Foodies Unite!

[Ruckus]

Made reservations at Cyrus (sonoma wine country) for my b-day in early March since the French Laundry was impossible.  I'm looking forward to it!

[smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Niceeee!!!!!

[Janet]

I just ate at Roy's this weekend.  Although I am typically averse to eating at any chain restaurant, I thought I'd give upscale Hawaiian fusion a chance.  Plus it wasn't my choice.

I did the fall pre fixe menu with a choice of one app/salad, one entree, and one dessert.

I had the beef carpaccio, braised beef short rib, and pumpkin and chocolate mousse.  I asked the server if she could appropriately pair a wine with each course as seen fit by their chef and beverage manager to which she asked if I wanted red or white?   :-?  Anyways, I ended up choosing the wines by the glass for each course.

The food was bland and disappointing.  Nothin more to say other than the place was packed and people seemed to be loving it.  I say poo poo.  At least the pre dinner Balvenie 12yr was tasty

Generally I am not a fan of chain restaurants, but I must say that I had the opposite experience at Roy's in Kauai.  I don't remember exactly what we had (it was a few years ago) but we did some type of progression menu that was built around seafood and it was one of the best meals I've experienced.  I have not heard good things about the Maui restaurant but I'd go back to the one in Kauai.  

[Ruckus]

Speaking of local, sustainable sources...have you eaten at Woodberry Kitchen yet, Ruckus?  Good grief, that place is amazing.  If you're willing to eat early, you can usually get a 5 or 5:30 reservation without a long wait.

Hey Sass!  I'm off to Woodberry right now.  Got a 9:45 reservation.  Lookin' forward to it! :)

The Woodberry Kitchen was excellent.  It's crazy what a popular place that is.  The server wasn't as knowledgable as he originally professed to be when he made some errors in wine descriptions.  It was the 1st time I ever sent a glass back but got some fruity wine instead of a dry one.  Unfortunately, it's the wine list that suffers when you only do local and organic.  Maryland, VA and PA just don't make good wines...yet.  The main issue I had was that it was too busy to coordinate the drinks with the kitchen.  We asked for cocktails 1st, hoping to enjoy those 1st before getting our 1st plate of oysters and wine.  Instead, they brought the wine and cocktails together with the starter so we had to chug our cocktails to get to the wine and food. :-?

Anywho, the rest of the experience was great.  We decided to create a small plate menu and shared 12 regional oysters (4 types), house made fennel sausage and clams, Maine sea urchin, soft shell on shrimp tempura and a charcutterie plate.  The 2 cocktails were a single barrel bourbon with smoked honey and port and a rye and absinthe concoction.  Everything was excellent!  I second Sass' recommendation for anyone in the area.

[aMillionDreams]

Where'd the "Recipe" thread go?  I couldn't find it on a search. :-/

Anyhoo,  for all you peeps who love soup like I do, do yourself a favor and make this Shrimp Chowder I found on Epicurious.  It is so fantastic I can hardly stand it!!  Seriously. DELICIOUS!!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Shrimp-Chowder-with-Fennel-105202

I making this tonight, Vespa! I'll report back.  

[mjkoehler]

Mmm, Trois Pistoles is some good stuff.

Yes it is! I am on a quest now to find Unibrou products here in St Louis. That was really good stuff.

[aMillionDreams]

Where'd the "Recipe" thread go?  I couldn't find it on a search. :-/

Anyhoo,  for all you peeps who love soup like I do, do yourself a favor and make this Shrimp Chowder I found on Epicurious.  It is so fantastic I can hardly stand it!!  Seriously. DELICIOUS!!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Shrimp-Chowder-with-Fennel-105202

I making this tonight, Vespa! I'll report back.  

Wow!  That was out of this world!  Thanks for the recommendation.  I've been into soup lately and wanting to try something with fennel in it.  I loved it! Thanks again!

[ALady]

Mmm, Trois Pistoles is some good stuff.

Going to Mixteco Grill for dinner tomorrow.  I've never been before, but it's supposed to rival Frontera.  We shall see...

And bacon and beer pairing Sunday.   :)

Hope Mixteco is great!  Those tamales my friend gave me reminded me of how awesome authentic Mexican done right is. :)

Mixteco was good, not great.  I'd never had mole before so it was a good introduction to that.  Otherwise, sort of unremarkable.

I was just talking to someone who went to Woodberry recently...I can't think who.  

[Janet]

Recent purchased a great new cookbook "How to roast a lamb" by Michael Psilakis.  I foresee a lot of greek food in my future.  Unfortunately not in the near future as I just started a diet.

I cannot image my kitchen ever being without garlic confit again.

[miss gradenko]

I recently made a cake for a relative's 60th birthday. It was a double layered orange flavoured sponge, covered in choc orange-frosting and filled with choc-malteser frosting. It also had more maltesers filled in the top, and chocolate shards around the outside.
Here is a pic:

[mjkoehler]

I recently made a cake for a relative's 60th birthday. It was a double layered orange flavoured sponge, covered in choc orange-frosting and filled with choc-malteser frosting. It also had more maltesers filled in the top, and chocolate shards around the outside.
Here is a pic:

uhhhh. I thought we had a no porn policy here....wow that looks amazingly good.

[ALady]

Oh wow...that looks AMAZING!  Are you a pastry chef, miss gradenko??

