scubadoo97

new tradition??

Stigand, I can agree that to me, raw fish is more of a texture thing. Raw or just seared tuna has a buttery texture but I don't find much taste in it. Don't get me wrong, I like sushi but to me the flavor is in the rice, wasabe, nori and dipping sauces than in the fish. Salmon is a little different. When dinning out I never order tuna. No flavor and if you have it cooked through it's often dry as a bone.

It's not that uncommon. Practices vary a lot. I've booked at some in resort areas that want 7 days in advance and I've stayed at many that are 6PM night of.

I love carnitas. This tread got me thinking of making them. I am currently making some beef carnitas for this Friday Shabbat dinner. I'm using a couple of chuck/shoulder roasts. I used a good bit of orange zest, juice and some "lemon", the wild stock from an old grapefruit tree, juice as well as bay leaf, oregano, cumin and a few other things. The orange and sour citrus is similar to naranjas agría-sour orange. I added a little sugar to the broth so I can make sure I get some good color when I brown them up. This had less fat than I wanted but it will do.

When I've had something at a restaurant that impresses me, I will try to recreate it at home if possible. One of the reason to go out to a good restaurant is to get new ideas. I have visited the Top Secret Recipe website and have made Carabas and Olive Garden meals for my kids since I cringe at paying the prices for that kind of food. Both are way over priced IMO.

I have a couple of grapefruit trees in my yard. One is a very old one that came with the house, that still produces white fruit but half of the tree has reverted back to the wild stock which looks like a grapefruit sized lemon. When cut it looks like a grapefruit inside but is sour as a lemon without the fragrent lemon smell. I just squeezed 2 liters of juice from these sour fruits that I'll use like sour orange in marinades. My other tree is a small ruby red that has just started to bare fruit. I love all citrus.

Think about what you will be slicing the most. The Kyocera has a ceramic blade so will stay very sharp for years but you will not be able to resharpen it yourself. I have a regular Benriner mandoline with the 3 sets of julienne blades and I use it more than my stainless steel Bron. The fact that the Benriner is so easy to pull out and wash makes it my first choice for most things but for shredding cabbage or other larger items the Bron is a better choice because it's wider. The super Benriner is 1 1/2" wider than the regular and at 5" wide makes it a great choice for general use.

Consumer reports did a report on wine chillers in '05. Of the seven models tested GE Monogram was on top and U-Line was on the bottom of the list. U-Line got a poor rating on temperature control.

I'm not sure these would be my choices on a deserted island but as far as healthy spinach, sardines and blueberries are high on the list for super foods high in vitamins, minerals, omega 3, and antioxidants. Help keep those eyes sharp to look for that rescue ship.

Well not really. Sounds wonderful. Can it be adpated to other foie applications like a touchon?

While watching the lastest episode of Diary of a Foodie- Contraband Cuisine last night on the DVR, I was intrigued by the segment with Ruth Reichl preparing a faux gras. I have made faux chopped liver and even though it has a similar texture it is no where close to the real thing. She challenges anyone to be able to tell the difference between the foie and faux gras. Has anyone tried this recipe of simialr? How did it compare to a foie pate'? CHICKEN FAUX GRAS Adapted from Happy in the Kitchen by Michel Richard SERVES 12 (FIRST COURSE) ACTIVE TIME: 45 MIN START TO FINISH: 4 3/4 HR (INCLUDES COOLING) FOR MOUSSE 1 cup finely chopped onion (1 medium) 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened 1 garlic clove, minced 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 lb chicken livers, trimmed 1 teaspoon fine sea salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper Cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter in a small heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cream and simmer, covered, until onion is tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1 3/4 sticks butter, then return to heat and stir until butter is melted and mixture is combined. Purée livers with onion mixture, sea salt, and pepper in a blender, scraping down sides as necessary, until smooth. Force mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup. Bring a teakettle full of water to a boil. Evenly space ramekins in a 13- by 9-inch roasting pan. Divide liver mixture among ramekins, then cover each ramekin with foil and place roasting pan in oven. Pour enough boiling water into pan to fill pan halfway. Bake until mousse is just set, about 30 minutes. Remove foil and transfer ramekins to a rack to cool to room temperature, about 1 hour, then chill mousse, covered, at least 3 hours.

My daughter up until recently would eat a hot dog with out the hot dog. A hot dog bun with mustard and katsup. Funny thing is, it taste like a hot dog since many hot dogs today don't have that much flavor on their own.

I have one of those without the handle. Works great. It's plenty long so there is ample working area without the handle.

If your talking about the 1960's food gadget vegomatic, it would be hard to get to the blades with stones or other devices. This or similar sharpener might do the trick. http://www.accusharp.com/

My usual methods would be to pan fry or smoke them. They are a soft fish so if you grill them you would need to use a grill basket so they don't tear up or you could do them in foil on the grill. Fresh mackerel is nothing like the fish in a can. They are a fatty fish so they smoke well and won't dry out. The skin is very thin and will just about melt away so there is no need to skin them.

