NulloModo

Wow, the happy hour trip sounds very nice. As much as I love what I do, I can't wait until the end of marching band season so I can start having weekend evenings free to go out and enjoy such things ;) You just gave me such a huge craving for wings and oysters.

I might partially be in this category. I certainly care what I am eating, but I enjoy many things that I have a feeling many eG people would not find attractive. I haven't endulged in this in quite a while, but I really remember loving Olive Garden pasta entrees, and I dine out at TGI Friday's a bit, and find their menu items generally good. I loved Chi-Chi's mexican, and I have no qualms about a cheeseburger from Wendy's. That is not saying that I don't appreciate better versions of all of these dishes, but the basic chain variety can hit the spot as well. If something tastes good, I will enjoy eating it. If something tastes bad, well, I will most likely not eat it. If something tastes like more or less nothing, I have to actively force myself away from it, or somehow I end up continually munching, just hoping it will start to taste better somehow...

Albiston - I can certainly see your point. I think at this point it is just a matter of semantics however. I personally see the dish as being close enough to Carbonara to still be called Carbonara, but then on the same note as I look at it is wandering into Alfredo territory as well, so perhaps it is Carbofredo ;). Personally I don't see the point in having to define dishes as only being one certain thing, or having to fit into a certain set of criteria to bare a name. It reminds me a bit of the discussion in the Lobster Creme Brulee thread. If you want to call a lobster custard with a cripsy piece of parmesan on top a Creme Broulee, then go for it, I mean, it sorta looke like Creme Brulee still. It would be fairly misleading to call such a dish 'Lobster Spaghetti' because there is simply no resemblance, but the Creme Brulee idea would give a diner a good idea. I think my Carbonara is a similar case. It is not typical Carbonara, but if I called the dish 'Carbonara' it would give some a general idea of what to expect, and the flavor profile is similar, though not identical.

Sear the breasts to give them a nice brown crust, but without fully cooking/drying them out. Turn down the heat and into your pann toss several glugs of tequila, a healhty amount of louisiana style hot sauce, some chopped onion, couple tablespoons of butter, some chili powder, cumin, and garlic, and once this cooks down a bit a couple glugs of cream. Simmer on low till the chicken is fully cooked and serve topped with shredded jack or queso blanco.

Sort of a Carbonara meets Scotch Eggs kind of thing, cool idea.

I love Carbonara. I tend to make it with Shirataki noodles instead of spaghetti, which I find work very well in this dish. As for the bacon/pancetta, I tend to use thick sliced bacon from a local Amish butcher, which is generally where I usually get my bacon, it is damn good bacon. I use whole eggs, never thought about adding extra yolks, I will have to try sometime. For cheese it is usually parmesan as that is what I have around, but I have thrown in mozerella, cheddar, and mancego as well in the past when I have been running low on pamesan. Mancego actually works incredibly well in this dish. Onions or shallots? I tend to use onions, as I generally have them around. And tons of garlic, fresh cracked cloves go right in. Sometimes a dash of dried red pepper flakes as well for extra seasoning along with the loads of black pepper. Also, I use heavy cream and butter liberally in this dish. It might not be traditional, but it tastes very good, IMO, far better with the little bits of doctoring than the original does, but hey, that is what recipes are for, to inspire and play with.

I have added bits of regional cuisine from all of the places I have lived, as well as the places my parents have lived. I was born in AL, and both of my parents had lived in the deep south for some time, so there is a good bit of 'soul food' style southern cooking that strikes a chord with me, and that I try to prepare as often as possible. I also lived for a period in NH, and thus great northern bean soup with ham, baked beans, maple syrup, and other New England dishes are in my repertoire. I have lived for the most time in DE, which shares food culture with Philadelphia and Baltimore, so, lots of seafood, Italian-American cuisine, and Greek/Middle-Eastern diner food. There is also a strong influence from the PA Dutch (Amish/Menonite) community, which lends me to really enjoy things like shoo-fly pie, chicken and dumplings, and simple tasty roasted meats and veggies.

What type of vegitarian? Will they eat cheese/eggs/etc?

