So it wasn’t a supersized venti after all …
J and I tried a new restaurant for dinner yesterday. It was a buffet style all you can eat Chinese restaurant.
They had an wide assortment of Chinese dishes, seafood and dessert to choose from. With over 80 different dishes, it’s probably one of the biggest buffets we have been to. Fried noodles, Coconut shrimp, Honey Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Beef with green peppers, Stir Fried green beans etc. .. they were De-Li-Cious!
The steamed crab was one of the most popular dishes and the moment the cook brought it out and placed in inside the warming tray, you could just see the diners flock to it like vultures (with an almost riot-like pushing and shoving to get to the front of the line). It took just a couple of minutes from the time the cook came out, placed it on the warming tray, till it was gone. Those who didn’t get it, waited around the tray till the cook came out with his next batch and they were prepared to wait for a long time, selfishly pilling up their plates when it did come.
The problem with buffets is that you tend to eat too much — even if one promised not to. At the end of the dinner, I did get a stomach ache from eating too much. It was my own doing, but how could I resist the temptation of so many dishes and delicious food around me and not trying them. As usual, J was the sensible one and she knew when to stop when she was full. We ended up spending too much time at the restaurant and missed the movie (Wild Hogs) that we were supposed to see by about 20 minutes.
Solution: Never go to a buffet again.
If you’ve ever wondered why the dishes you get in Chinese restaurants are different from your attempts at home, the answer could well be: velveting.
Sounds odd, doesn’t it? But velveting is just a method of marinating and pre-cooking the meat to make it fluffy and tender prior to incorporating it into the dish. The wonderful thing about this, of course, is that it can be done in advance, thus reducing that frantic rushing around the kitchen that always happens when you try to cook more than one Chinese dish at a time.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1 lb boneless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg white
1 tbl cornstarch
1 tbl oil
1 tbl rice wine or dry sherry
2 cups oil for frying
Remove any skin from the chicken and cut it into whatever sized pieces the recipe for your final dish calls for (shreds, slices, cubes, etc.). Put the chicken into a mixing bowl, then add the salt and rice wine and stir.
Beat the egg white - it should not be frothy (this could cause the coating to puff and disintegrate. Add the egg white to the chicken, sprinkle in the cornstarch, and mix well.
Add the tablespoon of oil and stir until smooth. Place the bowl in the fridge and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes, so the coating has time to adhere to the meat.
Heat 2 cups of oil in a wok or heavy pan until it is warm, about 275°, or until it foams a cube of bread very slowly. Give the coated chicken a quick stir and scatter in the pieces. Quickly (but gently) stir them to separate them. You should use chopsticks or a wooden spoon for this - a fork would damage the coating. The oil should cover every piece.
If the chicken begins to sizzle, lower the heat immediately; hot oil will make velveted chicken hard and yellow.
Once all the meat has turned white, which only takes about 30 to 45 seconds, immediately strain the chicken, which is now velveted and ready to be stir fried. This can be done some time in advance, and just kept in a covered dish until you’re ready to use it. One word of warning, though: don’t put velveted chicken into the fridge! It will become hard: not the effect we are looking for!
(Source: Mediadrome)
I have to admit, I love McDonald’s but over the years, I have seen several changes that just don’t make sense. The very business model/ concept (i.e. that it is fast food and cheap) that made them successful during the yesteryears is now thrown out the window . At present, it is far from fast and not at all cheap! One has to wonder why they are detracting from that proven business concept.
I am baffled how I can actually eat at Pizza Hut or another restaurant for a cheaper price than I can order a meal for two at McDonald’s. It cost me about $18 the last time I went to get a meal for both of us there and I wasn’t even full (compared with Pizza Hut costing about $12 for a supreme pizza, salad, 2 drinks with unlimited refills and 8 breadsticks).
Some of the changes I question:
- Gone are the premade burgers, nuggets, fries and other foods - now it is all made to order.
Why do they even do that?… putting it under a hot/ warm light (as they did in the past) and separating each item in specific product trays would just be equally as good. It is not as if we are getting hot burgers now — I don’t see the difference from then till now… the burgers are equally as flat, fries are equally as soggy, temperature of the food is still the same. So what’s the point of the made to order concept? It just wastes serving time. - They are cutting down on cashiers and doing the “taking 3-4 orders at the same time per cashier” concept. Not sure the reasoning behind that one. This may be one of those brilliant ideas they got from an expensive hired consultant but in reality, it doesn’t work… it takes more time for one cashier to fulfill 3-4 orders at the same time then it is to have one cashier do one at a time. Also, the amount of messed up orders & mistakes increases. I have noticed that the cashiers have trouble juggling orders and they tend to wait for one order to be fulfilled (and to do one at a time) than doing them all at the same time — which defeats the whole purpose of the new ordering process.
- They have tried (and done away with) the ordering procedure of having one person ring up the order and multiple people fulfilling it. I believe that this one worked better than the ordering procedure of “taking 3-4 orders at the same time per cashier”. It works very well at Wendy’s.
- Why bring back the boxed burger (for the quarter pounders and big macs) when wrapping it up is cheaper? Spend your costs on other things like improving productivity, the ordering system and maybe hiring more staff.
- Why reduce the size of your fruit and walnut salad and deserts while not reducing the price by substantial amounts or price it in proportion to the amount given. Are you trying to pull a fast one on us and think we won’t notice?
With McDonald’s being a franchise, I am not sure how much the head office governs its individual franchisees with its business process and operations. But they better get their act straight; you can only live on your name for so long. When people start to get sick of the increasing prices, bad service and incompetent staff… they are just going to take their money elsewhere regardless of the fancy sponsorships, happy meals or promotional offers you do.
There is always got to be a first for everything. Spent the later half of last night making sausages for a church function. 250 lbs of minced meat filled with garlic, hot paprika and salt was mixed (by hand) with the help of 4 other guys (including me). We then put the mix into a 70 year old sausage maker in 10 pound increments which extruded the mix into the skin. Oh yeah, did it smell good! One bad thing came out of it, I don’t think I will eat sausages for a while as to what the the sausage mix is contained in i.e. the skin. It is one of those things that I knew but really didn’t want to hear about it nor did I want to look at it. I did however, take home 3 lbs of sausage meat that I am going to make into burger patties to put on my grill. Yummo!
Saw this on The Food Network and considering that J’s parents live near Philadelphia - I might just have to take a trip to the famous 76 year old establishment called Pat’s King of the Steaks. Being a man that just loves his cheesesteaks - I think I’ll be in heaven - or almost anyway.
Say it and eat creatively! Create your own “catchy” Ketchup message.
This is for real and not just a humorous graphic. Heinz is now offering customized mustard and ketchup bottles for all occasions i.e. anniversaries, weddings, graduations etc. A 14 oz. customized glass/ squeeze bottle start at $6 a piece.
Maybe they might come up with “Open Source” Ketchup next?
As you might have already known, I am a big spicy food eater and curry lover. I did come across a recipe on Max Magnus Sexy Illustrated Adventures called Mangoraja, a mango based curry. It seems unbelievably easy to make and putting some meat/ vegetables in there, my mouth is just watering thinking about it. “Yummo” as Rachael Ray would call it.
While you are at it, check out his blog as well, it is filled with interesting artwork and sculptures by the visionary artist Max Magnus Norman himself.
Being a guy that loves his food spicy and literally can’t live without Hot Sauces, I have finally found THE Hot Sauce for the ages. I can’t honestly say that I have found the “Holy Grail” of sauces but I would have to say that it ranks as my all time number one (for now). I was “introduced” to this sauce at our favorite Mexican restaurant a little less than a year ago and haven’t found one like it ever since. The sauce is called El Yucateco Salsa Picante Red”.
Made by a Mexican company called El Yucateco, it is made from blend of habanero chillies and red tomatoes with fine spices and seasonings. This sauce certainly packs the punch - it is on the higher spicier edge, yet still very tasty. Now I must state that my “threshold” for heat may be a little different from the average person due to my lifetime of eating chilies and hot peppers - so taste it at your expense as I am not responsible for any “side/after effects”. Continue Reading »
Here is a website link to Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels in Cleveland … Some very good recipes and restaurants recommended! I may be a little biased being living near Cleveland. But it does show that Cleveland is not just good for its Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame ;-) .
“Rachael is in Cleveland checking out all that this capital city has to offer. She starts off her trip at Touch Supper Club, a lively spot with great food upstairs and a rockin’ dance lounge and bar downstairs. Then, she’ll head east of the Cuyahoga River to check out Fire, where she samples Cleveland’s tastiest Caesar salad. Rachael’s next stop is Fat Fish Blue, a downtown restaurant that celebrates Mardi Gras every day of the year. After that, Rachael stops by Nighttown for some great live jazz and delicious food. “
