tammylc

True, true! Hmm - sound intriguing, PM on the way. As usual, you all are very helpful. Thanks!

It didn't need any explanation for *me* since that's the way we've always done it. But I'm sure someone else ready this thread will appreciate RebelRose's explanation.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. We'll be doing hard cheese for sure, probably Parmagianno-Reggiano. I don't have a lot of time to do prep or cooking, so I'll have to just imagine legourmet's pairings! The best things for me are things that I can just pick up pre-made from the deli case at Zingerman's or Whole Foods, or can quickly assemble. I made a grill-roasted smoked pork loin today with a chili-mustard rub. I have a bunch leftover and thought that might be a good thing to try - what do you think? It's a little smoky, with some heat from the chili powder, but not too much.

Guess I wasn't clear - we do taste all the wines on their own first before starting food.

You all had such great suggestions when I asked for foods to serve at my riesling tasting, I'm hoping you can help me out again! This month my wine club will be tasting Australian Shiraz. We'll be tasting 4 wines at a few different price points, including a standard $6 supermarket offering. We taste blind, so it should be fun to see how it stacks up againt the others. My wineseller suggested hard cheeses, like parmesan, and perhaps something with very mild jerk seasoning. Any other suggestions? Most everyone in the group is just starting to learn about wine, so we like to taste each wine by itself and talk about it. After we've tasted them on their own we try them with food, and see how people's perceptions and rankings change. So I'm especially interested in pairings that will highlight interesting things about the wine. Thanks!

Not sure if this is what you're referring to, but I think you're talking about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm shares. You pay a certain amount of money, and once every week or two get a big box with your share from the farm. There are a bunch of CSA farms around Michigan - not sure which are local to that area. At this point they'll be winding down for the year - next spring would be the time to buy in. If there's a natural foods store near him, they might be able to connect him up to a CSA.

Thanks to everyone for the Annam recommendation. We went there for lunch yesterday, and it was quite good. It was a bit of a trial getting there from the airport because Telegraph was closed, but we managed. We ordered two appetizers, and our server suggested that we should get the sampler instead, since it was just a few more dollards and we'd get to try everything. Being the "try everything" types, we said yes. Everything on the sampler plate was really yummy - fresh and crispy spring rolls, a crab wonton sort of thing, two different marinated beef items, and some chicken satay type things. We got two mains, chicken with Annam sauce - mild curry, basically. And shrimp with chayote and tomato sauce. Both of them were good, but subtle - the chicken especially tasted pretty generic on first bite, but then some interesting flavors emerged. The shrimp was even better - chayote was really nice - what is chayote anyway? We were too full to think about dessert. Don't know when I'll have a chance to get back there again, but I'd definitely make another visit.

Thanks for the suggestions! I've got limited preparation time, so I'm leaning towards things that are simple to put together. My budget is also pretty small, but people don't expect a lot of food, just tastses. I think I'm going to do some sort of smoked fish (I'll see what I find when I'm out), melon and prosciutto, and curried chicken salad (Whole Foods sells a really nice prepared one). And bread, of course. Given where I'll be shopping, I'll probably get sucked in by the cheese case. Any favorite cheese combinations to share?

My wine club is meeting tomorrow night, and the theme is German Rieslings. We've got four 2002 Riesling Kabinetts, one each from four different growing regions in Germany. People in the group are really interested in tasting how wine and food interact with each other, so we usually taste and evaluate the wines on their own first, then again with food. Any suggestions?

A bunch of people recommended Annam in another Detroit thread, so sounds like we should definitely give it a try! I'll report back. Thanks.

Thanks for the recs. I should clarify that I'm not necessarily looking for downtown Detroit, although that's fine. I'm picking up a friend at the airport and looking for somewhere interesting, preferably no more than 30 minutes drive from DTW, although we'd probably go farther if it was worth our while.

Here's some news for your Corey - it appears that that space on Main is cursed - Rush Street is already dead. Any recommendations from the assembled masses for really good, really interesting LUNCH in Detroit ? High end would be good, ethnic and interesting would be good too...

Tammy - where is the Korean grocery? And which is your favorite bibimbop place - the one at Kerrytown? We love Kang's Coffee Break on South U. Our favorite Japanese restaurant here in Toledo (Kotobuki) is owned by a Korean, and they make an amazing bibimbop. They also have a bunch of other Korean dishes, though they aren't listed anywhere - I think they have them around just for staff meals. ← Hi Danielle! First things first - have you had your baby yet? Now that the important questions have been asked... Manna is the name of the Korean grocery, and it's on Broadway right near where it becomes Plymouth. It's a little tricky to find, especially since they used to be in this little shopping center, but that location closed and they moved right across the street! I honestly haven't eaten much bibimbop in Ann Arbor other than the stuff at Kosmo in Kerrytown. I've been to Steve's Lunch once I think - not sure if I've been to Kang's (but a couple peopel have mentioned it so clearly I should give it a try). There's a group in Ann Arbor that's starting a bibimbop tour - they want to try a different place each week until they've had them all. Alas, weekday lunches are more suited to students than working moms.

