JCC Tomo-spiced karkana ribenes - the foodies' thread

The steak gorgonzola and the stuffed chicken marsala feature difference in taste.

But yeah, Olive Garden is a waste of money. I can make superior dishes at home without too much effort and with enough leftover for the next day.

But at Olive Garden, you don't have to worry about cleaning the table and washing dishes

 

So, I don’t think I’m really a foodie in the sense of a lot of people. I don’t, you know, cook myself glorious meals of Parmesan-glazed Shrimp Cutlets or whatever. But I do love food and for quite a while now, I’ve been using a few different resources to track down great food. There’s a book called 500 Things You Must Eat Before It’s Too Late by Jan & Michael Stern and a companion website called Roadfood. Any time I’m traveling I use these resources to find interesting dishes to try; and the book and website have even turned me on to restaurants that I haven’t tried despite living within twenty minutes or so of for twenty years. Seriously. Anyway, I like talking about food, so I thought I’d post my thoughts here about some of the better stuff I’ve had over the past bit during this journey.

Coney Island Hot Dog - Coney I-Lander, Tulsa, OK



So, I’ve lived around Tulsa since the fifth grade. I’m now thirty-two. This restaurant is known all across the country as a great place to eat. It is ten minutes from where I live. I’d never eated there. That’s just a shame.

Anyway, this restaurant was started by a Greek immigrant to Tulsa back in 1929 and purportedly still uses the same chili recipe. A Coney Island, by the way, is a small hot dog with chili and onions; mustard and cheese are generally also in evidence (at least when I eat them). Oh, and the guy who started it? His name was Christ. So, this should be good.

It’s a small little fast-food looking joint. This location appears to be in a building that probably once housed a Braums or something. Anyway, the hot dogs are really small, like hand-sized or less, and come at about a buck-fifty apiece. I ate three of them. They’re really good. The weenie has a snappy taste that definitely dominates, which is good. Some places load the dog down with so much chili that you lose the meat taste. The chili isn’t particularly hot; it has an interesting smoky flavor to it. The onions are kind of sparse, which, again, I like; I find onions to often be overwhelming on a hot dog, so this one has it pretty perfect.

I was initially kind of underwhelmed. I mean, they were good, but like one of the best in the country? But as the months passed, I found myself remembering the unique chili taste of the Coney I-Lander. I’ve been back several times now over the past couple years and never been disappointed. It isn’t knock your socks off good, but it has uniqueness compared to other coney places I’ve been and it stays with you. It’s definitely good food. 3 stars.

Is this weird or are people actually interested in reviews like this in this thread? Anyway, I'm pretty sure no one in any other thread would be. That one was kind of long. I’ll try to shorten them.

 

Nope, totally interested. 5/5, would eat your review again!

 

Maybe you should change your user name to Rogue-the-compulsive-reviewer In any case, keep 'em coming, I loved it!

I'm in Mytilene on the island of Lesbos since this morning, and my colleagues here were kind enough to invite me over for dinner. I just had sougania for the first time in my life. It's onion stuffed with rice and meat, in a creamy lemon sauce. It was fabulous. I'll make sure I get a recipe before I leave and post it here.

 

I apologise in advance for the behavior of some of the JC'ers here, Chyn. Especially dp.

 

But... I'm one of the most foodie people you insult!

 

It's more that I saw where he was, and know you.

 

let's keep the discussion on olive garden, people. thank you.

 

I got a $50 gift card for Olive Garden.

 

oh, you should definitely use it soon! tomorrow night, even!

 

Jabbadabbado's Guide to Healthy Living and Fine Cuisine

the key is getting that fat-to-lean ratio just right. that is all.

 

1/2Lb. Hamburger - Harden's Hamburgers, Tulsa, OK



So, this little hamburger joint is just down the street from the Coney I-Lander I posted about last time. Literally, down like a block and turn left and another block and there it is. I had vague memories of coming here as a young child and really not liking the cheeseburger, which is odd because I am a cheeseburger fanatic. But I wanted to try it and see what I thought with adult eyes (or tastebuds, I guess). Anyway, the half-pound burger is a double, two patties, with all the usual burger accoutrements (“Accoutrement! What the **** is this ****?”). It used to be called the “Men’s Burger” and the quarter-pound single patty burger was called the “Women’s Burger,” but, you know, not that PC really, so they don’t do that anymore.

Anyway, Harden’s has been around since 1939 and their claim to fame is a special seasoning they use on the meat; the recipe has been handed down from generation to generation and kept a closely guarded secret. And it’s the reason I used to hate the place. Because it is definitely a really strong, sort of black-peppery taste. It kind of burns in your mouth as you eat the burger. Um, yeah, now, as an adult, I think it’s awesome. It’s definitely a taste I haven’t had before on a burger and it gives the whole thing a unique flavor. As a kid, I would have found it too strong and some people might even as adults, but anyway, I like it and definitely think it’s a burger you should have. And the 1/2Lb. Cheeseburger is even better than the Hamburger. Anyway, yeah, this is a great burger. 4 stars.

 

just curious: how much did it set you back? (financially)

 

I want NEED that burger (although the one I had last night - cheddar, egg, jalapeno, sauteed onions - was divine)

 

It does look great but also like a coronary waiting to happen..

 

Today's culinary adventure in the Chyntuck household: Imam baildi.

Imam baildi is a Turkish dish that's also very popular in Greece. There's a category of vegetable stews that we call generically "λαδερά", which means "dishes with oil." Imam baildi is the epitome of that.

