Octaveman

I really liked Monsoon Indian restaurant. Great atmosphere and really good food at reasonable prices. I also really like Greystone steakhouse. Also great atmosphere and awesome steaks. The buffalo tenderloin was better than I've ever had. For Thai try Rama and ask to sit in a booth close to the waterfall. Very nice with the wall to wall waterfall (well, water lightly cascading over rocks) and the drapes from the 40 foot ceiling to seclude each booth or table. Great atmosphere. These are all downtown, just a ferry ride over the bay to the Gaslamp quarter. Very nice to take the ferry back at night overlooking the skyline. If I do say so myself, we do have a great skyline. Ferry website Enjoy your trip. When are you going BTW? Cheers, Bob

I went there a few weeks ago for my birthday and was pretty dissapointed. My wife and I had the Assagio de Primi appetizer and was not impressed. Very little variety in sauce flavors and the pasta was not al dente enough for our tastes. For the main, my wife had the Filetto All Aceto Balsamico and I had the Controfiletto ai Funghi Porcini. Her Filet was pretty good and the balsamic sauce was also good but I was very dissapointed in my steak. While the steak was tender it had zero, and I mean zero, flavor and the porcini's although piled high didn't help make it any better. Another couple that was with us had the fish special and I can't remember the other dinner. The fish was good but nothing extraordinary. My wife and I agreed that we will not be going back. Other than the food, it was way down the strip where nothing else is located except construction. It was quite a hike after parking at Horton Plaza. Next time if we're in the mood for Italian we will go to La Strada Trattoria in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter. Cheers, Bob

I was raised by my mother and by my grandparent's and boy did they love to entertain. I learned many things about being a host and a what a propper guest was supposed to do through them and I can tell you one thing, very few of my "friends" are what I would call propper guests. My wife and I used to have this one friend over for dinner quite often and he would not only offer to bring over some diet coke or beer but he would also help out with the dishes. He'd stay for several hours and we'd talk or watch movies to just hang out. There was no expectation of recripocation because he was poor and he was kind enough to offer to bring something over for all of us to enjoy. Then he met his current wife. A person that is so anti-everything that she's turned him into the worst guest I've ever had. And yes, it's all her doing and he is allowing this to happen because he's married to her for pete's sake and he has to keep the home fire happily burning. <slow down, Bob...breath deep> I kept on making the dinner invites after they started dating and into their eventual marriage, but his pre-offers started dropping off and the dishes gradually piled up. I eventually stopped inviting them over and now they invite themselves over for dinner or sushi. I do all the cooking or we all make sushi but the kitchen looks like a cyclone hit it. Out the door they go when they've had their fill leaving a huge mess and leaving the crap diet Shasta they bring for themselves. They bring nothing as a gesture of kindness nor do they do anything in kindness to help with the mess they were instrumental in creating. They did babysit one night for us and cooked themselves dinner while we were gone. When we got home, the kitchen was an absolute mess from their adventure around my kitchen. I was #$%&ing pissed. I told my wife this is the last time. I brought it up with my friend and he told me to chill out and brought up those times in the past where he helped to clean the kitchen. Give me a @$#%& break. I've had it. <there I go again...breath IN-out-IN-out> Thankfully, we have other friends and they either recriprocate or offer to babysit or to join them for coffee or drinks of which the first round is on them. One friend told me they were a bit intimidated to cook for me but I said not to worry about that and that it was just enjoyable to not have the respnsibility of running around getting dinner on the table. BBQ'd chicken sandwiches is good for me. Acutally, bbq'd anything is good for me. I think that a propper guest should always extend an offer of some kind to show appreciation. Whether or not I accept the offer is a different story as I often times believe that the offer is more appreciated than what they are offering. If they bring something as a token then I'm always greatful for it. I think it's just proper to acknowledge the effort in some form or another. People can always get together over a cup of coffee to spend time with one another. If something more is involved, a small gift (or other) of some sort shows appreciation and recognition for the hard work the host has done for the evening. It's just what I do so naturally I think it's the way I'd like to be treated. When I'm a guest if the host told me they didn't need anything I've made a point to bring something like wine, a small NY cheesecake, flowers, a decorated Christmas tree complete with lights, potted plant of some kind, Godiva chocolate covered strawberries, Godiva truffles or coffee just to name a few things. And I reciprocate dinner in addition to all this. Quite often I've even sent a thank you note in the mail thanking them for a great dinner and a fun time. It's just the way I am. I'm very respectful and appreciative of the extra work that people go through to put on dinner and know that if they just wanted to hang out they didn't have to go to all that trouble to do so. So I thank them for their efforts beyond a simple thank you. Cheers, Bob

