Florida

Giving this thread a bump as I plan on making mofongo later this week. I've made it a few times before, but haven't done so in years. Any input, advice or family recipes are appreciated.

The only reason I ever go to McDonald's for is to use their restroom. For the most part, McDonald's restrooms are unreasonably clean for being a such a shithole establishment. Hell, one of the pieces of advice I give to people traveling to Europe for this first time is "McDonald's is your friend." Not for the food, but because they just tend to have clean, accessible, Western style restrooms.

Seems like an unnecessarily harsh assessment of a brewery that produces a wide range of quality craft beers and can be considered one of founders of the craft beer movement. Personally, I am unsure what “goofy one-offs” you are referencing and, considering Bière de Champagne (that’s “Champagne style beer” in American) is a recognized style of beer being brewed by brewers other than SA, I am at a loss to understand how this beer could be considered "marketing dreck," how is not truthful, or how it does a disservice to craft beer in general. edited link

Yes, it's quite enough. See my post. Yes it's enough to kill bacteria themselves, but it does not necessarily destroy the toxins that some bacteria produce. From the CDC:

If you even have to ask, it needs to get tossed.

Typically, I make gumbo on the day after Thanksgiving, with the carcass being used to make the turkey stock which forms the base of the gumbo. And then turkey hash on Saturday morning. However, this year, I just ended up making a rolled, stuffed Turkey breast, so left over options will be limited as there is stuffing formed into the meat.

I’ve had Heritage breed turkeys before and there is most certainly a difference. For one, the legs on heritage birds appear enormous as compared to their mass produced brethren. In my opinion heritage birds tend to have a stronger flavor, though I wouldn’t go so far as to describe the flavor as “gamey.”

So, my collection of beer has multiplied greatly over the last year and is now encroaching on my wine collection. The problem has become where do I keep all this beer? Unlike wine, for which I have wine racks and a wine cooler, my beer has largely accumulated in the standard case-sized cardboard box. Since I have well over a hundred bottles, I can say I have several of these boxes stacked on top of each other in a rather disorganized fashion. And while my wife has absolutely no issue with the beer itself, the boxes are a great source of aggravation for her. I’ve looked at buying additional wine racks for the beer, but these pose two problems: (1) unlike wine, the preferable method for storing beer is upright and (2) wine racks may accommodate bombers, but I have yet to find one that can hold a 12oz bottle safely. Additional wine coolers are out of the question as I simply don’t want six of these things whirring away in my basement. Where is everyone else keeping their bottles? Is anyone aware of a beer storage system?

Stella, Hoegaarden, and Leffe are all owned by AB InBev. And while Hoegaarden and Leffe are not the best representation of the style, they are at least respectable. Stella, though? Why bother? As for JP, they are an excellent brewery with some very uncommon beers, but their beers certainly have an American twist to them. Not a bad thing, though, if we're going to consider JP to be belgian, I imagine the sours (Supplication, Redemption) coming out of Russian River deserve a mention as well. Did you say you worked for GI?

I just picked up a growler of Half Acre's Daisy Cutter for Thanksgiving day. Likely an inappropriate choice with the turkey itself, but considering how good this beer is, I'll let it speak for itself. Will finish up with a GI Vanilla BCBS.

When I was in culinary school, I worked for Norman van Aiken for free. I knew someone who worked at his restaurant who hooked me up with a meeting with the sous chef and soon enough I was completing menial tasks for the kitchen. I will say, at the time I was young and still in culinary school with no real world experience, so doing this allowed me to put something on my resume. However, at this point in my life, it's hard for me to even conceive of working (not volunteering) anywhere for free. But I guess you've got to do what you've got do. I wouldn't worry too much about the worker's comp. Considering the amount of undocumented workers in the restaurant industry, the insurance seems to work itself out.

agreed. The term conveys the concept of “charcuterie” while still being quite clear there is no meat involved.

Ummm, I hate to break it to you but, that's exactly how our health insurance system works. That's what "pool" or "group" insurance is all about: spreading the risks and benefits around. The problem lies in who decides which lifestyles are underwritten and which penalized. I'm a man. I'm never going to get pregnant (and neither is my wife, for that matter) but you can bet I'm subsidizing pre-natal care through birth of every baby born. I'm not in any kind of risk group for HIV/Aids but a good chunk of my health insurance dollars goes to cover the medical expenses for people who get them. We all subsidize illegal immigrants' and obese peoples' health insurance every month because we, as a society, have decided that we all need to share the risks with these groups, or are at least unwilling/unable to designate them as a group to penalize. Are evil salt-eaters so worrisome as to deserve special sanctions? Well yes and no. As a non-smoker, my premiums are less than a smoker's. Insurance companies understand that smoker's will likely have more health problems and are charged a higher premium for their lifestyle choices. While I would agree the goal or "pool" coverage is to spread the risk around, I would argue that risk is not necessarily spread equally. Now considering a health insurance policy is a private contract between the insured and the insurer, should the insurer indicate that high blood pressure, BMI, or, theoretically, sodium consumption, increased their risk and decided to charge a higher premium for that risk, than such would be their right to do so. If the person seeking insurance balked at the higher premium, they would be free to refuse to enter into such a contract.

Brussels Sprouts aren't actually from Brussels Soy Milk contains no actual milk Baby Powder fails to contain any babies. Vegan Characuterie has no meat in it. and yet, I'm still capable of understanding the concept behind each one of these terms despite their apparent "improperness."

