Okay, so if you do not have the August 2005 Cook's Illustrated lying around, you should totally pay for the online Cook's Illustrated access to get yourself the recipe for Thai Style Beef with Chiles and Shallots. (America's Test Kitchen has officially invade my brain, by the way. As I was adding the chile sauce to the skillet, I started scraping up some of the beef fond and could hear Bridget's voice saying, "That's good flavor.")

It is so easy, and so good, and even though one wants to mock the Yankee breeziness with which the CI folks dismiss the necessity of tamarind pulp and dried shrimp, it tastes almost exactly like the beef with garlic and lime at Palms Thai. (Even though there is no lime in this version. How do they do that? Also, the General Tso's sauce at TJ's is a perfect sub for chili garlic sauce, if you don't have chili garlic sauce handy.)

Of course, one will still go to Palms Thai for the authentic version, because, hey, Thai Elvis. And maybe one day one will decide to try the spicy chicken feet salad.