jogoode

Too many truffles on this thing would be disgusting I'm sure. But with Boulud's pricing, I wonder if "double" in this case means "two".

Thanks lxt. Though I think I might prefer the cheese.

Most expensive burger ever? Correct me if I'm wrong but: -From the online lunch menu at db Bistro.

Shows what I know!

Although I haven't yet been, JG's lunch menu has been tempting me ever since I found out you order $12 plates, two plates minimum.

I think it's a French cheese. Some versions are sweet, so you see it in desserts once in a while. lxt, did you taste this at all in the dessert?

When cooking fish with its skin on, you must try to get as much moisture out as possible to get it nice and crisp without overcooking the fish's flesh. In the same way, if a mushroom is sodden, then it'll take a very long time to develop, or may never develop, those crisp edges. Perhaps my memory is failing me tonight - but I mostly saute mushrooms for things like sauces and quiches and eggs and they are never crisp. What kinds of dishes are served with crisp mushrooms? (I guess there are dishes with fried mushrooms but I don't eat a lot of fried food). I wash fish too - but dry it on lots of paper towels before I saute it so the skin gets crisp (use the same paper towels on mushrooms - but not because I'm trying to get them crisp). Robyn When I roast smaller mushrooms, chanterelles for instance, I look for a texture different than that of, say, a sauteed portobello. The latter I hope will be meaty, slightly chewy. I prefer a lot less moisture when I roast chanterelles and expect crisp edges, a bit of crunch when I bite. I was just using the fish example to clarify why I am wary of washing mushrooms too thoroughly.

Read Jeffrey's post again and think Bill's behavior in his twenties.

Thanks for the restaurant info, Robyn. When cooking fish with its skin on, you must try to get as much moisture out as possible to get it nice and crisp without overcooking the fish's flesh. In the same way, if a mushroom is sodden, then it'll take a very long time to develop, or may never develop, those crisp edges.

A new trend I hope! defn, coxcombs (or cockscomb): the fleshy red crest on the head of the domestic fowl and other gallinaceous birds defn, gallinaceous: Relating to or resembling the domestic fowl defn, fowl: Any of various birds of the order Galliformes, especially the common, widely domesticated chicken (Gallus gallus)

Interesting, where do you live? I've never heard anything like that before. How can restaurants be liable for food-induced illnesses when it is nearly impossible to prove that a particular restaurant/meal is responsible for an instance of food-poisoning? If after a case of food-poisoning you recall that you had a salad for lunch at home and dinner at an oyster shack, you'll probably sue the oyster shack when your salad could easily be to blame. Anyone?

Was that the whole dish -- mac with lemon sauce!!? The only "pasta dish" served in a French-ish restaurant that sounds at all appetizing to me is Oceana's Ivory Turban. (I don't think it's still on the menu.)

Just remembered a Ducasse dish that Jeffrey Steingarten mentions in his latest book: "creamed and truffled macaroni with sweetbreads and coxcombs".

Me, too. I believe coquille asked what they were like and our waitress told us that they were slightly chewy.

Pan, Another member posted this in the old Casa Mono thread. (Do I smell a thread merge?) Prices are $3-$15. For the quality, I thought it was a very good value.

The tripe was a great dish and its likeness to cassoulet was a good call. I believe everything else was served on a plate while the tripe came in a small earthen bowl with chickpeas, blood sausage (I only saw one small black disc) and pieces of another sausage. Tripe was cooked nicely -- very tender, not at all mushy -- and the dish was sweet and deeply flavored. Ditto on the sweetbreads. They were very well done. And the fennel was nicely caramelized and in appropriate ratio with the breads -- three crisp sweetbreads and about four sizable strips of fennel. I was the last to pick a lamb chop and got the short end of the stick! Mine was slightly overdone but had a fine and tasty crust and was great with the lemon, preserved in salt and sugar. And I thought that our three chops for $14 (one of the most expensive dishes on the menu) was a deal. I might have been slow to act, but when I got to both the cuttlefish and the pan con tomate, they were not as warm as I would have liked. But both were still quite good. I thought the brussel sprouts were a highlight, roasted tender ("a la plancha", so I suppose grilled) and covered with those taste-giving dark spots I always hope for when I roast sprouts. I think we were all very happy with everything except the scallops. We saw someone eating them at the bar and they were so beautiful served in their shell we had to get them. The ones I had weren't mushy but lacked flavor, as did the indistinguishable "broth" they were piled upon. The bay leaf bunuelos were strange -- you got a punch of bay leaf in your nose if you inhaled while you bit. With a more sugar and a bit less grease, they would be a good freebie. We had about thirteen dishes, including desserts, which was certainly enough for four, though after dessert I might have stayed for the cap i pota fria and the cock's combs. And possibly the oxtails with pequillos.

Coquille will post in detail today. But l will say that we were all very happy with the meal.

Tortilla factory! Where were you when I needed you?

A club roll is sacrilege! Order it on rye. Ask for extra bread. One sandwich becomes two. BTW, I think 2nd Ave Deli has better rye bread. I like a soda with my pastrami. Root beer, or a Pepsi. Lots of ice. One of the few times I drink soda. With pastrami and brick-oven pizza.

I went to college in Poughkeepsie, NY, and found some really great Mexican food. A lot of small spots, usually in the back of tiny grocery stores, for tacos and tamales. One un-signed restaurant was authentic enough to serve quesadillas that were more like empanadas, filled with calf brains, zucchini flowers, or huitlacoche. Good West Indian/Carribean/Jamaican food, too -- also served in grocery stores. Oxtail, saltfish and ackee, peanut porridge.

Although we are no longer taking new questions for Jeffrey, he will continue to respond to already posted questions and read new posts. So we hope you will all continue to contribute to the existing discussions.

Hope you stayed away from Clifton's French bistros and went straight for their hot dogs.

I'm light headed. When my aim gets a little better, maybe I'll try one this sharp. Great article, Chad.

Coquille's the fourth. I'm excited!

The danger comes -- danger to the taste experience, I mean -- when people are improperly informed of the temperature at which a burger must be cooked for it to be safe to eat. When I was younger I remember a widespread and influential rumor that only a well- done burger is a safe burger. Then it came out that a burger cooked to medium rare, and even rare, is cooked enough to kill most bacteria. This type of rumor, which compelled me to live without juicy, flavorful burgers for a good portion of my life, cause me to question any method of risk-reducing behavior that may compromise taste. It's, of course, all about balancing risk and benefits, and about hedging this risk by, say, only purchasing your hamburger meat from a butcher who you are sure grinds the meat of one cow, thus limiting the risk of infection that comes from a burger made from ten different cows. (I think this last bit is something I heard from you, Jeffrey.) I'm sure this is just a typo, or I could be missing something, but you don't use raw eggs in cooking? Do you mean you try to make sure your eggs are always cooked thoroughly? I hope you don't deny yourself sp. carbonara or runny yolks on toast with sea salt and fresh pepper?! And Jeffrey's article on eggs convinced me that my runny yolks are quite safe, or atleast that eatin them is a risk I'm willing to take. Sorry about the tangent, Robyn. I think washing produce is a very happy medium.