Hello and welcome fellow newbie!

Apart from a cheery hello all I was going to say is that I'd be sunk without the blender.  The "wise ones" may know better than me but I think it's a "must have item".

Cheers!

DeeDee

Sorry, but "beer" is too vague ...

What I mean is that Ale is wrong, Bitter is wrong, Stout is wrong but Lager is perfect.

Carlsberg is more perfect than anything else.

For a beer for people who don't drink beer try Lindemans Framboise ...

http://www.lindemans.be/html-uk/UKgeschiedenis.html

... the ladies LOVE it and it's often rated as one of the top fives drinks on the planet.? It's a wonderful drink.

:-)

DeeDee

Florida ... yikes .. run screaming.? They have good tho' expensive Chinese cooking (China Grill) but I never found any good Indian.

The real BIR-style food is in NYC.

An ultra-quick tour of New York City:

We have five Boroughs (if you lsiten to the last Beastie Boys CD you'll know that!)

1. Manhattan:
Tourist: The bit you know, visit and shop in, Times Square, Empire State, Ground Zero, East Village etc etc
BIR Rating: Generally pricey but there's definately good stuff there.

2. Bronx:
Tourist: The "scary" Black and Latino area from Kojak. Home of the New York Yankees and the Bronx Zoo.
BIR Rating: Some diamonds, lot of rough.

3. Statan Island:
Tourist: Isn't that the place where they used to dump all the trash? Yes.
BIR Rating: Oh, please!

4. Brooklyn:
Tourist: The above-road train track from The Warriors and The French Connection, Russians at Brighton Beach. Cooler than Manhattan.
BIR Rating: Better Pizza than Manhattan, but can't get close to Queens' curries.

5. Queens:
Tourist: Shea Stadium, La Guardia Airport, the big globe from Men In Black, where The Ramones flunked school.
BIR Rating: Aha! You have arrived! Look no further!

I'll do detailed reviews as we go along but that's the city in a nutshell ...

:-)

DeeDee

Stealing wholesale from Natco-online website  ... http://www.natco-online.com/acatalog/Holy_Grail.html ... but this recipe is dead easy and is pretty perfect.  My comments are in [[brackets]]

Pilau Rice [[Mix it and leave it Recipe!]]

Fill and switch on your kettle
Whilst this is happening heat up a little oil in a pan that comes with a tight fitting lid [[I use about one teaspoon of oil for two 3oz portions. Careful, it could get too oily!!]]
Allow 3oz of BASMATI rice per person (weigh it!!! And it must be basmati ? nothing else works! You can also be boring and soak the rice in water first but I never bother) [[note that 3oz of rice is a small portion per person]]
Salt to taste
2 green cardamom pods (split open slightly) per rice serving
1 whole clove per serving

When the oil is warm, add the raw rice and spices together [[stir! stir! stir!]]
Mix well, ensuring the rice gets coated in the oil ? don?t worry if it starts to turn white
Turn down the heat to minimum
Quickly pour the boiled water into a measuring jug
(allow double the fl oz of water to the rice weight)  ie for 4 portions: 12 oz of rice and 24 fl oz of boiled water. [[so for two 3oz portions you do 12fl oz of water]]
Stir everything around to stop any sticking and place the lid on securely
Cook for 12 minutes on the lowest heat setting [[should only need to check it once!]]
After 12 minutes take from heat and leave for another 12 minutes (do not remove the lid ? the steam will continue to cook the rice!!!)

Later take the lid off and you can add a drop or two of food colouring for that restaurant effect ( I use a drop of red at one end of the pot and a drop of green at the other ? leave for a while and then mix through the white rice for a realistic effect) [[how cool is that?!]]

I would normally make the rice first and, while it is resting, knock up the curry sauce.  The rice stays hot like this for a couple of hours if you don?t keep removing the lid and let the steam escape!)

This recipe will give impressive results if you measure/time things accurately.

(For plain boiled rice, omit the spices and food colouring).

[[only thing to add, and apologies for singing to the choir on this, is that rice cooks on the plate so almost done in the pan is done on the table!]]

Sure you know this page over at Natco-Online ....

It's excellent, but takes some time.? Just like you buy in as Restaurant ...

http://www.natco-online.com/acatalog/Holy_Grail.html

I swear by it.? Great stuff!