jschyun

But potatoes don't have gluten. gluten is the protein found in cereal grains like wheat, barley and oats, among others. the reason why you get gummy potatoes if you overbeat them and break the cell walls, releasing starch that gums up the works. I think I read this in cooks illustrated. but if you properly mashed them, I would think this is not a problem but I could be wrong. Heck, if you have leftover mashed, why not try it? It's cheap right?

To set the record straight, Spurlock is not on a (vegan-pushing) mission. He loves his steak and he's not ashamed. He does live with a vegan chef, which is where the confusion might be. She expressed dismay more than once about his crazy McDonald's 30 day diet and he kind of ignored her. After the movie wrapped, he went on a vegan diet that his girlfriend concocted for him, and after he lost all the weight and felt good again, he went back to his meat-eating ways. Whether or not he eats McDonald's the way "regular people" do, is irrelevant. He was trying to test out a premise which he clearly states in the movie. I really don't understand how anyone could say that this movie has a political agenda, which is essentially what you're saying. This movie was entertainment. He's mugging for the camera. He's doing it for laughs. If it's awareness you're talking about, okay. But I don't see the agenda other than making some fast cash on a good idea.

It's been a while since I've made it, but I used dried mung beans which I soaked in water and then whirred in a blender until very smooth. I think others might whir it less than me. It's actually really easy with a blender. I made mine pretty thin and throw stuff in it like seafood (I like baby octopus, small shrimp) and maybe a little almost-over-the-hill kimchi. The appeal of bindaeddeok for me are the seafood treasures and the vinegary soy dipping sauce, with the creamy pancake background. For once I have to say that I don't appreciate the supermarket version. So far in my experience, they've all been quite poor. great pics!

My holy grail, excellent sushi -- cheap. Yeah right you say? Well, I'm ever hopeful. Los Angeles: FoodZealot once mentioned to me Mori Sushi's lunchtime $20 bento deal (did i get this right?). Great deal on a very expensive restaurant, but much higher than $10. Any other interesting deals on sushi, that haven't been already mentioned?

I've been meaning to try Home and Metro Cafe. Have you tried the Metro Cafe's $12.50 early bird special? Watercress, Chapeau both have great early bird deals, but they're around $20. Haven't tried Watercress, but the Chapeau early bird dinner deal is a great value I think.

I for one am extremely pissed off that Portland's Hung Far Low did not make the list. Who are these idiots? They have obviously not had the divine mayonnaise crab puffs, nor the stellar brown chow mein. One sip of the "Hung Far Lowng Island" and they'll realize their mistake.

NVNVGirl, wow.

thanks for the tip. Actually, I guess the $10 is misleading. The real question is what are the insanely good deals you know of, comparing apples to apples. So $2 banh mi doesn't count because I can easily find a bunch of places with $1.50 banh mi or 3 for $3 banh mi. But maybe excellent pho for $3.50 would be interesting.

I was wondering where you guys go for your favorite under $10 sit down meals. Fast food does not count. I found this site about cheap meals in SF. However, don't limit your replies to SF restaurants. Louis Madison's site (some of the reviews look a little dated) Do you guys know of any other cheap eats sites like this? I know Stupid_American has his of L.A. Heck, I might compile a list of my favorite cheap Korean places. --you know what $10 limit is kind of difficult. Let's say restaurants where you think it's a really good value.

I just read the article in the la times about the lone star Virbila gave Bastide. Wow. I guess if this review is accurate, then I'm glad I haven't had the time to get over there. What do you guys think?

so melkor, is Cole's still the best steak you've had in CA? Thanks for the tip steakas!

I am stunned because I just had a great meal at Taiko and in a word, I have to say it was very good, dare I say excellent. And it only cost me $50 including tax and tip (I didn't drink). I think it was a very good value. If I keep getting meals like this here, I'll have reconsider the last position in my top 4 OC sushi places. I had scallop sashimi that came straight out of the shell while I watched, and afterwards i got a hot preparation of the roe with that creamy sauce and onions and all that good stuff. Excellent. I had decent uni, sweet and not registering at all on the skankometer. Ankimo (monkfish liver) was pretty good, nice portion. Toro decent. Yellowtail okay. Ikura not that great. Shoot, I forgot what else I had. I'll remember after I post this I'm sure. I'm not really a roll person, but the person next to me suggested the salmon skin roll. It was probably the best salmon skin roll I've had, which considering I haven't had that much experience with it, means this is not a ringing endorsement by any means. It was hot, had some bonito shavings in it, some other stuff, and was crunchy yet moist and quite good. I'd get it again. So I guess I'm glad I gave this restaurant yet another chance. I've been here over the years, but never understood why there was always such a huge line to get in. But you'll probably never believe me because I failed to bring my camera and capture the evidence. In fact, I can barely believe it myself.