I've lived in SD for 20 years and have visited my fair share of mexican places. Most were okay some were pretty good. I'm not really sure what "authentic" really means since different regions make food differently but I will give you a few places that I think are in the pretty good category. The first one that I've mentioned before in another vacation thread is Nacho's Taco Shop. They are located on the 7500 block of University Ave in La Mesa. I moved right down the street from them 11 years ago and have been eating there ever since. They said that they've been at this same location for over 20 years and I believe it as they are busy all the time. They have a huge selection of taco's, burrito's, specials, combo plates and the like. All combo meals come on mexican styled/made pottery/clay plates and are a good size to accomodate all your food complete with garnish. My favorites are Taco's Al Pastor, Carne Asada Torta, Carne Asada Burrito, shrimp Seviche, Machaca combo plate and Carne Asada enchiladas. The Taco's Al Pastor come with two mini corn tortilla's for each of the three taco's and is filled with richly flavored/spiced meat and onions/cilantro. I always get guac on them too. The Seviche is made to order and can be spicy or mild. Get the carne asada cooked with their home made salsa. Another place my wife and I like is a place on Home Avenue just west of the 805 freeway. I'm sorry I can't remember the name but it's a restaurant styled place that serves what I would call home made mexican. Not the typical stuff you'd see in a taco shop. For instance, their chicken enchiladas come flat stuffed with cheese and chicken and topped with a fried egg. The sauce is a thick, dark, rich sauce that is very good. Not the typical rolled enchiladas with red enchilada sauce. This is very homestyle food that is not duplicated at places like El Torrito. The next place that I've been too a lot when I worked down the street is Alfonso's in La Jolla. HERE is the link so check them out too. The food has loads of flavor and the combinations are really good. I don't get to La Jolla as often as I'd like any more but now that I remember this place we might go this weekend if it's not raining as projected. Being in La Jolla, it's pretty pricey but good. Eating on the patio on a sunny day is very nice. Can't vouch for the "authenticity" though. Carlsbad, thanks for the tip on Harvest. I'd like to check them out. Carolyne, I ate a Chorizo burrito once from a taco truck. It had to be the most delicious chorizo burrito I've eaten. Problem was that an hour later, my stomach felt like it was slowly being eatin away by acid and it lasted a long time. Man o man that was a difficult day. cheers, Bob

I use Sriracha in spicy crab, tuna and scallop sushi concoctions for sure. But my all time favorite use so far is with kahlua pig. DAMN that's good stuff.

