Does the Oreo version of the Choco Taco still exist?

I'm heading to Denver on business for a few days next week. I will be staying downtown at The Sheraton (16th and Court Pl.). Any recommendations for a serious eater? I like it all but always on the hunt to find something I can't find at home. May be dining solo so any spots for a good solo dinner are appreciated as well as well as any craft beer\cocktail type spots. Thanks!

I baked two loaves of bread over the weekend. One loaf baked in a glass loaf pan came out perfect. The other one baked in a Le Creuset stoneware loaf pan had a large indention running down the side of the loaf. It still tastes great but doesn't slice well for sandwiches due to the break in the side. Any idea of what went wrong?

The bread was a sort of rye-oatmeal variety. A blend of whole wheat, dark rye, bread flour, and rolled oats along with some dry milk powder, oil and molasses and avocado honey for sweetness. I let the sponge rise for 50 minutes, added the remaining ingredients and let rise for 1 hour, punched the dough back down and let rise for 50 minutes, portioned the dough and let rest for 5 minutes, shaped into loaves and let rise for 25 minutes, cut a few slits in the top and topped with egg wash and oats, then baked in a 350f oven for 1 hour.

Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed confirmed the rumor this morning. Our prayers have been answered. No word yet on a nation wide roll out of the Flamas version unfortunately or the return of the chilito. Keep fingers crossed.

We just bought a home and the beautiful but totally inappropriate for this area AGA stove that resided there was not included with the purchase. We now have a empty void to fill with a 36in gas range of our choice. I'm currently leaning to the 36" Wolf w\ charbroiler, but Blue Star is intriguing as well, but appears to be more $$$ and is not sold locally.

Anyone buy a range they are in love recently?

I have some vacuum sealed fully cooked sausages in the fridge, sell by date of June 2012. It's been a long week and I don't want to go out to the store, should we eat it? WWSED? I'm thinking if it doesn't have mold and is fully sealed it should be perfectly fine.

Does this glorious Slimer endorsed Hi-C beverage flavor still exist anywhere? I just had a flashback to my childhood lunch box and could really go for one. Human sacrifices, dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!

I've been seeing lots of nettles are our local farmers' market and would like to make a pizza utilizing them this weekend. I haven't worked with them before, but it sounds like getting rid of the stinging element is as simple as a blanch for ~1 minute in boiling water? After that I was planning to saute them in duck fat with garlic and hot chilis before topping the pie.

Any advice for prepping or recommendations for nettle pies?

This glorious day shall go down in history. What will you tell kids and grand-kids about this historical day? When was the last time a taco had a midnight preview event? Great day to be alive.

I'm a big fan of udon noodle soups and I'm not sure why I haven't been making them at home already. After looking up recipes for making the dashi soup base it appears pretty simple and straight forward but I imagine someone out there has tips and tricks for making a truly awesome broth. Is just bonito flakes and kombu the way to go? I see some add dried mushrooms. Ratios? Simmer time, etc.? Any tips, recipes, or other advice are appreciated. Thanks!

Guanciale, where have you been all my pizza making life? Finally made a pie incorporating it over weekend, so tasty. I diced it up, rendered some of the fat in a pan, removed, added chanterelle mushrooms, leeks, a little bit of garlic and a couple springs of time and cooked down. I brushed the dough with olive oil and topped the pie with the chanterelle/leek mix, guanciale, Fontina Val D'Aosta and Moliterno Black Truffle Pecorino. Finished the pie hot out of the oven witha drizzle of early harvest olive oil and some more grated Moliterno truffled Pecorino. I have to say it was one of my best pies in recent memory.

Anyone else love this stuff? How do you use it?

Sometimes you just don't feel like getting a pot of oil going or want your house to smell like a fry shack for a week, but you still want some French fries. Last night was one of those as I had a few pounds of local mussels and what better way to sop up all the leftover mussely goodness than French fries. I figured Kenji's Ultra-Crispy Roast Potatoes recipe could probably produce some decent oven fries so I cut my potatoes up into fries and used the same technique. I must say they came out great! Better than many a fry I've had fried the traditional way. The parboil w/ vinegar + duck fat seems to be the trick. I have a feeling we will be enjoying fries at home more often. Thanks Kenji, now oven fries don't have to suck!

