weinoo

What every cook in every restaurant uses...just make sure it's dry!!

Twice-baked potatoes (one of the more annoying things to make, as it involves first baking the potatoes, removing all the baked stuff (don't burn yourself!) from the skins without fucking the skins up, then mashing the insides with in this case (perfect use for the Foley fork!) butter, sour cream, Parmigiano, herbs and spices, restuffing the skins, and baking them again), which were delicious. And chicken thigh persillade. I was so annoyed by how annoying the potatoes were to make, that I failed to even clean up the plate before serving. Oh - steamed broccoli and carrots, tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, Silk chili, salt and pepper - on the side.

Penne with mushrooms marinara. Roasted heirloom carrots with cumin, parsley, lemon. One of our favorite taco places (in Manhattan) is Los Tacos #1, where the taco is simple, yet elevated by their tortillas, which are made fresh for every order. Their sister restaurant is Los Mariscos, where they also have a full liquor license and make some damn good margaritas, along with various seafood tacos and other seafood concoctions. We went to Los Mariscos last night, before a show at the nearby City Winery. These are fish tacos; the frying is expert and the tacos are great. There was also a shrimp taco.

These leaned to the savory side, just a little sweetness...made everything go well with a nice riesling!

Earlier this week, I'd noticed Cafe Katja put up a short Octoberfest menu, in addition to their standard offerings. So off we went: We had the smoked pork shoulder over sauerkraut, with topfenknödel. We shared this dish, and still had some to take home! Last night... Chicken paella at home. Roasted broccolini alongside.

Gutted. From our many "private" conversations, to her always sensible, often witty, and never rarely condescending comments here in "public," Anna was one of a kind. Rest in Power, and may her memory be a blessing. And condolences to her family, friends, and her eG community.

Is there still a "shortage" of this stuff? Cause if so, I know a guy...

I forgot to mention: I like all Tate's EXCEPT PUMPKIN SPICE. As a matter of fact, anything to do with pumpkin spice, other than pumpkin pie, can kiss my patoot! Wow - I really screwed that link up!!! Try...https://www.tatesbakeshop.com/ instead.

I kinda really like the Tate's line of cookies. Sometimes, they're on sale art $4/bag, which ain't bad.

Channeling the classic roast chicken with a salad dressed in those juices, made popular by Judy Rogers at Zuni Cafe!

This past week, I had a friend ask if I was interested in going to Sailor, a new restaurant in Brooklyn. I replied that I wasn't going to go to any restaurant where Bloomfield was involved. As for Joe, the less said, the better (spoken by someone who had a number of interactions with him).

What dontcha know? I mean, it's the sine qua non of appetizing.

Urban legend. I don't remember MSG shakers at any of the original restaurants.

AS the kids say, IYKYK: Not pictured, yet consumed: pickled herring filets, bagels, tomato, red onion, butter.

Have you ever tried the jerk chicken, brown stew fish, oxtails or curry chicken? Along with rice & peas, that's some classic Caribbean Island food. I have to take a long drive to get that stuff!

This is for you, @blue_dolphin

Indeed.

In my quest to find really high-quality tortillas, both flour and corn, I found this place...Tortilla Familia. So I bought enough to share with a few friends (and get free shipping)... The instructions for the flour tortillas say to separate each tortilla individually and repack for freezer and/or fridge... It was a lot of work, but they're pretty damn tasty.

Using the leftover poached shrimp from dinner the night before... Made some ramen soup, from a base of dashi, shrimp stock, miso and a lot of crisper vegetables. Ramen noodles from Sun.

A complete Trader Joe's product dinner... The package had two "Frenched" pork chops, nice and thick and even with a little marbling. Salted a few hours ahead, pan sautéed, they were good with a quick pan sauce (I get the bone), and we only ate one of them. Roasted Yukon gold potato (should've bought Russets, which to my taste, are better when roasting). And for some reason, there was a big display of just received asparagus from Mexico.

Local greens. House-braised, marinated *artichoke hearts. Poached **wild gulf shrimp. Last of the farmer's market tomatoes (for now). Olives. Dill. Parsley. Mustardy lemon vinaigrette. Penne with meat sauce. * I'd make these marinated artichoke hearts more frequently...if they weren't such a pain in the ass. ** For the poached shrimp, make a quick stock (or court bouillon) with the shrimp shells. Strain the liquid, bring the stock back to a boil, drop shrimp in, turn off heat, cover for 3 minutes maybe stirring once. Drain and spread the shrimp out on a cold plate (I prefer this method rather than shocking them in ice water). These were 16 or so shrimp to the pound; larger ones might take an extra 30 - 60 seconds. I also like to brine the shrimp for about an hour prior to cooking them - wet or dry brine works.

Big fan of the spokesperson, too.

Big fan of the Breville products.

They're like the Heinz of Costa Rica!!