Alex

We went to Traffic Jam and Snug before the Pixies concert a few months ago and had a great dinner. Wonderful soups and salads, and they make their own cheese. My only complaint was that the cheese was served cold, but after leaving them out a while, they were quite good. ← It's also been a while since I've been to Traffic Jam, now that I live on the west side of the state. My history with TJ dates to the early 70s, when I was in grad school at Wayne State, just down the road from TJ. At the time, it was the place to go (along with Verne's) for a beer and sandwich. They later stepped up the cuisine and the beer/wine selection. Some time back in the 80s I had the most wonderful trifle of my life there -- intense chocolate cake soaked with Frangelico, cocoa whipped cream, and sliced pears.

Five Lakes Grill in Milford. Emily's in Plymouth. Me, I'd go to Tribute twice.

Yes, and definitely yes.

Would a little Meyer lemon olive oil be a good idea here or would 400° be to much for it? Pat w. ← Too much, I think. It'll probably work better as a finishing oil (vis. my post above re truffle oil). Good idea, though.

Thought I would bump this back up since I'm finding some good asparagus prices in the grocery stores. This is another veggie that changes quite a bit when roasted. It's even easier than roasting cauliflower. I put the cleaned (and "snapped"...as in snapping off the woody bottom part) stalks on the foil-lined pan (I use a dark pan), season them and then simply drizzle olive oil on them. I roll the stalks around a bit on the pan so they get a light coating of oil and spices and that's it (make sure you don't use too much oil). Then roast away. The first time I made this I roasted it for 20 minutes at 400° and while it was tasty, it was rather limp. So I think a shorter roasting time, perhaps 15 minutes, will work better. It tastes quite a bit different (in a very good way) than steamed asparagus. Anyone else try it? ← All the time. I prefer thin stalks for roasting. I do it basically the way you described, with just olive oil and kosher salt in a Pyrex or Le Creuset baking dish. About 20-25 min gets the tips nice and crunchy. I often add a bit of truffle oil before serving. BTW, last month I made a wonderful cream of roasted cauliflower soup. It took more than a modicum of self-control, though, to not eat up half the cauliflower before tossing it in the soup pot.

Hi, Mags -- make it 88,460. One more arrived today and two are on the way: St. Jacques, Fast Food My Way Alfred Portale, Simple Pleasures The new McGee

Memory is such a strange thing. When this thread reappeared today, I would have wagered a moderate amount of cash that I had already replied. But noooo... So here's my reply. Getting married at 46 and 41 has its advantages, not the least of which is that one gets to arrange the entire menu. It was a small reception (~40 persons), so we could splurge a bit. I did some of the menu, a chef-friend-CIA grad did most of the rest. I don't remember the wine, except that for the champagne toast our table drank a Tattinger Brut and the masses had a Chateau St. Jean bubbly. I do remember that my friend, my brother, my two nephews, and I spent a not insignificant amount of time watching the last game of the 1996 World Series on a little black and white TV in Temple Emanuel's kitchen. (You can take the boy out of New York, but....) Apps: Stuffed grape leaves (vegetarian, locally made, and unfortunately no longer available); seedless green grapes covered in Boursin and chopped pistachios (friend) Soup: Gazpacho (me) Dinner: Cold poached salmon w/ginger remoulade and yogurt dill sauce on the side; couscous w/seasonal vegetables (friend) Dessert: Wedding cake -- Three-tiered chocolate cheesecake decorated with edible Hawaiian orchids (me) I think the food blew some folks away. My oldest nephew said he was fully expecting rubbery chicken, soggy green beans, and mashed potatoes. My father-in-law was heard to complain about the lack of meat, but wound up eating three helpings of salmon. We put a disposable camera on each table for our guests to take pictures of whatever they wanted; we wound up with more pictures of the cake than anything or anyone else!

I'm here in spirit, if not in words.

I've found that to be the case. I usually wait until they've cooled enough to handle without burning my fingers to badly, then remove them from the foil. Rubbing the skins off with a few paper towels works pretty well for me. It also keeps my fingers from turning red.

Tim is a dead ringer for Mark McGwire, post-steroids. Seriously, though, I'm enjoying your blog a lot. Thanks, too, for the web site link -- I learned that a cohousing community is in the works here in Grand Rapids! It'll be more urban-style than yours, though -- 15 units + common house on about one acre, with a city park across the street.

Save 'em for a vegetable stock?

Roasting beets is the only way to go. Ms. Alex, a lifelong beet-hater, now loves them. Wash & dry. Trim off all but ~2cm of the top. Rub with olive (or other) oil, enclose in a foil packet, and roast at ~180°C for ~1 hour (for 5cm-diameter beets -- increase the time for larger ones). Open packet, let cool, then rub off skin with paper towels. There are all sorts of recipes at epicurious.com. I'll usually slice them into large julienne (I forget the exact term) after roasting. At the Heartland Gathering a couple of years ago, guajolote turned them into a salad with blue cheese and red onion. Alfred Portale does them up with feta, orange, and mint with a balsamic dressing. There's a Larousse recipe (Forestierre?) that combines them with bacon and sauteed mushrooms.

Zingerman's, which is mentioned several times throughout the Heartland forum. Just Google or site search...

I also use proscuitto end + p-r rinds when cooking cannellini beans.

Here, here!! If not drinking Diet Vernor's, we opt for Faygo sparkling fruit-flavored water. No sugar, no fake sugar, no fake flavor. Delicious.

In my book, anything longer than walking distance qualifies as a road trip.

The site's up today -- looks great!

Zingerman's Roadhouse is on the way to the Inn...

I'm guessing it's about a ¾-mile walk to Zingerman's, open 'til 10. It'll probably be snowing, but what the heck.

U of M's press release from last November "Jan (Janice Bluestein) Longone is Curator of American Culinary History at the William Clements Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She is the proprietor of the Wine and Food Library, the oldest culinary antiquarian bookshop in America ...." The collection's web site (not operative as of today)

Linguine with olive oil, garlic (lots), red pepper flakes, parsley, and grated Vella Dry Jack. Life is good.

Yes, I think you're referring to the Berghoff Cafe, an offshoot of the original Berghoff.

1) Thank him/her profusely. 2) Lock the door. 3) Rinse them, then dry thoroughly. 4) Slice the long way into manageable pieces. 5) Saute in butter along with a couple of diced shallots until softened 6) Add a little dry sherry, if you have, and reduce til the sherry is gone. 6) Use as an omelette filling

I haven't tried either, but I'm always tempted by Musashi. Unfortunately, when I'm there this Wednesday morning, it will be 8am. Do they have any breakfast options, you think? My best airport meal ever was a noodle breakfast at Narita. If nothing else, I'll end up at Starbuck's - I like to bring their sandwiches on the plane for a mid-flight snack. Not as good as Zingerman's, but it's better than anything NW can offer me. ← Here's the airport's web site. Click on the terminal you'll be at. It doesn't look like there's much in the way of interesting breakfasts, but you never know. At least there's a Starbuck's and an Einstein Bagels, or maybe the "gourmet" PB&J place will be open.

I try to leave as little time as possible between flights, so I'm not a great source of information for this thread. I do agree with a couple of last year's posters: Wolfgang Puck's at O'Hare is decent but not as good as one might expect; the Sam Adams at Bradley is a pleasant place to kill some time. It looks like some good choices are available at the post-renovation Detroit - Wayne County airport, including branches of two well-established local restaurants, PizzaPapalis and Musashi Japanese Cuisine. Has anyone tried these? I was sorely disappointed that Zingerman's backed off their original plan of opening a place there.