Red Beans and rice on Mondays is a New Orleans institution!

"Is it fair to do something to someone even if they do not have the ability to express the action is unwanted?"

If someone leans in to kiss you on the cheek you have the ability to express the action is unwanted by moving away or flinching etc. If he grabbed her and kissed her, or if she flinched and he kissed her anyway then I have a serious problem. It just seems we are on a slippery slope now.

I feel some people are taking this to the extreme when talking about it being assault and illegal if it was a friendly kiss on the cheek. According to some of you, if a guy attempts to kiss a woman on a date and she doesn't want to be kissed, the man is guilty of a crime even if the girl doesn't try to back away or say she doesn't wish to be kissed.

"<It is not the custom here>"

It still is in a lot of the south.

As for the "victims", did they do anything to let him know that his behavior was unwanted, like move away when he came in to kiss them on the cheek?

NYC is about the only place Id rather be than my current location (austin) as far as food goes. NYC is hands down my favorite food city, but the scene in austin is pretty good and is only geting stronger.

I make it a couple of times a month. It's the best fried chicken I have ever had.

My personal favorite is

2 parts ribeye
2 parts boneless short rib
1 part flank

Grind it yourself, then season with salt and pepper right before cooking.

Try to buy white shrimp instead of brown shrimp. That strong flavor is much more common in brown shrimp, particularly texas brown shrimp. Some people actually seek out those shrimp for that flavor, but like you I find it extremely offputting. White shrimp are known for their milder flavor.

Just plain old boiled (cajun crawfish boil style)

And I prefer them cold!

"Fix him a porterhouse or a ribeye steak and some kind of potato. I suggest a baked potato. You want to get fancy try a twice baked potato."

This. Steak and baked potato is relatively easy and is quintessential "man food" Something with a bone in it will even up the awesomeness. Bone in ribeye would be my suggestion.

Nope, Im in Austin Texas. Its a pretty green city, but I suspect the bag ban will be spreading soon.

I assume this was directed to the post below and just misplaced :P

Better would be subjective here. Boneless shortribs will have much less fat/grissle to deal with, and you can portion them into lovely uniform servings. The drawback would be the loss of the bone in the braising liquid. I find braising shortribs on the bone gives the braising liquid a little extra oomph.

Sounds like you have it all worked out pretty well!

If you are worried about the mess of the braised shortrib, consider having your butcher cut you boneless short rib roasts. They average 2-3 pounds a piece and you would cook them the same way you cook the regular shortrib. What you would likely want to do is cook them a couple of days ahead of time and then cool them overnight. The following day remove all the solidified fat from the pot and take out the shortribs. Portion the shortrib roasts, while cold, into individual little squares/rectangles. Back into the fridge, and then the day of the party reduce the braising liquid to the desired level, then gently warm the shortribs in the sauce for service.

stuffed cajun meat market. Pretty sure they will have crawfish tomorrow, but call to make sure.

I would just go with cold. For me personally, I never like seafood at room temperature, I like it to either be hot or cold. (sushi being the exception)

Remember when you are seasoning that cold foods take a lot more to season!

If you really need to warm crabmeat, a light steam over some chardonnay/white wine/or water is what is widely considered the best way.

For a salad I would just leave it cold for a number of reasons. The two biggest would be that cold crabmeat is great on a salad, and that if you wamed the crabmeat up and put it on a salad it would be lukewarm by the time it hit the table because of the other cold ingredients on the plate and the crabmeats lack of "thermal mass"

512window, is that the inside of the frost bank tower in your pic?

Plastic bags are a thing of the past for some of us. I used to do the same thing, but cant get plastic bags anymore because we have a local disposable bag ban.

" that simple fresh ground pepper has an amazing effect on bringing out the original flavor of what it is put on -"

Black and white pepper really have nothing in common with chili peppers other than the word "pepper". They are really two totally different things when it comes to plant species/chemical makeup/etc.

In addition to the "macho factor", eating really hot foods leads to a release in endorphins. It's like a mild drug to some.

We are well beyond both of those now when it comes to hottest chili in the world. With crossbreeding etc it seems there is a new "hottest pepper" every 6 months or so now.

As far as I know the current reigning champion is the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion

And as for the "lusting after" category, definitely quite a few books I simply cant wait for this year.

Pok Pok and Manresa top my list of fall cookbooks this year, but for something I's SUPER excited about and is coming much sooner there is this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Too-Many-Chie...

Was just awarded best cookbook design in the world at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Bought Richard Blaise's "try this at home" which I find a little disappointing, "Origin" by ben Shewry should be here monday, really looking forward to that one.

Albumin

This recipe for Thomas Keller's ad hoc fried chicken produces hands down the absolute best fried chicken Ive ever had in my life. Its foolproof if you follow the directions to the letter. Take time to find the smallest chickens you can. 2.5 pounders are perfect!

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/le...

"There are other (and arguably better) ways to start a career in cooking than starting as a line cook.

A better approach, given that you appear to have (somewhat?) significant income as an engineer, is to save up enough to start your own restaurant."

I'm sorry, but I feel this is actually terrible advice. Opening a restaurant with virtually no restaurant experience almost guarantees failure.

As for the OP, I got into it later than you did. I was an architect until 31, then went to school and started cooking. I love it and dont regret it for a second so dont let the naysayers deter you, but I do have to do a little consulting work on the side to keep my bills paid. (or would have to have 2 cooking jobs). Its a very demanding profession and only the mentally and physically tough survive, show any weakness and you wont be in the industry very long. If you think you have what it takes and enjoy working under pressure, then it might be the right fit for you.

Foie Gras Torchon :devil:

I dont think Ive ever actually seen people get charged for breaking things like that in big box stores/grocery stores. Im pretty sure they just all chalk it up to the cost of doing business.

Wondra Flour s the way to go for maximum browning/crispiness IMHO

That was my first thought as well.........

I'm with ttoommyy when it comes to beef, I appreciate all cuts. Ribeyes and strips are certainly my usual favorites, but I certainly wont turn my nose up at a filet with some bernaise sauce.

dont forget the layer of cheese between the beef and the tots!