NolaCaine

and to clarify my critique of Asiatique, I meant to say "cajun smelling sushi anyone?" I am thus, again reminded, that my remarkable wit does not translate well when I am forced to type.

Last night kids chowed down on my grandmother's beef barley soup recipe (which is conveniently located on the back of the Quaker barley box).

What made this pot outstanding was that i used home-made broth. That home-made broth was from all the various meat things in the freezer that were just taking up space and were never going to be otherwise used...the broth itself was amazing. At the end, 8 yr old said to me "that was really good mom". He's not the eater so it meant a lot to me.

Then he asked for a cooked potato for dessert, which I gave to him (why not?). 

11 minutes ago, Bob Wells said:

Nothing gets the ball rolling like a good lobster roll debate!

I was going to weigh in but thought it off topic!

Re claws. I love claws, except for the "finger" part which I give to my husband or 5 yr old (who will pretty much eat anything). I also like an "underdressed" lobster roll. By that I mean letting the lobster shine through on the white bread...nothing too fancy.

Fun personal fact; I ate my first lobster at 23 and found it really bland after a lifetime of crawfish. My second was years later and I realized that fresh off the boat Maine lobster should not be compared to what's found in Connecticut.

tried to have a perfectly respectable science thread and it devolves into James Bond sex talk. Of course. 😉 

If you give typically solitary octopuses the drug MDMA, they, like people who've taken the party drug, act more social, Gizmodo reports.

A pair of researchers noticed through a phylogenetic analysis that despite a separation of more than 500 million years of evolution and differences in brain organization, humans and octopuses have similar SLC6A4 genes. In addition, as the duo from the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine report in Current Biology this week, they found that the MDMA binding site in the serotonin transporter (SERT, encoded by SLC6A4) was conserved.

They dosed a handful of octopuses with low levels of MDMA and watched to see whether they then chose to spend more time with a novel object, another octopus, or alone. They report that when octopuses were given MDMA, they were more likely to spend time with another octopus than when they were untreated. Additionally, paper co-author Gül Dölen from Hopkins tells Gizmodo that one animal, on a low dose, "looked like it was doing water ballet," and was interested in sounds and smells.

"It's not just quantitatively more time, but qualitative," Dölen says at Quartz of the time the dosed octopus wanted to spend with the other. "They tended to hug the cage and put their mouth parts on the cage. This is very similar to how humans react to MDMA; they touch each other frequently."

2 hours ago, Pat said:

After getting back from the baseball game, I heated up some (non-authentic) red beans and rice I had made and kept in the refrigerator for a quick meal.

I just ate the remainder of my authentic red beans sans rice, some leftover non-authentic Indian beans, and some non-authentic shrimp stir fry...cleaning out the fridge for the weekend. Strangely satisfying that meal. 

Fast forward 2.5 years and I still like SER. 

Special Market Salad $14 The Best The Market Had to Offer:  Amazing. I was supposed to share it with my husband, but think I ate more than half.

Mushroom Appetizer: This was from the happy hour menu, $7, a more simple version of their main menu selection and I loved the texture and the flavor.

Pasta con Txangurro $28 • Egg Pasta, Lump Crab, Sea Urchin, Shrimp Butter: I'll admit it, I took a bite. It was amazing. I have not eaten butter in a very, very long time and it was my last bite of the evening and I double drugged when I got home. (i have a rare type of food allergy; the sparse clinical research supports this tactic)

Gambas al Ajillo (GF) $12 Shrimp, EVOO, Garlic, Cayenne Pepper: The only disappointment of the evening. I've eaten this particular dish at SER multiple times and this was the only time the shrimp were dried out. The rest was great and our bread was warm and toasty.

By the glass, I had one red and one white and they were just right.

Decided to take advice from Pool Boy and challenge my palet while enjoying the food undistracted. The downside to House of Mandi is, of course, alcohol-free since it is halal.  This is the second time I've been. While I very much enjoyed the first time, I thought last night's dinner was bland (needed salt), under-spiced (and I don't even like things too hot) and our lamb portion more gristle and bone than meat. 

Though under-salted, I very much enjoyed the salta, probably, of course, because of the massive amount of okra (though too many potatoes). The menu on the link below is not the one we were handed last night and I can't recall what the lamb dish was... It was basically roasted lamb and rice. 

