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What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
A microplane. Not so very esoteric and everyone and their mom has one these days, but I don't. I used to zest lemons on a little wasabi grater I have, but it's just not cutting it anymore. Especially when a recipe calls for zesting four large naval oranges. I now have carpal tunnel.
A couple of good knives. The old ones keep getting ruined somehow. The most recent debacle. My dad gave our good serrated knife to the lawn guys to cut sheets of turf because their own tools were inadequate (wtf). The serrated knife now looks like a slightly bumpy boning knife.
Also if Santa could somehow keep my dad out of the kitchen, that would be a lovely gift in itself.
Apple Pie Experiment
I am intrigued at the idea of reducing the juices? Do you cook the apples to reduce the juice before you fill the pie? Or do you just drain the juice from the mixing bowl and reduce it down?
I always mix the fruit RIGHT before filling so there's very little liquid leaching out, but I'm interested in trying this reduction idea!
MOCK MEAT... IT'S WHAT'S FOR DINNER... (really?, why?)
Do not do not do not enjoy mock meat. Read the back of the package on some of the stuff and shriek at the reality of what you're eating. You're better off eating a hunk of dead animal flesh in some cases.
Tofu and tofu products are not mock meat, they are a food in themselves and aren't supposed to be imitating anything, so I consider tofu edible. It should be appreciated not as a substitute but as its own entity with its own NOT meat like qualities. (I have the same rage over people drinking soy milk as "imitation" milk. No, soy milk isn't supposed to taste like melted ice cream. It's supposed to be beige and taste like beans! If you really want milk that bad, drink the milk!)
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Bad dining experience?
I think what I fear is coming off as a food snob. I like good food, but I don't want to scoff at low brow stuff either.
There were families all around us that seemed like regulars and were really going at their meals with a gusto.
The waiters were so earnest I felt bad about what I was really thinking.
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
A microplane. Not so very esoteric and everyone and their mom has one these days, but I don't. I used to zest lemons on a little wasabi grater I have, but it's just not cutting it anymore. Especially when a recipe calls for zesting four large naval oranges. I now have carpal tunnel.
A couple of good knives. The old ones keep getting ruined somehow. The most recent debacle. My dad gave our good serrated knife to the lawn guys to cut sheets of turf because their own tools were inadequate (wtf). The serrated knife now looks like a slightly bumpy boning knife.
Also if Santa could somehow keep my dad out of the kitchen, that would be a lovely gift in itself.
Apple Pie Experiment
I am intrigued at the idea of reducing the juices? Do you cook the apples to reduce the juice before you fill the pie? Or do you just drain the juice from the mixing bowl and reduce it down?
I always mix the fruit RIGHT before filling so there's very little liquid leaching out, but I'm interested in trying this reduction idea!
MOCK MEAT... IT'S WHAT'S FOR DINNER... (really?, why?)
Do not do not do not enjoy mock meat. Read the back of the package on some of the stuff and shriek at the reality of what you're eating. You're better off eating a hunk of dead animal flesh in some cases.
Tofu and tofu products are not mock meat, they are a food in themselves and aren't supposed to be imitating anything, so I consider tofu edible. It should be appreciated not as a substitute but as its own entity with its own NOT meat like qualities. (I have the same rage over people drinking soy milk as "imitation" milk. No, soy milk isn't supposed to taste like melted ice cream. It's supposed to be beige and taste like beans! If you really want milk that bad, drink the milk!)
What strange things are in the door of your fridge?
In my fridge door I have baker's chocolate, XO sauce, Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, several types of soy sauce, wasabi paste, a single packet of ketchup, preserved pickled radishes and a single can of diet coke.
In my vegetable crisper I have several kinds of dried scallops, shrimp and dried fish. The vegetables now need to share space with the fruit.
The Nasty Bits: Duck Tongue
Mmmm duck tongue, how delicious art thou.
I have a small plastic container of duck tongues stewed in soy sauce in the fridge right now. Perfect tv snacks!
They actually had duck tongue as one of the ingredients presented to a challenger on The Next Iron Chef. Unfortunately, I didn't stay tuned to see what they did (the show was annoying after a while as most "reality" shows tend to be) with them.
