Jason Perlow

Have you guys seen this? It actually sounds really good. http://www.mufti.ca/peoplesworkshop/poutine/

Mcdonalds serves poutine in Quebec?

Sounds good, our garden area (now a jungle of weeds) is overgrown with mint.

Well, you can propose that to Lobel in September when he does his Q&A. Thats how he told everyone do cook the meat on Wednesday, with a coating of oil. I'm not gonna question a meat genius. I've even seen Alton Brown do it this way, and he's an armchair food scientist like yourself!

This is something I do with grilling steaks all the time (and how Evan did it at the dinner). The oil keeps the steak from sticking to the hot pan or grill and helps create that nice crust. I am assuming the steaks he ordered are strip steaks, Lobel sells Wagyu in various forms.

Grilled is just fine, thats how Evan Lobel prepared the Wagyu at the Lobel dinner at Morrells on Wednesday. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST&f=4&t=24824 Oil each side of the meat with canola or oilve oil, kosher salt and pepper. Grill 2 to 3 minutes per side, finish off in the broiler. Let rest for 5 or 10 minutes, cut into slices and top with a sprinkle of kosher salt yet again. Has to be eaten rare.

Click on the eG Store link on the navigation bar, we got all kinds. http://www.cafeshops.com/egullet

About Michael Ruhlman http://www.ruhlman.com I was born in 1963 in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating from Duke University in 1985 with a BA in English Literature, I worked for The New York Times as a newsroom copyboy. I left before two years had passed to pursue a desultory life of travel, writing, and odd jobs, returning to Cleveland in 1991. Here I found work as an editor at a local magazine that covered Cleveland's cultural scene, for which I wrote an article about the man who had become headmaster of my high school, a private boys' school. This article began my first book, Boys Themselves (1996) A devoted amateur cook since fourth grade, I proposed to the Culinary Institute of America, the oldest and most influential professional cooking school in the country, that I be allowed into its kitchen classrooms in order to write a narrative of how the school trains professional chefs. The school agreed, and I wrote The Making of a Chef (1997). I became so fascinated by the work of the professional cook and the culture of the restaurant kitchen that I continued to pursue the work, punching a clock briefly as a line cook, then writing a book about chefs and cooking, The Soul of a Chef (2000). I co-wrote The French Laundry Cookbook (2000) with Thomas Keller at the same time, and he and I subsequently wrote a food column for the Los Angeles Times for two years. In February 1999, I moved with my family to Martha's Vineyard to research and report on life at a yard making plank-on-frame boats for the book Wooden Boats (2001). In October 2000, I began work at the Cleveland Clinic's Children's Hospital for the book Walk on Water (2003), which I wrote concurrently with A Return to Cooking (2002), with Eric Ripert, chef-owner of Le Bernardin, the Manhattan four-star restaurant. I continue to live in Cleveland and am currently working on another book with Keller and the others from the French Laundry Cookbook team, about French comfort food, as well as a cookbook with Brian Polcyn on charcuterie for the home cook--a love song to the pig, to animal fat and salt, sausages, confits, pates, terrines. I'm also writing a non-fiction narrative about house and home. When this work is done, I hope to return to the chef world for more reportage on the work of professional cooking.

