jsmeeker

wow.. That's terrible. I was coming to this thread to ask for an alternative to Plymouth if I were unable to find it in unfamiliar area (small town in Ohio). Plymouth has been my "go to" gin for a lot of cocktails, and I think it works well in certain drinks for people who say "I don't like gin" (plus, the price has been great compared to most other major brands). That's what I was looking for to make cocktails weekend after next, and wanted to know what to get if I couldn't get Plymouth. So, what do you suggest ?

It appears a new episode aired on Saturday morning. My TiVo didn't pick it up because it conflicted with another show I was recording. (another cooking show on PBS, and that was a re-run!). I've tweaked my season pass settings to give "Secrets" higher priority. Just a heads up. It seems to have moved time slots. And it also appears to still only air a single time. I wish FoodTV would air some of these cooking shows more than once. They do it with other shows. Even if it's at 3:00 AM, it's OK 'cause TiVo will get it for me.

I say give L'Atelier de Joel Rubochon at the MGM Grand a try. I think you will really like it. Does the other meal have to be really high end? If so, try Alex over at the Wynn. I hear great things about it. Is it maybe "just like a typical, well done fancy French type place"? I dunno. Maybe. But it's not like a really well done French type place is a bad experience.

Watching the first episode now. Only about 15 minutes in so far and I will say this. Man, I gotta become a celeb chef or a NYT food writer. I can't believe these two guys get to tool around Spain with not one, but two GORGEOUS women and eat and drink with them. Talk about a great life.

I tend to have have... Cholula's (w a wooden top) Tabasaco (original) Frank's Red Hot Tapatio On hand at any given time. Franks is for making wing sauce (along with some Tobasaco) and and as part of a marindae. The Tobasaco is "general purpose". Maybe a bit into some mayo to make tuna salad. or into a bloody mary. The Tapatio and Cholula is yummy on beans, barbacoa, etc.

Thanks everybody! These are great tips. We DO have Asian markets here in the Dallas area, so if I need specialty ingredients (especially things in jars or bottles that have decent shelf life), I don't mind driving a bit to get them. FWIW, the wine is a Torrontes. They say it goes great with spicy stuff and it's been suggested that Szechuan is a perfect pairing.

Inspired by some wine I bought, I want to take a stab at Szechuan style cuisine. Help me prepare Szechuan or Szechuan style food in my home kitchen. Right now, I am looking for the spicy Szechuan food (though I understand it's not always spicy). I do have some Szechuan peppercorns. I also understand that chilies are a big part of the spice in this style. Living in Texas, I am no stranger to chilies. Both fresh and dried. Fresh jalapenos and serranos are comon items in my kitchen. For dried, I have guajillos and arbols on hand. Do these work in Szechuan cooking, too? What about meats? Beef, pork, chicken.. I like it all. Seafood, too. (shrimp, scallops, etc.) For preparation, I want to start with pretty easy and not too many ingredients. Simple stir fry is always good. something I can knock out pretty quickly on a weekday if I do some prep work the night before would be awesome. Easily obtainable ingredients is key, too. So, tell me what to do! I want to get cooking.

Closed: Nove Italiano at Victory Park http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?searc...1-16&version=31

I used popcorn salt, mixed with some ancho chili pepper, to season my chips. Worked well.

I've made potato chips (American terminology here) before and was hoping to get some additional tips from this topic. My method is what I thought was fairly simple. Take a Russet potato (I have no idea if they are late season or not. It's just whatever the grocery stores sell). Slice it thin with a V-slicer. Rinse and soak in a lot of water. I put the sliced potatoes in a container and fill with water. Then dump it out. Then fill it again. and dump it out.. Then fill it again. I keep rinsing them until the water runs pretty clear.. Then I dry them by laying some out in a single layer on towels, with a more paper towels on top. I heat regular canola oil to 350 and fry them until a golden brown. This is the point at which they get crispy. I wish I had taken a photo of them to post here. I'll do that next time. But they are brown, but not what I would call burned. Then are light and crisp, and don't feel greasy to me. But these aren't exactly like most store bought chips. Those are usually yellow when crisp. What goals are people trying to achieve here? are you trying to make them look like the commercial chips? I.e. yellow? Or are you just trying to get them crisp without BURNING? What I get from this topic so far is that the more sugar in the potatoes, the darker they get. That makes sense to me. Is it possible I am OVER rinsing my potatoes? Does having too little starch make them more brown? I'm not even sure if them getting brown is a bad thing. Really, I think these are pretty good. I've had chips similar to this in a nice hotel bar. if I explored the soak in acidic acid, would that help them stay more yellow when they finally crisp up? Wonder what McGee says on this? I oughta check it out.

For me, that's much better than a Flash heavy website.