@NWcajun: Lol...but also, the bone isn't normally eaten, but you sure can if you want. It's not splintery or hard, its kinda spongy and papery. Sometimes I chew on the little nub of bone to get all the extra flavor out.
I personally think the best part is the tiny bit of cartiledge on the end of the bone. It's a great texture contrast to the crispy-fatty meat!
@chanterelle: aww c'mon, live a little!
What Did You Eat Today?
Today's been tasty but spectacularly unhealthy.
Breakfast: Two pieces of toast smeared with organic peanut butter with sweetened condensed milk.
Water and an Allegra
Lunch: What can only be translated into English as "Chicken Leg Rice"
It's white rice topped with a kind of pork ragu (no tomatoes), napa cabbage and pickled mustard greens. Crowning the whole thing is a deep fried chicken leg.
Salty, savory, greasy...so good...yet so bad.
Japanese Tea Eggs
What's the difference between Japanese tea eggs and Chinese tea eggs?
A bit too many Asian-themed articles on this site?
Never enough. I like to see articles on different kinds of cuisine and a wide variety of foods outside of what we're familiar with.
I'm "Asian" and I'm always finding new and interesting things from those articles.
I'd welcome a glut of articles about other world cuisines, too ::hint hint::
Favorite Fall Foods?
Roasted sweet potatoes. At the Asian markets around me, they'll often set up big metal drums and roast them and sell them by the paper bagful. The roasting aroma is the very essence of fall.
Fall is also the season for mushrooms, also my mom's herbtastic chicken soup.
It's got all kinds of medicinal herbs in it but it's so good you forget all about them, its supposed to bolster the heaty properties in your body in preparation for winter! The soup is a comfort and a cure all for everything from a cold to fall allergies.
Also weirdly enough, around this time of year is wax apple season in California. Until very recently, wax apples were nearly impossible to find in the U.S let alone any that didn't taste like packing peanuts. We just ordered a few straight from a farm in CA and my mom was elated. She said they tasted just like they did in Taiwan.
If the crops continue to be a success in California, I have a feeling we'll be sending out for more of these every year.
Green pumpkin looking squash...?
Kabocha's are usually not HUGE. Sure they can get big, but most specimins aren't much bigger than an acorn squash.
They're that crescent shaped orange and green bit you might see in your tempura at a Japanese restaurant.
The flesh is dense and sweet. A bit like acorn squash, but with a sweet-potato like texture.
Maybe it's a hubbard? I've seen some that were squat and pumpkin-like.
Seriously Asian: Crab Two Ways
Dungeoness on a bed of haw fun! My favorite! The noodles soaks up every ounce of delicious crab juice and fat so nothing get's lost. Mmmm...
Engmcmuffin mentions my other favorite classic crab preparation, the egg/garlic/black bean combo! Also delicious steamed like a kind of scary-looking (but delicious) Chinese fritatta.
Dinner Tonight: Okra Curry
I'm not fond of well-cooked okra. I've mostly had the large kind which requires long cooking and usually ends up pretty gooey and goopy and has an old musty sock-like flavor.
But I've found I like the little finger-sized okras. I had some barely blanched as a part of a crudite plate with an interesting cheese-based sauce recently and it was delicious. Crunchy and fresh.
I also enjoy okra in tempura. Very simple and brief cooking methods work best for me, I suppose.
Log In????
Everything's looking peachy so far. Was able to log in without a problem today. Haven't noticed any other wonkiness around the site although I will take a peek and a prod at other features.
It remains to be seen whether I'll remain logged in later today, though.
jazzing up white rice
I like my rice plain and unjazzy. Good rice is supposed to be an accompaniment to stronger flavored dishes and more assertive textures.
The idea of adulterating rice with things like salt and butter...makes my skin crawl. I don't want fatty, salty rice...the rest of my food is already salty, I need a palate cleanser and that's what the rice is there for.
Log In????
@Garvey: Have some patience eh? They're changing things for the better, and all changes come with things that need adjusting or fixing. It's not like they intend the glitches to be the new face of SE or anything.
The SE team responds extremely well and quickly to user concerns and questions, so I think we should consider ourselves lucky that the team is so dedicated.
Log In????
Experienced the weird log in problems, sent the team an email. They said they noticed the problem and are working on it.
