Toliver

The Los Angeles Times featured an article on Andrew Cherng and his successful Panda Express chain. Fans of chicken dark meat, here's your restaurant: They started in a food court in a mall and have expanded into stand-alone restaurants. They now have 1,100 restaurants in 36 states in the United States. It's a great success story and is now one of the largest family-run fast food chain in the United States. Now go on and admit it, you've eaten there.

A riff off of the "stabbing victim" style knife blocks: Throwzini 6-Piece Knife Block Set It also spins, which was a little alarming until I saw that the knives have sheaths.

Bennigan's isn't great, but IMO, Applebee's, then Chili's is the WORST! TGIFriday's I can live with. ← It will be interesting to see if the chains you mentioned fare any better during the economic slowdown. The stats say business is down 25% at full service restaurants (and is up at fast food places). I wonder if they'll go the way of Starbucks and start closing poor performing locations.

I agree -- on any of the morning programs the chefs really have to scramble to do a coherent demonstration. ← Fortunately, The Today Show has been pretty good about posting recipes demo'ed on the show on their website (www.todayshow.com in the Food & Wine section). This one Top Chef segment was an exception and it's likely the recipes will be posted in December when the winning chef appears to demo their dish.

A couple of other interesting Fast Food items that I've noticed: KFC has now launched a Value Menu*. Items range from 99 cents up to almost $2. It looks like they're trying to position themselves as a place where a fast food bargain can be found though they're one of the last restaurants I'd think of when it comes to fast food bargains. Maybe this menu launching is to counteract that perception among consumers. *It will be interesting to see if McDonald's follows suit and rechristens their Dollar Menu as a Value Menu, which will allow them to escape being boxed-in by the limited pricing of a dollar. It's likely they will help ease the transition to the retitled menu by adding a new menu item or two (a new value combo, perhaps?) that is priced higher than a dollar which will give them justification for changing the name of the menu. Subway has commercials currently airing touting their five dollar footlongs and stresses in their audio that their offerings are extra meaty. This has to be a response to the Quizno's campaign that their five dollar sandwiches have more meat than Subway's.

Kim and Shelby, thanks for taking one for the team, so to speak. I'm not a fan of raspberry and chocolate and would have passed that flavor up anyway. It's interesting that they're trying to launch a premium line during a US economic slump. I'm sure someone in the Promotions Department is kicking themselves over the bad timing. I still haven't spotted them on store shelves, yet. I guess I'll have to expand my shopping territory.

Has anyone tried these yet? "Chocolate lovers listen up. Premium M&M'S are on their way" If you click on the picture of the candy accompanying the article, you can get a better view of them. What looks like foil wrapped candy isn't. That shiny coating is edible. From the short article: If you Google the candy, early reviewers have mixed reactions. It's odd that a Google search doesn't even bring up the M & M web site on the first search results page. It's also odd that such a new product isn''t being positioned front and center on the M & M website. I eventually found their product description page here. It's also odd that they don't sell a box with all of the flavors (so you can try them all by buying just one box).

You can find the video segment on www.todayshow.com. The task for the Top Chef contestants was to prepare and demonstrate a dish if they had to appear on the Today Show and make it on-air. It would be a two-and-half minute demonstration. Tom said they were deadlocked on the winners and wanted the hosts of the Today Show to pick a winner from the top three dishes (sounds like a gimmick to me). Whoever won this competition will go on the Today Show in December, when this Top Chef show airs, and make the winning dish. NBC-Universal also owns the Bravo Network so the tie-in is an obvious one. Here are the three entries: 1) Tomato, watermelon, feta cheese salad with basil and balsamic vinegar. Host Meredith Viera can't eat watermelon because it makes her physically ill (what's up with the Today Show hosts and food? Bryant Gumble was notorious for his hatred of cheese in any way, shape or form when he hosted the show). 2) Sauteed shrimp cabbage roll with roasted peppers, walnuts and sumac. Host Kathy Lee Gifford hated it and spit it out. 3) Seared tuna with asparagus and roasted carrots and a little balsamic glaze. One of the hosts was pregnant (Natalie Morales?) and declined to eat the very rare tuna. So it was a toss up between the caprese salad and the tuna. Even though they said it wasn't very original. the hosts declared the caprese salad as the winner. What's interesting is the time-line of the show. They are shooting so far in advance that whoever just won this competition may not even be a contestant by the time the show airs in Decemeber and they have to appear on the Today Show to make this recipe.

