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markemorse

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    Top Chef Season 5

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    Thanks to iTunes and my husband taking my kid away for a few days, I had a Top Chef marathon in the last couple of days and am finally able to read this thread without ruining it for myself.

    I really loved Eugene's ingenuity with the grill. I'm sorry he didn't seem able to follow through.

    Danny, what the $%^? "Maybe the tension was getting to her, maybe it was that time of the month". Maybe you're a sexist pig, honey, and need a giant bib. My 6  yo knows not to drip her pb&j on the floor.

    The fact that there aren't any prizes for the individual elimination challenges takes away some of the fun for me, and I'm sure for the chefs, too. I like a good session of kitchen gear voyeurism as much as the next girl.

    Kathy Lee is a tactless malevolent person, and she looks terrible. I recommend some whole foods, a nap, and way less plastics. As in surgery, not Gladware.

    Gail is looking great this season. I think the new guy is going to be too much for lax U.S. telly watchers.

    If I hear Ariane bitch about being the o"ld" 40 yo one more time I'm going to stick her between the eyes with a botox dart. Shut up.

    ETA: I'm joking about the botox dart. But still. Shut up. If you're feeling old it's cause you never stop whining long enough to do something that makes you feel good.

    Goodness, you should not watch Top Chef and then catch up all at once more often! it does wonderful things for your snark potency....:wink:

    Ramen Recipes

    in Japan: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    I'm interested to know more about the fish stock-based ramen stock.  I've made fish stocks using bonito and such for Japanese cooking, but I wonder how similar or different for fish stock for ramen.  I'm assuming that more ingredients are added and longer cooking time is required to get the rich, thick, complex favor and texture of a ramen stock.  Also, do people combine more pork based stock with fish stock or the pork stock would overpower the fish stock?

    The tonkotsu recipes look quite intriguing.  I think I'll try those recipes too.

    I'd like to bump this back up into visibility...

    I'm making tonkotsu ramen today/tomorrow and right now (after 6 hours of boiling) I have about 6 liters of pork bone stock that is...good, but not especially complex. I think that adding some dashi stock to the pork stock will probably solve my problem, but i have no idea what ratio might be reasonably authentic. I'm thinking about something like 4 parts pork stock to one part dashi stock. Maybe 3:1. Any suggestions?

    Appetizer/Hors D'Oeuvre/Starter Ideas

    in Cooking

    Posted · Edited by markemorse (log)

    kiliki...turn it into a chicken salad and serve on belgian endive leaves

    actually you can serve lots of fun bites on endive leaves

    tracey

    Do be aware that endive leaves only look appetizing for about an hour after you separate them from the head set them out: I made the mistake of opening one too early last night and by the time they should've been served they were seriously thinking about wilting completely.

    Chilies In The Desert

    in Southwest & Western States: Dining

    Posted · Edited by markemorse (log)

    gallery_21505_6252_74538.jpg

    I forgot to mention that on this night we also met one of gfron's customers, a lovely lady who is originally from The Netherlands.. she's in her eighties and it was great fun to meet her and she enjoyed speaking Dutch with us and reminiscing a bit about Holland..

    I'd like to say she looks pretty good for her age, but...

    i guess all that desert sun really can be bad for your complexion. :smile:

    Chilies In The Desert

    in Southwest & Western States: Dining

    Posted

    Mark, what's wrong with good Amerimexican? Those dishes looked pretty darn good to me. I've had some very good Amerimexican in Utah. While it may not be quite the same as traditional regional Mexican, it can still be outstanding in its own right.

    Nothing! Usually. But if you're visiting the Southwest, actually physically close to Mexico, and you haven't previously tasted much authentic regional Mexican food...it would be nice to get something that's at least a specifically southwestern version of this Amerimexican concept.

    Anyway, no negativity intended....blog on!

    Chilies In The Desert

    in Southwest & Western States: Dining

    Posted

    Then we had 2 of those Mexican dinners that you really can´t tell what they are anymore when you look at the picture... you think you don't have to take notes, the picture will remind you what you ate, but you don´t realize that all those rolled up-smothered with sauce-things look pretty much the same! Anyway I think Dennis had a pork & green chile combination platter and I had a beef & red chili combination platter. It was good, satisfying comfortfood. 

