Reignking

I'm sure Tom C is happy. They all honored thy protein.

Yes, they are focusing on the chefs -- their stories, their charities -- instead of the fake drama. And I loved how loose they were -- this was for fun. They were forced to have fun and not take it too seriously when they realized that they had to cook for kids. I loved the "burnt" comment on the banana. Top Banana Scallop returns! I was icked out when Keller stuck the shower head in the pasta, but I admire his resourcefulness. I was disappointed that Tim Love froze everything; I was thinking that he could've been good competition.

I am a huge Michael Chiarello fan. He's one of those chefs on tv that I have learned several things from. Going out to Napa Valley next spring and can't wait to try his new restaurant. I'm pulling for him, too! ← As I expected, he is as humble and nice as he seems on his show. I've always hated mushrooms. My then-fiancée loves them. We had just watched his show when he made Michael's Best Button Mushrooms. A few days later, my then-fiancée lost her cat; to cheer her up, I do what I do best -- cook. And I made that recipe. And it turned out...I liked them too! So, to my surprise, he actually had them on the menu at Bottega. When I asked them about them, he said that was the first recipe that he came up with -- when he was 12! Back to the show -- there are 4 chefs on each of 6 "semi-finals". Tonight's are...eh, some might consider it a spoiler. I just know Chiarello isn't.

I'm really looking forward to this one. I had a chance to meet Michael Chiarello at his restaurant the other week, so I'll be pulling for him. I'll even open one of his bottles that we brought back...

Ubuntu was very interesting, and may not be for everybody. When I went last week, the atmosphere was awful. They have very high ceilings; we were sat next to two other tables against the wall, and it was so quiet that I felt like I was listening to everyone else's conversation (and vice-versa). Thank God we didn't choose it for our anniversary. On top of that, it took the waitress 22 minutes to get to us (half-full late on a Wednesday). As for the food, we tried 5 dishes (including one dessert). The asparagus salad was fine, but light on asparagus; the chocolate mint with fresh peas was unique and outstanding (certainly the highlight). The chickpea stew was also very tasty, and my carrot gnochetti was quite vibrant (yet not bursting with flavor like the peas). The dessert...well, that was a disaster. I took a chance -- it had beet caviar (not good), geranium soda (unique and interesting) and orange sorbet. The beets were just a strange choice... Another complaint -- we got shafted on wine. They poured our red wine into white wine glasses. The ironic thing is that I didn't even notice -- we overheard the couple next to us complaining about how poor the pour was. The wine list was a little rich for my blood, too -- not a lot of good price points. So, it was an interesting experience. The menu changes a lot, so I can see it being hit or miss at times. Best peas I've ever had

Absolutely -- and if you ask a hundred people about where you NEED to go, you'll get a hundred different answers. I just got back from there, and there was plenty that we didn't do, but have on the list for next time.

I'm hitting Rubio's for a fish taco the first day I land in SF

Worst pizza that I ever saw -- never had -- was Telepizza's German pizza. It had brats and -yellow- mustard on it. Yikes. I've even had BBQ chicken pizza in Madrid. Granted, it was at Gino's, a Spanish chain.

I'm going to Napa next week for the first time, but instead of splurging on The French Laundry, we're going to take advantage of all of the other great food out there. Quite frankly, we couldn't justify the bang for the buck -- I don't think we would get enough out of it. My wife can barely finish a full meal, as it is And we can make the trip affordable by: flying on Saturdays staying with friends in SF for two days hotels are giving huge discounts right now (25%) going in the offseason (I think May is THE perfect time to travel -- not overcrowded, weather is "good enough", prices aren't overinflated) Plus, we're DINKs, and not in the food industry. Enjoying it while we can. My European adventures came while I lived in Spain during grad school, and a two-week honeymoon. We certainly splurged, then! But even then, I didn't need to go to the "best" restaurants, because the food itself was so new and interesting that any treatment was interesting enough. I loved eating random tapas versus hitting any of the "name" restaurants in San Sebastian, for example. For me, it has become about the ingredients; I salivate when I think of Spanish hams or cheeses or Brittany lobsters. Would I love to go to El Bulli? Sure, but I would be just as happy discovering fideu or walking through a grocery store finding new things. Last year, we went on a Greek-Italian cruise. Why? Because we could pay for it in dollars. HUGE savings. Plus, we got to try very different foods -- the best food that I had was handmade cavatappi in Bari, Italy, along with a fantastic antipasti bar. My wife and I find that we prefer good food done well -- too many times we find that restaurants that are too quirky just fail to live up to the hype. So...to respond to your question...we don't bother with the El Bullis and Fat Ducks of the world. There's plenty of good food out there.

