Daniel

Your next 8 dinners are planned.. Wow, thats really cool.. Thinking like a chess player 8 moves ahead.. Glad to see everyone playing.. Its a good way to decide once and for all if the book stays! This might lead to serious trading..

Well this isnt something too different for me.. I have made one recipe out of this book already but, have not used it since.. I am happy to be cooking something from here.. Basically, I think you should have a week to cook the meal.. Maybe we can pick every Monday or Tuesday of the week.. And try to have it done by that Sunday.. Whatever, I am not a huge structure guy... My first selection is: 1) In Pursuit of Flavor by Edna Lewis I dont know if we should do random recipe out of our books or just find one that looks good to you.. On a random flip I opened to Chestnuts in a Syrup and then Rabbit Pate.. But I really want to make this Pumpkin Dish and this Catfish Stew.. There isnt a bad result in this equation.. I like this game..

Genius idea! Thanks for that suggestion.. We can count clippings too, the point is to use things we normally wouldnt and to decide at random.. So that works.

Nice, happy you will be playing with me.. I will post my pick tonight.. I too have my books in order.. I will have to devise a random way myself..

I have a huge collection of cookbooks which I rarely ever use.. Although I have looked through all of them, I feel terrible that many of them just sit there.. I have decided to try my hardest to cook a meal from a different book a week.. Basically, what I want to do is close my eyes, grab a book, and make a meal... I thought it would be a fun way to force myself to try new things.. The next step would be to pick a page at random as well.. But will just do books for right now.. Anyone want to play along?

Havent been to Amsterdam in 6 years or so but the 4 times I have gone, Grey Area and Amnesia where my favorites..

Do you know what they used to cook the burger?

Stamatis Restaurant (718) 204-8964 31-14 Broadway Long Island City(Astoria), NY 11106 On my way back from Laguardia today, I stopped over at Stamatis.. Going under the N train on 31st st towards the 59th St Bridge, I made quick left on Broadway and parked right in front.. The place itself is bright, clean, and the majority of the customers were Greek Families have large lunches sharing family style.. The three of us have not had Greek Food in some time.. Deciding from the menu was difficult.. I really wanted a big piece of feta served with a little olive oil.. There were steamed dandelion greens that looked great, lamb chops, fried smelts, grilled quails, baby shark with feta and jalapenos, many choices to choose from.. I dont think we could have went wrong.. We started with an assortment of dips..Thinking that we had a better chance of the little one liking one of the 5 dips.. She enjoyed most of them.. My favorite being the spicy feta dip The waiter also brought us a plate of fried zucchini with a garlicky potato dip.. I think thats what it was.. He had an extra one so he gave it to us.. This was really a great dish.. Well fried vegetables.. You could scoop the dip up with the chips..This was great and would order this before the sampler next time.. The little one loves octopus.. This was char grilled.. It had a perfect crispy caramelized crust.. Served with a really fruity olive oil, lemon,red wine vinegar, a little capers and a bit of oregano. A piece of this, with a little bread, and a shot of the spicy feta..It was a good combo..Besides being great on its own.. "Tell me about the grilled black sea bass" I asked.. "The red snapper is just so fresh right now" the waiter responded.. "So what are you telling me about the black sea bass for" Its so refreshing and surprising when places take fish into such consideration.. Often times fish is an after thought. Its not good, its not bad, its just an option on the menu. The thing was just gorgeous.. This was not a single serving fish, it could have easily fed 4 adults.. Served with salt and pepper, it was perfectly charred.. The skin was crispy, the meat was juicy and beautifully white.. Served with roasted lemon and a couple of carrots.. Any thing else would have taken away from the presentation.. We often order whole grilled or fried fish and this was the best I can remember in a long time. It was 30 dollars and could have passed for 50 somewhere else.. Gigantes in a tomato sauce.. Lemon potatoes.. Free desserts, I think come with every meal.. One was very grainy, the other a custard wrapped in a honey soaked pastry shell.. We ordered some Greek coffee as well. We went next door and bought crayons and a tablet for the little one. She sat and colored at the table.

