jsmeeker

I have a love/hate relationship with this show. I actually like Adam. Seems like a good guy. He has fun and enjoys what he is doing (even when he gets into a challenge that is clearly painful or uncomfortable).Really, I think he is the most likable thing about this show. But I am not really a big fan of giant portions. Especially portions that are so large that they become a gimmick. All that said, I kind of enjoy the show overall. I guess you could call it a guilty pleasure.

I just have a hard time believing there's no footage of Alex buying peas or making his puree. I guess the speculation makes a better show. I re-watched this on my TiVo. Just before Alex starts to talk about making pea puree, you see a QUICK shot of him pulling something out of the cooler. I did a re-wind and a slow-motion and frame by frame review. It appears as of Alex removes a few zip top bags of actual whole peas. So, I think that may be the evidence you need to say Alex did have whole peas with him. And that means he probably made pea puree at the restaurant. Of course, maybe it turned out bad and he stole Ed's. But I am leaning towards thinking Alex didn't steal Ed's puree.

Oh, I agree to look beyond them. But that's what we happened to spot in the areas we were and what seemed to be the most appealing We didn't really go trailer "hunting" on this trip. But we will on the next one.

Thanks for starting this topic. I had thought about doing it myself a few weeks ago after my trip down to Central Texas for a BBQ run. But I really only had limited experiences with the food carts/trailers. But I did post about it briefly in a master food trailers topic over in the Food Traditions and Cultures forum. Really, I need to get back down to Austin later this year and spend a lot more time exploring that food scene. I had a good experience with the two different taco trucks I hit.

Dallas belongs nowhere on your Texas list, especially if you leave of Ft. Worth. And even then, that doesn't measure up to the other towns you have listed.

If cocktails like a Cuba Libre count, then hell yeah I like to "hack" my Coca-Cola.

I like the Mooyah mini-chain here in the Dallas area. Though I don't think any location has a drive through. It's counter service (place order at counter, they call your number). So, it's not quite like a McDonalads fast, but it's not sit down full service with a waiter place like Red Robin. Oh, and In-n-Out is coming to town. (Garland, to be exact) They will build a central commissary in the Dallas area, so that means more should be on the way. Maybe one will make it north of the Red River so some of you Yankees can give it a try.

smoke it. (the right cut. Like a brisket)

I've never tried to make a mayo with a cold oil that has been previously heated. Always just with room temp canola or veg. oil fresh out of the bottle. As was pointed out, remember that you are forcing oil and water to mix. Not oil and egg yolk. the egg is just there to help things along. (and to bring some flavor and richness and color to the party)

I just returned from another BBQ run to the Central Texas area (area around Austin). While there, we discovered the thriving food truck/trailer/cart scene that is going on in the state capitol. Various types of mobile things scattered all about. Taco trucks. BBQ trailers. Pizza. Sausage. Belgian fries. L.A. inspired Korean BBQ taco places (one place has the catchy name of TaKorea) A real diverse mix. As mentioned, they are scattered all about. Lots of them in the 6th street night life district, catering to late night eats for the bar crowd (these are the ones we saw) After doing some research at http://austinfoodcarts.com/ we discovered there are some areas (empty lots?) that may host several trucks or trailers. In a future visit to Austin, I'll have to explore this scene in depth. But I did get to try two places on Friday and Saturday nights. Chi'Lantro One Taco Too bad a city like Dallas couldn't really support something like this. At least, I am pretty sure it couldn't.

