Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

The Vegan Experience Day 26: The Feed-A-Meathead Challenge

This is fantastic @J. Kenji! My dad was a like like yours. I'm positive he would be asking about meat by the second course... and after it was all said and done, he'd be asking if I would mind stopping on the way home so he could get a burger! Good Luck J. Kenji... if it helps any, I'm sure this will be easier than the superbowl challenge, as you know the various strings to pluck with regards to your dad.

As a side, have you given any thought to what your first "Meat" meal will be when this is all over?

Pavlov at 7:23AM on 02/10/12

Drinking the Bottom Shelf: Aalborg Akvavit

Here you go Will:

HUSKER MULE
Juice of half a lime over ice in a tall glass
2 oz Linie Aquavit
Top with cold ginger beer
Splash of Angostura bitters

I wouldn't drink more than a dozen or so of these if I were you...

Pavlov at 6:14AM on 02/10/12

Out of the Express Line if you have more than 10 items, please!

@Teachertalk, maybe you can referee when @Jerzee and I duke it out...

Pavlov at 1:43PM on 02/09/12

Same old Valentine gifts...

I won't be observing Valentine's Day this year as it is just myself and The Cat...I never get him anything, and he always points to the litter box if I ask him what he got from me...then we knock back a couple of Guinness' while playing two or three games of Parcheesi.

Pavlov at 11:29AM on 02/09/12

What does Chopped Chix Livers do for a Sauce--Umami?

I'm with @Zinnia on this one. I'm not a fan of that iron minerally taste liver gives. Absolutely go for anchovies! Save the livers for pate or rumaki.

Pavlov at 11:13AM on 02/09/12

Rush Limbaugh's tea--Two if by Tea

@PDXbiker, is he not entitled to eke out a meager living by hawking tea as a second job? This is the land of opportunity after all...

Pavlov at 10:50AM on 02/09/12

10 Lbs of Sugar

I go through more brown sugar than I ever do granulated. I have been out of white sugar for over a month and just never think to pick any up. A 1lb. box of brown probably lasts me 4 or 5 months as I only use it for dry rubs, beans and a weakness I have for my own take on banana's foster.

Besides, we all know sugar is the devil!

Pavlov at 7:31AM on 02/09/12

From A Hamburger Today

Reality Check: The Big America Burgers at McDonald's Japan Are Back (and Bad As Ever)

@J. Kenji...I just think it's another example of how far behind the rest of the food eating world we really are. We have come a long way, but still have a ways to go. That was an embarrassing looking sandwich... but then again I'm sure most of the sushi Japanese people eat when they come here make them think, "Is this what Americans think our food tastes like?!" I guess it's a matter of educating people and raising the food bar from the lowest common denominator, to a higher standard however gradual that may be.

So until then:
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Pavlov at 7:11AM on 02/09/12

Fast Food: Qdoba Mexican Gumbo Stretches the Definition of 'Gumbo'

Aside from some rice, there is almost nothing Gumbo'ish about this. I can't stand it when people/restaurants bastardize names of dishes or sauces for the sake of marketing. For instance, Taco Bell calling their tacos....tacos!

Pavlov at 2:47PM on 02/08/12

Get to Know Us: Will Gordon, Bottom Shelf Columnist

@chanterelle...I'm sure the word @Will would use is "surveilling"...stalking would be illegal.

I'd say Will's eyes match his acerbic wit...and I think it was kind of Miss Emily to hold Will up long enough for this picture to be taken.

Pavlov at 7:11AM on 02/08/12

Bottom Shelf Beer: Tyskie and Zywiec Polish Lagers

I was 18 and had a couple of grand in my pocket, no brains in my head and a three month eurail pass in my hand...I wound up in Munchen, Germany. The people were wonderful, the beer was plentiful and cheap and the food would make lesser men great.

Despite my penchant for mischief and drunken revelry, I managed to stay out of trouble and harms way. Thanks in part to the wonderful German people and more than one of the kindly Polizei helping me find my way back to the hostel in which I stayed. I'm throwing my hat in the ring for Munich.

Although I know you aren't going for the sole purpose of finding out which German Gefangnis (translation= pokey) has the best food. You couldn't do better than a ginormous stein of reasonably priced Konig Ludwig Dunkel in a biergarten, the lovely Miss Emily by your side, and a belly full of Spanferkel (roast suckling pig) and Spatzle...of course you'd have to swim back to the states to loose the 20 pounds you'd gain there.

Then again Will, there's always the Burlington Mall...

Pavlov at 6:51AM on 02/08/12

http://pavlovblogs.blogspot.com/2012/01/grocery-shopping-is-this-what-dante-had.html

Out of the Express Line if you have more than 10 items, please!

I wrote a piece on grocery stores some time back that addresses many of these issues...I just wish I had spent more time writing about the checkout "experience." Great thread!

