divalasvegas

Jennahan, I think it's hilarious that I either love or really like ALL OF THE ABOVE Rice Pudding -- Smooth, creamy, sweet nostalgia Mashed Potatoes -- The plain, old fashioned kind with a puddle of butter or gravy on it Lobster -- Any style: steamed, fra diavolo, baked and stuffed, or perfection itself--the lobster roll Braised beef -- As in beef stew? Wonderful Doughnuts -- Can anyone say Krispy Kreme? Yum Flan -- While in Miami last year, I can honestly say that I was fortunate enough to never having been served bad flan, loved them all Creme brulee -- Delicious flan with a crunchy payoff In addition to whole wheat bread, I loathe: cilantro (as I've said before elsewhere on eGullet, I really don't get it), white grapefruit (so awful it doesn't even deserve to be called a fruit), brussel sprouts (vile stinky little cabbages), chocolate combined with citrus or coconut (the combination does neither justice), and orange marmalade -- a waste of fruit, sugar and the time it takes to make it.

Tony, Toni, Ton-ee, Everyone here already knew that your tried and true secret ingredient for those immaculate sauces was..................... Miracle Whip so no sweat. Take care, love. --- Peace, Love and Hairgrease

What a great thread! I have always wondered about the differences in similar spice mixtures. In addition to ras al hanout, I have questions about baharat[/b.] Is there a significant difference between the two? When I first heard about baharat for instance, I was told that it originated in Iraq. However, I have had different people adamantly say that this mixture originated in Iran, Palestine, Lebanon, etc. An additional bone of contention is how it is to be used. Again, depending on the culture/ethnic group I have been told it should only be used with: fish or rice or lamb or chicken, etc. I have recipes for both spice mixtures at home and I have seen many more online. What distinguishes ras al hanout from baharat? For both, some recipe resources say that you must make it by scratch from whole spices; others say pre-ground spices are not only okay but common. My humble understanding regarding ras al hanout[b/] is that no two are alike, and that it is always better to make your own unless, of course, your happen to live in Morocco. Or, the other reason for making it yourself is that traditional recipes may contain ingredients that have been proven to be toxic. Once again, I love this topic.

Uh..He's doing it in New York later this year. ← Fantastic! But, what part of New York? Can we say, Crips, Bloods or MS-13? And how much do I have to pay!? Let all who want to, enjoy; but I think I had enough after one hour of this. I guess I just don't have the temperment for that kind of behavior. It's genetic. GR should have met my mom, Mabel. Lawdy. Look forward to seeing your show debut on the 25th of July. -- Peace, Love and Hairgrease..............................

Thanks for your comments, Paula. I watched this show and felt overall, pretty disgusted. The man is a pig. No one's food is worth putting up with his crap. One thing that no one has yet addressed is: if he's like this in real life in his restaurant (as has been said upthread), if he is this loud, abusive and obnoxious, do his customers actually have to listen to that crap during dinner AND pay for it? I know I wouldn't. Abuse as entertainment sells. I get it. I just have never found it entertaining. I have never been a fan of American Idol, The Apprentice, America's Next Vacuous Top Model or whatever, so, consequently I don't think I'll become a diehard fan of this piece of crap. I have to qualify my statements with the fact that part of what I do for a living is work that deals with battered women so I generally cringe at verbal abuse since I do believe that it is actually harmful. Yes, I know it's just a tv show and I also know that the manufactured tv abuse against the clueless customers or moronic contestants isn't real. Just like that very popular video game out there which has customers getting a prostitute for the evening, killing her, and taking her money is just a video game and doesn't create violence against prostitutes. I'm just so tired of celebrating abusiveness, greed, self-centeredness and humiliation as entertainment. By the way: only in LA. If he's all that, why doesn't he do it for real in, I don't know, maybe in Anacostia in Washington, DC or stay on the West coast and do the real deal in Compton, where he actually stands a chance of someone he "shoves" kicking the living shit out of him. Now, I would pay to see that.

