katzenjammy

Here is the Consolidated, if not Canonical, List of Things to Fry -- my thanks to all contributors! Bread-ish: doughnuts, beignets, funnel-cakes, Twinkies, hushpuppies, polenta, risotto, mac & cheese, PBJ sandwich Candy-ish: Cheesecake cubes (wrapped in phyllo, eggwashed, rolled in Rice Krispies, served with chocolate or caramel sauce), Snickers/other candy bars, ice cream, marshmallows, Cadbury Creme eggs, Oreos, Ho-Hos and Ring Dings Meat-ish: Foie gras, squid, fish (both fresh and smoked), shrimp & clam strips, filet mignon, corn dogs, hot dogs, whole lobster, chicken, cheese (Battered chunks of parmesan, mozzarella, Roquefort, Camembert, Gorgonzola, balls of Mascarpone or cream cheese, Gruyere, Roubochon), pepperoni, eggs, soft-shell crabs, oysters, battered short ribs or pork or chicken strips, turkey, crappie, quail, split Cornish Hens Fruits & veg: Mushroom (portobello, morels), potatoes & yams, okra, jalapeños, onion rings, long-stem strawberries, bananas and apples (dipped immediately in caramelized sugar and sprinkled with sesame seeds), dill pickle slices (wash, spiced flour, wash spiced flour), kale (deep fried till crisp then lightly salted and vinegared), thin lemon slices, asparagus, turnip slices, onion rings (battered in crushed up pork rinds instead of bread crumbs), canned pineapple with caramel and sesame seeds, baby spinach, artichokes. Ethnic Wontons, gyoza, dumplings, egg rolls, papadums, shrimp crackers, shrimp toast, falafels, samosas, bhajis, pakoras, ravioli, calzones

We rented a fryer the first year, but it was a big pain the the butt -- had to drive to the other end of the metro area to pick it up and then again to drop it off, so it cost a lot of time and aggravation on top of the not-so-cheap rental fee. Second year, we ordered a two-basket semi-pro fryer off the web. We found that the auto-temperature control was way off, but once my (electrical engineer) spouse fixed that, it worked like a charm. Two separate baskets/basins are essential -- you want one for savory things and one for sweets.

Mmmm, I had something similar at Hawthorne Lane in SF a few years ago: big chunk of foie gras cleverly wrapped within layers of filo and fried.

In a similar vein, an Italian restaurant here makes risotto balls: cooked saffron-flavored risotto wrapped around marble-sized chuncks of gorgonzola and deep-fried. Omigod-good.

Check this out, especially the table listing kid likes/dislikes. Synopsis: "While the physiology of taste can partially account for a wide variety of individual differences at birth, studies show that food neophobia is a normal behavior in children." I was an extraordinarily picky eater as a child. With the exception of sweets, I'd only eat about three things. No one made a stink about it, though one grandmother went to extremes in a futile attempt to fatten me up (slipping eggs into milkshakes, ewww). Beginning around early adolescence, my tastes began to broaden. By the time I hit college, I'd pretty much eat anything that wasn't fast enough to run away. In the course of 20 years of motherhood and stepmotherhood, I've observed exactly the same progression in my kids.

I can tell you what not to buy -- I tried replacing my cheesy-but-functional Pepper Ball with a fancy, handsome, expensive Trudeau pepper mill. It broke within a couple of weeks. Lifetime warranty, Trudeau sent me a new one immediately, and -- it broke. I threw it out and went back to the Pepper Ball (which, BTW, my disabled sister-in-law loves, it being the only pepper grinder she can operate with one hand). My friend who used to work for a spice wholesaler has had one of these Peppermates forever. It's a joy to use, and I covet it.

Dalat sounds yummy. Katzenjammy, Spouse, and Reproductive Success Unit would like to come, but must withhold confirmation until closer to the actual date (whatever that may prove to be). Our schedule is, um, fluid. We're cool with family style dining/splitting the check/liquor extra.

OK, here's the abbreviated trip report: El Rio in the Mission is in fact very funky, and makes a respectable margarita. However, unless you get there promptly at 5:00, you have no chance of eating an oyster--they are set upon immediately and when they're gone, they're gone (like, by 5:20, when I showed up). Oh well. The high point of my visit was watching a woman berate some guy who'd used the ladies room and left the toilet seat up. You go, sister! No one mentioned the Hyde Street Seafood House and Clam Bar, but I had a Restaurant.com dining certificate for the place, so we went. They have an excellent happy hour, with discounted beer and oysters $12/dozen. Really nice oysters, too -- Kumamotos, some P.E.I.s I forget the name of, and Hog Island the night we were there. Sure beat paying Hog Island's prices at the Ferry store.

Well, fooey! I'm only in the city Thursday through Sunday. Guess I'll have to head for the Ferry Building and pay full retail. You know, I've come to the conclusion that the fresh oyster market has gone national, and it just doesn't matter how close you are to the point of origin. Here in Denver metro, I can get fresh PEI oysters at Whole Foods for 79 cents. (If you call a day ahead, they'll even shuck 'em for you.) And a local fish house has an oyster happy hour every day, serving fresh oysters (Malpecs, last week) for 75 cents each. I've not yet found any equivalent deals in Vancouver, Seattle, or SF...and I've been looking for a while. The bar at Hilton New Orleans Riverside used to have a great oyster happy hour (like $5/dozen) but I gave up on Gulf oysters after one tried to kill me. Cold water bivalves only from now on!

Maybe mantee can post a representative picture so we'll know how we all look?

You can grow artichokes in colder climates, they just need to be treated as an annual. There's even a relatively new variety, Imperial Star, specifically intended for culture as an annual. I tried it one year, but only got two very small chokes per plant. Anyone else have any experience growing these guys in harsh climates?

