Rachel Perlow

Not all truffles are coated. I prefer the bitter contrast of a dusting of plain cocoa.

Hawaii

OK - I didn't have time to read this entire thread, because I got to go home & walk the dogs, but here's some ice cream making advice for you to learn from my experience. - Cooked custard French Vanilla is better than uncooked (Philadelphia). - Someone said something about getting butter clumps in their ice cream. It is very important to thoroughly chill your ice cream batter before attempting to freeze it. The longer the better, too, to develop the flavors as well. If you attempt to churn room temp (or warm!) cream, it will be in the machine churning for a much longer time before developing the small ice crystals. Churn too long and the fat crystals will start to clump together before they get buffered by the ice crystals, hence the butter clumps. - If you are going to eat your strawberry ice cream right away (without getting hard in the freezer), then you can use quartered fruit added at the end. If you want to make a batch and freeze it firm before serving you are better off using mashed and mascerated fruit, or homemade or good quality jam instead. - Shave your chocolate for chips off a really good bar of chocolate (Valrona?) with a vegetable peeler rather than using chips. Baking chips freeze way too hard. - King Arther makes some really neat chips to add to ice cream. They are like these buttons filled with various flavors. Here's a link to their online catalog. Wait, now I can't find those things. But, they have a lot of other interesting things so I'm leaving the link.

I can't believe no one else responded to this yet. I remember someone making truffles out of it on TV. Spoon a small sphere of the genache and roll in cocoa or powdered sugar or finely chopped nuts. Place in little paper holders to be fancy. I don't see why it couldn't be frozen, but wrap really well to avoid bad taste development, and defrost in the fridge while still wrapped.

I seem to recall an article in Saveur from several months ago about Turkish ice cream and that it had a different texture and melting point because of the use of mastic. You could probably find it at your local library.

