Woo-hoo! Sushi King ROOLZ!

Glad it's finally getting some Dap. Yeah, it's in a strip mall, and yeah, it's next to the DMV, but they whip up some mean sushi...

Does Zagat (membership? we don't need no stinking membership!) mention anything about the current proliferation of duck fries? Not these duck fries. Theseduck fries.

jl - that was really scary!!

When I was a bachelor, I invented a dish I called Chicken Cordon Queso.

(I believe I may have invented the concept of "fusion".)

Rosebud, I envy those who are only scared by the Other Duck Fries.

Look, I'm all for goose noodling and foie gras and veal and stuff. But knacking off a duck's "fries" might even be going to far for me. I have this horrific vision of ducks running around on the "fries" farm quacking at the octave range of a canary.

read ur review on the riptide the other day. i live in fells point, so i decided to stop in and check it out. the place is a complete dump. i luv hole-in the-wall bars, but this place is a disaster. myself and a friend got there around 6:30 pm. the staff was still setting up the bar. they acted surprised that we showed up and wanted a drink and a menu. before we even ordered, the manger/owner (not sure exactly who she was) came in to the bar and verbally degraded the two bartenders about not knowing the specials for the evening. i decided not to order food but my friend ordered a salad with seared tuna. she got the salad and the tuna was totally cooked through. she asked for it rare. the cucumbers and the tomatos were almost rotten. also, they put the wrong salad dressing on. i am not someone who typically returns dishes, but the fact that they screwed up a simple salad made me mad.plus, i was the one who suggested checking the riptide out. the bartender was nice and didn't charge us for the salad and offered us a round of drinks. we declined and went to the waterfront where we know the food is consistent. to top it off, when we were leaving, someone from the kitchen came out yelling at the bartender. also, a couple at the bar had ordered a chicken sandwich and a veggie burger. they were waiting for it for about 45 minutes and still had not received it while we were on our way out. the place was empty, so they can't claim the crowd was jamming up the kitchen. to sum it up. the place is a complete disaster. i presume it will be there for approximately 4-5 months before it goes under. obviously, the wallet was tight from th beginning, as u can tell by the infrstaructure of the place. just a heads up. don't go there.

I have mixed emotions about seing Samos so highly ranked. They certainly deserve the praise, but now i'll have to go there at 8 in the morning if I want a table.

jl, I'm betting much of the really good beef you've ever eaten has come from steers, not from bulls.

Bucky -- you may be right, but I'm betting that jl has never had bull fries.

Steers aren't bulls? Gulp. So where do rocky mountain oysters come from (no pun intended)?

hmpstd - I could ship him an order of authentic Rocky Mountain oysters (he would have to nuke them, because they aren't good cold...well, I mean, they are worse cold...) if he promised to write a Shllow Thought about the experience. (Including pictures...)

Or, if the Sandbox had a summer picnic, I could probably arrange for a larger shipment.

Steers used to be bulls. Thus, Rocky Mountain Oysters.

Oh my, one does learn things in this sandbox doesn't one?
I'll write a stw about anything, certainly that much is clear. But nuked ... um ... num-nums? Wouldn't they be better grilled?

jl - I'll send them to you cooked. (And they are deep-fried, or at least that's the only way I've ever seen them cooked.) You would have to nuke them just to heat them up.

Or...I suppose I could send them to you raw. But wouldn't that be Rocky Mountain Sashimi?

GACK!

Bucky; Iff the "oysters" are cold do they discount for shrinkage? (Sorry it was there.)

Hubby just read this over my shoulder and winced and left the room.

Sorry Have to submit this!!!

An American touring Spain stopped at a local restaurant following a day of sightseeing. While sipping his sangria, he noticed a sizzling, scrumptious looking platter being served at the next table. Not only did it look good, the smell was wonderful. He asked the waiter, "What is that you just served?"

The waiter replied, "Ah senor, you have excellent taste! Those are bull’s testicles from the bull fight this morning. A delicacy!"

The American, though momentarily daunted, said, "What the hell, I'm on vacation! Bring me an order!" The waiter replied, "I am so sorry senor. There is only one serving per day because there is only one bull fight each morning. If you come early tomorrow and place your order, we will be sure to save you this delicacy!"

The next morning, the American returned, placed his order, and then that evening he was served the one and only special delicacy of the day. After a few bites, and inspecting the contents of his platter, he called to the waiter and said, "These are delicious, but they are much, much smaller than the ones I saw you serve yesterday!"

The waiter shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Si senor. Sometimes the bull wins."

mdlrvmuncher - do I spy another Seinfeld fan?

To be honest, I've never seen them except for 1) freshly "harvested" and 2) already cooked up. That is to say, I've never seen them presented for sale.

EL: apologies are due you. This started out to be such a newsy topic on Zagat, with such noble journalistic intention.

Shrinkage. Some where there is a bull saying: "I was in the pool! I was in the pool!)

Bucky, fried things just don't nuke well.

I'd volunteer to fry them properly, except that I haven't mastered frying. If it isn't an insect or an eyeball, I'll cheerfully try it once. Twice if I wasn't paying attention.

Hue: that's a good one. I'm stealing it frto use next time I go to a Rockies game and my friend Paco buys his usual order of RMO's.

RoCK: you, too? There are so many of us, even though it's in what? The 1,000th cycle of reruns?

Lissa: You are correct. I tried to nuke a couple left-over chicken handles the other night and they weren't good. I should have just eaten them cold. (By the way...I laughed at "Whole Paycheck." I'm stealing that one, too.)

Bucky: you accused me of perpetuating your random post about Rocky Mountain oysters a long time ago (in blogosphere time). Now the subject has resurfaced and this time I had nothing to do with it.

And, I might add, now you're suggesting the RMO are not tasty even when freshly deep-fried - and much less so reheated in the microwave.

Thanks, Hue. I can't wait to show this to the wincing Hubby tonight...

Carol...acknowledged, you had nothing to do with this one. And we should stop right now. It's gone on far too long.

Truth: I'd have to be on the verge of starving death to eat a RMO and even then I'd probably still pause and consider if there was any possibility of holding out one more day.

Bucky, the "Whole Paycheck" thing isn't mine. I can't remember when I first heard it. At least 10 years ago in Michigan, I think.

They do carry skyr, though. Lovely, tasty skyr.

Now I'm hungry.

Lissa - OK, I'll bite. What is "skyr"?

(Is everyone in the Sandbox laughing at me now?)

Bucky: Skyr is some sort of vodka, I think. Now everyone in the Sandbox is laughing at me, too.

No, Skyr is a type of yogurt. I believe it is from Iceland.

Oh what am idiot I am - Whole Foods doesn't sell alcohol even if Skyr is alcohol, which I'm now thinking it isn't.

I googled it up later and it is, indeed, yogurt. Although, now that Carol mentions it, it sounds like a vodka, too.

I just thought Lissa might be sending me on a more sophisticated version of a snipe hunt.

Skyr is technically a cheese, as it needs rennet to be made, not yogurt, but it is closer to a thick, Greek yogurt in taste and consistancy than to, say, cheddar. And, yes, RoCK, it is from Iceland. And tasty.

There is a vodka with a name close to that, I think. I'm thinking that mixing the two would not be a good thing.

I believe the vodka is named Skyy. Not sure, since I prefer bourbon.

And there is a place in Scotland called Skye.

The vodka you guys are thinking of is "Skye".

Actually, it's SKYY Vodka, made in San Jose, California.

Vodka and yogurt. No.

PCB Rob - you have supremely good taste. Do you have a favorite bourbon?

Lissa - how is Skyr served? Does one cook with it or serve it with crackers or as a dip or what?

Why thank you Bourbon Girl! I have a couple favorites actually. Woodford Reserve and Maker's Mark. I'm a Maker's Mark Ambassador and my barrel matures this fall. Not sure if I want to make the 11-hour drive to Loretto to buy my two bottles though.

How about you Bourbon Girl? I see you mention Maker's now and then in your posts, is that yours?

I've made the pilgrimage to Loretto to take the Maker's Mark tour. My hand dipped bottle is on my china cabinet...yes I'm that tacky.

Oh, for those who wish to take an actual pilgrimage, there is monestary not too far from Loretto. The Gethsamane Monks there make really good fruitcake and fudge, both of which include bourbon. They also make really bad cheese. Fortunately, they don't waste any bourbon on their fromage.

As to favortie bourbons, give Basil Hayden a try. It has a lower alcohal content, so I think the flavors are able to come out, particularly the pepper. Also, because of the lower proof, I'm less likely to want to mix it.

Bourbon Girl, I generally just eat it out of the container. Here it comes in single serving tubs with their own collapsable spoon. Some tubs are vanilla, strawberry or blueberry.

I don't see any reason it couldn't be used like Fage-type yogurt or laban in recipes, though. The consistancy and taste is similar, although it might act differently if you heat it since Fage and laban are full fat, and skyr is low fat (doesn't taste it, though).

Robs - I'm an Ambassador too! Don't you love the cute little things they send in the mail? I need to check when my barrel matures..... I wouldn't mind the pilgrimage at all, esp. if there is monk-made bourbon fudge nearby.

I will try something else if there is no Makers around (Woodford Reserve, Knob Creek), but if I have a choice I'm a Maker's Mark girl all the way. I sampled a bourbon once that I liked a lot, second to Maker's, but if I recall it was pretty expensive for regular drinking. The bottle looks like a grenade with a horse on top. Blanton's maybe?

Lissa - that sounds like yogurt to me.

Bourbon Girl, yes, it does sound like yogurt. Tastes like it, too. Technically, skyr isn't yogurt because it uses rennet, but, hey, who gets technical over tasty dairy products? Ok, because most of Europe.

Bucky wrote: I googled it up later and it is, indeed, yogurt. Although, now that Carol mentions it, it sounds like a vodka, too.

Lissa wrote: Skyr is technically a cheese

Rob, Hal and hmpstd wrote that Skyy (or Skye) is a type of vodka.

I stand corrected. Anyway, I can't tell good vodka from bad.

Carol you are not the only one. I am not a fan of vodka.

I was horrified when my sixty-something year old parents recently announced out of the blue that they were into flavored vodkas.

Even worse, my dad, who is a premium scotch drinker, swears he can't tell the difference with the vodkas so he buys the cheap stuff.

Bucky -- at the risk of reviving the topic, I came across an article in today's New York Times about the 18th annual International Comstock Mountain Oyster Fry, complete with a slide show, no less.

Thanks, hmpstd.

The article points out The tradition in Nevada is strongly associated with the Basque sheepherders who came to Nevada in significant numbers in the late 19th century.

In the part of the Colorado where I grew up, oysters "harvested" from sheep were, in fact, more common than those from cattle and there was a significant Basque community there. This was before restaurants caught on and began serving them as, first, a novelty and, later a delicacy.

They pickle the sheeps', erm, oysters in whey in Iceland.

In Iceland, what do they say Little Bo Peep was eating?

Little Bo Peep wouldn't have lasted 15 min. herding sheep in Iceland.

Whey is the traditional and best substance to encourage pickling, i.e., ;lactofermetation. Natural pickling is done in a culture of lactobacilli which love lactose, which is in ... whey.

You know curds and whey sounds disgusting, that's just curdled milk.