IndyRob

My son took my wife and I out today for Father's Day and I, inspired by this thread, chose Culver's (bonus - relatively cheap for him). As far as the burger goes, I'd rank it tops among those we have in the midwest. The patties are Wendy's-like, but IMHO a touch better, and all the other elements of the burger are better. The sides were a little disappointing. Not bad, but not much better than acceptable either. I was excited by the cheese curds, but knew I would be ordering a burger with cheese so I chose the Onion Rings. Luckily, my wife ordered the cheese curds. My son went for the crinkle fries. One cheese curd was enough for me. Almost more batter than cheese it seemed. They went unfinished. My onion rings were unremarkable. They went unfinished. I think my son's fries were finished with the help of his runner's appetite - and ketchup. My chocolate malt was not bad, but decidedly not very malty. Still, their menu is impressively vast for this sort of place. It would be hard for anyone not to find something to their liking. And as to whether it qualifies as fast food, I'd say it ekes in under the wire. There is a drive-thru, but you order at the window and then park with a number on your car. We ate in, and as has already been noted, the food was delivered to the table. But it was only 5-7 minutes. I've had worse waits while standing in (or in a car outside of) a busy true fast food joint.

Since posting this I've tried the Boar's Head Pork & Beef dogs. IMHO, the All Beef one are much better. Also, to expand on the Detroit Coney's, the dog is a natural casing dog that's a little bland in and of itself. But the flavors come from the sauce which is a sort of greek inspired chili (a good amount of cumin, I think). This is topped with a line of yellow mustard and then some chopped yellow onions go on. This creates a layering of flavors that nears perfection.

The first episode can be seen here... http://realitytvfan.org/2009/12/19/top-chef-usa-1-episode-1/ I was wrong about a them having a home cook, but there is a culinary student/model. One executive chef, but otherwise, the term 'restaurant chef' seems to be used loosely. Harold is described as one, but later says "As a sous chef,..."

This, I think, goes to my point. I do want to see a skillful amateur in the mix. It puts the whole thing in context. When, as in the first season (IIRC), when a professional chef (a particularly annoying one) went before the amateur, it has meaning. I can't taste the food. I need something I can relate to. There are thousands of people that can put up better fare, with more soul, but generally in more limited quantities. In the early stages I want to see chefs beat those first on their way to the prize. I don't want it to become a professional inner circle thing.

Maybe, but I'm wondering if it's more of an indirect consequence of Collichio's high standards - which has resulted in all the high profile chefs who they've been able to get as judges. It wouldn't be hard for me to believe that Eric Ripert watches the show (or maybe doesn't but hears about it in his kitchen), and thinks "Why did that Miguel guy get on when my own Jennifer is so much better?" So as he agrees to judge an episode, maybe he says "I've got a person who would be great for next season...." I'm not trying to foster conspiracy theories, but maybe they need to look at a fourth series called something like Top Chef: Ladder. Part of the prize would be entry into the next season of Top Chef. Let Bourdain or someone take the Collichio role. Bourdain and bad food would be classic. Regarding John, I just noticed they have a video on the website that may elaborate on his thought process, but I haven't it watched yet. But I'll go ahead and make a fool of myself by posting my initial thoughts.... The original criticism was that the maple syrup flavor didn't come through (and pre-made pastry). But as it looked like it was coming down to the wire, I thought to myself "He's not going down for not enough maple." But then they mentioned that the pastry had gone soft. That's when I thought he might be doomed. I think something that catches even the Masters out is not being in complete control. He either didn't anticipate, or didn't think about a mousse-like substance sitting on puff pastry for as long as it did. Too bad, he was certainly a character.

The level of entrants continues to rise, it seems. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I understand that the popularity has made it a high stakes affair, but I thought the show was originally about the dreams of up and coming chefs. This season we have two sous chefs and an assistant professor at a culinary school - all the rest appear to be executive chefs or chef/owners. Of course the publicity is valuable, but weren't they already in a much larger competition with much higher stakes? Plus, I'm not sure how the line between Top Chef and Top Chef masters is determined (stars and/or rosettes?). I also miss the odd home cook thrown in as an underdog.

Yes, it looks like every Maine-type lobster I've seen and was cooked (it's bright red) and then frozen. I weighed it and it's only 11 ounces. It says "Wild caught". I have seen lobster tails from other areas of the globe about the same size. Are we trying to empty the Atlantic before the oil from the gulf reaches it? There was a sticker on the package that said "Great for grilling", but I'm not so sure about that. I think I just want to heat it through.

