pastameshugana

I'm not much of a Macca's fan here at home (US) - but the five mini-meshuganas love it so I bow. OTOH - I travel quite a bit, and it seems inevitable that I'll run into a McD's in the countries I visit. Part of it is the people there wanting to make the poor, traveling American feel at home (despite my protests), and part of it is simple convenience. That being said, I've eaten McDonald's on every continent except Antarctica. I will say this: Their global quality control is amazing. The consistency of things like french fries, service is impressive (especially compared to other global chains). Their regional offerings can be surprising (Maharajah Mac in India instead of the Big Mac), and often enjoyable. Some countries/locations treat it as a sit-down 'we'll bring your order to you' type of restaurant, even bringing refills to your table. Just a week ago in Russia I noticed they were serving popcorn shrimp (which I didn't try, but looked interesting). And their breakfast menu has a number of intriguing items. The one I tried that I enjoyed was the 'Chicken Fresh McMuffin'. Chicken patty, tomato/lettuce on a McMuffin. Not bad. One thing about Russian Macca's, one of the common words transliterated into Russian on the menu in the Cyrillic alphabet comes out looking almost exactly like 'porn'. It's a bit disconcerting ordering the 'porn burger'...

I will usually look for specifics in a review, rather than trust the generic 'it's great!' nonsense. You can usually spot a fake review if you pay close enough attention. As I travel a lot, sometimes those review sites are helpful! From iPhone using Tapatalk

For the labor day cookout, I was only responsible for bringing a side - and I was craving spicy... I decided to make habanero-stuffed-jalapenos (sounded like a great idea at midnight). My idea was to make a pate of bacon & spicy goodness for the inside, rather than the traditional bacon wrapped around the outside of the pepper. I fried 1lb of bacon, then fried garlic (one head) & sliced habaneros (1 dozen) in the bacon fat (yes, my throat is still burning from the fumes, but boy did it smell good!) Then bacon, garlic, habanero and cilantro into the blender, plus three packages of cream cheese. It made a wonderful tasting, spicy paste that piped easy into the cored jalapeños. I pre-boiled the jalapenos in salt water to soften them a bit (not enough, though). Topped them with cheddar and baked at 350 for a while (15 min?). The results were less than satisfactory. The paste was delicious (I saved the leftovers) and the peppers good - but it just didn't mix well. The two textures were too dissimilar to make a sensible combo. Oh well, better luck next time...

So I joined this experiment in November of 2008. At the time we were living in India, and I made two jars with beans a family member carried over and Smirnoff vodka. We didn't dip into the first jar until we got back stateside in early 2010, and it's been wonderful. The first batch is now depleted, and getting refilled with spirits plus two more beans (from the original stash): The second batch is getting cut open for use now, it still has the inspection stickers on it (must have looked funny to customs - what could this crazy man have in the bubble wrapped jars?!?): And here it is, undisturbed nearly four years after making it: What a smell!

We had a couple of rainy days, and I was craving Corn and Roasted Green Chile soup, so here we are, shooting from the hip: Started by frying up 1lb of bacon (Bar-S smoked, my favorite since childhood!) - toss the bacon into the stock pot, save the fat. Deep fry rough chopped garlic (1 clove) in the bacon fat. I'll tell you right now there is no more heavenly scent on planet earth! Toss the garlic & fat into the stock pot. Add two large potatoes, peeled and rough chopped. Two cups of Chicken bouillon, a small handful of cilantro, and one whole roasted green chile (from my batch last year that I froze). Here's the rough ingredients in the pot before the corn: Add 4lbs of frozen corn and simmer for about 4 hours: Blend and strain twice (it's amazing how much 'roughage' from the corn you can strain out): Add whole milk, a bit of cumin, salt & pepper, simmer to heat up (the next day) and serve with Crema Mexicana & Cilantro garnish: This was one of my favorite meals in a month or more, glorious flavor. All five of the mini-meshuganas gave it high marks as well!

My complaint would be careless waiters who set the plate down facing the wrong way. Ie: the main attraction is across the plate from the garnish, rather than on the near side, or some variation of that. It's petty but...

Keith - the egg-yolk ravioli looks amazing!

