[Templar]

Are they just covered in hot sauce or is it some other kind of mixture? If it was just Frank's then that sounds good, but some of those mixtures are loaded with sugar.

Still not bad for a cheat meal though. My cheats are much worse, lol.

[kingofthedemo]

Originally Posted by Templar

My cheats are much worse, lol.

Mine are too, if I'm going to cheat it's usually a really high calorie meal with a big dessert, I'm pretty extreme with my diet, so when I get a cheat, I really get the cravings out of my system by allowing myself to have carte blanche with the bad stuff, for one day.

[US///M3]

Originally Posted by Litos

I had a cheat meal last night...

buddy came over, so I had the wife make some Franks Red Hot Wings with mashed potatoes.

the mashed potatoes was pretty much the only thing that ruined it, and I didn't even eat that much of it...

oh, and she left the skin on the chicken, which was bad

but shiiiiiiit, I KNOW it could have been worse....I'm really starting to control myself.....

I even gave my buddy two new unopened cans of Pringles last night to take outta my house....

No mashed potatoes for me, just the Buffalo wings + some cerveza will do.

[i dunno]

Originally Posted by RR-NYC

Give me an example of a one star with better food than a three star

I know in NY, I would take just about any two star over Daniel

I dunno how familiar you are with san Francisco restaurants, but I really enjoy la folie. I think their flavors are just as innovative and bold if not more so than French laundry. portions are pretty generous too. hakkasan is an unranked restaurant (but one star in London) that I think tastes better than fl too. I pay no attention to service so that might be why I might not care as much. its all about the flavor to me. i wouldn't say that any starred restaurant is bad, but i think there are many overrated ones. actually, benu (a 2 star) had some big fumbles when i ate there a couple years ago.

you might need a deeper grasp of Cantonese food to understand this, but in hong kong, lei garden and fook lam moon are also fantastic one star restaurants. impeccable execution on their classic dishes and thoughtful, creative flavors on their more modern interpretations. kau kee, on the bib gourmand list, also has incredibly delicious beef brisket noodles. even though it doesn't technically fall under fine dining, it definitely boasts more flavor than many fine dining establishments. ditto for chee kee, which probably has the best wonton noodles in the entire world.

[i dunno]

Originally Posted by BKap08

Here it is. Turned out really delicious and you could barely tell that there was no flour in it. Almond meal, baking soda, vanilla, dark chocolate chips, walnuts, the smallest amount of honey, egg, and coconut oil. Mix dry ingredients then stir in the wet ones and mix till smooth. Cook at 350 for 15 minutes and BAM! So good I recommend highly you guys should try it out.

wow those look really good

[Litos]

Originally Posted by Templar

Are they just covered in hot sauce

pretty much lol.

she bakes about 20 chicken drumlets for about 30 minutes (I dunno, I don't cook, she just tells me to come to the table when she's done).

after she pulls them from the oven, she peels as much skin off as she can.

after that, she tosses them in a salad bowl...

then she dumps Frank's Red Hot Sauce straight from the bottle on them and closes it up with the lid.

then she shakes all the shit up and there you go - Franks Red Hot Wings lol...

[BKap08]

litos those wings look pretty bomb but not crispy?! haha im just messing wings are always solid.

Making some baked pasta tonight with ground turkey, brown rice pasta, a little bit of ricotta cheese and some tomato basil marinara sauce. I usually add mushrooms, bell peppers, zuchinni, onions, and sometimes eggplant in there for some added nutrients. If you chop them small its a great dish to serve kids because you can sneak in vegetables. Ill post pics later!

[i dunno]

Originally Posted by BKap08

litos those wings look pretty bomb but not crispy?! haha im just messing wings are always solid.

Making some baked pasta tonight with ground turkey, brown rice pasta, a little bit of ricotta cheese and some tomato basil marinara sauce. I usually add mushrooms, bell peppers, zuchinni, onions, and sometimes eggplant in there for some added nutrients. If you chop them small its a great dish to serve kids because you can sneak in vegetables. Ill post pics later!

cool, I've heard of some good healthy alternatives to baked pasta casseroles like baked mac and cheese with cauliflower instead of mac.

