Toliver

Yes, Buck has had some health problems in recent years but is still performing. I believe the Friday & Saturday evening performances are also broadcast live on a local AM radio station that he owns (he also owns an FM station and a TV station, too, in Bakersfield, as well as some radio stations in Phoenix). The last two New Year's Eves, he's played a special concert at the Crystal Palace along with Dwight Yokum and Brad Paisley. It's a hot ticket! In San Diego, there are some other Steak joints: -In the Gaslamp District (downtown) is the Strip Club, which is, I believe, a grill-your-own-steak place. -The Butcher Shop (has a couple locations). Classic steakhouse. Red velvet walls with pictures of celebrities who have dined there gracing the walls. I remember dining there decades ago and the waitress had a little cart with the raw steaks displayed and you picked the one you wanted and off it went to be cooked. I don't think they do that anymore (health code violation?). But it's an experience. -The Charcoal House in La Mesa (a suburb of San Diego). Again, a classic steakhouse. I remember ordering the sauteed mushrooms with my steak and was surprised to find that they tasted just like my mom's recipe. Go figure. -Dakota's in the Gaslamp District. It's not really a steakhouse, per se, but a grilled meat-themed place. They have an excellent pork "Prime Rib" (a glorified chop) that is superb. They often offer a variety of meats, from rabbit to quail to steak to salmon, that differs daily. But I believe they do offer steaks. -Donovan's Steak and Chop House. A chain. Again, classic though more upscale ($$$$). Been around quite a while but the current location isn't the original San Diego site (I think). -Morton's. Chain. Hey, they have the cart o'steaks! I just read an online review. They bring the raw stuff to your table on a cart and you pick your dinner from it. Needless to say, upscale. -Ruth's Chris. Chain. You've been to one, you've been to all of them. -Bully's. Three locations. Upscale. -Rei do Gado in the Gaslamp. Brazilian. Steak on a skewer and all you can eat! -Rainwater's on Kettner. I believe this was previously mentioned. Very upscale. The Porterhouse for 2 (allow 35 minutes for cooking) is $89! Does Prime Rib count as steak? Or were you limiting your search to just "ordinary" steak? If it does count, try Lawry's Prime Rib in Los Angeles. I dined at their Las Vegas location (art deco to the hilt!) and was very impressed with the prime rib...fork tender and great flavor! They also served us from a chrome domed cart and carved the meat tableside.

You didn't mention if you were looking for chi-chi places or just steakhouses in general but here are a couple that may be of interest. In Santee, California (a small bedroom community sandwiched between San Diego and El Cajon to the east/northeast...just head north on Mission Gorge) there is Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse. I tried linking to some reviews of the place but the eG link-machine doesn't seem to want to work. Pinnacle Peak is western-themed and casual (so casual that they have a tradition of cutting off neckties that customers wear and hanging them from the ceiling and walls...a dust hazard and fire hazard rolled into one!). I haven't been there in ages. I'm not sure if this is outside of your search area but here in Bakersfield (about 2 hours east of SLO) there is the KC Steakhouse on F Street. It's a favorite of Bakersfield old-timers. Having said that, I have never been there. Also, for its uniqueness, there is Buck Owen's Crystal Palace on Buck Owens Boulevard. Owned and operated by Buck, it's a museum-tribute to Buck Owens (he's a country music singer from a bygone era, in case you don't know). He still performs on Friday & Saturday nights at the Crystal Palace. It can be pricey, though. They have a 32 ounce monster Rib Eye that goes for about forty bucks.

There's the ubiquitous Chinese Chicken Salad. Unfortunately, it's not authentic even though it is made with "chinese" ingredients (pea pods, napa cabbage, water chesnuts, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, etc).

I believe 4 grams of sugar is equal to a teaspoon. So that's 10 teaspoons of sugar in one serving. [sHAGGY] ZOINKS! [/sHAGGY]

Use two pans?

"Woman files lawsuit against Starbucks. Daughter reportedly burned by defective coffee-maker" So I guess this means no more coffee pots for sale at Starbucks?

The picture of the chicken fried steak brought a tear to my eye, but then I am partial to the dish. Thanks for posting it. And I really admire your herb garden! I wish I could do the same but don't have the space to do it. What's Globe Basil? I haven't heard of it before. Is it very different from regular basil?

