ronnie_suburban

I feel bad using the blog to bash a place from which I didn't even have lunch (which isn't to say that I won't). Luckily, I hedged by bringing a half slab of ribs to the office. Ironically, even those who made the lunch choice (or were happy with it), were delighted that we had ribs. I believe the direct quote from Jim, referring to the joint from which lunch was ordered, was "well, I'll never order that again." Ok, the place in question is a Cajun/Southern Roadhouse-type place in Evanston, IL that attempts, IMO, to do too much instead of focusing on one type of cuisine. Jambalaya, Red Beans and Rice, Peach-Glazed Wings, NC pulled pork, pasta dishes and Johnny cakes are some of their offerings I know that it garnered 3 Forks (out of 4) from the Chicago Tribune (as indicated on their menu) and that many folks whose tastes I respect also dig this place. But, having lived in New Orleans for a couple of years, my bar for cajun food is set fairly high and this place, for all their effort, falls far below it. Anyone know the place of which I speak, err...type? =R=

The poster here is referring to my (well known?) aversion to molasses. The answer is no, it's not enough brown sugar to impart a "molassessy" flavor. If it were, I'd have omitted it from the rub recipe long ago. Do I sense a minor bit of rib envy here? =R= ← i don't need ribs, i have pickled tongue ← I've heard that's not all that's pickled Well, GM-Jim made a lunch choice so horrible, so yucky, that I'm going to just have leftover ribs for lunch and maybe a bowl of soup. Back to update shortly. =R=

The poster here is referring to my (well known?) aversion to molasses. The answer is no, it's not enough brown sugar to impart a "molassessy" flavor. If it were, I'd have omitted it from the rub recipe long ago. Do I sense a minor bit of rib envy here? =R=

Yes, the racks are excellent and I think they were about $5 each, IIRC. Susan, this is quite possibly the most glorious thing I've ever read on eG. Thank you for brightening my morning Also, before I forget, I want to mention that those baked goods from Sweet Memories, which we snarfed down on Friday, were absolutely amazing. The oatmeal/chocolate chunk cookies were completely addictive and the untraditional rugelah (made with puff pastry) were out of this world. And...yes, my son did end up with the cupcake. It is the blog homestretch for me today. So far this morning, I've taken a few sips of the daily IVA. It's Jim's (our General Manager) call on the lunch today. I'll be back later with some details and some pictures. Not hungry yet but give me a few hours... =R=

Okay, you are a genius. This is why I love egullet. ← LOL! I am not a genius, just like you, I read about this method somewhere here on eGullet, although I can't remember who specifically suggested it (not saying you're not a genius, either) As for the fuel/vent ratios, you're probably right about the venting and 1 basket. I only ever use 1 basket. 2 just seems like too much heat given the relatively small area inside the Weber. I like be able to keep the meat away from the heat and with 2 baskets, I generally feel like I can't keep the meat far enough away from it. =R=

The easier question first. That thermomter is built-in the the lid of my Weber but it can be emulated via the use of a probe thermometer and a cork from a wine bottle. You run a small hole lengthwise through the cork for the probe and then insert the entire device into one of the damper holes in the Weber's lid. As for the overall temperature control in the weber, it's an inexact science but it starts with keeping the heat source very limited in size. I use one of the semi-circle baskets that came with my grill but again, you could simply build a small pile of charcoal and wood on one side of the grill or use a coffee can with some properly-sized holes punched through it. It's important that the bottom of the fuel basket is relatively open so that spent fuel (ash) can fall through it, create room for new fuel and allow the fire to keep burning. Fuel baskets...slightly different than what came with my grill but similar in shape and overall design Once I've got the fire going, I use the top and bottom dampers in the Weber to control how much air flow (oxygen) the fire has. Generally speaking (in reasonable weather), with the fuel basket in use, the bottom damper completely open and the the top damper 80% open, I can keep the tempertaure around 250 F. This varies depending on outside tempertaure, wind, precipitation and other factors. About every 30-60 minutes, I top off the fuel basket with some additional lump charcoal and wood. As you can see, the basket design allows you to continuously add fuel to the fire by simply laying it on top of the already-burning embers. The grill that came with my Weber has 2 hinged sections so it is easy to "fold it back" to access the basket, which never needs to be moved during cooking. I'm sure there are many folks here who are a lot more experienced with this than I am. But this method has worked very well for me--so well in fact that I use it frequently even though I also own a cabinet-style smoker. =R=

