BusterRhino's Profile
Visiting Laguna Beach for a week - need recommendations
I won't mention the places I had burgers since it may have been a regional difference in meats, breads etc. I love burgers - it's my thing (next to Southern BBQ). For my preference they were all griddle cooked which I love, that is a rarity in Canada, mostly grilled. The bread there is different than here, I would explain that in the wheat and water that is used in most cases.
There are many many regional differences in the way food is made, I could see it in everything we bought (I own a meat packing plant in Canada). I would guess our meat in most cases is far different than the US. We are way more limited in growth hormones and antibiotic's we are allowed to use in our animals. This makes a huge difference.
The mexican though dammit, the mexican you should never complain about if you knew what counted as "great" mexican up here..
Visiting Laguna Beach for a week - need recommendations
So we are back from our trip, our biggest surprise for food was K'ya - we went there with 4 people in total. Our experience from all of us was that the food was excellent, that it's not a 'Tappis' style restaurant at all (as they suggest) and that ordering two of their plates of food is about right for anyone. We tried probably a dozen things from the menu and it was all very good. We would visit again if we were in town for sure. Oh and cheap, incredibly cheap.
I also went to the Pottery place and ate at the restaurant there, very good meal as well. They also have a great little cheese shop and a chocolate shop on site.
There were several other places we also visited, not all worth mentioning. We did go to Jack Shrimp in Newport Beach with friends of ours down there - it was excellent food as well.
We also visited the inaugural BBQ Comp in Long Beach by the Queen Mary on the Saturday. We tried a dozen places including Big Mista's BBQ - Yea, Big Mista's was very good.
Overall notes
1) Your portion sizes are freaking HUGE down there, we found in most cases that we were unable to eat about half of each plate we ordered. You would never find plates of food like that in Toronto or surrounding area.
2) Your food is incredibly cheap, cheap, cheap.
3) Even your worst mexican is better than our best mexican up here.
4) I tried 6 burgers when I was down there and was disappointed in every one of them. I don't know what it was, maybe it's the meat (we have incredibly meat in Ontario... our ground beef is amazing.
Thanks Laguna Beach and area, the visit was great!
ancho chili powder
Never buy powered anything unless you plan to use it all within a year - really 8 - 10 months is more optimum - and best is ground as needed. All my peppers at home are whole, same as cinnamon and nutmeg. All these products can last 2 years if not ground.
Visiting Laguna Beach for a week - need recommendations
You hit the nail on the head with the burger idea, although I cook BBQ every single day Burgers are my favourite meal of all time. Truly love them.
Visiting Laguna Beach for a week - need recommendations
For two or three of those days I will be spouse free, which doesn't mean much, just means I am alone and can drive further etc. I own a southern BBQ in Toronto, which means when I say real BBQ, it's a must. I am visiting a friend (Neil ' Big Mista' Strawder in Los Angeles one of those days for sure, will be eating his BBQ. Anything that is unique to socal that I must try (like in Ontario we have peameal bacon, it's an Ontario style bacon only really found here)
Visiting Laguna Beach for a week - need recommendations
I will be visiting Laguna Beach for a week starting on Saturday May 5th and will be there for a week. I am looking for good mexican and awesome southern bbq joints in the area. Any recommendations would be appreciated, not afraid to eat in weird or 'off tourist' areas. I also don't mind travelling a bit out of the way, will be in Los Angeles for a day too.
Where's the best fried chicken in the GTA ?
Chicken well smoked (meaning properly) is always pink inside, sometimes ours is really pink almost bordering on red. Think of this though, the last time you actually cut into chicken even raw was it ever the same colour pink?
CRFA Show, Anyone here going?
Yea most restaurant people I know don't go either, I definitely won't go. Once the organizers realized there was more money letting the public in for a fee as well it started going downhill and fast. Too bad.
Bread Baking Baskets in T.O.
Is there nowhere other than Golda's in Toronto or Surrounding area to pick these up, I know of several people who are looking for them, including me. I make traditional sourdough at home and would really like a basket for that.
Where to buy Chipotle Peppers??
We grow to eat, buy to preserve, we just don't have enough room in ours and we can't get everything to ripen at once... I want a farm.
Where to buy Chipotle Peppers??
If you just smoke them with cold, or cool heat you are just adding smoke which of course will taste good. It's the drying out process that makes chipotles though and they are classically read.
So when I smoked them I used my cold smoker with a slight modification (yes of course I have a cold smoker - home built it's easy). I added one of those small stove elements to the bottom of the smoker and kept the temp in the 125 - 150 range for those three days with full smoke the entire time. If I lived in say mexico I would just lay them across an open pit and do it, but alas this is the nanny state Canada. It takes so long due to the fact that I don't cut them open, it would take about 24 - 36 hours if I cut them open, it would have less smoke. I also do my own smoked paprika which takes about that long because I cut them open and splay them out to dry quicker.