[kingofthedemo]

Originally Posted by BKap08

litos those wings look pretty bomb but not crispy?! haha im just messing wings are always solid.

Making some baked pasta tonight with ground turkey, brown rice pasta, a little bit of ricotta cheese and some tomato basil marinara sauce. I usually add mushrooms, bell peppers, zuchinni, onions, and sometimes eggplant in there for some added nutrients. If you chop them small its a great dish to serve kids because you can sneak in vegetables. Ill post pics later!

That sounds good, post the pics!

[BKap08]

Originally Posted by i dunno

cool, I've heard of some good healthy alternatives to baked pasta casseroles like baked mac and cheese with cauliflower instead of mac.

Yeah ive heard of a few of those, Ive tried the 50/50 mixture for mashed potatoes and it was actually pretty good

Originally Posted by kingofthedemo

That sounds good, post the pics!

of course, currently in the process of cooking it in the oven. Will post pics within the hour

[BKap08]

Here it is! Looks like there's a lot of cheese but it's low fat skim mozzarella and I just avoided it. A really good meal on a cold day to fill you up without a lot of fat and brown rice pasta makes it super healthy

[kingofthedemo]

Originally Posted by BKap08

Here it is! Looks like there's a lot of cheese but it's low fat skim mozzarella and I just avoided it. A really good meal on a cold day to fill you up without a lot of fat and brown rice pasta makes it super healthy

That looks fire, I love lasagna! It's probably pretty heavy in the calorie department though. Any idea on the calorie count?

[BKap08]

Originally Posted by kingofthedemo

That looks fire, I love lasagna! It's probably pretty heavy in the calorie department though. Any idea on the calorie count?

To be honest I'm not 100% sure. It has a ton of vegetables in it. My mom is the one who gave me the pasta. I'll ask her what the nutrition facts are. Its a dense meal but if you just keep a smaller portion it's fire

[kingofthedemo]

Originally Posted by BKap08

To be honest I'm not 100% sure. It has a ton of vegetables in it. My mom is the one who gave me the pasta. I'll ask her what the nutrition facts are. Its a dense meal but if you just keep a smaller portion it's fire

I gotcha man, did you get the recipe from somewhere or make it up? I might be interested in making that sometime...

[BKap08]

Originally Posted by kingofthedemo

I gotcha man, did you get the recipe from somewhere or make it up? I might be interested in making that sometime...

my bros gf used to make a similar version with vodka sauce or a cream sauce and we decided to alter it and make it healthy, basically you cook the ingredients together(vegetables and meat) then boil the pasta, add everything to a big pot, stir in sauce and pour into a baking tray. Top with cheese or breadcrumbs if you want and bake it covered for 15 minutes and 5 uncovered

[kingofthedemo]

Originally Posted by BKap08

my bros gf used to make a similar version with vodka sauce or a cream sauce and we decided to alter it and make it healthy, basically you cook the ingredients together(vegetables and meat) then boil the pasta, add everything to a big pot, stir in sauce and pour into a baking tray. Top with cheese or breadcrumbs if you want and bake it covered for 15 minutes and 5 uncovered

Okay cool, lasagna is one of those things I always thought would be cool to make, but never have...

[BKap08]

Originally Posted by kingofthedemo

Okay cool, lasagna is one of those things I always thought would be cool to make, but never have...

yeah ive always wanted to make lasagna but it seems like a really lengthy process and ive never found a healthy brown rice pasta sheet that tastes good, the pasta i use tastes so good i cant even tell its made from brown rice

[NemesisX]

My waitress at Trulucks last night (no pictures, I've posted enough pictures of bernaise royale filets with mashed potatoes and crab cakes ) recognized me from having served me multiple times at Bartlett's in the past. She left Bartlett's 2 years ago but she had served me like 20 or 30 times overall so she still remembered me because I was "that guy" who dropped in frequently and always ordered the same thing (ribs and fries). I think that's when it hit me that I go to restaurants too often by about a factor of 10

Originally Posted by BKap08

Here it is! Looks like there's a lot of cheese but it's low fat skim mozzarella and I just avoided it. A really good meal on a cold day to fill you up without a lot of fat and brown rice pasta makes it super healthy

Man this looks like something I'd totally be willing to eat at home! Recipe? I've been itching to try a baked mac and cheese recipe because it seems fool proof to me and yet it also seems like it yields the best, most delicious results.