Whenever I walk into a supermarket for any item I always buzz the meat/seafood sections looking for bargains. Today, in the largest landlocked city in America, I stumbled upon $5 lobsters. I picked one up and looked at it. Quite small. Any reasonably fit Languistine could probably kick its butt, but nevertheless it looked quite, ummm, lobstery in its frozen pre-cooked state. So I made an executive decision to buy one despite my wife's seafood aversion. (hey, it's 5 bucks) So, it's frozen, it's cooked, the shell (which I have a lot of relative to meat) has something to give. Maybe I can finally do Lobster Ravioli. But also, why are we getting mini lobsters?

I used to be able to buy fresh dough from Trader Joe's (and they were generally good), but they carry it no longer. But C'mon, if you have a mixer with a dough hook it's no big deal. Make a big batch of dough, ball it up and put, say, six balls on a sheet pan and freeze them. Put each frozen ball into a ziplock bag (try to get most of the air out) and then into the freezer again. From there you just need to remember to transfer a ball into the refrigerator 24-96 hours before you want pizza. I used to pay 79 cents for one ball at TJs, but can make them (in 20 minutes) for way less than half that price - and I know how long they've been around, what the hydration is, and have a lot more control in other ways.

I've been watching and they have two wonderful new stars. A woman calling herself Julia Child (apparently a reference to the movie Julie & Julia), and a guy named Graham Kerr who seems to want to emulate the style of the movie Pulp Fiction with an even greater degree of 1970's historical veracity. But seriously, that's all there is there. Between PBS, Fine Living, Planet Green, The Travel Channel, etc., it's already getting its butt kicked, IMHO.

I think the finalists this time were very iconic. But for me, I think this was the most, um..., ambiguous final result of any Top Chef variant I remember. The previous TCM top three (plus Collichio perhaps) gave four stars to each chef (hopefully that wasn't some sort of agreement). So it was down to the regular judges. Out of the three judges, two gave 5 star ratings to different chefs. With it being so close, and with Bayless, Chiarello, Keller and Collichio there, I have a bit of a problem accepting this result as..., well, authoritative. And that's not to say I have any bones to pick with any of the finalists. I just have a lot more respect for the chefs than the critics.

Wow, even after the Top Chef reference (and before clicking the link) I had trouble figuring this out. Marcel Vigneron? um... Oh wait! Just plain Marcel! From Top Chef. Okay, I'll give it a trial. For me, Marcel started out as the new Stephen (Asprinio), but then a fascinating thing started to happen...the other contestants - in reacting to him - started melting down left and right. I think Marcel stayed roughly the same throughout while others, perhaps culminating in the Cliff incident, began showing the worst sides of themselves. And while Elian did eventually win, I think he was by then coming off as a rather nasty character - much in contrast to Harold Dieterle, who had some nastiness going on around him, but which he was able to stay out of. But, I think I'd like to see Jonathan Waxman punk both Marcel and Elian. But yeah, I'll give it a go. Although the idea from the article of teaming him up with Richard Blaise would've been brilliant - if they could develop a working relationship (which I think they could).

Needs salt. I like the lobster and butter solution (poached in a beurre monte if I can have a little water). Or a McDonald's McChicken sandwich placed inside a Double Cheeseburger.

I wonder if, in some restaurants, it might be possible - after ordering - to ask to stand next to the pass for five minutes - while promising not to get in the way and further promising to delay nothing. Presumably, you could take it out of the dining room and be able to shoot more dishes.

