BeeZee

TJ's Princeton supposed to be opening this weekend...

Yes, we would have liked to start ordering food (even if it were only cold items), but were told that we had to wait until 5:00. It was kind of strange. We said we were having dinner, the hostess said they didn't start serving until 5:00 but we were free to sit at the bar. We sat at one of the nice wood plank tables by the window and told her we'd stay there for dinner. We were given drink menus but were not even given (food) menus until close to 5:00. Would have thought the offer would have been made for us to look it over and order a cold item in the interim if the kitchen wasn't ready to start cooking for whatever reason. I know how some people can make a meal of free bar munchies, but it was more of not wanting to get tipsy since I hadn't eaten since that morning!

Stopped in for an early dinner tonite with my husband and his business partner...we hadn't been here before but his friend had. I had a glass of the white sangria, very nice. Little cubes of apple and oranges floated in the glass with a sprig of rosemary on top. We had a ton of food, I'm stuffed. I didn't write anything down, so this is just as best I can remember... Plate of olives (didn't really need it) Goat cheese with cherry/fig marmelade. Served with little pieces of french bread and apple slices. Very tasty. Roasted Eggplant, cippolini onions, tomatoes, peppers. Actually served as individual elements on a long rectangular plate. Kind of disappointing, but very pretty. Empenada with spinach, cheese, artichoke. Tasty, served on a bed of shredded sauteed veg, can't remember what. Two kinds of flatbreads were ordered, one was with shortribs and horseradish (the guys said it was great), the other was with heirloom tomatoes and a little cheese - nice crispy crust, tomatoes were very flavorful. Roasted potatoes - as mentioned by others, not the wedges you'd expect. They cut tubes out of potatoes and rolled them in smoked paprika, a little dab of aioli on top. I really liked these, the paprika flavor was great on the slightly crispy exterior. From the grill, shrimp and calamari. Perfectly cooked, simple. The calamari was incredibly tender (rings and tentacles). Shrimp were 3 large head-on. Baby lamb chops. I didn't have one, they were cooked to medium, very meaty. They guys were cooing with joy over these. We shared 2 desserts, one was brown butter cake with almond ice cream and plum garnish. Other was peaches with layers of puff pastry and a little cheese/cream filling. Some fruity/winey sauce poured into the dish at the table. OK desserts, not exceptional...but a nice ending. The only negative was that we got there around 4:30 and dinner service doesn't start until 5:00, so we sat in the bar to have a drink. It would have been nice if we were given a bowl of almonds or crackers or something to nibble for that half hour.

This month's Gourmet magazine features ice cream sandwiches on the cover...they do have you bake the cookies in bigger pans and cut down to size.

I made the cheesecake ice cream tonight. Also made a batch of dulce del leche so I swirled that in along with some broken up cookies. Very tasty base for so few ingredients. The lemon zest really makes it.

found website for Kebab House! http://trentonkebabhouse.com/aboutus.aspx

What about steeping anise in the milk/cream before blending? Not too much, but maybe a little would enhance that flavor of the raki?

JAZ, I had the exact same thought. If I go into the next step of baking a batch, I'm definitely going to use a sheet pan to make it, I think that will work great.

I keep thinking that a "standard" cheesecake cube would kind of mush apart. The stuff in the DQ seems much denser in texture. Maybe I'm overthinking...the good news is that even if it isn't perfect, I'm sure it will be a tasty experiment!

Hubby's birthday is coming up and he loves cheesecake ice cream. I have one of th Cuisinart ICE units with the freezable canister. Most recipes basically have you mix cream cheese into the base. Any thoughts on how to get cheesecake-like chunks into the mix? Crust bits are easy. Anyone who has eaten Dairy Queen "cheesequake" blizzard knows what I mean.

It's heresy, but I made some sauce with cranberries the other day. I had a small qty left over from making cranberry bread and cooked them down with just a little sugar. Pressed the "sauce" thru a fine mesh strainer and got a smooth ketchup-like texture. Mixed in a bit of honey, salt/pepper/soy/5 spice/vinegar and it was pretty tasty. The only disappointment was it still retained a bit of bitterness. Probably because I didn't want to add too much sweetener.

FYI, Mizu opened a second location in Parsippany...on Parsippany Road, in a strip mall with Quick Chek.

Sure is, there's that intersection called "5 points", if you're coming from the Quakerbridge Mall on Quakerbridge Road, you'd make a right onto Nottingham. I think Bill's Olde Tavern is on the corner.

Sounds like a primo idea for Sandra Lee..."look, you can buy these sushi rolls at your local market and transform them into a wonderful semi-homemade..."

Trader Joe’s will be opening a new store this summer in the Square at West Windsor shopping center off Route 1 in West Windsor, in the Meadow Road complex that also includes a Lowe’s and a Pier 1. So as I joked to a friend, we now have the "trinity" of Wegman's; Whole Foods; Trader Joe's within a half mile.

Taramosalata (Greek fish roe dip/spread). Definitely salty, fluffy in texture when whipped up!

I made this recipe for lychee sorbet (uses cream of coconut in the base) and it was really tasty and refreshing http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/vie...and-Lime-109551

Wow, I think the manager missed the mark, big time. She saw 2 bites (a taste?) taken from the entrees which you then stopped eating. So essentially at least 3/4 of your entree was sent back to the kitchen. I certainly don't think that sounds like you were angling for a free meal and she should have had enough business sense to give you more than a $8 (?) dessert against $45 of inedible entrees. Even a gift certificate for that amount for a future visit would have been smarter.

I like using the extra firm tofu (cubed) in a stew...you can do any kind of flavor, since it kind of blends in, so you're not confining to asian flavors. I think the pre-fried tofu is a great idea for that, also! Silken tofu can also be blended in to a soup (or fruit-based smoothie) to make it creamy.

Today made a nice batch of potato-leek soup with chives. Very simple, but I can tell it will be great with some parmesan toasts on the side. Also contemplating taking half of it and turning it into a modified chowder with some bay scallops and corn.

That's a great tip, I remember that from when I was single and living in Philadelphia...go to the Italian Market on Saturday and suddenly everything is two-fer...

Steven, I enjoyed your tale 'o the grape very much.

The chicken with chilis that I ordered was plenty spicy yet still flavorful. It had sauteed jalapenos along with the chicken, little skinny red peppers, and some other kind of chiles crushed into the saute mixture. The hostess who was really nice actually came back to the table a couple of times to check up on me because I guess she thought I wouldn't enjoy it. Nice after-tingle.

nope guilty

They have duck tongues, if that is your interest...table next to us seemed to enjoy them. I've never had the pleasure.