Zeemanb

When I actually buy sauce instead of making it, I generally buy Gates. Come to think of it, when I MAKE sauce it is generally the Gates recipe....... And my cocker spaniel just stopped by my office and wanted to say that her favorite is KC Masterpiece...........she does love to dig through the garbage, so I guess her taste in sauce makes sense . edited for spelling

Unless I find a really good deal on a Le Creuset oven, etc. somewhere online, I really depend upon a restaurant supply store over in Kansas City, Kansas for most of my cookware needs. Can you ever really have too many sheet pans? They have good closeout deals too....I got one of those big metal racks like you see in professional kitchens and computer server rooms for about $70. It was green, so I guess it wasn't moving, but went perfectly with my louder than loud yellow kitchen.

I'm really hoping that NR hasn't jumped my mental shark, but I didn't even finish this episode. I'm banking on New Orleans reeling me right back in though.

I have only recently begun to amass a decent collection of cookbooks, and I have to say that after owning it for only ten hours or so, the Babbo cookbook is a real page-turner. I spent most of the afternoon reading it like I would read a novel...there is a lot of exciting content and I think the thing I appreciate about it most are the little sections on infusing oils, pastes, etc. It will definitely inspire a themed dinner at my house in the near future. Also, I'm just really, really glad that my gastric bypass gives me some level of "protection", because this would normally be one very dangerous resource for me. Not sure what I'll try first, but as much as I enjoyed the sweetbreads when I dined at Babbo, that seems like a logical beginning....

I think the problem(s) with their burnt ends are that they aren't really burnt ends, they are more of a "casserole" of sorts........ from what I recall they chop the points, drown them in their sweet sauce, and then put them back in the pit. This is what makes them way too mushy. Even when Bryant's is having an "on" day, those burnt ends are the worst. I'm not sure how or why they came up with that method.

I had lunch with chileheadmike today at Chosun, off of 127th and Metcalf. It was my first time eating there, but I have to say that the Soon Tofu stew I got was incredible. A very flavorful and spicy broth with soft tofu, scallions, onions, chopped zucchini and little bits of beef. In this weather it was the best of all possible worlds. Mike got bim bap which he really enjoyed, and the lunchtime banchan included kimchi, some type of marinated bean sprouts, what I was told were noodles made from fish paste, grilled chile tofu, and one or two other things I can't recall. When I'm in the neighborhood I'll be stopping in again just to get some more of that great tofu stew. Most of the booths were outfitted with the Korean grills, and I'd be curious to try that at some point when I have more time. Great service, LOTS of space, big booths.....overall a very nice little restaurant wedged in between a Quizno's and The Peanut. I've been searcing for a good soon tofu recipe online all evening (so if anyone HAPPENS to have one....), and apparently I need to get to an Asian market to pick up some Korean chile powder to get the flavor right. Not like I need my arm twisted to go spice shopping..... Anyway, based solely on my single experience I'll be back very soon. One batch of soup for lunch, and two or three more for carryout.....

Dang, I didn't even think of all the fun non-food applications with one of those things...... brake pads, lightbulbs, the temperature at which your tongue stops sticking to the flagpole.... Woot.com has these come up for sale every once in a while for around $30, gonna have to go ahead and get one.....

I'll admit it, I'm generally first in line to drink the Bourdain Kool-Aid, and while I still consider the new season light years beyond most FoodTV or Travel Channel programming, I'm just not connecting with it. I can't really put my finger on any one thing that has changed my opinion, maybe it is just the progression of the pre-planned/over-produced vibe throughout the seasons. There always seems to be some running gag that makes me wonder "where in the hell is Tony?".......like the whole prima donna umbrella/hotel room schtick (which is probably similar to complaints about the constant Inferno references in the Tuscany episode....which didn't bother me at the time). It comes off like the network powers-that-be won't give an episode their blessing without some kind of demographically-proven formula....."you have to include something about him getting older, likes meat, his smoking has greatly diminished his lung capacity, he is constantly experiencing the growing pains that go along with fame, and if you can include something where his testicles are in jeopardy we're not DEMANDING that, but it would be nice". I know part of my disappointment comes from the fact that, like most people here, I can NEVER get enough food content, so I have a hard time resolving the fact that this is the Travel Channel. And I'm generally a pretty cynical bastard...which is what made me love Tony's style in the first place, so a lot of the content just comes off as canned cynicism. Anyway, it's not like I'm going to stop watching the show or anything.....