Well, I received my Rifi Tagine last week and cured/aged it late Saturday through the night into Sunday morning. I decided to do the 8 hour bake instead of the shorter version. I aged it twice with mesquite wood ash from Pizza Nova. There was a bigger difference in color the second time. Some day, I'll do it again but it was getting messy and I was ready to move on. Anyway, here's the pic... Below is the very first dish I made in my Rifi and in a clay pot of any kind. It's from Paula's book CousCous and other good food from Morocco. It's the Chicken with Lemon's and Olives Emshmel. I was unable to use preserved lemon's as I have yet to get the ball rolling with that but I will make this again with the PL as I thought this dish was great as it was. This is the before pic and the only one I made because I forgot to take an after pic... Here is the second dish I've ever made in...well you know. I had some short ribs in the freezer that I thawed out after coming across Paula's recipe for Beef Tagine with Cauliflower. the flavor was awesome even if the short ribs I got on sale sucked. They looked good in the package but after thawing out, they were aweful. I proceeded anyway. I went ahead and boiled the cauliflower first as per the recipe but I probably could've just put them on top of the meat in the Tagine to cook and finish in the oven per the recipe. This was very very good dispite the bad quality meat. Here is a just getting started pic... A few thoughts on my first experience with cooking in the Tagine. First, the amount of liquid that is generated by the food astounded me. I cut the water for the Chicken recipe in half and I still had to reduce and thicken the sauce. The water actually increased to the point of overflowing. For the beef dish, I put in about a quarter cup and again, the liquid was three times as much as orginally I put in. There was a lot of fat in this dish...did I mention my short ribs sucked? What also surprised me was that I didn't get the reduced rich sauce that I've been reading about on this thread. The Rifi didn't absorb as much, if any, liquid as I had invisioned. Another thing that was new to me today was using a heat diffuser. I used the Simmermat and noticed that even on the electric stove setting of 2, the liquid was slowly bubbling in the Rifi. I thought for sure the heat would not be high enough to bubble the liquid but I was wrong. Was this too high for claypot cooking? Should there be just constant heat but no bubbling? I was totally amazed at how the pot retains the heat too. And most importantly, the taste of all this was overwelming. The chicken was the most tender, most moist and most flavorful I've ever made or eatin. I've braised chicken in my Staub before but it was never as fall-apart tender as this...incredible. The beef while not the greatest, still had loads of flavor and tenderness. The jury is still out on this though since I've made more tender short ribs in the Staub but this meat was decidedly not the best anyway. So I will do this one again with higher quality meat. So! My first attempt went pretty well, I think. I'm going to start looking for recipes to make next weekend. Thanks Paula for your help and contributions to this forum. I would have never made the claypot/Tagine plunge if it weren't for your posts here. Thanks. I look forward to many more excellent dinners and left-over's. Cheers, Bob p.s. Hey Tagra...hey Chamba...start packing for a long stay at my place.

I just happened across this thread and can add some comments. You can get decent traditional knives at very reasonable prices. I'm not a sushi chef but I do eat a lot of sushi at various places around town. Every one of them use stainless of some form so I can't really comment on what is widely used carbon steel or stainless. I do know that carbon is the traditional material and gives the knife an extra weight to it over stainless because of the addition of iron to support the hard carbon steel core. There are white steel and blue steel. White steel can take a sharper edge but Blue steel holds it's edge longer. If you haven't purchased wetstones or waterstones and learned how to sharpen your own knives, this is a must if you are to own Japanese knives. Norton and King are excellent brands and are inexpensive. I would get a 200 or 400, 1000 and a 5000 grit stone. There are combination stones that give two different grits on both sides and is cheaper than buying the stones individually. HERE is a site that has them the cheapest. THIS SITE as mentioned above has plenty of brands and lines to view. I have made several purchases from Koki and am fully convinced that the prices are the best on the net, the customer service is outstanding and the $7 shipping from from Japan for delivery in less than a week can't be surpassed. I have heard of people ordering their knife on a Thursday and getting in the mail Tuesday...from Japan!! THIS SITE is another site that has many inexpensive traditional knives. I bought my wife a carbon steel Hon Kasumi Yanagi for $70. Look around, they're stuff is quality and their located in San Francisco bay area. THIS SITE is the same as Japanese-Knife.com but is better organized. These guys are typically higher in price than anyone I've come across so keep that in mind when you make your purchase. My very first Yanagi was from Korin. I purchased Korin brand Ginzanko stainless Yanagi in 240mm. I got it on sale last year but their not on sale now. But I like it a lot but not enough to keep. Why? Because it's short and it's too light for a Yanagi. As I've ben told, there should be no downward pressure as you slice the fish. The weight of the knife is all that is exerted as you move the knife across the fish to slice. This knife doesn't cut it so to speak. THIS SITE is Shinichi Watanabe's website and he hand makes every single knife. I have a blue steel deba from him that only cost $160. His knives may be out of some people's price point but I have to tell you that his knives are very high quality and you will be hard pressed to find better quality for the price...anywhere! Plus, his knives come sharper out of the box than any other brand (other than Murray Carter). My next Yanagi will be from Shinichi ever since I've seen one first hand and was in awe of his work. Seriously consider these knives as they will be the best you'll likely ever own. For example, you can get a 240mm Yanagi in white steel for $150 in his Master Grade professional knive's area. It's a no brainer to me. THIS SITE is another place that I've looked at but have yet to buy from them so I can't lend an opinion about their offerings. Check them out as they also have a great selection. Check out the Kumagoro brand Yanagi. I heard about someone who just bought this and really likes it. $80 and you get a saya. Not bad at all. Well, I gotta go, but you should be able to find something you can afford. To make a choice between stainless and carbon steel is tough. It depends on your personal thoughts, can you keep it clean and wipe it down or do you lay it down without wiping it? Carbon steel is the hands down choice for sharpness capability, weight and durability. SS will not be as sharp nor will it stay there as long as CS. White versus blue is a close call. The Blue has some stainless properties (but not stainless) in it but is more expensive than white. Many people can't tell the difference in shaprness and kurenga or duration of sharpness between the two so why spend the extra bucks on something that you won't notice? My next Yanagi will be in white. There is also Aogami super steel. This is a very good steel and if you see it at a reasonable price, get it. Koki has Miromoto and they make knives in AS. Hope this helps. If you have any questions feel free to send me a PM. Cheers, Bob p.s. There is a huge amount of information on Japanese knives here at Knife Forums.com in the Kitchen forum.

