divalasvegas

Okay Magus slogan suggestion: "You Just Can’t Find a Better Burger than Mine!" I was going for a rhyming effect with the No. 9.

Hi Magus. I really like the new logo and agree with everyone else that No. 9 is a keeper. However, I was wondering what the significance of the crown on the logo was? Perhaps your slogan could somehow tie-in with the crown symbol. And Sandy I had the exact same reading of "Classic Hamburgers" as you did. Too funny! BTW Magus, Man of Mystery are we ever going to see any photos of your establishment, and especially, those delectable burgers?

Thanks for the advice Rachel; I admit I would've never thought of heating either the cream cheese or sour cream. helenjp I wonder if a combination of the heating technique and slowly beating the gelatin into the cream cheese/sour cream mixture would solve the lumping problem?

Just thought of another one. Forgive me mom, but she would also say: "indejustice" (aka indigestion). Actually makes a strange kind of sense.

Hello Sara, First off, congratulations on your new show on PBS, the station of my culinary heroes: Julia, Jacques, and Justin (Wilson), just to name a few. I am female, over 35, and I was a total Cooking Live groupie. I was always amazed at your energy, especially the fact that you were cooking in real time with detailed explanations of what you were doing, often with guest cooks/chefs in the kitchen with you, and answering questions from viewers by phone and email! Again, amazing. What I like today in a tv food show has not changed all that much from when I was a kid watching black and white reruns of The French Chef: learning about new foods and techniques, and the cultures from which they emanate; watching someone who can truly teach these things (in other words, a good and knowledgeable instructor); and being inspired to try something new. Personality is important too, but not at the expense of those other attributes. As a matter of fact, I'm just enough of a food geek to find learning entertaining. Go figure. Your comments explain a lot about what I see and don't really care for about FTV today: the endless parade of wacky contests (including seeing people jam a sickening amount of food down their throats), food factory tours, the best of this, the top 5, 10, or 20 of that, and so on. There are still wonderful teaching shows on FoodTv--Alton Brown, Ina Garten, and of course "Sara's Secrets." Unfortunately, the instructional, substantive shows don't appear in prime time; the other stuff does to appeal to that demographic I guess. I wish you all the best, but must admit to having one complaint: how do you manage to look younger every year? The interesting part about TVFN's target demographic of 15-35 year old males (not all, just the ones that have no interest in actually cooking anything and see food as solely entertainment or to be made for them by someone else) is that, IMHO, they are notoriously fickle and will drop the Food Network the nano-second something more interesting comes along. Hmmm, would serve them right after losing their most loyal fan base--us loveable foodies/food geeks. Edited for additional comments.

Since my all time favorites "skrimp" and "sammiches" have already been mentioned I submit: From my mom: "ersters" (aka oysters) and "yaw-gut" (aka yogurt); From a woman I worked with long ago: "tuna-fitch" (aka tunafish) and "maynage" (aka mayonaisse; the "nage" part of the word rhymes with "cage"); From me as a kid "cat soup" (aka catsup/ketchup). I just know there's mo'!

Thanks battlepanda. I've found that much of the tastiest food as well as drink comes from raiding the remnants of the fridge/cabinets to come up with something inspired. I've been wanting to come up with a cocktail that includes a cherry/cranberry juice combo or (cranberry/pomegranate) that's not too sweet with a bit of a kick similar to your creation. Perhaps: one part cranberry, one part cherry, dry white wine, ounce of vodka, egg white, and???????????? the tiniest bit of that magical secret ingredient to finish it off. A teaspoon of orgeat syrup (has an almondy flavor I think), or Grand Marnier or___________? Any suggestions appreciated.

Gorgeous desserts TrishCT and Randi and thanks Rachel for your inspiration. I've always loved this creation as well. Do you think that a cream cheese/sour cream mixture would work in place of the vanilla yogurt or whipped topping? This thread is making me somewhat nostalgic for Jello desserts in general.

A piece of advice for the both of you: Next time you make this dish, go wild--really let your hair down--get adventurous! Use canned cream of broccoli soup instead. Or if you are really feeling flush, cream of asparagus. ← Um, well Sandy, I don't know how to break this to you all, but none of you got this right: the only "proper" Campbells soup flavor for tuna casserole (cassoulet?) is Cream of Chicken. Cream of Mushroom may be used but only if the other is not available. Never, ever Cream of either, Celery, Broccoli, or Asparagus (too green). Also, one must add diced onions, green peas, and cheese, with a few drops of Tabasco blended in for the truly adventurous and, for a crispy crust, some bread crumbs or crushed potato chips on top. I mean, let's keep it real people!

Thanks so much for the information Busboy. I'm trying to imagine that wall of seafood; overwhelming indeed. Just a couple of questions: are they Metro accessible? Do they have a website? Live seafood, pork belly and chicken feet sounds like heaven to me!

Hello. This thread is so timely for me since I recently had a co-worker make bleu cheese dip using a recipe that has never, as in ever, failed to please. However, she said it turned out too thin. After much discussion we determined that it was the buttermilk that made the difference. I use Safeway Lucerne buttermilk. I described the texture of the product that I used which was thicker, almost yogurt-like in texture; she said that the buttermilk she used was quite thin; indeed it was described as "skim" buttermilk and had the same texture (wrong term?) as skim milk. Also, she said that the bleu cheese was muted in the final result. BTW, she's in NY and I live in Northern Virginia. She said that she bought the buttermilk from a local chain grocery store. I guess I have more questions than answers. My understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) is that an enzyme is added to skim milk to make buttermilk, at least the mass produced variety. What happens to the whey produced after butter is produced? My mother who was raised on a farm always told me that that was true buttermilk. So why isn't this sold in stores? Why such a difference in product between NY and the DC/Virginia area? As for freezing buttermilk, I don't see why not since you can definitely freeze regular milk. Any and all answers are greatly appreciated.

