HungryChris

My favorite squid preparation, though it's hard to find done well is this: Squid rings and tentacles lightly dusted with seasoned flour and pan fried in hot oil so that it becomes light and crisp, accompanied by a sauce on the side that includes butter that hot pickled peppers have been sauteed in long enough for their flavor to get infused into it. This combination (including the peppers) is just super good! I'm not sure if it's a Rhode Island thing, although the peppers do suggest the large Italian population there had a hand in it. Several years ago I was buying bait for a day of fishing. I was told that there were live squid in several floating boxes at the end of a little dock across the street, handed a little net and a container to collect the 'bait'. Suffice it to say no hooks got wet that that day, my dinner consisted of fried calamari and I couldn't have been happier. Cheers, HC

My version of Shrimp Fra Diavolo would be lost without the stuff. Cheers, HC

I will commonly have a 1 or 2 appitizer meal or will share 3 or 4 appitizers. I am in fact put off by having a groaningly overfilled entree placed in front of me that I know I can't possibly finish. It's not that I am looking for a bargain, but just that I know what I feel like eating. One of us will usually have a cocktail. I don't think there should be a problem with it. I have no problem with splitting an entree and buying the extra salad or paying a fee for the practice either. Cheers, HC

When I buy baby Bok Choy they are about 6 inches tall and about as big around at the base as the 'O' made by forming the 'OK' sign when I put my thumb and pointer finger together. It sounds like they are large compared to others mentioned here. I have tried them in a number of ways but my favorite way is to cut them lengthwise into quarters and cook them quickly in a very hot wok with a bit of minced garlic, grated ginger, sesame oil and topped on the plate with a dash of balsamic vinegar. The first time I read about this combination I was a bit skeptical, but the first time I tried it, I was hooked. I now include this as a vegetable in lunches I freeze to take to work and they hold up quite well. I have also used them when making Kim Chee with good result. Cheers, HC

If I had to pick a get home late, no time for anything elaborate, quick mostly preprepared dinner it would be a Boca Burger or Gardenburger (I like the Original) done up in a fry pan with a half teaspoon of olive oil and served on tosted slices of French bread with thin slices of raw onion and tomato, a bit of mayo and some hot pepper relish. My other choice would be a half dozen Trader Joe's frozen gyoza (pork or shrimp) tossed into a fry pan with a little olive oil long enough to brown then hit with some white wine and steamed for just a few minutes. I like them with a hastely prepared dipping concoction of light soy, grated ginger, green onions, chopped garlic and a little rice wine vinegar. I usually have these items on hand just for this possibility. These are usually served on paper plates so I can toss them out, put the fry pan and dipping sauce boat in the dishwasher and go to bed with minimal impact on the kitchen. Cheers, HC

We made a trip up to TJ's in Framingham Saturday and that always includes a walk through Whole Food which is just up the street. They had fresh Maine shrimp for $5.99 /lb. I picked up half a pound to try out. I cleaned them first (kind of a pain although the head had already been removed) and sauteed them in a mixture of butter and evoo with a big handful of chopped cilantro and a big clove of garlic, minced. I added a pinch or two of hot pepper flakes and the juice of a fresh lime along with a bit of the zest. I had this over angel hair pasta. It was a clear winner and I can't wait to get some more. I'll be watching for these from now on! Cheers, HC

I used to get the 'vegetarian pocket' with hot peppers. I thought that was one of the best followed closely by the 'original pocket'. My ex would always get the number 9 and loved them. I recently stopped in to a D'Angelo, but the menu was completely foreign to me and the girl behind the counter had no knowledge of my old favorites so I just left. As for Papa Gino's, I'm just not a fan of that type of crust. After going to Frank Pepe's and Modern there is just no turning back. Cheers, HC

After hearing a few people wax nostalgic about those red hot dogs I decided to try them. I simmered them in beer. After about 15 minutes the cooking liquid looked as if someone had slit their wrists in it. I just couldn't get past that. I'm not a fan of red hotdogs. Cheers, HC

corned beef, seeded rye bread and grey poupon mustard medium rare roasted lamb and garlic a cheeseburger on crusty bread with kim chee A good pint of stout with any of the above Cheers, HC

I greatly prefer to sit face to face. I think it makes conversation easier. We can see each others meals as well as our reactions to them. There is also a lot to be said about having more of the place under surveillance as far as people watching goes. I always like to sit where I can watch the door. I think it has more to do with the history of our species than my humble past. I feel a little like a nervous antelope at the water hole if I can't kind of keep an eye on things. That's just the way I am. Cheers, HC

Pepe's Pathology Hut

I like to make a leafy lettuce salad sprinkled with finely chopped caramelized shallots, crumbled gorganzola cheese and dressed with a vinegrette dressing that includes minced raw shallots. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Cheers, HC

My faves include: Freshly baked sourdough The area immediatly surrounding the press at the cider mill Coffee beans just dumped from the roaster My least faves include: Clove Sardines (fresh ones, not canned) The first time I bought fresh sardines, I was preparing them for the grill and just couldn't go through with it. I wrapped the bunch up took it outside to the trash and scrubbed my hands at the sink for some time. I just don't get how they can smell so awful, but taste so wonderful after just a minute or two on the grill! I have learned to see the job through since. Cheers, HC

I usually have a package or two on hand and will get the urge to prepare some just 3 or 4 times a year. I was recently surprised to learn that because the ones I buy are fried before packaging that they are pretty high in calories. Whenever I see someone with a case or more in their gorcery cart I have to wonder what they do with all that. I have known quite a few people who bought too much of the stuff for economic reasons only to get totally turned off by it within a few weeks. I think I could eat in a good ramen shop every day, though and never get tired of it.