I should mention that the rice was fabulous and I have a very refined rice palet. 

http://www.houseofmandi.us/

Garfish balls, at a restaurant in Louisiana, somewhere on the edge of a swamp (Honey Island or Bayou Savage...can't really remember) was one of the best deep fried things I have ever eaten, to this day. They were perfect. Just enough fish. Perfect little scallions. Fresh corn (but not too much). I still remember that meal and it was a very long time ago. (and alligator tastes like catfish, not chicken. 😉 

58 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Here's a little teaser:

In about two weeks, everyone here will have the opportunity to learn - really learn - more about the fine-dining end of the spectrum, than they've ever had a chance to learn about before.

It will be fun and interesting.

It will only take up as much time as you want to invest.

And, as always, it will be free.

hum....I can't wait to learn more. 

13 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

... your own palate. Trust it. Prime it. Test it. CHALLENGE IT.

And do not get me started about my wine evolution - it it embarrassing. Haha!

2

I went through a coq au vin phase once. I tried about 6 different preparations and now I know how I like it. I went through a ratatouille phase another time. Same thing happened. Most recently, I mastered a duck! Not only was the roast duck great, the duck stock was amazing. 

But restaurants are more challenging for two big reasons. I dine out with distracting people. Either business associates or my kids. Also, I have food allergies which takes a lot of fun out of it. 

Now wine is another matter. I'd love to afford to be able to learn more. 

12 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Come on!

Obviously, I understand the obvious (make a fetus male, regulates puberty, manages T through the life) but it does more than that and that research only started in the 1980s. Crazy right?

Haven't yet but I"m about to listen to this:
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/gonads-xy

A McArthur Genius award winner explains why the Y chromosome matters. Currently, I don't know that information (and that is not a political statement).

The red beans and rice was fantastic. I started with small red beans, did the fast-soak method and sauteed the other stuff while the beans softened. Sausage, ham steak, bacon along with celery, pepper, and lots of onion. I started at 2 and it was done at 6. Served over white rice; with a side of carrot sticks.  The broth remains to be utilized and optimized.

I made meat broth from all of the frozen stuff that was in my freezer. Chicken, grilled pork chops, two different types of brisket and yes, steak slices. This broth is so damn good that I can't decide what to make with it. I was going to make red beans and rice but now I think I have to make soup with it and just buy some more pork products for the beans. 

1 hour ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Pretty sure they’re Chinese, and I don’t think they’re very good.

we were very hungry....

It's open. Line out the door at 11:45 Thursday. No, I did not go in. I can't wait in line for hummus.

On 3/25/2016 at 8:33 AM, porcupine said:

What are your favorite movies, and why?  For the purposes of this discussion, let's define "favorite" as "movies that you come back to, again and again, or years later, and always enjoy."

Is there a similar thread for books?

My favorite book (also a movie) East of Eden.

My least favorite book (also a movie) Grapes of Wrath.

What do they have in common? The Author: Steinbeck. 

It's haunting. Amazing acting.

Pho 88 in Falls Church was really good today (Pho Chin all around) but I am almost positive the staff was speaking Chinese, not Vietnamese. Did I get that wrong?

Totally agree with you Don. I don't think I have very great taste in food or wine (compared to those on this board) but I do know that when other people pick the restaurant, it basically sucks. I have not, however, figured out how to dissuade people from bringing me to Founding Farmers and its ilk. Basically, on the DR scale, I"m in the lower 10% but IRL I'm like in the 70s. Maybe even 80s.

On 9/7/2018 at 8:00 AM, curiouskitkatt said:

don't even get me started on the inedible 'punkin "flavored" crap. I think at this point, companies are in a race to create the most ridiculous concoction.

Did you notice at Trader Joe's they had blueberry-lavender flavored crap? I have no desire to even sniff that s!@#.

18 hours ago, DonRocks said:

But it does have two accents aigus in it. 😜

God I'm a douche.

More of a broken record then totally useless.... I've gotten this comment before, though it's been awhile. I, OTOH, am too lazy to add the accents. 😉

First, I love the building and the service.
Second, I do want to have a drink or two that sexy bar in the back.

Third, and this is most important, etoufee DOES NOT HAVE tomatoes in it. 

Thank you.

And it wasn't that good. gooey

Sat down to MY dinner last night (after the kids ate cold plate) to nice soft ramen noodles, quick shrimp saute, and a kale salad with ginger dressing. I had to fight my 5 year old for the food! I think she's growing or school is making her brain grow so she needs more calories to run it. 

She at half of my shrimp, kept grabbing my noodles and slurping them up (until dad shared his and BTW that's funny as hell) and picked what she wanted out of the kale salad (kale yes, baboo shoots yes, pickled onions yes, no to old-school radishes).

I even tried to give her ice cream so I could eat my dinner. Nope. She prefers savory.