FoodMan

I use some homemade chimichuri, dry spicy rubs, and sometimes just S&P. It all depends on the mood. FM

Very good point, but I still say that reserving a table over the phone and waiting 2-3 hours to eat at CF are not the same thing, and this is just my opinion. In the end, i guess, it all comes down to "value", is it worth it to wait that long for a table at CF??? in my case "NO", and I do eat there once in awhile because I think their food is much better than the other chains around, though I never waited more than 30 minutes (any longer wait and I would go elsewhere). Now, what if the "French Laundry" has a three hour wait??? Is it worth it?? In my case, since I am more than willing to plan a trip all the way from TX to eat there , the answer is "YES". So if the diner values that food so much then heck, he or she can wait all day for it. FM

Andrew , it depends on the restaurant. If u are making reservations for a "Cheescake Factory" type place a month in advance then there is a problem. Another difference is that when you make reservations you are not actually waiting, sitting on a bench or walking aimlessly in a mega-mall waiting for the all sacred beeper to go off so u can satisfy your hunger. great post Fyre and welcome to e-gullet FM

Can anyone recommend other chef biographies that are worth checking out. johnjohn ok, I'm sure you already have A. Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential", right??? FM

What a fantastic read indeed. You could just hear him talking with that smooth writing style and feel his love for life and food. I can only dream about sharing such occasions as the clam bake he mentions. As mentioned earlier he does sound like a genuinely nice guy whose whole life does revolve around food. ...another great story from the book is the story of "Billy the wild Sheep", I had to read it several times. It was funny and it just felt like I am there sharing that perfectly roast lamb with him. If you don't have it yet, buy it. FM

Does the Thai Curry paste have a good shelf or "refrigerator" life?? I am planning on buying some red and green ones from ImportFood but I am not sure if I should buy more than one each. It's a funny thing that Snowangel put this thread back on top because I was about to do the same thing, this was one of mamster's best articles. FM

Ok This thread is definitly getting off topic , but I have to a try and answer this one. WRNING: SPOILER AHEAD--- =Mark the traitor is the "Agent Smith" who picked up the phone after he copied himself into the err..traitor guy (don't know his name, the one with the goatee). At least this was what I concluded along with the friend who I went to see it with. Makes sense??? FM

My sentiments exactly. I actually think the second one is the "better" movie but I enjoyed the first one better ...if that makes any sense, for the reasons stated above. AND Nightscotsman, please post the recipe once you get it FM

Yes, along with this "Merovingian" being completely unncessary to the plot--in fact being a huge distraction to the proper flow of the film. Great movie and a great scene...I thought his monologue was hilarious (and his wife hotter than hot ) . What does "unnecessary" to the plot mean??? What's necessary and what's not ? He is an important part of the Matrix and he DID have the Key maker..and he was funny "Like wiping your a$$ with silk" . I hope we see more of him in the last installment. On a food note: the cake scene was also amazing And no I did not notice any Heinekens.. I'll watch for it the next time around. FM

Ok, technical difficulties have been overcome and the picture is ready. Sorry about the delay.

Suvir, Thanks for your help in getting my comments posted, I have no idea why it would not work for me. I am glad to hear that the recipe matched what you expected (nice green and with lots of Paneer). It did taste very fresh and I don't know how else to put it..."Homemade". My wife also enjoyed it since I skipped the Chillies becuase she cannot eat spicy stuff. The Paneer itself was very easy to make and came out perfectly firm and "sliceable" yet moist. So the addition of cream is not some Americanized version?? I guess I will try it in the next batch just to compare. I will try to get the pic downloaded today after work and will post it as soon as I do. FM

Well after long delay, I got to make the Saag Paneer tonight. The Whole dish tasted excellent and I did take a picture but my digital camera is not cooperating and I have not managed to download any yet. I will post it as soon as I get the darn thing to work.It was a little different than the Saag Paneer I'm used to eating at restaurants (or maybe I've never had any real Saag Paneer ). First of all it had much more cheese cubes per spinach than the restaurant ones. (The amount of Paneer used is about 1.5 cups of 1 inch square pieces. Since I do not have a scale I could not get the exact weight but I believe 1.5 cups is about 3/4 of a pound.) Second it was not as ..."creamy", the ones in the restaurant are usually sort of creamy and a little less bright green in color. Suvir, can you clarify?? are the restaurant ones containing cream or milk?? The taste however was wonderful and the Fenugreek did indeed add a nice tasty bitterness to it. As to what happend to the other half of the Paneer. Well I just fried them up and topped them with my last jar of Tomato chutney. Very yummy.. Thanks for the recipe Suvir. FM

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Very Very nice kitchen Perlows...Congrats. I don't mean to be nit picky, but is there enough counter top space for chopping, dough making... especially with two people in there? Sorry if this was mentioned before but I did not read all the previous pages of this thread FM

-Ribeye steaks with Chimichurri. Marinated the steak for about an hour in Chimichurri sauce (parsley, cilantro, oregano, bay, vinegar, EVOO). Then grilled on the Lodge cast iron griddle.drizzled with a little more Chimichurri and peppery mustard sauce. -Chipotle mashed potatoes. Yukon golds mashed with butter, milk, S&P, and chopped chipotle. -Dessert: Butter Pecan ice cream with caramel sauce. FM

Matthew- Thanks for sharing this information (I always wonder how can crap like that make it to TV), and welcome to egullet. I do have several questions which I will save for your scheduled Q&A. Looking forward to that. Thanks FM