It's already better than it was yesterday, seeing as I couldn't sign in at all yesterday.
I'm still seeing the same thing QueenAlli is seeing though.
Cook the Book: 'Japanese Hot Pots'
I love The Japanese Food Report!
As for my favorite soup based dish? Taiwanese style beef noodle soup with all those economy cuts of beef like tendon and beef plate all melting into the rich broth. Top with a generous spoonful of chili garlic paste!
Creative Sushi Filling Ideas?
I'm with shoneyjoe on this one. Keep the mayo, the peanut butter, the chopped up tuna scraps, the squiggles of wasabi aioli or what have you, the tempura crunchies and the five kinds of sashimi out of my roll.
In a restaurant I'd much rather eat a simply made nigiri with one kind of impeccably fresh fish with no other adornment but a tiny dab of wasabi and maybe some soy sauce.
When I'm making hand rolls at home, we usually just go for really homespun stuff like boiled shrimp, tamago, eel, cucumbers, and fish roe.
Do Gals Eat Less When Guys Are Around?
I generally don't eat a lot in one sitting so it may seem to many people that I eat like a bird. But really I eat a lot throughout the day and if it's something really delicious I can polish off an astonishing amount on my own.
I don't care whose company I'm with, I'm eating whatever and as much as I want. My friends know better than to get in the way of me and good food.
The wildest food you've ever tried and will never try again
I really can't think of anything I wouldn't eat again and I've eaten some unconventional things (comparative to the standard Western diet anyway).
That hakarl sounds like a doozy though...
Impromptu Taste Test: The Cult of Yakult
Grew up with that stuff, imagine my surprise when I saw my FOB-tastic childhood snacks and drinks showing up in the supermarket!
I really liked an ice cold one of these when I was young, but I find them a tad bit on the sweet side, now.
They're the original drinkable yogurt! Take that Gogurt!
Who's Made Momofuku Bo Ssam at Home?
The premise is a pretty traditional Taiwanese dish, so yes, it can be done well at home.
Just braise some good, fatty pork belly in a base of soy sauce, anise, five spice, sugar, scallions and ginger until its meltingly tender. No nonsense about any fancy brines or what not.
Chill to let it set up and make it easier to slice.
Serve with chopped sweet/sour pickled Chinese mustard greens (I like to briefly stir fry the pickled greens with a bit of ginger, not enough to color the greens or to wither them, just enough to get rid of some of the raw astringency and to warm it through).
Sprinkle with peanuts crushed fine with some sugar and sandwich the whole thing in those bifurcated ssam buns (gua bao, find it in most Chinese markets).
Not digging the ad redirects
Wow! Since when do you get personal letters from the ad folks?
I figured it wasn't intentional on anyone's part. The SE staff have been extremely good about responding to user questions and concerns.
Couldn't ask for a more satisfactory or prompt response from the SE staff and ad partners!
Thanks again. SE and associates continue to rock!
Not digging the ad redirects
@Alaina: That was fast! Thanks, guys! You guys are awesome!
What strange things are in the door of your fridge?
@nightowl, are you suppossed to refrigerate tapioca? i have it in my pantry.
Bad dining experience?
To pick up on dbcurrie's point - as customers, we get coached on how to make a valid, intelligent complaint but I think restaurants (and all businesses for that matter) should know how to field a complaint.
If a patron complains, 9 out of 9.5 times, the restaurant did something the patron is NOT imagining to warrant this complaint. Do NOT defend. This is a lame attempt to deflect blame and it never works. Accept that the customer is not happy, take away the offending item, and make it right.
I went to an awful wedding last year. The venue was beautiful but everything went downhill fast. The "catered" food was a small, miserable array of exactly 4 items. It seemed more like a prison feeding line than a wedding buffet. But insult was about to be added to injury.
A fellow guest and good friend found a long hair in his food. His wife, having worked in restaurants, approached the manager about it. The manager came to the table and said this: "All my servers have short hair so it must have been cooked into the food back at the catering kitchen." WTF???? You don't defend your servers by throwing the catering company under the bus - it does nothing to rectify the situation. Here's what he should have said: "I'm sorry about that sir, may I assemble another plate for you from fresh trays of food?" One sentence. The manager would have a) accepted the blame, b) given the guest a workable option and c) rectified the situation. Not rocket science.