Pavlov at 5:56AM on 02/08/12

Bread Baking: Cocktail Rye Bread

Or for a mini reuben between lunch and dinner!

Pavlov at 10:50AM on 02/07/12

From A Hamburger Today

Hingham, MA: Wahlburgers

Mark just wants his burgers to look sexy, and if they don't get it right the first time....he can do it again.

Pavlov at 2:51PM on 02/06/12

Sugar=The Devil?

But, but, but...my momma says, "Bobby Boucher, the girls are the devil!"

Pavlov at 2:23PM on 02/06/12

Out of the Express Line if you have more than 10 items, please!

I like standing in the checkout line as I get to people watch. More times than not I end up leaving the store feeling better about myself. Although there are times when I am in a hurry and I use the "express" line. I don't count people's items. But when it is very apparent you have in the vicinity of 25 or 30 items+ I will make a comment. PUT UP YOUR DUKES @JERZEE!

Pavlov at 2:19PM on 02/06/12

Joe Alternatives: A Cup of Hot Brown, Hold the Coffee

Nice! Thanks for this article Erin... My mother would get Postum every year to drink during lent in lieu of coffee. I tried it exactly once...and Like your chicory experience, this is one drink I'll leave to my mother. As soon as she heard it was to be discontinued she went out and bought a ton of the stuff...Here's to hoping she outlives her "supply", as Postum in not something I ever want to inherit!

Pavlov at 8:25AM on 02/06/12

Back in Black: Why You Should Taste Your Coffee With and Without Milk and Sugar

@Erin, I believe the true essence of pizza is actually the crust. Without the perfect crust, everything else is superfluous. Also, there is no definitive way to topping a pizza. A pizza could have no cheese, no tomato, no oregano, etc... if it only had sea salt or perhaps olive oil it would still be a pizza, even if only in a Socratic way of thinking. But I suppose this isn't Slice now is it.

I knew what you were driving at. I suppose I was having a bit of fun in a tongue in cheek sort of way. Thanks for writing such a thoughtful column, and also for responding to little ole Pav...it is greatly appreciated! Have a Happy!

Pavlov at 8:16AM on 02/06/12

http://pavlovblogs.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-guess-ill-never-be-coffee-snob.html

Back in Black: Why You Should Taste Your Coffee With and Without Milk and Sugar

@CanadianFoodieGirl...I pretty sure they add cream and sugar because that's the way they like it.

(In fairness of full disclosure here @Erin, I know we have talked before, and I'm a self confessed coffee slob, which I imagine is the antithesis of a coffee snob)

Erin, I love your writing girl, so don't take this the wrong way. This article is like saying: " When eating a pizza you want to taste the crust, so you should all try eating your pizza without any toppings so you know if you like the crust." I think part of why people like coffee, way apart from the taste, is the routine involved.

The premise of this article seems silly (I'm sure) only to me... but just so you'll know. I tried drinking my exquisitely brewed maxwell house master blend coffee this morning without any half and half, and it had just as much caffeine as I had hoped for...I just have to remember to pick some half and half at the grocery store this afternoon.

That's right, I let the coffee company grind my beans for me, as I haven't had nearly enough education in the "Art" of grinding a coffee bean. So to think I can do it as well as someone who's been doing it since 1892, is rather silly on my part.

The best part about the coffee is it tastes exactly the same every time... I believe because it is single source.... and by single source I mean it comes in a gigantic blue tub and all I have to do is scoop it into the auto drip coffee maker.

I was going to get a neru dorippa rig, but figured I'd like to be able to have a cup of coffee in just under a calendar year, so I'm sticking with something that works for a coffee slob like me.

I wrote a piece as to why I'll never be a coffee snob you might find entertaining Erin...

Pavlov at 11:57AM on 02/05/12

A Single Burnt Cookie...

@Carrie, Love scorched or charred Hot Dogs, Pizza, toast, marshmallows and popcorn.... never thought of torturing a defensless Pop Tart before...I'm a frosted blueberry man myself.

@Jerzee's disher is bigger than mine :-( I have a seventy, but in all fairness, I only use it for polpette, melon or spinach balls...I will leave the baking of cookies to my local bake shop.

Pavlov at 8:44AM on 02/05/12

BUTTER OVERLOAD

Why has nobody bothered to ask if it is salted or unsalted butter? If it's salted you really can't use the best part of the butter after clarifying "la crasse du beurre" or Butter's Dirt, the delicious little bits of browned milk solids on the bottom of the pan. If the butter is unsalted, save all the residue and brown bits and sprinkle on everything from vegetables, to toasted bread.

Clarifying the butter will allow you to deep fry things up to 400 degrees and what about caramels!?

Pavlov at 8:32AM on 02/05/12

Any non-soup suggestions for leek?

I really dig the Gratin either with various vegetables or in addition to potato.

slice them into batons of sorts, then do a really light tempura batter and deep fry them.

Pavlov at 8:10AM on 02/05/12