I was stunned to find Belle Chevre goat cheese (Alabama) at an Atlanta CostCo. Locally-made cheese is rare in the south, so I was shocked to see it at CostCo.

I think there is a fundamental issue here -- we foreigners may have a different set of expectations when it comes to vegetables (or anything, really) but you are speaking from "27 years of experience". The OP begins with talking about a salad; would anyone here really think about salad when eating in Spain? I always found the food in Spain to be focused on some great ingredients -- jamon, olives, seafood, bread, cheese, piquillo peppers -- and not necessarily vegetable dishes. Most of the time I was eating tapas, or just a bocadillo or a menu; the vegetable to me often seemed to be an afterthought. I recall one time, in an obscure restaurant for lunch around the corner from my office, getting favas, and they were heavily stewed. To me, they seemed like an afterthought; I was hoping for something freshly prepared, that's all. As I was saying, we all have different expectations and experiences from which to draw on. If you were to say the same thing about the US, I would probably think you were crazy, too -- but I never go out to a restaurant based on what they do with veggies, either Best veggies that I had while in Spain? Grilled green onions, piquillo peppers, olives, white asparagus was interesting...unsurprisingly, I can't recall much more -- but I can certainly remember every bite of bellota. Now I'm hungry.

We've planned a trip to the area at the end of the month; I think this will have to make the list!

Despite the criticisms here, Shirley won the James Beard Award for Best Baking Cookbook.

@RichardBlais

Perhaps a hot brown?

I think that they like to reward themselves, and the final chefs, with a trip. Aspen, Las Vegas, Puerto Rico, New Orleans... However, other seasons had done a better job with incorporating the city into the challenges. Last season could've been Top Chef: TV Studio with New Orleans thrown in at the end.

Rancho Gordo Beans cause a stir here. Article in the NYTimes NY Times ← I just thought of those earlier, after a Cooking Light article on the next 5 big things. One chef said something to the effect of "well, everybody can get them now, so they aren't a big deal".

The ratings were abysmal.

I guess that means Toby Young is back -- I was hoping that he was just a temporary fill-in. I'd add a witty retort in here, but I would need to write my lines first before I delivered them.

Here we go again It's the Tom Collichio/Diet Coke debate, round #2!

Some recent attempts: Nutmeg: very quick. Only took 2 days. It's a bit strong. Cranberry: beautiful color, but the flavor is -very- subtle. And I used a lot of cranberries, and I've had that going for months. Cherry: much like the cranberry Lemongrass and Kaffir lime leaf (leftover from making curry): Fantastic! Only needed a day or two, and you could really taste the flavors. I've mixed it with cachaca for a caiprihna, but I think infusing cachaca would be even better.

Steak Diane, of course...

I just saw a new Blackberry Witbeer... Sam Adams was the first beer I ever tasted, when I was, um, 21...that didn't taste like crap. I was hooked (in a good way) since then.

I'm enjoying the show; this last week, the appetizer round had: Chicken wings Soba noodles Celery String cheese and 1 other ingredient I enjoy it because sometimes you'll see things you never would've thought of -- one chef deboned the wing and stuffed it with the cheese. Two chefs turned out dishes so horrible that they wanted to boot both. Both of them cooked the chicken wing, put it on top of the soba noodles, and placed the celery and cheese on the side because they couldn't think of what to do with it. Absolutely pathetic.

When pressing your cheese -- does everyone just leave it sitting out in the open air? Or an enclosed setting (closet, wine fridge, garage, etc) to keep it at a certain temp? Or to keep away from pets jupe -- great stuff on your blog -- thanks for the equipment portion too. I'm try to cost things out first to justify the expense.