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Jim-Bob

Grilling artichokes? Is it possible..and are they tasty?

It it and they are very tasty! What I do is cut them in half, steam them for 15 minutes, remove the choke, baste them in melted butter, grill them for a couple minutes a side and serve with a rémoulade sauce. Enjoy!

Giveaway: Win a Copy of Brew Masters on DVD

Drinking the Bottom Shelf: Rebel Yell Bourbon

Ok Will put me down for myself and a +1 for your wedding. I'll get you this toaster if it meets your expectations. And when my wife asks whose wedding we're going to, is it ok if I say that your'e an old college friend that I haven't seen since graduation instead of internet cheap hooch coloumnist?

AHT Giveaway: Case of Pat LaFrieda Burgers

Bottom Shelf Beer: Kingfisher, Taj Mahal, and Flying Horse

We've spent a lot of time singing Emily's praises here on the Bottom Shelf; in fact, sometimes we get so caught up discussing her youth and beauty and stain-removal skills that there's no time left to address Indian beer (this won't be one of those times, though: Just another six or eight paragraphs to go).
Will Gordon: Troll Genius

Home Slice: 'Pizza Within a Pizza'

Adam, since you've done Pizza Within a Pizza and a Cookie Within a Cookie, I eagerly await the Hamburger Within a Hamburger. Maybe you could squish a White Castle slider into a giant hamburger patty and cook.

Highlights from the 2012 Sweets and Snacks Expo

No Gummy Venus de Milo?

Behind the Scenes at The Glenlivet Distillery in Scotland

No - no words. No words to describe it. Poetry! They should've sent a poet. So beautiful. So beautiful... I had no idea.

AHT Giveaway: Case of Pat LaFrieda Burgers

The fist one I had with my wife.

Staff Picks: How Do You Eat Your Oreos?

Staff Picks: How Do You Eat Your Oreos?

Step 1: Separate the two sides of the Oreos trying to get as much as the creme on one side.
Step 2: Remove creme from cookies.
Step 3: Replace creme with Biscoff spread.
Step 4: Reassemble Oreo.
Step 5: Place removed creme on top of Oreo.
Step 6: Enjoy.

Memorial Day Grilling Giveaway: Win This Delicious Cap of Ribeye

Cook the Book: 'Texas Eats'

Poll: Fried Pizza, Way or No Way?

Way, frying makes everthing better!

10 Touristy Spots in Chicago That Are Actually Good

If you want Xoco, definitely do take-out. You can ususally get in and out in under 20 minutes.

We Try 25 Kinds of Oreo

The sugar high at the SE offices the day this taste taste occured must have been crazy. I imagine it would a much more nerdier version of a scene from the movie "Blow."

Fresh Food on TV: Weekend Edition

I'm curious to see how The Next Food Network Star plays out with teams.

#TeamAlton

Mixed Review: New Williams Sonoma All-Natural Cupcake Mixes

If you have to add all those extra ingredients, what's the purpose of using a boxed mix especially at that price?

AHT Giveaway: Case of Pat LaFrieda Burgers

Cheese and bacon.

Kevin Gillespie's Guide to Where to Eat in Atlanta

I really liked him on Top Chef. I was kinda bummed that he didn't do All-Stars.

Hacking Store Bought Mac N Cheese

Durkee's fried onions add a great crunch to Mac and cheese.

How to Make Tomato Salsa from Scratch, Better than Jarred Salsa

I've been fire roasting my salsas for years. But instead of using a food processor, I just dice the vegtables for more of a pico de gallo salsa.

I recently discovered food. What should I eat?

Eyewitness Booze Investigation: Bud Light Lime-a-Rita

How does Border Cafe rate compared to On The Border?

Check Out Time Out Chicago's 2012 Eat Out Award Winners

Hella yes for the Doughnut Vault!!

Freezing Pizza Dough

Hi everybody! I find myself wanting homemade pizza quite often, but not wanting to make the dough each time. Ideally I would like to make one big batch of dough then freeze one pizza size balls of it. I was thinking of taking it out in morning to let it thaw and rise and then cook it when I get home. Is this possible and how are the results?

Vaporware Restaurant

In technology terms, vaporware is a product that is annouced but is never released. I bring this up because every day on my way to work, I pass a half renovated restaurant that says "Coming Soon" and has said that for the past six months. In its previous life, it was a small burger joint that closed a few years ago and sat vacant until a little while ago. About eight months ago, the for rent sign was removed and remodeling began. The exterior of the building was painted and new signage was put up exclaiming that the new restaurant would serve Egyptian fast food. There was newspapers put in the windows that are still there and it doesn't look like there was much work done in months.
I really don't know that much about what it takes to open a restaurant, but it doesn't seem that a small 30 seat fast food joint place should take this long. I'm assuming that the owners of the restaurant are paying rent on the place so for every day the it's not open, it's losing money. So is this restaurant vaporware or will it pull a Duke Nukem Forever and eventually open? Have you heard of a restaurant being annouced, but it never opened?