In Turkish, "imam baildi" means "the imam fainted." There's a debate as to why. Some people say it's because the dish was heavenly. Others insist that he fainted when he found out how much oil his wife has put in it.

Let's be clear: this is the vegan version of Jabbadabbado 's healthy lean-to-fat ratio.

What you need: eggplant, onions, garlic, chopped peeled tomatoes, salt, pepper, nutmeg and a LOT of olive oil.

Those of you who checked out my previous posts on this thread already know that I never give quantities. I like my imam baildi with a lot of onion (so I'll put one onion for each eggplant) but you can adjust that to your taste.

Three basic rules about eggplants:
1. Eggplants produce a yuck brownish liquid. To avoid having that in your food, slice them, sprinkle with salt and put them in a sieve for 30 minutes or so.
2. Eggplants will absorb any oil you throw at them. Therefore, when frying your eggplants, do NOT put a lot of oil in the skillet. Use a kitchen brush to spread oil on each slice and just put a little in the skillet.
3. Eggplants will regurgitate oil while you simmer the dish. Make sure there's space for more liquid, or your kitchen will look like mine tonight!

What to do:

Chop up the onions and garlic and saute until golden. Add the tomato, salt, pepper and nutmeg and boil down a bit. Set aside. Note: if you're salting the eggplant as in point 1 above, some of that salt will remain when you bake them, so don't use too much salt here.

Don't peel the eggplants. Just wash them, remove the stalks and cut in thick slices. Do the salt thingy in the sieve, brush with oil and fry until golden.

Put the eggplant in rows in an oven dish. Spread the onion/tomato mix on top and bake at 180°C until done. Some people put grated cheese or crumbled feta cheese on top, but I consider that to be a heresy.

That's pretty much it, really. The end result shouldn't be runny, so don't add water to your onion/tomato mix.

Now if you want to do proper imam baildi, you'll get the oblong variety of eggplant, and instead of slicing them you'll just slit them open. You fry them whole, then fill them with onion, put them in an oven dish, pour the rest of the onion/tomato mix on top and bake the whole lot in the oven. (This version uses less olive oil to fry the eggplant, so you can be more generous when frying the onion.)

The end result will look more or less like this:



One great thing about imam baildi (and those "dishes with oil" in general) is that they're actually tastier on the next day. You don't need to reheat it, room temperature is the best!

 

I learned this lesson the hard way. The first time I tried to make eggplant, I didn't look anything up about it and just decided to fry it... I ate mostly oil.

But this sounds sooo good (minus the tomatoes, I'm not a fan).

 

That was like . . . six bucks? Seven? Something like that.

I will eventually write up some salads. But, yeah, moderation, everybody. You can't eat those things three times a day.

Catfish Fillets - White River Restaurant & Fish Market, Tulsa, OK



This place is amazing. Fresh fish on display, everything from the smaller fish in a glass counter where you place your order to incredibly big fish on ice over on the “market” side of the room. But on the restaurant side of the room is where you place your order for catfish fillets. I’m going to be talking about this place some more later (no spoilers!), but for now, let’s just talk about catfish, that ground-breaking and disturbing docu-no, wait.

Tender, melt-in-your-mouth fillets covered with a golden brown, crispy, crunchy shell . . . oh . . . my . . . God . . . this is amazing. I’ve not had a single bad meal here and the catfish fillets are a great recommendation. Just an explosion of juicy flavor, tender meat and crunchy breading. I just can’t recommend this one highly enough. The restaurant is just a storefront; snobby folks will blanch before they even get in the door – but really everyone should eat here. 4 stars.

 

Is everything you eat a shade of brown?

 

I've been wanting to try Wellington since I began watching Hell's Kitchen several years ago. Today I finally had it at a local fine dining restaurant. It was part of a new Wine and Dine package, where you're treated to a 7 course meal, each paired with a different glass of wine. Mine was a Pork Wellington with shiitake mushroom. So incredibly delicious.

 

For $77 dollars, it had better have been good.

 

Hilariously, I've figured out what I'm going to post tomorrow. It's a drink. And it's brown.

 

The wife and I have done similar wine and dine packages before at other restaurants. Every time has been great...except for one we did last year. There wasn't anything wrong with the food or the pairings of wine. It just wasn't as remarkable as the time before. This Wellington was better than any of those courses from last year.

 

Argh. Suggesting an alternative to tomatoes is difficult Perhaps you could try putting finely chopped bell pepper and/or finely chopped zucchini instead, and stir-fry them with the onion just long enough for their liquids to come out. The onion mix needs to be a bit juicy to achieve the right texture for the eggplant.

Ezio Skywalker Is Wellington a restaurant or a food festival? I'm asking because in France at this time of the year they have a food festival called "la semaine du goût" (the week of taste). It's a week when top restaurants will serve wine and dine packages at a discount. I did it once when I was an Erasmus student in Paris and it was simply fabulous. There are also educational activities in the same week; chefs go to schools and teach kids about preparing healthy and tasty food, and they also hold workshops for adults.

 

Wellington in regards to food refers to a protein (typically beef filet) wrapped in a puff pastry with mushroom duxelles (minced mushrooms with some herbs--almost like a mushroom paste, for lack of a better word). The dish is then baked in the oven. When it reaches the desired temperature, you remove it from the oven and slice the pastry loaf into the desired portions.

There are numerous recipes for it floating online. I've been occasionally tempted to try making it myself.