Jaymes

Thanks. It seems to be much like the current fashion of labeling something "fajitas." Fajitas, which is a Spanish word meaning "little sashes" or "girdles," or even, "belts," originally was only seen on skirt steak. Which pretty-much fits that description. Now you see it on any sort of thing that can be, or has been, cut into strips.

"london broil" is far from flank steak. Its a very lean cut that can be really tough if overcooked past medium rare. Its most commonly used for beef jerky since its cheap and lean. And I'm not arguing that that might be your experience. But I repeat that I've only ever seen flank steak labeled as "London Broil." And I've been buying it for some 40 years, and flank steak is pretty easy to recognize, and it's a cut I use for several family favorite recipes, and I'm positive I'm not confused when I say that that is my experience.

Am I the only one confused about "London Broil"? I don't think of it as round steak; I've only ever seen the "London broil" label on a flank steak. Which is very flavorful indeed.

Not really a "story," but I lived for several years in Alaska, and reindeer meat is very common there. And speaking of a "touristic resource," the Alaska Railroad operates a train that runs from Seward in the south to Fairbanks in the north. Several tour/cruise lines have private cars on that railway. The Princess car is called the Midnight Sun Express and they offer Reindeer Chili in their dining car. It's been a very popular item.

Also not looking for a fight, but it's my impression that it's really the other way around. To me, Southwestern food is, in large measure anyway, comfort food. Not much room or need or desire there for upscale or modern. Insofar as "authentic Mexican cuisine" goes however, there are quite a few Mexican cooks/chefs that are doing utterly amazing things. I remember some meals in Mexico City that were crazy inventive; in particular, at Patricia Quintana's Izote. Authentic Mexican is a much larger genre - limitless in scope, actually. Southwestern cuisine seems far narrower. As for "upscale Mexican" in the US, two names that are often mentioned alongside Frontera Grill are La Fonda San Miguel in Austin, and Hugo's in Houston. Best would be to visit, of course, but, if that's not practical, the proprietors of both restaurants have published cookbooks and I'd suggest a quick leaf-through of each for some ideas, menus, recipes, photographs, etc., as to how successfully "upscale Mexican" can be done. .

So I did just that. Was a little worried that it might be too big in my small apt kitchen but it's not. I love it. Haven't turned the big oven on since I got this. And as far as space goes, it's even been something of a boon, because now I'm using the big oven for pots & pans storage.

I've encountered the boiled egg in the meatloaf thing with some frequency in the US Midwest, although not so much in other regions. As you say, when you're not accustomed to it, it is strange. And not that tasty, in my view. As to how to cook it, I think it would be exceedingly difficult to try to undercook it to the proper degree and then peel it. If you figure it out, please let us know. In the meantime, want to say that as of late we've been using the "All American Meatloaf" recipe in the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. It's very very good. We've been using that cookbook a lot and have really enjoyed everything in it. I heartily recommend it as a good all-purpose home kitchen cookbook. http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Kitchen-Family-Cookbook-Edition/dp/1933615486

Been craving meatloaf, so thought I'd bump this topic up. We've got quite a few new members since this chat began, so I'm hoping the new folks will have some interesting thoughts.

I think folks were baking in things like this pretty early on: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/A_Horno_%28an_adobe_oven%29_at_Taos_Pueblo_in_New_Mexico_in_2003.jpg

In our neck of the woods, it's definitely Tres Leches Cake, preferably with strawberries between the layers. So popular for celebrations that its nickname in Spanish is even "celebration cake." With strawberries, it looks something like this: http://know.burrp.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/strawberry-tres-leches.jpeg You can google "Pastel de Tres Leches" for recipes. Or you can just use this very wonderful one from Rick Bayless: http://www.fronterafiesta.com/cook/desserts/155-pastel-de-tres-leches-celebration-cake.html

Wow -- considering the quantities of food and the general ratio between quantity and quality, a cruise seems even less appealing to me than before....I've had some really great food on cruises. But frankly, the food while you're aboard ship is pretty far down on my list of reasons to go. You're right. If all you want to do on vacation is eat, you'd be better off flying to a terrific "food town" somewhere and just staying there for a week.

A great post, Jeff. Thanks. Sure wish some of those pitmasters would come to Houston. They'd make a fortune. This is a huge city in search of good barbecue. A search that has, thus far, gone completely unrewarded.

Paul Qui, recent Top Chef winner, was operating a food truck for a while. Don't know if he still is. But here's a good article by him: http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/austin-travel-guide-paul-qui

So I was reminded of one of my most annoying pet peeves last night while eating for the first time at a local restaurant. And that's when the server picks up the dirty plate from the first course (in this case a salad), and holds the dirty plate up toward my face and says, "You probably want to keep your fork." No, I probably don't. I probably don't want to take my dirty fork and place it down onto this table and pick up whatever germs are there from the previous diner's dirty fork, or set it onto this white tablecloth and leave an ugly smudge for me and everyone else at the table to look at. And since I don't want to set it down, I probably also don't want to sit here waving my dirty fork in the air until you get back here with my main course. What I probably want is for you to take away this dirty fork and bring me a clean one. And that will probably result in a much better tip than if you insist I keep this dirty fork.