It's that time of the year again when boxes of See's Candy seem to be everywhere trying to lure you in. You pick a piece expecting some sort of chocolatey goodness and instead you are assaulted with some sort of vile filling resulting in a mini-puke. +++Vibes+++ to all that partake.

I'm typically a Wheat Thins purist, but the new Smoky BBQ flavor isn't half bad. The first one tastes kind of gross with the liquid smoke flavor, but then they become oddly addicting. They don't have the overly sweet BBQ flavor which I think is a good thing. You definitely need something to cleanse the palate afterwards as the flavor lingers. Still on the fence if I actually like them or not. Have you tried them? What do you think?

Hot damn! This stuff is great I could bathe in it. I swapped out the butter for duck fat and added a dash of sherry and it didn't seem to hurt. For once I'm looking forward to green bean casserole. Thanks Kenji!

Quick as far as stock goes and the results are excellent. I'd say its even better than a stock toiled over all day. If you are planning to make turkey stock and have a pressure cooker give it a try. It makes me realize I need to bust out the pressure cooker more often.

I'll be cooking my two ~12lb birds at my parent's house this time around. They have a pretty nice oven which has the option of running in convection mode. Anyone have a rough estimate of much faster the birds will cook with the convection fan on or any other tips?

Are air-chilled turkeys available where you live? Air-chilled chicken seems pretty widely available these days, but it seems it hasn't quite caught on with turkeys? I recommended using one to a friend and the meat counter at her local high end grocer had no clue what she was talking about. Thankfully our local poultry rancher raises turkeys as well, so that's what going in our oven.

Probably the biggest improvement to our families T-Day meal was when we started using homemade turkey stock. I use it to make our stuffing, I add it to the mashed potatoes and whatever else calls for any sort of liquid and of course to make sure we have plenty of gravy on hand (and allows you to make it in advance).

Our local butcher always has plenty of miscellaneous turkey parts on hand this time of the year and they are very cheap. I roast whatever I can get and add it to a stock pot along with carrots, leeks, celery, onions, thyme, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. How do you make yours?

I baked a batch of corn muffins last night to go along with some Texas Red and topped each one with some cheese and a whole (tiny) Bird's Eye chili from my garden. There was also some chopped chilis mixed in with the batter. I brought in the leftovers to work this morning and just set them in the kitchen at 7am with no description. I failed to realize some may think they are some sort of fruit muffins.

The post today on the crispy jalapeno topped burger got me thinking. Why are there no chile relleno topped burgers? Someone out there has to be doing this. I love green chile cheeseburgers, so why not stuff the chile with cheese and deep fry it, then place it on a burger? I imagine it has to be good. My only concern is the potential for molten cheese explosion when you bite into it. Anyone made or tried this?

I just tried one of these for the first time and must say it's pretty damn good for a fast food breakfast sandwich. The biscuit and egg are far better than the McDonald's equivalent. 2 for $2 and they are pretty large, best deal in town. Those hash brown nuggets though are the suck.

What are you drinking? What goes in your Manhattan? I usually go with Bulleit Rye, but I'm sure there are some other tasty ones out there, school me.

I'm feeling totally uninspired culinary wise today. I had some hippie kibble for breakfast, a cliff bar and an apple for lunch, and have no idea what to make for dinner tonight. Anyone have any fabulous ideas that won't take all afternoon/evening to prep?

Despite now wanting to try every food imaginable, I was a very picky kid. If I could have had the choice I would have lived off burgers, hence my screenname. However Wendy's square burgers were one burger that I would never eat solely because they are square. I'm not sure how I came to the conclusion at such a young age that square burgers just aren't right and it still doesn't make much sense to me still to put a square patty on a round bun.

Anyone else out there grow up with a square burger phobia?

Over on Slice, there is legend of a Secret Dipping Sauce. Dmcavanagh claims that I keep the recipe in a vault at the bottom of Oneida Lake. Well, even though it's only 32 degrees here, I went for a swim... More