thanks, tissue. I haven't been there yet and I did hear it was pretty good, esp the seafood. Last three lately for me has been: Shibucho, Costa Mesa: one of my favorite sushi spots in OC, except maybe for wasabe. I ate until he was out of things to give me and it cost about $60 including tip. Not bad. The owner used to be in the Mitsuwa plaza in L.A. but for some mysterious reason opted to open shop in Costa Mesa of all places, I think about 2 yrs ago. Mostly Japanese clientele, but some Caucasians/Koreans/Chinese. Roma D'Italia, Tustin: an older, red-checkered tablecloth Ital-American joint that's been around for ages. Got the gnocchi catarzano (catanzaro?) at around $11 and it was good. I like the sauce, sort of a creamy tomato sauce. Ango Tei: I really like this neighborhood joint, though others would argue that it's not as good as say Shibucho or whatever. I try to order the specials and have gotten some good meals. Plus Mitsuwa is right next door as well as that corokke place which I've been meaning to try.

The only thing I didn't like about this blog is that after reading it, I weighed myself and found I had gained 5 pounds.

I just reread my statement that said that SF is sort of an Asian food wasteland or something. I apologize for that. I didn't mean to offend. SF/Bay area has some of my favorite Asian (mostly chinese) restaurants. I obviously should edit my comments more.

Actually, blowfish season is...now! It will last until the end of March. I just called Urasawa to make sure, and to make another set of reservations because, as I believe I mentioned before, this is my brand of crack. I also sold some eggs at the fertility clinic and I'm feelin flush... --i'm kidding, kidding about the fertility clinic. Stop sending PM's.

(Sorry about the delay but I was busy and nobody has taken this over yet.) LA Times Food Section -- October 29, 2004 Viewing the LA Times website, www.latimes.com requires registration. You can log on with username "egulleteer" and password "lafood". Some content is in the premium section, called calendarlive.com, which requires an additional fee, but you can see the calendarlive stories below free, for one week. The soulful simmer -- Carolynn Carreño She tells us all about ragù, long simmered sauce from Italy, traditionally made with ground beef, according to Marcella Hazan. Recipes Just add water -- Corie Brown "California vintners use a controversial practice to reduce over-the-top alcohol levels. Most have kept quiet about it, until now." Grill your way through college -- Christy Hedges Sort of a cooking 101 for budding cooks coming straight out of their dorms. Recipes Success with style -- David Shaw "Cobras & Matadors owner Steven Arroyo built a small empire through ambition and an uncanny intuition." He's an amazing success story. Through the ages, a fried fish triathlon -- Charles Perry Apparently all fried fish has a common fried ancestor. Interesting High marks for grilling -- Cindy Dorn "The Lodge Pro Logic Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Grill Pan was a clear winner, a real heavyweight." $23.95 at Crate & Barrel Westside story -- Leslee Komaiko Talks about a bunch of the small new places that have opened up on the Westside Turkeys fit for a Pilgrim's table -- Cindy Dorn "Heritage turkeys — the Narragansetts, Bourbon Reds and Standard Bronze — that were nearly impossible to find five years ago, are back again this year." Included is a list of locations where you can find these birds. 2001 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Zind -- S. Irene Virbila "It pulls you in with a lovely bouquet of flowers and peaches, and delivers a mouthful of luscious ripe fruit balanced by a bracing dose of acidity. It shows well as an aperitif but really shines with food, especially Asian and fusion cuisines and the crazy quilt of flavors that make up California cuisine." about $30 Correction "In the Oct. 13 Food section restaurant review, the name of a Brentwood restaurant was called Latini Osteria. The correct name is Osteria Latini. "

I thought the multigrain (sliced) loaf I bought at the Terra store in Kits was one of the best loaves of the multigrain variety I've had. It was stretchy, moist, yet full of multigrain goodness. I believe I ate almost the whole thing in an hour. I haven't had anything I liked as much in the SF/Bay Area, thus far, or Southern Ca, where I live.

when someone said sugar beets, it triggered a memory. sugar beets are white so I guess that's what the white beets are. here's a link to sugar beets

I haven't tried white beets myself, but I see them all the time in the garden catalogs which is how I know they exist. Chiogga beets are pretty good, very sweet and I didn't think they tasted like dirt, but then I don't think regular beets taste like dirt so maybe I'm the wrong person to ask. I grew these last year, and my mom put some in her kimchi and it was very pretty with the pink and white stripes, and was sweet and crunchy.

what they said. there's also white beets.

I have a friend who is kind of squeamish but when she tried balut for the first time, she said it was delicious. Something about the juice.

Perhaps you're right. Don't get me wrong, I love the Bay Area. --Please forgive me Gary. I got a little too excited at the thought of your adventures in Vancouver.

Boy, you're definitely going to have to go back to Vancouver, because I think it's safe to say that the SF Bay Area canNOT hold a candle to Vancouver in this area.

Answer: A dedicated person. Nice to see you blogging ronnie_suburban.