There's a cauliflower curry recipe in the original Moosewood cookbook (not sure if it's still there in the new edition) that has become a staple in our home. Not very authentic perhaps (it involves peanuts and orange juice, among the more usual aromatics and spices). But oh so very tasty, especially if you double the amount of cayenne called for in the recipe.

Exactly. Since I started making my own vinaigrettes, most commercially-prepared salad dressings just taste nasty to me. Like the rest of you, I'll order the salad dressed if I'm dining in a high-end establishment. But even in places where I know and trust the dressing, I'll usually ask for it on the side, just to make sure that the salad is not drenched. After all, it's not like you can remove excess dressing.

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes. Here in the foothills of the Rockies, homegrown tomatoes require both technology and commitment to the point of obsession (black plastic mulch, walls o' water, sheets of protective plastic to be thrown over the beds when the temperature goes from 78 to 30F in a few hours, as it did a week ago...). But getting that first non-cardboard-tasting tomato by the fourth of July is worth it. Artichokes (not that any grow around here, but at least they become affordable in season). Oh, and my son says "eggnog!".

I've probably said this before but, around my house, we call it the All Emeril Channel. At my house, we call him "Hemorril" (as in Preperation H).

Label your leftovers with a "cooked on" or "consume by" date. Only time I've ever been poisoned by something out of my own kitchen was when I nuked and ate what I thought was the previous night's clam linguine. (Failing to remember that we'd also had clam linguine a week previously.) I've eaten street food all over the world without mishap, but man oh man, I thought I was gonna die. No, I wanted to die.

Caramel for me too. Mine always seizes.

I'm heading to SF for a short vacation in a couple weeks, and I'd like to eat oysters. I'm down with Swann, but there must be other places in the city where I can stuff my face with the tasty bivalves without breaking the bank. Any suggestions?

La Panda II, on Main Street in Longmont, serves authentic Mexican-style tacos (as opposed to the crispy-shelled American versions). Carnitas, lengua, barbacoa, adobada, carne asada -- all the yummy taqueria specialties. Menudo on weekends, if you're one of those people. And they serve horchata! There are now at least three tortillarias in Boulder, all of which sell a product that is superior to the grocery-store variety. Fluffy fresh flour tortillas, great stacks of warm corn tortillas. Tortillaria Rey is on Valmont just west of 30th, south side of the street. Las Americas Tortillaria is on north Broadway in the 4400 block. And there's one in the strip mall on 28th south of Valmont, tucked in betwee the Asian grocery and the Afghani's store (which sells excellent olive oil, but that's another thread).

Oh yes, the orange slice is essential -- normally I prefer lemons or limes with my cocktails, but orange does something mysterious and wonderful to Lillet. The ice is best when cracked (but not crushed too fine). Mmmmm...must go to liquor store today.

I'm de-lurking to solicit the help and advice of eGulleteers. Every year we celebrate my spouse's birthday by throwing a Deep-Fry Party. When we started this tradition, our reasoning went like this: Fried food is gooood. Everyone loves fried food but hates cooking it or feels guilty about it. It makes a mess, it stinks up the house, it's fattening, it's unhealthy. What better theme for a party? And indeed, the annual fry-fest has proved a huge success. We set up a twin-basket professional fryer under a canopy in the back yard, crack a keg of beer, and commence frying until it gets too dark to see (or no one can eat another bite). Over the years, the menu has included the following: wontons/gyoza/dumplings/egg rolls doughnuts, beignets, funnel-cakes, & Twinkies (which turned into solid blocks of grease) Snickers bars (not as good as they're supposed to be) squid ice cream fish, both fresh and smoked shrimp & clam strips cheese curds (which exploded) jalapenos & "armadillo eggs" tempura potatoes & yams filet mignon papadums and shrimp crackers okra hushpuppies falafels (other stuff that escapes me at the moment) This year is a big birthday for poor Spouse-boy, one of those significant-decade birthdays. We're planning the Mother of All Fry Parties, and I'm soliciting suggestions for interesting, yummy, and/or unusual (but not inedible) things to fry. Live the deep-fat dream!

In the Philippines, it's called pulutan. And no, I never ate it. Very popular there, though, especially as a bar snack. Also sold in bus stations as road food <shudder>. Jello in its many incarnations tops my list of Nasty Food, but then, I grew up in the South.

10" cast iron skillet from a yard sale (and thus pre-seasoned!) -- used every single day. Also cheapo light-weight non-stick fry pan from the grocery store, originally purchased for camping, now the sole egg-cooking pan in my kitchen. Bar-mop/dish towels from Chinatown, $4-5 per dozen. Dropped my paper-towel usage to nearly zero. An enormous stack of restaurant-quality napkins, still in the laundry shrinkwrap, purchased at a Salvation Army ten years ago for $2. Still in daily use, though beginning to show some wear (!). Canning jars for storing rice and legumes, cheap at yard sales and thrift stores. Little Pyrex custard dishes, perfect for holding prepped recipe ingredients (or your mise en place ) -- they're the right size, and you can easily see what they contain.

June is pretty much open for me (so far). If we're gonna be driving, can I suggest Ankor Cambodian Restaurant in Longmont? I ate there a couple of months ago, and it was fantastic.

The 21st Amendment , 563 Second Street (just north of the ballpark). The space is a rehabbed garage/warehouse space, very nice ambiance, excellent beer. I agree with Beergirl about The Magnolia -- some terrific beers, and the hippie-ish waitstaff are fun. Last time I had their Scotch Ale, very tasty. The San Francisco Brewing Co. has an excellent happy hour: 4-6pm and midnight-1am, $1.75 pints.