What are you eating?

[toledobass]

Some real comfort food: angel hair pasta in white sauce (I think to be bechamel it has to have nutmeg — correct me if I'm wrong). Slightly more trouble to make but much more filling than tomato sauce.

Hmmmm...no nutmeg and it's on pasta?   Just call it balsamella and you get a lot more leeway.  Then dig in.

Allan

[SonicMan46]

Susan & I our currently on a 5-day trip to Memphis, TN - her first visit here (my second) - staying @ the famous Peabody Hotel (see the vacation thread for some more details on the hotel & some of the activities in this historic American musical city!):

First night, we ate at the Peabody's Chez Phillipe - yes, expensive, but beautiful setting & superb service - both started out w/ oysters on the half shelf - I had a wonderful Scottish salmon on a bed of 'lemon' spinach, and a wonderful tomato sauce that just went perfect w/ the fish - we both had the soufflé dessert which was lemon flavored w/ a reduced delicious berry sauce.

Second night, decided to eat on Beale Street at a place w/ some music - picked the King Palace Cafe - extensive menu and quite good - shared a cup of their famous gumbo (could have a large bowl for dinner); standard salad; main course was swordfish w/ rice & veggies - quite tasty but not great; music was 'jazzy' w/ a well-known local guitarist & keyboard player - highlight was that the guitarist called for some 'singers' from the audience (we were there early); my wife decided to go up there and sing Summertime (one of her specialties) - got plenty of claps, and even the next day when we were touring Graceland, a couple of people in the line w/ us who had heard her sing were quite complementary! 

Tonight, we did Memphis barbecue - what style to try!  I like 'dry-rubbed', so went to Charles Vergos' Rendezvous, a wonderfully atmospheric 'basement' (large!) restaurant just a half block from our hotel - the ribs were absolutely delicious!  The accompaniments included coleslaw & baked beans (w/ pieces of pork - could have had 4x the amount!)!

Well, a couple more days here - may need a 'follow-up' post - 

[Kullervo]

Hmmmm...no nutmeg and it's on pasta?   Just call it balsamella and you get a lot more leeway.  Then dig in.

Allan

Maybe next time I'll throw some parmesan in there and call it Mornay. Mmmmmm... 

[uffeviking]

What have I been eating? applies to this. The creative artist in me was fascinated by my empty plate, lovely colour combination and shapes. What was it I had?

[orbital]

some type of tomato salad?

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Me I've been having a lot of apples lately. 4-5 a day. It is the ideal time for my favorite apple variety. I don't know what it is called and I could not find a picture on the net. This variety has a sour tasting skin (red and green in color), and a semi-sweet, juicy and hard inside (green). They are only on the market for about 3 or so weeks, so I eat all that I can find 

[Bogey]

some type of tomato salad?

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Me I've been having a lot of apples lately. 4-5 a day. It is the ideal time for my favorite apple variety. I don't know what it is called and I could not find a picture on the net. This variety has a sour tasting skin (red and green in color), and a semi-sweet, juicy and hard inside (green). They are only on the market for about 3 or so weeks, so I eat all that I can find 

This page may interest you then Orbital....even has a forum.  I average 2-3 a day myself.
http://www.allaboutapples.com/index.htm

[SonicMan46]

Well, a few posts back, I mentioned our trip to Memphis - still eating well and just a couple of more recommendations for those who might be visiting this interesting city:

Sunday Champagne Brunch @ the Peabody Hotel - just $32; the usual breakfast/lunch offerings but just wonderful for this price - I'm not a huge brunch fan unless the offerings are quite varied; I invariably skip 'breakfast' type selections (although these were great here - including an omelet station) - I stuck w/ seafood (i.e. smoked fish, salmon, several baked fish selections), plus some excellent sushi offerings - believe that we did quite well w/ the price - just had some 'light' bar food for dinner! 

Carpriccio Grill - the same restaurant in the hotel which offered the brunch above; I decided to just 'eat in' for our last night - not a bad choice at all! Started w/ the clam appetizer perfectly steamed w/ a great sauce + Portuguese sausage (and some nice chunky bread for the wonderful sauce); main course was veal piccata w/ sautéed spinach - I adore veal!  This veal was superb, so I was quite pleased!

