DanM

Now that I don't have a screaming toddler to deal with, here are a few more. Kill Bill during the scene where she first meets Hatori Hanzo in his restaurant. ET when he gets drunk The "dinner" at the end of Hannibal "How do you get so big eating food of this kind??" - Yoda The dinner scene in Munich.

Yale New Haven Hospital has an awesome street food scene outside the medical school. Maggie at the Pekin Edo cart has this wonderful vegetarian sticky rice dumpling wrapped in lotus leaves. Honestly, anything she sells is great. She also knows most of her customers. I stopped by the first time in a few months and she recognized me and knew what I wanted. A sign of a great vendor! While it is not sold from a street cart, there is an Indian grocer in West Hartford with a small food to go counter in the back. The bhelpuri and samosa chat they make there is simply amazing. Dan

The bowl of spaghetti in Lady and the Tramp.

A shelf dedicated to Rachel Ray magazines and cookbooks. Maybe a jar of instant coffee or a really dirty/unsanitary kitchen.

Is there anything new in the burr grinder world? The Bodum Bistro has good reviews on Amazon for about $20 less than the Capresso Infinity. Any thoughts?

My wife and I enjoy the occasional bloody Mary with beer. It a normal bloody Mary mix, but made to a ratio of 1 part wheat beer or German pilsner 2-3 parts bloody Mary mix Dan

My wife and I stopped by Romanian Sausage in Chicago visiting my parents. I don't think we have ever had pastrami, salami, or hot dogs that good... ever! There has to be a place in NYC that makes their own and is darn good at it. Any suggestions? It has to be certified, not just kosher style. Dan

With my wife out of town last week, I was bored so I put some thought into this. My biggest problem with beer can chicken is that the beer does not boil off very much. Liquids come to a boil better from conduction rather than convection. To resolve this issue, I placed the beer can on a cast iron pan and brought the beer to a boil. I decided to leave the can on the pan to catch any juices that drip from the chicken. A good amount of potatoes, carrots, fennel, and other veg were added to the pan around the can to absorb the drippings. I also wanted more steam vents to help moisten the chicken. 1/3 of the can was drained like normal and then the sides of the can were pierced by a metal skewer before brining to a boil. After about 1.25 hours on the grill, I had one of the better beer can chickens I have had, 3 bits... adjusted for rising food prices.

It also depends on where I'm dining. Our favorit hole in the wall Indian restaurant is a mix of odd chairs and tables, disposable dishes, etc and we are okay with it. But if we are at a fine dining restaurant, this would be unacceptable.

I bought a case of Butternuts last week to make beer can chicken. Good beer Btw. I guess the biggest things going against cans are mass market swill, quality of cans, and the need for empties when making your own.

Nothing... Darn blue laws

I bought a frozen broccoli souffle a while back as an emergency dish. The package states only 60 calories per serving! The dish is about the size of a loaf of bread and probably two slices thick... and four servings!

You can make a pan or two of focaccia with various toppings.

In the Jewish tradition, the "grace" (Birkat Hamazon) is said after the meal. This comes from Deut. 8:10 which states "When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He gave you". One common sense interpretation of this is that you can get a hungry man to do or say anything. We don't say it with every meal in our house. We typically say it on the Sabbath, especially when people are over for a meal.

Kohlrabi is excellent roasted for about 30 minutes at 450. Toss it with some olive oil, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and crushed fennel seeds. Season and roast. The greens are not my favorite, but they can be cooked down to a nice side. Dan

I highly recommend Gil Mark's Olive Trees and Honey. It is a collection of Jewish vegetarian dishes from across the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe. It is interesting to see how the Jewish communities adapted dishes as they moved from one country to another due to expulsion or persecution. How do you define Irish? I have a thing for Chef Denis Cotter's work. He is from Cork Ireland, but his cooking will include dishes from Southeast Asia, Middle East, as well as more traditional Irish flavors. He proposed an interesting question once, whats more Irish, lamb stew with lamb flown in from New Zealand, or a Thai curry made from local produce? The books by the Lee Brothers are a great introduction into Lowland Southern cuisine. Simple Fresh Southern is a great book for those busy days when you need to make a quick meal.

My wife will be on a business trip for most of this week, so I was able to buy some assertive greens she does not care for at the market today. This includes some black kale, mizuna, and some radishes with some lovely greens. I also picked up some spring garlic, scapes, and some fennel. I thought it was a fall crop, but I will take fennel when I can.

My wife made me watch 20 minutes of this train wreak. 20 minutes I will never get back. I think I would rather go to a Vogon poetry slam than watch this again.

The Lee Brother's Southern Cookbook not only treats Mac and Cheese as a side, but counts it as a vegetable based on their experience in school. To me, it can go either way, it depends on what type of mac and cheese and my desire for other foods at the same time.

About the same here. Its been bad enough that I have started stocking up the pantry. I just bought a 12 pack of Glenn Muir tomatoes from Amazon, of all places. Dan

The keypad on our GE dishwasher is flaky at best and has been replaced twice. One thing I do like is the rinse cycle. If the dishes are particularly bad or if I know food will dry and stick to the dish, a 5 minute rinse cycle saves me trouble when I run a full load.

Some days I just find it easier and better to fry my bread in a little butter. After that, I might add an egg or peanut butter on top. Dan

When tomatoes are in season, i like a thick slice of a beefsteak sprinked with some balsamic vinegar, sea salt, and a little fresh moz. Whatever bread is in the house will work fine.

Early summer farmer's markets tend to be dominated by greens. This week we picked up some nice butter lettuce, spinach, beet greens (with tiny, pea sized beets attached), kohlrabi, rhubarb, green garlic, broccoli, and a hothouse cuke. Yesterday was the dry run day at the pick-your-own strawberry farm. Since my daughter was in day care, I went out and picked 10 lbs worth. The spinach and beet greens were used last night for tomatillo sauced enchiladas filled with the greens, beets, and mushrooms. The recipe comes from Rick In hind sight, I wish I threw in some of the green garlic. The butter lettuce will be used tonight for an avocado mango salad with pumpkin seeds and salmon. These two recipes come from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless. The broccoli will be given to my daughter, the rhubarb and strawberries might be made into jam, and the kohlrabi will be roasted later this week. The rest will be used when my muse calls... Maybe a green garlic and basil pesto?

This thread was started 4 months ago when I had a bowel obstruction, so I had to stay liquid until the surgery was possible. Life is back to normal now, but with a better appreciation for creamed soups. Thanks anyways! Dan