Genny

I'm taking up a collection for Kathy to get her a personalized t-shirt that reads: "Camera? What camera? Oh hell, I forgot the F*!@ing camera again?!?" and to also buy her the camera she wants that she swears she'll remember to bring. Can you tell us a little more about the aspects of the Spanish olive oil that distinguishes it from the Italian? Is it more spicey, grassy, fruity, etc? It looks like it is so beautifully green on the tomatoes. I love that they put the actual bottle on the table rather than an unmarked cruet that you have to guess at the quality of contents which I see 99% of the time here in the U.S. What are the chances of you smuggling me some *real* cabrales in the spring??? OMG, it sounds exactly like my kind of cheese! (Oh, and you will take me to Asturianos whenever I can haul my sorry carcas out to visit. Notice that wasn't a question? ) It was fabulous to see some fellow eGers out helping Bergerka with her blog! I love getting real faces to put with the names. I'm looking forward to Momma's cooking! And cute kids pix too! edited to fix quote box and add this: I noted in the Wikipedia bit about the cabrales that it is from the Asturia region. Is this family from there as well and is the food largely representative of that region? Also, you've traveled quite a bit now throught the country, have you found any regional differences in cuisine? What are the classic "our region makes the best _____" boastings that you (or C) can share?

Learning a language can be hazardous to one's reputation, but a wonderful jolt to one's sense of humor if you let it! In college I studied American Sign Language and had taught my friend a very rudimentary sentence: "Nice to meet you." The verb "meet" was the important one, it is the "#1" (We're #1!") on each hand coming towards each other. Instead he used the "#2" (Peace) on each hand instead. He told her, "Nice to f*ck you" and never lived it down. Hey, you mentioned that those pretty cookies were from the mayor. Um, the mayor stands around giving food gifts to visitors at the airport? How'd that happen?

Dooood, that sandwich made my mouth **water** like crazy! It is a tsazaki sauce?

I took my 5-year-old nephew and 8-year-old niece to the movie on Saturday. They both loved it. I did enjoy many of the culinary aspects of it but...um...didn't anyone get grossed out by the thought of that many rats overtaking a kitchen??? I mean, really? I don't mind them as pets (I used to have a hamster that ran around in my shirt so I love the scene with Remi tickling Linguini) but I would be put off by that many cats in the kitchen too, and I *love* cats. Maybe its just me? (BTW, the "Lifted" short...brilliant!)

It's common even in the most technical professional texts to use piece measurements in some recipes. For example, if you open "The Professional Chef" seventh edition at random (in this case pages 522 and 523) you'll find "1 red onion, peeled and quartered," "2 cloves garlic, peeled," "salt, as needed," "pepper, as needed," and several other measurements of that type. There are also plenty of recipes in that text, and other professional texts, that call for very precise quantities: ".680 kg asparagus" and "15 ml shallots." But there are two fallacies to that sort of precision: First, as explained up-topic, it's impossible to standardize the strength of natural ingredients. Some garlic is just stronger than other garlic, no matter how carefully you specify type. So 15 ml is not necessarily a more reliable measure than 1 clove. Second, you can be sure no actual professional chef really thinks you need exactly .680 kg of asparagus for the recipe that specifies .680 kg. Rather, somebody decided to use roughly 1.5 pounds, and then when they did the metric conversion they got that .680 kg number. Nobody really cares, and it makes no difference to the recipe, if you use .6 kg or .7 kg instead. Needless to say, for the 15 ml, somebody said "about a tablespoon" and that's how it got codified. On any given Sunday, 20 ml would have worked just fine. Precision is more relevant when dealing with highly processed, standardized ingredients where chemical reactions are important to the finished dish: baking soda, baking powder, pastry flour, white sugar, etc. This is of course why precision and accuracy in measurements for pastry and baking are on the whole more important than in most savory recipes. I think most amateur culinary texts are not serious enough about measurements -- the volume measurements in baking books are particularly troublesome -- but I also think one can go too far in demanding gratuitous precision for the sake of nothing. ← Well said FG, thanks. Oy, who knew a thread about how one manages in one's own kitchen could turn so volatile? Meh, hand me a clove of garlic, will ya?

