jsmeeker

oh my. All that to toast buns. Butter just doesn't cut it, I suppose.

How does the tallow come into play in the burger recipe?

I'm really struggling with this because I agree. Still, I have seen endorsements here of putting sriracha on grilled cheese. I think the dipping sauce was meant to offer something you couldn't get at home. This is another argument I can't exactly wrap my head around. "You can make it at home" A) People eat a lot of meals out because they aren't able to cook at home, even if able to. A lot of that is because they are AT WORK. Lots and lots of restaurants' "bread and butter" are the lunch time office worker crowds. B) Even with simple foods, people may not have convenient access to more interesting ingredients. Sure, Wonder Bread and Kraft American cheese is super common in homes. But what if you are interested in kicking it up a notch? C) There are all manner of foods people can make at home as easily as a grilled cheese. But restaurants serving that type of food are very successful.

Of course "well regarded" is highly subjective. What is well regarded to some may be crap to others. In my situations over the weekend, one wait was totally worth it. Of course, we messed up on the timing and had to wait even LONGER than we expected. But it was TOTALLY worth it. The BBQ at Franklin was outstanding. And being FIRST in line meant that when it did open, we got served right away, had no issues with seating, and got out of there quickly. The other place? More of a mixed bag. The wait before they opened up and before we got BBQ wasn't too bad. (we were not first in line), but the BBQ wasn't super awesome. Coupled with the long drive EARLY in the AM, we felt it didn't live up to the hype. Really, for me, a place with "hype" and a long wait really better deliver. But overall, I like Chris's criteria. The "can't get it in my town" is certainly a major one. Probably the most important one, for me.

Over the weekend, I made a BBQ run to Central Texas. I've done this a few times before, and have experienced some long waits just to get some meat. This time, there as a whole added dimension of arriving at places well before they opened to ensure we didn't have an even longer wait AND to ensure we actually got food. Normally, I don't like to wait. I see people waiting for an hour or more for a place like Cheesecake Factory and scratch my head. But everyone is different and has their own rules. For this past weekend, one of the places (Snows) is very remote and is only open ONE day a week and is known to sell out within a few hours of their 8:00 AM opening. The other (Franklin) was not remote, but it too has a reputation for running out. There was the real possibility of not getting anything, even if you arrived not too long after their opening time. What are your rules for waiting in/on a line for food?

I don't think I would count the angostura as a "bottle" Really, I think they should all be spirits of some sort. Or, maybe, spirits and a fortified wine like the vermouth.

This past weekend, I made another trek to Central Texas with several Dallas area friends and a few out of state friends (New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Los Angeles). Some of the places we hit were new to me. Some were not. But I'll cut to the chase and talk a little bit about the place we thought was the clear winner. Franklin BBQ Franklin BBQ is in Austin. Right in the city, just a block east of I-35 on 11th street. In fact, they just moved to their new location a few weeks ago. Previously, they operated as a "food trailer" with a setup in a parking lot. They had their smokers there and served out of an old camper trailer. Now, they are in a full blown permanent restaurant space. Due to some confusion over the time they opened, we arrived REALLY early. About 9:15 AM, thiking they opened at 10:00. But they didn't. They open at 11:00. this turned out to be OK because we were the FIRST people there. Within a few minutes, some more people arrived. By the time they opened the doors at 11:00 AM, there must fave been 80-90 people in line. Owner. Pit Master. BBQ God. Aaron Franklin. Aaron is the owner. As you can see, he is a young guy. From what I gather, he's only been doing BBQ professionally for a year or two. His family has some BBQ restaurant background, but it's nothing like the long history of the Central Texas BBQ meccas in Lockhart or Taylor or Luling. Due to our early arrival, we were able to chat with him brifely as he tended to the smokers. They actually moved the smokers from the old, original location, to a lot behind the restaurant. This was a sign of good things to come. Franklin had been highly regarded in their original location. I was a little worried moving meant new pits. But that was not to be. They are still using the original ones. In the future, he plans to build a new brick pit to add capacity Aaron opened the door promptly at 11:00 AM. My group got the first order. Aaron led us to he coutner where he proceeded to slice up some brisket for us. Some fatty. Some lean. We finished out the order with pork ribs and sausage. The standard Central Texas three meat combo. Our tray of brisket, sausage, and pork ribs. We polished this all off in about 10 minutes. The BBQ here was outstanding. Best brisket I have ever had. Pork ribs were really good too. A friend that doesn't really even like pork ribs enjoyed them! Sausage was pretty good too. Not the best. But good. But since brisket is the king of meats in Central Texas BBQ, having the best ever brisket gives the crown to Franklin. In the past, people would ask "Where do I get good BBQ in Austin?" My stock answer was always Lockhart. Or Luling. Or Taylor. But no more. Now, my answer is different. It's Frankln. And I'm almost bold enough to suggest that people skip the drive to the small towns. Just go to Franklin. But get there early. They were sold out and closed up before 2:00 PM the day we went.

