Food For Thought

[Blue Train]

Let's all start posting how much our meals cost to save everyone the trouble of bringing it up....and make it easy for others to comment about it. Let's also post how much we spend on hotels/vacations.

For brunch....

Bloody Mary $10. I gave the beer that comes with that to a friend with us.
OJ $3 x 3
Water x 4 - that was free!
Bottomless coffee $3
Duck toast $16
Pecan sticky bun $4

That's $42 without tax and tips.

[sozamora]

I've had steak plates that cost over $100.



Was it worth it? Yes. I eat steak maybe twice per year. I've wasted money on worse in my life.

That's a chunk of change, but that's also a good looking chunk of meat. At worst, it was probably worth it just to know what a $100 steak tastes like.

[stonemonkts]

It was worth it because to this day it is one of the most memorable meals of my entire life.

By the way, that platter was shared with another person.

It tasted amazing, had a texture and mouthfeel I have never encountered eating steak, and every bite made my eyes roll.

Was it overpriced? Yes, most definitely. But so is nearly every bottle of good wine I've had in restaurants, but they were all worth it too.

I figure I've saved a few hundred grand not having kids, so wtf do I care.

[Ron Thorne]

For breakfast, Blueberry Greek yogurt and a stiff cup o' joe. This has become the favorite brand of Patti and me, and it's high in protein, something I need lots of due to my lung disease. Chobani is one of the least sweet commercial yogurts I've ever eaten.



My favorite flavor is Blood Orange, which I highly recommend for its unique flavor.



Our 2nd favorite yogurt is another Greek style ... Liberté.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

For breakfast, Blueberry Greek yogurt and a stiff cup o' joe. This has become the favorite brand of Patti and me, and it's high in protein, something I need lots of due to my lung disease. Chobani is one of the least sweet commercial yogurts I've ever eaten.

I turned Joanne on to Chobani on the strength of something I read. That's all she eats now. And, get this, I never even tasted it myself. No way I'm taking up valuable room in my stomach when I can fill it with expensive dry aged steak.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Speaking of dinner, up tonight, marinated london broil on the grill along with a couple of swordfish steaks as well as grilled zucchini. Working on a pre-dinner tini as we speak.

[moldyfigg]

Have you guys tried grilled flap steak? Much more flavor than flank, especially when marinated carne asada style.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Never heard of flap steak. Do you mean skirt steak? Btw, when I make london broil I use top round.

[Blue Train]

Never heard of flap steak. Do you mean skirt steak? Btw, when I make london broil I use top round.

The flap, skirt and hanger are similar in that they're from less tender parts of the cow (if done properly....they make up for that with their taste)....skirt and hanger are different cuts from the the short plate of the cow....the flap from the bottom sirloin.


P.S. If you know a really good butcher....try what is known as the Picanha/Culotte/Top Sirloin Cap cut for the LB.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Yesterday I had some tomatoes from my sister-in-law's garden. I look forward to this time of year just so I can savor those awesome tomatoes. Compared to supermarket tomatoes, which taste like mushy cardboard, it's no contest.

I also look forward to the killer pizza Salerno's of Stratford, Ct. puts out this time of year. Actually, it's more like the latter part of August. It's only available for about three to four weeks. The pie is simply thick-cut fresh plum tomatoes, mootz and a generous spiral of pesto to top it off. People flock to the joint to get their fix. There's usually a line out the door during plum tomato pizza time. They turn these pies out constantly to satisfy the demand. They make 'em until they run out of tomatoes. Then, all of a sudden, poof, they're gone until next year.

[steve(thelil)]

I like a good butt steak.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Last night for dinner I sautéed a pound of baby squid. After I separated the tentacles from the bodies I cut the bodies in half, each half being roughly an inch long. I laid out the cut squid on paper towels and thoroughly dried the pieces, including the tentacles, of course. I set a sauté pan on high heat until it got screaming hot. When the pan was ready (several minutes) I banged in some evoo then threw the squid in and added salt and pepper. When the squid was cooked, it took all of two minutes, I gave the dish a nice taste of lemon juice. That's it, no more ingredients. It was tender, refreshingly creamy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The squid exuded a liquor that begged for some crusty bread to sop it up. Somtimes the simplest dishes are the best.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Picked up the grandkids for the weekend. On the way back home we decided to stop for dinner. We wanted a kid friendly joint so we ended up at a Chili's, a place I've never been. No further comment.

[sozamora]

Picked up the grandkids for the weekend. On the way back home we decided to stop for dinner. We wanted a kid friendly joint so we ended up at a Chili's, a place I've never been. No further comment.

Be glad it wasn't Applebees

[Ron Thorne]

Picked up the grandkids for the weekend. On the way back home we decided to stop for dinner. We wanted a kid friendly joint so we ended up at a Chili's, a place I've never been. No further comment.

[steve(thelil)]

While I generally avoid chili's and applebee's if at all possible, I have had some ok stuff at applebee's. I've had their spinach salad with shrimp and small steak w/ broccoli on the under 550 calories menu and they can be pretty good (or NOT)

The fact remains that if when roadtripping, there are still some god forsaken out of the way places where I was happy to find an Applebees or something of that ilk. (Now with Yelp on a phone or iPad, it's easier to find options - or that there aren't really any.) For instance, there are probably some decent places in Gallup New Mexico that would be pleasant to eat at by one's self, but after driving around searching and walking into a few places, I didn't find any that seemed right. I was thrilled to find an Applebee's.

