jsmeeker

Timely topic for me, too. Last weekend, I wanted some Buffalo wings to eat while watching football. I bought a gallon of peanut oil and used about 2/3 of it to fry up with wings. I strained it into another container and put it in the fridge. On Thursday, I used that oil to make some potato chips. Last night, I used the oil to make fried catfish and hush puppies. Everything was really fantastic on the second and third fry session. I think the potato chips were the best I had ever made. And the fish and hush puppies turned out great. I strained out the oil from last night's session, though probably not as well as I could have. I should have used some cheesecloth in my fine double mesh strainer. This oil is back in the fridge. Can I use it again? I DID cook some fish in it, so should I only use it for fish again?

Picked up a small amount of Republic of Tea Assam Breakfast Tea the other day. It's not quite as good as the Assam Tara I have from Cultured Cup. But I had used up all of the Irish Breakfast and just wanted to try something new.

Fried Catfish and hush puppies

are Big Macs juicy/greasy? I haven't found that to be an issue with other McDonalds burger. I've never had a Big Mac.

This is my strategy as well.. But some times, the "at the end" comes days later. But yes, soaking certainly works.

I don't think the Riservas are on the menu. My meal was sort of "pre-arranged" so they had some ready for us. But the impression I got is that they tend to keep some on hand in the kitchen. Certainly based on what I saw on a tour of the kitchen, it seemed to be that way. But who knows what be going on any given day. As David suggests, you should really call them up and talk to them in advance. The restaurant has a large meat aging facility off strip. It may be as simple as making sure someone brings over a sub primal to the Palazzo so they can trim it and cut it into a steak for you.

I've been to several of them both on and off the strip. Some are "big names" others not as much. Austin's (Texas Station - way off strip) N9NE (Palms -- just off strip) Delomonico's Steak House (Venetian) Carnevino (Palazzo) Morels (Palazzo) Strip House (Planet Hollywood) To be honest, I think I had good to really great meals at all of them. While they are all steakhouses, each was different enough that I could actuall notice it. Austin's was an interesting "diversion". I dunno if I would go back or if I would suggest an out of towner staying on the strip go there, but if you live in Las Vegas or you just like going to [way] off strip places, it's worth considering. N9NE has a very young, modern, vibe. It's LOUD, too. I had a great steak there. If the idea of having s great steak in an athmosphere that is almost like a night club, go. If that idea does not appeal, stay far away. Delomonico's Steak House was very solid. Nothing super special about it, but it's a good place to go to if you want a place with a well known name attached to it. Carnevino. I lucked into a rather special meal here. (a lunch, actually) What was special about it was the beef. Aged beef. REALLY aged beef. I have a rather detailed post about my experience here. If you are fealing flush and want really aged beef, go to Carnevino and get a "Riserva" steak. Also, the Mario Batalli twist to a steakhouse yields some apps/sides that are not the standard steakhouse affair. Overall, it was really great. Big thumbs up to this place. At Morel's, I had another very nice meal with a large group of friends. Good food. Excellent service. Nice looking room. Respectable cocktail menu. If you like cheese, this French inspired place is a good pick. Strip House at P-Ho is just fine. Pretty traditional. Nothing really special about it. But my friends and I enjoyed our meal here. Overall, I think my two favorites would be Morels and Carnevino.

any news on when this will start airing?

This past weekend, the How to Cook a Thick Steak topic inspired me to buy a thick steak that I saw on sale at the grocery store and try a steak cooking method that I had not tried before. For a side dish, I made something I had never had made before at home (but have had in a restaurant). I made a cauliflower puree. This got me to thinking about side dishes for steaks. I started to think about what one would find on a menu at a steak join. Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, steak fries. Creamed spinach, creamed corn. Sautéed mushrooms. it seems like most every place as the same stuff. So, when you are at home, what are you serving with your steaks. Are you serving those steak house classics? Or are you whipping up something a little unusual? Classics are great when done well. They can be very comforting. But new and/or unusual is always welcome.

Does a Michelada count as a beer cocktail? They don't really use any spirits in them.

