MarkIsCooking

I happen to like City Crab. -Mark-

I don't usually go there because I'm just not a fan of the singing and the phony hype, but I went into Cold Stone Creamery on 42nd Street in NYC last night and had a cup (alas only a cup) of their cinnamon bun ice cream. Anybody else had this stuff? More importantly, anybody have any idea how I could recreate it????? -Mark-

Hello eG'ers! Here's the deal. Just found out that my daughter and 20 of her camp friends are coming over for a cook out this Saturday. We have a lake cabin not far from her camp and our yard will be a camp excursion for a few hours. I've got to feed 20 hungry teens. I'm not worried about budget, but I'd like to do most of it a day ahead so I can enjoy visiting with my daughter (who still has a week of camp left). It can't be too adventurous from a culinary point of view given the audience, but I don't want to serve junk food. I'm thinking maybe a big 10 ingredient chopped salad and maybe a cold pasta salad for starters. Ideas PLEASE!!! Signed, Dad Looking for Help P.S. if anyone wants to come over and help, I'm in SW New Hampshire!

You can find a directory of farmers markets here: Local Harvest -Mark-

As someone about half-way through culinary school, I'm wondering which industry organizations people belong to and what they see as the benefits. Some can be costly. Some require you to jump through a bunch of hoops for various certifications. Please educate this newbie. Thanks! -Mark-

Is there anyone who has worked there (or still works there) that you could reach out to for some guidance (which would save time and short circuit tons of research)? Where did the old chef go? Can s/he be called for a few minutes of wisdom over the phone? Not sure how big the kitchen staff is, but there's usually one person (could be in any position) who ends up knowing way more than you'd expect. A few quick conversations might save you time. Best of luck and let us know how it goes! -mark-

WHS - I'm with you on Jasper's pan lobster dish. One of the best things I've ever tasted, ever! I think the recipe is in one of his books, too, if anyone wants to try it at home. -Mark-

Not Asian, but a restaurant in Boston called Mistral makes a Truffled Mac & Cheese that is TO DIE FOR. They use veal stock to cook the pasta. Truffle Oil and black truffle for the truffle flavor. A combination of I'm guessing at least 3 cheeses. Oh wow!!! -Mark-

jean_genie - I consider myself a friend of NYC. A real friend sees you as you really are and loves you anyway; and that's how I feel about NYC. It's not a perfect place. It can be noisy and dirty and very expensive and - if you read it wrong - impersonal. There is no city with the same vibrancy and the sheer selection of everything (both good and evil). When I first moved to NYC, I had lived all my life in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. I moved to live with my then girlfriend (now my wife). She scouted out apartments and I came to check them out. I walked in her favorite selection and said, "This room is nice, where's the rest of it?" Of course, most people don't get much space to live in NYC given the cost. Hopefully, you'll have a nice place in a doorman building. If you're not used to being in a big city, you do need to be aware, steer clear of certain neighborhoods and places after dark, not flaunt jewelry and sometimes strongly assert yourself to get what you want. That is a reality of city life. If you're going to be living in the Wall Street area, it is something to be aware of because some of that area has very little traffic at night and I generally suggest women avoid being alone on streets that are fairly vacant at night. Despite the very bad press, I am a HUGE fan of the subway system. It is BY FAR the fastest and most dependable way to get around the city. Again, I wouldn't suggest you ride alone at midnight, but during most hours that you're getting around, the subway can be awesome. It's not hard to learn since most of the city is so logically laid out. Anyone could teach you in about 10 minutes how to get around most of Manhattan (just by understanding how the avenues and street system is laid out). Strongly consider subscribing to New York Magazine. It comes out every week and they cover everything from local and national politics to real estate to lots of stuff to see/do in the city. The goings-on do change a lot, so it can be a valuable tool. Lots of people like Time Out, a competing magazine, but for what it's worth, I prefer NYM. In terms of a handy pocket guide to NYC, think about picking up a copy of NFT (a small black book called Not For Tourists). It's a handy thing to have. I guess that's my NYC pep talk for tonight. -Mark-

jean_genie - I'm totally jealous. Former NYC dweller here (now in Boston) and hoping to return after my kids are grown. You've already gotten tons of great suggestions and food is certainly VERY important; however, I hope you'll also take advantage of the countless other things there that are simply better and/or more diverse than almost anywhere in the world (from movies to theatre to museums to Central Park). If you want to chat about any of this other stuff, feel free to PM me. -Mark-

From this Bostonian, LS is an institution here. Not fancy and certainly not high end by any means, but the seafood quality is consistently excellent. Someone from my school worked there and did rave about their attention to detail on acquisition, their standards, etc. I'm wondering if they truck the food to you from New England. Do you know/ did you ask?? Nothing revolutionary, but I do love their broiled trout. -Mark-

Also check out these: Local Harvest EatWild -Mark-

Is this already on the air? Coming soon? Sounds cool. What additional details does anybody know??? -mark-

I don't know about you, but I don't have the budget to eat off-the-charts cuisine every night of the week. And, with 3 kids, even if I had the budget, it would be an exercise in insanity. These days, you can eat at almost any chain restaurant and - by ordering carefully from the menu and asking for do-able alterations/substitutions - it's not all that bad. In terms of any restaurant where I haven't been thrilled, I let a fair amount of time go by but I do give them another chance. I think any place has off nights or nights where some customers just don't have a great experience. After all, it all boils down to humans, not machines. Long way around the park, but 'yes' I'd give Red Lobster another try (haven't been there is quite a while). -Mark-