I guess last night was Bisteces Rancheros night because I made it too. Although, I got home from work a bit later than I planned to do the braise and eat at a normal hour, I made it anyway and went out for dinner as it simmered in the oven. I did make a few modifications to suit my tastes. First, I used Flank steak. Second, I added three Jalepenos that I roasted along with the Poblano's. Third, I used five poblano's although not sure how that compared to the 8 oz in the recipe. Lastly, I added a pinch of Cayenne and a tsp brown sugar. Since Molly mentioned that flank steak would not come out all that tender, I braised this thing for 2 hours in the oven at 275 to see how it faired then stuck under the broiler for another 5-10 minutes to brown the meat. Also, the sauce was too watery for me so I reduced and thickened a little. When we got home, the house was filled with an incredible aroma of beef and peppers...one of my favorite combinations. Since we just ate, I portioned it all out for lunch the next day. I did sneak a piece here and there and noticed the meat was a bit stringy and slightly tough. Today though the meat was very tender and absolutely delicious. The sauce had refined itself overnight and had a wonderful peppery/sweetness thing going on. This is so far our favorite. Cheers, Bob

Two muffins were sitting in an oven when the first turns to the other and says "Damn it sure is getting hot in here" when suddenly the other one screams "oh shit a talking muffin!" Just breaking up the silence with a little humor. I just got Molly's book recently and have found that unless you plan ahead, it's very difficult to make a quick braise as there is usually 12-24 marinating times or an ingredient you just ran out of. I made the Goan Chicken anyway. Didn't have mint though and I only marinated for 3 hours. I added a quick squeaze of lemon at the end of the reduction and it tasted great but not how it was intended. Same with the Morrocan Chicken. I didn't have Cilantro and I didn't want to go back out to the store. I made it anyway. I tried to go by memory when I finally got to the store but bought Apricots instead of plums (or prunes...can't remember) for the first couple of chicken braises with olives. Even if I did get them, I'd have to soak them overnight making it impossible to make the dish until then anyway. A couple of questions, what olives do people use for those dishes that require it? How do you think substituting apricots in place of the plums/prunes would come out? Are there recipes in the book for meats that don't involve 24 hours of prep time for marinating or draining yogurt (from one of Paula's recipes)? Speaking of Paula Wolfert, what book is recommended for cooking Tagine's? I ordered a Rifi Tagine that will arrive next Wed. Can't wait to use it after proper curing, seasoning and ageing of course. I hope to get a Chamba casserole for my birthday next month. It's #1 on the want list. A Tagra will be #2 as soon as Sami gets back with some info on them. Cheers, Bob

Hi Richard, great looking Rifi. What size is it? Looks huge in the pic. You got it at Tagines.com? Thanks.