Wynn/Encorre is at the end of the north end of the strip that is actually fully developed and lined "wall to wall" with big resort hotels. If you keep heading north, things get a bit "dicey". You have empty chunks of land, chunks of land with halted construction, The Riveria, the Saharah, the Clown, the the Stratosphere. But fear not. It's get plenty of good stuff on it's own, plus it's "across the street" from Palazzo/Venetian which also has a lot of stuff in it. They have plenty of cabs for the rest.

Remember that Bouchon is NOT in Wynncore. It's "next door" in Venetian/Palazzo. (to be specific, in the Venezia tower of Plazzo). It's a bit of a walk. All the way through Wynn. Outside. Over the bridge that crosses Sands Blvd. Into Palazzao. Through Palazzo casino and into connector area that connects Palazzo to Ventian's "Restaurant Row". Then, down there, passing everything, through the casino, following the sigs for the main check in desk. Then look for the signs for Venezia tower. Through a door way, then up the elevator, then down the hall past another regstration desk. Keep going. Finally, Bouchon is on the right. Yes, you gotta know where the place is. You almost need a guide if it's your first time. You'll walk a long way to get there. You'll be hungry once you arrive. I suggest going there for breakfast. For a starred Michelin chef, why not check out a guy that's truly been IN Las Vegas for many years? Go to Alex at Wynn.

McDonalds has introduced a new item to their snack wrap line. It's a Big Mac snack wrap. Yup. Basically, a Big Mac in wrap form. I haven't tried it. In fact, I've never even had a Big Mac before. If you are a closet Big Mac fan, have you had a chance to try this new snack wrap?

On Friday, I was doing some grocery shopping on my way home from work at the local mega mart 2 blocks from home. I cruised through the meat department and noticed that one of the cases had steaks for sale. I looked in and spied a bone in New York strip that was about 1.5 to 2 inches thick. I picked it up. Saw the price. $4.27 a pound. Total price was $5.89. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to try the method detailed by Steven. At home, I weighed it on my scale. 22 ounces. I don't think there was any grading noted on the package. I didn't take a picture of the completely raw steak, but you'll get a good enough idea about marbling in some of the pics I will post. Steak on the fat edge. As you can see, this steak is bone in. I am cooking this in my Calphalon Try-Ply stainless 3 qt saute pan. I really love this pan. It's great. I had my stove (electric coil) set to the medium setting. I wasn't exactly sure is the 10 minutes on the edge was 10 minutes for EACH edge or 10 minutes total for all edges. After about 6 minutes on the fat edge, I checked it. It was developing a nice brown. So, I started to cook the "ends" some, propping up on the side of the pan as needed. I even let the bone edge cook for some. In the end, it seemed 10 minutes total for ALL edges made sense. Onto the first flat surface. As suggested by Steven, I added some butter at this point. I left it melt. Swirled it around the pan. Lifted the meat up a bit to let some butter get under the meat. I left it on this side for 10 minutes After 10 minutes on the first side, I turned it over to cook the second side. This is what I got. Looking pretty good to me. Just before this picture was taking, I dumped the butter out and then added in more butter and did some basting. This is the first side after it had been basted in some butter. I continued to let the second side cook. Again, for another 10 minutes. After that time was up, I flipped the steak back over onto the first side and basted the second side. That didn't take very long. I didn't snap a picture of the second side. From there, the steak went onto a small rack that was set into a quarter sheet pan. That went into my oven that was set on warm. There it sat for about 15 minutes. After resting, the steak went onto my cutting board. I removed the bone, then sliced this up. About half of it went onto a warm plate along with a generous serving of cauliflower puree I had made before I started to cook the steak. Paired it up with a red blend from Australia. (2005 Hare's Chase Red Blend, to be exact) Verdict? This method works. What was really great about it is it addressed the issue I had raised a while back. Smoke. Due to the low heat, there really wasn't a bunch of smoke. Nothing at all like I see when I do a high heat sear method. Not even when I was browning the side that was essentially all fat. How did it taste? It was good. I think it would have tasted a lot better if the quality of the steak was better. This wasn't the greatest supermarket steak I have had. In the future, I will buy a higher quality thick cut steak. This method is certainly getting stashed away into my bag of tricks.