Where can I get high quality cinnamon (for cinnamon buns)?
I use industrial spice companies to purchase from, usually by the skid. Try http://www.vanillafoodcompany.ca/ I have used them and will use them again.
Where to buy Chipotle Peppers??
Actually Kagemusha is right, buy the canned ones. The Chipotles I have at home have been smoked for about 72 hours, are still pliable (well to some degree) and they turn a deep incredibly deep red colour after three days of smoking. The heat is also significantly higher it seems too.
Where to buy Chipotle Peppers??
elrik, Farmers markets man, just ask the farmers to bring you in red. the only reason they don't is people usually won't buy them. Shoot my farmer almost gives them to me for free, anything he makes is a bonus on them.
Lazar, nope I don't mind the ones in the can with adobo sauce, just why not make your own. Dried chipotles are hot as hell, I also make my own adobo sauce and it's crazy good (and once again incredibly easy)
Where to buy Chipotle Peppers??
I know the super centre doesn't usually keep the good chipotles in the Canadian Mexican area (you know that area) go down the isle a bit further and look for the Masa, where you find that you will usually find them. Or just make your own in the fall, it's incredibly easy.
Where can I get high quality cinnamon (for cinnamon buns)?
But it's still McCormick's overpriced spices. My recommendation is to try and find cassia and ceylon quills, we use both in our house. Ceylon more than cassia but we definitely use both. A quill will have a negligible cost. I buy about 200 for around $10 maybe of both kinds, then I give them out to family and friends as gifts. We use about 1 stick of cinnamon a week in our house. It's an often overlooked spice in your cupboard. Use it the next time you are making savoury dishes, use whole quills while making stews, soups, or chili. During the middle ages cinnamon (ceylon) was probably the most used ingredient to spice meats (especially when going off).
I go with Otonabee's recommendation of the spice trader if you aren't going to buy a lot.
Weston Thinks Farmers' Markets Can Kill You!
You are right he didn't say that, what he did was put fear into people's minds that farmers markets can be unsafe and unmonitored. This was a highly thought out and very effective tactic by loblaws. It's starting to go into the market season shortly and fear, as we all know, is a major motivator in how people purchase products.
It's like Maple Leaf coming out and saying 'buying from a small butcher shop will make you sick' which it did say a couple years ago, right after they killed 20 some odd people. I had people tell me that it was unsafe to buy from a small butcher because they weren't clean. I asked them where they heard that, and it was thru the news... they couldn't remember how or in what context they just knew it wasn't smart to buy from a butcher.
Double smoked Bacon
Actually burnt ends aren't always smoked twice (rarely). They are only cooked twice if you are trying to make more burnt ends (mostly restaurants do this) or you are cutting off a larger chunk and want to dry some more of it and maybe give it some more smoke. You would never take it out, cool it, then smoke it again. Many people don't cook them twice, they are like those prize winning roast ends so many people crave, you know the ones, salty - peppery goodness with garlic that your grandma and mom used to make, well yea that's a burnt end pretty much. Also even if you did put them back in they aren't being smoked twice, they are continuing on the same process.
Double smoked Bacon
Double smoked is more a play on words than anything, it usually just means it is smokier than normal. Nobody in their right mind who does this sort of thing will smoke something, let it sit, then smoke it again. It's either a long cold smoke (up to 10 days, hard to find, if you do...eat it). Or it's a heavy duty warm smoke (150ish). If the bacon looks 'wet' it's a liquid smoke that has been added, even cold smoked bacon has very little liquid left in it. looks more like a farmers bacon (smoked 150, ready to eat)
Chinese food in Whitby/Oshawa?
Our families current go to place is
May Flower Chinese Foods
210 King Street East, Oshawa, ON
(905) 576-5555
Now keep in mind 2 things, we only order chinese once a year due to the fact its extremely simple just to make your own, and I have been ordering from there since I was about 12. We have tried other places and liked them, always ended up coming back to them though. Your experience will be your own though - like all chinese take out places - it may be good one time then really suck the next.
Pork alert
This deal is phenomenal considering wholesale pork this week for manufactures is still around 1.60 a lb...
Where to buy Vanilla beans and spices
Moist vanilla beans are good, so are dried. I actually always have some at home that I have allowed to dry on their own. Griding the whole bean up and adding it to recipes is extremely good. The white stuff that is outside of the vanilla bean is called vanillan(sp?) and it's intensely flavourful as well. What you really need to concern yourself with is the type of bean you are buying actually. They all have specific qualities that make them good for xxx - although they will all work for pretty much anything. At $1.00 a bean it's a good price, although you can get them for much much cheaper if you are willing to buy in mass quantities. I buy about 500 beans a year, I sell some, I give some away, I use ALOT of them (most actually) for making vanilla extract.
