Accept an invitation for Thanksgiving and you figure you’re in the clear: no need to get up at 4 a.m. to wrestle a corpse-cold turkey out of a bathtub filled with ice and brine. Only you promised you’d bring something, and this is probably the one day of the year when you can't show up with some dusty bottle of cooked Cabernet from the corner market. So here, in convenient flow-chart format, a system for deciding that gnawing question: What to bring? READ MORE
Fried chicken and waffles, a soul food classic first popularized in the rural South, just couldn't be kept down on the farm. Over the decades it's migrated to urban climes north and west—like Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles (where chicken and waffles meets the club sandwich). And New York City, where Chowhounds have swapped tips on their favorite versions. Here's an alphabetical list.
1. AMY RUTH'S
113 W. 116th Street (between Lenox and Seventh avenues), Manhattan
212-280-8779
Fried or smothered chicken on a waffle—known here as the Rev. Al Sharpton—is a perennial favorite at this Harlem destination.
2. BACK FORTY
190 Avenue B (between E. 11th and 12th streets), Manhattan
212-388-1992
East Village brunchers rave about moist buttermilk fried chicken served atop a delicious waffle. READ MORE
Whether you've had the real deal in New Orleans and can't wait for your next trip, or like Chowhound letsindulge you want to help Louisiana expats feel at home here, finding proper muffuletta sandwiches in the Bay Area is challenging. READ MORE
How do you mince, smash, or purée garlic? While some Chowhounds simply use a knife and cutting board, others use specialized gadgets to get just the right results. CanadaGirl uses a garlic press to mince or mash—it works even with unpeeled cloves. Ditto greymalkin, who likes to crush a few cloves of garlic straight into a pan without dirtying a knife and board. For thin slices, escondido123 prefers a garlic mandoline, a tiny slicer designed just for garlic. And Becca Porter likes a simple gadget called a garlic twist, a hand garlic grinder with only two parts. She finds it gets much closer to a true mince than the garlic press—and it's harder to break! READ MORE
Foreign Cinema is on the short list of San Francisco restaurants with nearly year-round outdoor seating, which is especially nice at brunch. It's a popular meal at the Mission District restaurant (reservations are recommended). What's good? The slow-cooked brown-sugar bacon is amazing, tjinsf reports on Chowhound. Also the homey brandade gratin, French toast, and special brunch drinks. Any of the restaurant's egg dishes are great, vulber says. The Librarian agrees, citing the truffle omelet. And the chocolate pot de crème is incredible. READ MORE
The way to guarantee a Thanksgiving turkey with moist breast meat and lots of crisp skin is to spatchcock it. That means removing the backbone and cracking the breastbone so it roasts flat. TorontoJo notes on Chowhound that spatchcocking is a forgiving method, since it's hard to overcook the bird. And you can cook a turkey much faster than roasting the traditional way. Ask your butcher to spatchcock your turkey, or if you have heavy-duty kitchen shears or a sharp, heavy knife like a cleaver you can do it yourself (see these instructions with photos). READ MORE
James Oseland ate breakfast at the Pinecrest Diner in San Francisco, then showed up at the CHOW offices to talk about his new book for Saveur. (That's him getting a kiss from an old friend, CHOW's Jane Goldman.) Oseland is Saveur’s editor-in-chief, and the Pinecrest—that's a place where the short-order cook once shot the waitress after an argument over poached eggs. The food isn’t good, it’s not even bad in a cool way. But for Oseland, who haunted the Pinecrest 30 years ago when he lived in San Francisco, a kid into punk rock and art school, it’s not about good or bad. It’s about meaning.
Anaheim’s main attraction may be Disneyland, but the city has its fair share of food destinations that aren't in a theme park. Recently mayobanex discovered that Wok Coco, an Asian restaurant advertising Chinese, Thai, and Japanese food, has a hidden Indonesian menu. Request it when you arrive (don’t be afraid to ask for a translator). Recommended dishes include a rendang beef rich with spices and coconut milk, and the nasi bungkus, chicken, beef, egg, and vegetables wrapped in a banana leaf (pictured). Kangkung (water spinach) and a dish of potato, shrimp, and peteh (stink beans) were also tasty. READ MORE
Big portions, hand-rolled noodles, and Xinjiang Uighur specialties are the bottom line at Shandong Deluxe, a new restaurant in San Francisco's Parkside neighborhood. Chowhound soupçon recently spread the word that this restaurant serves a couple of Uighur standards, like da pan ji (big plate chicken) and ban mian (also known as lagman). The lagman noodles have a strong "Italian food" vibe, kairo says, no doubt because of the tomato-based sauce. They're served with lamb or beef. Go for the lamb, kairo says, and don't miss the pepper and cumin lamb skewers. The da pan ji is a must-try: Diced chicken on the bone, whole dried chiles, and peppercorns on a bed of thick wheat noodles add up to a dish that's spicy, sweet, and mildly numbing. Another dish featuring handmade noodles is the chao ma mian (pictured), loaded with shrimp, octopus, cuttlefish, pork, and cabbage in a mildly spicy broth. READ MORE
