Grass Valley/Nevada City Recs

Ok, do you have any suggestions on where I should go?

Thanks for your help!

Carbear99 in California

Grass Valley/Nevada City Recs

Going to be in the Grass Valley/Nevada City area this weekend...

Looking for some restaurant rec's.... We are very adventurous eaters, open to any cuisine. As far as restaurant style, looking for casual places as well as fine dining. We are gluten free, and restaurants are usually able to accommodate us. Looking for good local places, lunch, dinner, snacks, ice cream/other treats..

Thanks for your help!

Carbear99 in California

Fresh Ham- Should I brine?

Quick question, Based on the 20 lb, ham, with a potential cook time of 10 hrs, at 225-250, do you think that it is fine to cook the ham all day saturday, and then reheat, as you describe on Sunday. We will be cooking it in the oven (rather than smoking). It seems like a better plan than trying to figure out how to get the ham done in a reasonable time on Sunday.

Carbear99 in Home Cooking

Fresh Ham- Should I brine?

Thanks for explaining the difference. There is no need for me to preserve the meat. I definitely don't want to use nitrates, not a fan of them! So I guess what I would be doing is brining to help the meat from drying out. When I cooked the Christmas Fresh Ham is was SO tough and dry, so I'm hoping brining will help with the dryness, any thoughts as far as the roast not being so tough? I will definitely be brining in the refrigerator!

Carbear99 in Home Cooking

Fresh Ham- Should I brine?

Thanks for the heads up about the texture change... something to consider!

When I cooked the first very large (approx 20 lbs) ham at Christmas, I think the target temp was around 160 and it was SO dry and extremely tough.

This is the recipe I used:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=6858739

I feel at a loss as to what to do this time... I guess if the texture changes a little, but if the meat's not tough and dry, that would be okay with me, thoughts?

Carbear99 in Home Cooking

Fresh Ham- Should I brine?

Unfortunatly I can't remember the target temp, I'm guessing somewhere is the mid 160's, but I'm not sure... Thanks for the ideas as far as larding and Pernil, I'll have to do some research on them!

Carbear99 in Home Cooking

Fresh Ham- Should I brine?

Thanks for the response-
I guess I'm confused regarding the difference between brining and curing... I thought they were the same thing, can you explain the difference? I'm not too sure that I'll be able to smoke it since I don't think I have a smoker available to me.. I'd rather the end product to be more like ham than pork loin....

Carbear99 in Home Cooking

Fresh Ham- Should I brine?

Thanks for the response, how deep do you score the skin, just through the skin?

Carbear99 in Home Cooking

Fresh Ham- Should I brine?

The ham is currently skin on. I would like to cook it in the oven after it has been brined. My concern with brining is the size, around 20 lbs. The little bit of research I did suggested for a ham this size to be truly impacted by brining, 1 day per 2 lbs as far as a time guide. If I go with instructions for a longer brine, does Botulism become more of an issue? All the recipes and guidelines I'm finding are for hams that are less than 10 lbs, so I'm looking for something with instructions for a larger ham. Thanks for your help!

Carbear99 in Home Cooking

Fresh Ham- Should I brine?

I have a very large uncured fresh ham (approx 20 lbs) that I want to cook for Easter. I cooked the other one for Christmas and did not brine it and it was tough and awful.

I'm thinking that I need to brine it this time, and would like to to do it without Nitrates/Nitrites/Insta Cure. Does anyone have any experience with brining such a large one without using Nitrates? How long should I be brining for given the size, and do I need to worry about Botulism?

Thanks for your help and suggestions!!

Carbear99 in Home Cooking

Cheap Gluten Free Eats- What's not to be missed?!

I would consider us very adventurous! My Husband has eaten a lot of things in different parts of China, we are up for Offal, etc. We are pretty much up for trying anything, so please let me know your suggestions! We will not have a car, but are willing to take Public Transit...
Also, thanks for the search tips!

Carbear99 in Manhattan

Cheap Gluten Free Eats- What's not to be missed?!

Thanks for the tips! I know David Chang's restaurants are not cheap eats, and that Cheap Eats is the title of my post, but I'd like to hit at least one of his places while in NYC! I don't mind having to do a Burger, Hot Dog, or Sandwich without a bun, if it is still awesome, a lot of times the GF buns completely fall apart, so thanks for those ideas as well!

Carbear99 in Manhattan

Cheap Gluten Free Eats- What's not to be missed?!

To be a little more specific:
1). Definitely looking for places that we can have some sort of meat or eggs with every meal.
2). Very interested in checking out the amazing Ethnic Food NYC has to offer. We are very limited when it comes to variety where we live. Definitely want to check out GF Indian Food, but we are open to pretty much any other Ethnic Food the City has to offer, we are just looking for great eats and are not super picky!
3). Does anyone know if eating Gluten-Free at any of David Chang's restaurants is a possibility? Do they do any rice or other GF noodles and can soy sauce be avoided if GF Soy Sauce is not available?
4). Classic NYC Deli, with GF options
5). Classic NYC Hot Dog, also GF
6). GF Donuts/Bakery~ Babycakes? Thoughts please!
7). GF Pizza
8). GF Pho

Are there any other "classic" NYC eats that should not be missed?

Thanks for your help!

