emmo42's Profile
Restaurant-based cookbooks - do the recipes allow faithful duplication?
My complaint is more often with authors dumbing things down or giving ridiculous instructions than with them leaving out (intuitively obvious) details that a skilled cook would know.
Restaurant-based cookbooks - do the recipes allow faithful duplication?
It definitely depends on the chef. I've had good luck with all of Thomas Keller's books (based on comparison to my meal at The French Laundry and on the ability to make delicious food that looks as great as the pictures). I have also encountered recipes that are laughable when compared to the pictures of the dishes in other books (Alfred Portales and Marcus Samuelsson come to mind as some of the worst offenders). It is indeed a crap shoot, as ghg pointed out. You sort of have to find chefs that you trust not to dumb things down too much for you, and keep going back to them for more great recipes.
I haven't played with my Momofuku cookbook yet... although I have heard that some things (such as the steamed buns that he stuffs with pork belly) aren't up to snuff. Let us know how you V-day dish turned out... =)
Did you every hear of this?
I haven't seen it in the US. When I lived in Australia I learned that things are rounded to the nearest 5 cents when you pay with cash. (You pay the exact amount if you use a debit/credit card.) It never seemed like a problem to me, and it's great never having to deal with pennies. By the time I moved back to the US I was wishing we would adopt a similar system here.
In search of trotters...
I'm sure it depends on what you're making. I've made this with ham hock as an emergency substitution before, and it wasn't the same...
In search of trotters...
I always clarify and ask "Pigs' feet?" if I get a confused look when I ask about trotters... More often I get the "Ew. Why would you want those?" look and tone.
I hit that Stop & Shop from time to time on my way home from Russo's. I'll have to look next time and see if that can be a closer source for my pig feet needs in the future. Thanks for the tip.
In search of trotters...
I just went out to H-Mart (it's near my work, and I'd heard they have good oxtail, which I also needed). Those are nice pigs' feet.. Yay! =)
Thanks!
In search of trotters...
I'm relatively new to the Waltham area, and realize as I prepare for a dinner party that I don't have a good source out here for trotters. The couple places I've called so far have answered in the negative with a hint of disgust/confusion in their voice, as if it's gross/weird to cook with pigs' feet. I've never had trouble finding these in the other cities where I've lived. Can anyone suggest a good source?
Dinner with friends using gift certificate
I agree that this seems to be the answer he's looking for. Sure, I guess you could ask your friends for change... just understand that such action will almost certainly be followed by discussions between your friends about what a tool you are.
Do you give everyone Thanksgiving leftovers to take home?
To echo the comments above, unless this was a potluck where guests contributed major components of the meal, I don't see how inviting friends over for *just* a lavish feast (as opposed to a lavish feast + leftovers) makes somebody a "cheapskate"... I suspect they'll be just as glad to not have ungrateful guests at their future dinners.
Cooking for themselves
Maybe it's just because I've always lived on my own, but I love cooking for just me. I'll spend hours in the kitchen hooking up something from The French Laundry Cookbook or playing with awesome finds from the farmers' market. For me the joy is in the cooking (and the eating). I do tend to make 3-4 servings of most meals for weeknights both because it makes it easier when I get home late from work and because it's just not practical to cook single servings of some things (braised oxtail for one, anyone?). This has actually worked out well, though: If I'm not super-excited to eat something for the 4th time in a week, I don't ever make that dish again. =)
I remember when I worked in a winery that customers would sometimes ask about dinner plans (e.g. if I mentioned that the wine I was pouring for them was going to be part of my meal that night) and when I'd tell them (steak and lobster, or maybe just a grilled rib-eye with roquefort-stuffed mushrooms) I would almost always get asked "Ooh. Who are you cooking for?" It was always a shock to them when I said "Me."
Best Sports Bar in Waltham?
Thanks for all the info. I guess the benefit of planning this far in advance is that it gives me a chance to check a few places out before I'm desperately trying to watch a game, maybe talk to the bartenders and get a sense of how they roll during football season...
I saw The Wave suggested somewhere else, but I usually prefer to avoid the drunk college kids so I'll put that one at the bottom of the list for now...
I live less than 3 blocks away from The Mad Raven (just moved here, so haven't wandered over there yet), so that would be super-convenient if it works out, but Moody street is extremely close as well and I'm glad to see a few options there. I really appreciate your suggestions... I was starting to lose hope for a minute there... =)
Best Sports Bar in Waltham?
Sounds like a possibility. The Bucs only have 2 late games this year (one of which I'll be watching in person), so I'll likely show up early to grab some lunch and a seat with a view of the right TV before the crowds start trickling in... which is part of why good food is a bonus.
Best Sports Bar in Waltham?
I have had luck getting to know the bartenders at a few places where they only have 3-4 DirectTV boxes... The problem is that I need to go somewhere else if I get there and find out they're not showing my game...
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, so I am a bit of a beer snob... I'd rather eat slightly-trashy bar food with great beer than eat great bar food with Budweiser, especially since I'll be there for ~3-6 hours (which means a much larger percentage of the time is spent with the beer than with the food).