Bad dining experience?
LOL@ Banana Monkey! I know my comment might have sounded like one made by a person who would complain like a small nuclear device but I don't do that anymore. (Did in my younger years...)
A well-worded complaint includes a) the reason a person was unsatisfied; b) a personal opinion (nicely!) and c) what could have been done to make it right. You'd be surprised how many places actually pay attention to customers' concerns that elaborate enough to make sense to the person reading the complaint. Simply saying, "The food sucked," isn't quite enough and will likely be disregarded.
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
a boyfriend to cook for...
Bad dining experience?
I think I know where you're coming from fuuchan. I don't think you're "picky", but knowing good food, you expect it to taste a certain way when you're out dining. I think sometimes the restaurant just isn't capable of putting up a dish as we expect it and I'm not sure commenting to the wait staff about it would help. It's like when you ask someone to recommend a great restaurant and they advise a certain place, saying it's fabulous. You go there and realize it just isn't. Some people just don't have high food standards. Of course that sounds snobby, but as I consider myself a fairly decent cook and savvy diner, I guess that's just the way it is.
Bad dining experience?
Any place can make a mistake or send out a wrong dish. It happens. And sometimes you just don't like the way a place makes a particular dish. To me, the way a place handles a complaint can be more important than that the mistake was made in the first place.
For example, at one restaurant that we otherwise enjoyed, a waiter argued with me when I said he brought the wrong dish. "See, I wrote it down here. This is what you ordered." First, it was an illegible scribble, second, what he wrote doesn't mean it was what I said, and third, I'd been thinking all day about the other dish that I really wanted, so I was darned sure what I ordered. But he disagreed, and that was the end of that.
At another place with the same situation, the waitress apologized, packed up the wrong dish to go (there was nothing wrong with it, but it just wasn't what I wanted at the time) and put in a rush order for the new dish. The owner came over and apologized and comped our drinks. The server who brought the new dish also apologized. I left there perfectly happy, and with free lunch for the next day.
What strange things are in the door of your fridge?
Fridge door inventory:
Butter saver shelf: carton of eggs, half a lime
Shelf 1: butter, ketchup, small cans of pineapple juice, a pineapple fruit cup, a bottle of fruit smoothie drink, 8 oz glass bottle of Dr Pepper
Shelf 2: spray margarine, peanut butter, sugar free strawberry preserves, bottled bbq sauce, tabasco, cream cheese, box of baking soda in a ziploc, cold brew coffee concentrate
Shelf 3: bottle of aloe vera infused lotion, bottle of sriracha, bottle of balsamic viniagrette, bottle of ranch dressing, bottle of Cristalino, sour mix
Shelf 4: chocolate syrup, sugar free chocolate syrup, hazelnut flavored syrup, 2 kinds of homemade bbq sauce, white vinegar, hummus, maraschino cherries, tapioca pearls
Some of this is undoubtedly completely weird.
What strange things are in the door of your fridge?
I also have Dianas Spicy Southwest in my refrigerator! I brought it back from a trip to Nova Scotia.
When it comes to strange, hmmmm...strawberry vodka? Habanero Peach Preserves, szechuan salad dressing from the chinese market (I still have no idea what to do with it), yellow curry sauce, tandoor marinade, garlic scape pesto.
I also have a jar of Baconaise, not the stuff you have on the website, the packaged stuff not made with bacon.
Wasabi dressing from my trip to Vermont. I could go on and on...
What strange things are in the door of your fridge?
organic plain yogurt
butter
mozzarella cheese
2 types of soy sauce
oyster sauce
ketchup
dried up tahini
strawberry jam
Miracle Whip
Diana's Spicy Southwest marinade
stale Japanese vinaigrette
spare rib sauce
hoisin sauce
General Tao sauce
Italian dressing
Cesar salad dressing
molasses
sweet & sour sauce
yeast
canned cat & dog food
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
This is a brilliant subject.
I have been sooo good this year, so I most definitely deserve a visit from Santa.
I would love a bright red Kitchen Aid stand mixer (I keep going on Amazon whilst I am at work and gazing at it adoringly. I'm in London and KitchenAids are way more expensive over here *sigh*)
A Magimix food processor - a nice big one.