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Babycakes
248 Broome St, New York, NY 10002

Carbear99 in Manhattan

Cheap Gluten Free Eats- What's not to be missed?!

Thanks so much for all the great ideas! Cross contamination is not too big of a problem for us, we are pretty gluten intolerant but not Celiac. We definitely avoid all foods that may contain wheat; soy sauce, beer, etc...

Carbear99 in Manhattan

Cheap Gluten Free Eats- What's not to be missed?!

My Husband and I are gluten free Foodies in search of great cheap eats in NYC.

This is our first visit, we are from Northern California, and we are staying near Penn Station, but are willing to travel where we need to for great gluten free cheap eats! We are pretty adventurous eaters and are open to all types of cuisine, street food, etc. What's not to be missed?!!

Thanks for your help!

Carbear99 in Manhattan

Gluten Free~ Greater Seattle

Visiting the Greater Seattle aren in a couple of weeks..

I have all my normal favorites, but this will be my first Gluten Free visit, so I want to find some places that do Gluten Free Donuts, Pizza, Desserts, etc. We love all kinds of food, so I'm looking for things not to be missed in the gluten-free world! Gluten free Ethnic food options would be great as well!

Thanks for your help!

Carbear99 in Greater Seattle

Incanto Question

Perfect, that's exactly what I wanted to hear!

Carbear99 in San Francisco Bay Area

Incanto Question

Thanks for the input, do you think Incanto is a good choice in general? We are pretty adventurous diners, are very open to all kinds of cuisine...

Carbear99 in San Francisco Bay Area

Incanto Question

So we have a reservation at Incanto for this Saturday night.. We are very excited to go and have been wanting to go for a very long time now! However, just saw via twitter that Chris Cosentino is going to be in Spain this week... Wondering if anyone has any insight as to if it's worth going when he's not going to be there. We don't get to the city very often and don't want to go away disappointed!

If your opinion is to wait until he is there to dine, I would appreciate other suggestions for dinner!

Thanks so much for the help!

Carbear99 in San Francisco Bay Area

OC- What's not to be missed?!

Thanks everyone for all the awesome recs!! We've also ate at Coyote Grill, Hamamori, and Habana, and they were all spectacular!!

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Habana
2930 Bristol St Ste A110, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Coyote Grill
31621 Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651

Carbear99 in Los Angeles Area

OC- What's not to be missed?!

Thanks so much for all the suggestions!! Went to Side Door tonight, it was amazing!! Thinking about Break of Dawn for breakfast this week, thoughts anyone?

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Break of Dawn
24351 Avenida De La Carlota Ste N6, Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Carbear99 in Los Angeles Area

OC- What's not to be missed?!

Thanks for the tips! Went to Xanh last night, it was incredible!! We are going to Studio Thursday night, can't wait! Also want to check out Side Door! Any other recs in Laguna Beach, Corona Del Mar, or that general vicinity? Are there any must go Indian, Moroccan, or other Ethnic spots? Thanks so much for your help!!

Carbear99 in Los Angeles Area

OC- What's not to be missed?!

I am vacationing in OC for the next week, staying in Nrwport Beach, but have a car and am willing to drive... What's not to be missed, I am open to just about anything!!

Carbear99 in Los Angeles Area

Le Monde, Le Jardin~ Hong Kong

Caprice sounds amazing... I'm trying to get an idea of price, the sample menus don't list any kind of price, can you help me out with that?

Carbear99 in China & Southeast Asia

Le Monde, Le Jardin~ Hong Kong

Going to Hong Kong soon, does anyone have opinions on Joel Robuchon's restaurants there? Are there other restaurants of this caliber to be considered, going to have one special, very expensive dinner out, and wondering where it should be...

Thanks for your help!

Carbear99 in China & Southeast Asia

Downtown LA- What's not to be missed?!!

What does everyone think about Church & State?

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Church & State
1850 Industrial Street, Los Angeles, CA 90021

Carbear99 in Los Angeles Area

One Dinner.. Osteria Mozza, Lucques, Jar.... other ideas?

Thanks for the quick responses! Here is a little more info, we are super open to any and all cuisines, however, we will have our very well behaved 3 1/2 year old daughter with us, so certain places may be a little too high end for this trip, and may need to be saved for a future visit. From the looks of the Providence website as well as the Bazaar, those may be out, but Animal and possibly Hatfields may be a little more lowkey?? Let me know what your thoughts are as it is hard to make a decison just by looking at a website as to whether it would be appropriate for our daughter, we will probably dine early which should help with this as well.

Carbear99 in Los Angeles Area

One Dinner.. Osteria Mozza, Lucques, Jar.... other ideas?

Going to be in LA at the end of the month. We will have our car and are willing to drive for great food!
We will have one night available for a special dinner, I have been looking at Osteria Mozza, Lucques, and Jar, and would appreciate everyones suggestions and rec.... Also, if there are other really fantastic places please let me know, I am not that up on the LA food scene!

Thanks!

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Lucques
8474 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90069

Osteria Mozza
6602 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Carbear99 in Los Angeles Area

Downtown LA- What's not to be missed?!!

Staying at the Westin Bonaventure for a few days, what is not to be missed, cheap eats, lunch, dinner, fine dining, desserts, etc.. All cuisines!

I will have a vehicle if needed.

Please let me know what your favorite spots are!!

Thanks!

Carbear99 in Los Angeles Area