Serious Eats: ArtoriusRex's Profile

I have been making cheese-less pizzas for my family for years now. The right combination of both flavors and textures can make you NOT miss the cheese.

"American" pizza relies on cheese far too much as "flavor proxy." Rather than using ingredients that taste good, many pizzerias simply load up a pizza with cheese and know that an uncaring pizza public will call it good because it's gooey and fatty.

ArtoriusRex at 12:49PM on 09/19/11

From Serious Eats

'Abba-Zaba, You My Only Friend'

The apple flavor appears to be discontinued. Darn, it sounded interesting, even though there are some stellar bad reviews of it out there.

ArtoriusRex at 10:06PM on 08/18/10

From Serious Eats

Recap: Top Chef DC, Episode 9, Restaurant Wars

I don't think it was completely unreasonable to send Kenny home. The man didn't have the ability to edit his dishes down to something simple and elegant like some of the other chefs do. He is like chefs on the show from seasons past that want to impress on technique rather than with the flavor of the end product. The judges have hated contestants for this for years now.

We'll just have to satisfy ourselves with the obvious fact that Amanda or Alex are the only low hanging fruits left and cheer when their times come for the chopping block.

ArtoriusRex at 1:13PM on 08/12/10

From Serious Eats

Taco Bell's Cantina Tacos: Better Than The Original?

Today I tried the pork carnitas after reading about them here. Flavor-wise they're OK, but they've got problems on texture. Mine were a gooey, sloppy mess inside the tortillas, with little bits of pork swimming in the ooze. They'd have shined if the pork pieces were a bit bigger.

It's always a tough sell getting me into a texmex restaurant's parking lot, and after trying these, it will continue to be so. A worthy food experiment, but still ultimately a failure. I need to find a real taco truck to change my mind.

ArtoriusRex at 5:06PM on 08/10/10

From Serious Eats

Video: How to Become a Famous Celebrity Chef

She should be The Next Food Network Star!

ArtoriusRex at 2:48PM on 07/27/10

From Sweets

Portland, Oregon: Yes, We Went to Voodoo Doughnut

I'll be at least the second or third Portlander here to agree with Voodoo is more hype than substance if you're a true foodie. The donuts are fun to look at, but they aren't great on overall flavor. There are better donuts to be had in Portland, but they do get bonus points for keeping Portland weird.

ArtoriusRex at 2:36PM on 07/19/10

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Pad See Ew

I use Pad See Ew as my test to see whether a Thai restaurant is worth visiting again.

We've tried mastering it at home and we're getting closer all the time. The dark soy sauce (See Ew) is essential in my opinion. We can easily acquire it here in the Portland, OR area where Thai and Asian ingredients are all over the place. It's almost like soy molasses and is the key flavoring element in this dish. Without it, I don't think the dish is worth eating.

ArtoriusRex at 6:19PM on 04/27/09

From Serious Eats: New York

Fancy Restaurants Should Implement an Early 'Baby Seating'

I think it's a great idea. Many of the folks who find fault in this idea seem to be ignoring the fact that the suggestion was for a SPECIAL SEATING, not simply encouraging kids at all service hours.

ArtoriusRex at 4:03PM on 03/23/09

From Serious Eats

David Foster Wallace's 'Consider the Lobster'

It would have been helpful to include some more info about him rather than to expect every reader here to have a full dossier of his writing available on a whim. Prior to reading this blog post, I'd never heard of this guy.

To only give part of the story because it isn't consistent with the news provider's standard format is just sloppy and lazy.

ArtoriusRex at 10:32PM on 09/14/08

From Serious Eats

You Sure That's Trans Fat Free?

It makes me ill to think how much the FDA lets food companies get away with on product labeling. ZERO trans fat should mean ABSOLUTELY ZERO trans fat. Would it have been too much to have the FDA have them put "trace" for the amount of trans fats if less than 1/2g per serving??

The food companies have got great lobbyists. Its sickening...LITERALLY

ArtoriusRex at 2:00PM on 08/20/07

From Serious Eats