I'm starting my second run of herbs in my AeroGarden (hydroponic system). You can get everything you need for as little as $50 and you can have them set up and running in about 30 minutes. I was generally pleased with my first run, but learned some important things.... My main problem was that the basil and dill shot up to goodly heights causing me to raise the lights. The more they were raised, the more the short plants (thyme, oregano, etc) got cheated of light. So I never got any good harvests of those. It might've been better had I cut the taller ones back earlier than the instructions implied. So I think buying the small ones is better. You can have more than one unit running with herbs that will play well together. You can also have gardens staggered at different levels of development. But since I have a 6 pod one, I'm starting basil and peppers but will transplant them outside as soon as they get close to the light. Then I'll either start new ones, or replace them with something smaller. I also recommend the Master Gardener kit. Although, you'll likely receive a season's worth of pods when you order, they might not be the exactly you want (custom kits can be purchased separately). I found I didn't have much use for dill (when it was at its height I should've taken the whole thing and did gravlax). The mint went pretty much unused as well. The MG kit gives you the hardware and nutrients to do your own pods with your own seeds. You can also go with third party generic hydroponic grow medium and nutrients (save the plastic cages for reuse). But you are locked into the OEM grow bulbs. Of course, the best thing is that it's a year-round deal. I got mine for Christmas and was harvesting herbs in February. Other downsides mentioned before: Lights: Yes, they're bright and are on for all but around 6 hours per day. Noise: Noticeable if you're close. Worse if you develop a pump problem. I don't think this is common, but has been mentioned on message boards so it's not uncommon (often they are replaced gratis). Electricity: I saw a thread where someone calculated the costs. They were minimal. If you have a green thumb, I might not recommend them. But for people with brown thumbs like mine, it has been very good.

Under the mom & pop heading, I highly recommend "The Donut Shop" at about 55th and Keystone. I've only had the donuts (the best in the region, but get there early), but it also gets good reviews for general breakfast and lunch. Be prepared for a sort of Waffle House ambiance. Another mom & pop is Greek Tony's at 116th and Rangeline Rd. Best submarine sandwiches in Indy. Order the Italian. Hockey fans will approve of the ambiance. Under quirky, but often well reviewed, is the Three Sister's Cafe in Broad Ripple. But it also is also often poorly reviewed due to service (I'm guessing it's down to which sister you get). We tried to go on Mother's Day but apparently some of the sisters were also mothers and it was closed. Better restaurants: Broad Ripple Steak House. Voted best steak house in Indy. Been there - very good. Brugge Brasserie. I've not been there, but it's clearly a good (and well reviewed) brasserie.

We gutted and re-did our entire kitchen. The appliances were mostly top of the line but we skimped elsewhere. But all-in-all we got a good result, although the master plan hasn't played out yet. In the countertop department, we had to go with laminate counter tops. But, we have one wall where the range is. On the right of the range is a 24" cabinet which I topped with a butcher block reclaimed from an old table. Since to the right of that is a space where a door opens, I had a few inches extra, but not enough to go with a 30" cabinet. So the butcher block was oversized to provide as much working space as possible. There's about a 5" overhang (with a curve cut into it to lessen the possibility of catching the corner when going out the door. The overhang also allowed us to slide in a stainless steel garbage can with the foot operated lids (we have garbage curious dogs) underneath. So this allows me to simply wipe the onions skins and other prep refuse directly into the trash. On the other side we have a 4' run of plastic laminate, but soon that will become marble or granite. That's where the pastry and pasta is done and a marble surface would help there. For the other side where the sink and service areas are, I think the plastic laminate is just fine. But if we ever run out of other things to do, I could see upgrading to Corian. So I guess what I'm saying is that you can mix and match counter materials to your needs/budget. And also if you have a plan, you can settle in some areas for now with the knowledge that you have a future goal. Sinkwise, we opted for the basic two basin stainless steel sink with separate hose on the right. Absolutely no complaints with this. The left basin is reserved for the draining rack for quick wash items and pizza pans too big for the dishwasher. Offset drains do make sense to me though. The stress of the hose on the tap seems bogus to me. Plus, if you have small children, you need to be prepared for the possibility of being menaced by a super soaker. Would your DH leave you defenseless against such an onslaught? (insert discussion of flooring materials and liquids here)

I like that idea. But it almost requires frozen fat that could be pushed out a small tube. Whereas a sort of fine julienne of meat and fat could be bundled up and compressed.

I did a couple of frankensteak experiments a few years ago with poor (but sometimes amusing) results. I love ribeyes and filets, but noticed that chuckeye steaks had all the flavor I was wanting but the tenderness was not there. Why couldn't I have a steak with the flavor of a ribeye but the tenderness of a filet? So, my first attempt would use mechanical action to tenderize the steak and then I'd cook it as per the best filet. Right, chop up the chuckeye and put it into a food processor to break down the fibers and distribute the fat. Now, pack the meat paste into a ring and chill. Then season and treat as I would my filets - season and then BIG sear then finish in the oven. The outside looked great. But the inside was meat styrofoam. Lots of air. All the interior meat just shrunk. Later I tried the same basic approach but changed the heat - going to sous vide. A much better result, but far too burger-y. I still think it's possible, but I think the correct approach would be, well, what I'd term Micro Lardon. Painstakingly cutting small threads along the fiber and then laying those out with small threads of fat, then use transglutaminase as a glue and cinching the whole thing in a sort of corset and chilling.

One good thing I thought I invented (a quick google search proved me wrong) was a pesto cream sauce. Very simply a cup of cream in a pan with a large spoonful of pesto and reduce. That's the sauce. Into that I stir some cooked linguine and cooked shrimp pieces (seasoned and sauteed quickly in a basil and garlic infused olive oil). I like it just like that, but if I were doing this for an episode of Top Chef, I'd add some lemon juice so I wouldn't be dinged for not enough acidity. My wife doesn't like shrimp, so I've considered doing the same thing but offering a choice of shrimp or poached chicken. Since it's added at the end, it doesn't really matter. Although I use pasta, I think rice could be used to equal effect. The oysters might play a part, but I don't think the sausage would play well with the others in this scenario. But that's just my opinion. Edit: No, wait. Finely mince up those sausages and oysters and add them to the finished sauce in a judicious quantity. That could be stellar.

Sans skins, I think I'd be thinking about dishes that contain chicken meat without featuring a piece of chicken - because that's the strength of what you've got. I'd probably cook the meat (poach in wine? sous vide?) first and reserve it as an ingredient. My takes.... Creamy Chicken Hash - Saute chopped onions/shallots in butter, add a little flour, cook as per a roux. Add cooked diced potatoes (the main bulk of the dish) and milk/cream and cook down to thick gravy consistency, add chopped chicken and heat through. Season to taste. Chicken a la King - Very similar to above, but add mushrooms to the saute, omit potatoes and add slices of roasted red pepper to warm with the chicken. Serve in pastry shells, or in a well made in a pile of rice. Or mix with cooked linguine in a casserole and top with a gratin and bake for a tetrazzini type affair. Add chicken stock/broth/base/bouillon to either if desired.

McDonald's (and perhaps your theater chain) must be getting incredibly sweet deals on syrup. I found a five gallon bag-in-box of Diet Coke syrup in our local food service store for $60. The box makes 30 gallons, which (if I haven't screwed up my calculations again) would come to about $0.52 per two liter bottle. The CO2 for my SodaStream is about 20 cents a liter, so the total 2 liter cost is about $0.92. I can still often find 2 liter bottles of Diet Coke for 99 cents, so it's not a huge savings. While a proper CO2 tank would reduce the CO2 cost to next to nothing, the syrup cost still seems higher than what I had heard. If McD's pays half what I would pay, it's probably close to the rule-of-thumb 25% food cost (although with a near zero labor component). Well, then there's the ice factor....

Baked potato rather than the mash could be a good option. I just stab each one deeply several times with a fork and put them directly on the oven rack for an hour at 425. Longer at lower temps, and shorter for smaller spuds. This is flexible since you can put them in nooks and crannies around whatever other pans/dishes you have in the oven. They're as good as the ones I used to make while screwing around with rock salt beds. I also take a ziplock bag and put equal parts margarine (which I find as good as butter for this purpose) and sour cream, and add some salt (you want it pretty salty) and chives. Seal the bag and mash it up to mix, and store in the reefer for a couple of hours. When it's go time, take the margarine/sour cream mixture out, and cut off a corner of the bag (after having squeezed the mixture away from that side of the bag). Insert fluted pastry tip. Take the spuds out and cut a cross in the top of each. Squeeze to open the tops, and pipe the margarine/sour cream mixture into the opening. Serve quickly, or the nicely piped topping will melt.

I once calculated my pizza dough cost based on the best buys I could find on the 'net or elsewhere. 19 cents for one pie. This was helped a lot by finding yeast at pastrychef.com at around $5/pound (though I could become a yeast farmer by keeping a levain and treat yeast as virtually free). Also, I've always been amazed by eggs. Considering all the things you can do with them they have to be best value out there. My usual breakfast of two eggs and toast probably costs me less than 25 cents when I limit myself to sale items.

This is so cool I had to spend some time googling laser cutters. I'm imagining lasing perfect grill marks onto a sous vide'd steak. Or why stop with the classic cross hatch when you sear any image into it. I wonder if it could cut a sheet of pasta.