Some Le Creuset cast iron pots (?dutch ovens?) in whatever colour he wished (although ideally something bright!)
Alternatively he could just drop off the winning EuroMillions lotto ticket and I can take care of buying it all for myself!
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6wZQBh_Bg8
Cheese.
---
Ok. La Cruset anything, food processor, toaster oven, rice cooker....
then cheese. ;o)
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
I'm hoping for a 6 burner Weber Summit Grill in Black enamel.... But I won't hold my breath. LOL
What strange things are in the door of your fridge?
@angelfood thanks for the sorghum ideas!
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
Thanks for the good wishes. I am working on the dreams and will achieve them by next year. Hope all your wishes come true, too!
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
maybe a new kitchen would be nice. Delivered on the 25th of December, I could do that.
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
Happy birthday arm and finewine
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
@fatitalianbroad - That's a good wish. Luckily I've already been granted that present as we've booked our trip to Paris and Italy for April. I've already started planning out our culinary travels as the trip is part vacation and part research for my career.
I hope you get to travel to Italy soon as well.
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
A Tagine and a Molcajete...
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
A Lodge Abelskiver pan and a copy of The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas. I have her book on whole grain baking and it is outstanding. Also want Love Soup by Anna Thomas.
What strange things are in the door of your fridge?
Here's what to do with that sorghum: drizzle it over cornmeal pancakes
CORNMEAL PANCAKES FOR 2 ( recipe can be doubled )
3/4 cups cornmeal
3/4 cups boiling water
1/2 teaspoon salt
generous 1/3 cup unbleached flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1 egg
1 tablespoon light brown sugar or honey
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup milk
Mix cornmeal with salt. Pour boiling water over and set aside.
Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside.
Beat egg with oil and brown sugar. Stir in milk till well combined, then add to cornmeal. Mix well.
Stir in flour till just combined.
Cook on hot griddle. Serve with lashings of butter and sorghum. Sausage on the side goes well, as do fried apples. I don't eat meat so use Morningstar Farms links instead.
Now that frosty mornings are here, these should go down pretty good.
The best way to eat sorghum is fried grits but I can't find good white grits anymore....
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
I'd like the Momofuku book and a food mill. And some Vosges marshmallows.
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
@PoorOldMama, wicked toppic.
@fatitalianbroad: excellent choice; I'd love the same.
@finedine/arm: happy birthday!
@oncepercent99 - whoa man a gas stove would kick arse
Realistically: I'd love to get
- a cheese grater (I don't have one! OMG I can't believe it! I've been having to buy the "shredded" cheese for my mac n cheese...how embarassing)
- a microwave maybe? (not essential though)
- I broke my pepper-cracker...need another one of those :p
- A bottle of Wolf Blass Black Label maybe? (I've asked my mom for this three years in a row now and she insists its not going to happen)
- a good food-date :s the gentlemen I'm dating right now isn't much of a foodie: but I hope to break him in soon! (hes' a ketchup and KD kinda guy)-->any tips?
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
This is so funny and timely! I was just on my Amazon wish list yesterday afternoon rearranging things and establishing priorities. I have lots of cookbooks on my wish list but lately I've gotten into the habit of getting cookbooks from the library and giving them a test run. Any book I want to test drive is now on a private list which I will move to the public list after a perusal. On the gadget side, I'd love some odd sized measuring cups and measuring spoons and the kitchen aid pasta roller, which has gone up $30 since I first added it to my list! What's up with that?
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
I'd be very happy with new muffin tins for now. The bf wants Santa to spring for new saucepans, but I'm still procrastinating that purchase.
What are you asking Santa (or whomever) to bring you?
A true Christmas wish would be a ticket to Italy and to cook side by side with local grandmas. I want to preserve what my grandma taught me and learn new things.
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Snow crab and mixed salad greens in search of dressing!
Posted by fuuchan, February 2, 2009 at 6:04 PM
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I think what I fear is coming off as a food snob. I like good food, but I don't want to scoff at low brow stuff either.
There were families all around us that seemed like regulars and were really going at their meals with a gusto.
The waiters were so earnest I felt bad about what I was really thinking.