Serious Eats: pcullie's Profile

'Top Chef' Season 5, Finale: All Bets Are Off

marchpane: although you didn't cut hosea any slack, and because you did spell "misspell" correctly at least one of the three times in your epistle, i will apologize for my use of the word "moron".

i will continue to contend though that judging chefs by their personality instead of their cooking is moronic.

have a great day.

pcullie at 9:19AM on 02/27/09

From Serious Eats

'Top Chef' Season 5, Finale: All Bets Are Off

i guess i'm surprised by the comments like "i hate hosea". "Uch" (mispelled.)
it shows that for the more moronic viewers among us, this isn't about technique, it's really just a personality contest. when you can't eat someone's food, how can judge it as bland? it's like looking in the window of a restaurant and saying that the food is bad.

pcullie at 9:06AM on 02/26/09

From Serious Eats

In Videos: The Unofficial Trader Joe's Commercial

And I'd like to give props to Antonio Carlos Jobim who's "Aguas de Marco" ("Waters of March") was re-invented for the Trader Joe's song by the dude with the Treo. It's a very clever and fun re-interpretation. But if you want a real treat, go to youtube and watch Tom Jobim and Elis Regina sing the original.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97BwLXtLTT0

"It's a stick.
It's a stone.
It's the end of the road..."

pcullie at 9:50AM on 02/05/09

From Recipes

Cook the Book: Frico Tacos with Mache

i'm shocked that even martha incorrectly pluralizes hors d'oeuvre. we've dumbed-down and american-ized french cooking to its detriment, so maybe we could at least be respectful of their language. according to the "food lovers companion "...the word hors d'oeuvre literally translates as "(dishes) outside the work (meal)" and no matter how many dishes there are, there is only one work. the word "hors d'oeuvre is properly used for the singular and the plural." as in, "...i made several hors d'oeuvre for the party." get with the program, martha. et merci.

pcullie at 10:47AM on 12/27/08

From Serious Eats

Grocery Ninja: Agave Nectar, Not Just for Hippies

i use agave nectar in my coffee daily and occasionally in cooking...as a sugar replacement in my pizza dough, for example. i live in Lyons, Colorado which happens to be the home of Madhava, a honey and agave producer/distributor, but i buy it at my local Sunflower Market in bulk. for me, the question of a sweetener in my coffee had been a perpetual conundrum (refuse to consume artificial sweeteners, hate the taste of stevia) until i discovered agave. now both my sugar guilt and my glycemix index are assuaged.

pcullie at 10:28AM on 12/16/08

From Serious Eats

McDonald's Filet-O-Fish: Yea or Nay?

filet of high fructose corn syrup, you mean.

pcullie at 10:40AM on 12/12/08

From Talk

I LOOOVE GUY FIERI

gag me with a ginsu knife. this guy is the poster child for all that is bad about the whole celebrity food business. sophomoric, uninteresting, ego-driven drivel that leaves you feeling like you just had some bad chinese food at the food court at the mall. please, please food network, give us less of this guy. or at least get him a haircut. it's really embarrassing.

pcullie at 11:18AM on 12/06/08

From Serious Eats

Served: Welcome to the Restaurant World

I agree. This concept of not seating a table when one person may be running late, outside on the phone, or maybe even not coming, is nuts. If I make a reservation for four, and three show up, do we not get to eat at the restaurant? I don't get it. Sure, if I make a reservation for eight and only two show up, it's understandable. But let's face it, there are restaurants on every corner, and while my heart may have been set on your truffled mac n' cheese, I'm out the door if I give the majority of my party give YOU the courtesy of a prompt arrival and you won't seat ME because one of my friends can't find a parking space.

pcullie at 9:14AM on 10/28/08

From Serious Eats

Vintage Candy Monday: Necco Wafers

When I was a kid, they cost five cents. We used to buy them and use them as BB-gun targets. And eat the rest.

pcullie at 10:40AM on 10/13/08

From Serious Eats

Weekend Book Giveaway: 'The Saucier's Apprentice'

You might also read the original "Saucier's Apprentice" by Raymond Sokolow, published in 1976. Subtitled "A Modern Guide to Classic French Sauces for the Home," it's a tour de force, and a must for every serious cook. I haven't read Spitz's, but am I alone in tiring of all the many post-modern permutations of food books? I'm a food blogger myself, and a voracious reader of literary food crap. But as my stomach has distended from too much good food, I feel a similar pressure on brain from too many food magazines and clever personal stories about cooking/eating. Or maybe it's just Monday and I'm cranky.

pcullie at 10:32AM on 09/15/08

From Serious Eats

David Foster Wallace's 'Consider the Lobster'

"A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" is perhaps one of the funniest, sharpest essays of the twentieth century. As he usually did, Wallace took an essay about cruise ships and turned it in to a commentary on American life, selfishness and excess. His passing saddens me and I wish hi Godspeed to his next destination.

pcullie at 10:25AM on 09/15/08

From Serious Eats

The French Laundry's Thomas Keller on Being a Successful Chef and Businessman

I recently ate at Bouchon in Las Vegas, the land of the free and the home of the fake. Keller's faux-bistro attempt fits right in at the Disneyland-ish Venetian hotel. The meal wasn't bad, but it wasn't worthy of Thomas Keller. I've had much better French bistro food at Vendome in Denver. And much better service, as well. The decor, in its less-than-charming Pottery Barn-ish was meant to replicate a French bistro.One that could a turn couple hundred covers a night. The waiters were too glib, and way too busy. I've been trying to come with a word for the whole Bouchon/Las Vegas experience and I've settled on "sad".

pcullie at 10:17AM on 09/13/08

From Serious Eats