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Everything posted by KatieLoeb
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Am I the only one grasping the irony in this sentence?
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Wine & Spirits Bargains at the PLCB (Part 1)
KatieLoeb replied to a topic in Pennsylvania: Cooking & Baking
Hey, I learned from the best! First, I had the pleasure of playing "Teaching Assistant" (read: wine glass polisher) for Greg during his series of classes through Penn that were taught at London Grill, back when I was Assistant General Manager there. For setting up and breaking down the room (that's 300 glasses hand polished, thank you very much) I had the privilege of sitting in on Greg's classes. They are very good classes and I highly recommend them. Several years later I was hired as Office Manager of the Moore Brothers stores and got to learn not only from Greg, but the rest of the wonderful staff there as well. I've been extremely fortunate in having great mentors for my wine studies. -
It's the project of one of the founders of Meritage (the wine one, I think). Michael Klein had a short mention in Thursday's Inky: http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertain...ng/13130480.htm ← Barnaby would be the NON-wine one. ← James Colabelli is no longer associated with Meritage. He'll be taking over for the departing Melissa Monosoff as sommelier at the Four Seasons. Wonder how long they'll be able to afford the exhorbitant rent at that locale with no liquor revenue. Seems dicey to me.
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I still maintain that FOUR places is both excessive and too time consuming. Why dont we do DeLorenzo's Hudson St., Top Road and Conte's (since we haven't been there before)? Just a suggestion... And let's not forget to bring some libations for DeLorenzo's! I've got a special something I'm bringing along that should be quite interesting. And is Conte's BYO also??
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Shouldn't THIS thread perhaps be merged here too??
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So who else is attending? I'll be there!
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Amen, Sister Maggie.
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Marlene: Calvados Sidecars!!! Trust me, you won't be sorry. A nice snifter after dinner slowly warmed in your hands accompanied by good conversation is also high on the list.
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I totally understand what you're saying and actually agree with you. My chef's jacket was a sample from a manufacturer that I paid for myself. I was considering using them at a restaurant I was managing. If I really wanted to be self-important I'd have had my name embroidered on it. To me, it's a full contact apron.
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Seems Mr. Laban liked everything well enough. Declared it the best 'cued chicken in the city! High praise indeed. I still think Smoked Joint does certain thing better. Smoked Joint's Brisket is the best I've ever had. And their smoked Salmon appetizer is delicious as well. I love Sweet Lucy's and was just there last week. I confess I've not tried the chicken which he waxes poetic about. I guess it'll be awhile before the crowds die down after that glowing review. Mr. Nichols article was a nice piece describing the research that went into creating the menu at Amada. Definitely gets into chef's head a little and talks about a few of the menu items. That is exactly the type of piece Rick Nichols qrites so well. I think the postings here have been more enticing in terms of getting folks in the door, though. Selfishly, I'm waiting for the Wine Spectator to write something up.
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Diva: The Grand Marnier (I actually use Gran Gala which is a perfectly acceptable substitute) gives the sauce a depth of flavor and that je ne se quois that makes even cranberry sauce haters sit up and take notice. It's like sneaking a little crack into the sauce. Hopefully you can get some converts from the can-shaped stuff. I suspect the apple pie spice would work just as well as the pumpkin pie spice. I use the pumpkin because it's what's in my cupboard. Just a little bit though. The spice should be in the background. The tartness of the cranberries and sweetness of the oranges and Grand Marnier should be what compliments the turkey.
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Kim: My recipe is pretty similar to yours. I basically follow the recipe for cooked whole berry sauce on the back of the cranberry bag. I use two bags of cranberries, two cups of sugar, about 1 cup of orange juice (whatever half the volume of water called for is) with one envelope of unflavored gelatin melted into it, the zest of one whole orange and then I cut the rest of the pith off the now "naked" orange and run the segments through the processor and add that to the pot as well. Boil everything up, add about 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and 1/2-2/3 cup of Grand Marnier to the hot sauce and mix well. Then I refrigerate everything until it "gels" up. There's never any of this leftover. It's really good! The other cranberry sauce recipe I keep going back to every year is Jalapeño-Cranberry Sauce from the FabulousFoods.com website. This one is particularly good with deep fried turkey, which my hosts make every year. The Fabulous Foods website has some pretty good recipes on it as well.