This reminds me of a summer I spent working at a fish market near the home of my youth in CT. The market owner was a crafty bird. There was a little wooden slated box near the lobster tank. Over a period of weeks I noticed that he sometimes put the lobster in that box before bagging it and sometimes he didn't. Over time I began to realize that there was more to the story as well. If the customer was a year round resident he would take the lobster out of the tank, put it in the wooden box to allow the water to drain from it then bring the lobster to the scale then put it in the bag. If, however, the customer was a summer resident/tourist, he would whip the lobster out of the tank into the bag and bring the bag to the scale. In effect the tourist was paying by the pound for the lobster, the water not allowed to drain from it and the bag whereas the local customer was just paying by the pound for the drained lobster. It's just something to watch out for. Cheers, HC

I was in the new Manhattan spot a few weeks ago and have to agree with what's been said about the confusion issue. I sat at one of those neat little tree branch tables and watched Deb (and a number of other customers) get in one line after another only to be told that they were in the wrong line for what they were looking for. I did see bags of cacao beans through the window, but no sign that they had actually started to process them there yet. It's a nice space and I'm sure they will get it together eventually, but they have a ways to go yet. I am the wrong person to talk to about the relative merits of chocolate because I would be perfectly happy in a world without it, but Deb did like the hot chocolate and she loves their champagne truffels. Cheers, HC

Are these Rock or Spiny Lobsters or Maine Lobsters?

I spent quite a few years living day to day, hand to mouth and one of my old faithfuls was smoked shoulder when it went on sale for 69 cents a lb. A New England Boiled Dinner with potatoes carrots and cabbage would start out the week. It made good leftovers, great sandwiches on homemade bread during the week and then the ham bone would go into split pea soup. You could live on the thing for at least a week with good variety and all for less than ten bucks. Ahhh....... the good old days. Welcome to EG by the way, astrayacorazon. Cheers, HC

I tried Spicy Ranch Dressing with a little lemon juice and zest mixed in. I thought it was pretty good.

If you are in the neighborhood, I reccomend a cocktail or two at sunset in the Voodoo Lounge at the Rio. Watching the lights on the strip come on from that great spot is an eye opener. Cheers, HC

# 971 There are some places where anything still sealed from the manufacturer is the best bet. #972 It would be wise to know when to apply # 971.

Yessssssssssssssssssssss! A huge plate of steaming crow to those of you who deserve it and you know who you are. I have a bottle of champagne way in the back of my fridge that might be dragged out soon. How about those Red Sox? Cheers, HC

Deb and myself have made it a point to have ramen on each of our sortees into the city in the last year or two. So far, we have been to Sapporo East, Ajisen, and our favorite, so far, Menchanko Tei (the Hakata Ramen blows us both away) I think we have been there about 4 or 5 times. We will be back again in the first week of December and I thought I'd ask for reccomendations for good ramen in NYC on good old EG. When I try to replicate the experience at home, I am at a loss as to what to use for the noodles. The best I have found so far is an Itialian product that I get at a local Asian store. It's Called Pasta Zara Angel Hair Nests. Just as it sounds, it's little nests of pasta that would fit into an average sized hand. It comes the closest to what we have had at the ramen shops in NYC. I take the the little tip ends of pork tenderloin when I find them in Walmart and simmer them in salted water with a few pepper corns and a bay leaf or two and whatever chicken bones I have in the freezer. I slice baby bok choy into eights, removing the green tops and sautee the bok choy slices in a fry pan with salt, pepper, a little dark soy sauce, fresh julienned ginger and some hot chili oil. I put the noodles into a bowl, add the pork broth, sliced pork, some sliced black fungus that have been soaked in hot water, the sliced bok choy stems and top with some sliced green onions and the bok choy tops and add about a table spoon of heavy cream. This is about as close as I have been able to come to Hakata Ramen at home. Cheers, HC

My liquor cabinet is in the two doored cabinet above the worthless hood fan. I'm sure that many of you are familiar with the worthless hood fan, the one that sucks in the smoke and blows it back into your eyes, but that's another thread. Except for an occaisional bloody mary or margarita, I mostly drink wine. For some strange reason, however, I collect hard liquors and have recently run out of room for it. This thread has come along at a time when I am wondering where to go to next and I think Jason's spare room approach is going to come out on top. Cheers, HC