joiei

It is 9:23 am and I just poured my first glass of iced coffee for today. It is made from coffee that i brewed yesterday and let chill overnight in the fridge. THat way, I do not get a watered down version, the ice stays much longer and the beverage is cold and full of that coffee flavor. If someone has a better way, I would be glad to learn. edited to add that the 13th Street Coffee House in Omaha made a very good iced latte when I was visiting up there. It was not watery at all and was cold.

A little background for the ignorant, please? Is this another Tulsa treat for me to look forward to? u.e. ← there is a gentleman, in both senses of the word, here who is our local tomato expert, Darrell Merrell. He grows tomatoes, he has developed new strains of tomatoes, and he grows heirloom garlics. He is quite the personality, lots of fun to talk to. Around here, Darrell is known as the Tomato Man with Garlic Breath. True. And if you have a love of tomatoes and or garlic, by all means, look him up when your here, Give him a call, he will make time for you and show you his garden down on the south side of town. edited to add a footnote. that piece on Darrell for HGTV was written by Paul James who got his start on Television right here in Tulsa. Just a little useless info.

Fried dill pickles and spicy gumbo, sounds like Jazz needs to be checked out.

Oh man, Big Country, you have made my mouth start to watering. The creole remoulade is the secret. Way better than ranch dressing.

I found this Site that says Another reference says that and this culinary site talks about the uniform. It says that and also

So how are the fried dill pickles at Tomfooleries? seriously. I love good fried dills. Or is there another place in the Greater KC MSA that I should consider checking out the next time I am up that has better fried dills.

This can get to be a great expense for a restaurant. In Florida, during the winter, a lot of restaurants do not put the packets on the table because the snowbirds will take it all assuming incorrectly that they have paid for all the packets. If you ask the server for a couple of jars for your kids, I am sure it will be not a big deal. But when you go through a couple of cases in short order, it drives up cost of doing business. For a while, I worked in a gourmet kitchenware store and I will not get into all the stuff the snowbirds stole from us. And their reasoning was that without their business, we would go broke, they almost drove us broke with the stealing. But that is another soapbox. Sorry. Back to the packets, use what you need and leave the rest, don't pack them home.

Kokoa Chocolatier is a chocolate speciality shop all the time. They do an assortment of hand formed and hand dipped truffles and limited other sweets and desserts mostly involving chocolate. They have tables if you want to enjoy a sweet treat with some coffee or a latte during the day when they are open. On thur, fri and sat evenings they are open for dessert service and over time he has built up a regular clientel and they are busy. What Stephen has added now is a once a month event for his store. It is a pre fixe in that the menu is set and everyone gets the same thing, barring special diets of course. Just let them know.It is 8 courses so the portions are smaller (at least for Tulsa). Stephen is trained as a chef with a passion for chocolate. it is odd, but that is the way he wants to do it. He does have a full kitchen because of the production he does. He uses his regular staff for all the service. He does not want to be a full out restaurant, but this way he gets to play beyond sweets some. And he is pretty good at it. The cookie cup was a thin flour crisp, not a parmesan crisp (and there is a name for the parmesan crisp and it is escaping me right now). Stephen uses white truffles in one of his truffles. they were part of the baked pudding. The puddings had been baked in rings instead of cups which made the presentation nicer. They make a white chocolate truffle which is totally different from this product. I guess your just going to have to come down to discover. Tulsa is not as dining advanced as KC but it has slowly changed in the over 5 years that I have been here.

THis is a dinner I had at Kokoa Chocolatier here in Tulsa on the 31st of May. Chef/Owner/Chocolatier Stephen Howard has started having a pre fix dinner the last Wednesday of the month at his shop on S. Peoria. The amuse, which was not listed was a little savory tuile cup (I wish I could find a better word than tuile, because to me that signifies a shape over anything else) filled with an herbed mascarpone and lump crabmeat. The first course Forelle pear with tallegio and proscuitto. This was served with a Chateau St Michelle/ Dr Loosen Eroica Riesling. It was a tender individual tart wrapped with the proscuitto. Stephen's crusts are always perfectly tender and this was that way. second course Sea Scallop with asparagus, savory tapioca and roasted mango. The scallops were seared with a nice crispy top and a perfect medium, still moist and tender. third course Grouper with eggplant and tomatoes served with a Feudi di San Gregorio Fallanghina, Sorbo Serpico. THe eggplant was thinly sliced and wrapped around the grouper and roasted. It was good, but not my favorite dish of the evening. The Grouper was nicely done, still moist and tender. It could of used a touch more seasoning. fourth course Thai Basil and Lime Sorbetto with Cantalope Pickles. I loved this course, the sorbetto was tangy and the cantaloupe was still fresh with a salty and peppery bite to it. They really worked well together. fifth course Roasted Lamb Loin with white beans, mushrooms, roasted tomatoes and baby artichokes served with a Jade Mountain Syrah. And excellent dish that paired well with the wine. The beans and everything else complimented the lamb although I wish there had been another artichoke or two. personal preference there. sixth course fennel and radish salad. a nice way to clean the palate. It was finished with a simple rice wine vinagrette so you had the fennel doing its thing, the crunchy peppery radishs doing their thing. seventh course Hot chocolate custard with white truffles served with a King Estate Pinot Gris Vin Glace. By far my favorite, the texture and temperature of the pudding was just beyond expectations. Not too sweet so you could taste the depth of the chocolate, the crust was almost not there, and it had a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. The finish was coffee and some of his hand dipped truffles. If you are in Tulsa, I highly recommend that you check out this place and if your here on the last Wed of the month, try to get in for dinner. I don't know of anyone else doing anything like this in town. Stephen is a magician with chocolate. He does not do chocolates like anyone else, they are all hand formed and hand dipped. His ginger cookies are also quite good. I have heard a rumor that he is starting a little pastry shop downtown somewhere. I will post when I get better info.