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Sorry - this whole concept makes me gag.
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I'd call myself a very good avocational cook. I do own a chef's jacket, which does not have my name embroidered on it, and which hangs proudly next to my favorite apron in my kitchen. I have worked with enough real chefs to know what that really entails and I am absolutely certain that I do not have the chops to put out 300 different dinners that are ordered at all different times and in all different combinations during the evening without screwing up. It's why the staff in a restaurant will call the chef "Chef" with great respect. They earned it. Any home cook that wishes to refer to themselves as a chef need only spend one night on the sidelines of a busy restaurant kitchen and they'll understand the difference. Even for those of us that have pulled off the Gourmet magazine ready Thanksgiving dinner for 40 people. And it's not about a culinary degree. It's about just making it happen every single day.
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Most cranberry sauce recipes have enough sugar and pectin in them to keep pretty well for a long time in the fridge. I wouldn't freeze it because I'd be afraid it would get ice crystals in it and then get watery when defrosted. I'd just make it up to two weeks in advance and keep it in back of the refrigerator. Defintely fold the walnuts in at the last minute so they stay crunchy. I've never put fresh apples in mine, but my Cranberry-Orange Sauce with Grand Marnier has kept well for a couple of months the last several years. It does have fresh oranges and zest and I do put one envelope of unflavored gelatin in it so it thickens up right. Not sure if the liquor helps. Nothing better than homemade cranberry sauce with roast chicken after Thanksgiving.
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If you're comparing it to Rose's lime why not try make a Cherry Gimlet? It would probably taste pretty good mixed with nut-based liqueurs as well. Cherry-almond is a classic combo, so maybe something with Amaretto? I'd also consider white grape juice and white cranberry juice as mixers. How about: 2 oz. vodka 1 oz. Amaretto 1 oz. tart cherry concentrate 2 oz. white cranberry juice Shake and strain over ice in a highball glass. Top with a splash of club soda. Let me know how it tastes...
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Awww Andrew! That looks Yummy! Sorry we missed it! Even sorrier that you're going to miss DeLorenzo's next week but we'll raise a glass to you, K?
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That's actually a good question. Never had a problem with it in the three years I had it stocked at my old job though. We used the Apfelkorn, the brown colored one. I didn't even know there was another flavor until scratchline's post yesterday.
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I had seen this once before. I sent it to every beer geek I know. They all laughed their asses off too. It's the Wagnerian soundtrack that kills me.
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They do assemble the fondue tableside. Our waiter was very nice and very well informed on the procedure. The classic Swiss fondue we shared was white wine, a little garlic, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, kirschwasser and a big bowl of already shredded Gruyere and Emmenthaler cheeses. A little shake of nutmeg comes at the end for flair. We decided to go for the tried and true traditional for this first trip. The Wisconsin Cheese Trio fondue was the other one we were considering. I'm sure I'll try that one next time. There's also a Cheddar Cheese/beer combo fondue and the aforementioned "hate crime" Mexican Fiesta Cheese fondue served with tortilla chips.
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The funniest line of the night (other than doubling ourselves over laughing playing casting agents for the eGullet movie) was when philadining referred to the Mexican cheese fondue option on the menu as a "culinary hate crime". Needless to say that one didn't appeal to us.