I think that if a restaurant/server correctly understands the concept of pacing and appreciates its importance to the overall dining experience, it's pretty easy to "get a clue" from watching the diner. If you're sitting there hunched over your salad and shoveling it into your mouth as quickly as you can, I think that's a "clue" that you might be in a hurry, and that your server should make an effort to speed things up. But if, on the other hand, you're leisurely placing your salad into your mouth one lettuce leaf at a time, and picking through the greens on your salad plate to uncover a tasty morsel of olive or tomato while you peruse the magazine or book that you brought with you, or you're chatting and laughing with your dining companions while waving your arms around to demonstrate this or that particularly hilarious incident that occurred with a colleague this morning back at the office, that's a clue that you're in no huge hurry. And that you might find it annoying if the server comes out with the hot plate that's holding your main course, and has to shove around utensils and condiments and your drink glass and your salad plate in order to find a spot to set it down. I'm sorry, but I just don't find any particular difficulty with the concept of watching a diner, figuring out the pace with which they are consuming their meal, and then behaving accordingly. As in, Judiu is finished with his/her salad and is looking angrily around the room for me. Perhaps I should speed it up. Not to mention that it's common custom, and a very wise practice, that if Judiu or anyone else is on a time crunch, they should announce it up front: "We're trying to catch a movie that starts in 45 minutes. Can we make it?" Or, "I'm sorry to ask you to rush it, but I've only got a half-hour before I need to be back to work." I believe that the proper pacing does not require the mind-reading capabilities of a California Physic. It's just common sense and not that difficult if the server realizes it and cares about it and is paying attention.

Dip some cheesecloth into vinegar. Squeeze it out. Wrap your cheese in it and then put it into a plastic bag and store in the fridge. I also very often freeze cheese. As to what to do with it now, how about grating it and making some Parmesan Cheese Wafers/Crisps. Basically all you do is to mound the grated cheese into small piles in a skillet or other sort of flat-surfaced grill and heat the cheese until it melts and forms a cheese disc. Then you lift it off and cool and eat. They're good on their own as a snack, or as a garnish for salads, or as a side dish for soup. There are many, many more specific recipes online, but here's a starting point: http://cookeatshare.com/recipes/crisp-parmesan-cheese-wafers-132047

Oh, and... For "turned off" Brits, sorry, but I just can't sympathize. I mean, you don't sound like a fool or a rube or a neophyte traveler and I wouldn't think your friends with whom you were "discussing this the other week over dinner" likely are, either. I suppose I can understand one surprising evening out in a US restaurant (although, frankly, I'd think even that would have been avoided by the sort of advance "when-in-Rome" research into foreign cultures that most experienced travelers do as a matter of routine before a first visit to a new destination) but, after one meal here, surely you realized that there is a sales tax and that most often the tip hasn't been added and you're expected to do it, and that there is a customary amount. I mean, no matter where you eat out, don't you do a mental calculation of the listed prices of the items you're ordering? How hard is it to quickly calculate 10% of that total? I'm pretty bad at math and I can do it in a snap. So, add that 10% to your total and a bit of tax (with which I know for a fact Brits are familiar), and that's your absolute minimum, assuming you get bad service. It's equally easy math to double that 10% tip amount to 20% and add that to your total. Again, even I can do that with no difficulty whatsoever. That's your maximum for your meal, unless you've fallen in love with your server and want to pay her/his apartment rent for the month. Amounts in-between the minimum and maximum are at your discretion, depending upon how good or bad the service is. I'm sorry, but I just don't get what your problem is. You know the system. You're capable of doing it. You should no longer be surprised with the cost of an evening in a US restaurant. You might not like it, but that's always going to be the case when you travel. It's always something. I'm a female; do you think I like having to walk around stiflingly-hot Arab countries in a headscarf? And being ignored by male shopkeepers? How would you like that? A "bit of a turn-off" maybe? You're always going to find at least a few things (and often many more than a few) that you like much better back home. If you don't want to deal with that, stay home. PS, By the way... Yes, I'm happy I can now actually breathe in British pubs and no longer have to go right back to the hotel and wrap my evening's clothing tightly into a plastic bag (and either find a place to wash them or not get to wear them again on this vacation) and take a shower no matter what time it is so that my hair doesn't stink so badly that I can't sleep and spend the entire next day with a nicotine hangover and coughing my guts up. But even when that was the case (and I can assure you that "a bit of a turn-off" didn't come anywhere close to describing how I felt about it), and I knew to expect it, I still did it anyway.

That's been my experience also. And I have three children, all of whom have worked at one time or another in restaurants, including one that has made it his career. They like the tipping culture, for various reasons. They believe earnestly that if they work extra hard, they'll make more than their colleagues that don't and they appreciate and take advantage of that opportunity. They like going home from day one at a new job with cash in their pockets - no waiting two or four weeks for that first paycheck. They like the notion that if they are in need of some quick cash, they can pick up a couple of extra shifts and they've got it right away. I seriously believe that if there were a huge and determined groundswell from the server population to end tipping as we know it, it would end pretty quickly.