I’m sorry to say we didn’t make it to any of the restaurants recommended to us above. We didn’t make it back to any of the places we had been to before either. However, we had a very enjoyable, relaxing vacation, and managed to find quite a few very good places to enjoy a meal. Please note that there are several links embedded in this post, so move your curser over anything you’d like more information on. Saturday night we went to Riggin's Crabhouse & Seafood Market, 607 Ridge Rd, Lantana, (561) 586-3000. It is a local place, not at all touristy. Family friendly, but they have a good bar. We had fun with the all you can eat (AYCE) crab special. But after discussions with the waiter during & after our meal we realized the best way to go is to order the Maryland style or Garlic blue crabs by the half or full dozen. The AYCE special gives you the smaller crabs, for about the same money and less work you can get a similar amount of the large sized ones. Oh, and they had the best Key Lime Pie we had last week. We were to have brunch at The Breakers, but logistically it didn’t work out with our other plans for Sunday, so we ended up at the Holiday Inn, 2809 S Ocean Blvd in Highland Beach, (561) 278-6241. They have a surprisingly good Sunday Champagne Brunch. In addition to the expected breakfast items like an omelet station and eggs benedict, they had sushi, seared tuna sashimi, shrimp and langoustine cocktail, poached salmon. The chafing dish items were also very good and refreshed frequently so they weren’t overcooked. Jason got something from the stir fry station and the cook even went back into the kitchen for his requested hot peppers. Sunday evening we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner. Forget the name, it wasn’t worth remembering. Jason read in the Sun Sentinel that it was one of the best Thai places in the area. From this and other Florida Thai restaurant experiences, I have determined to never go to a Thai restaurant in Florida again. Eventually we may move there and then it’ll be worth hunting to find a good one, but when you are just there for a week it isn’t worth the effort. Especially when you see that Vietnamese cuisine is just beginning to sprout; it hasn’t been over assimilated yet, but more about that later. Monday was Memorial Day and we had the darnedest time trying to find a restaurant that was even open, let alone good. We ended up at Mondos, 713 US Highway 1 in North Palm Beach, (561) 844-3396. I spied a big red tomato on their sign and it felt like kismet (there is a good Italian restaurant near us in NJ called The Big Red Tomato, with a similar sign). As suspected it is Italian, and also a sports bar. But the pasta was fresh made, the bread baked on premises (and available to take out by the loaf), as were the desserts (although we didn’t get any). I had a seafood chipino (that’s what they called it. It was somewhere between Fra Diavolo and marinara in actuality) while Jason had chicken & Italian sausage with a similar sauce. The pasta portions were huge, I had to take half of mine home. On advise of one of the resort activity directors, we went to Park Ave BBQ & Grille, 525 US Highway 1 in North Palm Beach, (561) 842-7427, for their Tuesday night AYCE ribs, available in babyback or spare ribs. I’m no barbecue afficianato, but these seemed like pretty good ribs to me. If you can get over the music which sounded like my high school record collection (Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, etc.), this is a great casual spot for families, tourists and locals for lunch or dinner. Cheap too. Sandwiches average $5, dinners $7-15. Their Key Lime Pie was too heavy, but their buttermilk cake was so good (we would get desserts to go usually). We enjoyed the ribs so much we went back for lunch on Thursday. Jay had a BBQ Beef sandwich and I had the BBQ Chicken Caesar salad. Oh, and hot and sweet sauces are served on the side, rather than gooping up everything, so you can sauce to your taste. We made it out of the resort for lunch on Wednesday, to a relatively new Vietnamese restaurant called Viet House, 4047 Okeechobee Blvd, in the Habitat Shopping Center in West Palm Beach, (561) 684-8688. Unlike the mediocre Thai food we had earlier in the week, we have always had good experiences with Vietnamese food in Florida. I think the immigrants just haven’t been in the country as long, so the food doesn’t seem to have fused with Chinese the way Thai has. We were there a little late for lunch and after a while the mother/daughter cook/waitress team sat at the next table chatting with us. They appeared quite happy that we enjoyed their food and were going to recommend it to our online friends. In addition to Viet House, we have also enjoyed Dong Huong Vietnamese Restaurant, 6672 NW 57th St in Tamarac, (954) 726-9728, on previous Florida trips. Jason had been reminiscing about going to Jupiter Crab as a kid so we headed there on Wednesday night. We arrived at the location (thanks to the Hertz Never Lost Magellan GPS system – totally worth it BTW), to find it burned down a couple years ago. The gas jockey next door recommended Charley's Crab, 1000 N U S Highway 1 in Jupiter, (561) 744-4710. This was a very nice place with a view of the lighthouse; but sitting outside was a little buggy. Jason’s favorite was the coconut shrimp while I enjoyed the wild Alaskan salmon. Charley’s is part of the Muer Seafood Restaurants group. They have several restaurants in Florida and in other states as well. Thursday night we finally had Cuban food. We originally planned to go back to Versailles in Miami on Sunday, but that didn’t work out. So, we ended up at Don Ramon's, 502 S Military Trail in West Palm Beach, (561) 687-0161. I had stopped in to pick up their take out menu earlier in the week and it looked good. We returned for their marinated steak and camarones ajillo. The only thing I didn’t like there was the ham croquettes appetizer, too potatoey. They also had run out of mint so Jason couldn’t get his mojito. Very upsetting. However, the food and service was good so it served its purpose. On our last day we had lunch at Crazy Buffet, 2030 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd in West Palm Beach (561) 616-9288. We kept hearing the radio ads, and when asked where to go for sushi, more than one person mentioned this place. Plus we were hungry. It is a better than average mixed Asian buffet. Hibachi prepared to order, a large variety of nigiri and maki sushi, salads, soups, common buffet Chinese stuff, tempura they managed to keep crispy, edamame (fresh soybeans), ice cream sundae bar & fruit for dessert (plus boring cakes & cookies). Lunch seems to be the best deal, but dinner includes a lot more seafood (crab, shrimp, crayfish). Finally, by Friday night I was back in a shellfish mood, so we headed to Long Island Shellfish Co, 11603 US Highway 1 in North Palm Beach, (561) 622-7200. The waitresses and chef/owner were very friendly, and happy to show off the beautiful lobsters. Jason and I opted to share a 5 lb monster, split and filled with a crabmeat & lobster roe stuffing. I had also had a beautiful salad of baby greens and blueberries with a raspberry vinaigrette, topped with several grilled scallops (perfectly cooked). Jason’s appetizer was a vegetable chowder (they called it minestrone) served in a bowl the size of one of those huge latte cups. It was a very delicious ending to such pleasant vacation. PS – we stayed at the Marriott Ocean Pointe in Palm Beach Shores on Singer Island. This is a beautiful time share resort with many more amenities than any other timeshare we have stayed at. If anyone is interested in viewing this, or any other Marriott Vacation Club property (we own in Atlantic City, NJ), please email me your name/address to rperlow@hotmail.com, so I can officially refer you to them to get my referral bonuses. Thanks.

That mushroom has an appropriate name. Not kidding, it tastes like, and has the texture of, chicken! Raw, it smelled a little cheesy. But cooked, wow. I trimmed and broke it into shreddy bite sized pieces. Added some fresh shitake I got in my produce co-op order. Sauteed with butter and olive oil with shallot and garlic. Chicken stock, wine, pasta cooking water, and finally mixed in fresh shelled peas and the pasta. It tasted very meaty, better than any meat substitute I've ever had, not like mushrooms. I want to serve this to someone who doesn't eat mushrooms sometime to see if they even realize it is a mushroom (or should I say fungus?). I'm looking forward to the NYMS walk on July 14th.