I was back in Central Texas this weekend for some more BBQ. This time, I had TWO nights, so I had an extra day to hit places I had not tried before. Also, a few friends came in from out of state to join up with some of my friends in the Dallas area. Friday was Taylor and Elgin. We hit Louie Mueller first. I really like this place. I think it has the best feel and vibe to it. The atmosphere is just great. For the BBQ, two things stood out to me. The brisket and the beef rib. The brisket uses a rub with LOTS of black pepper. I love black pepper, so this was great for me. It also had excellent tenderness and moistness. Some would have said it could have used more smoke. It could have, but I still liked this very much. To me, there is more to BBQ than just smoke flavor. Beef ribs are something I have never really liked. Probably because I've never had them prepared well. But the beef rib here was great. Things that were not so great was the overly salty sausage and the pork ribs. After we finished at Louie Mueller, we loaded up into our cars and headed south to Elgin. Here, we stopped at Southside Market and Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse. Brisket OK at both. Ribs at Southside weren't very good. We got both pork and beef there. The difference between the beef rib at Southside and Mueller's was huge. I liked the sausage at both places. Makes sense, since that is what Elgin is known for. Meat from Southside. I didn't get a pic of the meat from Meyer's Taylor and Elgin was it for Friday. Saturday would be a trip back through Lockhart and Luling. We hit Kreuz, City Market, and Smitty's. For me, Kreuz was a bit better this time than it was in October. That was mostly due to better brisket. Didn't get any pork ribs, though. My return visit to City Market proved once again that this place really is one of the best. Great pork ribs. Good brisket. Good sausage. REALLY long line. Took a while to get the meat. But it was worth the wait. After City Market, we headed back north on 183. Stopped at Smitty's. Line out the back door. This was another long wait. One thing I love about the place is the pit room where you get the meat. Though in the heat of late may, it's really warm near the fire that is just a few steps from the door. One thing I don't like too much about this place is the main dining room. Honestly, I actually prefer the dining areas at Kreuz. As far as the BBQ on this visit to Smitty's? It was OK. Maybe even a little disappointing considering the lengthy wait. Brisket was OK. And I still think the sausage here is just too fatty/greasy. Kreuz meat City Market meat Smitty's meat Sunday was our last day in the area. We only hit two places, both back down in Lockhart. Black's was up first. This place has always struck me has having a more friendly, relaxing feel to it. This visit was no exception. The meat man served us up some samples of their beef rib. Really great. We placed our order for some brisket, ribs, and two kinds of sausage. This wasn't as good as the last visit. Back then, everything was nice and tender, even if it didn't quite have the smoke flavor. This time, it was a little dry and chewy. The jalapeno sausage might have suffered the worst. Just too dry. However, the ring of regular sausage was a lot better. After Black's, we drove down the road a little ways to Chisolm Trail. This is usually thought of as the "other" BBQ place in town (after Kreuz, Smitty's and Blacks). It's also more than BBQ. They sell stuff like chicken fried steak and fried catfish as well. We didn't even step inside this place. They have a drive through. But you are able to order meat to go by the pound. I'm glad we decided to stop here. I thought it was pretty good. I especially liked the sausage here. Had a nice black pepper kick to it. Black's Meat Chisolm Trail meat

I'll add a little bit to what David has already mentioned about the meal at rm seafood. Overall, I thought the food was fine. I didn't really have any issues with that. One of my fish courses was a steamed Wulu. I really enjoyed it and the way it was prepared. But the service lapses really marred what should have been a much better experience. David and I met Chef Moonen the night before at the Grand Tasting. He was talkative and enthusiastic. While waiting for our table, Rick stopped by to say hello and welcome us to his restaurant. It seemed like things would go very well. Sadly, they didn't. I think I started to realize things were off between our first and second courses. Just a really long wait. It never got better. It just continued like that the whole meal. It just dragged out over a LONG period of time. The dining room had a good number of tables, but never looked totally full. I would say maybe 75% full. It's too bad we had the experience we had. I had become a fan of Rick's and was really looking forward to dining there. Now, I don't know what to think.