I read somewhere on eGullet that the meat should be room temp. Any thoughts to that?

Thanks Sthitch...since I've never done this before is there any issues to be aware of? Get the pan hot, slap the salted lightly covered grape seed oiled steak down on the grill for about 5 minutes per side and yer done? Is there a need to finish in the oven? Is it prefered? Appreciate the pointers.

OMG....what type of pan is used? Well, obviously a cast iron pan but specifically...round frying pan? Flat griddle? With or without ridges? WHAT WHAT WHAT??? I've been using my bbq with a 40,000 btu burner my entire life and never let it get hot enough. I just bought a cast iron griddle for fish to use in my bbq and now I want a dedicated steak pan. I'm hoping my bbq can get hot enough because I like to be able to throw in some smoking chips every now and then. Please let me know ASAP as friends are coming over and my wife and I are having fish and they are having steak so I need to get a steak pan TODAY!!! Thanks

Very helpful, Paula, thanks. If I may indulge you, are there any reasons to choose a Rifi over a Chamba or vice versa? Fifi loves her Chamba and the Rifi is used by many so I was wondering about one over the other. Thanks again for your help. Bob

Hi Paula, Well, after trying to digest the wealth of info regarding Tagines I'm more confused than I was when I first started when I knew nothing. So far, i've come up with the fact that I want an unglazed Tagine and that I want a Tagra and either a Chamba casserole, Souss or Rifi Tagine. First item of business is where can I get the Tagra you posted HERE? It's great looking and I've been looking for a gratin dish too so this is perfect. BTW, would there be a transfer of flavor or aroma from cooking fish to a gratin? I did a search on google and came up with nothing. Second round of quick questions is are there any notable differences between the remaining three choices above other than cosmetic? One stronger/heavier than the other? Advantages/disadvantages? I'm assuming they'd pretty much perform the same, correct? With the Souss only being available in 10" and the Rifi in 11", 12 or 13, what would be the ideal size for cooking for a whole chicken either intact or in pieces on a standard electric stove? Last question is in regard to heat diffusers. I've never used one. At this website, what would be the better choice for Tagine cooking? Thanks so much for your time and effort with all your posts. I look forward to getting my Tagra and one of the Tagines or Chamba so I could start cooking those great sounding and looking dishes. Cheers, Bob

Sushi Foods dot com Catalina Offshore Products dot com JR Mushrooms dot com ...to name a few.

Like many of you, I too hate to deal with people who are late or never show. I've dealt with this from one of my friends when dining out and eating at home. Since most of my entertaining is small group dinners (usually 4) at home so being late doesn't affect other's except my wife and I. It's easier to wait when there's nobody else involved. But I always give him shit and he's been getting better but hasn't been on-time yet. The other night, him and his s/o came over for sushi and was 15 minutes late. I didn't even start preparing the ingredients until they showed up because I didn't want to do all that prep work for nothing since we weren't going to eat all that food by ourselves. We ate an hour and a half later. If we're meeting others to eat out, we start without them after 15 minutes we haven't heard from them. I'm not sure why people show up late all the time. Sure, there's the occasional traffic was bad or got stuck at work thing but I'm talking about ALL the time. Sometimes when dealing with my friends, I get the impression that they just don't know how to plan anything. They find themselves doing what they wanted to do for any given day then they realize they're going to be late because they tried to do too much in only so much time. Or they think they have time to drive all the way home, shower and come all the way back when in reality the time they had available was just enough to get home. I'm also not sure why people don't take the time to call. They have a phone, they know the number. Are they that stupid to think that since they're normally 30 minutes late to everything that another 15 minutes is no big deal since in their minds they're really only 15 minutes late? I just don't think these people realize how they're making the other party feel. Because if they were "friends" they would make an effort. My guess is that these "friends" don't host dinner parties often. I know my friends haven't. What about those who say they hate to be constrained by time. I've got a question for you...why do you never show up EARLY ? Why is it always late? Are you habitually late for work? How do you keep a job? Are you lazy? Why don't you give your friends the same level of responsibility? What about respect for your friends time whom don't subscribe to your ambivilancy? You are not the center of the universe to me and if you show up late, I will start without you. Obviously hanging out me/us is not that important to you so I/we won't make it important to me/us either. Buh bye and good luck with life. HELLLLLO? It's time to go to work, it's time to meet for lunch, it's time to see the movie, it's time to catch that flight, it's time for everything. The whole world is run by time. You are in the minority and if you want to function with the majority, certain apsects of your life must change or give up other aspects of your life.