I must admit that I can be at various times a gourmet, gourmand and a glutton (mostly the last two). Many years ago I was introduced to an excess I had never at that time conceived. I was at a meeting in a different part of the country and part of the breakfast menu was cinnamon rolls. I love cinnamon rolls and had always enjoyed them back home on many occasions in what I perceived was the "normal way" with a good cup of coffee and that was it. However, a fellow participant in this meeting proceeded to put both butter and cream cheese on his cinnamon rolls. At first I was horrified. But then I tried the butter and took a bite. Then I tried the cream cheese and took a bite. And, horror of horrors, as he had done, I put both the butter and the cream cheese on the cinnamon roll simultaneously and loved it! Has anyone else ever "gilded the lily?" I've only been a member of eGulltet for a short while, but I have posted a few of "purist" opinions. I'm outing myself now. With certain foods, I will pile on more than the "necessary." For instance, I love Chesapeake Bay steamed crabs. But I, unlike other purists, need to have at my disposal melted butter, Old Bay Seasoning, Tabasco sauce, lemon wedges, cocktail sauce, tartar sauce, and if possible, remoulade sauce in varous combinations. I may not actually even use all of these condiments, but in an OCD kind of way, I need to have them at my disposal. I know, I know, heresy, you say, you purists! So, to get back to the beginning, exactly how do you gild the lily, if indeed you do?

Oh, I need to add: white grapefruit, endive--white and green--, frisee (same as green endive?) and radicchio. I've had people look at me like I have at least two heads because I have tried over and over again to like them, but now cannot make myself like these foods. But I really have tried these items over and over again. I don't undertand it either. I adore coffee, chocolate, Chinese broccoli, hardy greens as in collards, kale, mustard greens with all of their bitter components, but can't tolerate the bitterness of those aforementioned items. Why? It seems that I have some kind of bitterness threshhold that makes me hate those items. As for for the white grapefruit, from time to time I get a craving for ruby red grapefruit, even then I have to sprinkle it with a bit of white or raw sugar. Strange.

To which I say: That's worse than hating pudding

I as well as many of you out there have probably posted their food likes and dislikes before on various threads here. But as you state the question and if I understand correctly, torakris, these would be foods that are so universally beloved that people are literally stunned when you say you don't like them. For me it is whole wheat bread. Supermarket wheat bread is not all that great, but I am also talking about wheat bread from health food stores. I don't know why, I just don't like it. I really like good multi-grain bread as well as good white bread (Pepperidge Farm, IMHO), trashy white bread, rye, pumpernickel, Challah, foccacia, injera, you name it. I just can't stand whole wheat bread. An office mate recently made me gasp with the fact that she doesn't like....................... PUDDING I mean how could you not like pudding? Isn't that, like, un-American or something?

jogoode, I'm relatively new to eGullet and I just had to say: thank you, thank you, thank you. The pictures were gorgeous and your running commentary was most enlightening and entertaining. The pictures I found most breathtaking, however, were the ones you took at the Chino farm stand. I mean, five different colors of baby carrots--if that's what they were--in the second photo (did you get to taste these?); tomatoes of all sizes and colors so vivid I almost felt as if I could reach out and pluck one off the screen; and the first photos with all the herbs and leafy vegetables, all were amazing! Now, I'm inspired to take a food exploring road trip! Do you or anyone else out there have tips on how to put one together? I'm many years past 23 and I don't think I would be up to staying in some of the "creative" lodging choices that you and your companion made. If there are existing threads on how to do this, please just point me in the right direction. Again, jogoode, fantastic job!

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I really appreciate having some idea of what the food is like before I try a new establishment. Obviously sometimes I do try a new place without the benefit of buzz. But no one I know is giving away money and my money is precious, so that when I do go out I would like at least decent chance of feeling that I will receive good value for my hard earned dollars. monkey2000, your experience has me salivating over my keyboard right now!!! I'm especially looking forward to trying the fried clams, softshell crabs, and the lobster roll. Great idea for adding lemony and berry desserts. I think that this kind of restaurant needs those kinds of desserts and not any elaborate, overblown flight of fancy type stuff. And yes I am quite capable of eating all of the above at one sitting!!!

