initials!

You can definately reuse the fat from duck confit. It will become too salty after a while and should be thrown away. How many "confits" you get depends on how salty you cure your duck. The rest of the stuff I don't know... May the schmaltz be with you..

If you don't like vanillin, then stop using natural vanilla extract also. Vanillin is the naturally occuring chemical in vanilla that give it its trademark aroma. Artificially produced vanillin is simply produced in a factory, but is till the same stuff chemically. Artificial vanilla is actually more purely "vanilla" than natural vanilla... But, I get the point you are trying to make...

Yes, but a little bit of science can easily be debunked by a little bit of novel physiology. There are lots of people who will simply yak if they work out on a full stomach. There are a lot fewer people who can eat a 6 course meal and go run a half-marathon... or people who can stop in the middle of a metric marathon and drink 2 beers and continue on. Also, and here's the big thing: the science behind how to effectively fuel yourself is primarily a procrastination ploy and excuse-generator. We know the real way to physical fitness is hard work. But, we'd rather have a "quick" or an "easy" or a "secret" way. But, maintaining your weight, keeping it off, or gaining physical fitness is just like running a marathon: don't start too fast, and never, ever stop. Diet barely makes a difference to normal slugs like me, except in extreme cases (like race day on a marathon). It makes a lot of difference to Lance Armstrong. But, there are orders of magnitude difference in performance levels. And, yes, I have a good idea of it. I have wrestled (and dieted) for more than a decade. I have run marathons, fenced, ridden centuries, and currently work in a fermentation engineering lab where we optimize all sorts of diets for bacteria and yeast. After all of that experience, I can definitely tell you that diet is fairly well in the realm of diminishing returns for the work-a-day job/exerciser. ← You're right. Science is bad. Anecdotal "evidence" from a small group of people on the internet is good. I knew a guy who smoked, drank, and ate like crap. Lived till he was 92. Instead of using scientifically proven principles of health, let's follow his lead. I mean, we all know marathon runners who died at 31, right??

I hear Alfred Portale is still manning the stove most nights over at Gotham....

Yeah, well you can eat anything and get through a workout. The person asking the question doesn't need us to tell them that. I assume the person who asked the question wanted an answer with a little bit of science behind it. If you want to answer that by just saying "do what works for you", I don't think that really adds to the discussion. I'm sure the person is aware that they can do "what's right for them", what they want to know is what's best for them. From that point of view, there is a lot of bad advice in this thread. There is a lot more science behind well respected books and websites than there is in some guy telling me to eat simple carbs before a workout, or lots of protein immediately after. That's all I'm sayin'...

Wow, there is a lot of really bad advice on this thread. I would really suggest you (or anyone) consult a book or website on the subject. There is plenty of information out there to clear up most questions. In my opinion, this thread would do more to confuse than actually help... Just one man's opinion

Didn't this restaurant get a new owner less than 2 years ago after the original owner passed away? Guess he didn't like the resto biz!! I vote for another change-- Sunday opening! It seems to make so much more sense to close on Mondays and open Sundays... ← First, the selling owner is a "she", not a "he". She owned the restaurant when the old chef passed away. At that point (after a period of mourning), she hired a new chef and joined him in the kitchen.

Wow, that is big news. I wonder why she sold? Something tells me it wont be the same with a new owner, or as good....

Excuse my ignorance, but does cooking kill the little buggers? How about sauce?