Thanks No, you didn't miss it. Here's the rub recipe... 8 T Sweet Paprika (Hungarian or Spanish but I don't recommend smoked) 4 T Chile Powder (I use 100% Ancho) 4 T Light Brown Sugar 4 T Freshly-ground Cumin Seed 2 T Kosher Salt 2 T Freshly-ground Peppercorns (I use a mixture of black, white, green & red) 2 T Ground Oregano 2 T Granulated Sugar 1 T Granulated Garlic...if you cannot get good stuff (Penzey's, Spice House, etc.), just omit it) 1 T Granulated Onion...if you cannot get good stuff (Penzey's, Spice House, etc.), just omit it) 2-4 tsp Cayenne Pepper This will keep for a few weeks but, as with any ground spices, the longer it sits after grinding, the more it will degrade. =R=

It's dark and the trick or treaters are just about done for the night. It's been almost 20 minutes since the doorbell last rang. When my son got home from his trick or treating rounds, my wife informed me that he'd swapped all of his chocolate to one of his evil little friends before heading for home. So, I don't think there will be any "raiding" of his pumpkin later tonight. Skittles and Smarties mean nothing to me Because I knew I was going to be around the house today, I decided to make some ribs. I started last night by brining three slabs of baby back ribs in a gallon of water and hefty half-cup of pickling salt. This morning, I washed and dried the ribs, then covered them with my rub. After that I took them out to the Weber... Unlike earlier in the week with the skirt steak, this time the goal is to keep the grill temperature between 240-260 degrees F. The racked ribs, about 30 minutes into their cooking. That's a mixture of lump charcoal and hickory wood in the fuel basket At the very end of the cooking, about 5 1/2 hours later I cut these ribs for the sake of the photograph... ...but as this picture reveals, the meat all but came away from the bone with a gentle tug I generally prefer rub-only ribs, but when I'm in the mood for sauce, this is the only one I use--when I don't make my own As you can see, Caffeine-free Diet Coke was the beverage of choice. I was going to make a batch of purple cabbage cole-slaw, but we decided to have the leftover rice and noodles (from the Thai food) as our side dish. I'll definitely bring some ribs to the office tomorrow...plenty leftover. =R=

Luckily, my body size has grown to accomodate my blog week Seriously though, I am an erratic eater in the sense that my meals aren't really as regular as they may appear in this blog. Some of those office lunches don't get eaten until almost 2 pm and on those days, I may make a big dinner but often only eat a small part of it. I've tried to keep things varied this week but I've also had quite a few "DNF's" as well. When my blog ends, I'm on course to get thwapped by the back end of the 'blog week leftovers' rubberband, big time I just returned from my neighbors' open house, where the food was really good but I was still full from that breakfast bagel. I picked...had a mini ham sandwich, a few spears of blanched asparagus, some jicama, and small square of foccacia. Everything looked great, but I had no room for it. If I'd known the spread was going to be that elaborate, I probably would have skipped the bagel this morning. As I mentioned earlier, I have something 'special' planned for dinner and I had to keep coming home to tend to it during the open house. I'll be back after trick or treating to deliver the goods. =R=

No coffee or caffeine today, as I like to "protect" my sleep on Sunday nights. This went down with a big glass of water. Leaving shortly for the next door neighbors' open house. Not really very hungry but we'll see how "inspirational" their caterer, Hel's Kitchen, is. =R=

I have definitely been inspired by the show to try various places--Opera being the most recent. But, like you, I enjoy it more when they review a place I've already been. It is fun to compare notes. =R=

Thanks for the kind comments, everyone That food from Opart was really fantastic...lots and lots of it left too. It could end up being the Monday lunch Breakfast this morning was an easy one... Lox and Toasted Sesame Bagel with chive cream cheese and fresh chives Toasted sesame and smoked fish is one of my favorite flavor combos. I'll eat a poppyseed or everything bagel, but sesame is, by far, my favorite with lox. This bagel is from a place called Upper Crust Bagels in Deerfield, IL. They turn out great bagels there. Not too big, perfect density, excellent exterior hardness and deep flavor throughout the chew. The lox is from Trader Joe's Please forgive the pretentious-looking chives...I love their flavor and I as long as I have them on hand, I want to use them up. But chopped chives are not a standard part of my bagel ritual. =R=