Taking the Cookie-Stuffed Cookie...One Level Deeper

Since last February, we've all marvelled at Adam's Cookie-Stuffed Cookie where an Oreo is stuffed inside a chocolate chip cookie. But is there a way to get more cookie goodness inside of it? It's an enigma wrapped in mystery stuffed inside cookie dough. After pondering this dilemma for many a moon, I believe that I have cracked the three level cookie quandry. The secret is...Biscoff Spread. Biscoff Spread is basically peanut butter with ground up Biscoff cookies instead of peanuts. I plan on making the Fauxreos using Bravtart's recipe, but instead of using vanilla cream, I will be using Biscoff Spread to fill my cookie. Is this madness or genius, I do not know. I'm not even sure that a cookie-in-a-cookie-in-a-cookie won't cause the apocalypse. But I will find out and it will be delicious.

Where did the quizzes go?

I used to enjoy seeing how much (or little in my case) about certain foods and drinks. I looked in the archieves and the last quiz was posted in November. Is it not possible to do quizzes anymore since the redesign or is there nobody to write them? Thanks for reading.

Regional Burger Varieties

Thanks to Hawk Krall's excellent Hotdog of the Week series, we know of a multitude of various regional hot dog varieties (Chicago, Detroit Coney,etc...), but I'm having a hard time coming up with a similiar list for hamburgers. I know of the Juicy Lucy in Minnesota and the fried onion burger in Oklahoma, but burgers just seem to be more uniform across the country. Are there any other regional varieties that I'm missing?

Winner of ANGR, Soul Daddy, closing 2 of their 3 restaurants

According to Eater, America's Next Great Restaurant winner Soul Daddy is closing their locations in New York and Los Angeles and keeping the location in the Mall of America open. The two closed locations were open for about a month. I really don't think that this location will last for much longer either. This really isn't that surprising of news given how low the ratings for the show were and how tough it is to open a new restaurant.

Coca-Cola Freestyle Review (Coke Flavors)

I just had lunch at Wendy's that had the new Coca-Cola Freestyle fountain with over 100 flavors. I didn't try all the flavors, but I did sample all the flavors of regular Coke except Orange which was out. Here is a quick review of what I had:
Cherry: Tasted just like the Cherry Coke you would normally get out of fountain. Very pleasant artificial cherry flavor.
Vanilla: Good vanilla flavor and not overpowering.
Lime: Very odd tasting. Lime flavor was there, but some other flavor was present that I couldn't identify.
Rasberry: The worst of the bunch. Bad artificial rasberry flavor and it was acidic like the ratio of carbonated water/syrup was off. I was disappointed since this was the flavor I was looking forward to the most.
Cherry Vanilla: Now onto the best flavor. Very pleasing combination of both flavors. It came out silghtly red and reminded me of Dr Pepper. Coke needs to sell this stuff in cans ASAP.

Has anybody else tried it yet and what are your favorite flavors?

Are Onion Rings an Acceptable Burger Topping?

Sure raw and grilled onions are staple burger toppings found just about everywhere beef hits a griddle or a grill, but what about their deep fried friend? Mostly found on "Western" burgers also containing barbecue sauce, bacon and chedder, can they break free of their rodeo stereotype or are they doomed to life of "Yee Haws!"? And if they are an acceptable topping, are battered or breaded onion rings the way to allium-beef nirvana?

Rice in Burritos: Yea or Nay?

Some taquerias put rice in their burritos, others do not. How do you like them, ¿con arroz or sin arroz? I prefer the rice on the side as somtimes the rice can overwhelm a burrito and become just a tortilla filled with rice.

POG Juice Recipe

For those who haven't been to Hawaii, POG is a juice blend containing passionfruit, orange and guava juices. Ever since I was there five years ago on my honeymoon, I've been trying to find it on the mainland or create a version myself. I found that the company that makes the original POG, Meadow Gold, will ship it to you, but it's pretty expensive. And that a company called Hawaii's Own makes a frozen concentrated product, but it only contains 10% fruit juice and a lot of high fructose corn syrup. Bolthouse Farms also just came out with their version of POG, but it is pretty expensive and contains a fair amount of apple juice. However, with a little experimentation and a lot of luck, I came up a version that lived up to my memory from those many years ago. POG is great with some rum for a tropical cocktail and it also makes an excellent braising liquid for pork shoulder.

Hot Dog of the Week: Texas Hot Weiner Lunch in Hanover, PA

Rounding out this mini-tour of Pennsylvania small town hot dogs, last but not least is Texas Hot Weiner Lunch in Hanover, PA. This part of the state is a goldmine of "Texas Lunch" hot dog stands, with Ernie's Texas Lunch in nearby Gettysburg and Famous Lunch Hot Weiner, also in Hanover a few blocks from this place. I chose Texas after noticing some interesting concoctions on the menu. More