Someone already suggested "Salsas That Cook", so I'll suggest another book by Rick Bayless. "Mexican Everyday"

"Unofficial" Uncork'd Food and Drink David has already shared some information about various meals that weren't part of the official Uncork'd events and I will do the same. Really, it's appropriate because it IS about food and drink while we were in Las Vegas for the Uncork'd festivities. Wednesday Lunch Country Club at Wynn David and I planned to meet up at Encore right after I arrived to have lunch. The timing was perfect. David met up with me as I was checking in at the front desk. With that taken care of and my bag stored with the bell desk, we walked through the Encore and Wynn meeting spaces to the County Club restaurant. Situated at the back of the Wynn resort, this restaurant has a expansive view of the golf course that is actually part of the resort. We knew we would be having dinner later at Sage, so we didn't order too much. But there was a three course fixed price menu that was pretty tempting. Seemed like a decent deal, relatively speaking. Duo of ceviche. The one on the right was crab with mango and coconut. I can't recall what the one on the left was. It was OK. I did enjoy the crab one more than the other. Turkey club sandwich. This is what David ordered. I liked how the skewers had a golf tea on top. A nice and appropriate touch given the setting. This was served with some very good hose made potato chips. I have a major sweet tooth, so I had to get some sort of dessert. I decided to get some ice cream and sorbets Chocolate ice cream, mango sorbet, cherry sorbet. The chocolate ice cream was great. Mango sorbet very good, too. Friday Breakfast Society Cafe at Encore A friend of mine wanted breakfast Friday morning. I knew I was going to be eating a somewhat early lunch at Julian Serrano, but I went anyway with the intent of maybe just having some coffee and orange juice. I got that, plus something to eat. A simple bowl of yogurt, fruit, and granola. Really, pretty nice. I actually wind up ordering something like this pretty regularly when eating breakfast out Friday Lunch Julian Serrano at Aria The Aria resort/casino is new. It opened up in December, just a few days after I left Las Vegas on my previous visit. They have a vast line up of restaurants, and a few of them had caught my eye. One of them was Sage, where I had dinner Wednesday night. Julian Serrano was another. Fortunately, they are actually open for lunch. I went here with a group of my friends (4 of us in total) We each ordered 3 or 4 different small plates. There were a few duplicates, but I still think we got a good variety of things. One again, I failed to take proper notes. But I have some pictures of some of the dishes. Everything came to the table very quickly after we ordered. I suppose we should have asked them them to space it out a bit for us. But we managed to handle it OK Cocktails at Wynn/Encore I had a couple of nice cocktails at Wynn/Encore. This was at the Parasol Down bar at Wynn. This is one of my most favorite places in all of Las Vegas to have a cocktail. The drink pictured above is called Cucumber and Ginger cooler. It's made with Hendrick's Gin, Canton Ginger Liqueur, muddled cucumber, fresh lime juice, agave nectar, and club soda. Very good, if a bit sweet. But something like that is easily adjustable. This was the Hibiscus-Raspberry Brut I had at the Eastside Lounge at Encore. It's a champagne cocktail made with hibiscus syrup and some sort of raspberry liqueur. Another winner from the mixologists at Wynn/Encore.

