NulloModo

Not sure about Sake in particular, since I have never looked for it, but I can tip you off on some of the better liquor stores in the area. I take it you are in the Wilmington/Claymont/Hockessin type area? If you don't mind a short drive down into Elkton, MD (right across the border from Newark, DE) you will find State Line liquors. It is hands down the coolest liquor store in the area, awesome liquor, wine, and beer selections. I also seem to remember them having a fairly decent selection of sake. In Bear, DE in the fox run shopping center there is a store called ABC Liquors or something along those lines, I seem to recall them also having a fairly nice Sake selection. There are also several stores with names like 'Liquor and Wine Superstores' in the Pike Creek/Newark/Newcastle area, track one down if you like, I know they have huge grape wine selections, so maybe they carry a decent sake rack too. BTW - you won't find Sake, well, at least not drinking Sake, in any Asian market in DE, grocery stores, convenience stores, etc are prohibited from selling alcohol (liquore wine or beer) you have to go to an actual liquor store to get any of it.

I'm honestly not a huge fan of salmon, but there are two preparations which I do like quite a bit - One is from Paula Wolfort's Slow Med. Kitchen book, the Salmon poached in olive oil. You basically bring the oil up to temp, sizzle some garlic and aromatics in it, then poach the salmon in it (at a low temp so it is more poached than deep fried) till it is done. There is not a whole lot of spicing transferred to the fish, so this one is pretty good if I have a high quality piece of meat to work with. The other is good old cajun blackened salmon, which I am surprised no one has mentioned yet. Make a thick rub/paste of tons of black pepper, cayenne, granulated garlic and onion, parsley, a little tarragon and thyme, a hint of white pepper, some paprika, and well, I guess whatever else you feel like putting in. Crank up the heat and some oil in a cast iron skillet, rub the paste on the fish, give it a nice char on both sides, and serve (hopefully keeping it rareish and moist inside).

I tried fiddleheads last year, no blanching, just sauteed in EVOO with some garlic and shallots. They weren't bad, but they weren't really good either... I agree the texture is pretty cool, they look nifty, and my oh my, they smell incredible raw (I just stood over the sink sniffing them as I washed them), but the taste... hmmm, sorta like a cross between undercooked green beans, grass, and nothing.

Or just finish the rest off while you cook the beef ;)

I've wondered before if cahsiers think anything of this. The only time I really buy meat (unless I need a particular cut of a recipe right then) is when it is both: a. - on sale, and b. - reduced because it is about to go out of date. At this point, I can usually pick up a lb of ground been for a little over $1, or package of italian sausages (maybe 1.5 lbs worth) for $1.5... Oh, there was also the great time when whole perdue chickens started selling for like $2.00 a bird. Whenever I catch one of these sales, I stuff my baskets to the brim, knowing that it will all have to take up residence in my freezer and hold me over till the next sale.

I don't get why this is putting the organization as such risk though. From the way I read it, the foundation was practically bankrupt when he came onto the scene, and he managed to start pulling in tons and tons of income. So, perhaps he embezzled 1,000,000 over the years, but if he brought the foundation for practically no earnings to over 5,000,000 a year, that should more than offset what he took. I mean, not that embezzling is right or anything, but still, it sounds like he did more good than bad there.

You just had to go there, didn't you? Haven't seen this brand on the shelves of my local supermarkets. King Oscar--check. Brunswick--check. Bumble Bee--check. No Hot Titus. They aren't packed in hot sauce, are they? ← I haven't found them at the grocery store either, but I find them at a Philipino Grocery Store next to where I work. They aren't packed in hot sauce, but they are packed with spices and dried chiles in the oil.

I agree, prime rib leftovers are a wonderful, wonderful, thing. Portioning is always tough to decide, I mean, everyone's friends/guests eat different amounts. My generel rule of thumb is I want a lb of meat (weight after bones and cooking are taken into account) per guest, that leaves room for those who will eat more than that, those who will just nibble, and insured there is usually a little leftover. Prime rib is also nice if done in a smoker for a couple hours, so it stays rare/medium-rare, and then finished off on a grill or under the broiler to give it a crust.

Well, you will want to look for the same things you would look for in any good cut of steak. Despite the name, prime rib does not necessarily mean it is prime grade. You most likely won't find prime grade meat unless you go to a specialty butcher with good connections, but at least look for a well marbles piece of meat, and I hear bone-in lends towards more flavor. For four people I would personally cook about a 6 lb bone-in roast, but then again, I like to make sure there is no chance anyone will go hungry.

I'm a fan of 'Hot Titus' sardines. Not only are they very tasty, flavorful, and cheap, there is a drawing of a Roman man on the tin to go along with the subtley homoerotic name of the product.

