Robbie
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Posts posted by Robbie
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I don't know about out-right banning children in restaurants, I have taken my daughter (4) into some of the finest restaurants in Vancouver and it's great because she has an amazing palate, she loves food so much, anytime someone says they don't like something she will relentless hound them to "just try it". She is also extremely well-behaved, due to the fact that for her entire life I have hauled her out to the car anytime she starts acting up (even in cheaper places like Boston Pizza). It's a great thing to teach them while their young, and there have been many occasions where the staff have been so amazed by her behavior that they have given her a free dessert.
It's not hard to get a child to behave in a restaurant, it's just that most parents don't try. I love my nephew and niece but I absolutely will not go out for dinner with them. It is just far too embarrassing for me, especially since they are like 7 and 10 and they are running around the table completely out of control. Thing is, their crazy behavior is not limited to restaurants. I took them into the grocery store once and it was insanity trying to keep them together, at one point they stole a bunch of items out of someone else's cart!
Honestly though, I don't think it’s a big deal. I can think of more times that other adult customers have annoyed me by being drunk or rude than I can think of times where a child has annoyed me. Maybe restaurants just need to enforce some basic rules for ALL their clientele.
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I can understand not listening to every customers request, but simple things like condiments or whipping up a salad for a vegetarian are absolutely deal-breakers. I work hard for my money and there are enough restaraunts out there I don't need to listen to some chef make excuses for why he won't give me what I want. The whole concept just reeks of arrogance IMO.
Also on the list are chefs that won't make something for my 4 year old daughter, if you can't whip up some grilled cheese then I'll go somewhere else thank you.
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corn flakes are pretty classic, I've been using them to add crunch to chicken or fish for years. My wife uses them to add some crunch to her chocolatey-peanut butter bars and they are awesome too
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Just saw this on another site I frequent, my god it looks good...think I'll have to start saving for this book
http://aht.seriouseats.com/assets_c/2011/01/20110131-modernist-cuisine-burger-137237.html
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Looks like a very interesting book, especially for someone like me who absolutely loves the science of cooking. My question is are the actual cooking techniques described things you could use at home or are they geared more towards professional chefs?
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The environmentalist in me has to say you guys really should stop using awful harsh chemicals and disposable wipes. Try mixing 1 part baking soda with 1 part water so you get a nice paste. Use a cloth to spread it all over the stove, then hit it with vinegar (I keep vinegar in a spray bottle for cleaning). The vinegar and baking soda react just like in the science fair volcanoe, its actually pretty cool and makes cleaning the stove kinda fun. Then you just wipe it off and all the grease comes with it, it is really crazy how well it works.
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Thank you baroness, I must acquire one of these.
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I keep it pretty clean, if things get really bad I just go with the Baking Soda/vinegar combination which destroys anything. My wife is an environmental engineer so if I bought easy-off I might end up on the couch...
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My father is Italian (Calabrese) and my mother is from Kentucky, so we grew up with a combination of Italian and Southern cooking in the house. When I was a teenager I was introduced to both Mexican and Indian restaurants and really took a shine to them. The food definitely clicked with me, but it was also that time in one's life where you start branching out and doing things on your own. So I happily went down that path, with the reading, shopping, experimenting, etc. until it got to the point where that's all that my family associates with me these days (random quote from my dad: "sure we'll come over for dinner, just make sure you don serve any of that crazy Indian stuff"). So I guess I'd have to go with either one of those two, maybe even a combination (I have been known to put tandoori chicken in an enchilada or two).
Yes!, I think the Indian/Mexican combo wins for me. I'll have to try tandoori chicken enchilada cause that sounds amazing. We often make butter chicken burritos and they can be pretty amazing.
I'd still like to hear people's reasoning behind the general hatred for "americanized" mexican. I've had some very good meals from both, although I admit I really don't exactly know where the line between them is. The food I had IN mexico was probably the best I've had, but I think this is more due to the incredible freshness of the ingredients. We just can't get the same quality avocados up here in Canada
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I dunno about you guys, but I get more wounds from my cheese graters than any knife I own.
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Sobeys, LobLaws and Costco all use to carry them. I just moved to a small town where my choices are basically Save-On or Safe-way and I haven't seem them here yet.
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I love all food, but I think the one I am ALWAYS in the mood for is Mexican. I don't even care if its the "american" version of it, I'm not sure why it gets such a bad rap because it can be very good (just stay away from taco bell). Its funny because I was thinking about this yesterday while eating a burrito at lunch, I think it all comes down to the "freshness" of (good) mexican.
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just found this online..