Yes, franchises are allowed to set their own prices (within reason, I suppose). There's a McDonald's in my neighborhood that charges about 50 cents more for each combo meal than the McDonald's near my workplace. The one in my neighborhood rarely gets my business because of this. Location is also a factor. Usually, any McDonald's out in the middle of nowhere (so it has no competition) will charge more for the food as will a travel-stop McDonald's (exit the freeway to buy gas and then stop by the McDonald's for an expensive combo). As for Bennigan's, I went to one decades ago (it had to be in the 1980's). I can't recall what I had. Why didn't I go back? I think perception was the problem. At the time, it wasn't really considered a destination restuarant but more of a pick-up joint that also happened to serve food.

Sounds like a reasonable question to me, I was wondering the same thing. ← Because when the ice cream has been cranked and is done and is ready to go into the freezer, it's not frozen. It's just very, very cold. Any egg that didn't get blended in properly, and that may still be lingering on the paddle, will warm up rather quickly when exposed to the air. Note how fast the ice cream melts/drips off the paddle when you take it out. We usually make ice cream when the weather is quite hot in our area (Memorial Day, Juy 4th, Labor Day). It's a possible risk of salmonella (from raw eggs) that I wouldn't take with any child eating/cleaning off the paddle. That's why I switched away from any non-cooked ice cream recipes calling for raw eggs. Granted, I may be overly cautious but I feel it's better to be safe than sorry.

A little something for those who want to play with their bacon (or hate tofu): Mr. Bacon vs. Monsieur Tofu Play Set

It's interesting that you say this. I recently read an article stating that McDonald's is considering raising its prices on their Dollar Menu. The article said that menu accounts for 14% of their revenue, which, if you do the math, is quite a lot of money. It goes on to say they're testing higher prices in some markets for the Double Cheeseburger, the anchor product of the Dollar Menu. My guess is that they'll find some customers balking at paying the higher price but, overall, it'll fly because consumers tend to resign themselves to price increases. They've done this before. They used to run specials like 2 Egg McMuffins for $2, which eventually became 2 for $2.22 and then 2 for $2.50. The last special I saw was 2 for $3. Regarding the economy, what's also interesting is the $5 barrier for fast food that has appeared. Subway started it with their Footlong sandwiches for $5. Quiznos responded with their $5 sandwiches ("with more meat!"). El Pollo Loco has their "double the chicken" in their Family Meals for $5. KFC has been touting a $2.99 2-piece meal so they're under the $5 barrier. I am sure they're are more examples out there. It's just not Fast Food places trying to drum up business. The Sizzler has been advertising a "Buy one steak dinner, get another for one dollar" special. And I was amazed to find coupons for the Elephant Bar, definitely not a fast food restaurant, in my junk mail. It will be interesting to see how many other chain restaurants start sending out coupons or advertising specials in order to drum up business. How can local mom & pop places compete with that?

One incentive to garner help in making ice cream is that the assistants get to clean up the paddle when the ice cream is done. When the ice cream finishes, I take the container into the kitchen, remove the paddle and scrape a lot of the ice cream off but leave enough on to make it a treat. I put it on a paper plate and hand out spoons to the assistants. It's enough to satisfy them and still not ruin their appetites for the main meal. I put the lid on the container, wipe down the exterior and put it in the freezer to ripen/harden. One caveat, though: I only make ice cream recipes that are either eggless or call for the egg mixture to be cooked. Some no-cook ice cream recipes do use eggs and in that case, I wouldn't recommend anyone be allowed to lick the paddle.

From the article in the New York Times: Thanks to the economy, is this a sign of things to come, as the article suggests? I'm more worried about the local mom & pop restaurants and try to give them my business when I can afford it.

Oh, I know lots of things to do with it, (and you left out heavy cream, crisp bacon chunks, and just a teaspoon of tomato paste as a pasta sauce). The irony here is that I'm on a major diet, having lost 20 pounds in the last 5 weeks, so this makes it a little harder to use up, and I don't want to break my diet over it, which is why I asked for storage ideas. Sad, I know. But the diet's something I gotta do! ← The good news is that hard, dry cheeses are better for low-calorie diets than soft creamy cheeses. Plus, these types of cheeses are usually added to finish a dish so you tend to use less of it. I say use it to gild the lily. Roasted asparagus with Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings added towards the end of the cooking time (to help melt it) is a wonderful dish.

Peter, congratulations to you and your wife for the cover-recipe reproductions. They look great. I will have to experience the magazine vicariously through you. After subscribing to the magazine for years, I finally decided to let my subscription lapse. I'm now being inundated with mailers from the magazine ranging from the nice "We want you back!" to the angry "LAST CHANCE!". As for the missing cover price, it's usually near the UPC bar code. That's odd if it's gone missing.