This week's installment of Check, Please! featured the following 3 restaurants: San Soo Gab San 5247 N. Western Avenue Chicago, IL (773) 334-1589 Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab 60 E. Grand Avenue Chicago, IL (312) 379-5637 Victory's Banner 2100 W. Roscoe Chicago, IL (773) 665-0227 =R=

Is the Bennet Curtis House going to be featured on Check, Please!? =R=

The Check, Please! segment said a lot about Moto, IMO. I was genuinely surprised by the solid consensus between the 3 reviewers. I expected a lot more cynicism from the 2 reviewers who didn't choose it. FWIW, the food shown in the segment looked delicious. BTW, welcome to eGullet, Mike =R=

There's a great recipe in the Martha Stewart Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook for a toasted pepita dip. Only issue is you'd need to shell them...and that may be a huge pain in the butt. Anyway...sautee the raw, hulled seeds in olive oil with some garlic then coarse puree them with tomatoes, scallions, jalapenos, cumin seed lime juice and a few other items. Let cool, serve with pita or (pita) chips It's very delicious. =R=

We did a little shopping this afternoon (with the boy) which landed us near Steak 'n Shake and we took full advantage of it. For those of you who do not know, S&S is a regionally-focused burger chain that is currently making a strong growth effort. Here's lunch... Cup of chili Their version of chili, while not world-class, is certainly distinctive. In it, they use bits of steak instead of ground beef and the chili has an atypical flavor and aroma. I wouldn't surprise me to learn that they use cocoa in their chili I also ordered... Double Steak Burger with cheese and bacon Their burgers are, well...'distinctive' is probably the best way to put it. They are comprised of very thin, perfectly greasy patties. A single isn't a whole lot bigger than a White Castle single. This double (with cheese and bacon) did me just fine. Very delicious and those fries are every bit as crispy as they look! Lunch came at the beginning of our shopping and by the end of it we were getting kind of hungry again I'd been thinking about Thai for a few days and we were very near my favorite Thai carry-out, Opart's Thai, so we called in our order. Since we each like something slightly different from Opart, our order was a bit redundant but even the noodle dishes vary greatly from each other. Tiger Cry...marinated, seared beef with a fantastic fish-sauce based dipping sauce Pad Thai with Chicken...the wife's favorite Pad See Ewe with chicken and broccoli. This is my son's favorite. We both love the thick, wide, pan-fried noodles and he loves the sweeter sauce in this dish. Beef Panang...spicy hot and creamy all at once. Very complex combination of flavors Pad Ka Prow...very spicy ground chicken with basil, fish sauce, sugar, chiles, etc. which is served over rice. My absolute favorite dish at Opart All in all, a very nice--and relatively effortless--day of food. I'm somewhat astonished that I haven't had even one cocktail, glass of wine or beer all week but I suppose there's still time for that...I still have Sunday and Monday. Tomorrow, the food forecast indicates breakfast at home, a neighbor's open house for lunch and hopefully, making something special for dinner. =R=

Happy Saturday Everyone! The day started out pretty typically with a stop at Starbucks for the IVA. After that, we debated between eating breakfast at home or going out. We decided to go out to a nearby joint called Eggshell Cafe. There, I ordered this ham and american cheese omelette... All in all, a much more enjoyable plate than the one served to me on Wednesday morning. These eggs tasted good and the ham was very tender and had been cut from the bone fairly recently. American cheese is decidedly bleh but at this place neither the cheddar nor the swiss are any better. The rye toast was actually hot--butter melted when spread upon it Sadly, the potatoes were lousy. The best place around here to get good hash browns on a consistent basis is in my kitchen, but I just wasn't up for it today. Now I'm going to catch up on some tv. I have several episodes of Charlie Trotter's and Jacques Pepin's current cooking shows on my tivo and I'm going to try to knock a few episodes down. =R=

Thanks for the information, Danielle. Is the article you wrote available on-line? =R=

Amazingly, we are long on math nerds--especially those from downstate. And yes, the Heartland will ride again Don't know her name but she works at Foodstuffs in Glencoe, IL. My signature dish (because I make it for so many holiday meals) is probably braised brisket, which you will not see this week. It's not my favorite thing I make but it's the one I'm asked about the most (as in, "are you making brisket?"). As for the post-Passover matzoh and my wife, let's just say that she did exactly what I asked her to not do with it. No worries, it was nothing that the plumber and few hundred dollars couldn't rectify =R=

