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Alex

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Everything posted by Alex

  1. Thanks to all for the recommendations. I CTA'ed up to Evanston mid-morning Monday and just strolled around the Davis downtown. I was so sated by the previous three days' eating and drinking that I couldn't even bring myself to eat so much as a bowl of soup for lunch. I did, however, stop for a while at Dream About Tea and enjoyed a very pleasant hour or so of reading and green tea. Next visit I think I'd like to do a Baha'i Temple/lakefront stroll/Trio lunch combo.
  2. I've always liked Kramerbooks and Afterwords Cafe, right on Dupont Circle.
  3. For the past month or so I've been using what I assume is the same setup as Mayhaw Man. It makes for a very smooth cup of coffee that I like very much. Mostly, I use a very dark roast, then dilute the concentrate with milk instead of water for a quick iced or hot latte. There are some posts about the toddy method on this old thread.
  4. Alex

    Gefilte Fish

    Several years ago I began using a recipe from Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking In America -- "Elegant and Easy Gourmet Gefilte Fish Pâté." Everyone, including the skeptics, has loved it. It's baked in a bundt pan (I imagine you could use a ring mold) in a water bath. As she says in the introduction to the recipe, you get the traditional gefilte fish taste, but with a smoother texture and almost none of the hassle. Whitefish has always worked fine for me. I like serving it with a fresh horseradish-lime sauce. 1. Grind 3# fish fillets in a food processor or meat grinder. Grind fine, but don't puree. 2. Sauté 2# diced onion in 3T veg oil until soft and transparent. Cool. 3. Peel and grate 2 large carrots. 3. (A KitchenAid or equivalent mixer really helps for this step.) Beat at medium speed for 15 minutes: the fish, the onions, 4 large eggs, 2c cold water, 1T salt or to taste, 2t white pepper, 2T sugar. At the end, mix in the carrots thoroughly. 4. Pour into a greased 12-cup bundt pan and smooth the top. Bake in a preheated 325°F oven for one hour in a larger pan filled with 2" of water. 5. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour more or until the center is solid. Cool for 5 minutes then invert onto a serving plate. Refrigerate for at least several hours.
  5. Will the madness never end? Four more, courtesy of Bargain Books' 25%-off sale: 50 Chowders, Jasper White Monday to Friday Cookbook, Michele Urvater The Livebait Cookbook The Artist's Table
  6. There's a thread here. I tend to agree with the poster who opined, "Eh." I'd add, "Overpriced." (Not that the CC in my city cares all that much about my opinion -- they're doing a landslide business, situated next to a multi-screen movie theater that allows CC products to be brought in.)
  7. Skip them all & Evanston, seriously, unless you are in Evanston for a reason. It is not that Evanston is bad, there is just better to be had. Go to the Rogers Park area of Chicago (just south of Evanston). More interesting shops AND restaurants.i.e. the Argyle Street Vietnam section (there is thread in the Heartland forum) What shops or attractions (and on what streets other than Argyle) would you recommend, other than a visit to guajolote's house? BTW, I discovered your first eG post in the "Chinatown in Chicago" thread. P.S. Hope you had a good meal and a good time at La Shish or wherever you wound up.
  8. We've never been to Evanston, so for our Chicagoland visit next weekend I was thinking it might be fun to spend the day there. We'll probably focus on the downtown area. On Metromix I saw five likely lunch candidates: Joy Yee's Noodles, Lulu's, Mt. Everest, Noodle Garden, and Potbelly Sandwich Works. I'd appreciate any opinions about these, or about any others I've overlooked. Also, any suggestions about interesting places, stores, etc. would be greatly appreciated as well.
  9. That's almost happened to me on more than one occasion. Good taste is timeless, I guess. Three more books, courtesy of eBay and Amazon. (And yes, I traveled there by way of eGullet. :$$$: ) How to Read a French Fry The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen Cooking at Home with the CIA
  10. Ms. Alex enjoyed Café Lebanon when she stayed at the Marriott.
  11. Here in the Heartland the ad goes, "It's not delivery, it's DiGiorno." Highly obnoxious -- especially the one with Dick Vitale, who is barely tolerable under the best of circumstances.
  12. Page 3 of the travel section in today's Grand Rapids Press features an article entitled "Fulfill food fantasies in Ann Arbor." Unfortunately, it's not very useful (or fantasy-related, for that matter). Most of the article is devoted to Zingerman's (Deli+Bakehouse+ Roadhouse) and Whole Foods Market, with smaller blurbs about Firefly and Fleetwood Diner, and brief mentions of Old Town Tavern, West End Grill, Bella Ciao, and Pacific Rim ("...mid-priced but great Asian food in a minimalist atmosphere.")
  13. OH NO! I have these same knives! But I didn't buy them - they were given to me and I keep two of them handy because I can put an edge on them with my ceramic "steel" and I don't really care what happens to them so they are used for "rough cuts" -- anything I think might damage a better knife. They are strange knives and yet.......... I think I have the knock-off of the knock-off of them - the so-called Dione Lucas version (which I can't believe ever had even nodding acquaintance with the lady herself); trapezoidal shape, molybdenum composition. And I use and use and use and use them, and they hold an edge better than I deserve. They aren't for everything or everyone, but they are indispensable for all those miscellaneous items, all those unclassifiable odds and ends, all those unauthorized pass-through-the-kitchen-and-grab-a-hunk-of-cheese-on-the-fly moments. It can't always be haute cuisine! Confession #2: Several months ago, in a fit of delayed grieving for the two knives I sold, I picked up on eBay an unused 9" Dione Lucas slicer but with a Benihana of Tokyo logo. Ah, yes. I know them well.