I'll keep looking. As close to Waltham as possible would be good, but when I lived in Australia I used to have to get up at 3am on Mondays to stream Bucs games live, so I can handle a drive if that's what it takes... (I haven't missed a game in 5 years, and I don't intend to start missing them now...)
Best Sports Bar in Waltham?
I did my undergrad in Cambridge about 10 years ago and now work in Lexington, and over 90% of the people I met in either place were transplants from other cities. I know the locals are die-hard Pats fans, but it seems ridiculous that nobody would capitalize on the many people who didn't grow up here who would rather watch a different game (especially since the Pats will be televised on the CBS affiliate every single week regardless).
I've lived in a town of 80,000 people that had more than 20 different sports bars where you could watch every game every week. I find it hard to believe that such a thing doesn't exist in the Boston suburbs... That's going to severely dampen my burgeoning love for this place if it's true...
Best Sports Bar in Waltham?
I just moved to Massachusetts (Waltham, more specifically) and will need to find a good place to watch NFL football come September. (I like to plan ahead for the important stuff...). I was considering Sadie's after reading about it in this post:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/561673
but I walked by last night (on my way to Watch City Brewing Company for what turned out to be a really nice prix fixe 3-course beer-pairing dinner) and they don't appear to have much in the way of TVs...
Ideally I would like to find a place with great food and a nice selection of micro-brews (as I was able to find in the last couple cities I lived in), but most important is that I can get the Bucs' game up on a big screen every week. A bar having Sunday Ticket doesn't do me much good if they don't have enough TVs and DirectTV control boxes to guarantee that they will be showing my game every week...
Any suggestions from Waltham-area Chowhounds who share my obsessive love of football would be greatly appreciated...
College Dorm Cooking Facilities
The same was true (in terms of variety in dorms) when I was there in the late 90's. When I submitted my dorm choices I ranked the dorm with the biggest kitchens highest and ended up in a great dorm where you shared a good-sized kitchen with the 3-5 other students in your suite. Other people prefer the amenities at dorms that didn't have kitchens, so it was apparently no problem getting into my dorm of choice...
I think a lot of college students aren't used to cooking for themselves and thus like the idea of having somebody else (the cafeterias, in this case) take care of such things for them...
Justified or just greed?
You seem to make the rather bold (and unfounded) assumption that people who don't feel like sharing their plate are not having fun eating.
With certain friends I am happy to share, but this is decided when we order (e.g. we huddle around the menu and decide on several things we will collectively order), but I have other friends with food preferences that are much blander than I prefer, and I never feel like sacrificing my carefully-chosen delicious food in exchange for some of their boring food.
THIS IS WHY CHAINS ARE GREAT
I have to agree with starbucksbrew on the issue of beverages. I never eat in chain restaurants, but I find the coffee situation (particularly in small towns or in cities where there isn't really a coffee-drinking culture) can be a bit dire. I was in Bethlehem, PA for a summer, and I once walked into a cute local cafe and ordered an espresso, only to see the cashier turn around and open a can of instant coffee crystals to use in the espresso machine... In my own city, I always prefer to support local coffee shops who are making a high-quality product. When traveling, however, it's nice to know that I can go somewhere and have 100% certainty that my coffee was made from an actual coffee bean ground on the premises.
Martini shaker
This happened to me with one of my favorite shakers once. After trying all the things you mention in your post with no success, I gave it to one of my lab tech friends who proceeded to whack it with a rubber mallet. Darned if that didn't do the trick... ;-) Worth a try if your other option is to just replace the shaker...
Tip jars - love 'em? Hate 'em?
When I worked in a winery tasting room I definitely agreed with our no-tip-jar policy, even though it probably cost me money. Often people didn't realize they were allowed to tip me or that it wouldn't be offensive to do so, so they would only tip if they saw it done by somebody else first. Still, tip jars indicate that tipping is expected, and it shouldn't be in these situations. Tipping is appreciated (greatly), not expected. I'm going to give customers the best service possible because, hey, that's my job and I'm compensated for that. If they feel I've gone above and beyond and want to reward me, all the better. I feel better without the tip jar because then they know they're getting good customer service because they deserve it, not because I'm waiting for them to put some money in the jar.
making yogurt - my milk seperated?
What temperature are you heating the milk to? I typically heat the milk (with 1/3 C powdered milk added per quart of milk) to 180-200 degrees and hold it there for 20-30 minutes. The milk then needs to be cooled to ~115 degrees before mixing in the yogurt you're using as your starter. I've made yogurt with whole milk and 2%, so using whole milk shouldn't be the issue.
I had separation issues during fermentation back when I used an expensive yogurt maker (which I have since returned to the store), but haven't had any problems since switching to using a cooler and hot water bottles, which maintains proper incubation temperature perfectly...
PDX: Alameda Brewing or Laurelwood Brewpub?
I would actually recommend that you check out the Kennedy School McMenamins over either of those options. It's equally easy to get to from the airport, and both the food and the beer are great. The atmosphere alone (in an abandoned school transformed into a brew pub/movie theatre/B&B) is worth the trip. The courtyard restaurant is the most typical brew pub eating experience, but you can go check out three other bars within the building while you're there. More information here:
http://mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=57
