Zeemanb

I'm just going to bottom-line this......I'm at the Hilton on Perry Pkwy, in town on business until Thursday, and out of my hotel window I spy Boston Market, Chipotle and a Sam's Club.... Where can I get a decent lunch in the area? This is a hi-tech corridor of sorts I guess, so I'm hoping for any good Thai, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, African, Malaysian, Japanese, Indian....ANY tasty non-chain food where I can get there and back during an hour lunch. I'm looking on Yahoo Maps and see places like Likefe International Restaurant, Old Siam Restaurant, Rainbow African Restaurant, La Flor de la Canela, Song Toy Restaurant and Madras Palace. Any of those ring a bell for anyone? I just can't do the group lunch at Boston Market....... and I am planning to make it to Cafe Atlantico in DC on Wednesday night, so at least I've got that going for me. Seriously, I would have done better research before now, but I really had no idea that the immediate area around the hotel would be a carbon copy of any other strip mall five minutes from my house in KC. A HUGE thanks for any input here.....sorry I didn't ask for help sooner!

Note to self: Don't let the first several episodes where the hacks are getting weeded out and the drama queen personas are being masterfully edited get to you.....you LOVE Top Chef....think about all of the crap you still watch on Food Network.....you are FAN of Top Chef, it's a good show and you're going to love it!

Not a sports fan?! Only a true long sufering royal fan could have pulled those name out of Harvey the ball Rabbit's magic hat. Freddy Patek's Pannini Station is probably the next big thing ← OH! Well don't even get me started on Al Hrabosky's short-lived Hungarian Hangover Skillet Sanctuary known simply as the "Porcine Palace"...... all these foodie posers will pretend they didn't nurse a plethora of hangovers in that midtown lard-fest..... how quickly the Monday Morning shortstops deny their roots..... Okay, I know I'm going to hell for the hometown hero mockery, but I'll bet none of you have thrown back as many shots in St. Louis as I have with that Mad Hungarian.... God I hate professional sports....

Excuse my obvious ignorance but who or what is zimmern? ← Sorry about that....as opposed to the circa 1920 medical torture device known simply as "The Zimmern", this is actually referring to Andrew Zimmern, host of Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel.

I'm just going to say this, and I'll swear that a disgruntled ex-girlfriend got my password and posted as me if I'm called on it, but......... Am I the only person who thought that Zimmern's season premiere last night far outshined the last several episodes of NR? Maybe it was just the fact that Tony has me so content-starved lately, or maybe they've just managed to pull the microphones out of Andrew's trachea so that his smackity-smacking isn't quite as annoying.........

Guys, this does not bode well for U.L. Washington's new fondue place or Cookie Rojas' Pan-Asian luncheonette.... Not that I spend much time on the Plaza, but with the upcoming Fogo de Chao moving in near PF Chang's and The Cheesecake Factory, you've got the "perfect storm" of touristy/weekend warrior spots within about a block or so of each other. Now from what I've heard I do think that Fogo is at least a couple of notches above the other restaurants, but it's always disheartening to see a local spot leave and be replaced by yet another chain. I truly am convinced that places like Figlio only stay open due to the crowds that don't want to wait 3 hours at the aforementioned spots....

I am offended! Really! I happen to have part of the transcript from MY appearance on the upcoming “Showdown: Trail Mix”, that will hopefully put you haters back on track…… Guy: So Jerry, I know we’re all familiar with G.O.R.P…..good old raisins and peanuts, but can you tell us what your inspiration was to add Raisinets into your mix? That is off the hook! Jerry: Yeah Guy, most of my fan mail comes from people who really think the Raisinets set our trail mix apart. Funny story about how I came up with the idea…basically, some friends and I were driving back from SXSW in Austin, and we had run across a PARTICULARLY potent strain of white widow while we were down there… Guy: Oh, I like where this story is going! Jerry: Yeah, so we’ve all been up for a few days and this weed really isn’t helping matters. So anyway, my buddy Maurice is driving and all of a sudden he just SWERVES in order to dodge this Weeble……it IS Weebles right? That the right word? Guy: They wobble but they don’t fall down! Jerry: Right! They do NOT fall down man, they just DON”T! Guy: Off the hook! Jerry: So yeah, Maurice swerves to dodge this imaginary Weeble Village in the middle of the road. I mean, none of the rest of us saw it, and he’s just like that…he won’t even hurt a Weeble. So this box of Raisinets he’s eating just goes FLYING all over the rest of the car……and some of them go STRAIGHT INTO my bag of Corn Nuts! Guy: Like those Reese’s commercials! Jerry: Exactly! So we’re laughing all the way back home about TWO GREAT TASTES THAT GO GREAT TOGETHER! It was classic! So there you have it, that’s how I came up with such a triumphant Trail Mix recipe, and I’m gonna win! Guy: That’s bananas! Jerry: No, we tried bananas, but the flavor profile of the BBQ Corn Nuts really carry the mix, and bananas just didn’t work with it. So, I hope that alleviates any doubts about the legitimacy of this prime time Food Network programming........ edited for spelling, etc.