All Star Interactive Lunch at Encore (Hosted by Barbara Fairchild, editor of Bon Appetit magazine) This was an event I was really looking forward to. Sure, to some it may sound silly to pay good money to actually cook while on vacation in Las Vegas. But for me, this would be a real treat. The format of this event is essentially a hands on cooking school. But instead of being held in a kitchen, it's held in one of the beautiful ballrooms at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas resort/casino. The setup in the ballroom consisted of about a dozen round tables that seated 10 with a long rectangular table at one end that would serve as our "kitchen" for the table. At the front of the room was a long stage with a cooking station. Each end of the stage was flanked by a large video screen to allow everyone to see what was going on. The marquee chefs at this event (all work for Wynn) were David Walzog of SW Steakhouse, Alessandro Stratta of Alex and Stratta, Paul Bartalotta of Ristorante di Mare, and Frédéric Robert, executive pastry chef of Wynn/Encore. David, Alex, and Paul would all demo one course each while each table followed along and actually prepared that dish. Fred (thats how he signed the special aprons everyone received) would simply present the dessert course. First Course Steak Tartare Presented by David Walzog The tables were all setup for this course when we walked into the ballroom. As you can see from David's pictures, the mise en place was almost entirely done. The only real work here for the table participant was to make a fine dice with the filet, then mix everything together and plate it up. This was pretty good. Had a nice peppery kick to it. It accompanied with Tattinger, Cuvée Prestige Brut, Reims NV Second Course Sweet Pea Risotto with Wild Mushrooms Presented by Alessandro Stratta This is where I got int the action and did some cooking. All the mise en place was done in advance for the tables. There was a pea puree that Alex demoed, but we had it already made. The mushrooms were already cooked, too. But we still had raw onions. And raw rice. There was a sauce pan with chicken stock simmering away on one burner. A second burner had the saute pan to actually cook the risotto. I won't go into the details of how to make a risotto because there was nothing unusual about the method. But it was nice to have some pro guidance from our table's chef to give you little pointers and tips. One of the better tips was to be careful not too over salt as you go. I think this may be something I am guilty of doing my self. One thing I've never done with my risotto was to fold in whipped cream to finish. I guess that's a ultra luxurious restaurant thing. But I would certainly make up a pea puree and stir that into a risotto I would make. I really enjoyed doing the cooking here. David will have the photos of me in action! I can't wait to see them. This was delicious. Very rich and flavorful. But still had a great spring flavor. Peas work really nicely in a risotto. This was served with a Hirsch Vineyards, "Bohan Dillon" Pinot Noir, Sonoma Valley 2008 Third Course Whole Fish Cooked in Aromatic Sea Salt Crust Presented by Paul Bartalotta Chef Bartalotta's restaurant, 'Ristorante di Mare' in the shops of the Wynn esplanade is known for one thing. And that thing is Mediterranean seafood. Chef doesn't fool around when it comes to obtaining the all the various sea creatures that can be featured any given night in the restaurant. He told us it even took a bit of work to convince Steve Wynn to spend the money to do it. Shipments several times per week. Everything tracked by placing a special chip on one fish in each case. Some sort of marine biologist on staff at the hotel to keep a lot of these creatures alive in kicking in storage tanks until they are ready to be cooked. Just take a look at what was on display. Considering where we were and where it came from, it was remarkably fresh. Smelling of just sea. Eyes clear. Just what you want in fish. The goal here was to take away the fear of cooking whole fish. And we would do that by encasing the whole fish in a whole lot of salt seasoned with spices and citrus zest, bound together with egg whites. Paul was very animated up on stage. Wanted to make sure every table was following along and keeping up. After the fish were covered with sea salt, they were all taken away to bake in the oven. Meanwhile, worked started on prepping some pan sauteed zucchini that would go with the fish and a simple vinaigrette that would go with it and be drizzled on the fish to finish After a brief amount of time, our fish came back. And something magical happened. They got BIGGER! Actually, they were different fish. It's like TV cooking. Just not enough time to cook the whole fish. So, we prepped small ones, and Wynn staff cooked much lager ones that would feed each table. Another interesting thing is not every table had the same fish. One thing Chef told us that they learned that they needed to keep the heads of the fish uncovered with salt. If they didn't do this in the restaurant, it would be difficult to tell which fish was fish since on any given night, they can have many varieties available. Next came the task of removing the salt dome, taking the skin off the fish, then removing the flesh from the bones. Certainly, this can be a daunting task for someone inexperienced. But if you are careful, it can be done. Just watch out for the bones. This was my favorite course of the day. Good thing we had such large fish, because I had a second helping of this. I gotta try this at home someday with a small fish. Served with a Tenuta di Trinoro "Passopisciaro", Sicily 2008 Fourth Course Desserts presented by Frédéric Robert There was no demo here. No work to do for any of the participants. "Fred" was introduced and he came up on the stage and simply told us what we were getting. That's fine. The event lasts only so long and there just isn't time to prepare elaborate desserts. All we had to do was eat. What was delivered to us was Wild raspberries in a Sundries Trifle with Lemon Yogurt Sherbert, accompanied by Glazed Pastry Sticks. There was also a Candy Bar Assortment of Crunchy, Creamy, and Rich Chocolate. No wine here. But there was a nice coffee service to go with dessert