It's amazing, really, how critical pacing is toward one's overall dining experience, and yet how many restaurants don't seem to have a clue.

And I don't know much about the Chinese buffets where you are, but where I am, a great many of them have a Mongolian barbecue station. That's pretty hands-on quick cooking, and often in front of a crowd. I'd think you'd learn some nifty things there. Not to mention that, regardless as to whether or not the Chinese buffet turns out to be the absolute most wonderful and perfect place for you, you're learning something. It will help give you a resume and experience to build on. If you don't like it, you can quit. It's not like you're signing a contract to be an indentured servant for several years. My recommendation would be definitely to give it a try.

I'm really curious about this. What have been the differences?My understanding is that the recipe for a pound cake is all in the name - equal quantities (1 pound, originally) of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. In different recipes the base quantity may differ from 1 pound, and the flour and sugar may be listed as cups and not by weight, but a pound cake will always have equal quantities of those 4 ingredients. So I'm curious to know how different pound cake recipes are different? That is the traditional recipe, which is why it's called "pound" cake. But the various recipes have been refined through the years. Naturally, Cook's Illustrated goes into some length about why they've come up with their exact formula, but it's a bit too lengthy to quote here. But just one example is their rationale for adding extra egg yolks: "Because they contain lecithin, yolks are good emulsifiers and thus help the batter retain air, making the cake light. Their fattiness contributes richness, tenderness and moistness while tamping the batter down a bit and thus militating against too fluffy an effect. Finally, the deep yellow of egg yolks gives the cake a beautiful golden color." So, out of all of the many recipes I've tried through the years, I just like this one the best. I like the texture (not rubbery; not too heavy but not too light - substantial and dense enough), taste, crumb, appearance....I don't know exactly how all to explain it as I'm not really a "baker," but our whole family agrees that overall this recipe is the most pleasing.

And in my experience, Kimball and the folks at CI often often seem to have a block against a certain technique, so that the entire recipe is dependent on avoiding that technique, whether or not it results in the best or easiest method. My guess in this case that they use cake flour precisely so they don't have to sift.Well, they are sifting, but only once.

My father is not a fan of overly sweet things, and he absolutely loathes icing. So a pound cake is one of his very favorite treats (as a matter of fact, the only cake he'll eat), and I've been making them for him (reducing the amount of sugar) since I was about 12. I've used many, many recipes in those several decades, but like the one in Cook's Illustrated "The Best Recipe" the best. I've doubled the recipe and made several pound cakes from it, and have poured it into small loaf pans and made miniature ones as neighborhood Christmas gifts. They never, ever fall in the middle, instead rising and splitting beautifully and perfectly on the tops. Knowing those erstwhile folks at Cook's Illustrated as well as we all do, I'm sure if multiple siftings were the best way to go, they'd definitely do it. But regarding flour, here's what they say that is apropos to this discussion: First, they call for 1 1/2 cups plain cake flour. They say that "the recipe also makes 4 miniature pound cakes; use four two-cup pans and reduce baking time to 40 minutes." And to add the flour: "Turn 1/2 cup flour into sieve or shaker; sprinkle it over batter. Fold gently with rubber spatula, scraping up from bottom of bowl until flour is incorporated. Repeat twice more, adding flour in 1/2-cup increments." This recipe turns out the very best pound cake, in my view. And, like I said, I'm pretty positive that, if multiple siftings were the best thing to do, Cook's Illustrated wouldn't hesitate for a second to order you to do it.

Rotus... love, love, loved your post. Especially the bit about the kids. That reminded me of something I hadn't thought of in years. I remember crossing the Atlantic on the SS United States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_United_States on one of her first voyages in 1952, when I was about eight. The most vivid memory was that we hit a very, very bad storm and that ship was rocking wildly from side to side. All of the grownups were sick. But in the nursery where all the kids were, we were having a wonderful time. They had laid down mats on the floors due to the wild rocking so that we wouldn't injure ourselves if we fell. And as the ship rocked, we all lay down on the "high side," put our arms above our heads, and rolled like so many laughing logs down to the other side. I remember that dining room as being very grand, and we kids had to dress up and behave ourselves. But in return, we got dessert at every meal, something that had never happened before, or since. It was a fine tradeoff. And sailing into New York harbor is about as good a memory as anyone can have.

Forgot to add that virtually all of the cruise ships now offer a fitness center, most with state-of-the-art exercise equipment, and classes ranging from aerobics to Pilates to early-morning walks and runs around the promenade deck. Seriously, gaining weight on a cruise is not a given. And, speaking of those early-morning runs on the promenade deck, here's a non-food tip. Try not to get an outside cabin located directly underneath that deck if you're a late-sleeper. You'll be unavoidably awakened every morning to what sounds like a very determined herd of buffalo descending upon your laconic waterside retreat. Again. And again. And again.