Brush up on your Spanish if you go. There was not much English spoken. I did a lot of pointing to the tapas that were made and on display. A wonderful experience.

My feelings as well. The ideal would be to bring the wine to the table in a little mini carafe so I could control the amount of the pour.

As a comparison, I've been on many a dive charter that took a CC when reserving a spot on the boat. There have been times I thought the weather was iffy and I wanted to cancel that morning after checking the weather station but knowing my CC would be charged I have gone on a couple really nice dives and the weather turned out not as bad as I thought. Most operators will cancel the trip if they feel it is dangerous but sometimes you have to weigh out how much rocking and rolling you want to endure. I think a restaurant has the same right to take a CC for a reservation. It is the patron that has the right to not book should they find this practice unpalatable. I know some restaurants are so busy it doesn't really hurt but for some really small places it can mean the difference between profit and loss if they get a few no shows. I guess I would rather have a restaurant take a CC than reserve a table in a restaurant that has no concept of the reservation. I have been at a couple of places with reservations and waited 30 min to over an hour to be seated. I know it is very common although in poor taste, for people to book reservations and no show and not call, or book at several places and then at the last minute choose where they want to dine. Yes a restaurant has to accept some risk but there has to be limits on both sides. So if the owner felt the need to chastise someone that cancelled at the last moment the patron has the right to not go back if offended. I see no foul as we each have to draw the line at what we think is right.

I've been using a lot of chick peas lately and picked up a couple of bags of dried beans that I hadn't gotten around to cooking. That and a bag of dried favas from the Asian market that had been in the cabinet for a couple of months set the stage for making falafel after reading this thread. I elaborated on FoodMans recipe and added some cilantro. I ended up with 5 cups of chick peas and 4 cups of favas with peel. My Italian parsley was the darkest green color I had ever seen and coupled with the cilantro my falafel were decked out for St. Patrick's' day. after the grind frying them up beats green beer I got a great crunchy exterior and a soft warm center that had wonderful flavor. I had tried to make falafel years ago with canned beans and gave up. The hardest part was peeling the favas. Even after a long soak I had to pinch the beans from the shell which took a while to complete. The rest was a breeze.

This is a topic that my wife and I differ on. She would like having nothing on the counter except items of art or decoration. I on the other hand want items that I use regularly out and ready for use. Soooo....... We currently have KA stand mixer Drip coffee maker burr grinder espresso machine Mazzer Mini espresso grinder food processor toaster oven

My mom would make butter and sugar sandwiches for us as very young kids for fear that we were too thin. She liked to fatten us up and did an excellent good job. She also liked the onion and mayo sandwich for herself as I recall.

It sounds like in most of the above cases for the use of white squishy bread that the bread is serving as a vehicle to deliver the goods. Be it hamburgers, hot dogs, left overs... the bread is serving as the delivery method more than providing taste.

Well we just got back from Coral Gables. I had a educational conference so spent too much time in classes but did get to eat some great food. Since we got in very late Friday, traffic was hell, we just walked around in the vicinity of the Westin and had a salad and pizza at a little place. Saturday dinner was at La Confradia. My wife had grouper with a yucca cake and the waiter said the veal chop was the best so I tried that. It was cook nicely with corn risotto. Both meals were good, not fantastic or special in any way but good. Sunday dinner was at Michy's. I stared with the foie gras appetizer which was excellent. Like eating butter, it was so rich. My wife had the ceviche which was very bright and fresh. I opted for the sweetbreads and veal cheek ravioli since this is not something I would make at home. My wife had the cod fish dinner. Both were excellent. To end the meal we had the bread pudding which was not like any bread pudding I've every had. It was great. The food at Michy's was excellent and the prices better than the previous dinner in Coral Gables. No doubt the rent is cheaper on that block of Biscayne Blvd. Before heading out today we finally found Xixons Spanish Deli tucked away in a little professional building. This was one of the best finds of the trip. It was 11:30 in the morning and I found my self eating tiny stuffed squid in black ink and a couple of other tapas before ordering a couple of sandwiches to take on the road. To make the trip even more interesting we drove back across the state via the Tamiami Trail instead of Alligator Ally. I have lived in Fl all my life and this was the first time I drove part of the Trail. Lots of fun. Thanks to all for the recommendations. I would go back for Michy's and Xixons they were both that good.

Spanish mackerel is a frequent catch in our waters. I love it grilled, pan fried, smoked and made into fish spread. Wonderful fish fresh.

I know I caught it. I understand how these things can happen as Chris pointed out but that's why there are editors.