I thought Romania was a totally pointless show that should never have been aired. After re-watching the Morocco episode of A Cook's Tour last night, my opinion was only reinforced....all "format differences" because he's on The Travel Channel aside, the Romania episode was crap. I like to think Tony was kicking and screaming to keep it off the air, because he HAS to know how bad it was...but who knows.

Okay, I have to come clean about something......although they are relegated to one little spot in the pantry, I have managed to accumulate a pretty crazy amount of salad dressings in the past few months..... 13 bottles total. Granted, many of them are vinaigrettes that I use as a lazy-man's marinade quite often, but it is still excessive. Now that I've made myself accountable to the group....I will cease and desist immediately, no matter how many great buy-one-get-one or closeout sales I run across. Hummingbirdkiss, thanks for the compliment! Funny how you find other things to do with your time once the food-focus has to take a backseat and you're forced to find other productive outlets.....that is of course assuming that online rambling can be considered "productive" . If nothing else it's therapeutic...at least until my mom happens to run across it.

Definitely a mistake I would never make on my own.......and if "the guys" tried selling me on the scenario they would be met with a broad range of expletives. However, when non-foodie girls demand an impromptu trip to Justus Drugstore to celebrate a birthday, well, I was so impressed that it wasn't ReVerse or some such spot that I figured "what the hell". That was a tough lesson though.....Saturday night at Zona Rosa....that place makes The Legends look like, well.....Parkville. And I do believe that Oxtail/Tongue soup is going to prompt a visit to Bluestem this Thursday evening. The Humboldt Fog really does make the dish.

Great thread! I went through a MAJOR pantry purge right before my surgery in August, and it was.......not pretty. Fortunately I managed to give a lot of stuff away. Having the opportunity to start from literal bare shelves in the pantry and the fridge actually turned out to be one of the smartest things I've ever done......now as I add anything I can go all "Alton Brown" with it and label, catalog, etc. as needed to make sure I don't buy redundant items or let anything go too far past its freshness date. A couple of months ago I did the same thing to my spice cupboard in order to consolidate and make room for spices and grains that I use often and buy in bulk. As far as dried good and spice storage, "Gladware containers" are now at the top of my list when people are asking what I want for holiday gifts (Kingsford charcoal and razor blades are numbers 2 and 3....I just hate buying that stuff myself). Also, if anyone else happens to drink "New Whey" protein supplements, they come in these industructable plastic test tubes that are the absolute BEST devices for storing whole spices like nutmeg, star anise, etc. If any of my old roommates lived with me now, they'd be checking the garage for whatever alien pod the new Jerry hatched out of, because if you happen to remember Phil Hartman as "The Anal Retentive Chef" on SNL.......I proudly channel him daily when interfacing with my new and improved pantry system.

Curious thing tonight......some friends and I drove up to Smithville hoping to get an early table and found the place to be closed on a Saturday night. I tried calling earlier to see if there would be trouble getting a table, and after I never got an answer I figured they were just busy so we went ahead and arrived a little after 6pm to find it closed. Curious if anyone knows if it is actually "closed", or if it was just tonight for some reason. We ended up at Swagat for Indian food in Zona Rosa (a.k.a. my idea of hell on a Saturday night) and the food was very good, so not all was lost. Weird though, we were really hoping to finally try Justus.

