Recent Comments

From Serious Eats

Fruit Wine and Cider Donuts at Russell Orchards in Ipswich, Massachusetts

I've gotta third the Atkins Farms love. I went to Hampshire College, which is right near there, and AF's cider donuts were a frequent guilty pleasure.

From A Hamburger Today

Japanese Fusion Burgers from the Marked5 Truck in Los Angeles

The burger looks dreadful, but of course the review was quite the opposite. Thanks for another great read, Damon, and for saving us burger-lovers any culinary cognitive dissonance, collective or otherwise!

From A Hamburger Today

Highlights from My Year in Hamburgers

Happiest of Burger-versaries, Damon! Thank you for so many wonderful reviews this past year--each and every one has been an absolute delight to read.

See more comments by maxcriden »

Recent Posts

From Photograzing

Oliver Twist's favorite snack.

From Photograzing

The California Breakfast

From Talk

Driving across the country—please make some restaurant recommendations

From Photograzing

Chik-Fil-A at Home

See more posts by maxcriden »

Recent Favorites

From Talk

Weekend Cook and Tell: TV Dinners

From Recipes

French in a Flash: Purple Potato-Crusted Trout a la Francaise

From A Hamburger Today

Hole in Wall Burger Joint in West Los Angeles

From Photograzing

Avocado On The Half Shell

See more favorites by maxcriden »

Recent Polls

From Serious Eats

maxcriden answered "Brownie's R-Squared (Raspberry Rhubarb) Pie" to Vote For Your Favorite Pi Day Bake-Off Pie

Recent Quizzes

maxcriden hasn't taken any quizzes yet.

See more polls and quizzes by maxcriden »

Recent Comments

From Serious Eats

Fruit Wine and Cider Donuts at Russell Orchards in Ipswich, Massachusetts

I've gotta third the Atkins Farms love. I went to Hampshire College, which is right near there, and AF's cider donuts were a frequent guilty pleasure.

From A Hamburger Today

Japanese Fusion Burgers from the Marked5 Truck in Los Angeles

The burger looks dreadful, but of course the review was quite the opposite. Thanks for another great read, Damon, and for saving us burger-lovers any culinary cognitive dissonance, collective or otherwise!

From A Hamburger Today

Highlights from My Year in Hamburgers

Happiest of Burger-versaries, Damon! Thank you for so many wonderful reviews this past year--each and every one has been an absolute delight to read.

From Talk

Weekend Cook and Tell: TV Dinners

That's a really cool idea, @Cassaendra. I think I'll follow your lead and make some TV dinner-style dinners for this. I have some sectioned plates that should work well, and the wheels are already starting to turn. Thanks for the great idea! :)

From Talk

Pricey Providence, RI

I've only been to Providence once, but we went to a place called Cuban Revolution there. Check out the menu--if it's the price range you're looking for, it's a pretty good, and somewhat different, restaurant.

http://www.thecubanrevolution.com/cubanrevolution2008menuMAYupdate.pdf

Looking at the menu again, I guess it's probably not what you're looking for, sorry. But you should definitely still check it out at some point, it was very good. Hope that helps!

From Talk

NYT reviewer is on the rampage

http://events.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/dining/reviews/30rest.html?ref=dining

This is his latest review, right? I just read it, and I completely agree with you, laurelie. It reads like he's been drinking some serious haterade.

From A Hamburger Today

Meditations on the Perfect Burger at Comme Ça in Los Angeles

That looks amazing! Thanks for another great review, Damon.

(And paroxysms of perfect, primitive pleasure, eh? Try saying that 10 times fast!)

From Serious Eats

Are You a Night Baker?

Heh, yeah. Most definitely. And a night cook. Just last night I baked an apple pie with extra-sharp cheddar in the crust. Lots of work, but well worth it!

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Skillet Macaroni and Cheese

Jennifer Hess' site is great! Your skillet mac looks great, Blake. Very appealing photo.

From Talk

Weekend Cook and Tell: Pancakes

This Cook and Tell was really exciting! Everyone's pancakes look great. For mine, I tested out a different, diner-style batter that worked really well on my griddle. Thin, but not too thin, which got me pretty even heat distribution on the griddle.

Here are the kinds of pancakes I made (about half of which are from Kenny Shopsin's cookbook): trail mix w/ peanuts, cashews, almonds, raisins, and M&M's, brown sugar-glazed banana, pear gorgonzola, chocolate raspberry, turkey with colby, and strawberry banana. They were all really delish, especially the pear gorgonzola and chocolate raspberry 'cakes.