[BKap08]

Originally Posted by NemesisX

Man this looks like something I'd totally be willing to eat at home! Recipe? I've been itching to try a baked mac and cheese recipe because it seems fool proof to me and yet it also seems like it yields the best, most delicious results.

boil the pasta,
in the mean time chop up desired vegetables* and sautee until they get slightly soft.Add ground turkey/beef and cook. chop A LOT of garlic and add in with some salt and pepper.

Once the pasta is cooked al dente strain it and pour it in directly with the vegetables and meat mixture.

Spoon in however much pasta sauce you would like. I used about half of a bottle for a traditional baking tray. Mix in some ricotta cheese if you like(i didnt in this picture).

Finally pour into baking tray and top with shredded mozarella and/or breadcrumbs. Bake for 15 minutes covered and 5 uncovered.
Chop up some basil and sprinkle on top once its cooled. A meal that everyone will love. Im planning on trying it with some ravioli one of these days too!

*I used spinach, bell pepper, mushrooms, onions, and eggplant

[TrevorM3]

i need to learn how to cook

[RR-NYC]

Originally Posted by i dunno

I dunno how familiar you are with san Francisco restaurants, but I really enjoy la folie. I think their flavors are just as innovative and bold if not more so than French laundry. portions are pretty generous too. hakkasan is an unranked restaurant (but one star in London) that I think tastes better than fl too. I pay no attention to service so that might be why I might not care as much. its all about the flavor to me. i wouldn't say that any starred restaurant is bad, but i think there are many overrated ones. actually, benu (a 2 star) had some big fumbles when i ate there a couple years ago.

you might need a deeper grasp of Cantonese food to understand this, but in hong kong, lei garden and fook lam moon are also fantastic one star restaurants. impeccable execution on their classic dishes and thoughtful, creative flavors on their more modern interpretations. kau kee, on the bib gourmand list, also has incredibly delicious beef brisket noodles. even though it doesn't technically fall under fine dining, it definitely boasts more flavor than many fine dining establishments. ditto for chee kee, which probably has the best wonton noodles in the entire world.

Taste is very subjective which is why I rarely discuss the "best" restaurants. I know a lot of people that just don't get certain restaurants. For the general population of people that dine out, the Zagat guide provides a much better rating system across three categories and even sub categories.

In my opinion, the Michelin guide is still the most reliable guide to follow especially for diners but I will add that the US versions are more inconsistent than in Europe. To have a Michelin star is a huge accomplishment and to have three is exceptional. The original restaurant guides were based solely on food and have evolved to include "the quality of products, the mastering of flavors, mastering of cooking, personality of the cuisine, value for the money and the consistency of what the restaurant offers to its customers both throughout the menu and the year". This very much includes service. So if you don't care about service, the three stars become indistinguishable from one or two.

To answer your question: I have not been to The French Laundry but have been to La Folie. I thought it was excellent but I wouldn't put it anywhere near Per Se in NYC (I use Per Se since it's another Thomas Keller restaurant). In fact, while at Per Se, I had an interesting conversation with our server about this very topic.

There is a wide variance of food and service at the one star level. I think there is a clear line that distinguishes a one star to two.The two stars are a lot more refined as far as food and service. There are several two stars that make me wonder why they haven't received their third star. My guess is the consistency with a little bit of politics involved. At the three star level, with one exception, I couldn't say which one was better because they are all exceptional in their own way.

Having been to all the Michelin star restaurants in NYC, I would say that Daniel is proof of the politics. He is a wildly successful and well regarded chef and restauranteur. All his restaurants provide excellent dining experiences so its probably fitting that his flagship be ranked higher than his others but as a three star, the quality of the food was so far below the other three star restaurants in NYC that it ended up being a huge disappointment.

[Seminole]

Burma Superstar in San Fran. Probably some of the best food I've ever had, the tea leaf salad is amazing.