I made a modified version of the Frisee aux Lardons recipe from Tony's book tonight and it was really great. Of course, I made a few modifications which would have probably resulted in some "F" bombs being flung towards me, but I'm okay with that I also have to agree with the criticism of Brenner's criticism...probably a positive sign in the long run. =R=

Yes, indeedie...I did use the same pan to cook the livers and the eggs, after I'd cooked the bacon in it (...and I guess that counts as another modification because Tony says to cook the livers in butter...clearly I could never work in his kitchen ) As for Potbelly's, I think they are great--especially for a chain. Their bread is very nice and they treat it properly by giving it more than just a perfunctory toasting. Their toppings vary but are usually top-notch. I already mentioned their hot peppers (gardiniera) and mustard upthread, but they also offer very thinly-sliced planks of pickles as a topping and they really add a lot to the quality of their sandwiches. Will it be the same (i.e. as good) in MN? Not sure, but at under $4 for a sandwich, all it will really cost you to try it out is time. =R=

Dinner is served... Frisee aux Lardons with Chicken Liver Vinaigrette* from "Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook" I did make a couple modifications*... 1) Couldn't find straight frisee so I used a blend of mixed greens which contained some. 2) Instead of using olive oil for the vinaigrette, I used the rendered bacon fat from the lardons instead...figuring that Tony would approve of this. 3) The salad screamed to be topped with a fried egg, so I happily obliged...again assuming Tony would be okay with this. It was really delicious but again, when bacon, chicken liver and eggs are involved, what's not to like? =R= sorry for the lousy pic, I forgot my camera at the office and had to use my wife's camera, which is kinda' broken

October 29, 2004... From yesterday's Star Tribune's Taste section Basics on Brasing and related tips and recipes by Bill Ward Planning, tips help deal with dinner targeted to busy families, by Elizabeth Lee of Cox News Service Pears by Mollie Katzen. Tidbits by Al Sicherman, who writes this weekly column about new finds at the grocery store. Food Events in the Twin Cities. Wine Tastings in this area. Lutefisk dinners. We have entered the season where there will be frequent listings of lutefisk dinners, most of them fund raising opportunities for local churches. Notice about the Star Tribune's Cookie Contest. Review of Epic, a restaurant in Eden Prairie, by Jeremy Iggers. Counter Intelligence, a weekly column with local restaurant news. Now Open, a periodic column about a new dining establishment. This week, they are featuring the new La Brea Bakery in the marketplace at Marshall Field's (it's still Dayton's to me ) Southdale location. <><><><><> From today's St. Paul Pioneer Press A review of the Loring Pasta Bar by Sue Campbell. Faces. An interview with Kevin Vanderaa, chef/owner of Cupcake. City Pages this week does The Spicy Side of the Street, A tour through five of the best taquerias on East Lake, by Dara Moskowitz. Sounds like an EG taco crawl might be in order! <><><><><> Although only their dining guide is available on the Minnesota Monthly web site, the current issue is their restaurant annual. "This year’s in-depth look at the dining scene is a treat for the palate, the eye, and the mind. Features include a profile of Mitch Omer, patron saint of Hell’s Kitchen; beautiful pairings of food and wine from six master chefs; the inside scoop on great dining in the suburbs, spectacular steaks, bounteous brunches, and virtuoso vegetarian; a look at five patrons of the culinary arts; and our big, user-friendly, save-it-all-year Dining Guide, with listings for 544 restaurants. <><><><><> <><><><><> Media Digest Notes... Updates from some Twin Cities media outlets, which do not 'go to press' by Friday each week, may be edited into each week's post as they become available. Please do not reply on this thread. For discussion of any stories which are linked here, please feel free to start a new thread or contact the forum host who will be happy to do it for you. Thanks to snowangel for compiling this report

Hi All, Beginning today, we are adding this digest to the Heartland forum. It will be compiled by fellow Heartlander and long-time eGullet member, snowangel, who suggested the idea not too long ago As with the other digests which appear on our site, we're setting up this thread as a consolidation point for various, food-related stories of interest which appear in the local Twin Cities media. Based on publication days, we plan to update this thread each Friday. As the thread continues, please let either me or snowangel know if there are any worthy local media sources that we have neglected to include. Thanks, =R=