Full write-up with pictures (including pictures of the above-mentioned pancakes, as well as a couple of Shopsin's pancakes that I had made previously, like the mac'n'cheese pancakes) here:

http://beachcitycooking.blogspot.com/2009/09/pancake-madness.html

From Talk

Weekend Cook and Tell: Pancakes

@AnnieNT, thanks (and thanks to your Mom!) for the tip, I'll definitely give that a try.

From Talk

Weekend Cook and Tell: Pancakes

@Cassaendra! So glad to hear someone else say that. Banh xeo are super-hard for me to execute properly, too. I've tried to make them a couple times, neither turned out like I've had in restaurants. Hopefully we'll both have better luck with making them soon!

From Talk

Old Tahini?? How to tell?

Kind of a shameless plug, but if you old tahini has gone bad, I thought you might be interested in seeing how to make your own tahini paste at home--it's really easy, and unbelievably cheap in comparison to buying it in the store. If you do make it, be sure to let me know how it turns out! :)

http://beachcitycooking.blogspot.com/2009/08/thrifty-thursdays-tahini-paste.html

From Serious Eats: New York

Shameless Rumormongering: Leah and Hosea Both Taking Off

Uh oh. That should definitely have said 9/23 and not 9/25. I'm not broadcasting from the future. Promise.

From Serious Eats: New York

Shameless Rumormongering: Leah and Hosea Both Taking Off

September 25: Max Criden, avid SE: NY and Top Chef fan, read about Leah Cohen and Hosea Rosenberg's relationship and barfed.

From A Hamburger Today

One of L.A.'s Best Burgers at Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica

Wow, that looks terrific. Probably the burger that's most appealed to me on a visual basis alone since Umami. Looking forward to trying it!

Great review, Damon!

From Talk

Weekend Cook and Tell: Lunch Box

@lemonfair: thanks so much! I only started doing these Bento write-ups recently, but they're a lot of fun to write.

Your Bento sounds wonderful, did you take a pic? I'd love to see how the Totoro came out!

From Talk

Weekend Cook and Tell: Lunch Box

A few weeks ago, I started making Bento box-style lunches for my girlfriend to take to work everyday, and it's been a lot of fun. This past week, I made her corn fritters with fruit salsa, DIY crostini open-faced sandwiches, homemade polenta, and a Manchego cheese quesadilla. All her co-workers are very jealous! :)

Here's a link to my write-up of these lunches (with a pic of each lunch), for those interested:

http://beachcitycooking.blogspot.com/2009/09/weekly-bento-round-up-4.html

From Talk

Your Fast Food Urge.....just had mine...tasty.

@Cassaendra, oh yes! Those cherry limeades are incredible. :)

From Talk

Elusive Meat Pie recipe

Sorry, I don't think I have any idea, except--you don't mean char siu bao, do you? Granted, doesn't quite fit your clues, but that's my best guess.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha_siu_baau

See more comments by maxcriden »

Recent Posts

From Photograzing

Oliver Twist's favorite snack.

From Photograzing

The California Breakfast

From Talk

Driving across the country—please make some restaurant recommendations

From Photograzing

Chik-Fil-A at Home

From Photograzing

Scampi

From Photograzing

Dutch Baby

From Photograzing

Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Salad

See more posts by maxcriden »

Recent Favorites

From Talk

Weekend Cook and Tell: TV Dinners

From Recipes

French in a Flash: Purple Potato-Crusted Trout a la Francaise

From A Hamburger Today

Hole in Wall Burger Joint in West Los Angeles

From Photograzing

Avocado On The Half Shell

From Talk

Driving across the country—please make some restaurant recommendations

From Recipes

Cook the Book: Artichokes Basted with Anchovy Butter

From Photograzing

St. Patrick's Day Bread

From Serious Eats

Come on in 'The Kitchn'

From Recipes

French in a Flash: French Onion Soup Dumplings

From Talk

SE Offline: Twin Cities Get Together

From Photograzing

Death mac

From Photograzing

Cheese Crisps are a great topping for corn chowder.

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

From Photograzing

Cinnamon, Pear, and Chocolate Galette

From Photograzing

Nutella and Banana Pastry Purses

From Recipes

Dinner Tonight: Minced Chicken in Lettuce Cups

From A Hamburger Today

A Mini Hamburger Is Not a Slider

From Photograzing

Warm Pear Salad with Walnuts and Parmesan Cheese

From Photograzing

Smoked Salmon on Cucumber Rounds

See more favorites by maxcriden »

Polls

From Serious Eats

maxcriden answered "Brownie's R-Squared (Raspberry Rhubarb) Pie" to Vote For Your Favorite Pi Day Bake-Off Pie

See more polls by maxcriden »

Quizzes

About maxcriden

Website: http://beachcitycooking.blogspot.com

Location: Redondo Beach, CA

About:

Favorite foods:

Last bite on earth: