howard88

I watched all the episodes and want to add my thoughts. The show taken in totality was really good viewing, with a good mix of personalities and talents in various areas of the kitchen. I enjoyed the competition until the penultimate episode. I believe the end was predetermined and if this was so, took the viewing public for fools. It is my thought the producers did not and could not see Dave meet Harold in the finals. Harold clearly to me, came across as having the overall abilities and was most centered in terms of cooking, dealing with staff and the overall business end of heading a restaurant. Dave's personality just did not meet that post. The problem for me was that in terms of taste, Dave far and away won over Tiffany. It seemed none of her dishes did much for any of the people tasting them, yet she won over Dave. Incredible. I do not think the producers wanted the chance of having a final challenge with Dave versus Harold. Know why. Because based on taste, Dave had a damn good chance of winning and those involved did not view him as Top Chef material. I cannot believe most viewers did not see all of this coming. It was truly a no brainer. There was simply no chance in hell that sullen Tiffany was going to win the challenge over Harold. That did it for me and I resent the notion that the audience was played with in such an arrogant and demeaning manner. It was almost as if there was a a little picture of that arrogant twit Stephan in the corner of the t.v. screen with his shit eaten grin looking down on us. Just my impressions.

Johnny, You are one lucky dude.

There was a review in the Star Ledger about 6 weeks ago for Fatburger. I believe they indicated they only cook their burgers well done. Other than White Castle or similar burgers, I like mine medium rare. A regular burger well done has no taste for me save the condiments. Does the fatburger have any taste?

Daniel: It looks like you are eating some damn fine comfort food for lunch. I wish I worked closer to Elizabeth. Two questions I have. How were the short ribs? and Is Portugal BBQ open dinner hours?

Thanks for your input and I will post my experiences when I return.

I am going to Prague in a few months and would appreciate any suggesstions from inexpensive on up.

I use my slow cooker for many dishes a few times per month This weekend I put together homemade beans on low for about ten hours and the result was very good. I have used it for whole chicken with a traditional mirepouix, no liquid added. The result is a tender offering with a good amount of liquid broth to be defatted and used for a gravy or a multitude of other recipes. Sourkraut, onions and pork ribs seasoned with wine, chicken base and pepper comes out succulent. The slow cooker is convenient basically forget about cooking for those of us working and is really great for those comfort food dishes.

I also enjoy Minado in Morris Plains. I have eaten there several times over the past six months and the quality and certainly the variety is definetly above average.

I love lamb of all types and cuts. Lately I have been buying breast of lamb, (similar to breast of veal), and simply slow roasting it. While it's fatty, I simply cut the fat away and enjoy some really tasty meat.

I have been using a large plastic bowl for years. All scraps that go into the compost pile are thrown into the bowl. Works out well; saves time, helps the environment and seasons the soil.

Oysters Foie Gras Duck

There is only one great sandwich And that is, the corned beef (nicely fatty), pastrami (nicely fatty), chopped liver combo on rye. Ccle slaw on the side. It takes away from the fine meat tastes if it touches the sandwich.

I save beef fat, brisket fat is the best, for making homemade baked beans

I liberally kosher salt the filet and cover with a thick coating of mixture consisting of Hellmans mayo, dijon mustard and white horseradish. First, in a cast iron pan, saute in olive oil to get a crisp skin, drain the oil and place in a 400 degree oven until the salmon is cooked but still medium rare in the center. Not only is it easy but the richness and the full flavor of the salmon with the rich full flavor of the sauce on top provides a damn tasty result.

Damn. Had I known about the new show, I would have gone into my attic to retrieve my spring collection of tablecloths, which ala Martha are rolled up in my oversized map tubes and of course labled with my special label maker. Its a good thing!

Thank you all. Jinmyo, rib roast it is. jackal10, what is 140 degrees c. in Farenheit? The buy is $3.99 a pound for boneless rib roast. Yes I love bone in roasts for flavor and munching, perhaps next time. I am still planning on low and slow.

I am planning on roast beef for six. The local markets have top round for $2.34lb. and Australian boneless rib roasts at$3.99 lb. Price aside, I am looking for maybe eight pounds and naturally good taste. Knowing that Aussie Beef has little fat, which one would you go for. I am thinking of low and slow cooking to 120 degrees and resting to 130.

The Clam Hut is still there. At least it was this past October. The menu is how should we say, more upscale, costly and IMO no where near as good or fresh as the Clam Hut of the days mentioned in this thread. I used to order the freshest of lobsters and buckets of softshell clams, Fuhgetabout it now. Lorenzo is next to the Clam Hut on the water but a few blocks away by land. This summer the place did little business and by the end of August the owner was looking for someone new to lease it. The place next to Bahr's is owned by Bahr's and is all outdoor seating and a large but more restricted menu than next door. IMO their fish is nothing special and overpriced. The place that is constantly packed and is byob, is in the strip mall next to the A&P about a half mile from Bahrs. The Navesink Fishery or something close to that name is pretty damn good for fresh fish, shellfish etc.

On my way from Morristown to Hackettstown last Friday, I lucked out with just a 20 minute wait for the drive thru. Passing by at other times and days, I see long lines of cars with their engines shut off because the wait is so long.

Fifi: I live in Sussex county NJ and find the second cut, thick cut, point cut in local Pathmark supermarkets for 99cents per pound. The Acme chain has really good large corned beef for 1.19 per pound as we "speak". I usually buy a few and hold them for a month to two and simply boil, drop to a simmer and I am good for a few days of great corned beef.

Agree on the lox and cream cheese. I like to buy the nova pieces and whipped cream cheese seperately, and make my own ratio of nova to cream cheese. Unbelievably inexpensive and so flavorful. Its corned beef season (for me its always corned beef season), and I much prefer what is sold as "thick" cut for 99cents/lb. over the healthy flat cut for 2.99 or more per pound. The 2nd or thick cut has loads of that heart healthy corned beef fat vs. dry, taste like dessert sand, flat cut.

Last nite, two of our party of six ordered skate at the Long Valley Brew Pub in NJ. The skate was corn meal crusted and filleted. I ordered osso bucco so was able to sample the skate. It was excellent. The taste was delicate and sweet. It reminded me of a combination of stone crab, scallop, and lemon sole. It was perfectly cooked and a large portion for $17. I ordered the osso bucco over mushroom risotto. It was good but, the skate was definetly the winning entree of the evening. I have tried cooking skate on the bone at home and was always dissapointed. It did taste of ammonia and the texture was nothing like what we had last nite. I will definetly try cooking it again but this time will reject any old skate and saute it quickly as i do with calamari.

Let's see USA Canada Mexico Barbados Dominican Republic Puerto Rico Belgium China Hong Kong Italy England Turkey Morocco Spain Portugal

I froze the same quantity of foie gras for a couple of months with no noticeable change after thawing and sauteing. Alternately I could pick it up at your house, saute it, eat it and give you a highly descriptive report on how it tasted. And I promise we will be forever friends.

I thought it was riveting, and damn exciting t.v. Gordon demonstrates what it takes to get two Michelin stars and what he is trying to do to get a third. Arguably his is real to a fault; demanding but so very aware of what it takes to run a class establishment. From the color of the bandaid a server uses and the manner in which they deport themselves to striving for excellence in the kitchen from all levels of employees. All in all what a fuckin great show.