I wanted to again express my thanks to B Edulis for hosting this event. It was incredibly generous of her to allow all us almost strangers into her home. Her kitchen is fabulous, makes me almost sorry I'm done with the planning stage of our kitchen (construction countdown - 7 days), however I got some ideas for future bathroom renovations. Almost everyone had arrived by the time I got there at 5:15, and we didn't leave until nearly 11:30 PM - on a Sunday. What, do we have to start these things at 4 PM?! All the food was so fabulous and everyone was so generous with the wine and quality ingredients. Cabrales must have spend $100 on the chocolates. AHR's lamb was so tender and delicious, my dogs are going to enjoy the bones tonight. I loved Rich's shrimp & pasta salad and SobaAddict's brussels sprouts with farfalle. Sandy's blintzes & raspberry sauce went perfectly with my mango sorbet. The only thing I didn't love was the blue cheese (well, one was OK), Stefany laughed when I made a face. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, I'm still overwhelmed from all the chocolate. I'm using my mushroom tonight for dinner. Will let you know how it turns out.

I've been to T&A and concur. It's OK, but not great. What about Jerry's in Englewood? I'm not sure, I know they have salumeria, do they have a butcher?

She does need to get blinds in there, we changed tables last time to avoid the glare. I'll have to try that duck dish next time we're there. Errrr...That the professional baseball team whose home field is geographically furthest north is not the Toronto Blue Jays or the Montreal Expos. But is, in fact... the Minnesota Twins? Hey I knew that!!!

Just curious, but how much to they charge for the rodizio and how do you find the quality and variety of the meats? At $14.95, I find the Seabra's at Mediteranean Manor hard to beat.

The two Cubby's used to be related, now they're not. We go to the one in Hackensack, right near the Bergen County Jail.

Except for the above extraneous posts, I found this thread to be a valuable example of how eGullet can work. Someone had a problem, posted about it, and then the restaurant responded. All very civil and giving everyone a chance to be heard. I personally haven't been to An American Grill for a couple years, but I remember enjoying it when we did go. Also, I guess if you live near Rt 10 and go to restaurants on it, you get used to the noise of the highway.

Here is the contact page for advertising at The Record. I suggest we let them know about the false advertising.

Do you have a link? What restaurant did they review in Garrison?

Since I have their take out menu, let's see. On the regular menu is Sole, Salmon, Red Snapper, Shrimp, Scallops and Lobster tail. I seem to remember some more seafood selections on the specials list. Which reminds me, the specials list was printed and inserted on the inside cover of the menu, with prices. I appreciated not having to hear and remember a list recited by the waiter.

Jeanne said in her bio: As someone who recently lost her 25-year-old toaster oven, I understand the conflict you feel when it comes to replacing long loved and well known equipment. Mine finally had to go when it didn't turn itself off after toasting some bread in the morning and when I came home several hours later that corner of the kitchen was pretty hot. I was amazed it hadn't started a fire. Have you thought about replacing it? Have you started to notice it malfunctioning? Please don't wait too long, it may not be a great kitchen, but you don't want it burned down. Oh, an actual question... hmm... Do you think having an emotional attachment to pieces of kitchen equipment is common? normal? worthy of a support group?

We were in a pasta mood tonight and decided to check out Amarone. My grilled squid appetizer was very good, Jason seemed to enjoy his portobella with gorganzola (both specials). I enjoyed my homemade pappardelle con funghi (more mushrooms than pasta ), while Jason had the squid ink fettucini with seafood. There were a couple of the biggest scallops I had ever seen on his plate. So big I suspected they weren't really scallops, but he's sure they were real. Robert is as nice as you said, "We can talk" was heard throughout the restaurant. Overall it is a nice, very servicable restaurant with spare decore and much better than average food. Oh, since Rosie is going to ask, they have a liquor license. Appetizers are $5-10, pastas $12-17, meat/fish $15-27 (most under $20). I noticed a pretty extensive dessert selection, but we didn't have anything sweet tonight. It was more than half full on a weeknight, so I'd call ahead for a weekend reservation, 201-833-1897. Amarone Restorante 63 Cedar Lane, Teaneck

Every thread I read these days devolves into Thai food. Thanks for the info on Metropolitan. Extended family party and we weren't consulted on location, so we're there more to see cousins than eat, but good to know what to expect. Will let you know how the party was in a couple weeks.

The Filipino place in Bergenfield is called Bamboo Grill. I've noticed it but haven't eaten there. I'd like to go with someone who knows what to order. I've added a few of the places mentioned above to my try list. Thanks!

We're going to a party at The Metropolitan Cafe, 959 1st Ave (bet 52&53 Sts), in a couple of weeks. I suppose the menu has already been chosen, but has anyone been and can tell us what to expect?

I put it on my calendar for Jason and myself.

Shouldn't this thread be in the UK forum? I didn't move it automatically because I am geographically challenged and don't know if Scotland is considered part of the UK or not.

Rosie - did you ever get to any of Jason's suggestions?

Are the stone crabs still available in south FL?