[Ruckus]

I recently made a cake for a relative's 60th birthday. It was a double layered orange flavoured sponge, covered in choc orange-frosting and filled with choc-malteser frosting. It also had more maltesers filled in the top, and chocolate shards around the outside.
Here is a pic:

That's a great looking cake MG :o  What a great 60th bday gift. :)

I just looked up Malteser.  Had no ideal what they were but they looked like Whoppers.  Go figure.  I guess its Mars' version of Hershey's Whoppers that we know so well over here in the States.  

[ALady]

Forgot to post earlier - I went to the new Rick Bayless joint, XOCO, over the weekend.  My friend and I split the ahogada and the cubana sandwiches.  The ahogada was awesome, perfectly roasted shredded pork and pickled onions on a crusty baguette, sliced in half and served ends down in a bowl of vinegary tomato broth.  Mmm mmm good.  The cuban wasn't the best or most authentic I've had (it was more like a pressed club sandwich) but it sure was delicious: roast pork, bacon, avocado, artisanal Jack cheese, chipotle mayo and I think a cilantro crema.    We got the veggie and seafood soups to go, and those were less appetizing...really salty, and nothing too special about either one.  The churros were a little too oily-tasting, but the Aztec hot chocolate was spicy and complex.  I'll go back for that.

The restaurant itself is really cool...super casual, it's counter service (you order, take a number and seat yourself at the counter/dining room).  There's a focus on green/local/sustainable practices, too - it's LEED certified, some of the veggies are grown on the roof of the building, and the pork was from a farm 10 minutes from where I grew up.   :)

[vespachick]

Where'd the "Recipe" thread go?  I couldn't find it on a search. :-/

Anyhoo,  for all you peeps who love soup like I do, do yourself a favor and make this Shrimp Chowder I found on Epicurious.  It is so fantastic I can hardly stand it!!  Seriously. DELICIOUS!!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Shrimp-Chowder-with-Fennel-105202

I making this tonight, Vespa! I'll report back.  

Wow!  That was out of this world!  Thanks for the recommendation.  I've been into soup lately and wanting to try something with fennel in it.  I loved it! Thanks again!

I'm glad you liked it Dylan.  It is truly outstanding.  My bf's little girl requests it practically every night!  It's awesome that we're turning her into a little foodie!!  (Mac n' cheese?  'No thanks' she says, 'but do we have any smoked salmon?' ;D!!)

[mjkoehler]

Forgot to post earlier - I went to the new Rick Bayless joint, XOCO, over the weekend.  My friend and I split the ahogada and the cubana sandwiches.  The ahogada was awesome, perfectly roasted shredded pork and pickled onions on a crusty baguette, sliced in half and served ends down in a bowl of vinegary tomato broth.  Mmm mmm good.  The cuban wasn't the best or most authentic I've had (it was more like a pressed club sandwich) but it sure was delicious: roast pork, bacon, avocado, artisanal Jack cheese, chipotle mayo and I think a cilantro crema.    We got the veggie and seafood soups to go, and those were less appetizing...really salty, and nothing too special about either one.  The churros were a little too oily-tasting, but the Aztec hot chocolate was spicy and complex.  I'll go back for that.

The restaurant itself is really cool...super casual, it's counter service (you order, take a number and seat yourself at the counter/dining room).  There's a focus on green/local/sustainable practices, too - it's LEED certified, some of the veggies are grown on the roof of the building, and the pork was from a farm 10 minutes from where I grew up.   :)

I like Rick Bayless. Seems like a really cool dude, plus he doesn't mess around when it comes to mole I'm told. I love mole.

[dragonboy]

I recently made a cake for a relative's 60th birthday. It was a double layered orange flavoured sponge, covered in choc orange-frosting and filled with choc-malteser frosting. It also had more maltesers filled in the top, and chocolate shards around the outside.
Here is a pic:

Wow! That looks amazing  :D

I'm cooking butternut squash & bacon risotto tonight, one of my favourites...

[aMillionDreams]

I made french bread last weekend according to volume two of Mastering the Art of French cooking.  Wow!  What an experience.  First rise took five hours.  All in all it was a 10 hour recipe which Julia took 11 pages to explain.  I've been rocking out bread recently, I may have to stop for a while just because I'm running out of places to store it all.

[megalicious]

did you ever get that calling all cooks cookbook, dylan? if so, tried any recipes yet?

on an unrelated note: i had tabouleh and hummus for lunch today, and it was delish.

[miss gradenko]

I recently made a cake for a relative's 60th birthday. It was a double layered orange flavoured sponge, covered in choc orange-frosting and filled with choc-malteser frosting. It also had more maltesers filled in the top, and chocolate shards around the outside.
Here is a pic:

That's a great looking cake MG :o  What a great 60th bday gift. :)

I just looked up Malteser.  Had no ideal what they were but they looked like Whoppers.  Go figure.  I guess its Mars' version of Hershey's Whoppers that we know so well over here in the States.  

Sorry, I didn't realise people wouldn't know what Maltesers are! But yeah, I love them and I figured the only way to make them better was to put them in a cake... or if Mars decided to make them 10 times bigger. Anyway I ate far too many when I made this but I figure a sugar-induced stomachache was a small price to pay.

Thanks everyone for your comments. No ALady, I am not a pastry chef, I just like cooking- especially baking, as I usually end up with something sweet and yummy at the end :)

[aMillionDreams]

did you ever get that calling all cooks cookbook, dylan? if so, tried any recipes yet?

on an unrelated note: i had tabouleh and hummus for lunch today, and it was delish.

Yeah, I got it.  It's awesome!  There are a ton of recipes in there, all southern homecookin'!  I've only tried a few appetizers from it so far but I have some dog-earred. The Blue Cheese Ball was good.  Do you recommend any in particular?