My post about it is here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=926566 The actual recipe is from Cook's Illustrated/ America's Test Kitchen. You could try going to the America's Test Kitchen website and see if it's still current enough to be free. If you can't find it, let me know and I'll send it to you.

Bibimbap for 50! (I'd made a mistake in my original posting - I actually had 41 adults and 13 children, so not quite as many as I thought. Of the adults, there were 27 meat eaters and 14 vegetarians.) The meal went really well. People were certainly impressed and I got lots of compliments. I did most of my shopping at the Korean grocery in town, and that was quite the experience as hardly anything was in English. But I managed to find all of the things that I needed. I stopped at a couple other stores to pick up other items. What I ended up using: 10 lbs of rice ~7 lbs of beef (pre-sliced for bulgogi) 4 lbs of tofu 24 Kirby cucumbers (at least, that's my guess - they were labled "pickles" in the Korean market) 10 lbs of carrots 6 1/2 lbs of spinach (would have bought more, but the store only had a few of the large 1-lb packages) 5? lbs of bean sprouts (might have been more - it was six bags - a bunch anyway) 1 pickled daikon radish 6 dozen eggs 2 medium sized containers of kim chee (3 lbs each?) A medium size container of hot sauce (500 ml, maybe?) Total cost was $164.45. I had just about the right amount of everything. There were a lot of carrots left - 5 lbs probably would have been fine, but the single bag just looked so small. More tofu would have been welcome. There was enough of everything to get people through the first pass through the line (I served it buffet style and let people top their own bowls), and then things slowly disappeared as people came up for seconds. This was pretty good to do as a common meal. We were defintely busy throughout, but didn't kill ourselves - it helped that I had two really talented and hardworking assistants. I started around 3, peeling and slicing the cucumbers, then salting them and letting them stand for 15 minutes before rinsing and draining them and tossing them with some rice wine vinegar. Jason sliced the beef and Mary diced the tofu and I mixed up 6 batches of torakris's recipe for the bulgogi marinade, which I used for both. The marinade was great. For my tastes, it would be better with a little acidity, so next time I'll add some sake or vinegar or something. But still - yum! Next up bean sprouts - cleaned, blanched, tossed with sesame oil and soy. Then, carrots, shredded in the food processor, blanched, and tossed with sesame oil and a little freshly grated ginger. We had so much spinach we had to cook it in two batches, and the second batch burnt. We salvaged what we could, but it sure made the kitchen smell awful for a little while. And there was a slightly smoky taste to the spinach - but I figured people would just think I meant it that way - it didn't taste *bad* just smoky. After thoroughly draining the cooked spinach I tossed it with sesame oil, soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds. Then I just julienned the daikon radish (which Mary thought was the most disgusting smelling food she'd ever been party to). Meanwhile, Mary was poaching eggs and setting them aside on half sheet pans, and simultaneously sauteeing the tofu. I got all the beef cooked and it was 6:15 on the dot. Only problem - we only had around 4 dozen eggs cooked! Now that the stove was empty, we set up a bunch more pans and quickly poached the last 2 dozen eggs. Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions. Next up - a rerun of the sesame noodles from back in May, with stir fried green beans instead of soup to go with.

There's an absolutely amazing ice cream place in North Market in Columbus OH. Geni's or something like that? Anyway - amazing flavors - chocolate curry coconut, caramel with smoked almond, lavender, and more. Sooo good. Eve in Kerrytown in Ann Arbor was serving some nice ice creams that they were importing from Toronto. Don't know if they are still or not - last time I asked, they didn't have any rose, which they used to serve.

Re. ice cream - Zingerman's is making some lovely gelatos at their Creamery in Ann Arbor. Riso is probably their oddest (think rice pudding). The Burnt Sugar is my absolute favorite.

