Has anyone tried the Miltons and the Studio Diner? In photos, they both look good!

Awesome master815k! I think that seals the deal for me. Pictures show it be the classic deep-fried old school style I want.

How's the crowd? With it being on TV are there lines out the door on a Tuesday morning?

Thanks for the link, RB - I searched "monte cristo" and came up with zip.

The old thread mentions Clayton's on Coronado which looks like a great place in that classic American diner style. They have no web site and no online menu so I can't verify they still have one.

Any chowhounders been here?

Coming to town for a little vacation next month and I'm looking for one of my favorite go-to vacation meals, the Monte Cristo sandwich.

I want a classic style with ham, turkey, and lots of cheese. Studio Diner doesn't have it on its current menu (maybe it's by request only?), and I see that Cafe 21 has one. Any other suggestions for a great one?

I don't want a chain like Bennigan's, I can get that here in Vegas.

Thanks for all your help folks! I guess it's not really all that popular...
Wonder why, though? A surf 'n' turf 'wich sounds pretty interesting to me, may have to try one at home.

People of Baltimore, I need your help. Looking around for my upcoming trip to Charm City, I came across something I had never heard of - the shrimp cheesesteak.

I see this on various sandwich shop menus, but I can't find out what it is and there are no pictures anywhere!

Is this a sandwich that has shrimp and only shrimp along with some melted onions and cheese?
Or is this a classic cheesesteak that has beef with some shrimp added onto to it?
Is the shrimp breaded or fried?

Just what the heck is this thing?

And who makes the best one?

Help me please so I don't feel like an ignorant fool when I come to town.

Thanks!

I live in Las Vegas and getting to Pittsburgh is out of the question.

I saw a menu listing for Max's Bavarian Club, which has my favorite Braunshweiger, but I'm curious about Max's "special sauce". I have seen one photo and the sauce is red.

Is this a Pittsburgh BBQ sauce like Isaly's or is it more like a Russian style dressing? Something else entirely?

If anyone has had it, let me know what you think, please.

Thanks

-----
Isaly's
147 S Market St, New Wilmington, PA 16142

Max's Allegheny Tavern
537 Suismon St, Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Hello New York!

Football season is back and the New York Jets have the season's first night game! I want to create an authentic New York Italian Hero (or Grinder) for the game.

So what makes New York's Italian sandwiches different from Philly or other places? Please, I'm not looking for a list of your favorite sandwich shops, I want to discuss the construction of the New York Hero with some things like:

1. Bread - ultra-crusty and chewy, or a little bit softer inside like Philadelphia?
2. Condiments - just olive oil, or add vinegar too? Mayo? Spicy relish? What do you like?
3. Mozzarella or provolone?
4. What kind of meats are essential? Ham, capicola, proscuitto - what's the best combination?
5. Veggies - yes or no? Roasted pepper, spicy peppers, lettuce, tomato?

Alright, New York, can you guys help me out? Talk to me about the ultimate New York Hero.

Iroberts,

I did come up with a reasonable recipe that my wife and I really liked and it's in the vein of Moishe's... but it's not the real thing. Worth trying though.

1/2 Head green cabbage thinly sliced
1/2 C Red cabbage to color - use as much or as little as you like
2 medium carrots, grated on box grater
1 clove of crushed garlic (if you like garlic, make it 2 cloves)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Mix all this in a bowl, then make your vinegar sauce. In my experiment I made 3 different versions; one with distilled white vinegar, one with white wine vinegar, and one with cider vinegar. I personally like the distilled vinegar best, with white wine a close second.

5 T of water
4 T of distilled vinegar
8 T sugar

Mix until sugar is dissolved, and taste it for the sweet/sour mixture. You can add more of any ingredient to suit your own tastes. Add it to the cabbage mixture. Best if you let it sit for a couple of hours before eating.

Try this out and let me know if you like it!

Thanks Boombob!

At least it lets me know they thin it with H2O, there's more sugar than usual, and that unlike most, there is more vinegar than oil.

Onto the testing!

Just came back from a weekend in Montreal, and the best thing I had to eat was the coleslaw and full sour pickle from Moishe's. Yes, they were both good in there own right, but the combination of them in the same bite was absolutely fantastic!

I know that Moishe's sells their coleslaw in retail outlets around town, and if you have some in your fridge right now, I am asking for a little help.

Can someone post the ingredients list (in order, if you please) on the label? I'd like to reverse-engineer the recipe because no authentic recipe can I find on the web. I know there's a larger vinegar to oil ratio and sugar and garlic are involved. But I curious if I can nail anything else down from the list of ingredients.

Thanks if you can help!

Cgarner,
There is a bakery a few miles East of the Strip, on Tropicana Ave near Pecos. It's called... wait for it... Great Buns (I always get a kick out of that and remember a scene from an old James Belushi movie Taking Care of Business). Only decent sandwich roll in Vegas but worth seeking out.