    First, thanks for doing this...even though I got a sneak preview of these pics, it's really not the same without the gently teasing pace of the eG travelblog...and of course Chufi's writing. :smile:

    Secondly: I was going to ask about the Mexican plates above. They look (disappointingly) a little like standard-issue AmeriMexican...could you taste the chiles? Was the beef ground or not, etc.

    The foodlover's guide to Amsterdam

    in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining

    Posted · Edited by markemorse (log)

    Hello all.

    We will be in Amsterdam weekend after next, 18th - 20th, so my crazy husband can run the Marathon. We're staying somewhere nondescript out by the Olympic Stadium, and for Saturday dinner will probably go to the 4 Stagioni nearby so he can load up on carbs. My problem is Sunday dinner. All the recommended modern Dutch places close (sensibly) on Sunday and the only places which seem to be open are tourist-y. I can't find anywhere that an e-gulletter would rate and which is also prepared to open its kitchens on a Sunday evening.

    Any suggestions?

    Failing that, anywhere less high end but reliable we can relax in on Sunday, and then go for an interesting lunch on Monday? Again, seems like lunch isn't something Amsterdam chefs do very much of and certainly not on Mondays.

    Heeeelp! I don't want to end up munching scalding bitter ballen in a grungy bar like we did last time we were in town and our plane arrived late.

    Sarah

    hey sarah,

    For modern Dutch, Greetje, mentioned several times upthread, is open on Sunday. I think Chufi ate there quite recently if memory serves, and said that the food was still good and that service had improved a bit.

    Also, De Zotte, mentioned many times upthread is open on Sunday as well.

    In the hood where you're staying (at least I think so), Takara gets good reviews for informal Japanese/Korean food. I think I've actually eaten there and the food was good.

    I'll keep thinking...

    Mexican in Atlanta?

    in Southeast: Dining

    Posted

    I would agree with the Blissful Glutton, as a chef I am all about authentic! Taco Veloz on Buford Highway is a great quick place- Drive trough only for Taco's. Across the street in the strip mall next to a Latino wedding dress store is a restaurant with excellent Taco's al Pastor( probably the bext in the city) and great fish soup and many other straight from the border varieties to get you satisfied.

    The catch is that on Buford Highway you need to Habla! The best Mexican places are those without the gringo's. However, Latino's are welcoming and generally willing to translate and help out.

    I second or third this emotion, go to Buford Hwy. Taco Veloz is good, I actually had better tacos at El Rey del Taco earlier this year, awesome salsas, fresh tortillas. Tasted suadero for the first time, great stuff. And I don't Habla! Just be humble and do a lot of pointing, you'll be fine.

    Bistro Benoit

    in New York: Dining

    Posted · Edited by markemorse (log)

    Anyway Bruni got that whole adieu thing wrong.

    You would never say adieu to a customer. You would say "au revoir". Adieu is something you say when you never intend on seeing someone again -- it's almost an insult. And yes, French people say Ciao all the time.

    However, French people do not say "ciao" followed by "grazie" all the time. That is ridiculous. But we digress. :wink:

    +++

    McDonalds Around The World

    in Ready to Eat

    Posted · Edited by markemorse (log)

    Abra, do you know what's with the "mythic" at the top of the sign? Someone mentioned the "Chicken Mythic" sandwich on eGullet within the last week, but there was no explanation to why it was so legendary (or named as such). Google yields no answers.

    I don't know the answer to that, but I do like the fact that even non-native English speakers make the mistake of adding an apostrophe to make a plural... or maybe that's deliberate, to add extra authenticity?

    Also, the "British Touch" sounds a little creepy. But maybe that's just me.

    Don't know about French, but this is actually not a mistake in some languages, Dutch for example...because they pluralize words differently (without using an "s"), they use the apostrophe + S to pluralize foreign words.

