Roast beef, mashed potatoes, and corn. Best meal ever!

If someone who has never made a certain meal can take your directions and accurately create the desired dinner, the recipe is a success. Following the format of any major cookbook will help immensely, of course.

Hardcover for me. There are a number of different ways they can do the stitching so the book lies flat without needing a spiral binding, though they are more expensive than the common way to bind. Make the cover have a kind of dimpled surface, so the book is easy to grip if hands are wet. If it's at least semi-waterproof, that's a huge plus.

Index by recipe name and ingredients.

Pictures on the same page as the recipe. Color is nice, but not really necessary. Decent drawings are also ok, especially if the book has a retro style (see the Betty Crocker and King Arthur commemoratives).

I prefer volume measurements, though having volume and weight both listed is better.

In my experience, most restaurants in NYC are sub-par., but especially the greasy spoons.

Unfortunately, grocery stores aren't allowed to sell alcohol in PA, so that doesn't help me. I think Costco is best if you have a large family and big grocery bills.

There are WAY TOO MANY subforums here. Seriously. It's impossible to find anything, unless you just get lucky.

Unlike you, I don't make tons of money. I also am lucky enough not to live in NYC, where a crappy burger costs $15.

At Hoss's, you generally have your meal out within 15 minutes of ordering. I usually haven't even finished my salad before they're setting it out.

A number of the chains have starting doing this. Texas Roadhouse, Hoss's, and a few others all ask as soon as the steak is delivered.

I can't afford to eat in really fancy steakhouses, so I bet they don't do this.

He's just being like a lot of other internet people. His show is actually the best combination of food and travel on TV. You're missing out. He goes to lots of fancy restaurants, and often eats at somebody's home. He also usually ends up saying the mom's home-cooked meal is better than the restaurants he ate at while in that country.

This just annoys the heck out of me. Steak needs to sit for a while to get the best flavor. However, many steakhouse servers ask you to cut into it right away. I know they want to make sure it's done right, but it's really not good for the overall flavor of the meat.

I really wish Food Network would go back to featuring real chefs teaching real cooking skills.

If you're cooking lots of tomato sauces or other acidic foods, I'd recommend ceramic. If it's for meats and cornbread, go with bare cast iron.

So, instead of providing a good answer, you'll just be a jerk. Nice.

For the OP, I have a Victorinox, and it works great. It's not expensive if you buy one at a restaurant supply store. MANY restaurants use them, so that should let you know they are decent.

He's said as much in "Medium Raw". He admits that these people are really popular, and it's too bad, because it has marginalized much better chefs who just weren't as popular on TV.

My local Borders are largely picked clean. They went from maybe 15 full shelves to 4.

I like an omelette, toast, scrapple, OJ, and coffee. Maybe replace the scrapple with bacon.

What's the point of buying nice chef's knives if you are scared to use them? Chef's knives are _TOOLS_, not designer accessories!

I ate at the Texas Steakhouse a few years ago. It was really good! The google map is not even close to being correct, by the way.

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Texas Steakhouse
441 Broad Ave, Ridgefield, NJ 07657

He has also made fun of Travel Channel.

I like the Clinton Station Diner. It's an old railroad car converted to a diner. Right off Rte. 78. Move the google map, the diner is to the west of the marked location (which is marked incorrectly).

Be aware that many of the exits in western NJ are a real pain. Some don't have gas stations, many have restaurants, but they are 2 miles from 78.

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Clinton Station Diner
2 Bank St, Clinton, NJ 08809

For those getting upset about cleanliness at fine dining establishments, most people don't eat at them. They eat at McDonalds or Denny's, or for special occasions, the local steakhouse.

It's very important to me. I know there will be some issues with bugs in any restaurant. But if the dining area is trashed, I assume the kitchen must be a disaster.

Almost all of those quotes are out of the first couple chapters of "Medium Raw". Just an FYI.

That sounds about right.

I made some peanut butter cookies Monday. I'm not much of a baker, though.

http://bitesnbrews.com/ - Lots of stuff on both beer and food.

OK, now it's working. Not sure what was going on. I left for an hour, and now replies work.

I raided the local Borders and got:

"On Food and Cooking" by Harold McGee. I've wanted this book for a while. It's more an encyclopedia about food than anything else.

"Baking with Julia" by Dorie Greenspan. I've heard a lot of good things about this, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

"The Flavor Bible" by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. I think this book will see a ton of use. I've already used it for a couple items, just to see what goes with what.

When I click the Reply button in a thread, I get sent to my profile page. This, after having all kinds of problems just getting registered. Please fix!

I am using Firefox on Win7/64.