Old School favorite: Cream of Tomato soup. Yes, the Campbell's condensed soup version. There's a local restuarant that serves up this soup with a twist. I think they use half and half (or cream) which gives it an incredible mouth feel. They also toss in some basil and lemon pepper. It's decadent and nostalgic all in one bowl.

Like lemniscate, I was also trying to think of food typical of the '80's but came up blank. I think this might be a better angle for you. Eat like the ritzy people do: Champagne, Oysters Rockefeller, Caviar, etc. Something high-falutin' (and with shoulder pads).

That's why God invented kids and grandkids. When I first started making homemade ice cream with a machine similar to yours (but in a lovely from-the-'70's avocado green color), I drafted my niece to "help" me make the ice cream. She add the ice and the salt. Now that she's older, she does it all on her own leaving me free to do other things.

Thansk for the tour Steven. If anyone wants to see some video of their huge dry-aging warehouse, Daniel Boulud visited them during one of his "After Hours with Daniel" shows (season one, episode 5, I think). You can find the episodes on Hulu.com.

I'd agree with the suggestion of a letter to the editor, something short and succinct. "The dishes reviewed were on the menu two months ago but I've taken over the resturant and have since changed the menu. I'd welcome the critic back to taste what's being cooked now." It says something about you but also says something about the behind-the-times critic.

seems to me there was a thread on someone's brother being mugged and having his jaw wired? I cannot find it.................. ← I recall the same discussion. Many years ago I had all of my wisdom teeth taken out at one time and I couldn't chew for a while. I put everything in a blender. Lasagna worked well (which can be soft to begin with) as would most pasta dishes.

McDonald's now receives more revenue from Europe than it does from the United States, even though they have less restaurants in Europe. Here's an interesting article on how they've been able to adapt their stores to their respective franchise countries: "A Golden Recipe for McDonald's Europe" I also thought this was spot on: They're also launching more McCafés in the European restaurants where I think they'll be a big hit. The Gym Clubs (instead of play areas) sound intriguing and make me wonder if they could find success here in the states. Wouldn't it be ironic if kids could get fit at a McDonald's? And who do we call so we can get the "Le Saga du Fromage" here, as well?

Target and Wal-Mart are here but not the grocery-store versions. Interestingly, the local Targets have expanded their refrigerated food sections so they're selling more prepared foods. But they're not large enough to house a fresh grocery section. If any Super Targets come in here, they'd have to start from scratch as opposed to adapting a current Target. I don't intend any offense by saying this, but you must be young or new to the state. When I was a child San Diego had the successful Fed-Mart chain (started by, and then sold by, Sol Price who went on to found the Price Club warehouse store chain which was eventually bought out by Costco). Fed-Mart was basically a Target and a grocery store all in one space. Then there was the Gemco chain, which was basically a Target and a grocery store all in one space. The difference was that Gemco usually had a line of delineation (is that redundant?) within the store keeping the grocery section seperated from the rest of the store where Fed-Mart didn't....it was a one huge happy space. When Sol Price sold the Fed-Mart chain to a German conglomerate (I believe), it eventually went out of business. Gemco went out of business, too. While I haven't heard much about the Super Targets, the Super Wal-Marts have been trying to get a foothold in the state. Wal-Mart tried to build two of the stores here in Bakersfield. But residents who lived near the building sites feared an increase in traffic if the stores were built so they filed lawsuits effectively stopping them. Of course, the local grocery chains also did what they could to stop them from being built. In fact, there is a half-finished Super Wal-Mart on the southern edge of town that you can see from the freeway. Welcome to Bakersfield. The funny thing is, if they tried opening the stores again here in town, I think they'd get quite a different reception given the sad state of the U.S. economy. I think now they'd be welcomed with open arms. Yes, having these "super" stores in the state certianly would "shkae things up". Which is why the current grocery chains in the state are trying to fight them at every turn. To get back on topic, we still have a local Farmer's Market here in town. I don't think the super stores would really impact the Farmer's Market since I believe they have two diferent customer bases.

How about that?! An accidental bounty. I'm happy they're finally producing. As for the seedlings, if they make it, do you know of any other households with munchkins that you can share them with? Kids love 'em. Too bad school's not in...they'd make a good class project. She has an automatic watering system (one of those timed leaker-hoses) so I'll have to talk to my brother to adjust the duration to be a little longer. Hopefully, that will do the trick. Last Christmas, I bought every one in the family one of those vegetable peelers (recommended by America's Test Kitchen) that can peel soft fruits. Guess I was psychic since it's being used on her tomatoes now.