    The foodlover's guide to Amsterdam

    in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining

    Posted · Edited by markemorse (log)

    The best choice for vegetarians in Amsterdam is Marius. It's a very small restaurant in Amsterdam west. The chef/owner worked years by Chez Panisse in Berkeley. He is really great with vegetables and fish.

    For lunch there is just one perfect place, Gartine. It's in the Taksteeg, very close to the Spui. It's in the slowfood tradition. Almost everything is made by themselves. From excellent pies to quiche. The vegetables are coming from their own vegetable garden and they are delicious! It's small and almost always fully booked. I advise you to call them 0031203204132 It's not expensive.

    Hi Sven, welcome to the thread...thanks for reminding me that, although Chufi and I went to Marius last year, I don't think our review ever made it to this thread, it ended up in my eG foodblog instead.

    In short, I haven't had a better or more comfortable sit-down meal in Amsterdam than Marius, and I'll happily go back in a second. And Chufi is a Gartine fan too, her review is somewhere upthread....so, nice picks!

    +++

    Healthy snacks

    in Ready to Eat

    Posted · Edited by markemorse (log)

    Thanks for starting this, Dividend...my father-in-law just had a stroke last week, and while he's doing well physically, everyone is wondering what the hell he's going to eat when he returns home. He's one of these people who has always eaten whatever he wants (usually pretty typical, unhealthy stuff), but is somehow built like a (63-year-old) high-school wrestler.

    So he's never had to think about eating healthily before, and he's a huge snacker. I'll pass on whatever ideas I come up with, but the major immediate issue is a pepperoni/antipasti substitute: his favorite late afternoon thing is some kind of hard salami, asiago or provolone, and ideally olives or marinated artichokes....all of which are off-limits due to sodium content. One easy answer is to make your own lower-sodium marinated vegetables, but I don't see this happening for him. So any delicious off-the-shelf lower-sodium options would be awesome.

    For me, my snacking philosophy revolves around always having something available just in case...there's nowhere that I trust myself not to be hungry. For superportable needs I rely on fruit and nuts, like you. I don't know if they have this in the US (seems like they must), but here you can buy 100gr (3.5 oz?) plastic containers of, say, walnuts, prunes, apricots, almonds, pistachios, etc. And so I buy one of a fruit, one of a nut, combine them so i have two equal mixed portions and just keep one in my bag. But I love prunes and walnuts together, and I love almonds and dates together, pistachio and apricot, etc....I'm way less excited about any of these guys by themselves. Except toasted hazelnuts. But I imagine those are harder to find over there...

    The foodlover's guide to Amsterdam

    in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining

    Posted

    That sucks. I will share some general Amsterdam dining advice that I just posted somewhere else a few weeks ago:

    "In general, do your best to avoid eating within 100 yards of a museum, a concert venue, or Leidseplein, Rembrandtplein, Centraal Station, the Red Light district, Dam Square, the Damrak, or Kalverstraat. Maybe even 200 yards is safer. There is good food to be had here at reasonable prices, but you MUST make an effort to avoid tourists, Argentinian steakhouses, anything that says it's "mexican", the 400 non-Italian pizza places in town, and fancy-looking noodle shops."

    There are exceptions to this of course, but search for them at your own risk.... :smile:

    It's Just Food. Eat It.

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted · Edited by markemorse (log)

    This thread is starting to remind me of a cliche about never wrestling a pig in the mud.   :wink:

    Was it the obtrusiveness of food photographers that prompted it? It seems not. Was it a general dismay over the fact that people in restaurants aren't always properly appreciating the food? As mentioned upthread, this is not new. Is it an anti-technology-enablement thing? I'm just asking...

    +++

    Robyn who started the thread can I'm sure answer for herself.

    For me its the snapping of food pictures in restaurants that annoys me. Think I've made that very clear.

    Its intrusive, gauche and rude so far as I'm concerned.

    Other food photography is fine with me; click and post to your hearts content on your blog or on the Dinner thread or elsewhere when you can take the pictures in private.. I enjoy seeing those pictures.

    Clear enough?

    As a bell, Dave...as a bell. But I was really talking about the original post.

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