Thanks, Chris - very helpful suggestions. The meal went really well. I did most of my shopping at the Korean grocery in town, and that was quite the experience as hardly anything was in English. But I managed to find all of the things that I needed. I stopped at a few other stores to pick up other items. I'd made a mistake in my original posting - I actually had 41 adults and 13 children, so not quite as many as I thought. What I ended up using: 10 lbs of rice ~7 lbs of beef (pre-sliced for bulgogi) 4 lbs of tofu 24 Kirby cucumbers (at least, that's my guess - they were labled "pickles" in the Korean market) 10 lbs of carrots 6 1/2 lbs of spinach (would have bought more, but the store only had a few of the large 1-lb packages) 5? lbs of bean sprouts (might have been more - it was six bags - a bunch anyway) 1 pickled daikon radish 6 dozen eggs I had just about the right amount of everything. There were a lot of carrots left - 5 lbs probably would have been fine, but the single bag just looked so small. There was enough of everything to get people through the first pass through the line (I served it buffet style and let people top their own bowls), and then things slowly disappeared as people came up for seconds. I used torakris's recipe for the bulgogi marinade for both the beef and the tofu, and it was great. For my tastes, it would be better with a little acidity, so next time I'll add some sake or vinegar or something. We poached the eggs, which worked well for preparing and holding so many runny yolk eggs. I'll write in more detail about method and stuff over in my Dinner for 40 thread, but I just wanted to stop in here to say thanks!

Hey there bibimbap fans! I need your advice! I'm cooking bibimbap for 51 adults and 13 children tomorrow. How much food should I prepare? I cook for this many people on a regular basis, but I'm usually going from a recipe that I can extrapolate serving size from. For this though, I'm on my own. So far I'm planning 1/4 lb of tofu or beef per person. 1 cup of cooked rice per person, plus some extra. From there, I have no idea. I'm planning four toppings - cucumbers (salted, rinsed, and dressed with some rice wine vinegar), spinach (wilted and dressed with soy sauce and sesame seeds), carrots (shredded/julienned, blanched, and tossed with a little sesame oil), bean sprouts (blanched and tossed with a little sesame oil). Any thoughts on how much of each I should make? (Or different preparation techniques for the bean sprouts or carrots?) How many people would a good size cucumber serve? 4? 6? I know I'll need a LOT of raw spinach to get to any reasonable quantity of cooked stuff. I'll be buying 1 lb bags of organic pre-washed baby spinach - how many do you think I should get? Help! (And thanks.)

I know I'm supposed to be the quantity cooking "expert" in this thread, but I could use some advice. I have 51 adults and 13 children signed up for my bibimbap dinner tomorrow. How much food should I cook? I'm planning 1/4 lb of tofu or beef per person. 1 cup of cooked rice per person, plus some extra. From there, I have no idea. I'm planning four toppings - cucumbers (salted, rinsed, and dressed with some rice wine vinegar), spinach (wilted and dressed with soy sauce and sesame seeds), carrots (shredded/julienned, blanched, and tossed with a little sesame oil), bean sprouts (blanched and tossed with a little sesame oil). Any thoughts on how much of each I should make? How many people would a good size cucumber serve? 4? 6? I know I'll need a LOT of raw spinach to get to any reasonable quantity of cooked stuff. I'll be buying 1 lb bags of organic pre-washed baby spinach - how many do you think I should get? Help!

I haven't been to Alinea yet, but I did eat at Trio twice, so I think I can speak to the experience of eating ultra modern cuisine. The second time at Trio we were four people at the kitchen table, and it was one of the funnest meals of my life! There were time were laughing so loud I was worried that we were disrupting the chefs! The foremost word I've used to describe chefg's food to people is "whimsical" - he has a sense of humor and it translates to his food. When you're along for his ride, it's an exhilerating, exciting and enjoyable trip. In terms of your specfic question about senses - if anything, I think all of your senses are enhanced. Here's why. So many of chefg's courses play off of senses that we don't usually engage all that much in eating - he does a LOT of stuff with aromas for example. So even when you're eating a course that doesn't specifically play to your sense of smell, you're still more aware of that sense than usual, because you've been reminded of its possibilities.

I just picked up a black glass for $2 at a yard sale for the sole purpose of trying this experiment. Any suggestions on wines to pick for maximum confusion?

What's the SOS event at Tribute - there isn't anything on their website about it.

I still haven't been to Logan. Everytime I've looked at the menu it's just not looked that interesting. Rush Street is the one you're thinking of on Main, and I haven't been there yet either. This having a baby thing really cuts into ones eating out possiblities. Eve has added a wine bar and is doing tasting classes and the like - haven't been to one yet, but hoping to make it soon.

Thanks for the tips on the eggs. I was also coming to the conclusion that poached was probably the way to go. I don't even have one dolsot, let alone the 40 or so I would need to serve it that way for common meal, so I guess I'll actually be serving bap with stuff in an ordinary bowl. I don't think I've ever had bibimbap in dolsot - I'll definitely have to try it if I get a chance. Any favorite toppings you (or anybody else) want to share?