TicTac

Looking forward to this. We love Indian food in our house and I am always expanding my repertoire. Any chance you could along with traditional names, give some description as to what the dish is? Many thanks!

Sorry to hear that Zuppas was closed, I have only ever been for lunch - hope your replacement meal was satisfactory!

Not even half time and I had eaten far too much. The sleeper of the night was Buffalo Wing Chicken dip that my mom brought - a few extra squirts of Franks and it was killer with some nachos! While I wanted the falcons to win (I detest cheaters), I am no true fan (besides the 49'ers, but that goes back many years to the Montana days), but my sympathies are with true Falcon fans. What a choke....

Did you call them or just try online? Online booking system does not manage the chef's table (it's really more of a bar overlooking the kitchen).

Heh....Being at Queen and Spadina, you can use your imagination as to how some 'hipsters' dress for Alo. Your money is just as good as everyone else's, so long as you ARE dressed Good luck! At the very least you can always pop in at the bar for some great cocktails and excellent 'bar food'.

A well deserved break, Doc! I know you said nothing too posh, however; you are right around the corner from Alo - though the chances of getting a table are fairly slim, I would absolutely urge you to give it a go....often the chef's table is open, and there is also the Bar (which does not take reservations). It is the best restaurant in the city at the moment. Besides that, check out Khao San Road for some fantastic Thai food, and Zuppas for great smoked meat sandwiches. There is also Swataow on Spadina for amazing shrimp dumplings or their BBQ Pork soup. That should keep you busy, let me know if you want more or anything specific

The best steaks I have had on this continent. Many of the top restaurants in the city source from them.

It's almost like that warm blanket feeling knowing you have a freezer full of goodies. Call me odd... Yes, I only buy our meat at Cumbrae's these days. Such a discernible difference and to be honest Chicken is not that much more expensive than elsewhere. Especially for dark meat (which is 90% of what we eat, chicken wise). ((The Rib eye w/ mostly deckle I had last night from them was stupendous!)) Edit for Rotuts - I have done that before, but my excuse is I had 2 boys under the age of 3 in the car with me and no visual inspection of meat was necessary (I was only getting chicken, ground beef and bacon - mmmm their bacon).

I was wondering what the consequences were if we added into the freezer vs. retrieving from it.... Frozen peas are also a staple in my house (my 1 year old loves them!), so those get added at least every week or two. And I will admit to also adding 4 vac packs of chicken legs - I was at Cumbrae's and cannot help myself. Some red meat might have also made it's way in...

I am with Anna on this one, love the gooey cheese on some soft soaked bread floating on French Onion soup.

Sounds delish. Nothing wrong with a little MSG btw - so much nonsense surrounding this naturally occurring substance (in tomatoes as an example). If I was frying up (anything) I would toss some shaved onions tossed in a bit of flower. But then again I am a SUCKER for Onion strings (I blame growing up in Scottsdale and going to Hoolahans for their Onion 'brick'!).

I have a question, though not necessarily about Darto - about Carbon Steel in general. As previously mentioned I put my pan through 10 layers of Flax seasoning, looked great - cooked a steak on it last night, worked out very nicely... My issue is when it comes to cleaning - I did not want to be abrasive at all nor use soap, so I sacrificed a cloth and some hot water and wiped it down. The fat came off, but so did a 1x1 cm flake of the original seasoning - which really frustrated me! Am I doing something wrong?!

Superbowl is an excuse for us to eat....well....garbage, quite frankly - but it is a treat! Menu includes: - Nachos - Nachos with melted cheddar - Onion soup mix dip - Guacamole - Salsa - Mozzarella sticks w/ Marinara sauce dip - 'Pinwheels' - puff pastry, with various toppings (black olive paste & parm, tomato chutney & cheddar) rolled and sliced & baked. - Bread Knots (quite tasty actually and relatively new to us, my sister makes these, baked knots of bread, then tossed in garlic/parsley/parm/olive oil) - Might need something green so perhaps an arugula salad of some sort. For Libations I am thinking of doing a Meyer lemon daiquiri.

If packed in salt, be prepared to soak them to get rid of some salinity. I prefer the large ones in vinegar. So many uses for them - - Parsley salad w capers/red onion - Tuna salad w dill - Dill/Sweet mustard/caper/balsamic sauce for gravlax The list goes on......

Very funny indeed. Though I am still amazed that such a health conscious culture smokes so heavily (and in restaurants / around kids as well).

I think I erred, and liuzhou is correct. It was Fergus's spot that inspired my salad. Not sure why I had Fat Duck on the brain....early morning pre-chaga tea brain farts perhaps

So true. The biggest alcohol buying power in the world (The LCBO) for whatever asinine reason, cannot seem to get its hands on any agricole, let alone a really decent rhum selection.... If any Ontarian's have suggestions, I am all ears!

Big Bone Marrow fan here. I agree with the richness comment, which is why I like to prepare it a la Fat Duck style with a Parsley/Red Onion/Caper/Lemon Vinaigrette salad on the side, with toasts (a requirement, as mentioned above!).

I am not keen on re-frozen frozen pizza, so I will be vigilant in my efforts to avoid such a tragedy!

This is a great idea...if only I knew everything that was in my freezer! That's the problem with chest freezers (upstairs is a pull-out and fairly manageable), even with some crates to stack things, its difficult. I had an idea for a bar-code scanning system to inventory what goes in and out, but it remained, sadly, an idea. Does taking out frozen home made pizza count!?

I will admit to having tried the aforementioned Mexican pairing (though it was grilled octopus) with some melted (very mild) cheese, but again, it did nothing for me. Shellfish risotto itself has never excited me, but a good mushroom risotto (or a smoked duck risotto) with some seared scallops placed atop is pretty awesome (note: I do not put cheese in either of these risotto preparations).

This. And if you have a large amount, take a big heavy bottomed pot and smash 'em on the cutting board. If you are concerned about mess, put a towel on top of them. Though the knife smash method takes no time at all and lets me get any of the day's frustration out. Just make sure you angle the blade downward when whacking the knife!

lol @kayb I too have tried tripe and cannot get past a) the texture b) the slight 'off' flavour. sweetbreads - I will never tire of, oh how I love thee!

I can't imagine (because I surely wont try it! ) being able to taste much scallop under Gruyere cheese... Shellfish especially, are delicate. It would be a shame to blanket their (hopefully) fresh flavour with cheese of any sort.

This title is what is often referred to as 'Click Bait' Testicles are very popular in many parts of the world. My grandmother who originally hails from Vienna, but grew up and raised a family in Israel, often regales me of the tales of her enjoying 'Turkey balls' on a skewer in the streets of Tel-Aviv. Like Sweet Breads, if one can get past the idea, they are often delicious (though I have not tried, and quite frankly have no interest in trying a cow's vagina - sorry!).