Hi kathryn, That's a great write up on the food carts in Austin during SXSW. I just got back from Austin/Central Texas for primarily a BBQ run, but we hit up some carts in the evening. On Friday night, made it to the park that has Odd Duck and Gordoughs. I got a few things from Odd Duck.. The polenta with duck egg and the grilled quail. Both were excellent. I hade a taste of some doughnuts from Gordoughs. Tasty. But they were super duper sweet. One bit was enough. But my friends really loved the doughnuts. The third trailer there is "Trey's Cuisine" I didn't sample much from there, but from what my friends sampled, it seemed to be a mixed bag. After that park, we headed into downtown and wound up at 6th and Nueces. Three carts at that intersction. One Taco, Peached Tortilla, and some other place.. I had stuff from One Taco on a previous trip to Austin, so I went over to Peached Tortilla and got a catfish taco. Pretty tasty. On Saturday, the plan was to hit the park at 1600 S. Congress. But we ran into this giant car show type of event. Tons of traffic. Took us a long time to crawl northward on Congress. When we got to the park, we knew parking was going to be impossible. So, we abanonded that plan and headed to Sixth Street on the east side of I-35. I knew there were some places in that area. Parked near one, but there really wasn't anyone there. Looked like it catered to more of a later night crowd. But a quick check on an iPhone app showed that indeed, there was ANOTHER cluster a block closer to I-35. So, we walked down to the East Side Drive Inn. Much more active there.. So, that was our place to dine Saturday. Good selection of stuff. I had some tasty pork meatballs in a saffron broth from a Spanish Tapas type of place called Latasca. Then I moved onto the Bits and Druthers trailer for some really outstanding fish and chips. Since I was there with a few friends, I was able to get some nibbles from other place. One of those trucks was "Love Balls" which was serving Japanese food. Got to sample Takoyaki, which are fried octopus balls. Later on that night, after knocking back a few beers at a bar in the "main" part of the Sixth Street scene, we hit of Chi'Lantro for a late night bight. I've had food from here before, but I wanted some again. Got Korean beef tacos. Very tasty. I don't like kmichi, but a friend ordered their kimichi fries and raved about them. Overall I am very impressed with the cart/truck/trailer scene in Austin. They really got it going on down there. Overall, very successful.

I still don't understand Bobby's obsession with the dipping sauce for a grilled cheese sandwich. Is this the way he likes to eat them? Or any sandwich and not just a "French Dip"?? I guess it's all moot, now.

I think eveness is important because it helps ensure there aren't areas that are really thin. If it's really thin, it won't hold together.

Hooray!! So happy for the winner. But both meals looked and sounded really fantastic.

Somewhere (God only knows where, in the dregs of memory), I recall seeing the tip of using the bottom of a flat cup or glass to push the crumbs into the pie plate/tart tin. I think the demo I saw used a measuring cup, but you could also use a drinking glass, which I do, so long as it has a perfectly flat bottom. All my measuring cups have rims/ridges on the bottom, so they don't work. Pushing on the glass/cup helps to even out the pressure, and gets the crumbs distributed more evenly. It really, really does work like a charm. I'd suspect even using a small custard cup (like one of those Pyrex bowls) would work as well. That is what I do. I use the bottom of my stainless measuring cups. They are perfectly flat and smooth. I still have issues with evenness.

his presentation of the "wine noodle" was totally un-appealing. Also, it seems like a major element of this show is him squaring off with some party planner.

Until a couple of days ago, I had never even heard of a CVAP. When I did, I thought they were talking about that machine people use to sleep at night to prevent sleep apnea. I've heard of "Combi" ovens, but only have a vauge idea of what it is. I think they use steam in some way? I dunno. To me, "fancy" would be convenction. Really fancy oven would be one where I could press a button and inject steam into the oven (for baking bread) This topic is pretty nice, though. I really need to follow through on all of these links and understan what all this stuff is.

Things are changing on the BBQ front in Dallas. Really, they are.

Another issue I think I have with my graham cracker crusts is getting the thickness EVEN. I always have parts that are really thin and other parts that are pretty thick. No matt how careful I am, I just can't seven to get it even. This certainly contributes to the structural problems.

is this for a meal on Easter Sunday or just a meal (dinner) during the weekend?

Mexican Coke.

But if you add egg white, you lose the great pleasure of snacking on the last spoonful of extra crumbs, because in your infinite wisdom, you always prepare at least one cracker's extra worth of crust. Would not stop me, either. I'll eat raw cookie dough. that has whole egg in it. And I'll add raw egg white to a cocktail. I live dangerously.

Denny's now has a "Maple Bacon Sundae" on the menu http://www.dennys.com/en/page.aspx?ID=271&title=Baconalia

I've had the same issues, Chris. My recipe for crust has been from Cooks Illustrated. But this isn't the same as Jeffrey C's. It's just graham crackers, butter, and sugar. Flavor is great. But as you say, no structure. I'm intrigued by the idea of adding egg white.

Tomato soup? Other than that, I got nothing

Beer. Or wine.

I've been to the place I nominated two separate times. There were plenty of women in there eating. I'm going to be there again this Friday. I suspect I will still see pelnty of women (and families) in the place this time as well. Maybe I can do some rough guestimating about the mix of men to women. But in any case, I still stand by my nomination. Meat. Open flame. No plates. No forks.

I'm glad to see Taco guy go, too. Hillbilly hicks? They are annoying me, still. Starting to be like Taco guy with their snarky comments. "Compleat", which is no longer "Compleat" and now something different? I dunno. Still seems like she doesn't have a lot of focus or direction or passion for it. I still like the "Saucy Balls" guy. He seems to have real, genuine passion for is idea/concept. So does grilled cheese guy. But I am glad someone finally pointed out his sandwiches had too much stuff that wasn't cheese in them. Really, a lot of what we have seen so far are grilled sandwiches that had some cheeese in them. Happy that Spice Coast got the most votes. Though I think given the crowd of supposed "food people", it probably doesn't reflect broader American tastes. More interesting, but not really surprising, is the judges/"investors" talking about things like making sure your food can be eaten on the run. Or can be eaten before going to a long meeting at work. __________________