mamster

Thanks, Moose. I called Sushi Land and they thought I was nuts. I'm looking forward to trying Blue Island.

Good to know, cburnsi--thanks!

I like panko and usually use it because it saves a step, but sometimes what I really want is the kind of smoother breading you get by using supermarket white bread, crusts removed, processed to fine crumbs in the food processor. You can, of course, mix this with cheese or ground nuts.

I saw one at that big Mexican grocery in Burien. Guadalupe?

balomi, the machine you're talking about sounds like what I'm looking for. There are various types, but the simplest just makes rice balls. I will check it out. Are you talking about the one in Queen Anne? Thanks!

Are there any sushi restaurants in Seattle that use one of those sushi-making robots and places it so that customers can see it in action? This is very important.

I know they sold these at Sur La Table at one point, at least, because we sold them when I was working there--mostly the crepe pans, but I know we had some higher-sided skillets. I wonder if any of the restaurant supply places carry them. You might call Dick's or Seattle Restaurant Store.

I've been to Presse a couple times now and I love it. Croque monsieur one visit, oeufs plats the next, and I have my eye on the sardine sandwich for next time. Service has been a little off both visits. The first time I was in I got a distinct "it's your privilege to eat in our restaurant" vibe, and the second time, things were perfectly friendly but scattered: brought the wrong dish, had to ask what we'd ordered, etc. Still, obviously nothing that would keep me from recommending the place, especially given the prices (cheap!).

NOOOOOOO!

Okay, I did my first double-grind with the coarse plate, and the result was the best burgers I've ever made. It's also a lot harder feeding ground meat into the grinder than large chunks, but thanks for goading me into it anyway.

Does double-grinding make a big difference? When I make burgers, I single-grind through the small plate and they're great. Would they be even better if I bothered to double-grind?

It sounds like your jar must have been mislabeled. Here's the link to the product page at the Spice Islands web site. It wouldn't make any sense for the company to leave cumin and coriander, in particular, out of their curry powder. It wouldn't taste like curry powder anymore, and it wouldn't save any money.

Come to Broadway, dude. I had the crostata for lunch today, and it was great as usual.

I haven't been there in a while, but it's a nice place and I'm really happy they've made it this far.

Uh oh, did I kill it?

That's a good idea; I've only been to Fuji once, but I liked it a lot.

I don't have anything more to say about it, except that Takohachi was easily one of my top five restaurants in Seattle. Who else has good broiled mackerel?

Crazy Berry Yogurt is coming to Broadway and Olive. I think this is probably a clone of the famous Pinkberry. If it's a good clone, that could be exciting.

It closed a couple months ago, I think. Not enough capital or business, I heard.

I tried Green Papaya when they opened and liked it pretty well. The decor was kind of overly serious. If you're looking for me in June, you will find me at Cafe Presse eating the baked eggs. At all times.

I'm intrigued. I keep all kinds of random stuff on top of the fridge even though I've been telling myself not to for years because it always ends up coated with grease. Plus, I use way too many paper towels. What kind of basket do you use for the dirties?

For anyone who denies that there's a myth that holds that you need expensive wine for cooking: in 2001, Cook's Illustrated did a taste test of red wines for cooking and their top recommendation was Guigal Cotes du Rhone, which was $10 at the time and I think sells for $15 at my local supermarket now. I'm sure there are plenty of people who use this wine as their house cooking wine because Cook's said to, when they could just as easily switch to Charles Shaw or a box of Hardy's at a fifth the price and never know the difference.

Just to let you know, we haven't had the corned beef yet (I realize this is heretical, but we like to live on the edge), so we haven't made the hash yet. But I am looking forward to it.

Also, why isn't there an eGCI hash class? I mean, isn't it supposed to cover all the important topics?

slkinsey, I'm guessing that I've made the creamy version so many times, I'm longing for the crispy one, and after I master that, I'll forget about it for a few years and go back to the creamy one. That's my plan. Thanks for the tips, everyone. I'll report back this weekend.