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Recreating restaurant dishes


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I used to go to Applebees every once in a while because I'd get a craving for their Veggie Patch Pizza. It's a big tortilla covered in spinach, mushrooms, artichokes, tomatoes, and gooey cheesy goodness, and it was one of the few chain restaurant meals I could eat without feeling absurdly stuffed (probably because it's on the appetizer menu).

I got tired of spending $10 a pop to satisfy my craving, and, with some help from Google, took a stab at making one myself for dinner the other night. Applebees apparantly uses their spinach artichoke dip as a sauce, so my bastardized version inlcluded a cheesy bechamel sauce spiked with granulated garlic and cheese, fresh spinach, canned chopped artichokes, thinly sliced mushrooms sauteed in garlic butter, chopped tomatoes, and Italian seasoning. The verdict? Just as good if not better than the real thing, and I could make about 10 for $10. Now I have no good reason to ever go back to Applebees.

I'm sure lots of you have done this at some point. Tell me about restaurant dishes that you liked enough to try to recreate at home.

"Nothing you could cook will ever be as good as the $2.99 all-you-can-eat pizza buffet." - my EX (wonder why he's an ex?)

My eGfoodblog: My corner of the Midwest

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I used to have to go to the Red Lobster to placate my family. I got through the meal because their cheese biscuits addictive. By happenstance, the BF blended some Bisquick drop biscuits and stirred in some grated gruyere and parmesan cheese. *Poof* We had Red Lobster cheese biscuits at home!!!!

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Not so much a restaurant meal per se, but my daughter used to nag for McD`s or BK burgers and I`m sure that nutritionally they are top banana but the cost is prohibitive on anything but an occaisional visit. So I made my own burgers, usually Woodpigeon and pork with herbs or dried fruit which IMHO are far superior and best of all my little princess likes too :biggrin:

On a slightly different tack I also make my own curry spice mixes from whole spices now rather than use a commercial mix or the "Take away" from the local curry emporium. Nice and easy and you can tweak the flavourings to suit yourself.

"It's true I crept the boards in my youth, but I never had it in my blood, and that's what so essential isn't it? The theatrical zeal in the veins. Alas, I have little more than vintage wine and memories." - Montague Withnail.

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In my house everyone gets ripped off at some point... I like to be able to cook the meals I like...including the ones I've tried at testaurant... i copy them all!

does this come in pork?

My name's Emma Feigenbaum.

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Not so much a restaurant meal per se, but my daughter used to nag for McD`s or BK burgers and I`m sure that nutritionally they are top banana but the cost is prohibitive on anything but an occaisional visit.

There is a book out there called "Top Secret Recipes" that has the instructions for making McD's and BK Burgers at home. I got it from my library.

Amazingly they do taste exactly the same. But I feel a little better knowing exactly what I put into my meal. Still not the best nutrition wise but a lot less scary!

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Im a big fan (literally and figureatively) of making duplicates of my favorite restaurant offerings.

After eating Maid-Rites for 52+ years, just recently, I discovered how to make them and they actually do taste like the best ones I ever ate. And I've tried dozens of the recipes you find on the net over the years, and none ever came close!

Took me 8 years to finally figure out how to make "China Taste"s Kung Pao Beef. They retired in about 1996, and the meal, while popularly named on many Chinese menus, never came close to tasting like China Taste's did. Now I've got that one down!

I had a craving for Red Robin's A-1 Peppercorn Burger. Now I already have a special blend of meat that I grind for hamburgers, but it wasn't hard to figure out the sauce to duplicate their's. The friendly waitress brought a list of ingredients to my table (for which I left an outstanding tip).

Took a couple of tries to figure out if the measurements were oz's in weight or volume, but the secret is Meyer's Green Peppercorn Concentrate available from Amazon.

And most things "Escoffier" aren't too hard if you take the time to make the Mother sauces and can them for ready use (and have his cookbook handy too!)

doc

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At the other end of the dining spectrum, we know some folks -- I won't use their names here but they're pretty well-know in the New York (and beyond) chef community -- who are just about the most incredible dinner-party hosts in the universe. They often reproduce dishes from the finest restaurants in the world in their home, and when I say reproduce I mean exactly -- as in, they'll acquire the exact plates, bowls, marble slabs or whatever the dish was served on in its original restaurant incarnation, they'll go to great lengths to source ingredients that meet the original specification, and they'll often convince the chef who invented the dish to teach them how to make it.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

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At the other end of the dining spectrum, we know some folks -- I won't use their names here but they're pretty well-know in the New York (and beyond) chef community -- who are just about the most incredible dinner-party hosts in the universe. They often reproduce dishes from the finest restaurants in the world in their home, and when I say reproduce I mean exactly -- as in, they'll acquire the exact plates, bowls, marble slabs or whatever the dish was served on in its original restaurant incarnation, they'll go to great lengths to source ingredients that meet the original specification, and they'll often convince the chef who invented the dish to teach them how to make it.