Brava amiga! Have you been to any of the REAL Madrid matches? If so, what foods are served there? What is the ratio of sparkling lemon soda to beer? Will Sprite or 7-Up work or is it more lemonaid-ish? Blog on!

What a great topic! I have a market about 20 minutes (by freeway) here called Lee Lee's. It carries not only Asian products but also Indian, European, and South American. It is in what used to be a regular major grocery store. There is almost an entire isle devoted to tea from around the world, in various languages depending on the market it was originally produced for. I'm relatively certain I look like a tourist every time I go, just gawking and reading labels. But I choose a new ingredient every time to try and have found other patrons of every ethnicity friendly. The produce section is amazing. I look at my "regular" store and shake my head because the items offered are so limited and familiar and expensive by comparison. I do agree, it makes sense that a factor in lower prices has to be the wider community draw without having to advertise for patronage. But, they do have "sale" items. Recently they had a special on the small yellow mangos, a produce box full for $10. People were snatching these things up! I'd never had one so I only bought 2 of them as I'm the only one in my house who eats them. OMG! The texture was like custard, they were sweet and tart and creamy it was like breakfast for dessert!!

Well, it looks like there may have been a combination of less than perfect handling of the oysters and uneducated expectations for the salmon. Was your dinner bad? No. Were you pleased with it? No. How best to handle? Don't go back. I'm sure many here will attest to going to a restaurant that we expected to be fabulous and were less than thrilled. Unless a restaurant gives horrible service or the food is actually "wrong" to some extent, there isn't really much a patron should do except not repeat the experience. Good luck in the future and Happy Eating!

Hey ya'll! We're coming down for Talledega this year and will be staying in Birmingham. Can I get some suggestions for where and what to eat while we're in town? Naturally, some meals will be at the track but breakfast and dinner suggestions would be great. Also, any suggestions for dinner the night we fly in to Atlanta too would be good. A nice steak house perhaps? There are six of us. Two don't like spicy and for the most part, only my husband and I are particularly adventurous. Really, mostly quality regional fare is what I'm looking for. Life is too short to eat yucky food.

I love how some of these threads make me think about my behaviors and what drives them. I like to try different ethnic recipes so I do measure when using unfamiliar ingredients and don't know enough about the process such as making spice blends for Indian foods or sauces for Asian foods. I almost never measure vanilla in baking because I love more than the recipe calls for and just spot it. I glance at the pancake recipe to refresh myself on the ingredient list but then make substitutions and additions and keep adding milk until the texture is right. I like my pancakes a bit thin and chewey rather than fluffy and cakey so I also add milk to thin out the batter if it has become thick while waiting for the next batch. Does anyone else do this? Otherwise, I'm with Maggy, I eyeball most things and if a recipe calls for a little more or less than the whole ingredient I let it fly.

OK, why is it that every time I go to my in-laws house for a meal, they don't even start cooking until we get there??? We were invited to breakfast at 8 today. We got there at 8 and they didn't know what they were going to make yet. We ate after 9- in shifts- and my hubby did most of the cooking. WTF-over????

Oh my goodness! How do you do these designs? I have a fabulous Jura coffee maker that provides a nice thick crema so I'd love to play with my designs. It would be a special treat to sip away and enjoy the design. Can you provide a site or just provide some techniques? Thanks!

