mame11

Thank you to those who organized the event, and for the restaurant for such warm hospitality. I thought the starters were outstanding, especially the little lamb kebabs and crostini with chicken. Overall I thought the restaurant did a great job highlighting its strengths and repertoire. Oh and the cannoli was delicious. etask: what kind of tapenade was on the crostini? Thanks!

Broken record that I may be, if you want something that is consistently good, uniquely New York and, well, close to the real thing... might I suggest La Bonne Soupe.

Self styled bruschetta: eggplant/tomato/onion saute/pasta sauce over two slices of Upper Crust multi-grain toasted bread with a liberal amount of parmesan cheese.

Thanks for clarifying... my comment was based on the sign in front of the truck which had hot dogs and fries listed separately. What's a spudrito? I could google but I'm feeling lazy this Sunday night.

Sadly, I bet some people do that combination. On this board people would more likely go to Tackle Box and Baked & Wired. Just my guess...

Sean, I'm sure Gulfport has its issues but it was a great place to go when I was a kid and I believe they have really good beaches, as beaches go in Mississippi. From what I understand the area was hit really hard by Katrina, and now the oil spill... From a foodie perspective, or even a genteel northerner's perspective, it might not be great but it is not cool to say "really, don't come to Gulfport" based on your experience. In case you are wondering what it's like to be a tourist on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi visit this site

RE: pizza stone... i'd heat it as high as it can go for like 2 hours... or if they aren't expensive, start over. okay now my question for the team. I just cut open a farmer's market watermelon and it's hollow and dry... was it old when I bought it Saturday? I've never seen this.... thanks!

They were in my neighborhood last week. I walked past the truck and noticed two things (1) $7 for a Wonky Dog (um wow, that's a lot of money for a hotdog ) and (2) the fries didn't look appetizing enough to order. Just my observations not based on taste...

I just made these Cinnamon Buns that called for cottage cheese and no-yeast. I love the idea of cinnamon buns but they are generally too sweet and rich for me to have more than a few bites. So this recipe appealed to me because it called for so little sugar. Also, I like the idea of non-yeast breads. And may I say wowza. I only wish I had taken a picture before the buns were consumed. I did not make the glaze because I am not a fan of glazes... but the buns were delicious! ETA: I used nonfat milk with a bit of vinegar because I didn't have buttermilk and I used 1% fat cottage cheese because that is what I had. Did it make a difference? I don't think so. Also, I didn't use pecans because I don't like nuts in my baked goods

me too... sign me up please! thanks for arranging this event y'all

On a whim tonight friends and I made the trip to Rays on the River. We have been meaning to go since it opened but the timing was never right. Nothing like a whim to be right about Rays. Okay, so that was my favorite meal in D.C. since first discovering the original Rays. I ordered the Ribeye medium and it was perfect. I had the creamed corn and sweet potato fries as sides. Yes, I know two starches but I did have a garden salad as well. Wow. The sweet potato fries were fresh cut and delicious. The steak was perfect. We each got different entrees with the intention of sharing. I had a bite of the prime rib. I am not a prime rib expert but that was good. My other friend got the skirt steak... which I heard was really good but I was too busy eating sweet potato fries to care about more meat. But, perhaps most importantly for M. Landrum, the food might not be what we would have in Memphis but the ambiance sure was. It literally reminds me of a place we went while I was growing up for meat & threes. p.s. can't wait to get back for a non-steak meal consisting of fried chicken and ribs... now that is Memphis food...

which market and which vendor... thanks!

An Italian friend of mine taught me a great trick with basil... 1) clean the basil 2) dry completely 3) remove the leaves from the stem 4) lay the leaves down in one layer on a cookie sheet 5) place the cookie sheet in the freezer 6) freeze completely 7) take the frozen leaves and put them in freezer bags 8) enjoy for months to come.... Hope this helps...

:lol: :lol: I discovered this works only too well!

Just a quick note as the thunder rolls in this morning to say thank you to GoodEats for organizing a very fun farm dinner at Grapeseed. I forgot my menu, or perhaps it was turned into one of the many paper airplanes that sailed from one end of the table to the other over the course of the evening. I do think paper airplane races should be an activity at the fall picnic. My favorite dish of the evening was dessert. As much as a sweets person as I am, I tend to prefer chocolate dishes for dessert but the blueberries with limoncello was a delicious treat. Raw blueberries were combined with stewed and sauced berries to provide a layer of textures as well as tastes. The limoncello was a nice complement and not too citrusy or sweet to distract from the blueberry goodness. I don't think anybody would have complained if the tomato appetizer had included a full slice of fried green tomato as it was a perfect example of the southern delight. The potatoes were incredible, and should be a staple on Grapeseed's menu. Similarly, the corn chowder was a delight (though I would have liked more corn, but that's just me... ) Now for some constructive criticism. The portions between patrons ranged drastically. While the size of a soft shell crab is up to Mother Nature, the amount of corn chowder and bacon should have been consistent per plate. Similarly the plating of the flank steak and potatoes differed widely. I had two very small pieces of meat while other guests had more generous portions. Granted, the food was delicious so I would have happily eaten full size portions of each dish. However, my comment really is about consistency. Again, thanks to GoodEat, dr.com members and the chef/staff at Grapeseed for making the evening so much fun.