I finally made it back home after a 5 night trip to Las Vegas. I'll start to work on my write up of the interactive lunch held at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas. But first, I wanted to make a few comments about things David has already commented on. Sage at Aria (Wednesday Dinner) If you couldn't already tell by David's write up, this was a really fantastic meal. The foie gras "creme brulee" was totally decadent. Not sure if it's too cliché to pair foie gras with brioche and Sauternes, but it done for good reason. It just works so well. We were served a tasting portion of this and just could not imagine having the full sized portion off of the regular menu. I think an even smaller portion would be good. Maybe as secondary amuse. None of the dishes were clunkers here. If there was one that was "weak", it would have been the beef course. But even that was still nice, especially the fried artichoke hearts. At the end of the meal, Chef Shawn McLain came over to our table and chatted with us for a good while. Nice guy. Seemed to be very happy with the reception he has been getting in Las Vegas. I hope this place continues to do well. I was impressed for the size of the crowd in the dining room for a Wednesday night. I hope it's a sign the economy is improving and that the city and the visitors to it will support a restaurant like this one.. There really aren't many like it on the Las Vegas strip. Grand Tasting at Caesars Palace (Thursday evening Uncork'd Event) As I mentioned previously, this was my first time to be in Las Vegas for the Uncork'd weekend, and this was my first event to attend. The setup here was pretty nice. There were certain areas that got really crowded when the crowds were at their peak and other areas that were totally underutilized. But if you can deal with big crowds, there was a lot to like about this event. Many tasty things to eat and the chance to actually interact with the big name chefs in a fun, casual environment. I didn't take notes like I should have. It would have been tricky while balancing plates of food and holding a wine glass or some other beverage. Would have been nice if they had printed up little "business cards" that detailed everything that was being offered up. Many dishes stood out, and in my mind, one chef in particular really out did himself with the interacting part. Just off of the top of my head, I'll list a few of them. An artichoke soup from Guy Savoy. Really fantastic. A braised lamb dish from Vintner Grill, an off strip, local, not in a casino restaurant (a really fantastic one that is worth any effort it may take to get there). A pasta dish with mini veal meatballs from Valentino. The oysters from Sage (very much like what we had on Wednesday night in the restaurant). An excellent combo of yellow tail sashimi and a tempura fried black cod from Nobu. Terrific french fries from BLT Burger. (Yeah, not "haute cuisine", but they really were good). Tasty little tacos from Isla. A few cocktails from the "Patron Lounge". Really, too many to mention.. And I didn't come close to hitting every place. Probably not even half of them. As far as meeting the chefs, it was pretty good. Met many. Even managed to say hello to Alain Ducasse and shake his hand. One chef in particular gets serious props from me for what he was doing. That was Luciano Pellegrini of 'Valentino'. He was up at the front of his booth, cooking and plating every little place of that pasta with veal meatballs. He must have been there the entire night. Also had a nice, extended chat with Claude Le Tohic, the chef that runs Joel Robuchon day to day. The guy is fresh off winning a James Beard award for Best Chef Southwest.

David is doing a great job keeping up with things. I don't have a lap top with me on the trip so it's hard for me to do the same. Grand Tasting last night was truly Grand. I'll be doing the interactive lunch with David later today. When I eventually get home I'll be able to write up more proper reports.

Over the past few years, I've read the posts about Vegas Uncork'd. My mouth watered. My thoughts leaned towards a bit of jealousy. It looked like such a great time. Good food. Good drink. All in a city I am totally in love with. And now, in 2010, I get to experience it first hand! I've been looking forward to this for months. And it's almost here. As David mentioned, there will be a lot on the agenda. I'm keeping my schedule of "official" events pretty light, but the ones I have planned should be great. The Grand Tasting at the pools of Caesars Palace ought to be THE event to be at. About 50 chefs from Las Vegas will be there turning out little bites of food from their restaurants up and down the Strip (with a few NOT from the Strip, or even from a big casino resort). I don't think I'll be able to get something from all of them, but I'll do the best I can. The other official event I have planned is an "Interactive Lunch" at the Wynn/Encore resort. What better place to do something like this than Wynn? When Steve Wynn opened the Bellagio opened up in 1998, he really stepped up the dining scene on the Strip. That played a major role in shaping the Las Vegas dining scene as we know it today. I'll have the opportunity cook with some of Wynn's top touques. Alex Stratta. Paul Bartolotta (he won the James Beard Best Chef Southwest award in 2009). Should be a great time. Sure, it's vacation in Las Vegas, but I think I will actually enjoy cooking in the desert. Of course, the fun doesn't sop there. There will be more eating. I am looking forward to hitting up Julian Serrano's tapas place in the newly opened Aria resort and casino. And there will be a dinner at "Top Chef Masters" contestant Rick Moonen's RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay. And we'll see what kind of food one can get delivered to a pool side cabana at the Encore resort.