So----how was it? Anything memorable, unpleasantly or otherwise? I've eaten WITH vegans, but never when the entire meal was so strictly concocted. ← It was a lot less exciting than I thought it would be. Mainly, it was just a bunch of salads and sauces made out of avocados (one was actually very good) and such. Blah. Someone brought "nut patties" which everyone just RAVED about, but I found bland and dry and tasteless. They were like eating nuns' penance. I ate a bit to be polite, then left and got myself some real food. The thing about these people that was kind of scary is how very earnest they are. They kept going on and on about "live" food and "enzymes" and how GREAT they felt. Eh, wouldn't enzymes be broken down by your stomach acid and never really hit the intestines, anyway? I was afraid to ask because they were just SO FORCEFULL, but that's what my basic understanding of biology tells me. I dunno, I suppose if you took enough supplements and somehow find a way to get enough protein, this would be a good way to lose a whole lot of weight in a really short amount of time, but I honestly don't see how anyone could sustain that diet. While at the shindig, I kind of looked around wondering how many of them secretly ate burgers and chocolate cake in their car without telling anyone. I know that there is no way I could live off the food that was served at this thing. It was fine for salad courses, or a light summer meal, but it would get incredibly old after a while. ← My in-laws were Vegan for a couple years and were fanatics about the healthful benefits of it. I was cool with a meal here or there as they usually consisted of beans and rice in some combination: soup, salad, etc. They did have a chocolate cake that was somehow made with prunes and beets as I recall that was surprisingly very good. I doubt your friends sneak burgers if they are so militant because the fat is awfully uncomfortable for their system: cramping, gas, and um... the sqirts. Actually, we went on vacation to the Caribbean with them and they brought a whole suitcase of instant vegan food. Ew. Talk about buzzkill. They always had gas and hogged the bathroom. Ugh. Reason enough to not be Vegan in my book.

Hey Fabby! How wonderful to see the project has started it's implementation phase!! This is great to see! I'll keep checking in on you and your blog my dear.

Here is some info on the NEXT Iron Chef search: Reportedly Ruhlman will be a judge: Only the food network had the clout to invite eight established chefs, chefs who have proven their talent in the kitchen and no less importantly their skills as restaurateurs. None of these people are fry cooks desperate for a way out of their kitchen and into a national spotlight. They are chefs who already HAVE a national spotlight. Every one of these chefs is the real deal. Putting these men and women into competition on camera with all the craziness of reality television, this I wanted to see. Traci des Jardins, who just won a best chef award from the beards. John Besh from NOLA, Cleveland homeboy Michael Symon, and Doing God’s Work Chris Cosentino, like des Jardins, working in San Francisco, among them.

jsmeeker, you must be my twin! This describes my attitude and behavior towards dishes completely! I keep telling my hubby that if he wants me to cook more, he must clean more ( If only I could get bergerka to move in...I know for a fact that she does dishes at night and ... I wouldn't care if she got her coffee in her birthday suit, my DH and I would be long gone for work by the time she got up anyway!! )

Woo hoo! Leave it to my fellow eGers to crack me up in the morning! This is an interesting thread! Alarming: Yes, we all have our isms! My open garbage can lives under the sink unless I'm working a meal that involves a lot of chopping, then I pull it out and put it next to me for easy tossing. Bare-footer here! I find the jump-back technique an admirable test of reflexes and can agree that I've far more cuts and burns on my hands and arms than feet. To date: Zero on the feet, hands: countless. I have tile floors though so I will often put on my flip flops or crocs for cushion, not protection. I will admit, I have a great friend who is a fabulous cook but she seems to wash all her dishes in 2" of cold, barely soapy water and rinse them in a dribble of water to let them air dry. It seems a bit icky. She never has dirty dishes waiting to be washed and I've never gotten sick from eating her food so it must not be too bad. Amazing: Watching my SIL cut an onion. She comes out with pretty even slices even though the damn thing is rolling around as she chases it with a dull knife. Whew! I want to grab it but I just can't bring myself to out of morbid fascination. That and she even measures the pepper and salt b/c she only cooks from a recipes. 99% of the time they turn out just fine! I do *love* going to other people's homes and watch or join them in the kitchen as it provides me with an invaluable opportunity to possibly learn a new technique or method of doing. Just watching my friend make rice in the Iranian style she learned from her MIL was fascinating! Amusing: After hosting my family for Thanksgiving for the last 5 years in a row, I've learned that it is far preferable to keep my sanity than to clean my own kitchen after cooking for 3 days. I can put stuff away in the right place later. I have instructed my helpers on what is hand-wash and what can go in the dishwasher and then I walk away. It was *so* hard at first, but now I think I'm a better hostess for being able to welcome others into my kitchen to work with me and visit during clean-up.