During the entire 2 1/2 years I lived with my last girlfriend, whenever I cooked for her I had to destroy the meat in order for her to eat it. I'm not just talking about "well done", but literally cooked to the point of being shoe leather. I could slow cook a nice pork roast or shortribs, but since it was too "wet" she much preferred when I'd take a boneless porkchop, coat it with Shake n' Bake, and then bake it to the point that it was welded to the bottom of the pan. There are brands of beef jerky that were more tender. Oh, and speaking of beef jerky, the big indicator I got from her early on that she leaned this direction was when I totally forgot about some boneless shortribs I had put on the smoker and they cooked for 2 or 3 hours longer than they should have........"oh man, this is the best bbq you've ever done!". And I won't even get into the whole "over-seasoning food to the point where your tongue bleeds" topic.......the girl liked her salt and dried spices.

As a home cook I find most of the recipes to be very approachable. The one thing that has become as common in my fridge as ketchup or pickle relish is the chickpea topping for Mario's "Ceci Bruschetta". It is undoubtedly the "undisputed king" of tasty veggie snacks. Then yesterday I got Fergus Henderson's The Whole Beast in the mail, but that is a whole other topic.......

So, The Bad Seed is a store, in which there is an eatery called Fud? And, this is totally a separate store/restaurant from Cafe Seed? I'm confused. ← Fud is definitely different than Cafe Seed, but I do believe they will play the music of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Very interesting......I heard about "Cafe Seed" opening up in the martini corner area recently, but nothing about this place. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I look forward to sampling more vegetarian/vegan fare in KC. Cafe Seed Website

Did anyone else happen to catch this on Sundance? If not, definitely set your DVR because there is no DVD release date as of yet. The theme of the documentary is European industrial food production and hi-tech farming. The most interesting thing about it, besides the machinery and sheer scope of some of the production, is that there is no narrator, no music...nothing. The only "soundtrack" is the sound of machinery, animals and workers. It is shot in such a way that once I started I couldn't stop watching all of the "stories" unfold. It includes apples, sunflowers, pigs, milk, salt.....and even though I'm a total sucker for shows like "How It's Made" I think the appeal for food-minded individuals is obvious. It leaves you to draw your own conclusions on the beauty and terror of factory farming. Some parts are easier to watch than others, but even the scene with the pork production (from live piggies all the way to parts) was so fascinating to see on that scale that it was easy to get past the gore aspect. The "zipper" machine that opens up the animals is one of the scariest pieces of equipment I can possibly imagine. Then there are scenes like the one with workers on their knees processing fresh lettuce, and you wonder....how is the lettuce getting into that tiny room, and why are they sitting so low? Then the camera pans back and you see the giant machine, and all of the workers are actually crawling across the ground in a little canopy on the front of the tractor picking the live lettuce...at night. Anyway, definitely watch this if you get a chance. I would really like to hear some other opinions.

I really do appreciate the detailed info on what is probably the only McD's item I ever ate with any regularity. I have to say, out of all of the major chain burger joint menu items, it was definitely at the top of my list when I was still eating fast food. I was ALL ABOUT the insane amount of tartar sauce they usually had on them...which is why I never liked the "double" filet-o-fish...they always seemed to have TOO MUCH FISH and the sauce just couldn't support it!

Went to the lounge tonight, and maybe I'm the last to find this out, BUT...there's a dish with braised oxtail, tongue, croutons and Humboldt Fog cheese in a veal/onion jus on the regular dinner menu right now that is a wintertime rockstar. Seriously, that alone was worth the trip into the arctic wilderness.

Just posted this over on the Food on Television and Radio forum, for my dinner on Saturday night. Sopranos Dinner I don't have GREAT pics, but there are some over on my blog along with a better writeup.

Okay, reviving this thread for a moment.... On Saturday night I hosted a dinner party based on the Sopranos Cookbook. I thought it would be a fun theme, and not an overly complicated choice for my trial run at cooking for more than a couple of people. With the exception of the bread I served with dinner, I really took this to the homemade extreme....pasta, sausage, etc. Overall, it was a total blast. The first two courses had nothing to do with the book, but the rest is all from there: 1st- small skewer of mozzarella, tomato, basil, prosciutto- finished with a couple of drops of olive oil and balsamic 2nd- Cream of mushroom soup (from Top Chef Season 2) and Ceci Bruschetta from the Babbo Cookbook 3rd- Arancini on a bed of mixed greens- Other than the recipe needing some adjustment to make forming the risotto mixture into a ball less of a nightmare, this was an enormously well received dish. 4th- Fettucine Aglio e Olio- I modified this one a bit to include all of the elements of pesto...threw in toasted pine nuts, chopped basil and lots of good Parmesano Reggiano. 5th- Lasagne made w/Sunday Gravy- when you're going completely homemade with both the gravy and the noodles, this dish takes a long time to create. Home-ground beef for the meatballs (the recipe is excellent) and homemade sausage, etc. I will say it is definitely worth the time to do this one right...it's a monster. One thing I'd do differently next time instead of using the tiny meatballs is make regular sized meatballs, chill them and then slice them thin. I have an oversized lasagne pan, and still managed to load it so full I had to put in one less layer than the recipe called for. The height issue was due primarily to the meatballs. Also, structural integrity was an issue, it was one oozy mess once I started dishing it up. But seriously, this was one incredible dish. 6th- Carmella's Ricotta Pie- great "lighter" dessert after all of that rich food. Last but not least- I sent everyone home with some home roasted Sumatra Lintong and "Biscotti Regina" from the cookbook. Since the Arancini and Lasagne were untested recipes for me, there are some adjustment's I'd make when I do them again. Other than that, the dinner was a great success. The multi-tasking moment of the evening was when I used one of those small grill-basket things I picked up from an Asian grocer to "grill" my bruschetta over my glass cooktop. Good times. Anyway, there's a lot more info and pictures over on my blog.

Forgive my neophyte GLEE, but the UPS gods smiled upon me today and delivered me my very first "real" knife....a Shun 8-inch Chef's knife. I finally found an extremely good deal on one, the only concession being that it has the scalloped edges. No big deal. I'm sure there are sharper knives out there in the world, but I don't think I want to own one until I make it at least six months without losing a digit with this thing. In all seriousness, I think my knife skills have improved exponentially in the past thirty minutes just from chopping garlic, parsley and onions. I've never minced anything using only the tap-tap-tap energy that it takes to click a mouse. I think the combination of the ease of use and the fearful respect that one must have with that sharp of an edge are what have improved my skills in such a short time. To quote the cheesy old diamond commercial...."I love this knife...I love it, I love it, I love it....". So, anybody need a 10 inch Henckels that is going into the mothballs?

Oh man, that Soon Tofu dish is a killer. I only make it out to the neighborhood about once a week now, so next time I'm stocking up. I bought some Korean chile powder the other day just so I can try making it at home. All of the recipes online say you have GOT to use the Korean powder to get the flavor right. Seriously, best restaurant dish I've had in a while.

Mine was made with bacon, corn and cheese....definitely after-hours food. Just not my thing, at least the dish I had. Out of everything they served I liked those little fried sweet potato (?) chips that came out before the meal.

DITTO!!! Oxtails were "on sale" up the street last week for $3.99/lb. They looked really good, and yes I bought some, but I didn't have to LIKE doing it..... Also, it may have already been mentioned, but I just really hate paying so much for pine nuts. I use them a lot, and I'm sure if I planned ahead and bought in bulk they wouldn't be so expensive. One way around it, and I'm not saying this isn't a little shady....kind of like the controversy over getting two shots of espresso in a large cup at Starbucks and then filling with milk at the condiment station to save two bucks......hell, maybe it was a subconscious protest of those damn oxtail prices, but ANYWAY... I noticed that the salad bar at the store has a bottle full of pine nuts down by the sesame seeds, croutons, etc. The salad bar is $3.99/lb. You can fit a LOT of pine nuts in one of those little salad containers.......and the rest is history. Sorry if I'm totally evil, or COMPLETELY naive to have just realized this little money-saving factoid.....but all I know is that when my basil comes up this year and I've got "pesto fever", no substituting pine nuts with walnuts for this boy!