Oh Lizzie, that's a great idea! I'll have to remember that for the next batch... Thanks!

Thanks! I had no idea about the airproofing thing... I will repackage before freezing this evening. Thanks for the insight!

I have a very fond memory of eating at the last automat the first time I went to New York with my parents. It was on my Dad's "to do" list as he had eaten at them during his visits to New York as a child. Alas, that is not the purpose of my post this morning. I need the advice from the collective master chefs of DR.com. I made chocolate chip cookie dough last night. I rolled it into 4 logs and refrigerated overnight. I understand that it is perfectly fine to freeze cookie dough. My question is how? Each roll is wrapped in aluminum foil. Can I place the rolls in a freezer bag and call it a day? Is aluminum foil the best option? Thanks in advance...

I just saw a link on a friend's twitter to @frycaptain. I followed it and discovered that DC is getting just what it has always needed, a food truck where you can buy french fries and milkshakes. Oh joy. Earlier today, I passed Masa 14 while Chef Burrel was doling out hot dogs (including a kim chee dog... trite?) I overheard him telling some customers that the restaurant was going to launch a taco truck. (how about a fried chicken truck instead.... but I digress) I just spent a nice amount of time in Los Angeles and noticed a few things about food trucks. First, there are taco and non-descript food trucks parked in neighborhoods like the hills of Beverly Hills and Brentwood where no restaurants are nearby. I meant to ask locals what that was about, then one day noticed a truck full of construction workers roll up to one of the most random trucks I spotted. These trucks serve people who get short lunch breaks who would spend it just getting out of the neighborhood much less be able to get anything to eat. While taking lunch might be an option, I imagine I'd want something hot and substantial if I were doing physical work. Okay, so that explains the trucks I saw in neighborhoods. But LA has food trucks all over the city. In front of studios, parked behind office buildings, near tourist attractions. The food ranges from salads to korean tacos. Often the trucks were parked where there were no, or few, options available. I don't remember seeing more than one truck at a time either. LA has something DC does not have... traffic with no public transportation option. If you have a short lunch break you might not have the option to get many places because, well, you'll spend it in your car. So, the trucks make sense. At first the trend was cute in DC... and for places like Capitol Hill it makes sense but what about the rest of the city? Does the trend disincentivize people from making the investment in a restaurant? Are the low barriers to entry unfair to existing restaurants (indie or chain), Is the trend sustainable? According to Food Truck Fiesta, a nifty site to track the whereabouts of the DC area food trucks in one place, there are 11 different outfits on the road currently with another 8 on deck. By the way, I understand that some vendors use the food truck concept to prove, well, their concept. If I understand correctly, District Tacos, is opening a brick and mortar operation soon. It makes sense to test a concept... but what about the french fry and (yeah, more) cupcakes... What do y'all think?