"Most live mussels are packed in mesh bags (ranging from 2 lbs to 25 lbs), but recently some processors are packing live mussels in Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP), a process that uses a special oxygen/carbon dioxide mix to to extend the shelf-life of live mussels."
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My dad lives in Nova Scotia right on a beautiful beach, some of my best memories are of walking down to the point and filling a bucket with fresh mussels. As a result I take my mussels pretty seriously, and am always disappointed by the crap they sell in stores..that is until I had some of these vacuum packed "live" mussels. Not sure how they do it, but apparantly the mussels are live and you aren't suppose to open the package until you're going to eat them. They sure tasted great though.
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As much as I love my food processor, my cast iron, and my grandmas old mortar and pestle I am going to pick one that I had very little expectations in. The wife bought a cheap-ass plastic mandoline that has done an amazing job, it is so incredibly fast to use there is no way I could keep up with a knife. Super thin and all uniformly sized makes for great home-made potato chips, scalloped potatoes, and lots of other veggies.
That Berkel meat slicer looks badass though, I am a little bit jealous.
Trudeau silicone spatulas sound great too, I have been on the lookout for a good spatula for months now..
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Wow, so happy to see this thread. My entire family is Scottish, mom came over to Canada when I was young but I try and get over there whenever I can. I always go to a distillery or check out a tasting.
My favorites are the Talisker and Balvenie but whenever I go to Scotland my grandad somehow has a bottle of vintage glenrothes and that stuff is amazing, I've just never came across it in Canada. Other favorites are the Oban, Lagavulin and if I want a cheaper one the Glenmorangie.
When I drink scotch I usually add just a little water to it.
Just took another look through the thread, and I don't think anybody has mentioned the glenrothes. Have any of you tried it? Perhaps just a personal bias since I was basically brought up on the stuff
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Presalting meats or brining I salt very liberally, during cooking taste test as much as you can and salt accordingly, and when it comes to finishing salts less is better because you can always put the salt on the table and let people do what they want.
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I definitely think this is a golden age, people are just really getting into cooking and eating healthy. I just moved in with an old friend who use to eat hamburger helper 5 nights a week, now he makes amazing meals every night and watches the cooking channel constantly. Same thing with my wifes parents, we use to try and get them to eat real food and they would fight us on it (one time her sister refused to eat my mashed potatoes because they weren't from a box). Now they buy cook books and eat a huge variety of foods.
I think people are really trying to eat healthier and in the process are learning to be better cooks. It is really at the point where frozen dinners and the such are looked down upon.
BTW you have just reminded me of one of my favorite recipes for beef and broccoli that I will be making tonight
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I've only seen the show once, he was at some place where they were cooking a whole pig. Both me and my wife thought it was awesome because they had just cut this pig in half down the middle and threw it on a grill for like 14 hours, we were both craving the pulled pork madly after that.
Of course, we don't have tv so whenever we do end up watching something at the parents house we get all too excited...
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Vancouver has so many good restaraunts, we spend way too much money going out..
the regional tasting lounge in yaletown is good quality, nice wine collection too
Taki sushi is my favorite sushi place, the taki roll is amazing and the sashimi is always very good
I will always have a soft spot for Dona Catas. They have about 6 kinds of meats they slow cook all day and you get whatever you want in a taco for $2.50 - it can't be beat.
but yeah, Le Crocodile is our favorite when we can afford it
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For candy bars I have to agree with Beebs, wonderbar rules. I had the chocolate peanut butter crunch bar at Cactus Club a while ago and that was pretty awesome too.
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1) pasta/sauce
2) porridge with fruit
3) yogurt with hemp hearts and fruit
4) sandwich with soup
5) wraps/quesadilla
These are mostly lunch/snack foods because for dinner we usually make her try what we are having. We really try to get her to try everything so she develops our love for good food. If dinner is taking too long we provide snacks.
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I saw this thread yesterday and smiled because I had two whole chickens I was planning on making. The first chicken I brined with only salt. The second I started by adding salt to hot water, and also adding a whole bunch of crushed garlic cloves and rosemary. I let it cool before submerging the chicken in it. I have been told that by starting with hot water it allows the flavors to "bloom", I tasted the brine from the bottom by using one of my basting tools and could definitely taste the flavors. Both chickens turned out great, but you could definitely taste the difference and both my wife and I preferred the garlic and rosemary one.
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Workplace Drinking: It's Back!
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
I have worked at just one tech companies that provided free drinks, and I loved it. We rarely ever started with the drinks before 2 or 3, and usually only got REALLY inebriated when doing a build that requires us to monitor things late into the night. Not sure if its related but that was definitely the tightest team of programmers I have worked with.
Also:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/ballmer_peak.png