Alex

David, I understand you're passionate about what you do. That's a good thing. However, I suspect you're not going to change the owners any further, and you're mostly not going to change the customers you so vividly "hate." So, as I see it, you have three choices: 1) continue working with the same attitude and therefore continue to dislike your job (and probably continue to butt heads with the owners); 2) adust your beliefs to be more accepting of your current clientele and make the best food possible within those parameters; 3) start looking for a job more in line with your desires. I don't know about Roanoke, but here in GR we "older" folks still have our familiar/bland/medium-well restaurants (so I've been told; I stay as far away from them as possible), but we also have, and support, our adventurous/tasty/local-sourcing ones. You might want to read this old (and long) forum: Cooking for 50 Senior Citizens.

IMHO, most "best-of" lists are clickbait: subjective and posted for the benefit of the magazine or organization, not the restaurants or the people who might eat there. That said, I wanted to mention that Grove was named "best restaurant in Michigan" for 2015 by Business Insider. (The article is from this past February, but I just learned about it.)

Cool. Lee is planning to open another place, Succotash, at National Harbor, in Maryland just outside of DC. The restaurant's web site says only, "Opening Summer 2015." Its Facebook page has some pictures, and noted on August 16, "Our uniforms arrive and we are in the final stretch..." Have you heard anything more definite than that? Here's a nice article in the Washington Post, from this past January.

Thanks for the heads-up. I just reserved DVDs of seasons one and two from our local library. Season three premieres here on September 12.

Welcome, Peggy. Louisville is underrated when it comes to restaurants, imho. Might you be at one of Edward Lee's places?

Kitchen Tips from xkcd

keys and parrots

I'm sad to see the formerly reputable Harper's stooping to this ugly bit of trash writing. It looked like they were trying, in some feeble way, to publish an analogue of David Foster Wallace's brilliant 1996 piece, also in Harper's, about his experience on a cruise ship, Shipping Out (later retitled to A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again), but unfortunately they chose an author who lacked his wit, intelligence, and writing talent. She even stole his "cute-misnaming" trope, always referring to the restaurant Per Se as its translation, "Thought Itself." (Wallace turned the m.v. Zenith into the m.v. Nadir.) I can understand approaching these places with a bit of a jaundiced eye, but this writer's mind obviously was set before she set foot into any of the restaurants. I do like this reader's comment, though:

When I use it, it's not ground per se, but I chop it into chewy little bits of wonderfulness.

The "wobbly white stuff," when frozen and thawed, can be turned into an acceptable substitute for ground meat in red sauce or chili.

Little Green Balls of Death instead of Brussels sprouts. Oh, wait. That's to get people to not eat them. Freedom Fries -- for the fussy faux patriot in your family There's a forum on Chow about this, too.

I miss Klink. This post of his incorporates the only two surviving pictures from the first Heartland Gathering -- and they're of his masterful smoked prime rib!

Yes, sorry. I meant to say Victorinox. They're sold as Forschner in the US.

Very nice. Thank you for the information. I have the identical Forschner knife, bought 40+ years ago at Coutellerie du Mont Blanc, in Genève. From what I can tell, though, the company is no longer in business.

Wow, nine more eG'ers senior to me, so far. I was happy to see that even though some don't post much anymore, they're still checking out the forums. Welcome back, Ruth. A crashed hard drive is such a major pain, isn't it? And two of them? Yikes. Mitch, this shirt's for you. (PM me for a possible discount code.) I've made several friendships and acquaintances through eG. Some I'm still in touch with, others not, but I've valued all of them. eGullet has helped me travel the the world without leaving my chair (Barcelona! Ecuador! France!) and given me opportunities I wouldn't have had otherwise to learn and grow as a cook -- including doing a bit of recipe testing for Paula Wolfert (along with 28 other eG'ers; see p. 433 of the 2nd edition of The Cooking of Southwest France). In fact, without eGullet, I probably wouldn't have snacked last night on roasted cauliflower nor be making a soup tonight from the leftovers. I wouldn't now own a Blendtec, a Thermopen, or an Anova. I wouldn't know about aquafaba, the sidecar, or Ah Leung's (hzrt8w) recipes.

Combine with rice in a pilaf.

Shelby, have you ever cooked something using the corn smut (huitlacoche)? Quesadillas, maybe?

Today (August 10) is my twelve-year anniversary with eGullet. I've seen a lot of members come and go over those years -- some famous, most not, all interesting. I learned about eGullet in an article in the New York Times published that very same day: I was thrilled to see there was another eG'er from Grand Rapids, MatthewB, who lived just a few miles from me, and who just a few weeks earlier had started a forum to organize what would be the first of many Heartland Gatherings. I contacted him and offered my assistance, and the rest is history. Unfortunately, almost all of the pictures were lost several years ago in an eG server changeover. Also unfortunately, all of the other attendees are no longer active here; the most recent ones posted in 2014. (Maggie, come back! We miss you.) Which got me thinking: Which currently active (defined as having posted within the last six months or so) eG'ers have been around longer than I? A quick semi-random search came up with suzilightning, Anna M, Jaymes, scubadoo97, weinoo, hjshorter, and KatieLoeb. Honorable mention goes to Dejah, who registered about four months after I did. Any others?

How many boxes are in your garage?

liuzhou, #12 in your stir-fry listing is Pineapple Fried Pork. Is Mark Bittman's recipe in the NYT anywhere close to that one? Thanks.

Yes.

No experience, but another thought: A Blendtec or Vita-Mix can take a pre-mixed solution from cold to serving temperature in about three minutes. Would that require an additional permit?

I couldn't tell you about re-roasting, as there's never been any left over. Re your oven temp, 412F is actually better for this task than 350. I've always used 400. Are you OK with not washing it, even once, just to see if that's made the difference? Also, as I mentioned earlier, try to use a very fresh head of cauli. Is there a farmers market near you?

Some folks like those very dark small bits; I'm not one of them. My smallest pieces are about the size of the largest ones in your picture. À chacun son goût, I guess. However, that doesn't address your sogginess problem. Two thoughts: Have you considered not washing it first? A crumbling head of cauli is probably past its prime; I'd try to find a fresher one. I don't know if that would contribute to the sogginess, but, as I said, it's just a thought. Other thoughts: Rather than slicing it across, I core it mercilessly from the bottom, then continue separating it into florets. Is your oven temp accurate?

My friends also recommended Spoleto and India House.