You know, I did suddenly think of one way I really over-order. I am bad in situations where certain items are sold in multiple quantities, and for just a little more, you get much more quantity. After all, if my friend and I are going out for beers, and a single beer is $3, but a pitcher is $8, well, it makes a lot more sense to go with the pitcher. But since we were going to each order a beer, and figure we'll want another soon after, it becomes two pitchers.... to start. But after those beers we need some wings, right? And if 6 wings are $5, but 20 wings are only $11, well, we need at least 20. Then again, for $15 we could have 40 wings, now that is more like it.... and since it's such a good deal, might as order 2 sets of the 40 wings, after all, we can always share with the guys down the bar...

Oh where to begin... First off, a local (mid-atlantic based) chain - Cluck-U. Besides the vaguely offensive sounding name, they make a big deal about their '911 Wing Challenge' (though I'm sure they weren't the first wing joint to come out with this). The challenge is to eat 6 of their hottest chicken wings without drinking anything for 20 minutes. If you can do it, you get a photo of yourself on the wall and a chance to buy a t-shirt... so why is this such a genius move? Stick one in the middle of a college town (which is where most are) and you can just bet that coming out of the bars at 2am you will have lots of drunken fools just dying to give this a try, and of course it draws all of their friends in or order other stuff while they watch as well... turned Cluck-U into one of the biggest late-night places, at least around here. 2nd - Have to give lots of credit to hardees, subway, and In-&-Out for their willingness to make life a little easier for the low-carb crowd. I suppose the Protein Style In-&-Out burger takes first honors, but subways wraps and Hardees Low-Carb lettuce wrapped burgers and great LC breakfast bowl always make roadtrips easier in those areas.

I'm not sure when the episode was made, but could Alton Brown's recent 'Scrap Iron Chef' episode of Good Eats, with its rigged ending, possibly be a comment on how he feels about the ICA results?

Houlihan's (the Friday's like chain) used to have (or maybe still does have?) a BLT that has at least half of a lb of bacon on it, maybe it was a full pound... anyway, it was the best sandwhich deal there.

I wasn't planning on getting involved in this cookoff, but looking at all these great pies, I just might have to try myself. Behemoth - a lot of those german pizzas actually looked really tasty to me...

Mizducky - I completely understand where you are coming from. One of the biggest motivations for me to lose weight was that I was just embarassed every time I ate out. I felt bad even ordering an appetizer and and entree, just imagining the stares and comments from servers/tables next to mine/etc. As for over-ordering, I usually don't tend to, but that is mainly because I look too much at prices at restaurants. My financial situation is somewhat strained, so if I end up spending more than $20 for a meal I can't enjoy it because I am worrying about how much I spent on it the whole time. Then again, when I am at a place that is pretty cheap overall, like my favorite middle-eastern place in town, I Am known to order a variety of stuff... I also love places where everything is ala carte, no entrees come with set sides, etc, it give me free reign to try a variety of stuff and fully tailor my meal to what I want.

Hmmm, I can't say I have ever had the problem of nothing looking interesting, if anything, I have the opposite problem: so much looks interesting that I can't decide and end up making something simple like a salad because I dilly-dally too long trying to decide what to make. And props to Michael Dauphinais for the hot sauce idea, it truly does solve many duldrums ;) Also gives me a lot more respect for pastry chefs that he suggested it first ;)

Wow, that does sound pretty intense. Hopefully for everyone else's sake they will ignore your idea to decrease the amount of food or increase the price.

I've found bottled citrus juice to be about the same as fresh, at least where lemons and limes are concerned. Then again, I'm not drinking it straight, if i were it might change. I've also found the chopped fresh garlic to be pretty much the same as actual fresh, just much less potent so you have to use a lot more, maybe it depends on the brand. There is one really poor sub that comes to mind for me though, just reminded it from cafeteria duty today - foods that should be deep fried which are baked instead. Baked potato chips, tortilla chips, chicken nuggets, french fries, corn dogs, buffalo wings, etc, blech on them all.

Oh boy, how did I forget those. Yeah, those things rocked. I especially loved the french apple and the chocolate eclair versions.

I have taken to making fries with butternut squash (far less carbs, and more flavor) and have gotten excellent results by freezing the oil blanched pieces overnight before frying in ultra-hot peanut oil for the crisping. Be careful not to overload the fryer, the second frying has to be very very high temp, and if you let it drop too much that is how they get soggy. Also, I would use almost anything other than olive oil or canola... I've always found canola oil very much unsuited for deep frying, too low a smoke point and it develops that canola oil off taste when heated.

Sardines are tasty as a snack, as noted above, but they also play a key role when I make a 'smelly things' pizza. Sardines, anchovies, limburger (or morbier), lots of garlic, and and asian chili sauce.

According to the Sriracha fans it is apparently good on just about everything ;). I'm not familiar with the Tuong Ot brand, Huy Fong is the original, and the most widely distributed. In all fairness though, I did dig my bottle of it out of the back of the fridge and tried it on some stuff, it was better than I remembered, but I do still prefer the straight chili garlic sauce (just wish it wasn't so darn salty).

It is at home right now, but I will take a photo when I get there. It is a sort of medium rusty brown red color, and all crushed up.

Interesting.... your fenugreek is green, and mine is red. Will this dish work with the red fenugreek as well? (Is it the difference between leaves and seeds?)