Believe me, I'm far from the country club set. For me it's not a question of boredom, but more of dishes or ideas that IMHO never worked and/or made any sense for my tastes, at least. For instance: 1) Sauce/Gravy Under the Food One of the most tasty looking and beautiful things in the whole world of food is well prepared mashed potatoes with a puddle of butter or gravy on it, not under it. Or a hot fudge sundae with the fudge on the top. 2) Cilantro in Everything Imaginable Understandable in cuisines that have a long history of use of it, for instance, Mexican. I respect the fact that many people adore this herb, but I would really appreciate it if I could order something without having to wonder if this has been added in abundance. A friend of mine ordered a pizza and what she thought was parsley was indeed finely minced cilantro, so much of it that it took several minutes to pick it off. Or how about chicken and rice soup ordered from a pretty generic downtown take out? Surprise: microscopic bits of cilantro. For the record both my friend and I despise this noxious herb. 3) Herbs added to Desserts Rosemary infused papaya sorbet, creme brulee with basil sauce, raspberry mousse with tarragon syrup........... make it stop. Please. 4) Foams on the Plate As has been said already, they look like spit. If part of the dining experience is the visual impact of the food in front you, how could any chef have come to believe that spooning spit-like liquid over one's food would be appetizing? I'm sure it is to many, but not to me. 5) Sub-atomic sized servings, exhorbitant prices 6) The Syscosification of Restaurants Okay I know that's not a real word but paying top dollar for frozen food shipped hundreds of miles and reheated in a microwave is a trend that I hope will disappear, but probably won't. 7) Fixing Food That isn't Broken This just happened today. Co-worker picks up something I had been craving--meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Basic meatloaf is not hard to assemble and is quite delicious, there are many wonderful recipes out there for it; mashed potatoes are good potatoes, whole milk, half and half, or cream, real butter and salt. If there's more to it than that, at least warn people. This simple lunch was rendered inedible by a shitload of secret herbs and spices in the meatloaf and something added to the mashed potatoes that made them taste sour; not a pleasant sour cream kind of sour but a "did somebody leave this in the back seat of their car in the hot sun for a week type of sour." If you're going to serve mashed potatoes incorporating truffle oil, horseradish, stinging nettles, passion fruit, Elmer's school glue or whatever, please let me know before I lay down my hard earned bucks. I know there's more, but that's all I can think of now.

I just read a brief article in today's--Thursday, May 26th edition--of the free daily paper, The Washington Post Express, about a new restaurant opening in Washington, DC. It's called Hank's Oyster Bar and is located on 1624 Q Street, NW. The article said that "chef Jamie Leeds, formerly of 15 ria............." opened this establishment. The cuisine is described as "New England beach food" and will feature lobster rolls, steamed mussels, fish and chips, chowder/chowdah and the like (drooling as I write this). I must admit that I go all weak in the knees for New England style seafood since New Englanders--at least the ones who know what they're doing--have a tendency to try to maintain the integrity of the seafood, IMHO, and not muck it up with a lot stuff. No mention of one of my all time favorites, however: fried clam bellies. In light of this article, I have several questions about this establishment and the chef. 1) Is anyone out there familiar with the work of chef Jamie Leeds or her restaurant, 15 ria? 2) Has anyone sampled the food at Hank's Oyster Bar? Opinions? Good, Bad, Ugly? 3) If you have eaten there, what is the price range for brunch/dinner? The article said that they are only open for for dinner Wednesday thru Monday and brunch on Saturday and Sunday. 4) Also, what experience might you have with seafood in New England? My limited experiences date from my long ago college days in Worcester, Mass and various trips to Boston. I had some of the best seafood in both places, in particular lobster rolls, fried clam bellies, and very simply prepared fish, ala baked scrod with only breadcrumbs, a bit of butter, salt & pepper and parsley, broiled and served with a wedge of lemon and some tartar sauce, among other wonderful seafood dishes. Looking forward to any and all information about this establishment. Peace, Love and Hairgrease!

I can agree with everything else you said, but the salt thing? Who died and left you Ruler of the Salt Shaker? ← Haven't you heard? There was a late night session last night and there's been a bipartisan vote in Congress to overwhelmingly giving me absolutely authority over all salt shakers in the United States as well as all of her territories!!!

DivaLasVegas, I would love to have you cook for me, but I would be too intimidated to cook for you! ← Oh no, Susan. I'm real easy to cook for, I swear. I'm only this demanding in writing. And since you are a member of eGullet I know you are either: a) great cook, b) a good cook, c) interested in becoming a great or good cook, d) appreciate and/or want to learn about REAL food, e) some combo of a, b, c, d. I have no professional training, but I was raised by an excellent Southern gal/country cook who also had no professional training. She always stressed getting the best and freshest ingredients you could lay your hands on, how to tell if they were the best and freshest and to prepare them pretty simply. While she was pretty conservative about venturing into other cuisines, I'll try anything at least once and would love to become more adventurous in my own cooking style. So please pardon my rantings and send me an invitation!

Really? Not at the really excellent pizzerie I go to. ← Okay Pan, where is this place? Unfortunately I've found this horrid practice at many so-called upscale pizzerias. Also, soul food with no soul. A certain amount of grease/pork fat is expected[...] ← For the pizza I'm talking about, you'll have to travel to New York. If you do, look through the NYC Pizza Survey thread. ← Thanks, Pan. There are many things very easy to find in New York and very difficult to locate in the Metropolitan-DC area. Another one is outstanding Jewish deli food. Does eGullet have a Jewish deli thread(s). That would also be deeply appreciated.

Really? Not at the really excellent pizzerie I go to. ← Okay Pan, where is this place? Unfortunately I've found this horrid practice at many so-called upscale pizzerias. Also, soul food with no soul. A certain amount of grease/pork fat is expected, and no, smoked turkey wings in my black eyed peas don't cut it with me. Oh and another pet peeve: microwaved "baked potatoes." Or anything prepared in a slipshod way by a restaurant because they don't think you'll notice the difference. I'm afraid that these days, however, for much of the restaurant going public, that assumption may be correct.

Okay folks, my turn. 1) Omelettes made with uncooked vegetable fillings resulting in cooked eggs, undercooked crunchy vegetables, and watery residue released from said undercooked vegetables. They should be sauteed before they're put in an omlette. 2) Same for pizza. Please grill the mushrooms, onions, peppers BEFORE putting them on a pizza. Otherwise they make for a soggy crust. 3) Shredded potatoes being passed off as home fries. They're not. 4) As was said upthread, what exactly is the point of raspberry vinaigrette? 5) Sliced strawberries in an otherwise savory salad. 6) Crispy paper-like bottoms under my "over easy" eggs. I hate crispy eggs. 7) Food that needs salt added at the table. Disgraceful. Similarly, oversalted food. 8) Lukewarm soup, room temperature milk (shudder). 9) Ice cream on COLD pie--this was served to me recently at an otherwise lovely establishment in downtown DC--not even room temperature apple pie but refrigerator cold. 10) Fake mashed potatoes. Make them real, please, peel them and hold the garlic. 11) People who can make polenta, but who can't make decent grits. 12) Food that has been dumbed down, i.e., underseasoned Thai food. Ditto as was said upthread about candy-sweet Chinese food. 13) Broiled or grilled fish that is just grill marks on the outside and two inches of raw on the inside, because the chef insists that to cook it all the way through would result in dry fish. Not true. It can be done. I've done it. I have always suspected that this was just an excuse to get the food on and off the grill as quickly as possible. Rant over for now.