Fat Guy - I noticed no use of tomato paste in your bisque. Any particular reason? Also, I happen to like finishing is NOT a lot of cream (personal preference) and a little cayenne. Comments? On killing the lobsters - I grew up in MD where we ate shellfish quite a bit. I had never heard about the whole 'getting rid of excrement' thing. Is there really something to this? Regarding the white liquid pouring out of the boiled lobster, I'm guessing that's just retained water from the cooking process. Lobsters boiled and steamed usually put out a fair amount of liquid post-cooking when being broken down. I had never heard the thing about the rubber bands imparting flavor, but I that does make sense and I'll modify my procedure going forward. Great thread. Keep it going! -Mark-

Both Lasagne and Mac&Cheese are great savory side suggestions. Also think sweets. When people are down, they often like food indulgences. Coffee cakes, chocolate truffles, pound cakes, etc. are great items. -Mark-

Both Lasagne and Mac&Cheese are great savory side suggestions. Also think sweets. When people are down, they often like food indulgences. Coffee cakes, chocolate truffles, pound cakes, etc. are great items. -Mark-

David - Thanks for bringing back some childhood memories with your allusion to the can with the bacon fat. [We used coffee cans in our house, back in the days when a can of coffee was actually a pound of coffee. Am I dating myself here?] Anna - Thanks for the info re: grass fed, finishing, etc. I think I'll have to taste some stuff and see what I think. ------- With all the inspiration here, I think I've decided to try out some stuff from this local meat producer (well, sort of local) in Francestown, NH. I found a great directory - perhaps because it was listed somewhere in this thread. EatLive.org I called the farm who sells whole and quarter animals, but they also sell a 30 pound pack. It's about half ground beef and about half a variety of steaks/cuts. It's all frozen and steaks are individually vacuum sealed. No store or shop or anything as city-fied as that. They don't even have a website. How cool is that? You call them. Let them know what you want and you make plans to come to the farm at a mutually agreeable time. It'll probably be a few weeks before I can get there, but if I do it, I'll post some info on how the whole thing goes. -Mark-

I don't know the specific ratings, but Emeril's show has been declining in positioning of late. When he was hot/hot/hot, he was on at 9pm. They moved him to 8pm at the start of primetime to try and provide some carrry-over benefit to whatever they put on after him. Now, though, they've moved him to 7pm, a much less desirable slot, so I'm assuming his ratings have slipped quite a bit. It's so hard for people not to tire of the whole 'bam' and 'I wish you had smell-a-vision' routine. I saw a recent show where he had Jacques Peppin on (promoting his new coffee table book and how can you not love JP?). I thought that show was much better than usual, but it really was due to my love of JP. If I was in charge of FN (waiting for the job offer any day now), I would have the NFNS finale be a live show (maybe 90 minutes). I'd use the home votes to count as 50% of the final vote and the other 50% determined by judges - and - have that last show some sort of live competition/challenge. Sure, you can feather in some retrospective footage here and there when you go to commercial if you want I think the pace would be far better and the would be much more interesting. What do you think???? -Mark-

I love this thread! I think in terms of price, when it comes to buying the very best ingredients vs. cheaper ones, it all boils down to priorities for most people. I know tons of people who complain about money who drop $20 a week at Starbucks. Adding $20 to an average food buy makes a big difference in what you get. I'm telling everyone to switch from Starbucks to better meat, but most people have tons of examples like this where - if they really wanted to - they could make a change/upgrade. Many people would rather not and that's totally fine with me. QUESTION FOR THE MEAT EXPERTS: I have been looking into some locally raised beef and it sounds like the beef is totally grassfed (i.e. not just grass finished and not corn finished). Who has experience on this front? Any insight to provide??? Thanks. -Mark-

Glad to hear Amy was chatting about her husband and all is well there. I was talking with someone who said that - based on the description of Amy's home life, living on a compound, etc., that she might be into polygamy. I think my friend has been watching too much of the Big Love series. [Fun show, by the way. I think the guy is superman. 3 wives, a business, lots of kids and he's been thinking about maybe adding wife 4.] -Mark-

You can put me in the "simply minded, low tech solution" category, but how about justing setting the oven 25 degrees warmer than every recipe calls for? I have an oven at our family's summer cabin and it's the same there (always colder than the setting). I keep an oven thermometer in the oven and - since it's NOT reliably off - adjust the temp each time. If I took an oven apart, it would be like one of those cartoon scenes where the whole place explodes and I'm left sitting in rubble with black hair. -Mark-

OK. My vote is to keep 2 jars on hand at all times. Teddy's smooth for using in Asian dressings and a few other dishes. Teddy's chunky for eating as is. -Mark-

I'm totally with you on the pre-packaged produce. I went to the store today to pick up 2 bananas for a banana cake (killer recipe, by the way) and the store (Market Basket) forced me to buy 6. I get so upset when I see how much food we waste in this country and it seems this whole pre-package thing creates even more waste. -Mark-

Do you folks mind saying what you paid for these stoves? Both look awesome and I'm suitably jealous. Mark