Hi ThuurstonM, welcome to eG. There are enough people with ideas in these parts, keep asking questions. Can you do speicals to try and expand the palate of the menu? If so, work on some apps and some different meat presentations. I know your in a small southern college town, but work on trying to go beyond what is expected in that town. There is some pretty good music happening there, so there should be some good food also. I would say for inspiration, go to Atlanta. I wouldn't try to overwhelm them at first, be creative. Coming from a small southern city, it mostly does not take much to impress the pants off of them. Do different things with grits, stuff they have never seen and wouldn't see. Best of luck.

from their website.

;hey guys, thanks for today, this has been most entertaining. Now, the next time I am up, should I dare venture up into the northern extremes to check out this Tomfooleries place. I do travel for food. Or will I be better off hanging out down in Westport. Exactly how good are the fried dill pickles?

Brilliant. You might also want to keep in mind that fruits and vegetables are 75-90% water. ← yes, and they are crunchy and can be served with out being whipped. ← But I like being whipped when I'm being served! Uh-oh, oops sorry, TMI. Carry on. ←

Brilliant. You might also want to keep in mind that fruits and vegetables are 75-90% water. ← yes, and they are crunchy and can be served with out being whipped.

I think I speak for Miracle Whip lovers everywhere when I say that our failure to convert you to Miracle Whip is a truly crushing defeat for us, and has us questioning our very sanity. ← no biggie to me, hey I don't care for oysters either. And my grandfather was an oysterman by trade. Don't be crushed, just a quirk of growing up south of I-10 possibly. And I like mayo with my french fries. I'll bet that grosses some one out. I have to stop this, causing havoc for fun.

THanks Kevin, I just placed my order - pineapple, coconut and lemon. And the shipping to the midwest is also $4.95. Pretty cheap considering how much some companies charge to ship stuff. And I have had the melted treats from that machine at UNO. Kind of line drinking a candy bar.

I agree that the sugar free banana split is not the best thing they do. You can drop them a line here and ask for more interesting flavors. As for what is in your local store, ask the store manager to keep a better variety stocked. Some stores here carry a miminal stock and others devote a big space to Blue Bell.

Hey, what's wrong with "water, oil, sugar and cornstarch"? Damn fine ingredients if you ask me. And I'll bet you use them all the time! ← I do use all those ingredients and sometimes all of them in the same dish but not as primary ingredients. Just remember the next time you pick up a jar of MW that your really buying whipped water. Do they use Evian to get that price per jar? lol

I am thoroughly enjoying these mental images of the Plaza as a little Beirut.

A photo alone does not give any idea of flavor. I have talked with food stylists and the tricks they use to make food look beautiful for a photo would make me not want to put that in my mouth. The written description is what drives me and my decisions. I have total respect for food stylists, the ability to create a picture that would make others drool is not easy. THe photos that individuals take of plated dinners that we see a lot of here on eG is the ability to capture the essence right at the perfect moment before it is eaten. I have done some and it is hard to take the perfect picture. It takes much practice, one person who has done well with this is ulterior epicure and his pictures

So Miracle Whip is water, oil, sugar and cornstarch all whipped up, huh. I think I will stick with my Hellman's, thanks anyway.

Sandy was referring to the foie gras. No need to worry about that in KC . . . at least not yet. =R= ← Let's hope so. I need to get to Starkers on my next trip up.

I have to finally get in on this discussion. I grew up south of I-10 in the Florida panhandle (that does not leave a whole lot of space) and we were a mayo family. My aunt who lived down the road was the MW person. My personal preference is for the Hellmans Mayonesa - with lime juice. Fifi is the one who turned me on to the Mayonesa.

I use a product that I can only get at Publix supermarkets. I have to have it shipped in. It is called S-32. I was turned on to it by the chief steward on the boss's boat. I tried to buy it directly from the manufacturer, but they do no retail sales and only make this for Publix. It sucks when there is not one handy. But the product works.

Did I mention anything about a second dessert, noooooo. A little after dinner drink, maybe. Some convivial conversation with Chef and a little rest after collecting my own Ultimate Collection. PLus the fact that I had to recover for the 8 course dinner I had at Kokoa Chocolatier the next night was about all I could do. The desset at Kokoa was a warm chocolate pudding which was the best thing made of chocolate I have put into my mouth in several years. Dark, dark and bittersweet with the creamy texture of a baked pudding that wasn't over sweet. u.e., when you come this way, let me hook you up with Stephen Howard at his place, he is a chocolate genius.