A disclaimer, I did not get to eat at most of the places I had wanted to try while in L.A. There was not enough time so I missed lots of places from Joe's to Guelaguetza and Gardens of Taxco. But I managed to explore L.A. and the environs much like a local. If you are in L.A. and have a car, I highly, highly recommend a trip to Marina del Rey to dine on mighty fine sushi at Irori. Yes, I've had sushi at some of the fancy places around the country and this restaurant rivals each of them. The sushi was served with great care and emphasis on knife work, as well as incredibly high quality fish. Among the specials on the menu were Copper River Wild Salmon and Japanese Albacore, both were divine. My favorite roll was the baked blue crab roll to which I added avocado to mimic my favorite dish at Uchi in Austin. I had one of the best meals I've ever had at Gjelina in Venice. The restaurant focuses on seasonal, local and organic produce and meat and does it very, very well. I was with a group so we could explore the menu and there was not a miss. It's so hard to get in that reservations are a must and apparently have to be made well in advance. When the bill arrived it was a bit of a shock. No, it was not because the bill was so high but because it was so, well, reasonable. Highlights of the evening: the corn, the roasted chicken, the pizza, the squash, oh everything. After an odd evening, I took myself to Angeli Caffe [Closed on Jan 13, 2012] in West Hollywood. It was on my list because I am a diehard fan of Good Food on KCRW, and the show's host, Evan Kleiman, owns the restaurant. The staff was incredibly nice to me, a solo diner late at night. They brought a nice loaf of crispy bread that seemed to have been baked in a pizza oven, seriously the best bread I've had to start a meal in a long time. I was craving protein and the Chicken Piccata special with farmer's market corn and Brussels sprouts sounded perfect. I asked the server what I should try as a starter. She suggested the gnocchi of the day, which were ricotta only, no potato. OH MY G-D. I felt like I was eating clouds. Wow. I was fairly full when my entree arrived but it was really good and I ended up having leftovers another evening. I had no room for dessert which was fine because they had sold out of the fruit tart and nothing else really appealed to me. Um, PinkBerry. Seriously it's better in L.A. than New York and none of the tart yogurt in D.C. compares. The toppings from which you can choose is pretty impressive and for the summer includes watermelon and cucumber. The watermelon yogurt with watermelon puree and cucumber is divine. Though my go to flavor was original with chocolate bee bees like they use at Central on desserts with either strawberries or cherries. Fresh bing cherries. Yum. I spent a lot of time at the Farmer's Market and had a donut at Bob's and ice cream at Bennet's. Both were incredible. I also ate lunch at Pampas Grill where I made a salad from the well stocked salad bar and selected a piece of bacon wrapped chicken to make my own really yummy salad. I also had breakfast one morning at Loteria Grill. I ordered wrong. I was sad. It was still really good but I didn't love what I ordered. Can't wait to go back though.. One evening I had a dinner at Real Food Daily, a vegan restaurant. My soba noodles were good, and I tasted a few of the other dishes. However, when I got back to my place that night, I scarfed my leftovers from Angeli. I had lunch one day at Coast at Shutters in Santa Monica. It's worth a trip for the view of the Pacific and the beach. My salad was fine but we were really paying for the view and experience. If you are in West Hollywood, I recommend 8 Oz. Burger (great turkey burger and delicious salad), Joan's on 3rd (good salad and great takeout) and the cafe at Jones (amazing salad). And for those with a (very) sweet tooth it's worth a trip to Brentwood to get a slice at Susie Cakes. I was introduced to Susie Cakes at a party early in my trip. When I was invited to a friend's house for dinner later in my trip, I stopped by the shop and was overwhelmed with choices. I settled on 3 slices for 7 adults and 2 kids. Each of us had very nice portions and there was an entire slice left!

Last week I had a pizza lunch at Mozza Pizzeria in L.A. I don't recall a pie on the menu being less than $15. I also don't recall any of the pies being simple in nature, not even a plain cheese pizza. I recall examining the menu thinking "really, I'm going to pay this much for pizza?" I sat at the pizza bar watching the 4 chefs do their thing from stretching the dough to applying a tiny amount of olive oil strategically to create the delectable char on the crust, then into the pizza oven and on to the precise cutting. I examined the menu and considered my options. I chose the mushroom pizza because it was a mid-day meal and thought a meat pizza would be too heavy. The pizza arrived covered in many kinds of mushrooms that I have no doubt cost a fair amount of money regardless of wholesale prices. I felt the pizza was worth the price. Here, it seems the chatter and some of the posters on this board are highlighting that basic ingredients like flour, cheese and tomato sauce are not enough (no matter how good) to justify $15 pies in D.C. I haven't been to Orso but wonder if I would be willing to pay the same prices for pizza at Orso as I would at Mozza. I am not sure I would. Also, I am not convinced that the D.C. dining community is the same as the one in L.A. that can support a restaurant at those prices... Remember that the $16 Hamburger is found on menus where it is a bargain or in line with other prices at expensive (relatively) restaurants. The $10 Ray's Hell meal is a value compared to even the bargains at Ray's the Steak. Just my $.02

I've had many great meals and snacks in LA this week but I have to say Kogi Taco is not among them. Far from it. At first I thought it was really good then I noticed the grease pit left where my food had been. I also think flour tortillas would be better. For the record I've had Korean tacos at Hankook, a knock off of Kogi in Atlanta. Those were much better than what I just ate. I'll post my great meals when I have time. ETA: name of place in Atlanta and that my bad impression has been validated by many since yesterday...

Here is the hyperlink to make it easy for people to vote: Vote for Pots and Pams And to go directly to the page to vote for Pam: go HERE

I curse M&M/Mars for unleashing the M&M Pretzel on the world. Yeah, it's a low calorie snack if you don't mind that a portion is 11-15 little pieces of candy. It's a highly addictive snack that you can pop in your mouth when you crave either salty or sweet and be satisfied. They are about the size of the old m&m crunch.

Make chow-chow or relish yum...