Absolutely Frances - I think we're very fortunate we Americans. We can indulge in whatever food we crave. If you want Jamaican, Italian, French, Japanese, Russian, German, Irish.........whatever, you'll be able to get it. So today we're supposed to be going out for lunch at a steakhouse downtown. It's a fairly notorious place, and rather expensive. This is apparently our "Thanks for everything you've done, now get the hell out" lunch. I was planning on steak, because it sounds really good and looks really good too. But now I understand it they're giving us a limit of $30/person. Which means basically a salad and a Coke. Nice.

It wasn't perchance Morton's was it, Gnat? I ate there once about ten years ago. Steak was between $25 - $50. If you want a potato - add $5. If you want a salad, there goes another $5. How about a drink? Did you actually want bread with your meal? It was good, but noisy and not worth that amount per person.

Gnat that is a lot of money for a salad and a Coke. But here in Belgium there are also expensive restaurants which I never visit because you have to pay a lot for a little bit of food, it is the name you pay. But in the more common restaurants you can eat very good for a price between 14 and 18 Euro, that is between 19 $ and 24 $ (1 € in 1,36045 $ today). You will have a great steak with a sauce (mushroom, pepper, Provençal etc.), frites as much as you want and a salad with tomatos. For 24 $ you will have a drink or two and perhaps a ice-cream with strawberries. Frites is very popular in Belgium. But there are not so many people of different origins, so we always eat Belgium food during the week : first soup, then potatos with vegetables and meat (pork, cow or horse) and sometimes fish. But I think we eat to much meat like in Germany. The first foreign restaurants were the Chinese (in the seventies) Italian and Greek. But now you can also eat Mexican, Japanese. I prefer Mexican and I have some friends who also like it. I would like to prepare it at home. So does anybody have a good recipe for me ?

Gaff - no actually we went to Ruth's Chris. We did pass by (indirectly) Morton's. If you think Morton's is expensive?? The cheapest steak at Ruth's Chris was $33. If you want a potato or vegetable, they're about $8 extra.......EACH. Salad with was about I think another $5, maybe more?? A regular salad (like a Caesar or seafood or whatever) varied in price from $12 - $15. I ended up with a sliced steak sandwich. It was beef tenderloin (so buttery delicious I'll never have a steak sandwich anywhere else) on garlic bread with grilled onions, mushrooms and red/green peppers, with Swiss cheese. It was fantastic. And it came with fries. And cost $20. That's right, a $20 steak sandwich. The bread they brought out beforehand was devine - and warm and fresh. So good! The sandwich was so huge that I had to take the rest with me. So I've got the other half for lunch today. Marthe - Mexican food is plentiful here in Chicago. We have a very large Mexican/Hispanic population here. If you want a good Mexican recipe, I've got an incredibly tasty chicken taco recipe my friend gave me. I'll find it for you and post on the thread for recipe sharing, ok??

I've seen a Ruth's Chris before. I'd bet that Morton's has pretty close to the same prices now. At least the food was great when it's that expensive. You should share your Chicken taco recipe on the Delights thread, Gnat. I love to read the recipe, too.

Oh yes thanks Gnat. I will prepare it with a lot of love and share it with my friends. I will call it 'chicken à la Gnat'. Of course they will not understand it. :wink:

Girls this is a picture from my Belgian dinner today : Entrecote (beef) with black pepper sauce, potatos, endive and tomatoes and vinaigrette. It was very good !

That does look tasty, Marthe. I had herb covered pork roast, brussel sprouts and butternut squash.

Also tasty Gaff, and Brussel sprouts (that is Belgian) but was is butternut squash. Are that potatoes in milk ?

Butternut squash is a fall or winter vegetable ( in the same family as Pumpkin). They can be cooked in the oven or cut up and steamed. That is what I did. Then, add a little butter, brown sugar or honey and cinnamon. Good for you and tasty, too.

Yes sounds very tasty, and what a difference with the Belgian kitchen :wink:

Marthe and Gaff - I will have to look for that recipe. As soon as I find it I will definitely post it for you. It's really very simple, but it's absolutely delish!!! Gaff - yeah I think there's a Ruth's Chris in New York as well.

I'm craving a sunday roast with mashed potatoes, vegetables and gravey yummy

That sounds good, MMG. I had beef and noodles with mashed potatoes at my Mom and Dad's last Sunday night. That was really good, too.