I don't follow the logic. There will be a line out the door on Valentine's Day (New Year's Eve, etc) full of people who didn't make resevrations (been there, seen that) so if I get a cancellation I'm gonna do a happy dance because I can seat someone now instead of in an hour or two. But if it's a cold miserable Monday night, how likely is it that there will be someone waiting for a table? If I get a cancellation on a slow night, I think it would be a bigger deal since I'd be counting on that income from that table because I'm not turning people away. On holidays and crowded nights, anyone I'm not seating is money walking out the door so give me your table if you're not using your reservation.

There is some general information on vinegar & Mothers in this discussion: "Nasty Stuff in Red Wine Vinegar, What's that?"

I haven't made this recipe but a friend has and she said it was incredible: From FoodNetwork's "Tyler's Ultimate": "Tyler Florence's Boeuf Bourguignon"

Ah, yes, the boiled canned sweetened condensed milk is also called the "poor man's dulce de leche". It's quite popular in Mexico. Though, I thought it took longer than 1 hour to make. Read more about it here: "Making toffee (dulce de leche, caramel,...), From condensed milk" and this discussion: "Hot Milk with Dulce de Leche, Holy."

I'll bite. I disagree. But whatever works for you, well...works for you. "Wok Hay" is something that develops over time in a wok, just like a cast iron pan develops good seasoning after being well-used and maintained. It's a layer of flavor you notice right away when eating out in a restaurant. You will know immediately by the taste whether the food you're eating was made in a well-seasoned wok or not. I refuse to buy into the myth that you can't make decent stir fried food at home because home ranges/burners can't output the same heat that restaurants use. How many millions of people in this world use woks (or similar pots/pans) to cook with at home on their residential ranges/stoves and now they should all cease and desist because they will never get it right thanks to their inadequate stoves? I don't think so. I bought one of those cheap woks made out of sheet metal from my local Asia Market about 10 years ago and it's just now developing a nice "wok hay". It'd probably taste even better if I stir fried more often, but I don't, unfortunately. I have an electric stove. I'd rather have a gas stove, of course but I make do. My wok is round-bottomed and I don't use a ring as the electric coils on my stove have a small empty circle in the middle and I've found it's open just enough to hold the bottom of the wok. So I crank the burner to high and "wok'n'roll". The sheet metal is thin enough I don't have to wait too long for the heat to recover. I'd like my wok better if it had a helper handle but that's a moot point now. To get back to the original post, I'd say definitely stay away from the non-stick wok and don't bother with the stainless steel. You can achieve great things with the cheaper carbon steel "sheet metal" woks. Save yourself shipping charges and head to your local asian market and buy your wok there.

I am surprised Brooks (Mayhaw Man) didn't weigh in on this subject. His mother and grandmother have recipes printed in the The Cotton Country Collection. I got my copy from Amazon and I've made some of the recipes from it and they've turned out great. You can find oodles of collection cookbooks on eBay. Unfortunately, you get more duds than winners. Many of the recipes in some collections turn out to be of the "can o'condensed soup" variety and tend to be repetitive, cookbook after cookbook. I've been bugging my mom to make up a cookbook of her recipes for us kids, but so far it's been a bust. The retirees association she belongs to put out a collection of recipes and I've had to buy the book just to get some of her recipes in writing! I guess that's one way of getting them...

I tried roasted broccoli. It doesn't turn out quite the same as roasted cauliflower. I think it's because it still retains some of its "broccoli essence" whereas roasted cauliflower completely ascends to a higher plane of flavor. It does brown but won't go golden, of course, because it stays green. It's worth trying at least once, though, just so you can compare. I also won't attempt to find the post in this lengthy discussion but I recently took on someone's suggestion of roasting carrots with cumin which turned out great. One odd thing, though, was while the aroma during the roasting was fantastic ("Cook, darn you, cook! I want to eat you now!"), the actual flavor wasn't quite as intense. Go figure... In addition to the roasted carrot-cumin combination, the standard roasted carrot-dill combination is a winner, too.