Ah Molto E!!! A true thing of beauty. I'll have to save my calories for that one in addition to my pennies!!! Indeed, my next visit will be for the Omakase. Such porn you post!!!

I finally got a chance to dine at Sea Saw a few weeks ago. My husband surprised me for our anniversary. He did not make reservations early enough for the omakase so we sat at one of the few tables instead. Something I don't remembered described is that the restaurant is 75% bar and cooking area, the tables seem an afterthought really. Admittedly I was a little dissappointed in not having the omakase but our meal was wonderful just the same. The standouts for me were: -the cold duck, cooked perfect, it was delicious and what duck should be -the tuna plate in which the belly was amazing -the foie gras. O.M.G. We ordered all our plates to share and ordered a second plate of the foie once we finished the first because it was so amazing. Truely a sexy, sensual delicate dish that can rightly stand up to the "sex on a plate" analogy that comes to mind. Whoo! You need a cigarette after that one. All time stops when enjoying those yummy bits.

Shabu Shabu Serves 4 as Main Dish. This is a simple and fun meal for two or four. The trickiest part is procuring the right cut of meat if you are using beef or pork. See instructions below. I have found an electric skillet is easiest for this but you may use a hot plate or traditional hot pot with sterno if you have it. 1 lb beef, pork, seafood (see below) 1 large carrot, sliced into thin rounds 1 pkg mushrooms: oyster, button, straw 1 brown onion, quartered 1 napa cabbage 1 daikon radish, grated fine 1 bunch green onion, minced 1 snow peas/ sugar snap peas 1 bottle Ponzu sauce 1 bottle Sesame sauce (optional) 2 servings cooked rice If using beef or pork: These must be thinly sliced like a carpacio or prociutto. You may be able to find this cut already at a Japanese or other Asian market. If not, go to your butcher and choose a couple steaks that are nicely marbled, we prefer choice ribeye, and instruct the butcher to freeze it and slice it as thin as humanly possible, laying it out on a deli plate for you with paper between any layers. Cut carrots into rounds, quarter mushrooms and onion, peel a few leaves from the napa cabage and quarter those as well. The peas should be rinsed clean and dried. Put all this onto a pretty serving plate in a nice display. It will hold in the fridge all day so you can do this as early as you like. The ponzu sauce and sesame sauce should be placed in small bowls, one of each for each person. The minced green onion and daikon should be placed in separate serving bowls. You'll need about 1/2 cup of each. Each person will take some of each of these as is their preference to season their ponzu sauce. Put water in the electric skillet (or other vessel) in the center of the table and bring it to a simmer. Each place setting should have a bowl of rice, chop sticks and a bowl each of ponzu and sesame sauces. (We only use the ponzu at our house!) Toss a few veggies in the water and each person can fish them out with their chopsticks as they wish. Put the meat in a location where each person can reach it. You will take a piece of meat, swish it in the water until it has reached your preferred donenness (generally only a few seconds) and dip it in your sauce before eating. Keywords: Easy, Japanese, Beef, Main Dish, Dinner, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Healthy Choices ( RG1998 )

oooh Pontormo, you know, I've never had something like that put before me to eat. My suburban upbringing cringes but my "foodie" side says I'd try it! There is still the mental factor to get over with some foods.

Oh Karen, TRUE DAT! I've never eaten the family pet but I have a funny story about rabbit for dinner if you like! Growing up my husband's sister, Val, had a rabbit as a pet. It was kept in a cage on the back porch most of the time. One day a big storm came through and the cage was blown over and open and the bunny was never seen again. Fast forward a couple weeks and the family is sitting down for dinner. Everyone loved it and chowed down heartily. At the end of the meal their mother proudly announced that everyone apparently loved rabbit. Val gave it all back right there on the table. To this day Val swears that their mom fed them her pet and the mother insists that she didn't. So, go ahead and fantasize about eating that yummy bunny, but if you act on it, you may scar your poor son for LIFE.

Its kismet! My cooking group is doing Middle Eastern foods tonight and my friend who grew up in Turkey and my local expert on all things Persian is coming over to help out! I'll ask her about local celebrations in the Phoenix valley. Thanks!