You wouldn't happen to know one that could reproduce Jean-Claude Tindillier's Artichoke Bottom Medallion with Crab Meat Sauce? Jean-Claude retired to France before he ever could teach me. Used to be served at Chouette Restaurant in Wayzata MN.

I will invite you to dinner if you can come up with that reproduction for me!!

Seriously!

doc

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The Cherry Creek Grill here in Denver, a generally overly-trendy chicken and ribs place, makes the most fabulous salad they call the Macho Salad (I think). Anyway, it's baby greens, roasted corn, tomatoes, dates, chicken, goat cheese, almonds, and cornbread croutons. I've been recreating that one at home at least every other week since I first tried it and I love it.

I recently went back there for drinks with a friend and they had a lovely grilled artichoke--nice smoky flavor, well-seasoned throughout that I attempted to recreate last night. Don't know if I captured theirs, per se, but they were damned good none-the-less, especially served with aioli made according to Thomas Keller's recipe in Bouchon. I'm making them again tonight! :wub:

I've often tried to copy the spirit, if not the exact dish, of meals I've eaten in upscale restaraunts, but I've never gone as far as copying the plating--and usually I have a hard time sourcing the ingredients they used. But I'd give anything to recreate the pork belly from Rioja... Hmmm... Wonder if Chef Jen would share her secret...

Feast then thy heart, for what the heart has had, the hand of no heir shall ever hold.
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When I've had something at a restaurant that impresses me, I will try to recreate it at home if possible. One of the reason to go out to a good restaurant is to get new ideas.

I have visited the Top Secret Recipe website and have made Carabas and Olive Garden meals for my kids since I cringe at paying the prices for that kind of food. Both are way over priced IMO.

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The Cherry Creek Grill here in Denver, a generally overly-trendy chicken and ribs place, makes the most fabulous salad they call the Macho Salad (I think).  Anyway, it's baby greens, roasted corn, tomatoes, dates, chicken, goat cheese, almonds, and cornbread croutons.  I've been recreating that one at home at least every other week since I first tried it and I love it.

I recently went back there for drinks with a friend and they had a lovely grilled artichoke--nice smoky flavor, well-seasoned throughout that I attempted to recreate last night.  Don't know if I captured theirs, per se, but they were damned good none-the-less, especially served with aioli made according to Thomas Keller's recipe in Bouchon.  I'm making them again tonight!  :wub:

I've often tried to copy the spirit, if not the exact dish, of meals I've eaten in upscale restaraunts, but I've never gone as far as copying the plating--and usually I have a hard time sourcing the ingredients they used.  But I'd give anything to recreate the pork belly from Rioja...  Hmmm... Wonder if Chef Jen would share her secret...

The salad sounds really good. What kind of dressing is on it? And can you describe the croutons a little more? I'm thinking about ripping off your rip-off!

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The salad sounds really good. What kind of dressing is on it? And can you describe the croutons a little more? I'm thinking about ripping off your rip-off!

I usually make some sort of honey mustard (b/c I can't for the life of me remember what they actually use), varying the vinegar between cider and sherry and the oil between olive and hazelnut, depending on my mood.

The croutons are just cornbread (I've bought frozen, made from a mix, and made from scratch--depending on how long I think I can defer my craving) that is cubed at about 1" or so and baked w/a little olive oil and salt. Usually I pour a healthy dollop of olive oil on a sheet pan, lay the cubes of cornbread into it, and turn them gently (one-by-one--cornbread croutons don't "toss" well) to coat all sides. By that time, they've soaked up most of the oil and I bake them, turning them at least once to get brown, crusty sides... Mmmmm... That sizzling sound you hear is me drooling into my keyboard... :rolleyes: I might have to make some tonight.

Enjoy!

Feast then thy heart, for what the heart has had, the hand of no heir shall ever hold.
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The salad sounds really good. What kind of dressing is on it? And can you describe the croutons a little more? I'm thinking about ripping off your rip-off!

I usually make some sort of honey mustard (b/c I can't for the life of me remember what they actually use), varying the vinegar between cider and sherry and the oil between olive and hazelnut, depending on my mood.

The croutons are just cornbread (I've bought frozen, made from a mix, and made from scratch--depending on how long I think I can defer my craving) that is cubed at about 1" or so and baked w/a little olive oil and salt. Usually I pour a healthy dollop of olive oil on a sheet pan, lay the cubes of cornbread into it, and turn them gently (one-by-one--cornbread croutons don't "toss" well) to coat all sides. By that time, they've soaked up most of the oil and I bake them, turning them at least once to get brown, crusty sides... Mmmmm... That sizzling sound you hear is me drooling into my keyboard... :rolleyes: I might have to make some tonight.

Enjoy!

It might be on my menu tonight too. The flavor combinations sound delicious. My husband hates mustard, but I can usually sneak some into a dressing without him knowing it.

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