Smokeydoke

@HungryChris that's too bad, I've only read good things about WCC. Too many great restaurants get shuttered here.

It looks like a good focaccia. Nevermind, just read the Serious Eats article. It is not a focaccia.

I never had okonomiyaki before, I learn something new every day. It's very similar, but I think pajeon purists (is there such a thing?) would balk at some of the ingredients. Okonomiyaki sounds like a free-for-all, I've never seen cabbage in pajeon, although that sounds delicious. Thanks for the heads up! I'll have to read more about it.

I've enjoyed reading this thread, it prompted me to cook Korean food again. I'll be honest, I rarely cook Korean food, but for some reason I felt like Haemul Pajeon tonight. Thanks @ChryZ! (if you're still around) Your Haemul Pajeon looked delicious! Haemul Pajeon is a seafood pancake, just like @ChryZ made earlier in the thread. It is not like an American pancake, it is savory, not sweet. I followed Deuki Hong's recipe from Koreatown. It got good reviews and it was tasty. If you ever want an easy, simple pajeon recipe, his is a good one. Of course, real Korean pajeon is more difficult to make, ChryZ's recipe is more traditional. If there's any interest, I'll post my rather drawn-out process how to make traditional pajeon. Both recipes are good! Deuki's is definitely delicious. So first, I started with some seafood; shrimp and squid today, but it can be made with any combination. I bought the small bay canned shrimp for this recipe because of how he cooks his pajeon, I knew it couldn't handle the big shrimp. It was fine, much cheaper too. Squid needs to be cut into small rings. Deuki puts doenjang in his batter. Ingenious! I didn't have doenjang, so I used red miso, almost same thing. Here it is in the skillet. Deuki directs to mix all the ingredients together and throw in a pan. I was wincing, but it worked! Of course, any Korean ajima would be shaking her head in disbelief right now, since it's usually cooked with more steps. The miso (doenjang) adds another level of deliciousness to the batter. I'm stealing this for sure. And here's the final dish, served with jeon dipping sauce, made with soy sauce, white vinegar, sesame oil, gochugaru and toasted sesame seeds. I don't use a recipe, it's all to taste, approximately equal amounts of everything. It was delicious! Happy eating for sure. It's great on it's own or as a side to Godeungeo Gui, broiled mackerel. I'll try to post more to this thread in the following weeks. I bought some duk on a whim a few weeks ago, so I have to make some duk bok gee before it gets too hot. Yum.

@David Ross I'm sorry to hear about your knee and arm. I hope 2018 treats you better. And John Curtas will be a loss to the Las Vegas food scene. You're lucky to be his friend. I, too, was not enamored by Twist. We should start a secret society. To be fair, I've only been once, and I expected a sublime experience. It was anything but. I'd like to go back, but there's so many other places on my list, most pressing being Guy Savoy. I've been to Ping Pang Pong, twice, but I haven't been back since they remodeled. The food is excellent but I think Elite in SGV edges them out as my favorite dim sum. @HungryChris I will find out more info about the Wynn Country Club, I know someone who works as a receptionist there. I agree, that would be a shame, that is a beautiful space.

Hello? Hello? Anyone there? *taps mic* Can't just be me reporting on the Las Vegas food scene. @David Ross any more forays into our indulgent city? I'd hate for this thread to die. A welcome change of life events for me, I eat out more often now, as a single-diner. Life is too short and this city offers to many edible delights, so I've been eating out at least once a week. The upside is I get to report on the restaurant scene, something I fell out of habit doing around two-years ago. This week was Momofuku at the Cosmopolitan. A few thoughts before my review, so you know where I'm coming from: Momofuku is an East Coast phenomenon. While New Yorkers were slurping up ramen and baos, we, on the West Coast, were chowing on Father's Office hamburgers and Koji tacos. The similarity being they were all created by Korean-American "celebrity" chefs. I've seen David Chang on social media and, more than once, screamed at the television at him. I don't really get his "schtick" but he seems to be the darling of the hipster food-scene in New York and beyond. I disagree with his love for Dominoes pizza and Taco Bell. Well, Chang has no such rep here, it seems the "cool" thing to do is bash Momofuku and Chang and whatever he's doing out here. He once said Palace Station's Oyster Bar was his favorite place to eat in our norm-core city. That didn't win him any foodie creds with us but it did win John Curtas an article of the year. So, I dutifully walked into this place, dutifully reporting that I hated it..... NOT. Momofuku blew my mind, I knew I should always trust my fellow eGulleteers, this place was awesome. I don't eat a lot, so I can't post vast pictorials of elaborate meals, but what I had was amazing. I started with a Spring Fling, cocktail made of vodka, stawberry, rhubarb, cinchona, $16. This was delicious, light (maybe a bit too light) and fruity. It was served in a wine glass, like a craft wine cooler, but in a good way. The rhubarb added an unusual tart note and the cinchona made it all interesting. Next, I got the Shoyu Pork Ramen (pork belly & shoulder, slow poached egg), $17. This just blew my mind. Now this is ramen. Everything about it was good, the pork belly was delightfully unctuous, the pulled pork flavorful (put my pulled pork to shame), the broth smoky, and noodles were perfectly chewy. All this for $17! It was almost the same price as a slice of birthday cake! Anyone who says they had better ramen in our town needs to have their taste buds examined. And we have awesome ramen in our town, but they just don't compare. This was the best ramen I've ever had. Lastly, I got the famous birthday cake to go. It was mediocre in every way except the price, $14 a slice. Skip. Wasn't a complete loss, I finally got to say something bad about Momofuku. Whew, do I gain membership in the jaded foodie crowd? Overall, Momofuku is a winner in every way: food, price, service. I love it. Definitely made it into my rotation. Actually, I can't wait. What am I doing tomorrow?