I really want to thank everyone for their great response to my Philadelphia Hoagie inquiry, and about what makes it different.

I took your suggestions to heart.
1. First and foremost... the bread. A barely crusty bread with a great "chew."
2. No mayo. A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on the bread. A resounding favorite among those who contributed. Also went the majority and held back my urge to add vinegar.
3. Went with BarryG and his comment that the cheese, sharp provolone, should be placed directly on the bread.
4. Imported Italian cold cuts were used. I found a deli that knew how to slice paper thin, and got a great imported Mortadella and Hot Capicola. At my deli's urging, I used the DiLusso Genoa salami, and even though it's made by Hormel, it is really is a stellar example of Genoa.
5. Spices were limited to salt and pepper, with a dusting of Oregano on top with a final splash of olive oil.
6. I used Sweet Banana Peppers, whole, with the stems removed to add that vinegar tang.

I have to tell you that having a hoagie without mayo was dangerous new ground for me, but by using olive oil only, I found that the flavor of the meat and cheese really came shining through as opposed to being relegated to the background by mayo. Vinegar soaked sweet banana peppers provided more than enough vinegar to counterpoint the olive oil.

Did you know that lettuce and tomato are really triggers for our brain's color sense to make a sandwich more appealing, and are really not flavor components?

Thank you, Philadelphia, this was one incredible sandwich re-created in the desert of Las Vegas!

BarryG,
I agree that good bread is key to any sandwich. Here in Vegas we do have one pretty good bakery that makes rolls that are not too crusty (like NY bread tends to be) and soft in the middle. It's world's away from supermarket bread and fairly close to the Philly ideal, with that most important "chew" factor still intact. That's what I'll be using.
The only bread that I use from supermarkets is hot dog rolls and the occasional potato bun for hamuburgers. Trust me, I'm a bread junkie and I understand how important the bread is.

Fantastic response from everybody!! Thank you for stepping up to the plate Philadelphia!

Obviously, mayo is out of here, and an interesting minority for vinegar. Thanks for throwing basil out of the equation, I had read on someone's "official" hoagie page that basil was important. Maybe I can find a recipe for the sweet and sour Philly style peppers that 94Bravo is talking about.

Capicola, Mortadella, Italian salami and sharp provolone. Do I need to tell you all what's on my Super Bowl plate this weekend?

Thanks again to everybody!

I'm doing a little research into Philadelphia-style hoagies. Chime in on your iconic sandwich and why it's different than New York, Maine or Subway sandwiches. I'm not interested in the best sandwich shops, but I would like to learn about the construction of Philly's hoagies.

Here's my questions:

1. Yes, I know it's about the bread, but this is for the rest of us in the world that can't get Amoroso's in our home town. I've heard it's not as crusty as New York grinders, and a medium-soft texture to the inside that lies somewhere between NY and the pillow-softness of New Orleans po' boys.
2. This is NOT about the cheesesteak!! I'm talking specifically about the ITALIAN cold hoagie.
3. Mayo... yes or no?
4. Vinegar... yes or no?
5. Favorite cold cuts?
6. Is salami a must?
7. How about capicola?
8. Spice blend... is it just salt, pepper, basil, oregano?
9 Peppers.. yes or no? Chopped in a relish or whole? Hot or sweet?

Go ahead you Philly experts! Break down you Philly favs for me.

Thanks a lot for your input.

This past week I was doing a little research into Colombian food for my website and I came up with a very interesting recipe for Colombian inspired pizza. Let's hear what you think!

For the sauce: Colombian Hogao Recipe

* Heat 3 T Canola Oil in a frying pan over medium heat
* 2 Cups fresh tomato, chopped
* Ditto for 1 Cup green onion
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 tsp ground cumin
* pinch of saffron
* Add tomato, green onion, garlic, cumin, and saffron to pan. Stir occasionally. After about 10-15 minutes, the tomatoes will begin to break down and create their own sauce. This is good.
* Reduce heat to a low simmer, add 1/4 Cup fresh chopped cilantro, salt and pepper to taste
* Cook for another 10 minutes
* Your Done! Take it out of the pan and let the Hogao cool.

“Powdered” Beef (Carne en Polvo) Recipe

Use any beef you want. Flank steak is traditional, but I had some New York steaks in the freezer so I put them into action. I used about 1 pound.

* 1/2 Cup chopped yellow onion
* 2 green onions, chopped
* 2 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped
* 1/2 tsp Cumin
* Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix the above ingredients, this becomes your “marinade.” Put your meat into a large ziploc and cover with the marinade. Let this sit in your refrigerator for at least a couple of hours, I went about four hours for mine.