I'm going to be spending a few days each in Amersfoort and Zwolle next week, and am looking for some dining tips. I'll be quite busy and with a host, so specific restaurants aren't so much what I'm after. What are the 'must try' dishes of the Netherlands? I fell in love decades ago with the stroopwaffles(sp?) (that my late mom carried back each year) but have never had any experience with any of their other cuisine. THEN --> In October I'll be spending one full day in Frankfurt on my way back from Romania (one of those rare free days in my life) and am looking for any tips on food/adventure that can be accomplished in 24hrs! I prefer local/street-food to fancy when I travel so if you've got any tips, much appreciated! Thanks in advance,

Keith - that looks and sounds incredible! What sides / other dishes did you serve with this?

We'll miss you!

Kim, What exactly is Texas caviar?

When making Indian style kabobs (Malai or Lasooni or something like that) a really hot broiler is a not too shabby gringo substitute for a Tandoor.

@ChrisTaylor Great review - and extra points for using the phrase 'ninjaing' when reviewing a place like Cutter & Co. Bravo!

Thanks to all for the great tips/advice. Socrates that sounds like a fantastic meal - definitely on my to do list. Pierogi, I also love the lasagna riff you suggest - time to get to work!

So I've yet to ever cook with polenta, so I bought some to experiment with. I got the 'pre-cooked' package this time to simplify things. What should I make first? Other ingredients on hand: A couple of racks of pork ribs (on sale!), lots of great frozen hatch chilies, all kinds of root veg and aromatics. I'm jonesing to use the ribs, green chile AND polenta, but so far have come up with nothing inspirational. Any ideas?

Didn't see this posted already, so I thought I'd bring it up. Apparently 'steak specialists' in Vegas have discovered a new cut of beef. It sounds to me as if what really happened was discovering a method to portion a part of the carcass that would normally be ground. Anyone seen or heard of the 'Las Vegas Strip Steak'? Here's the link.

Kim - I think every family should have an 'official' family cookie! Sounds wonderful! Great looking meal btw.

Beautiful!

menu - great picture and a dreamy sandwich!

What a beautiful feeling!

Ok, Here's some more food-for-though on this subject: http://gizmodo.com/5895142/the-stronger-food-smells-the-less-you-eat I wonder if that's what it is? Certainly the foods mentioned are very aromatic...

Todd - as a father of five who rarely gets the time to do the 'fancy' cooking he wants except in micro-bursts - you've finally given me a compelling reason to get a SV. I've loved the idea, the control, the 'gadgetiness' of it all, but I could never quite nail the practicality of it to a specific rung in our budget, now you've done it! (I'm sure my wife will be thrilled that I've got a 'legitimate' reason for a new toy). I have to say, that makes brilliant sense. Also with 1/2 of our kids (okay, 2/5, no divided children here) being chili heads like me and the other two sissies, I can imagine all sorts of variations on recipes. A million thanks!

I just surprised Mrs Meshugana with a trip to Vegas for her birthday (literally surprised: Woke her up at 2am and told her the bags were packed, the babysitter was here, and we're leaving!). So, we spent a couple of days abusing the "Buffet of Buffets." For 44.99 you get a 24hr pass to like 6 buffets: Rio, Planet Hollywood, Paris, and the rest were too far to visit. We did it not for the culinary delight, but it was an affordable way to knock out 4 meals on the strip (breakfast, lunch, dinner, breakfast) while we were spending the real money on shows and shopping. The first meal (with friends) I employed the 'high dollar protein' strategy, and certainly felt I got my money's worth. After that I was in pain, so I did the 'small samples till I find something I like' strategy, and that left me a bit less over-stuffed, but pleased nonetheless. I did notice that it seemed these buffets shared a supplier and/or menu coordinator, because it seemed there were lots of similar dishes/preparations among them. Anyhow, it was nice, and we got to experience that particularly Vegas-flavored-tackiness of watching a bride and groom enjoy their pre-wedding dinner (in dress and tux) at a buffet.

TopperMom, did you get your Indian fix? From iPhone using Tapatalk

Back of the spoon.... we (my family) have always called it the 'boxer shorts design' because it so often looks like a paisley. I'm sure that's NOT what the 'up scale' restaurateurs wanted to hear when their plates were delivered!