I am pretty sure the rankings published in the magazine (and in the show) are done by a tasting panel. It seems that Chris is not directly involved in this, and they always seem to have fun with Chris disagreeing with the panel. I'm pretty sure if you were to find the article in the magazine with that tasting, Chris's pick would NOT be the number one pick.

The McRib is popping up again in certain areas of the country. I know they are available in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area again. Get 'em while they last!!

saw the most recent show where she did fried chicken. It was OK. But good enough to keep the season pass on the TiVo to see if it improves like I have seen with other new cooking shows.

thanks for the tip on the food pairing. I don't cook Szechuan at home often, and have never done Indian. But this sounds like a good time to start!

A found out about Cork wine shop while trying to figure out where the Grimaldi's pizza place was located within the West Village shopping area in Uptown. It caught my eye on the list of stores, so I checked out their website. I was immediately intrigued by their tasting stations. Six different themed stations, each with 8 wines available to tate or buy by the glass. They use the automated Enomatic systems. I've seen these before, but have yet to encounter one in a retail wine shop. It may be the only one in Dallas. The staff was very helpful in assisting me pick out six different bottles (which gets you a 10% discount), including a few types I've never had before or even had heard of. I was given several complimentary samples while I was there to help me select my bottles. I highly recommend this place to anyone in the Dallas area. They are located in Uptown, in the West Village shopping center. They aren't part of the main complex, rather in another building on the other side of McKinney. It's just two or three doors down from Grimaldi's

I did a little wine shopping today at a fairly new place in Dallas. As far as I can tell, this wine shop is not part of a chain or anything like that. One nice thing about this shop is they have many wines available for a taste (or even a full glass) via an Enomatic system. They must have had two dozen or so wines available this way. After selecting some reds, I though some whites would be good. I told the girl helping me that I liked rieslings and gewurztraminers. She took me over to the tasting station and gave me a taste of a Torrontes. I liked it. Seemed a bit sweet though. But I kept it in mind. The price of THAT bottle was a tad more than I was trying to spend. So, she recommended another bottle of Torrontes that was in my price range. So, I decided to add that to my purchase. What I bought was a 2007 Zolo Torrontes. (Mendoza region of Argentina) Looking forward to trying this out. It's always nice to discover a new varietal of wine.

I love the oven method. I'll do just a few slices that way. I'm also a no rack bacon baker. The rack is just one more thing that needs to be cleaned. Also, I don't have a rack with small enough spacing to fit my quarter sheet pans. Being single and usually cooking for one, a quarter sheet pan is large enough for me most of the time.

Thanks. I heard the rumor on a Las Vegas podcast and google search led me to the entry at John Curtas' website. I've read stuff from him before. Good information there. (I saw the bit about Ducasse and Mix and the Mandalay Bay people) BLT Burger opened a day or two after I left Las Vegas back in early July. I've been hearing many good things about it since it opened. I am planning on being back in Las Vegas in mid-December, and will be staying at The Mirage. So, I'll check out BLT Burger. I assume Burgers and Half Bottles won't be open by then. But maybe it will be when I go in Summer 2009? I hope so.

Has anyone heard the rumor/news about Thomas Keller opening another restaurant at The Venetian? What I heard was that he was going to open his Burgers and Bottles concept there, taking over the space that used to be Lutece (and then was briefly a Chinese place). It's away from restaurant row, right on the casino, across from the sports book. I'm going to dig around for more info on this.

How is this new Wal-Mart concept different from the existing Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets?

Saw a promo for this on FoodTV the other day. Looks interesting. Maybe it will be the USA version of the Cookworks show that was produced by FoodTV Canada and also aired in the USA.

watched another episode yesterday. This was the egg episode. I'm still liking her, but not so sure if I like the "sidekick" guy and how he is worked into the show. I might even be inspired to make one of those baked egg dishes she made. I've never done eggs that way for breakfast. Seems like a good an easy breakfast. One thing I noticed in the show was she gave a piece of advice that seemed really wrong. I wish I could recall exactly what it was, but it had to do with cooking times. A time quoted seemed really off to me.

I'm cool with it. I've bought a box or two of some simple sauvignon blanc in the past. Mostly, so I had a supply of wine I had on hand any time I needed some for cooking. Making risotto, making mussles, for pan sauces, or whatever. It works. And I can even pour my self a glass of it and drink it while I cook. Or maybe even for when I sit down all by myself and eat what I just cooked. Is it the wine to pour when company is over? Probably not (unless they are in the kitchen with you helping you cook).

I watched today's "Pie" episode. Aida is pretty good. But she isn't "perfect". She had some issues when she was doing the crust. But to me, I think it might be OK for a show like her's since she seems to be appealing to less experienced home cooks. Sometimes, the way they worked the "Tech guru" guy in there seemed a little too rehearsed or staged. But overall, I thought the show was good. The season pass on my TiVo will stay.