Hello Zhelder. The only McCormick & Schmick I'm familiar with is the one in downtown Washington, DC. But since it's a national chain seafood restaurant, I think the menu is the same nationwide. Here's the link I found for the downtown DC restaurant. http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/main.c...dinner&locID=38 The $1.95 a drink happy hour special is offered here as well. But a search of their website, as far as I could see, didn't provide a menu for happy hour. A call to this DC location says that their happy hour items are $1.99 conditional upon that two-drink minimum. The woman who answered was pleasant but speaking extremely fast and I felt a bit rushed in asking her too many detailed questions, like exactly what do you get for $1.99: one hot wing or two, a decent size order of cheese nachos or what? Overall, it appears that each restaurant across the US has the same generic set menu (as found on this website), but that, depending on which city/state their located there is also a written menu, featuring local specialties. Makes sense in the DC area (with the Chesapeake Bay and all) as well as New Jersey. However, for the landlocked states like Nevada and Denver they say that seafood is flown in fresh daily. They state that their generic menu is a sampling of what they may serve and that there is no guarantee that every item shown on their website menu will be available on any given day. I found this to be true on a lunchtime visit where I thought I would pick from the website menu and save a little time during the ordering process at the restaurant. Well everything I chose, even alternative choices, were not available. What I did finally order I found quite underwhelming. I know that for many on this forum $25.00 for lunch may be cheap eats. I didn't expect perfection; I did expect it to at least taste good. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't that good either. Example, sauteed red bell pepper strips with peel still on where the peel was so chewy I had to spit them out, cold mashed potatoes, no bread offered for the table, extremely slow service, etc. I had the occasion to have dinner there at a later date which was a slightly better experience, but then again I wasn't paying. Maybe I just caught them at a couple of bad times. Best of luck.

The one on my pic is produced by austrian artisan vinegaron Gegenbauer(check the site even if for recipes only) and was mail ordered from L'Epicerie. ← I am replying to you in reference to the Gegenbauer website.............. YOU FIEND!!! That is truly one remarkable company. Except now I really must have those vinegars and the oils and maybe some of their veggie mustard and, and, and. I mean Elderberry Balsamic Vinegar for goodness sake. I will probably end up broke and homeless pushing around my grocery cart full of Gegenbauer products. But I have a feeling it would be worth it.

Regarding your cilantro comment Amen. I think one of the problems IMHO is that in the USA with certain ingredients oftentimes chefs will just plain overuse it. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen a chef on TV--Bobby Flay comes to mind and, no, I'm not a Bobby hater--add fistfuls of cilantro to something. Literally fistfuls. I recall in the '80s that the "herb du jour" was tarragon. I remember eating chicken salad made by a catering company that tasted like it was full of lawn clippings because it had fistfuls of tarragon. I actually avoided tarragon for years because of this experience. I'm back to liking it now. I hope someone out there makes you some tasty beets. Like a roasted beet salad with toasted walnut halves, blue cheese (preferably gorgonzola), maybe some crispy shallots on a bed of greens with a walnut oil/sherry wine vinegar based dressing. Hey while they're at it make me one too!!!

Avocado -- I think I thought it was too rich, greasy, and couldn't percieve any discernable taste. Not any more. Now, it's rich, creamy, vegetal, and buttery. Olives -- same as purplewiz upthread. I had only tasted canned olives. Now, I'm an olive fanatic, except canned olives, of course. Green Peas -- I really hated them, but love them now. Sorry for any heresy regarding fresh peas which I would love to lay my hands on at will, but I love cooking and eating frozen green peas. Oysters -- I know that I should be burned at the stake for that one. But the first time I tried oysters was a long time ago. I was a college student and out to dinner with fellow classmates and faculty. I put one in my mouth. Suddenly everyone was staring at me. It felt cold, slimey, and disgusting. I couldn't imagine actually swallowing it, but because all eyes were on me, I did, and I vowed to never do that again. Flash forward years later and for whatever reason I decided to try them again and I loved them. I was in some restaurant in in Northern Virginia--Alexandria maybe?--and the oysters were a type called Pine Island, from New York I believe. Oh my God, they were wonderful and I've been a convert ever since. Olive oil -- I remember thinking this was just awful. Why oh why would someone want to actually have their have a taste present in their oil? Of course, now I love olive oil along with many other oils with flavor such as sesame, walnut, hazelnut. Beets -- Same as petite tête de chou , and for the same reasons as the canned olives. I still don't like the canned ones, but I still like the jarred ones, and of course the roasted ones are fabulous. Sushi -- This is actually about my first anniversary of trying and loving sushi. Again, I had said to myself over the years, "why oh why wouldn't anyone in their right mind eat and enjoy raw fish?" I realized that I was being a hypocrite since I loved oysters and clams on the half shell and ate medium rare roast beef, so why not sushi? I tried it for the first time at Sushi Taro in downtown DC and loved. Still working on my ugly chopstick skills. There are many more, but that's all for now. THINGS THAT THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON: As andiesenji said upthread, for me the jury is still out on: Brussel Sprouts -- Really intense, stinky little cabbages. I actually like "normal size" cabbages. Probably a throwback to restaurant trauma in that I have on more than one occasion been served these things whole boilded and barely cooked without any seasoning, on a plate, tried to cut them only to have them fly off the table because I CAN'T BELIEVE ANY RESTAURANT WOULD SERVE A HARD, ROUND COOKED VEGETABLE THAT A FORK CAN'T EVEN PENETRATE ON A FLAT PLATE!!! I mean, that's just stupid. White Grapefruit -- The bitter component to this fruit is just insurmountable for me. For whatever reason every now and then I get a craving for pink/ruby red grapfruit. I add a bit of sugar and it's fine. Cilantro -- Really does taste like soap to me. I believe I can recreate the qualities that people have told me they adore--citrusy, herbal-- but using combinations of various herbs and citrus, flat leaf parsley and lemon, for example. I can tolerate it in small doses, but wouldn't miss it if I never tasted it again in life. The best culture to make use of cilantro: Mexican people, IMHO.

