If you could get just one restaurant recipe which would it be?

The recipe for Pamela's (Pittsburgh) crepe like pancakes

How to make the one "all the way" hotdog from the Riverview East in Elmwood Park NJ.
What king of bun
What kind of dog
How to make the chili sauce
What are the other condiments?

The recipe for Milo's hamburger sauce.  My 29-year quest continues.

http://www.miloshamburgers.com/

The barbecue sauce from the long closed Stern's BBQ in Culver City.

Can I have two?

Prince's Hot Chicken.
 
cy

Mellow - Could you describe the sauce.

None. If I can taste it I can make it.

Michael..Michael...Michael...Ok..Please give us the recipe for say....The Olive Garden's salad dressing..Simplistic as it might seem, it's very hard to duplicate.  Now, I'm assume you have been to an Olive Garden once or twice in your life?  Or, are they beneath you?

Laugh all you want oh naysayers..Darden is one of the few stablized common stocks in the market today and OG is the primary reason for it.  Lots of people are still dining there..Record sales continue...I love their salad..hate the bread sticks..The food is not bad at all.  I can always find a decent meal there.      

It's interesting that you say you can make anything once you've tried it.  I've said it a time or two myself, but I've been humbled in several instances so I no longer say it...But, it's good to know we have a "go to source" in you, Michael..So, I'm all ears.

Oh, don't bother going on the net and using that copycat recipe site.  Been there and done that..The recipe is not the same.
 
You get my vote for "King of All Ball Busters!"  I mean that in a good way..Seriously.

Shanghai Jimmy's Chili Rice. There is a thread here about it. BornInOKC and I are close I think.
Joe

So where is Shanghai Jimmy's?  Tell us somehting about the rice please..Thanks...

Hey Ben, I thought I had you vote for "King of All Ball Busters!"  I guess I'll have to campaign harder.
 
I would go for Grandama Fencz's Hungarian sauce from Charlie's Pool Room

The Turtle Soup Recipe from Bookbinder's in Philly. First had it in 1956 - Still remember the taste!

Aurelio's Pizza, Homewood Ill,  thin crust dough and ingredients

I've never been to an Olive Garden. It's not that it's beneath me, it's merely that I've never seen any need to go to a pseudo Italian restaurant.

ok Michael, maybe you can tell me how to make this dish -

Years ago there was a restaurant in NOLA called Roccaforte's who made "crab bisque,"  but wasn't what I'd consider a true bisque as the base didn't seem to made with cream or milk, but had more of a broth consistency, tinged red(crab fat, paprika, small amount of tomato?)  It was full of crab meat, and served over rice, and had the most intense flavor.  I'm guessing they made a stock from the crab shells.  Is this close to anything you might have a recipe, or made before? 

I'm disappointed.  Hey, you've never been to an Olive Garden.  I can respect that.  Let me see if I can come up with another long time recipe wish..I'll get back to you.

Belle, let's hope Michael can help you with your recipe.  But, I see you did not give him a specific name of the restaurant?   Sorry - I see you did. 

BelleReve


ok Michael, maybe you can tell me how to make this dish -

Years ago there was a restaurant in NOLA called Roccaforte's who made "crab bisque,"  but wasn't what I'd consider a true bisque as the base didn't seem to made with cream or milk, but had more of a broth consistency, tinged red(crab fat, paprika, small amount of tomato?)  It was full of crab meat, and served over rice, and had the most intense flavor.  I'm guessing they made a stock from the crab shells.  Is this close to anything you might have a recipe, or made before? 

I'm afraid I can't help you. I've never eaten there, and so I've never tasted the dish you describe.

Baah Ben


I'm disappointed.  Hey, you've never been to an Olive Garden.  I can respect that.  Let me see if I can come up with another long time recipe wish..I'll get back to you.

Belle, let's hope Michael can help you with your recipe.  But, I see you did not give him a specific name of the restaurant?     

I'm not some sort of prestidigitator. If I've not eaten it there's no way I can duplicate it, nor would I want to try.
 
By the way, she did name the restaurant -- Roccaforte's.

Oops..Sorry.  Of course, if you haven't been there you can give the recipe.  Understood. 

I wonder how Chef Boyardee makes it's mind blowing Spaghetti O's, I know they start with shoe scrapings....!

Baah Ben


Mellow - Could you describe the sauce.

Baah Ben, Milo's sauce is brown, served warm, and has a combination chili / Worcestershire flavor.  It's ladled generously over the burger patties before they're added to the buns and topped with coarsely chopped onions and dill chips.  No mayo, mustard or anything else.
 