Made a batch of red beans and rice. Well, actually, just the beans right now. I'll cook up enough rice for what I'll actually eat tonight. For some reason, I just don't like leftover rice. I always make it up fresh.

I've never had Fatburger. But if their fries are worse than In-n-Out, then they must be horrible. IMHO, In-n-Out fries suck. And it's exatly for the reason Steven mentioned. Cooking method. To me, a frozen fry cooked properly should be able to be better than a fresh cut fry cooked improperly. Still, I give In-n-Out very high marks. They take a specific concept (chain, fast food burger joint) and do it about as well as you can. Way more stuff done right than done wrong.

That is what I figured. I get to Austin and Houston often enough to skip BBQ in Dallas. Currently I am leaning toward Stephen Pyle's, would you choose Local over SP? I've never been to Stephen Pyles. But he too is a long time Dallas chef and I usually hear good things about the place, so I would certainly consider it.

Is that a cheese?

Charlie Palmer is great. Just had a very nice meal there the weekend before Christmas. However, Charlie Palmer isn't a Dallas chef. But Dean Fearing is, and I've had two very good meals at Fearing's. (one dinner, one lunch). Dean is a long time Dallas chef, so dining there is a good way to see how Dallasites dine. Another suggestion for a local place is, well, Local. Located in Deep Ellum Really nice. I still like Mia's brisket tacos. Good stuff. BBQ? In Dallas? Best way to good BBQ in Dallas is Southwest Airlines to Austin. Then a rental car and on to 183 south to Lockhart.

I've actually done it before. Recipe came from Alton Brown. Basically, the process was to melt a bag of chocolate chips. While that was happening, some podered gelatin was bloomed in some cream. then that was heated until it was all "melted" and disolved. The cream went into the chocolate, along with some liqour if you wanted and some espresso. Then whipped cream was folded in. It worked. No eggs, though. I see that QbanCrackr's uses eggs in addition to gelatin. Also, it *seems* like a lot of gelatin to me. I'm no chocolate pro, but what I do know (more from Alton Brown, again!) is that chocolate seizes when you have a small amount of liquid. But if you have more, it won't.

eGullet society members are a diverse bunch. We love food. We love to eat. We eat a huge variety of things. But there is always something new out there. I many cases, it's something new to you. A new type of ethinc cuisine. Or a new type of animal or vegetable you've neve had. Or maybe it's some sort of method of preparing something that you have never experienced. In 2009, what new taste sensations did you have? Here are some of mine Dry aged beef that was REALLY aged. 8 months aged, to be exact. Very tasting. Quite a bit different than a normal steak. It had a quality to it that was similar to a cured ham. Also, had some cheesy note to it. At the same meal, lardo was served with the bread. (it was whipped up and was used like you would use butter). Crazy good. Beets. I am trying to recall exactly where I had these. It was recent, but I am not sure if it was the other weekend at a place in Dallas or if it was in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. In any case, I recall them being fresh. And the variety wasn't deep red. More like a deep pink color. I liked them. Squab. Had this the other weekend at a place in Dallas. I had never had it before and when I saw it on the menu, I decided to try it. It's good. Tastes like chcicken? No. Tastes more like duck. I love duck. Oh, and finnally, true Central Texas style BBQ. I always liked BBQ. But the stuff I had down in Lockhart and Luling totally changed my notion of what BBQ should be like. This was my best new taste sensation for 2009.

Has anyone had a chance to visit the newly opened second location of JPM Patisserie in Aria? I am wondering if they offer anything new or different or unique that isn't available at Bellagio.

I stopped into my local facny pants super market (Central Market in Plano, TX) on my way home from work last Wednesday (December 23rd). In the produce section, I saw fresh, in the husk corn. I thought that was strange. I didn't note where it came from. I guess it wasn't unique to me! Fat Guy saw the same thing.

Las Vegas, too. But I think that gets rolled up into the California guide. In any case, New York City is a strong contender for the top spot no matter what measures you want to use.

For Christmas 2009, the only kitchen/food item I received (so far) is a gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma.