basquecook

is it Linden or Roselle Park? or both.. I have been to both. But, i have to get back. I remember going there and it's right down the street from this seafood place I wanted to try and never did.. It was like a Maryland Crab place.. I really like 25 burgers too but, haven't been in years..

At my usual place.. I get a kiss now and a handshake from the guy.. Owner comes over and makes a point to say hello.. With my mother so, i got the royal treatment. i got the pork chops with spicy peppers.. For dessert we had flan. Always nervous about getting pork chops at "foreign" places. Most places outside of America feel the need to cook the hell out of pork.. These were medium and pink by the bone.. The kicker, topped with little flakes of sea salt. You can see the little slits the chef made.. I don't know if he was checking for temp or cutting them so it cooked more evenly. A little sambucca for dessert.. They gave me 4 espresso beans.

Are you adding the cheese after you turn off the burner.

The lady and me have been watching the Sopranos from Season 1. i don't know if I mentioned it here but, it has us in the Italian American Mode. With some of the leftover "gravy" from yesterday, we just made a quick rigatoni w/ sausage This was one reminded Miss A of her grandmother.. a lot of their meals, had a large scoop of Ricotta. I like the contrast of the hot and cold, in addition to the cream. The bottle of wine we drank was a little more fancy.

http://youtu.be/Aae_RHRptRg today, 50 k people ran by my front door. for starters my friend brought scones. we had the over preheated to 400 and we baked 2 different kinds. then, a few hours later we drank prosecco and eggs in purgatory. made a green chile pork, with hatch green peppers, chicken stock, pork shoulder, tomatillos, avocado leaves, onions, masa, onions, cumin few other things. later on in the day, an oven baked stinky cheese with a little sweet wine and capers.

yesterday, with the little one away, the wife and i did absolutely nothing besides watch the Sopranos, or read, did some exercises, or just hung out and listened to the rain fall.. I left the house one time, in order to run into the backyard in the pouring rain to snip some parsley.. other than that, i was indoors. For breakfast i made egg sandwiches. for lunch, I made spaghetti with garlic, oil, anchovies and cheese.. For dinner, i made chicken tinga nachos with cheese, a quick pickled carrots and onions and an avocado sauce. oh and a can of beans that I cooked quickly in chicken stock, with avocado leaves, some cumin, onion and my homemade hot sauce, that I blended and kept loose to drizzle over the nachos as well. 3 meals, without having to go shopping. I came home from work with 20 bucks in my pocket on Friday, the goal was to not spend any additional money besides that 20 this weekend. So far, we haven't spent a dime.

I don't know if it's my favorite but, I am having some people over for the marathon this morning and will make as a dish, eggs in purgatory. I have to make the tomato sauce but, one could open a can of tomato sauce, add some onions, red pepper flakes and then crack some eggs into the sauce before baking and serving with bread. Simple and really satisfying.. If you are hosting brunch with a hangover (i don't have one), it's a cheap, easy and impressive meal. I also make a baked egg dish that has a layer of spinach, ham, egg and cheese.

I have been going to Lotus of Siam once or twice a year for the last ten years. On my most recent Las Vegas Trip in August, i went to Chada. I was very happy with the food. One thing that stood out was their raw oyster dish.. We got two rounds of them. Everything was good but, i find Lotus to be less sophisticated and more homey type food, Everyone talks about Chada's Wine List.. To me, I don't choose Thai restaurants by their wine lists. I don't think you can go wrong with either place. Chada is fancier, Lotus is more homey. On an unrelated note, I would tell you to hit up Raku and Yunan Garden in Chinatown Las Vegas. Also, i hear Lao Sze Chuan from Chicago opened a place in the Palms.. Haven't read about it yet. But, if you haven't been to the one in Chicago, it might be worth a try.. Though, i duubt it would be as good as Yunan Garden. here is a review of hunan garden http://brooklynbite.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/yun-nan-garden-phenomenal-sichuan-in-las-vegas/

haha, incredible dcarch. i always love your plating.

Simple dinner with maximum results.. Clay Pot time. Here is browned chicken going into the oven.. White wine, a little chorico, a lot of garlic, thyme, rosemary, onions, bay leaves.. Served over rice cooked with about a table spoon of tomato paste a tablespoon or two of butter. edit to add: a half a pound of wood ear mushrooms. the family raved.. The little one who gave me the mug because she hasn't had sushi in a long time, cleared her plate and sang my praises. She even spoke about school without using the word good, once.

I deep fry. I have a deep fryer built into my counter top, so it's super easy for me to deep fry. I deep fry at a low temp so there are no burns or uneven cooking. It gets just as crispy , it just allows the inside to cook too.

Tonight, the family made tacos again. cecina and carne enchiladas. The little one added shredded mozzarella that we had used in the manicotti filling to her taco.. I have had a bad cold these last few days.. last night, i made a chicken stock with a tray of chicken feet and a tray of chicken backs. Threw in some parsnips, a tube of tomato paste, 3/4 bottle of wine (vinho verde) leeks, onion, carrot, thyme and celery. Cooked that from 3 pm until 1 am. Strained. Tonight, i took some of the stock and added soy sauce, black vinegar, miso, dried seaweed, gochujang, chinese fermented beans, a couple of dried peppers and let that cook.. eventually added shredded cabbage and fideos. it's a spicy and salty soup that I usually make when i am sick.

The cecina I just bought at my local bodega. The enchilada was a mix of guajillo and ancho chiles with cinnamon and garlic and cloves,cider vinegar, a little lime juice and cumin. Had it marinating since. Friday.

Carne enchiladas tacos and sesina tacos. Raw onion, cilantro, homemade salsa and avocado spread.

Had a couple of people over last night to finish the leftovers from the party we had on Saturday. There was some green beans leftover. Just quickly blanched and then had a hot tarragon vinegar dressing tossed over top. Some chickpea salad: two kinds of roasted squash, sweet potato, beets, radicchio and pistachios. A few more manicotti made using crepes and of course the porchetta.. The porchetta, we threw on the meat slicer and made sandwiches with arugula and mayo.

A brazier pan? I would say other than perhaps being made of metal, the two would have no connection. It's a gratin pan with handles

Being a trained chef could mean, he was trained as a chef. That does not mean he is any good at being a chef. Just because you went to a school, does not mean you learned anything, just because you learned soemthing doesn't mean you can apply it. One of the funniest memories I have had being a caterer these last 10 years has been cooking a dinner to celebrate this room full of people who graduated a cooking school. Having no formal training myself, it just made clear the significance of going to cooking school. All that being said, I don't think it would change my opinion of him either way, if I learned he was top of his class at the Le Cordon Blue. He would still be a grown man who spends too much time spiking his hair and dyeing his facial hair. And any cooking show he is affiliated with would still have recipes being fed to him by a committee of people. Guy is a celebrity Chef who is more heavy on the celebrity side than the chef said. He is not a chef who is celebrity, he is a celebrity who is a chef.

Flay, seems like a nice enough guy to me.. i don't see the rudeness or cocky attitude people complain about.. Being a New Yorker maybe, i have a higher threshold.. My problem with Flay is, his shows are good, his plates on Iron Chef looked awesome.. i just don't like the food @ his restaurants.

Guy Frerrari or Fietti, was nice when i met him in airport right as Diners Drive Ins and Dives was about to air. He had just won the reality show that I didn't watch.. But, we were in an airport going to the same place and he was really friendly and we were just talking.. He was super excited about the show coming out. I have watched the show and it's like a mindless travel show. Some of the food looks great, some of the food looks horrific.. He is a little hammy but, whatever. He like most people have their idiosyncrasies, some get on my nerves. His obsession with real cracked pepper, or his freaking whistling. But, i like getting a look into kitchens all around the country. What's really strange is there is a group of men who have adopted his style.. There are people that dress like him, frost their hair like him, spike their hair like him and have a similar goatee. That's just crazy.

Had like 70 people to the house yesterday.. Took off of work on Friday and cooked most of the food with my mother in law.. Not really difficult dishes but, it just takes time. Homemade manicotti (with crepes) two large porchettas totaling over 40 pounds, 2 racks of ribs, green beans and tarragon, a chick pea salad that had roasted sweet potato, beet, acorn squash, butternut squash, radicchio, parsley, pistachios and apple cider vinegar and a few other things... It all came out really well. i don't have all the photos and my phone just died but, i feel like posting. gluten free vegan center piece my mother made for the baby shower. also the cupcakes and cucumber things and the vegan vegetable cups internal temp of the loin was 120 when i took it out, the heat cooks it until its almost a perfect medium. i like the excess mixed with the message. he doesnt eat meat this is a caviar pie my mother in law makes... its like a lay of onion, chopped egg, mayo and then caviar.. its an interesting combo.. she made three and they were eaten

I too have a plate warmer. It's at the bottom of my double oven. So convenient

A few things go into the process. Firstly, I brine in solution for a day and then buttermilk for another day, ideally. I think the most important thing for flavor is the water brine. If I have only one day to make chicken, I brine long and soak buttermilk just more so for the coating. Take the chicken from the buttermilk and toss in flour. I add tumeric to my flour for color. Among various spices. The flour itself should taste like something. Salt, sugar, cumin, chile powder, garlic powder, cayenne, paprika, pepper black, Pepper white, pepper pink, whatever else. And important part of breading is letting the chicken sit coated in flour on a tray in the fridge for sat least an hour. It will get tacky and become like a glue that sticks to the chicken. I also when coating the chicken, will slightly dip my finger back into the buttermilk and slightly touch spots on the bird and retoss around a little to almost make little areas where it's double Coated. But subtle little areas. For frying, I use a very steady temp. I also cook at a low temp. 320 to 300. I do 6 pcs at a time and depending on the size of the bird it's take 8.5 to 10 minutes to get to 167 internal temp. I use a sharp stabby BBQ fork to twirl the chicken every so often in the oil. When I comes out of the oil. I put on a wire rack. You also have to watch it On the rack. Make sure it's not getting to moist or wet on one side. Once it stops putting out heat, you can leave it alone but, If you aren't eating immediately I would rotate every few minutes. I sent 5 pieces of that chicken in a brown bag to my friend down in Philly and she said it was still crunchy. It's a true picnic chicken

Dinner for Miss K and I. The set up: Onions getting cooked, oil getting onioned. cheesesteak press it on the grill for a sec she wanted hers a little more pristine.

demi is a personal favorite of mine. But, a chicken stock would be easier and cheaper. If you wanted to make up for some of the richness of the demi, you can add a little balsamic vinegar to the chicken stock. I like the idea of a smokey pork stock recommended above as well.

Also, discovered a recent love for taquitos.. They are so quick and easy to make and you can essentially stuff any left over roasts or stewed meats in here.. Went out drinking with some friends Friday night and was able to have taquitos for 8 people in about 10 minutes.. what's better than that.