Wow.. Sounds rather exceptional as in pretty tastey, not untastey, or tasteless... Haha.. Just kidding.. I still dont understand what sneakeater wrote, however I cant stop laughing about it.. Seriously though, I am ready for some Fall eating and am really look forward to Bill's Menu.. Glad you liked it Bond Girl..

Seriously though, this classy food is cool.. But dont forget about Katz's.. That could be a breakfast! Maybe walk to the Donut Plant from there..

Also why do I have visions of Henry and Ling eating Bone Marrow at 3 am at Blue Ribbon.. I think that is a must late night spot for you.

Nice... Looking forward to seeing and read about your trip over here... Have you guys been here before? I think I remembered someone saying they didnt like pizza, is this right? Even still, I am sure you are able to fit one slice into the schedule..

I have had it with shredded chicken served cold with sesame seeds and some sort of dark sauce.. I wish I could remember, its something I really enjoyed...

Happy Birthday Sandy.. Hope you have a great year.. Looking forward to your blog.. If I could suggest something it would be a good BYOB that you like.. And perhaps explain Philly's deal with that..

Ok.. We have another dinner coming up tonight.. We are headed to Moore Brothers soon and was hoping people could tell us what type of wines would go with each course.. I really appreciated the help you gave us last time... Here is the menu: Lobster on Sweet Potato Crisp This is going to be lobster meet with creme fraiche, cumin, chives, capers, placed in between layers of sweet potato chips.. Truffle Cheese Salad with Oyster and Shitake Mushrooms **Wine - TBD** Duck Consomme with Fennel Sambuca Duck Breast **Wine - TBD** Garlic Custard Shrimp with Balslamic Jam **Wine - TBD** Red Beet Ravioli with Poppyseed Butter **Wine - TBD** Mulled Apple Cider Granite (Still from last week ) Australian Baby Lamb with Duck Gras Purple and Butter Potatoes and Greens **Wine - TBD** Nutella Tart with Buttermilk Ice Cream **Wine - TBD**

Going to Chicago on Monday by the way... Whats the best out of these three

I am talking about reservations before 7.. In the 530 to 630 range.. And they did give me a reservation after they first told me they wouldnt..As well as having Japanese speaking co-workers make reservations for me when I have been unable to..

I couldnt tell if you were being sarcastic or not sneakeater.. I am glad you know what I am talking about..

Just for reservations.. They are more then friendly and attentive when you are there..

Haha.. I think I heard a similar version of that somewhere...I assumed that this would have moved you because of your sensitivity to prejudice. I was mistaken.

You think lying to the reservation clerk sucks? Are you serious.. I think a reservation clerk that wont give you a reservation because you arent, Japanese, sucks.

Went to Totto, they hated it.. One person said, nice experience, but I wouldnt go back.. Ugh, well I tried.. Next time I go with the predictable and expensive.. You cant win them all.. I called two days before and asked for a reservation,.. They said they dont do reservations.. I pushed and said I am friends with the manager and that he told me to tell anyone that wouldnt give me a reservation, that he said its OK.. Meanwhile, I have no idea who the manager is.. She gave me a table for four..

It was interesting that as the ribs were cleary being grilled, the guy was like these are being slow cooked! Regardless of that, the still looked great.. And steaming is more appealing to me then boiling.. Unless, they were boiled in some sort of really cool pork stock.. But a 20 ounce beer for a buck.. Yes, please..

No red onion on the pate? I like the butter idea though, just to make it a little more healthy..

Chris, I am a pretty honest guy and if I didnt like your show so much I would have not said anything.. I really really enjoyed your show.. I found myself laughing at loud at points.. I go to Vegas often and cant wait to try your suggestions.. The Brewery, Binions, and the Chinese Restaurant all look well worth the visit.. And never knew about the Steak House at Binions.. Would you recommend it for a Bachelor Party Dinner.. Would you say it ranks up there with the better steakhouses? I know the purist might cringe at a Chicken Fried Lobster.. But it looked really awesome.. They are selling 3 lobsters for 24 bucks in Chinatown.. My first chance, I am getting some lobster tails.. I thought you looked really comfortable on TV and had a natural excitement, warmth and funny personality.. I have a harder time believing you are a Cop, over a TV guy.. It also looked like you gave great suggestions.. Cant wait to see more episodes.. Congratulations