Was happy to see Rick Moonen advance to the next round, along with Chef Waxman. Nice job by both.

I've never used it, but the thought has crossed my mind. I have no way to do a proper BBQ at my apartment, but I have made pork ribs by braising them in a foil pouch. (recipe/technique came from Alton Brown). I contemplated the idea of adding liquid smoke to the braising liquid, but never actually tried it. It's been a while since I have made ribs like this, largely because I got on a BBQ kick and swore off doing braised ribs at home. I figured I would rather not eat them unless I could get really GOOD BBQed ribs. But now that this topic has popped up, I may reconsider. A few brands have been mentioned. Can we get some more details? Is liquid smoke available in different wood types? (Oak, cherry, hickory, etc.??)

Maybe I am not understanding what Jamie is going for with this show and his time in Huntington. At first, it seemed like it was all about food in schools. Now he is branching out to getting the community as whole involved. Not that is bad, but it seems to lack focus to me. Kids aren't going to be cooking their own food at school. And even if their parents start cooking well at home, the issue of food at school still remains. Maybe this is the only way to make the show interesting? Week after week of school lunches could be boring to watch, I suppose. I agree that the bet with the DJ was contrived. It's almost like he was told (encouraged) to be the antagonist in this story.

A wood cutting board. I took it from my parents when I moved into my own place. Not exactly sure how old it is, but I seem to recall it being used my parents forever. So, I'll say it's at least as old as me. (I'll turn 40 later this year)

Finally got around to watching the first two episodes via Hulu. TiVo ought to be set to get everything else now. I can see where the people of Huntington are coming from. Wet Virginia gets beat up pretty good, and this may seem like more of the same. I think it was unfortunate that they never really fully explain the study. They sorta do, but at the same time, it seems like they just picked Huntington "randomly". Calling the workers at the school cafeteria "lunch ladies" got Jammie into more trouble than he already was. The workers there are really powerless to do anything. Really, it's not their responsibility. They know all to well that they are given very strict directions on what is to be served. It's a bit surprising that Jamie didn't really know this in advance. It's really the root of the problem. Yes, the guidelines can be dumb. But if they aren't followed, trouble can come about. It's a real tough battle. Can you do a "grass roots" effort like Jamie is trying to do at a school system like the one they have in Huntington? It seems like a tall task. But so is the task of taking it from the other direction. What else will we see in this series. Is the focus the school for the entire run of the show? Or does he move on to other things?

I think they may have written down their votes, then were asked to just say who they wrote down. But you are right that it may appear they know who is who when they are voting.

Anyone watching the new series "Food Wars" on the Travel Channel? Premise is simple. Travel to a city. Find two restaurants well known for doing a food specialty in that city. Do a bit of a profile on each. Find some "super fans" to rave about which place the like better. Then, arrange a blind tasting with the super fans, plus a few other locals. Declare a winner. The show is light fun. Only 30 minute show, too. They have been to Buffalo for a hot wings challenge between Anchor Bar and Duffs. Chicago for an Italian Beef challenge between Al's Beef and Mr. Beef. Most recently, they hit fairly close to home by visiting Lockhart, TX for a throw down between rivals (run by people from the same family) Kreuz Market and Smitty's Market to see who had the best central Texas style BBQ. I've been to both of these places. And both are considered top tier. It was fun to watch. Can't wait to go back to see who is better on my next visit.