@rustwood I did not get a kamado, I got gifted a Masterbuilt. I love it, but I may get a kamado later. Actually I'm looking at WSM instead.

I didn't say there was. I thought mine came out great.

I'll try smoking at 250F and take off at 210F. Next time. I did 225F because that's what the recipe said.

Here's a photo of the pulled pork done with a Texas Crunch. Now that's what I know as pulled pork, the meat was much more tender and juicy. Honestly, flavor was about the same. We liked the Texas Crunch method better. That dressing really makes the sandwich. Neither way is right or wrong, Meathead writes about both, but prefers the first way. I pulled it out at 190 because that's BBQ gospel, but Meathead writes he likes to pull it at 205F and I agree with him. There was a huge difference between 190F and 205F.

I did, with kosher salt, just as he directed. Memphis dust is good.

Easter bunny visited early this morning.

Didn't know where to post this, so I'll revive this old thread. I smoked my first butt today, two 5# at the same time, two different methods. One with a Texas crunch (aluminum foil after butt hits 140F) and one without. We ate first one today, here's the pics I made chopped pork sandwiches on a kaiser roll. It was ok. Mr. Smokey put some of his side salad with Southern Cream dressing (which is very zesty) on top, then it became awesome. So many schools of thought on pork butt, I don't know who to believe. This butt was pulled at 190F, no foil. It had a beautiful bark, I used Meathead's Memphis Dust rub. Taste was just ok. I don't think I like this method. The second butt was pulled at 205F, but it took longer, at least an hour longer, which differs from conventional wisdom, which says a Texas crunch is suppose to cook the meat faster. It didn't for us. But it was so tender and moist, much easier to "pull". The first butt we had to chop, it wasn't pulling. The second was more reminiscent of what I've had in good BBQ joints. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures, but the bark wasn't anywhere as nice as butt #1. I'll have a taste tomorrow and compare. So far, I like the Texas crunch method better.

You can buy a watermelon for less than 32 cents. Yes, amazing. Oh, it didn't occur to me, is that per pound? That isn't as amazing, but still good value.

I loved the flakey-ass biscuits (her words, not mine), the chicken kofte (without the slaw) and the chicken salad with cream dressing. I may be inspired to cook more if I see your posts, that's the way I usually get motivated to cook. But I can't promise you, I got a very short BBQ season here in Vegas and I want to take full advantage of it. She has lots of baked good recipes that I haven't tried, they look exciting. Her quiche gets rave reviews at her cafe. And I loved the salad! Of course, per the recipe, you'll get a different dish, but it'll be just as good or better than mine. You're lucky you're in California and have access to hard-to-find produce. I wouldn't know where to look for watermelon radish (which is what the recipe called for).

I'm going on hiatus from Sqirl. Some last thoughts before I go: I enjoyed cooking along, but I admit her recipes are more labor-intensive and difficult than I imagined. Maybe because her food is good-ol' comfort food, it seems simple, but it's elevated comfort food and that takes more skill. The reviews on Amazon are justified, they are not for the novice cook, some recipes are, but most are not. I enjoyed the food at her cafe and now I have a better appreciation for them. I recommend both! I may add more recipes as time goes along, but for now, I'm going to perfect the three I liked and move onto something else. Happy Eating!