Okay honey, I have to ask: were you wearing some kind of weird pheromone based cologne back then, perhaps one called "Eau de Freak-a-zoid?"

Damn Badiane, what a creepily unique experience! Even creepier is that you have mutual friends. I'm not sure that there are words that can accurately describe what he is. Glad you finally found a keeper.

Yes, yes - this usually comes hand in hand with not stopping between bites. I know someone who does this, and I don't like them to begin with, and this just puts them over the top of my wall. EW. ← Thanks Megan. I was beginning to think I was the only one out there who notices or is annoyed by that one!

In addition to my post on this topic in Ya-Roo's/Bond Girl's funny and brilliant "Dining and Discipline" thread, I have to add: d) Heavy breathing while eating. I mean REALLY heavy breathing, as in making an annoying, wheezy, whistling-like sound through their nostrils, inhaling/exhaling vigorously. I have been around people who do this--both male and female--and find it incredibly nauseating. Also, I've observed that this behavior (gag) usually accompanies the objectionable behavior as noted in a) above. Of course, heavy breathing after dinner is perfectly acceptable. e) Making that infantile, scrunchy face and/or that stupefied, mouth hanging open face when presented with something different. It's not that I object to inquiring about a dish or cuisine or ingredient that one has never tasted before, it's the "euwwwww, what is that?" type of inquiry that sends me over the edge. I'm sure there's more.....................................

Oh no moosnsqrl no way can you not give us a first person report of his/his entourage's behavior. Dish girlfriend!

That sounds/looks mighty tasty battlepanda. Did you play around with amounts for the ingredients, or did you knock this one out of the ball park on the first go round? In particular, I was wondering how the relatively small amount of peach schnapps makes a difference in this drink? Did you add it more for aroma (makes perfect sense) than actually taste? And thanks for absolutely the best line of the day, maybe the week:

Beautiful photos and great commentary as usual ulteriorepicure. Your descriptions truly give one a sense what did or didn't work, and why. BTW, since there has been an ongoing discussion elsewhere on eG about taking photos in restaurants, I'd be interested to know how you approach management about taking photos of their dishes. Or do you approach them at all? Also, flash or no flash? Ever get complaints from fellow diners? Thanks.

Didja see my post two up from this one (#36)? Maybe we can get a campaign going: the Campaign for Real Fat! ← Mmmmmmmm MarketStEl eating all the cheese that I want as referenced in post #36. Yes, yes, yes, I'm there. Mmmmmmmm, "THE POWER OF CHEESE!" One of the best series of commercials ever. And I am so up for that campaign: duck fat, goose fat, butter, olive oil, nut oils, chicken fat/schmaltz, beef tallow, lard......................... Absolutely yes. OLESTRA be damned!

WTF is wrong with the world indeed peppyre! If MickyD's wanted to perform a public service, they would bring back their ORIGINAL recipe for french fries--cooked with beef tallow I believe. What they have now tastes like how I would imagine fried cotton might taste. I remember that those things used to taste delicious even when they cooled off. Then they need to add those to a list of must have/must eat foods.

Thanks for the suggestions hzrt8w. I especially like the second one which would maintain the crispy texture of the chicken skin--best part of the chicken IMHO. And the marinade sounds heavenly as well. I'm assuming that for the whole chicken you would coat the chicken the same as you did the chicken breasts. BTW, I'm still on the hunt for a cleaver since I don't think my chef's knife would be up to the task. Now for a pictorial on Chicken Feet in a Clay Pot.

Yet another beautiful dish from you hzrt8w. You mention that in China this dish is usually prepared using a whole chicken. How is this done? Would one just cut up a whole chicken as usual and proceed or is the chicken cut in half and then each half is fried? Also, since I love spicy dishes, would adding a Chinese-style chili sauce or chilis detract from this dish? I was thinking of a result that would be sweet, lemony-tart, and spicy. As everyone else has said, thanks so much for sharing your cooking and techniques.

How about a few more Jackal10? At least these are my no no's. 6. Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate Mix (or any cheap hot chocolate mix for that matter). This is the hot chocolate mix the office orders and it's pretty vile stuff, not even remotely chocolatey and it contains a ton of sugar plus artificial colors to make it look "brown." 7. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. 8. Low Fat Cheese. 9. Fat Free Salad Dressings like Pritikin (hello, the olive oil in a vinagrette is actually good for you) 10. Seasoning packets for marinades, gravies, sauces, meat seasoning, etc. -- tons of sodium, artificial colors and artificial flavors. Ugh. Unnecessary and so easy to put together your own seasonings at home. Probably more to come.

Oh GG I just read the article from the first link you posted featuring advice from Dr. Charles Booras. BOORAS. Yeah, I'd say his name fits him like a glove. I especially liked this quote from him, although it was hard to choose since his list contained a veritable goldmine of unintentionally hilarious lines: You just can't trust anyone who disparages bacon.

Once again we have a self appointed expert who has compiled a list of the ten worst foods you can eat. The online article is even subtitled "Vile Vittles." In addition to the above "offensive" foods she also lists alcohol and raw oysters. To her credit she did include olestra (duh) as a food, er, substance to be avoided. Here's the link to the article: The Ten Worst Foods So how many of these "forbidden" foods do you partake of? How much of her list do you agree/disagree with?