In any business there will be conflict between the various category of employees. When I worked in comissioned sales we (the commissioned salespeople) had an ongoing fued with the customer service people (who would allow returns which took money from our checks) and the warehouse staff (who refused to stuff things into vehicles which we were sure would fit, and would have earned us extra money). It led to some tense moments, but it was all part of the job. I imagine in a restaurant it is similar, everyone wants to maximize his/her paycheck and do the least amount of strenuous work possible. I suppose in an optimal situation the management really should just step in and make sure everyone understands that each category of employee has to do his/her job in order for everyone to succeed.

Looks awesome. You might inspire me to take my own road-trip this summer.

Hehe, yay for ex-Delaware people blogging ;). I am really looking forward to this one as well, your dinner thread photographs are always breathtaking.

Hiya, I have seen numerous references lately to unsalted butter supposedly being 'better' than salted to keep around. Is there a reason for this? I could see perhaps if you wanted to cook something where there would not be any salt added at all, but then again, even in dessert items there is usually a little salt added, so why not just use salted butter and omit the extra salt? Is salted butter anything other than simple unsalted butter with a little salt thrown in?

Dressing is something you put on a salad. This stuff we are talking about is stuffing, no matter where it is cooked, at least to me. I made a rye bread and sage sausage stuffing last year that was very good. I made it with low-carb rye, which has a nice very chewy texture, but if you prefer a more traditional bread mouthfeel I am sure it would work with real rye as well.

It is an interesting concept, but I can't see it going over unless grilled cheese branches out into 'grilled sandwiches' in general. Make sure you offer a couple up with some bacon/ham/some sort of meat thrown on for a heartier lunch than just bread and cheese, and you are on the right track. You also might want to think of a 'create your own' type of deal, where the customer chooses the type of bread, cheese, and toppings, and then it ia grilled up custom for them. The Retro Soda idea is interesting. Different, to be sure, but I personally wouldn't pay $2 for a soda anywhere. I have tried boutique sodas, and for me, they are just not worth the price, then again, I rarely drink soda anyway. IMO you would be better off diverting more of your food budget to quality cheese (which you can tell the difference about when melted, quality cheese makes a huge difference, bigger one than the bread I'd say) and just buying a basic soda fountain setup (or get a fancy furniture antique looking one that serves up basic sodas) so that you can rack up mucho profit from cheap seltzer and syrup.

Is Pork Roll a Philly thing? I always just figured that was enjoyed nationally...

Tonight for dinner (since I am in the process of moving) I decided to get adventurous and dug out some venison steaks an ex roomate had left in the freezer from months ago. I was too afraid to cook it less than well done, but fried up with some onion and topped with sour cream it was quite delicous. I will have to look into finding more ways to procur game in the future..

Make Devilled Egg Salad. Just take your favorite Devilled egg recipe and convert it to salad-duty.

When I was younger one of my sisters friend's introduced me to the joys of the popcorn sandwhich. White bread, and store bought neon-orange cheese popcorn straight out of the bag with just enough mayo or melted cheese to hold it all together.

Wooody - I noticed your earlier post about La Tolteca. While I know it isn't fancy mexican or anything, I have always been impressed by La Tolteca (at least the braches up here in Newark/Bear/Wilmington, I am assuming it is a local chain...). The food is good, cheap, comes out fast, and plenty of variety. I don't think I have ever had anything bad there, and the Camarones del Diablo are phenomenal. What is it you don't like about the place?

i enjoy iceburg lettuce cut into a wedge and slathered in ice cold blue cheese dressing and some chopped tomatoes, then covered in liberal amounts of fresh cracked black pepper. That, and in tacos. Other than that, it is Romaine all the way.

Hehe standard trick was to hit up the local diner for a big greek salad and load it up with as many anchovies as they would give me. It helped that it was quite tasty while drunk as well ;). Later in life liver and onions was added to that regiment as well.

Which SF syrups have you tried? The Atkins brand is pretty foul, and I have yet to be impressed by anything from Walden farms (nothing with no calories per serving tends to taste that good...). I have only heard rave reviews of the DaVinci brand though. Unfortunately they are kind of expensive, and not carried in many stores.... eventually I will order some online though.

Is fruits de mer just another term for shellfish/seafood, or does it refer to specific species?

garlic black pepper cayenne pepper oregano cinnamon

Lots of think sliced onions perhaps?