If you had read the entire thread, you would have answered your own question. It's been previously discussed. I, along with the others, always enjoy jinmyo's dinner descriptions. They are an inspiration which is the point of this entire Dinner discussion. It is inspiration to the Nth degree of which jinmyo has played a large part with her innovative dishes. I certainly hope she will return to this discussion and provide a light in the darkness called "What should I make for dinner?" To go back on topic: Last night, I had whole wheat spaghetti with a rather tart marinara sauce (I think my Merlot is turning!), paired with a simple green salad with slices of red radishes & daikon (had it on hand) dressed with a nice vinaigrette.

www.ethnicgrocer.com I haven't ordered from them but Sarah Moulton on FoodTV recommended them for hard-to-find ethnic ingredients.

Liton Lighting makes different kinds of track/recessed lighting. If you click on their "Web Catalog" on the menu on the left, a Java window containing their catalog will open. In the catalog, under "Specialty Lighting", they have shallow depth halogens. The lights have a 1" profile so you wouldn't have to worry about lights hanging down and blocking views or getting hit when passing plates through, etc. I'm not sure how much room you would have in the box containing the I-beam for any recessed lights. A low profile light might be a better option. As for dimmers, when the company I work for moved into a new building, they put dimmers in a lot of the production offices. The problem with these dimmers was if you dimmed the lights (meaning not all the way off but not at full power...somewhere inbetween), some lights would flicker and almost all the lights gave off an annoying hum. I found out from the electrician who was doing follow-up work in the building that the company I work for didn't buy the top-of-the-line dimmer switches and the flickering and hum are a by-product of cheap dimmer switches. Moral of the story: If you want a dimmer switch, buy the best you can buy. edited for spellling

She wrote "heavy" recipes for French cooking because that's what it takes to create the French classics...butter, cream, foie gras, etc. To do so otherwise would be not be authentic and authenticity is what her early books were about. She may have, in her later cookbooks, "lightened" up some of her recipes, but overall, she wasn't a fan of "light" fare. She did believe in the saying "everything in moderation (including moderation)". But does Julia's original books have anything to do with contemporary French cooking? I'm not sure I could even tell you what contemporary French cooking is. How different is it from 50 years ago when Julia first wrote her books about cooking French food? Enlighten us. Perhaps Lucy (bleudauvergne) can weigh in on this as well. What I do know is that her early books greatly influenced many American home cooks and food enthusiasts and her teaching (through the TV shows) and writing still have an influence today.

There's aren't many vendors this time of year, but I still made some good buys - Organic stuff: Baby spinach Yellow carrots Grapefruit Butter lettuce Turnips Baby bok choy And some Linzer Tort, apple raisin scones and two jars of home-canned saurkraut from the German woman who sells baked and canned goods.

I think I said this on a previous buffet thread: No beverages and no bread (both are fillers). And bring a heavy jacket because most buffet places crank up the A/C so you'll get cold and leave sooner rather than later.

I was just surfing around his site last week and was in awe at the number of chefs who have guest-cooked with Ming on his TV cooking shows. "Soy–Kaffir Lime Syrup" "Tomato–Kaffir Lime Salsa" Note that on the left side of the web page are links to respective recipes using these kaffir leave sauces.

Last night: Pork roast and sauerkraut. Didn't turn out very well. The cut of pork I used didn't have a bone in it and I think that may have made a difference. Also, I had purchased jars of home-canned saurkraut from a vendor at the Farmer's Market and while it was good, I am used to sauerkraut having more tartness to it. I think you need the tartness to help cut the richness of the pork roast. Also, it was quite crunchy which was very different than the store-bought kind. But more time in the oven would have taken care of that. Live and learn...

A pub: "The Thistle and Pus" or just plain "Rocco's"

The seasoning (whether aromatic veggies or herbs & spices) added to meat while the meat browns is to add a layer of flavor you won't get if you add the seasoning after the meat is cooked or mostly cooked. Sure, the stuff you're draining off has flavor, but it's done its job already and doesn't need to stick around. Some cuts of meat need to have the fat drained or the final dish will be too greasy. I can't imagine cooking any dish that calls for hamburger and not draining off the fat.

I wonder if anyone at the IRS is adding up these gifts on the old Tax abacus. All these freebies are an "income" of sorts and Uncle Sam will want his fair share.