Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Should this be 400F or maybe 450F (per Kumiko's slideshow on how she baked branzino in a salt crust at 450F for 15 minutes?)

hmmm...I could go either way about bittman. he admits that he's nothing more than a talented home cook. he never calls himself a chef. but he's a gateway! he got me to bake bread for the first time (yes, no-knead bread is kind of tasteless), he got me to pair shrimp, eggs, soy sauce, and sesame oil, which is a really pretty wonderful meal (I'm eyeing the eggplant recipe he calls one of his top 25), and he got me to invest in a food processor, which opened up my world in terms of winter salads (grated beets, grated carrots, grated butternut squash, grinding my own meat for burgers and keema, etc. etc.)

So, I'm sad even though I also agree that not all of his recipes work.

I guess I like it when he took a technique or recipe that another country uses - like socca or dahl or polenta - and applied american or other flavors to it. oatmeal and soy sauce and green onions was like, "oh, I've never had oatmeal like this. yum."

I guess it's pretty sad that for me and even a lot of my coworkers, people think you can't flavor things outside what they're supposed to be flavored with.

Like I told my coworkers I like to add my own spices to popcorn - sometimes cinnamon and sugar, or garam masala or putnala podi or something. and they said that was weird, even though people eat caramel corn what's the difference??

Bittman's pretty well traveled, and for someone with trepidation about cooking, the recipes open up your world. not all of us can afford to buy a spain, thailand, french, and italian cookbook, so it's nice to know the different ways each country thinks about squid or anchovies or rice.

Bye mark! but yeah, you are a bit snobby.

@MissBrownEyes - blondies never seem to fulfill the craving like brownies do they?
@seemunkee - I tried making these cookies this weekend:
Chocolate Tahini sables
http://www.onehundredeggs.com/?p=115

sounds great, right? but dry, dry, dry, after baking at 325 for 25 minutes. now i've got two huge logs of dough waiting to be used up.

Your recipes sound pretty, pretty good! (I had tahini from trying to make hummus and had no idea what to do with the rest of it); I feel your pain about how hummus is too expensive and it's nice to customize it at home.

i like cooking for mr. latte. :) it's kind of girly, but a nice couple hour escape. I also enjoyed arabesque- claudia roden has a couple of introductory pages on turkey, lebanon, and moroccan culture before she delves into the recipes.

to be honest i would say you know a biscuit when you taste it? and yes biscuit seems like a child of scone. but at nwcajun - true!

@G-Monkey - I had trouble with eggs benedict timing too! I appreciate it a lot more when I order it at a restaurant.

Gargupie-What are your favorite things at the Poseidon bakery? do you have any favorites among the savory pies? Also, I love Amy's for their baguettes, what do you like to get there?

arabesque

oh, and cafe kashkar rocks. I liked the lagman (sp?), eggplant salad - just a different experience. at northern spy food company, food was pretty good but I agreed with seriouseats review - B/B+ - food was great and fresh but a little bland?

macaron cafe for a macaron.
Petrossian for a croissant. jacques torres for a chocolate chip cookie (or wherever serious eats recommended for the best chocolate chip cookie)
Otto for some gelato/simple bites at the bar.
Kathy YL Chan has some great places on her website, a passion for food.

Also, try to hit up the street trucks http://nymag.com/restaurants/cheapeats/2010/67139/index1.html
and queens can be wonderful - the flushing food court - if you're willing to ride the train for a long time.

But please- unless you LOVE hot dogs, don't go to gray's papaya. Ugh.

1. the best recipe I ever got from seriouseats was for turkey - the best thankgiving turkey recipe ever.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/11/how-to-spatchcock-a-turkey-thanksgiving-butterflying-roasting-recipe.html
I posted a really long response, with things I would change and just effusively thanking grace yang - I don't want to eat turkey made another way. (well, I hear deep-fried is good...but you know, don't deep-fry a frozen turkey if you don't want your house/yard/whatever to go up in flames).

2. The tomatillo-lime sauced chicken from mario batali's Leo Maya has such a bright flavor, a great go-to recipe. (use fresh cilantro - which, I've realized, is why so many people hate cilantro. not fresh cilantro is horrible!)
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/09/unclogged-mario-batali-recipe-chicken-with-green-sauce.html

3. I also made kalua pork/sides based on this thread: http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2008/09/i-need-side-dishes-for-kalua-pig.html

Great for superbowl!

too many to list guys, thanks for everything you (the community) do and all that you are.

burma (myanmar)

pleasurable eating for one. (i thought of pleasuring one but that sounds dirty eh?)
Basically, what recipes will you want to eat over and over and which ones can be scaled for just one serving. also - how to make a single cookie, cocktail for one, and wholesome snacks - ALL FOR ONE! I love melissa clark, seriously I really do. If I don't win, I will probably still buy this cookbook. :)