That sauce is singly responsible for the regional success of that chain, because the burger patties themselves aren't outstanding.  People go in for the sauce.  In fact, for years they refused to serve ketchup for your fries, offering only the burger sauce.  That was fine with me.  They now have ketchup and I still dip my fries in the burger sauce!

chewingthefat


I wonder how Chef Boyardee makes it's mind blowing Spaghetti O's, I know they start with shoe scrapings....!

Ah, the Chef Boyardee secret for SpaghettiOs.  Are you really ready for it? If you are, here it is (if you're not really ready, close your eyes):
 
Chef Boyardee doesn't make SpaghettiOs. Campbells's makes SpaghettiOs.

BB - The Half Moon bar/Roccaforte's Fisherman's Wharf were  landmarks in the Irish Channel, but closed several years ago.  In the movie - Ray - there 's an exterior shot of the building with the original signs- but not sure if they filmed inside, though.

Michael - thanks anyway - thought what I described might be a dish know by another name. 

There is a part of me that would give a response similar to Michael's, but that is because in all modesty, I think I know what I'm doing. I've been doing this all my life.

Many of my posted photos and meals are based on and very close to what I have had elsewhere. This site has always inspired me to try to make what has been discussed by the many members here.
I feel that I am like the piano player who says "If you hum a few bars, I can fake it.."

That said, and considering another topic, I would love the recipe from Claudia Saunder's place. Really. Or Popeye's...

One of my proudest recipe duplications was when I figured out how to make my own version of a bolognese sauce that I loved as a kid at Giambelli's in NYC.  The secret ingredient was juniper berries.

One of my favorite recipes is when I found out how to make the baked beans that I loved at Horn & Hardart.  I have posted the recipe from their cookbook in the past. All it was missing was the little brown crock that they came in.

mark

mark, you might be in for a treat. I read today that the Country Squire in Killingworth is going to reopen. I'd be willing to drive from Ohio to Connecticut for a another meal there. I used to deliver meat to the Country Squire for my father back in the very early '50s, and we used to dine there several times a year into the '60s.

Foodbme


The Turtle Soup Recipe from Bookbinder's in Philly. First had it in 1956 - Still remember the taste!

It has been a while for me too. I spent at least 30 nights over a year's time in Philly back in 1971 managing an architectural project in Conshohocken and had the turtle soup at Bookbinder's as well as similar at several other restaurants in the area. It seemed to be an area specialty called Snapper soup on the menu. Is that still so?

DogDaddy - The H&H baked bean recipe was actually published many, many years ago.  So, is that the one you are referring to?

The best baked beans I have ever had...Anyway, I happen to remember the recipe being so unusually basic with few ingredients.  Nothing like I imagined. The bacon and the rendered bacon fat gave the beans all their flavor.  

So, you came up with your own? If my memory serves me right, there was a lot of dry mustard, tomato juice, molasses, bacon, and not that much more.  There was no catsup.  But, using those pea beans was the killer.  I remember the strong smell of that dry mustard and the molasses forming this dark brown liquid and the beans and bacon floating...

It started out very watery.  I had to add boiling water several times as they dried out during the cooking process.  Sort of all coming back to me know..This is 25 years ago!

I tried the recipe several times, but finally gave up.  I could never get the navy pea beans cooked like those at the Automat.  I tried steaming them, pressure cooking them, soaking them over night..whatever.  They were always tough, mnever cooked through or the skins would fall off.  Finally, I just gave up. 

Boy, if you have the secret to doing this the right way, I'd welcome it. 

I have been to Bologna and had the sauce there made with wild boar meat.  Good, but believe it or not I had the best version (I, too love this dish) in Sedona, AZ.  There is a fantastic Italian restaurant there, of all places.  Dahl and Diluca.  I wonder if it is still as good as it was?  We ate there twice in three nights.

The house salad dressing at Milleridge Inn in Hicksville, LI NY. 

Michael Hoffman

chewingthefat


I wonder how Chef Boyardee makes it's mind blowing Spaghetti O's, I know they start with shoe scrapings....!

Ah, the Chef Boyardee secret for SpaghettiOs.  Are you really ready for it? If you are, here it is (if you're not really ready, close your eyes):
 
Chef Boyardee doesn't make SpaghettiOs. Campbells's makes SpaghettiOs.

 
And I think their secret ingredient is sugar, sugar, and then a little more sugar.  That sauce makes me gag.

From a current restaurant I'd love the recipe for the corn chowder at The Ivy in Los Angeles.

It's also served at Bamboo in West Los Angeles.

I've Googled it and it's no where to be found.

Looks like a bowl of milk with corn kernals.  Almost the same consistance which maybe makes it corn soup.

Whatever... it's heaven in a bowl.