Thanks Eliot...interesting write up. I've got a couple friends who will be bummed out as they live in Queen Creek and enjoy Dual over the majority of the offerings available so close to home. It says that the owners dissolved due to irreconcilable differences but also seems to blame the mormon population in general for the lack of success. Is that appropriate?

Grainbelt Grillhouse in Gilbert I opened my February Gilbert Lifestyle magazine to find a local place for dinner last night and found a newcomer the Grainbelt Grillhouse listed. You'd think with a simple concept "Midwestern Foods" and USDA choice beef aged "at least" 21 days that this should be a slam dunk. Not so much. Driving south on Gilbert Road my husband says, "I wonder if its in that cursed location." As a matter of fact, it was. The building at 302 N Gilbert Road must be one of those "cursed" locations having housed several restaurants since its construction in the late 1990s: Mahogany Run (which closed five years ago), Gonzo's, Heartthrob Cafe, Rock City, and now GrainBelt. But it's not stopping owners Michael Savoie and Diana Bavetz from trying their luck! As a full disclosure here I'm going to be upfront to say that I'm not always the best orderer in the world. I was pleased to see a single page menu with a feature box of their aged steaks with 4 types of potatoes: "fat mashed" (didn't get a clear description of this, the server said they mashed them so they looked puffy and fat, huh?), Wisconsin Mash with cheddar cheese mixed in, pan scalloped and fries. From the appetiser list we chose the corn cake croquettes, a caprese salad and a crab pot. The corn cake croquettes were just shy of burned and were light and fluffy inside...they made me think of Bisquick. I'm not saying they used Bisquick, I'm just saying that is what they made me think of. We had 1 1/2 each and just couldn't work up the enthusiasm for any more. The caprese salad (yeah, I know, not even remotely midwestern here) was presented prettily in a ring of red and white alternating slices with a reduction of basalmic making a pretty presentation. I'm not sure if the basil chiffonade was old and dry or frizzled. The fresh mozzarella was good and the tomatoes nicely ripened but lacked seasoning and were a little bland considering it isn't tomato season. It was at this time that I noticed the busboy. At 5:00 we were the first and only people in the restaurant. The dining room had a banquette of booths down the center with a water feature creating a donut shaped room. A teenage busboy was bored and kept walking around the donut, passing our table and looking back over his shoulder at our table at each pass. OK, I figured he was bored the first couple passes. His stares at our table got more and more obvious at each turn. He had to have circled at least a dozen times through the entire meal which was just freaky. I'd look up and he'd be staring at me. Eww. Between the appy and dinner a server started preparing the six top that was right next to us. They added a table cloth, lit the candle, re-arranged the silverware, etc. Note, the restaurant is still EMPTY. The server proceeded to light the candles on every table...except ours. Then a group of six very perfumed senior citizens were seated. They were a nice enough group enjoying their evening but I questioned the decision to sit them next to us, especially since they had a different server than we did. My dinner was some of the crab pot which had green chili, spinach, red pepper garnish and was cheesy. The toasted bread served with this had a margerine-like smear and was not good at all. Along with this I a butter lettuce "wedge" salad with Wisconsin blue cheese, harder than hell bacon and tomato. It came with a raspberry vinaigrette which I don't generally care for, I asked if I could have a basalmic vinaigrette instead but the server said they didn't have any...um....I didn't have it in me to ask what the hell was just on the caprese salad. My husband had the porterhouse steak with scalloped potatoes. It was flavorful, well seasoned and about 3/4 of an inch thick. A medium-rare steak had a thin pink strip through the center. The potatoes were fine as were the carrot and snow pea side veg. I was tired of eating perfume and being stalked by a teenage busboy so I was ready to go. Our server was kind enough to rattle off the dessert menu for us but I wasn't interested. All I caught was the first two items she mentioned: strawberry shortcake and New York cheesecake with fresh strawberries....in March????? Oy. If this place is going to survive they need some serious work, I don't you can blame a failure on the building being cursed. Too bad since I think that Gilbert could support a good steakhouse!