What is/was for dinner?

[KaliYoni]

My favorite restaurants were the Asian places--even the ones that really didn't look like much outside

, their exterior was entirely forgettable, utterly nondescript, completely undistinguished, almost down-at-heel, but the food........the food was to die for.

My Asian restaurant rule is the more fluorescent strip lighting in the dining room, the better the food is likely to be. And if all the lights are turned on only when customers are present, even better!

Rick Bayless

Airport tip: I say anybody who finds themselves at ORD with enough time to grab a bite should go to Tortas Frontera. It's run by Bayless and perhaps the best sign of its quality is that there are always flight crews there...even from airlines that use neighboring terminals.

And while we're talking Mexican food, my fave meats are al pastor (Mexican shawarma. Yes, really.) and carnitas (statin drug makers of the world, rejoice!).

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

They are. I remember my mother using one quite a bit. I think I even remember her baking cookies in it when our oven wasn't working! I haven't used one much as an adult, although I'd occasionally acquire them second hand (and then donate them hardly used later on--I wasn't using them, and there were reasons that made me think they weren't worth holding onto). At some point, I started using one sometimes, and I wonder why I didn't use them more all along? I like the idea of thermostatic control (although interestingly there were stoves once that had a thermostatic burner). I also like the dead silence (vs. listening to the induction cooling fan) when cooking something a long time.

I never really used them - rather looked down on them to a degree to be completely honest. It was my wife who was in the habit. I scoffed at the first one that came home but have grown to appreciate their usefulness. Every young person starting out should have one - highly portable and one can cook from any wall plug. I cooked the entire meal out of that pan from boiling the pasta to frying the scallopini to building the Alfredo sauce and combining.

Very handy & useful appliance for the $40 my wife has in it.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

I never really used them - rather looked down on them to a degree to be completely honest. It was my wife who was in the habit. I scoffed at the first one that came home but have grown to appreciate their usefulness. Every young person starting out should have one - highly portable and one can cook from any wall plug. I cooked the entire meal out of that pan from boiling the pasta to frying the scallopini to building the Alfredo sauce and combining.

Very handy & useful appliance for the $40 my wife has in it.

There is another appliance that can be quite useful, specially for grilling if one wants to know the internal temperature of steaks (chicken, tuna, and so on). I have the the Ninja Foodi XL Grill. There are other models, but this one is more compact than the rest, and has enough room for grilling for two or three people. One can grill, bake, roast, air-crisp, and dehydrate small quantities or low volumes of foods. I grill a couple of steaks using the meat thermometer and the preset internal temperatures (rare, medium rare, medium, medium rare, medium well, etc.). I prefer the medium-well internal temperature of 140˚ F, and when the right internal temperature is reached, the digital display tells to get the food out and let it rest for a fe minutes before serving. But one can let it rest inside if that's what one wants.

One can also use the manual grilling like when grilling or baking on a regular BBQ grill (using a thermometer for internal temperatures), but the preset and automatic temperatures are quite handy, since I don't have to open the lid to check internal temperatures.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

There is another appliance that can be quite useful, specially for grilling if one wants to know the internal temperature of steaks (chicken, tuna, and so on). I have the the Ninja Foodi XL Grill. There are other models, but this one is more compact than the rest, and has enough room for grilling for two or three people. One can grill, bake, roast, air-crisp, and dehydrate small quantities or low volumes of foods. I grill a couple of steaks using the meat thermometer and the preset internal temperatures (rare, medium rare, medium, medium rare, medium well, etc.). I prefer the medium-well internal temperature of 140˚ F, and when the right internal temperature is reached, the digital display tells to get the food out and let it rest for a fe minutes before serving. But one can let it rest inside if that's what one wants.

One can also use the manual grilling like when grilling or baking on a regular BBQ grill (using a thermometer for internal temperatures), but the preset and automatic temperatures are quite handy, since I don't have to open the lid to check internal temperatures.

I’ve never used one. It looks like a good piece of kit however. I like the grill to temperature function. I bet that is really handy to a lot of folks I wonder if they will release a version that grills from both sides … like a panini press.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

My wife made saag aloo for dinner last night and it was delicious after a stressful afternoon.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

I’ve never used one. It looks like a good piece of kit however. I like the grill to temperature function. I bet that is really handy to a lot of folks I wonder if they will release a version that grills from both sides … like a panini press.

Yes, all this one does is to tell the user to flip the steaks over on a digital screen. It also makes sounds to alert the user to place the steaks on the grill after a grill preheating session, to flip-over the steaks or food, to get the food and let it rest for a few minutes. If I well remember it is 8-12 minutes. As long as you used the "preset functions" and use the digital thermometer (inserted in the thickest area of the food, all the notices appear on the screen, and at the same time it will make sounds to alert you. It is much like a very small convection oven with one heating element and air circulating fan on the lid. The grill or rack itself does not have a heating element; it's heated by fan and the heating element in the lid.

The Panini Press is similar to the "George Foreman" grill except that the latter is mainly used for grilling at high temperatures (searing and so on), or for grilling foods like hamburgers, etc., while the Panini is about perfect for sandwiches as it does not burn or overheat the bread and even grilling. The George Foreman grill does not have a thermometer, so I not longer use it.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

My folks took the family out to the boys favorite pizza place on the east side of the mountains. Always a pleaser and I didn’t have to cook or do dishes