How did it go? ← This is still really high on my radar, but the recent arrival of pasta maker and grinder attachments, as well as several cookbooks, have been kind of a bomb-blast in the kitchen. Plus, my desire to cook and my limited capacity to consume the food still haven't completely meshed yet.......and the thought of throwing out leftover sweetbreads is too horrible to think about. Now that you've brought it up, I'm already off on one of my obsessive recipe searches that I will modify to make uniquely my own................I'll make this happen!

Organic, whole milk from Shatto Farms here in Missouri. There just aren't that many items that tempt me to pay twice the price of all other brands, so this is my little reward to myself for being so frugal in most other ways. edited for spelling

I didn't actually receive any great kitchen gifts this year (unless you count the huge stash of Gladware I won during our yearly family bingo game), but I did use some money from my parents to score what I thought were some pretty great internet finds.... New Kitchenaid Artisan mixer for $79 Le Creuset 7 quart Round oven for $130 (and I'll throw in my $33 20-quart All Clad Stainless stockpot just to gloat...I actually got it before the holidays) Plus assorted cookbooks....Sopranos Cookbook (way better than I thought it would be), Pasta Tecnica, Union Square Cafe, Food & Wine Annuals for 2005 and 2006, Chez Panisse Pasta, Pizza, Calzone...... I have a habit of going to Amazon and searching on cookbooks by price. I don't think I've paid over six or seven dollars for anything in my quickly expanding collection.....although to justify my spending I only pick books that qualify for "super saver" shipping! Great year for the kitchen so far!

After watching last night's "Let's Get Lost" episode, I totally agree. I love NR, but the unpolished vibe of ACT is refreshing. Plus, after watching the evolution of Tony's shows over the past few years, it's fun to go back and read between the lines on his earlier stuff.........for example, did anyone else laugh at the inner dialogue that must have been going on in his head when he had to pretend he was just "popping in" on that family dinner? I could be wrong about that, but after all of his comments about putting dead fish on a hook to make good TV in the past year or so, I'm always looking for the staged aspects of the show.

Last night I kept seeing the little pop-up ads for Jamie's show during Diners, Drive-ins and Dives......saying that the show will premiere at 9:30am Saturday. I know they were calling the episode the other night a "preview", so I'm assuming he's going to be stuck in the a.m. time slot? Not a huge deal w/DVR I guess. I keep forgetting that there's not enough primetime space on FTV for a real cooking show.

Have to chime in here and say that I enjoyed last night's show very much. Jamie's cooking really struck a chord with me, this is the type of food I will happily prepare at home. I have to admit though, the show did create some angst........ I'm months away from any of my farmer's markets opening up, so it was a little bit of torture.

Quick update on the Parkville Price Chopper on 45 Hwy.... I pretty much wrote off their meat counter after having ZERO luck with simple requests like having them cut a pork shoulder down into steaks that were thicker than the ones in the case....over the past couple of years of dealing with indifferent countermen I learned not to bother asking and went elsewhere. So I don't know if they've changed their management, BUT..... I was in there this afternoon and spotted veal t-bones for what I thought was a good price, and when they were wrapping up a couple for me I mentioned I've never noticed them in the case before. The gentleman behind the counter said they had them most of the time, and if I didn't see them or any other veal cuts just to ask. Somewhat shell-shocked after my past experiences I inquired about sweetbreads, and they said they didn't have any right now but would be more than happy to order some in for me. The store was pretty packed, so I didn't take time to ask about prices or offal beyond sweetbreads or kidneys, but one employee jokingly mentioned "we can get whatever cuts you want in here....elephant may need a little lead time". So there you go. I'll take them up on the sweetbread order this week and let you know how it goes. Not that I'll forsake my new friends at Paradise Meats in Trimble or anything, but having an agreeable butcher about half a mile from my house should come in handy.

I was a little confused when I first saw the commercials...."SWEET! They're bringing back 21 Jump Street!!!". Ever since I stumbled upon the ancient book "Food For Fifty" that my fraternity's cook lived and died by, I've been fascinated with the methods and hardware needed for cooking large quantities. However, I just didn't see any food on the show that I thought was worthy of its own 30 minute slot.....much less anything that their customers should have been gushing over on every episode. I really did want to like it, but there wasn't any one thing that made it interesting enough to keep watching. If they had taken the "two duuuuuudes" angle over the top with dialogue like "see dude, you have to get a SEAL on that bag before you throw it in the water.....remember when your bong wasn't drawing right and you had to put some chewing gum around the carb? Same principle, man!"........THAT would have been DVR-worthy.

