Not sure if you are reporting on a previous trip some time ago, or if
you are currently there.

I was there the first week of July.

When we were in Vegas, we had two meals worth talking about.
One was during Happy hour at Ruth Chris. It was a steak sandwich made
out of a generous portion of tenderloin. Cost was $12. Same steak
portion, with vegetables, was served down below in the dining room for
$40.

I've had an excellent steak in a Ruth's Chris in Vegas;
I've had one of the worst steaks ever in a Ruth's Chris
in Vegas. They were different Ruth's Chrises - the city
is big enough to support multiple ones. My friend Alex
informs me that the one where I had a bad meal went out
of business and was taken over by something else.

The other meal cost about $45, which as you know is at the upper end of
our preferred meal cost. It was a buffet at the Belagio. We would
easily go back there if we ever went back to Vegas. Only place I have
ever gotten truely rare (not bleu) prime rib off of a buffet. Plus they
had dozens of other offerings -- all excellent quality.

My more frequent traveling companions have appetites
like birds, so buffets are not a viable option, though
an occasional visit to one would please me.

Title: Earl's Mozzarella Meat Loaf
1 c Old-fashioned oats; uncooked

Okay, but why mozz? And that's a lot of oats.

Taro root dumplings
categories: dim sum, appetizer, Chinese
yield: 24

h - Filling
3 Chinese dried black mushrooms
5 oz lean ground pork
5 oz fresh shrimp
1 green onion
2 cloves garlic
h - Pork marinade
1/2 ts Chinese 5 spice powder
1 ts dark soy sauce
1 ts cornstarch
1/2 ts sesame oil
h - Filling sauce
1/2 ts salt
3/4 ts chicken boullion
1/4 ts sugar
1 ts Shaoxing rice wine
1/2 Tb cornstarch mixed with
1 Tb water
h - Wrapper
21 oz taro root
4 oz tang flour (wheat starch)
4 oz pork lard
1 ts baking soda
1/2 ts salt
1 Tb sugar
oil for deep frying

Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for 20 to 30 min.
Peel and devein the shrimp. Combine the marinade and
sauce ingredients. Add the marinade to the pork and
refrigerate for 15 min.

Peel the taro with a Chinese cleaver or kitchen knife,
then cut into 1/2- to 3/4-in slices. Cover and steam
the taro for 30 min until the slices are soft. Move
the steamed taro to a bowl and mash into a paste.

While the taro is steaming, prep the other filling
ingredients. Squeeze excess water from the mushrooms
and remove the stems. Dice the pork, shrimp, green
onion, garlic and mushrooms.

Stir fry the pork with the shrimp, garlic and green
onions in 2 ts oil. Add the filling sauce and stir
until it thickens. Remove the filling from the stove,
transfer to a bowl and refrigerate at least 2 hr.

Stir 3/4 c boiling water into the tang flour. Add the
tang flour mixture to the mashed taro, followed by the
lard, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Knead the dough
into a ball, then cut the dough into 24 equal pieces.

Create a depression in the center of the wrapper with
your thumb, then add 1 1/2 ts of the chilled filling.
Press the filling into place inside the depression, so
you can fold the wrapper neatly around the sides. Pinch
the dumpling closed and mold into the shape of an egg.
Repeat until all 24 dumplings are complete, then
refrigerator for up to 2 hr.

Heat oil to 375F. Deep fry the dumplings in batches for
2 to 3 min, removing once a fine netting appears on the
surface of each dumpling. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Edibly Asian by dimsumcentral.com
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