I'm intrigued. What size Chamba do you find most useful? I checked them out online but not 100% which one is the one I need. On the Nutierra.com site they have the saute pans with lids that are low profile and the higher profiled casserole pans. I can't tell how high they are. I'm guessing that the lower profile saute would be ideal since I already have a high profile Staub. Can these be used to brown on an electric stove? Also considering a Cozeuela Con Tapa too from Spanishtable.com. Are the clay pots excellent for fish as well as land meats? Out of the two choices above, which one would be the better choice? thanks for the info, Bob

Not sure I have a good mental picture of this. Oh, I LOVE new toys. I'm all about new toys. Funny...are clay pots really that good for braising? I've never used one.

Greetings everyone, I've been half heartedly looking at posts in this thread and my curiosity got the best of me...I bought the book. I read the intro through the 10 stages last night and based on what Molly said about the braising vessel I don't have the optimal pans to use for low profile braises. I have a Staub 7.5 qt oval and I've done some braises of short ribs and pork roasts with good success from what I can tell. Next big thing will be baby back ribs so I'm glad I got the big size for those big jobs. But I think I need a smaller one and/or lower profiled one. So my question is what does everyone use for their low profiled foods like veggies, chicken, fish and whatnot? Could you list what you have and what you cook with it? What pan would you recommend for both stove-top browning and oven braising if different from above: Casserole, Saute, Rondeau, low enameled cast iron, Cazuelas, or other? Brands? Quart size? I want to get started with these recipes ASAP so please let me know what would be ideal for the smaller jobs. I'm not totally against spending the money for higher end stuff if it's worth the extra cost. But it would have to be well worth it. Thanks a bunch for your help, Bob

I probably should have searched the net first but I found lot's of way's to do Braised BBQ everything. It still would be nice to hear some tips on doing this since most of the recipes I viewed were to braise the meat then put on the grill and baste with bbq sauce. What about braising IN the bbq sauce? Anyway, there's always this at Amazon... What a deal on Braised Short Ribs!!

I got to thinking...I wonder how would the meat and sauce turn out if I used BBQ sauce as my liquid. I'd most likely try half bbq sauce and half beef stock so it won't dry out but I was wondering if anyone has tried braising this way. Something tells me it would be awesome.

Honey is always a good one but I'm fond of yellow or brown mustard rubbed on with cloves poking into the beast every inch or so. That's the way my Grandmother made it so I'm partiall to it for sentimental (and taste) reasons.

I have a DeLonghi Panini grill HERE and I love it. We've grilled veggies like red bell peppers, asparagus and thick sliced portabello mushrooms with olive oil and balsamic then use them in a sandwich toasted on the grill before cleaning it (from the veggies just cooked). Add some turkey or roast beef and you've got a meal. I typically use thick herb crusted flat bread from the bakery but sometimes use sourdough. I like to put butter and Parm Reg on the toasted side of the bread too. Try different cheeses/veggies/meat combo's. It's fun to experiment. If you don't have access to a bakery with herbed breads, get herb infused oils and use them instead of butter. The recipe book that came with my grill is awesome. I don't have it in front of me but I think it's close to 40 pages with loads of awesome sandwiches. The internet is also loaded with panini recipes.. Bob

Braised short ribs with Porcini Risotto Steamed asparagus Tomato salad with shallots, basil and olive oil Sliced baguette