Okay, now that you've seen the food porn, here's the commentary. For starters, all of these portions were pretty tiny with the exception of the filet mignon -- most under an ounce, we ended up going out to Grand Sichuan International midtown afterwards because we were still considerably hungry. There were no accompanying dishes such as salads or starch or vegetables, no dessert and coffee, just some slices of French bread on the table as palate cleansers for the wine. All the of meat was served lukewarm or cold, but that did not affect the taste at all -- the younger Lobel himself did the cooking on a grill supplied by Viking for the event, and he obviously let the meat rest for a considerable amount of time in order to present the meat at its maximum juicyness. Pork Loin -- Served cold, was nice and juicy and very tender, excellent specimen. The first wine, the Sokol Blosser Evolution from the Willemete Valley in Oregon, a white wine which was a blend of 6 to 9 varietals (it varies from bottle to bottle apparently) , primarily those being Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Blanc, was nice, a little on the sweet side though. Not sure white wine blends work as a concept, personally. I felt the Pinot Gris Petergarden 2001 from Alsace had a nice acidity to it and was nice and ripe, it was a better match for the pork. Butterflied Leg of Lamb - Served on the cold side of lukewarm, again very tender and juicy, not at all gamey. The French wine, the Chateau de Tertre 1997 from Margeaux, which according to the sommelier was approx 60 percent Cabernet and 25 percent Merlot, with the rest being mostly Cabernet Franc, was a better match than the X Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2000, which was too hot at something around 14.5 percent alcohol, yuck. Time for the Gen Xer winemakers at that winery to do their homework or go back to web page design. Filet Mignon -- Again lukewarm, but again very juicy, extremely buttery tender, perhaps the best single peice of filet mignon I have had in my entire life. The Elk Cove Pinot Noir 2001 from Willemette Valley, Oregon was very similar to the Argle Pinot Noir I've had before, very good, nice match. The Cote de Brouilly Nicolas Potel 2001, a Gamay was nice as well but I thought the Pinot Noir was better. Wagyu NY Strip Steak -- Lukewarm again, but who cares, following up on the best peice of Filet Mignon I ever had in my life was the best single peice of steak I ever had in my life. Unbelievable beef flavor and great fat marbling, which melted like butter in your mouth. The sommelier later admitted that both of these wines were a crappy match for this unbeleivable peice of meat. The La Vielle Cure 2000 from Fronsac, 80 percent Merlot was significantly better than the excremental Havens Merlot 1999 Napa Valley (whose oak had the effect of a sledgehammer on top of the taste of the wonderful Lobel Wagyu) but I would have rather had the Pinot Noir from the previous flight with this or something else with more tannins, like a nice Barolo, a Cotes du Rhone or a nice Burgundy. Anything but fucking Merlot. Grilled USDA Prime Hangar Steak: How do you follow up the last two? You can't. Still, this is probably some of the best hangar steak I've ever had. Nice beefy taste. The Chateau Gruaud Larosse 1999, 2nd Growth Julien (Cabernet Sauv based) had nice tannins, nice mouthfeel, a good balanced red and solid cabernet. Where the hell was this when they served the Wagyu? The Napa Valley Lewelling Cabernet Sauvingnon 1999 was just eh. A wonderful evening and great opportunity to taste some very unusual cuts of meat, although a bit pricey for what we got and I'm a bit annoyed we were not served a full meal with accompaniments. For 70 bucks per head you shouldnt leave hungry from a wine dinner. One last thing of mention -- before the dinner we were served an apertif of Philippe Prie Brut Traditionele champagne, a Recoltant Negociant (RM) "grower" single estate champagne. Morrell has it for $22.95 a bottle, this is an AWESOME value for a NV champagne, especially a grower champagne. Had I not just spent a bundle on champagne recently I definitely would have bought some, it was crisp, clean and refreshing, with a nice toastyness to it.

Here's the pics from the dinner tonight, I'll comment on all of these in a followup post. Menu, Page 1 Menu, Page 2 The wine inventory for the evening Pork Tenderloin Marinated in Apple Cider Butterflied Leg of Lamb USDA Prime Filet Mignon USDA Prime Filet Mignon, Closeup Wagyu NY Strip Steak, closeup USDA Prime Hangar Steak USDA Prime Hangar Steak, alternate view

Felafel mix should be good for at least 2 or 3 days provided it is refrigerated. 4$ is about standard in the US for a felafel. The best felafels I have had were a mixture of fava and chickpeas and had a lot of herbs in it. the spice mixture is also crucial. Garlic, Onion (finely minced), cumin, scallion, tumeric, and coriander and some chile powder (cayenne or any other hot red dried chile) will give it that authentic middle eastern flavor. You also want to put some tahini into the mix as well for flavor. Also I think the type of oil you use is important, you want one that carries a flavor. I'd go with one of the chinese type oil blends for deep frying which has some peanut oil in it. Maybe even use peanut oil entirely.

mushrooms have high concentrations of MSG, yep. http://www.mssf.org/mnews/c_smells.html

I've made Caipirinha with overproof Wray and Nephew Jamaican white rum. Doesn't taste sweet or syrupy to me at all. In NJ I can get a few different Cachacas, I have Pitu and Barriero at home.

Looks good Jason, but I can't find anything about a Bodd's stout... I've found a Bodd's Bitter, Manchester Gold (ale), Pub Ale, Boddington's Mild and Oldham Best (OB) Mild (a reddish brown beer). No, boddingtons is not a stout, the closest thing they have is a bitter. Their pub ale is very creamy though, which is why I put it in the same category as Guiness even though its a different style.

http://www.chefmorimoto.com/beer/beerinternal.htm Anyone try either of these two?

The Brooklyn Brewery Dark Chocolate Stout, which is an imperial russian style is really kickass too, but they only make it during wintertime.

Guinness is good, but I like Boddingtons better

Rachel and I will be there, with our digicam.

Screw healthy. In fact I would make a point of advertising that I wasn't, that everyhing was done the bad old fashioned way. Fried in grease and loving it.

Yucateco is awesome. Have you tried their new Chipotle?

Yes. Retrodonalds. With fries cooked in beef tallow, and shakes made with real ice cream, as I mentioned on a previous thread.

Yup, thats the one. Its literally a 2 or 3 minute walk from the hotel, if the restaurant is still in existence.

The place right down the street from the Hilton was very casual, and it had great asopao too. Was that La Tasca? I don't remember. I'd definitely stay very local, maybe even eat at the Hilton itself and suck up some Pina Coladas.

He's doing it on the show?

Is Strega a type of amaro? Or is it just another kind of italian digestif?