Holy Shit! that is unbelievable, yet even worse is the recipe that follows: Velveeta Cheese Fudge.

Between 2-3pm, because that is the way it has always been and will always be.

Why should healthy people be forced to subsidize the lifestyles of unhealthy people? If someone chooses to engage in an unhealthy behavior than they should be held responsible for the results of their own actions. edited for spelling

1)Pasta. Any kind of pasta. With virtually any kind of sauce. She ate a whole bowl of Puttanesca just the other day. 2)Tofu. Stir-fried, baked, and even cold straight out of the package. 3)Chicken: cooked anyway, as long as it is not breaded. Her new thing is “chicken on the bone” (ie, a drumstick) 4)Sausages: Bratwurst, knackwurst, Italian, TJ’s apple-chicken, and a particular brand of mango-chicken sausage I get from WholeFoods. 5)Veggies and Rice: preferably broccoli, carrots, or peas, but she will eat green beans, spinach and squash when she is in the mood. The girl loves cheese, too, and not the kind of cheese you would expect a 3yr old to eat, either. I would have never expected her to be fond of something like Pleasant Ridge Reserve or a 10yr cheddar, but to her, they’re all just cheese.

While I can't help you with a specific recipe, I can say that Vosges sells an olive oil, kalamata, and white chocolate truffle: http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/product/collezione_italiana_16pc/collezione_italiana as well as a mushroom and dark chocolate candy bar: http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/product/organic_enchanted_mushroom_candy_bar/exotic_candy_bars

Had the opportunity to try TVH for the first time over the weekend and I must admit I found it to be quite impressive. First of all, let me say I’m not a mixed drink/cocktail/hard liquor type of person. At times I might enjoy a sip of Bourbon, but beer is by far my drink of choice, so an establishment like TVH is not they type of place I would normally seek out. Secondly, I’m not a cocktail person, so I have no idea what the hell I am talking about when it comes to cocktails. Either forgive my cluelessness or just ignore me outright. After a laboriously long wait, a wait which allowed us to try out Big Star across the street (which just so happens to currently have a nice hoppy one-off APA from GI on tap), we received our phone call allowing us access to TVH. Immediately upon entering TVH, everything else just seems to fade away. The insanely crowded door way, the hustle and bustle of Damen on a Saturday night, the noise, the street lights – everything is just gone. TVH is surprisingly spacious and subdued. There is a low hum of chatter which matches the blue hue that seems to radiate from everything. All of the tables are sufficiently spaced. No one is standing, or pushing, or crowding the bar. I guess having just come from Big Star, where there was standing, pushing, and crowding at the bar, the lack of all this stood out for me. We were seated at the bar, which turned out to be the best place we could be, as our bartender truly made the visit for us. I ordered a Stewed, Screwed, and Tattooed, but my wife, who is less of a cocktail person than I am, hadn’t a clue what to order. She reviewed her likes and dislikes with the bartender and advised him of only one rule: no gin - to which he promptly made her a Juliet and Romeo. Despite the gin content, both my wife and I felt the J&R was exceptional, probably the best drink we had all night. I can only describe it as tasting like a “salad,” but in a good way. The SST was strongly flavored, boasting a good bit of spice and bitterness (apparently, in cocktail speak this is referred to as “dry”). The next round was a Sazerac for myself. My wife had some sort of citrus-flavored Flip which wasn’t on the menu (sorry about the lack of details on this). Unfortunately she simply couldn’t handle this drink, but the bartender quickly remade a much more user friendly drink for her, which I also can’t remember the name of (damn drinks), though I can say it was light and floral. Not quite the J&R, but an excellent drink none-the-less. Overall, TVH was very impressive. Our bartender was friendly, understanding, and genuinely cared about us having a good experience. He happy handled my ignorance and insolence like the professional he clearly was. If there is a single reason why I’d return to TVH, it would be him. I did not find TVH to be snobby in the least – actually I found it to be the exact opposite – warm and inviting, while still being modern and hip. In the end, as a beer geek, I can’t say TVH will be replacing my regular visits to Hopleaf or Revolution, but I can say TVH has given me a new appreciation for the world of cocktails and I hope to return sooner than later. edited for grammar

Used to be a fan of Cholula, but I’ve grown out of it. It’s a great accompaniment for eggs, but little else. I have found most Mexican cuisine overpowers the flavor of Cholula, making it rather pointless to use. Currently, I’ve got bottles of Tapatío, which I find a bit thin, but still flavorful and a good “generic” Mexican hot sauce that matches with most dishes, Bufalo Chipotle, which is thick, quite smoky, and with a good kick of heat, and the unnaturally green version of El Yucateco. And while I know this one isn’t Mexican and probably isn’t found anywhere in Mexico, I do have a fondness for JCS scotch bonnet sauce with picadillo and Yucatan dishes.

maybe he can go on one of those restaurant makeover shows...

The true role of government is the protection of it's citizens (police and armies and courts), and that means from each other and from foreign powers. The only road the government paves is the road to hell, currently underway. Um, I don't live in Galt's Gulch.

Regulate salt? At this rate, pretty soon the government will be telling us whom we can and can't marry.

I use Bayless's recipe: http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=244 Since it's basically just garlic and olive oil, it goes with damn near everything and I often use it to kick up a dish when the flavors are a bit flat. Personally, I tend to use it more as an ingredient than a sauce as I'm not a huge fan of having my food sit in a pool of oil, no matter how tasty that oil might be. I love taking an exceedingly large scoop of the mashed garlic and adding it to a batch of refried beans.