  14. In a few weeks, Ms. Alex and I will attend a six-course prix fixe "East Meets West" dinner at Friendship in Chicago. It's BYO, and we certainly could use some wine suggstions. At this point I don't know if it'll be just the two of us or if other eG'ers will be joining. Let's say two bottles for now, and I'm less concerned about a wine for the dessert course. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Here's the menu: I. Panko Crusted Crab Cake on Watercress with Szechwan Chili Aioli II. Seafood Cream of Corn Soup with Lobster Broth III. Peking Duck Wrap and Duck Confit in Taro Root Basket with Mandarin Orange Grand Marnier Sauce IV. Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass on Seaweed Salad with Gingered Sweet Soy and Chili Oil V. Wok Roasted Mushroom Caps on Chicken Flavored Sticky Rice VI. Ginger-Scented Tofu Cheese Cake and Sweet Purple Yam Ice Cream with Raspberry Coulis
  15. OK, knife confession time: When I first set up housekeeping on my own, 30+ years ago, I redeemed most of my family's accumulated S&H Green Stamps and equipped my kitchen with red Club Aluminum cookware (one covered saucepan still remains, primarily for its nostalgia value), green and white Pyrex mixing bowls (two remain), and two Pyrex baking dishes (gone but not forgotten). I also purchased (via an ad in Parade magazine, if very hazy memory serves) a set of four Japanese-made stainless steel + molybdenum knives. The blades were trapezoidal, the handles were rosewood with about a 2/3-length riveted tang, and they sported an unusual circular fish logo. I hardly ever used the slicer and the quasi-cleaver, so they departed at one of my yard sales. I used the larger chef's knife until it literally broke in two, about five years ago. I continue to use (and abuse) the 5" chef's knife. It sharpens beautifully on the unfinished (underside) rim of a salad plate. It's the perfect size for mushrooms, shallots, garlic, cheese, etc. The tip is handy for tightening the often-loose handles of my Farberware. I remind myself from time to time to use my Kyocera Ming Tsai so it won't feel neglected.
  16. Bargain Books to the rescue! Desserts by Pierre Hermé, by Dorie Greenspan (hardcover) Pasta, by Julia Della Croce
  17. I will never, ever, eat natto. I also will attempt to shield my eyes and hold my nose whenever it appears. I will never look at something else while chopping vegetables. I will never eat a fast food hamburger of any sort. (A few years ago I'd have said that I will never drink wine that comes in a screw-top bottle. )
  18. Thanks for the report, yt, and welcome to eGullet. Could you possibly post a link to Moto's web site; it appears to be eluding Google. I wonder if the kanji on the web site is moto.
  19. That VillaWare looks like a very, very good deal. I've owned a bunch of different hand-cranked and electric ice cream makers. I'd go for an electric model if I were you, especially for $20! -- much less work, with better results. I'd also buy another item for $5.01 or more in order to get free shipping. One thing did seem odd to me, though: It is #2 in Amazon's sales ranking yet has no consumer reviews.
  20. The original link is a bit off. Until corrected, this is the right one. From the Slate.com article: "What are these creatures? As I say, they're called spongmonkeys. I don't know why and neither did Hall. In your mail to me, you've called them: gerbils with birth defects; Mr. Potato Rats; drug-addled, castrato hamsters; and "hell lemurs" (which, while catchy, is not really accurate, as the lemur body type is far more ectomorphic). Whatever they are, they're clearly Photoshopped, and if pressed I would say the base element is a pygmy marmoset." A Real Spongmonkey? Yep. Good catch. One more vote, from me, for tarsier. But where's its hat?
  21. The original link is a bit off. Until corrected, this is the right one. From the Slate.com article: "What are these creatures? As I say, they're called spongmonkeys. I don't know why and neither did Hall. In your mail to me, you've called them: gerbils with birth defects; Mr. Potato Rats; drug-addled, castrato hamsters; and "hell lemurs" (which, while catchy, is not really accurate, as the lemur body type is far more ectomorphic). Whatever they are, they're clearly Photoshopped, and if pressed I would say the base element is a pygmy marmoset."
  22. That's true, the speed limit is 70 mph. IMHO, being a former employee, I liked the concept of Villegas a lot, and the food for the most part pretty good, but it seems to lack cohesion in terms of menu idea and the concept. The dining room is beautiful, and I haven't been there in 8 years so maybe things have gotten better, food wise, but I found better cooking the further east and west of Lansing I went. Love Cafe Cortina Farmington Hills (I think), there was a little place, Emily in Northville, Too Chez, Tribute. My travels have not taken me through the heart of Michigan in a while, so it is possible that things have gotten better. I haven't lived in the Detroit area for a while, either. I think Cafe Cortina is still around. I continue to hear very good things about Emily's. I think that Too Chez is gone. Tribute, of course, is on another level altogether. There's also Five Lakes Grill in Milford, which is closer to Lansing than any of the above. There are some excellent Chinese restaurants in the Detroit area, and especially in Windsor. If I remember correctly, terrarich currently is an apprentice at Villegas.
  23. Well, maybe 45 minutes. Although, what do you think of Villegas, in Okemos?
  24. Check out that AdAge.com article for the connection. An effective TV ad is designed to: 1) make you pay attention to it; 2) make you remember it; 3) convey some useful information about the product. I think these Quizno's ads succeed on all counts. I love these ads. Except now that jingle (or its progenitor) keeps popping into my head at random times. And speaking of bizarro, how about Jason Alexander pitching KFC? Now there's a good ad. :sarcastic wink: (Edited for clarity, so necessary in these murky and confusing times.)
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