All around, Memphis is an outstanding city for eating w/ plenty of varied cuisines - we were not disappointed and just 'touched' the many culinary options in our short 5-nighter! 

[Lilas Pastia]

Allan, Corey: Béchamel is simple white sauce: salted butter, flour and milk. Quantities vary depending on the purpose. Typically, it's one tbsp each of butter and flour, with 1/4 cup of whole milk.

For a Fondue Parmesan, the béchamel must be very thick (double the butter and flour quantities). When done, add parmesan (50/50), eggs or egg yolks (one to a cup of sauce), line a buttered 'brownies' pan with the contents, refrigerate and cut into squares. Roll into whipped whites, coat with bread crumbs and deep fry: you get scrumptious 'fondues Parmesan'.
They can also be cooked in the oven  (at high heat). Serve on 'Boston' lettuce. Pinot Grigio is the natural mate with those 0:)

If the sauce is light, mix it with drained, chopped spinach, add a whole egg or two and cook in muffin shells:L sprinkle with Parmesan cheese when serving. Divine!

Adding nutmeg to the bechamel is a typically northern twist. Mandatory in belgian cuisine, often found in dutch or german dishes as well. From the southern climates, chopped fresh herbs are the norm. For the Fondue Parmesan: add no herbs or spice. For the spinach servings: nutmeg is mandatory,

From the USA  I strongly recommend a good helping of sharp cheddar; pour generously on cooked pasta, season with freshly ground black pepper. That one's a hit with kids !

[Kullervo]

Had the same thing for dinner tonight, but tried it with nutmeg this time. I thought it was going to be strange since I normally associate nutmeg with sweet things but it adds a nice depth of flavor. The cheddar idea sounds delicious — I can't believe I hadn't thought of that!

I should probably get some vegetables here before I die of scurvy.

[orbital]

This page may interest you then Orbital....even has a forum.  I average 2-3 a day myself.
http://www.allaboutapples.com/index.htm

Amazing site. I've gone through most of the varieties, but could not find the picture I'm looking for 

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Eating:

Only with aniseed instead of sesames.

[Sergeant Rock]

Watched the Good Eats egg episodes this morning. Had to have an egg and chives omelet for lunch (incorporating some of Alton Brown's suggestions):




Sarge

[Mark]

Crisps. Cheese and onion flavour.

[mn dave]

Starbucks Doubleshot Energy+Coffee

[Bogey]

About to get busy on a big plate of these:

[toledobass]

Funny, I just had a couple of those. Although mine were totally not authentic in any way.  For some reason I had a craving for some crappy taco bell style hard shell tacos but didn't want to eat taco bell, so I went to the market and got some hard shells, ground round, iceburg lettuce and some shredded chedder.

I sauteed the beef then simmered it in some tomatoes that I added some reconstituted ancho chiles then blended and an hour and a half later I have taco filling for the week!!  I have to say, they are some pretty good 'bad' tacos. 

Allan

[Lethevich]

http://fxcuisine.com/

This site is making me so hungry. I wonder if there is anything simple enough for me to try... err, probably not.

[Homo Aestheticus]

Small raw clams with  a little lemon juice...

Yum.

[SonicMan46]

Small raw clams with  a little lemon juice...

Yum.

GREAT! Another fan of raw shellfish - wife loves raw clams, but my preference are oysters on the half shell (and sushi of all types!) - 

[M forever]

M loves oysters, too. And Sushi. These are pretty much the only "luxury" food items I am prepared to pay good money for. I don't get why people pay a lot of money for caviar. I think it tastes good, but not as good as it is expensive.

[SonicMan46]

M loves oysters, too. And Sushi. These are pretty much the only "luxury" food items I am prepared to pay good money for. I don't get why people pay a lot of money for caviar. I think it tastes good, but not as good as it is expensive.

Hello M - appears that we could have some wonderful dinners together! 

Wife & I love caviar, too - use to buy the Caspian Sea offerings in the old days when one knew what was real - now just a mess and a 'dead' industry - but for our special occasions, we still get American, French, & South American caviars off the web @ decent prices! Dave