Ramos-style short ribs and vegetables in beef consomme, aka follow the trail of tears. I shared this in Gallery of Regrettable Food thread. This is what I wrote on Eat Your Books"This is a difficult and expensive dish to make, I would not recommend to novice cooks. It cost me $40 in ingredients and 2 days to make. I could not get the consommé to clarify, but that may be my fault, consommé is temperamental. Lots of hard to find ingredients too, I finally found some chayote and it was interesting, it's between an apple and a squash. " And finally here's my photo Those ribs are crying out to me, "Why? Why" We did not deserve this!" I know, I feel great sadness inside. Some red wine, potatoes, onions and it would've been a proper finale. Instead, they will be remembered as my most expensive epic fail to date. Not to say this isn't a great recipe. I can't blame this on Koslow, I'm sure it's excellent at her cafe. It just takes more skill and practice than I'm willing to put in. Here's a better version of the recipe. For some reason the blogger calls it Lebanese Short Ribs, but writes that it's Koslow's recipe. There was no mention of that in the book. Definitely a one and done for me. The taste was ok, but I didn't have half the ingredients because I couldn't find them.

Roasted chicken salad with market greens, garbanzo and soft boiled egg Served with her Southern-style fresh cream and black mustard dressing This was another Sqirl inspired recipe, I apologize for that, but it was too easy to whip up with the ingredients I had at home. Normally I wouldn't report on a dish that veered so far from the original, but I loved it so much, I had to write a small blurb. Maybe I should write this recipe off as my own? Just kidding. Firstly, her cream dressing. Oh wow, her cream dressing. Yum. That's all I can say. I didn't grow up with cream dressing, the closest I have on the West Coast is homemade Ranch dressing, which I adore. (yeah, yeah, all my secrets are being aired out). This is like a gourmet version of Ranch dressing, it has a ton of black mustard powder, the good stuff, not regular mustard powder. Then it uses fresh cream, half a shallot and white wine vinegar. I added some black pepper and paprika because it desperately needed color (for photos) but not for taste. The dressing by itself was wonderful, zesty and creamy. Definitely a keeper and not too hard to make. The dressing was lovely over some hard-boiled eggs, Koslow writes they should be soft-boiled, but I was playing with my new iPot and the extra minute got me hard-boiled. The eggs and dressings are a perfect match though. I served it over spinach, Koslow specifies market greens. And I didn't have watermelon radishes, so I used some heirloom carrots. I know, I know... follow the recipe! It gets worse, I used Costco rotisserie chicken. But it was delicious! At the end of the day, that's all that matters, this dish was delicious, one of the best chicken salads I ever had. And I wanted to share it with e-world. Life is funny that way.

More recommendations, please! To answer the OP, no, I do not follow, but I do cook a lot of their recipes. Bruno Albouze Food Wishes Maangchi

Vault No. 5 (is that the cheese's name? or should I call it something else?), got two more packages tonight, one is going into Mr. Smokey's Easter basket. It's that good. I stashed the other one in my fridge, I can't wait for grilled cheese sandwiches. I finished off the other wedge at work, my co-workers thought I was weird for eating cheese for lunch, 3 days in a row. I also cleaned out the box of Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71% Cacao. Half will go in said Easter basket. They were so good, I couldn't help myself.

@Nancy in Pátzcuaro that sounds delicious but I would not consider that a margarita. A margarita must have tequila, some type of orange-flavored liquor, and fresh lime juice. Salt on the rim is optional. I'm sure many recipes add simple syrup, Alton uses agave nectar, but that could be optional too.

I'm not into margaritas, but I just happened to come across a Good Eats episode and Alton recommends Olmeca Altos Plata Tequila, 100% Agave, it's an unaged tequila, for around $30. He recommends reposadoes for sipping, to taste the finer nuances of flavor. But then again, what does Alton know? He also omits Cointreau and muddles fresh oranges. This is his idea of a perfect margarita. Call it something else if they protest. How about an Anita?

Oh my, I found someone who has more frozen food than me. I, too, have an upstairs and downstairs freezer, filled to the brim. I could probably fill a third. My place is the place-to-be in case of a zombie apocalypse.

Is my perception off or are those pieces of cheese huge? Looks nice though. I'd love to see more.

I'm thinking pulled pork, cooked on the smoker. The success from the pastrami is making me cocky.