An old fast food commercial had a sinister voice over that said, “Parts is Parts” when someone asked what was in their competitor’s chicken nuggets. The idea was that it DOES matter what you’re eating. It was true then, and it is true now. If you aren’t sure of that, you need no look further than the country style ribs in your local grocery store. Continue reading
After years of holding bagel making classes, featuring New York style bagels we were asked, “What about Montreal style bagels? Can you make those too?” (We have a post about the difference between them.)
Research and luck came into play. There are two classic Montreal bagel bakeries, Fairmount and St. Viateur Bagel. Each has their devoted fans. St. Viateur has shared their recipe, probably on the theory that it takes more than a recipe to make a Montreal bagel, and sharing the recipe will make people happy and bring them into the bakery to try the real deal. Paul of Hearthstone Artisan Bakery in turn shared their recipe with me. Continue reading
We recently went to Keii Chi, with the Dallas Eclectic Foodies meetup. Many people say Keii Chi is one of the best Sushi restaurants in the state, if not the country. A former reviewer from the Dallas Morning News commented, “Finally, a reason to go to Denton”.
We had omakase which is a one word Japanese phrase that means “I’ll leave it to you” (from Japanese “to entrust”). It may also mean, “I’m on an expense account.” We had 7 or 8 courses, each better than the last. Rodney, the guy who arranged the dinner, told the owner, “Can you make the pasta with roe? You made it last time I was here, and I’ve been dreaming of it ever since!” The owner is a good sport, thought a second and smiled. He asked, “for everyone?” Heck yeah! Continue reading
It was probably shortly after I learned to talk that my parents taught me,
Mike meets a well done steak
“Never, ever, ever cook, ask for or eat a well done steak. Well done steaks are the anti-Christ of steaks. People have died eating well-done steaks!” I took that as, well, gospel. Continue reading
On a recent episode of “Suits”, two of the main characters went to a steak house. Lewis Lit was trying to get a younger lawyer, Mike Ross, to become enthusiastic about a case that could save the steak house, which was Lewis’ favorite. Mike cut into the steak and hadn’t had more than a few seconds to chew when Lewis said, “What do you think Mike?”
Mike replied, “There’s no doubt about it Lewis, this is the best steak I’ve ever had!”
Lewis seemed almost annoyed, “No Mike, this isn’t the best steak you’ve EVER had, this is the best steak you WILL EVER have!”
Continue reading
Last week, in a still unnamed restaurant, I had some of the most ghastly Fettuccine Alfredo I’ve ever had the misfortune to encounter. Was it straight off the food service truck? Was the cook just clueless? Does it matter? One reason I haven’t named the restaurant is that I just can’t believe they’ll be there much longer. However, they do seem to be doing a lively business in “to go” pizzas. Maybe I’ll try one. Or not.
Anyway, this weekend, I just felt like I needed to make some GOOD Fettuccine Alfredo. I knew I could make better than those jokers, if only because I have made better, repeatedly. So, to clear my memories of that ghastly Alfredo, I decided to make two Fettuccine Alfredos. C’mon along for the ride!
I suddenly realized I was standing in this large kitchen and some Asian dude was standing in front of me, opening a large display case and screaming, “And the final ingredient in today’s battle is ROSEMARY!” And there, in the case were a few dozen 6 to 8 inch long branches of rosemary. Lovely. Fragrant. Delightful. And I had an hour to prepare four dishes that highlighted rosemary.
Across from me was some imposing person I’d never heard of before. Cat Flayer or something like that.
At times, I think we should have a separate category for barbeque. It’s just such a wonderful food. Sadly, the word has been so widely used and abused that it really isn’t terribly descriptive.
To me, barbeque is not a social event, it is not cooking food by exposing it to high and direct heat. One is a party, the other is grilling. I like both. Really. Continue reading
As we try to move from being small fry to wok stars, we’re learning. This is another picture from our (unpublished) piece on National Peach Cobbler Day.
The bit hint for food bloggers here is, take the picture when the food looks its best. Fresh from the oven, this had a great golden brown crust. Cutting out a piece would have revealed a rich creamy-peachy filling. Now, well, it’s past its prime.
We’re really not there yet, but we’re learning. And as we learn more about what we’re doing, we’ll share the tips and tricks that separate the big woks from the small fry (like us).
The first hint is pretty straight forward, but we have a number of cool posts we’d love to share but we didn’t follow this hint.
“Take the pictures before the food is gone.” I guess we won’t be doing our piece on this year’s National Peach Cobbler Day after all. Maybe next year!
Some of our would-be posts have pictures of 4 courses out of the 5 we were server. Or 6. Or 7. Like the Lockhart Smokehouse’s “Snout to Tail” pig-out dinner. Or some of the really rocking special dinners Chef Chad Kelley put together when he was at the Meddlesome Moth. Maybe not taking pictures should have been something we gave up for Lent!