Hello Khadija, I too am pretty obsessed with macaroni and cheese. So much so that I have been trying to duplicate the dish as purchased from a little carryout--no longer there--on Dupont Circle in DC. The carryout's chef was great at making all kinds of down-home, delicious stuff: meatloaf, collard greens, bbq ribs (well, not really bbq since they were cooked in an oven) and so on. But the one thing he cooked that just blew everyone away was macaroni and cheese. If you didn't get there by 11:30, 11:45 at the latest for lunch to buy it, it was gone and he only made one huge pan of it a day. I begged him for the recipe and he would just tease me or smile. He was a really nice guy. The cheese part of his mac and cheese was like a cross between a sauce and a custard. The pasta was essentially suspended in this divine cheesey dish. I have tried every method, included your method #1, except I beat egg yolks into the bechamel, sort of a combination of your first and second methods. Still didn't work. Like you, my final results also turn out a little grainy to me. As for the chef, unfortunately, I went to the carryout one day for lunch and he wasn't there. I asked the kitchen crew where he was and they all looked somewhat uncomfortable. One of them finally told me that not only was he dead, but he'd been shot. A dear sweet man he was and he took that recipe, literally, to his grave. Sorry I don't have a solution, only more questions. I just wanted you to know that you are not the only macaroni and cheese obsessed person on the planet. You see I ate this man's mac and cheese IN 1985 and have been trying to duplicate it ever since. THAT'S OBSESSION!

Have you tried Full Kee Restaurant in Chinatown? I can honestly say that I have really liked or loved almost everything I've eaten there. They have a very extensive menu with a ton of dishes at $15.00 or under. The shrimp dumpling soup is huge (more than enough for two as an appetizer) and reasonably priced. They have menus in both English and Chinese (probably where the really interesting stuff is).

I'm with you Mayhaw Man and Busboy on this one. I can't imagine wanting to know anyone who didn't like barbeque, let along date him. Also--my prejudice is showing--I'd be suspicious of an "upscale, white table cloth" barbeque joint/fine dining establishment. Having said all that, I wish I could make a recommendation in DC. The place I've enjoyed barbeque, as well as the sides, the most in this area is Famous Dave's in Woodbridge. I know that there are a lot of bbq purists in eGullet and I'm sure there's better to be had across the nation, but I like it. Actually, the absolute best bbq spareribs I've ever tasted was at a place in St. Paul, Minnesota called the St. Clair Broiler; coincidentally the same state where Famous Dave's originated. I mean both the ribs and sauce tasted like food that should be entered into prestigious bbq cookoffs. Now a couple of requests: First, I'm sure there are some great threads in eGullet on bbq. Could any of you direct me to those you think are the most informative? Secondly, as a native Washingtonian I have never gotten a good answer as to why it is so hard to find good barbeque in DC or the nearby suburbs. Can anyone tell me why? Is it as I fear in regards to trying to find quality representations of other cuisines, that the Metro DC palate (present company excluded) may have been so dumbed down over the years you can sell us ANYTHING?