Doodad

She is doing very well, thank you. Tired, but really appreciative of how hard work can be and how financially rewarding. She fell in between payrolls so she has not seen a check yet, but the first one will be a doozy. She works banquets so she gets a share of the 18% gratuity charge on top of the salary. Poor thing, she worked her high school baseball team's award banquet Tuesday. Some of the boys were heckling her, but she sucked it up and smiled. The manager wisely moved her to other duties when it began to go downhill. She must be doing good as she is training Sunday for other duties. I think cart girl, which would make her beau coup $$$.

How about some sort of sparkling red with the oranges? Crisp and a good tang from the effervescence.

I thought the same as well. I kept hoping someone would say stock or salt

It was very much a toss up of who was going home and I really was hoping for Lisa. Spike is a joke. I don't know how he has lasted so long considering he obviously spends more time placing his hat at a jaunty angle than thinking about cooking. Andrew was a good if VERY unstable cook. His departure creates a huge advantage for Stephanie and Richard. Dale should be able to outlast the lesser chefs,but will have to be very careful. Oh and the judges table showed exactly how petty those lesser chefs are acting.

What happened to the mystery chef being introduced? Oh well. I was very distracted with my daughter coming in while the show was on, so I missed much of the dialogue. The taste test was interesting. Some were hard. Others I wondered how they had been cooked which could make a huge difference.

Does anybody know where next seasons competition will be held? A friend says her buddy's son has made it to past a few screenings.

That is like the line of John Goodman's Cyclops character in "Oh, Brother Where Art Thou." paraphrasing: I thank you for the hiatus of conversation during gustation. I know some who attempt both and find it coarse and vulger.

Well, my little girl has gotten a good taste of the real world now. She has other jobs in the past, but with the last summer before college looming, she is now FOH in a sister country club to my wife's work. Last night was the first VERY full day. School from 0730 on and straight to work until 10. I had Beef Carbonnade ready for her as promised. Poor thing. She looked whipped. She requested the Kitchen Confidential DVD as her dinner accompaniment. She gets more of the jokes now.

My daughter's graduation present is dinner at Richard's new place. That is what she wanted; hope to see you there Richard.

I think the fried salmon gets an ugh from many people due to the abysmal Friday "croquettes" served if you lived up North and/or went to a Catholic school. They were awful.

Excellent thread and very good discussion. Raised glass to you Paul. I am so going to make this soon. I have some boneless short ribs in need of loving. I am going to use a Corsendonk, one of my favorite Belgian beers. Dark color, but not very hoppy. Chimay would be awesome with their cheese in a side dish. As for other beers, I think the Belgian fruit beers could be used to great effect. The currant infused one would enhance beef I think. I can see how Newcastle brown with its brewers sugars would also be useful. I am not a fan of long cooking with hoppy beers. I think they lend a "pissy" off taste. It may just be me.

Our local dig seems to be Thursday. We are regulars and know the head chef/owner. I notice all the specials appear on Thursday and he puts me on to what he has best. Much quieter and relaxed on Thursday so we get to talk and watch. Occasional freebies since they know us. Obviously he gears for Friday and some more items that required prep appear, but it is way too crowded on the weekend.

I finally saw the rerun last night and it was a very good episode. The groom's team was just horrible. None of them wanted to step up due to their petty differences. I know it was edited, but it did seem that Dale carried the team load and I don't blame him for grousing. But, bending the locker? Dude. They all got picked apart for their contributions at the judge's table except Lisa (of all people). And what exactly did Spike do? Not much is what I heard.

And am I the only one who finds this a really, really horrendous name for a restaurant? Will I be expected to slaughter and butcher my own meat? Will the process be part of the dinner's entertainment? Are the guests potentially subject to similar treatment? Maybe there aren't that many people who would have such a visceral (pun intended) reaction to this name. It's French, and maybe that's good enough. ← Very bad name. Perhaps the motto should be "where the elite meat to eat."

I wish it was not so far past my bed time. I get up at 5.

I posted this on a similar thread, but bbq salmon is killer. Even fish haters will eat it. Just brush on your fave bbq sauce and grill or broil to doneness. Salmon takes to bbq incredibly well.

I have always used brandy not wine. That is the way I was first shown the dish. The tomato in the fumet gives a nice color and the brandy has a depth especially with the shellfish.

What a strange season this year. I can't decide if they are all actors and playing scripted roles, or if backstage there are producers turning ovens and burners up and down at will. Add the bizarre hot tub scene and I was just shaking my head. And the poor girl. What kind of life has she been leading? Never tasted shrimp and eats filet med-well. Oh my.

Before I even read your post I thought the same thing. Do try it.

I caught the Greece episode on the reruns last night. Wow, I don't think Tony had a very good time. Only the beach picnic seemed to be up his alley. He looked positively miserable most of the time. Must have been the effects of the hooch.

Just this thing was done this week for a big event where I am interning. Makes perfect sense to me. We had a carving station and as you can imagine every temp of meat is available.

Don't use the mandoline. Burn yourself instead.

I still think Antonia should have gone. She was the one that shot down using real Polish sausage right off the bat, and then kept on persuading herself and Lisa that they really were "improvising". They totally blew off the rules off the challenge. Why is it that Antonia always gets away with imposing her concepts on her team mates (or squashing others'), getting them all brought up to the block because of it, but yet she keeps escaping elimination? No matter how bad the asparagus tasted or how cheese-dominant it was, at least Steph and Jen followed both the rules AND the spirit of the challenge, and really tried to "sell" their dish. Lisa and Antonia basically defied the rules, made no explanation for their decision or even tried to justify it as "improv" - and they rather arrogantly downed shots of tequila without even offering them to their guests/judges. Bad move. You'd think they'd get the hint a pour a few even after one of the comics said, "What? None for us?" (Tequila was a component of their Chilen sea bass/chorizo (but not kielbasa) dish). Antonis needs a smack upside the head, I think. ← You are probably right, but I dislike Lisa more than Antonia. When they downed the shots with that flippant nope remark I told my wife one of them was going home. So I was shocked and can only surmise that the other teams food really stank.

Let me know if you want them.

I finally got to watch the rerun last night after work. As much as I dislike Jen, she should have stayed. And their dish did look awful. And the pantomime hardon from a lesbian (?) was stupid. What was that orange thing? But, Lisa should have gone. Their team did not "improvise", they phoned it in.