Well we did end up going to Mark's for our anniversary this past Saturday. It was a fantastic experience both the food and the service were superb. Kudos to chef Cox and his staff. The only semi-negative comment that I have is that the dinning room was louder that expected for a place like that. However we will defenitly be back. Following is the menu we had: - Lobster salad. Garlic and herb roasted lobster tail, served with a variety of citrus, shaved mangoes, and lightly dressed greens. - Texas Diamond H Cross Quail and Foie Gras Over ginger-spiked butternut squash, accented with a huckleberry vinaigrette. - Spring corn soufflé served with lobster and crawfish, oyster mushrooms and Avruga caviar in a shallot Chardonnay sauce. -Roasted Escolar over fork mashed lobster potatoes, asparagus and crispy sesame shrimp in a Cabernet Sauvignon sauce. - Roasted Maple Leaf duck, served with wild rice, pearl pasta, roasted figs, raspberries and mangoes. -Dessert: Chocolate Mousse layered Crème Brulee Chocolate Hazelnut Tort with roasted hazelnuts and white chocolate Sabayon. Wine: A red Pinot – Domain Vincent Gerardin, 1999 “Les Gravieres”. I had to drink most of the bottle myself since my wife is pregnant and cannot participate in this pleasure . Thanks to the laws of Texas we took the re-corked bottle home with us and I enjoyed the leftovers the next day. FM

Friday: Home made pizza. We had my wife’s brother and sister over to spend the night and my wife wanted me to make pizza. I started the dough the night before and retarded it in the fridge overnight. A total of five different pizzas were made: - classic margarita with fresh mozz, home made tomato sauce, and basil - Italian sausage, sauce, mushrooms and provolone - Italian sausage, sauce, mushrooms, provolone , gorgonzola and basil - Brushed with EVOO, topped with yellow tomatoes, mushrooms, gorgonzola, and fresh mozzarella. - Topped with nothing but zaatar and EVOO (not really called a pizza but more of a Lebanese breakfast pie that I make every time I have some dough leftover). Saturday: Our second wedding anniversary dinner: - Lobster salad. Garlic and herb roasted lobster tail, served with a variety of citrus, shaved mangoes, and lightly dressed greens. - Texas Diamond H Cross Quail and Foie Gras Over ginger-spiked butternut squash, accented with a huckleberry vinaigrette. - Spring corn soufflé served with lobster and crawfish, oyster mushrooms and Avruga caviar in a shallot Chardonnay sauce. -Roasted Escolar over fork mashed lobster potatoes, asparagus and crispy sesame shrimp in a Cabernet Sauvignon sauce. - Roasted Maple Leaf duck, served with wild rice, pearl pasta, roasted figs, raspberries and mangoes. -Dessert: Chocolate Mousse layered Crème Brulee Chocolate Hazelnut Tort with roasted hazelnuts and white chocolate Sabayon. Wine: A red Pinot – Domain Vincent Gerardin, 1999 “Les Gravieres”. I had to drink most of the bottle myself since my wife is pregnant and cannot participate in this pleasure . Thanks to the laws of Texas we took the re-corked bottle home with us and I enjoyed the leftovers the next day. No, Jin did not fly over here to Houston to help me cook this dinner. It was actually a dinner we had at “Mark’s American Cuisine”. It was a fantastic experience both the food and the service were superb. Kudos to chef Cox and his staff. Sunday: Jambalaya. Made with garlic sausage, chicken and pork. FM

vanilla pulp is the inside vanilla bean as far as I know. The picture might not be 100% accurate, maybe it is strained. I would not strain it though becuase I like the little vanilla specks. But hey that's me. good luck. FM

Suvir, How much Paneer would u use for this recipe??? I love saag paneer and would love to try it. I've never managed to make my own Paneer, it always comes out crumbly and not "sliceable". FM

I have not read through all 12 pages of this thread so please forgive me if my question has been answered elsewhere. I am getting ready to kill the grass in my new home in the patch where the garden is going to go. I will be using the newspaper/mulch method mentioned in the beginning of this thread. My question is, if I put the newspaper and mulch in this evening, how long before the grass is killed and the ground is ready to be tilled and planted?? FYI I do live in Houston and it is already sunny and about 85 degrees F during the day. thanks FM

Ghirardelli Bittersweet chocolate.. a great afternoon fix.

Teusday dinner: In Roden's middle eastern cookbook she has a recipe for "Chicken with preserved lemons and olives" and a recipe for "Chicken with Chickpeas". What we had fpr dinner was a hybrid of these two since I wanted the preserved lemon flavor and the chickpeas with a whole stewed cut up chicken. so basically I browned the pieces, tossed in lots of chopped onions, some garlic, spices, and covered with water. about 30 minutes before it was ready I threw in two cans of chickpeas and chopped preserved lemons. Served it over white rice...very yummy. Wednesday dinner: I made what I will call "Morrocan chick-chick soup" (sounds like a name Monica Bhide might make up ) ...and guess where the ingredients came from. I had a good amount of leftovers from yesterday but I did not want to eat the same thing. So, I removed the chicken pieces from the broth/chickpea mixture and shredded them, pureed the mixture and reheated in a saucepan. When the mixture came up to temp, I added more chopped preserved lemons (I am getting addicted to their lovely flavor), the shredded chicken and heated everything through. I served it in a deep bowl garnished with a spoonful of homemade yogurt and a dash of EVOO and with a couple of slices of crusty homemade sourdough. It was fantastic... I think I enjoyed it more than the actual dish from the night before . FM edit to add pic

An Atrocity it is!!!! Did that guys "Hummus" have any hummus in it, I wonder??? Hummus means Chickpeas in Arabic. FM

I've heard of that and had been meaning to try it. Do u toss it in any kind of soup or does it work better in specific ones?? I've used the rinds before to stuff roasted chicken with (also a Mario recipe) but nothing else. FM