jsmeeker

They are really good. I DID get a chance to visit the new shop at Aria last summer. I can't recall what I had there, but one that I liked from a previous visit to the Bellagio shop was "the intense" if you really like chocolate, you will like that one.

OK I used a light Mexican beer, poured into a glass filed with ice. Added some fresh lime juice, a fair amount of hot sauce, and a small dash of the magi. The michelada is a traditional beer cocktail in mexico. You can riff on it in a lot of ways. Could be as simple as beer with some lime. A bit of salt. Or you can make it more complex like I did. It's quite tasty. You can always play around with the hot sauce. I like Tapatio, and I like a fair amount of it.

Now I'm really in! Just booked my flights. Will get in Thursday afternoon in plenty of time for the Tremont crawl and will be there through late Sunday afternoon.

I submit the Michelada

in case you missed it in the PM, I'm in for a room at the Marriott.

The only way you are gonna get any is by waiting. You either show up really early and get up near the front of the line, or you show up close to opening time and get behind everyone that is already there. When I went, we would up getting there at about 9:15 AM on Sunday. We thought they opened at 10:00 AM for some reason. But they opene at 11:00. We were he first ones there. We waited around for a while, but it wound up working out well. Got right in. First to get our meat. Sat down and one of the tables large enough to accommodate our group, chowed down on the meat, and left. We were outta there but 11:30. For the record, here is my write up on Frnaklin. Below it are comments on other places I went to on that trip (pack in early April) Franklin BBQ comments with photos.

Franklin is awesome. Seriously. It's totally lives up to the hype. Best brisket ever. Really. Snows? Less so.. The brisket was good. Ribs? Not good at all. Sausage? Very average to less than average. But go to both. I have some pics around. Let me find 'em.

I haven't booked anything, but still planning on arriving Thursday in time for Tremont, and leaving Sunday after the lunch. Since the Sunday farewell meal won't be at the airport Marriott, should I re-consider my hotel accommodations?

Been a while since anyone has updated this. I just got back from Las Vegas, and I have a new place to send people. Go to the Cosmopolitan hotel. Just opened this past December. They really got it going on in the cocktail department. Had drinks in the Vesper Bar (the main lobby bar off the check in desk) plus the Chandelier Bar, the very impressive looking three story bar/lounge in the middle of the casino floor. At Vesper, I had two different drinks on two visits. One was called the Violet Femme. Plymouth Gin, maraschino, elderflower syrup, lemon juice. Served up in cocktail glass rimmed with violet sugar. Tasty. nicely balanced. My second drink here the next night was called the Sage 75. A nice riff on the French 75. Also had a drink at the casino level section of the Chandelier Bar. Drink was called the "Black Heart" Sazerac rye, creme de casis, balsamic reduction, basil, blackberries. It was quite delicious. Seriously. Go to Cosmo. PS: Charlie Palmer is now closed.

These were pretty good. Had a lot of "meaty" flavor and were nice and briny. I did OK opening. Only mangled one of the six I think the length of them make it tricker than I was expecting. Had to make sure I got the knife all the way down to the end opposite the hinge before really trying to totally separate the halves. I also seemed to have issues where shell clung directly to the meat, away from the muscles that hold it to the shell.

What types of oysters are these? I only know they are Atlantic oysters. Connecticut to be exact. Bought them at Whole Foods today. First time I even bought oysters for home.

Has anyone used this? http://www.humspirits.com/about-hum/what-is-hum/

Cisco is going to buy them?

I celebrated with a packaged of Mrs. Bairds powdered donuts that were procured from an office vending machine. Not exactly a artisan product, but it I think it counts.

I'm guessing the rules were made well before it became trendy to make ice creams loaded up with tons and tons of stuff. I blame Ben and Jerry. Of course, I guess their stuff is still legally "ice cream" since the base is already has a lot higher butterfat content.

I've seen this done before. At the Velvet Tango Room in Cleveland.

Central Market in Plano, TX Sockey was ~$30/lb King was ~$45/lb If I recall correctly. That's just too spendy for me, especially for solo dining at home.

Make pizza dough. Use it when you make chocolate chip cookies. Or most any cookie. Whip cream with it. What I like most about the machine is that it's hands free. You can let it run and do other tasks. Like cleanup. I have no attachments for mine, though I keep thinking about a meat grinder attachment for it.

Oh man.. They are super gringo and I don't ever go to taco bell to get them or anything, but I have made them at home before. used a recipe from Cooks Illustrated. But the best thing I learned from them wasn't the filling. IT was frying your own taco shells. It makes a HUGE difference in the finished product.

Education and learning is almost always "worth it" if it's learning abotu a subject that interests you and you have the means to obtain it.

Doesn't that fit into the "beverage use" category?

They are certainly useful for getting a list of some products to try out as well as products to avoid. Of course, it's not always perfect. As as been suggested, different panels can have a "bias", even if it's intentionally blatant. What's "best" is still personal opinion. People have ideas as to what a particular food ought to taste like. I recall a Cook's Illustrated taste test for chocolate. Scharffen Berger scored really low. It seems that the flavor was too "complex" for the panel. Speaking of chocolate and Cooks Illustrated... They have done a bunch of chocolate tastes tests over the year. As usual, they are frequently tied to some recipe they developed. It's interesting to see what appears to be inconistency from test to test.

Do you have a good memory as to what her sauce tastes like? Another suggestion for "umami" kick is Magi sauce. Comes in a little bottle.

I haven't. I've thought about it, but knowing me, I would just use it normally. If I ran out of standard milk, I would just use it. It wouldn't be in an "emergency" situation. Rather, it would be in a "I am too lazy to go to the store" or "I am stupid and forgot to buy milk" situation. I HAVE had it before. In Mexico many years ago. That seemed to be the normal way to sell milk there. At least, that's the way it was in Merida.

What's the dish? Is it a chicken boullion cube? If so, do you have any good, concentrated chicken stock on hand? I might use that instead of the cube and water. For the salt level, I think "season until it tastes right to you" rule is the best route. Does the list of ingredients list MSG? If so, you could add a bit of that in there.