In the fall of 2007 I had to escape San Diego one night due to wild fires(it looked like I the nearby stretch of open highway might be closed the next day day) and was thrilled to find an Applebee's (or was it a Ruby Tuesdays?) open late in some creepy border town a few hours away, especially after driving though strong Santa Anna winds on the highway. It was still depressing, of course, and more so due to the many glum people there - fellow escapees worried that their homes wouldn't make it through the fire.

[LennyH]

My daughter has worked at Chili's for around 4 years. She said recently that she "judges" the people who come in there.

Their burgers used to be pretty good but I think they've suffered from lower quality and, especially, comparison to the multitude of places around now that have better burgers.

[steve(thelil)]

Ruby Tuesday (which I think used to be like Applebee's, TGIF, Chili's, etc.) has morphed into a chain of places with decent entrees (their crab cake is actually delicious), gargantuan and good quality salad bars and local and/or decent craft beers on tap.

[steve(thelil)]

They used to have good hot wings, but we haven't eaten at one in about a decade.

They may still have wings, but finger food is no longer a focus.

[Blue Train]

Clint:


Last two nights we got our Birria & Oaxacan/Mole on.

As in, El Parian & Guelaguetza. Always buy four of every Mole to take back. Have to horde the stuff! There might have been some booze involved. No driving.


P.S. Ever been to Corazon y Miel? The owner used to be one of the chefs @ Animal and it's getting crazy hype. If you have gone....how does it compare to La Casita Mexicana?

[BeBop]

Ruby Tuesday (which I think used to be like Applebee's, TGIF, Chili's, etc.) has morphed into a chain of places with decent entrees (their crab cake is actually delicious), gargantuan and good quality salad bars and local and/or decent craft beers on tap.

I've been spotted at the Ruby Tuesday salad bar (DC and NYC) doing the salad-as-a-meal thing. (Avoid the dressings and "dressed" salads and you're okay).

[Blue Train]

Speaking of salad bars. Piazza Hut salad bars in China had a rule that you only got one plate and were allowed one trip to the salad bar, which lead to some amazing WTF? creations. For obvious reasons....most of them no longer have a salad bar.

http://labaq.com/archives/51796775.html

[Jimmy Cantiello]

To be fair, the bacon cheeseburger I had at Chili's was quite good. And even though the menu stated that they cook their burgers medium well, it also said you can request a burger cooked the way you like. I like medium rare. If it arrives rare I'm good with that as well. My bacon cheeseburger came perfectly cooked. The fries that came with it needed some help but I ate 'em anyway. Joanne said her steak fajitas were very good. They managed to screw up the kiddos' mac and cheese. Totally dried out.

The plus to Chili's is they have a full bar. Their beer offerings include Sam Adams but nothing else except the usual run-of-the-mill national brands. I went with a couple of Sam Adams, a Boston Lager and a seasonal. I dared not order a tini while two crayon wielding grandchildren were sharing my dinner table. I'm sure it wouldn't have worked even if the Chili's resident mixologist managed to pull off a proper pre-dinner cocktail. There's no doubt in my mind that the bartenders at Chili's do not have a lot of calls for gin martinis. I resigned myself and settled in and enjoyed my beer amid the loud and "sticky" environment, meaning the floor needed cleaning and the tables were, well, sticky despite being "wiped down" between patrons. Let's just say I took one for the team. Once in a while you just gotta do what you gotta do. I suppose it could have been worse. Just the same, I made sure our hard working server went home with a proper tip. Believe me, she deserved it.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Scored some lobsters @ a sweet 3.99/lb. They were barely one and a quarter per pound each so I grabbed four for dinner tonight. After spending the day relaxing by the pool reading and listening to music we set up to eat alfresco. Kept it simple. I steamed the lobsters for about 10 minutes. At the same time I boiled some corn on the cob to go along with the lobsters. I melted some butter for both the lobster and the corn. Half of the butter got a shot of lemon juice which we used for the lobster. The other half got a sprinkling of celery salt and pepper for the corn. Worked out great.

The bonus was that these particular lobsters were unmistakenly new-shell lobsters as opposed to hard-shell lobsters or old-shell lobsters which are bigger and yield more meat but have harder shells which can be a royal pain in the ass to crack open. New-shell lobsters have more delicate shells which are easier to penetrate. The meat of new-shell lobsters have the sweetest meat. New-shell lobsters do not travel well so they're almost always used for local consumption. To me, that means they're fresher. I'm sure I could've eaten at least two more but I was happy to have what I had. And don't forget the tomalley, a lot of briney flavor going on there. It looks very unappetizing but it has that umami quality that you do not come across often. I'm always on the lookout for umami for sure.

Oh, and btw, I don't care what the FDA says. I've been eating lobster tomalley since I was a kid and I'm not gonna stop now.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Looking forward to tonight's dinner. I'll be having my first Salerno's plum tomato pizza of the season. I'll probably have at least five pies in the next three weeks before they go away until next year.