This is a great strategy and reminds me of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm from last season where Larry David was seated next to a very loud person gabbing into his bluetooth headset (I hate those people with all that is in my soul)....... Larry started having a very loud conversation into his imaginary bluetooth to annoy the guy and the comedy ensued.

It was no Emeril Live holiday special with Gino Vanelli or Leo Sayer, but other than the faux-obnoxious little kids I have to say I really enjoyed the episode. I could really relate to Tony as he was cooking dinner for family and trying to play off the fact that he was half in the bag....who doesn't replay THAT scenario from year to year?

Well, he DID mention something about his new chef's knives being made of adamantium. I watched it on Wednesday when they showed the entire episode as a "sneak peak" late in the evening. I thought that was kind of strange, like when Bravo did a sneak-peak of Tim Gunn's show before the season began and the same episode also served as the season finale this week. Anyway, I was happy to catch it a day early, and overall nothing blew me away but I was still ecstatic to see a Top Chef episode that wasn't a rerun (and they can only fit so much interpersonal drama and intrigue into 90 minutes). I was pulling for Tre or CJ, but I do agree that Tiffani did a good job. I'm curious if they'll have her butterscotch recipe on the Bravo site......that did sound pretty tasty.

Wow. I'm watching this right now and I think the only thing that could salvage this dessert battle would be if Paula Deen started screaming "Tell me 'bout the rabbits Robert! Tell me 'bout the rabbits!" and he snuck up behind her and planted a slug right behind her ear.

They have. A few years ago, they had a series called "Into the Fire" that profiled various restaurants at different levels, (like the Cheesecake Factory chain and Trio in Chicago). A few episodes focused on large hotel operations, including the Bellagio in Las Vegas. That one was particularly fasinating. It DID pop up in re-run earlier this year, so there is no telling if it might ever return. If you can get a hold of some of these episodes, it's really good stuff. ← Oh man, I LOVED Into the Fire! I caught the episode late one night in the past week or so that focused on N9NE Steakhouse at the Palms in Las Vegas. A great concept.....no drama, no BS, no "characters", just huge volumes of food being churned out.

I never did eat there, but some friends tried it as well as my parents. I generally trust my folks 100% when it comes to their seafood reviews, and they were really disappointed in the quality as well as the price point for what you were served. I picked up a copy of their menu at one point, and the selection was pretty standard in that "blackened, battered & fried or steamed" kind of way. I'm guessing that having Bonefish right down the street didn't help...higher quality (from what I've heard) chain food in a nicer atmosphere for almost the same price. Plus all that faux-cobblestone flavor that is The Tuileries.... If the Backyard Bash folks are backing the new BBQ place I'd be surprised if it doesn't do very well...I don't know if they have their own bbq team or sponsor one, but they always come across as true BBQ people who know their stuff. Plus, the only other BBQ place in the area (across from The National, can't remember the name) closed down in the past year or so.

I like the show very much as well. I'm really fascinated with watching how very large quantities of food are put together and prepared.....if FN creates a show with nothing but footage from a huge hotel or cruise ship kitchen I may actually have to invest in a DVR.

Strange...just the other day I was thinking that space would be good for a BBQ joint (at least I think it would go over better than the pricey, sub-par seafood restaurant). I wonder if the folks down the sidewalk at Backyard Bash (BBQ supply shop) have anything to do with it. I've noticed that they do a ton of cooking for Parkville events and even host some of their own. I'll have to investigate, they are super nice people and that would be a cool way to keep the space "in the family".

Not north of the river, but Cellar Rat in the Crossroads is at least a little closer. Or the wine shop in River Market...I think they've got some good cheese there too. ← IMO, Cellar Rat's cheeses are slightly over-priced. Actually, the Hen House on 64th Street has an acceptable selection - although good luck on getting any informed service there about the cheeses. The Northland deserves a good cheese outlet (among other things). ← Thanks, I'll be sure to stop by HH over the weekend and check it out. I did stop by Whole Foods on 91st and Metcalf on my way home the other night. Their selection definitely knocked Wild Oats off my list of places to stock up in the future. They have a pretty broad selection AND they have plenty of "flashcards" attached to many of them for dummies like me. Maybe we can talk the folks up at Paradise Meats into expanding their operations with a cheese counter.......one stop shopping!