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Well for one thing I don't own a fondue pot. And I hardly think my George Foreman would be of much use in attempting to make fondue. I really don't want to be cleaning melted cheese off my kitchen floor. By the time I bought the groceries for the various types of cheeses, three loaves of bread and the kirschwasser (which I don't happen to have lying about my house) for the cheese fondue, 5 various proteins, 6 or 7 different types of vegetables, salad ingredients, and six different side sauces, this meal would have cost me a heck of a lot more than it did and left me with a bunch of odds and ends leftovers that I wouldn't be able to use before they spoiled. I live alone. I have a well stocked fridge to be sure, but definitely not along the order that would allow me to enjoy what I had this evening for the same price point. And I like soneone else to do labor intensive prep work for me. I get enough of that when I'm making my specialties. I just don't feel the need to condemn this place simply because it's a <cue basso minor key chords> dreaded chain restaurant. It was good. I enjoyed myself and my meal. It wasn't the best meal I've ever eaten but I've had far worse experiences at other chains and independent restaurants alike. Fancier places too. It was definitely some of the best fondue I've had. And that's exactly what I expected. They do the specialty of the house quite well. What more could I ask for? Do I actually have to defend myself for this?
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Feeling inspired and jonesing for cheese fondue after reading this thread all day, I called philadining and convinced him (with minimal effort) to go scope out the new Melting Pot this evening. It was definitely brand spanking new as the overstaffing and hovering gaggle of hostesses and multiple managers at the door would indicate. As we walked in we were immediately pounced upon and asked for our name. After sheepishly revealing we hadn't called for a reservation we were escorted to what we were promised was the "most romantic" table in the restaurant which also made us giggle. A small booth for two in the back of the restaurant was lovely, although rather tiny in terms of useable table space once the burner was taken into account. We ordered a nice bottle of Trimbach Pinot Blanc (a bargain at $37 and great with the entire meal) and set about deciding which combination of things suited our fancy this evening. The hard sell was on for the "Big Night Out" all-inclusive meal, but we decided to have one of the Fondues for 2. Started off with the Swiss fondue, the classic swiss cheese, white wine and kirschwasser combo. It arrived with bread cubes of rye, white and pumpernickel, crudite and Granny Smith apple cubes. The fondue was delicious, and our waiter was very sweet, if also a bit hovering. It seems that every single employee in the place is supposed to stop by your table and ask "Is everything OK?" or "May I take that from you?" at carefully timed and coreographed 3 minute intervals. That does get a bit tiresome. Next we each had a salad - mine was a California Salad with gorgonzola and Raspberry-Walnut vinaigrette and was delicious. I didn't try philadining's salad but it also looked pretty good. For our main dish we chose the Pacific Rim selection which consisted of Teriyaki marinated choice sirloin, shrimp, peppered pork tenderloin, marinated breast of duck, boneless breast of chicken, and potstickers. We chose to have it in the Court Boullion style, to fool ourselves into thinking this was "healthier". The broth was quite flavorful and actually everything was pretty tasty. I particularly enjoyed the Green Goddess, Chipotle BBQ and the Blue cheese sauces on the side. It was a very large meal. Plenty enough food for two but our server kept reminding us we could have refills of whatever we wanted. Was it expensive? I didn't think so. The check was about $108 with tax but before the tip. It wasn't cheap but it could have been all-I-could-woof if I were feeling so inclined. Was it horrible chain food? Defintely not. I enjoyed it, and although I don't think I'll be back real soon, I could certainly see going again some other time. We didn't have room for the chocolate fondue (and sadly were foiled in our late attempt to get Capogiro afterward) but I'd certainly go back for that on another occasion. The layout of the location was quite nice and other than the opening week jitters and incessant hovering (which I suspect was part of the opening overstaffing), our service was quite pleasant and well informed. This could be a very fun place to bring kids that are old enough to be careful around the hot pots. Who doesn't like dunking stuff in cheese or chocolate??
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The Think Bubble says "Bravo - Nailed it!"
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Hey, I'm not saying it's Le Bec Fin, I'm just saying it's fun and novel and will undoubtedly be full just like the other chains are every night. And fondue is hard to screw up - minimal ingredients and basically crudite or meat or cut up fruit on the side. I have a lot more respect for attempting a small, easy menu that can be done well than trying to do the regional tour of Italy like Bucca di Beppo (which qualifies as the most atrocious of chains to me) does and make ALL mediocre food. If the oil in the pots never gets changed or the cheese fondue is nasty, then yeah - IT SUCKS. But I haven't heard anyone say that yet and I'll reserve judgement until I have a chance to go myself.