Carne En Polvo Recipe:

* Heat a frying pan to medium with a 1T of butter and 1T canola oil.
* Cut the meat into large chunks and put in the pan. Cover and cook until the meat is done, 20 to 30 minutes
* Remove the meat and let it cool. Trim the excess fat. Don’t throw away the pan juices!
* Load the meat into a food processor, and chop finely. Mix in the cooking juices from the pan.

Assembling The Pizza

A word about pizza dough. If you’re into it, you can make your own dough from scratch. But, good dough is usually available from your local mom & pop pizza shop for the asking (please, don’t even think about the Hut). My cost was about $3 for a large, uncooked dough.

* Grill two chorizo sausages. If Colombian is available in your area, great! If not, any South American chorizo will do. For the rest of us, a good substitute ‘is Italian sausage.
* Thinly slice a red bell pepper, discarding seeds and veins
* Cheese. I used Oaxaca cheese which is similar to mozzarella. Any mild white cheese will do here.
* Bake or fry up 5 pieces of thick sliced bacon, you want thick bacon so the taste won’t get lost among the other ingredients
* Chop up 1/2 white onion and 2 green onions
* Thaw 1/2 Cup of frozen corn or cut the kernels from one fresh ear of corn. If you’re ambitious, char the corn in a frying pan to heighten the flavor. If not, don’t worry about it
* Roll out your dough. Use the Hogao as your pizza sauce and spread liberally. Top with chorizo, powdered beef, bacon, green onion, white onion, red bell pepper and cheese. Bake at 500 degrees on a pizza stone or 450 on a pre-heated cookie sheet.

Hey Bonnie!
Wow, I just looked at my post again and I would LOVE to know how to make the cheese you are talking about! Please tell me how to make Rygeost if you're still out there.

Scot

Just like any restaurant reservation, it's all about the particular booking on the specific day. Basically, it's a crap shoot - if it's a slow day, you can get whatever you want. You just need to be seated at the time the Taste of Wynn expires at the individual restaurant, just remember the time varies from restaurant to restaurant. Most will be flexible if you are close.
As far as where you are seated, it doesn't make any difference, because you will be seated before ordering from the Taste of Wynn menu, most of the time high-roller comp reservations will take priority, but you may get lucky if it is not a peak time (weekends mostly).
Service should not vary at all, no matter what you are ordering or where you are seated. This from a Wynn employee.

I am trying to re-create the Esquire magazine's #1 pizza in America, the Mortadella Pie from Great Lake Pizza in Chicago. Their blend of cheese is a fresh Mozzarella and Mona cheese from Wisconsin, which is a blend of sheep's milk and cow's milk. It is not exactly easy to find in Las Vegas, so has anyone tried this cheese and if so, can you recommend a substitute cheese that would be similar?

Thanks!

Thanks Guys! I think I am going to try James Beard's recipe, slow cooked on the grill.

I want to grill up some Baby Back Ribs this weekend, but I am sick and tired of all red BBQ sauces.

I know that in Argentina they use Chimichurri sauce, and in Europe sauerkraut and a slow braise is common. After that, I am lost.

Anybody have any good recipes for ribs that do not include a red BBQ sauce? Any other favorite ways to serve ribs?

Thanks

Has anyone seen Madrange Ham for sale in Las Vegas? Ever since Trader Joe's stopped carrying this wonderful Ham from France (well, now it's from Canada actually) about a year or so ago, I have desperately searching for it locally, but to no avail.

If there are any delis or supermarkets or specialty stores or even garage sales that you have spotted this wonderful delicacy in - Please Tell Me!!

Thanks guys and girls.

I too love the traditions of Thanksgiving and its bounty - The Best Sandwich Of The Entire Year!

But this year I found that one little extra tweak that simply turned me on my ear.

I make mine in the classic way. First a soft, tasty French roll (from a bakery only, if not available, a good country style Farm bread will do). If using the roll, hollow out some of the bread to give room. Spread one side liberally with mayo (no salad dressing). Pile on the leftover Turkey and top with a good amount of stuffing.

Now for final touch... Spread the top slice of bread with COLD leftover turkey gravy. It's Heaven. It adds an unbelievable richness while keeping the cold sandwich tradition alive. Add cranberry sauce on the side please.

It was inevitable. I am a complete sandwich junkie. No apologies, I just believe everything is better with good bread.
I am now exploring unknown territory, and am experimenting with those fantastic little pieces of art known as Smorrebrod, or Danish open-faced sandwiches. While browsing Ida Davidsen's unbelievable 200 sandwich menu, I came across something I simply MUST have - Danish Smoked Cheese Salad.
Does anyone know how to make it? Searching the web, all I could find was a vague reference to smoked cheese mixed with mayo and cut radishes, but that's it. So if anyone knows, pleased help me out. Shredded cheese? Chopped cheese? Radishes, sliced, chopped, shredded, or what?
Also if anyone out there has a favorite condiment or spread for their Smorrebrod, let us know!
Thanks.