Caplansky's- the emperor has NO clothes
Lots of things, too much to go into here, and I am sure that the man would consider it a plug. Contact me off list if you want specifics. Sorry,
Caplansky's- the emperor has NO clothes
I have a little bit of experience with this, and think I can answer a couple things...well 1 thing for sure.
Rarely is there ever a good deal that takes only the 8 minutes they show you. It is after all a TV show, they need to ensure they have a show people want to watch. Most people don't want to see the boring part of business negotiations. I would bet Zane was there for close to an hour being asked questions, any by the simple fact alone that the Dragon's weren't upset it meant he had his Sh*t together. We were in for almost a full hour, they cut it to 8 minutes.
Personally I think Zane did a fine job. It's way harder than most people realize to a...be on TV... and b..be grilled by five people in rapid fire fashion for an hour and still hold it together.
Forced to Rush Through Dinner at Pomegranate (moved from Ontario board)
having the ability to look at this from both sides I would say mountain. First off a reservation gives you a space for x hours, it's the same as making an appointment at your doctor, you wouldn't dare show up to your appointment at the dentist 30 minutes late. or say your massage therapist. The restaurant industry is the only one I know of where reservations, or appointments as they are, are taking so lightly. People make reservations for 10, the restaurant sets aside tables, spaces, waiters, x dishes etc then nobody shows up, Oh sure maybe the restaurant could fill those seats, but then again maybe they wouldn't. I rarely go to restaurants that don't make a reservation as the drive for me to find out I can't get a table is too much. Now to be fair, I hold restaurants to the same standards as I do my dentist or doctor, I reserve that time for me, to eat, the spot better be ready regardless of who had the reservation before me. If they were late, I just don't care, that's not my problem, it's theirs, figure out a way deal with it.. And before you ask yes, I do require that my dentists and doctors either inform me that they will be late so I can rebook, or I make them discount the service they are giving me, exactly the same thing I would expect a restaurant to do.
Chicken Wing Prices - RIDICULOUS!!!
Actually I bet the next big thing in North America will be deep fried chicken skins, it's about the only thing I can still get for almost nothing at all. Seriously, I bet within 2 yrs they will be on menus all over.
Chicken Wing Prices - RIDICULOUS!!!
Actually I am not sure about the prices on offal are, although Awful I know that offal is highly highly regulated by the government of Ontario and there are only a couple of processors who do it, and they go through hell.
Chicken Wing Prices - RIDICULOUS!!!
absolutely it does, in some countries pork ribs are a throw away item - nobody eats ribs like North American's do, same as chicken wings. It's a NA centric attitude. I remember when you could buy Tri Tip roasts for about $1.00 lb because otherwise they were just destroyed for ground beef, now...sheesh, same as hanger steaks... Both garbage cuts up until a couple years ago.
Chicken Wing Prices - RIDICULOUS!!!
When was the last time you went to a pub and bought legs and thighs for legs and thighs night. Nobody eats them, it's why most restaurants will give you dark meat before white, because rarely anyone (well I do) goes into a restaurant, orders chicken and asks for Dark meat only. Even in a grocery store there is always more white than dark on the shelf. Chicken mcnuggets, almost all forms of shapped and breaded chicken etc are done with dark meat...It's too fatty (bah I say...get a grip, put down the puff pastry and eat dark meat).
Chicken Wing Prices - RIDICULOUS!!!
Wings are not cheap for restaurants to buy either. Well they are if you are buying them in the small fryer wing size, which you will get about 15 to a lb but they are all skin and bones. Most restaurants go for the roaster wing model, which is a much larger wing. Keeping in mind there are only 2 wings per chicken, (which is four pieces) most restaurants purchase them at about $6.50 a kg, so about 2.98 a lb. Take into account fryer time (wings just kill deepfryer oil) and it costs roughly $70.00 for oil for a deepfryer and an hours worth of employee time. Then also take into account the time needed to cook the wings, the initial outlay of cost for the fryers and training, the plates, replacement costs, fuel (natural gas) sauces and rubs you may put on them, napkins your customers use, clean up time, taking into account slow times you need to cover in a restaurant in order to stay open, and employees wages $9.99 doesn't really seem that bad (for those of you trying to keep score, about 9% of that is profit) so for most restaurants every LB of wings you buy they only make about $1.00 profit... You do know that the only reason most restaurant sell wings in the first place is to get you to buy beer, because really...thats where the money is.
