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lorelei76's Profile

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Location: Alexandria, VA

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Favorite foods: adobo, sour mangoes, pancit, pork belly, sashimi, sushi, bacon cheeseburgers, fries, skinny cow popsicles, cheese, potato chips, mesclun salad with steak and a lime/nuoc mam/olive oil dressing

Last bite on earth: Sour green mangoes with spicy, garlicky bagoong. Holy crap, my mouth is watering at the thought.

The Ten Most Recent Posts By lorelei76

From Talk

Where to get pandan extract (w/out too many additives?)

Posted by lorelei76, May 1, 2008 at 5:43 PM

I'm in search of pandan extract or paste to use in a couple of ricecake and chiffon cake recipes (not to mention homemade kaya jam). I've seen extracts in the local asian marts, but they seem chockful of unpronounceable extras and oils and alcohols and food colorings.

Does anyone know where to buy (online plz, or around the Northern VA area) 1) good pandan extract/paste? I'm not looking for organic, grown on soil blessed by local gods and harvested by young asian virgins under the first moon of the month. Just something that doesn't have a list of 30 lab-created ingredients. OR 2) frozen pandan leaves?

I live in the Alexandria area in VA - can get to MD if necessary. I'd prefer online shopping (because I am horrifically lazy).

3 Comments

From Talk

Chicago - there for 3 days. Where do I eat?

Posted by lorelei76, March 14, 2008 at 12:23 PM

We'll be in Chicago for 3 short days in June for our college reunion at nerd school, aka University of Chicago. We'll be spending one day joining in the alumni festivities, checking out how much the campus has changed, eating at our old haunts. But the weekend is ours to spend freely.

Tell me, SE folks, where would you go/what would you eat in 2 short days in Chicago? We'll be in downtown Chicago (probably close to the Mile) at a hotel, and we are all about taking the El and Metra to get to places. What are your recommendations - high and low ranges!

26 Comments | Tagged: Chicago, Illinois

From Talk

X.O. Sauce. Let me show you them.

Posted by lorelei76, March 7, 2008 at 8:14 PM

So in my pantry are 4 - count 'em, FOUR - containers of XO sauce. I opened one bottle and the delicious funk of chili oil and dried scallops hit me in the face. Hard. I kind of blacked out.

After I regained conciousness, I decided to whip up some pseudo-Pancit Luglog (I only had the thin rice noods) using a ton of garlic, onions, some XO sauce, achuete liquid beaten into some eggs, a little slurry to get things thickened up. Then I cheated and added 1/4 a package of Palabok mix. It turned out pretty freaking delicious.

So, have you ever used XO sauce? What'd you do with it? Please post some recipes as I have 4 bottles of the stuff, and I can't eat pseudo-palabok all the time.

Did I mention I have 4 bottles? GOOD LORD :-(

3 Comments

The Ten Most Recent Comments By lorelei76

From Talk

What are you known for?

1) Soup - specifically, Arroz Caldo. I get requests even when it's 95 degrees w/ insane humidity outside.

2) Salsa, asian style (I add lime juice, fish sauce and the tiniest bit of sesame oil. Don't knock it till you try it!)

3) Shrimp Salad (I cook whole shrimp in a pot chockful of garlic, green onion, celery, bits of whatever vegies are sitting in my fridge, lots of black peppercorn, and salt. After peeling, I throw the shells/head back into the broth to reduce. The dressing is nothing more than a good mayo, lime juice, sambal olek, green onions, celery and a few tsps of that concentrated shrimp broth.)

4) Anchovy pasta. Recipe courtesy of the NYTimes. I guess I'm the only one in the family willing to suffer through the smell of anchovies sauteeing.

lorelei76 at 11:31AM on 05/14/08

From Talk

Where to get pandan extract (w/out too many additives?)

butterface, you are WONDERFUL. Thank you very much.

lorelei76 at 11:50AM on 05/02/08

From Talk

What am I going to do with these lemons?

With the sudden cold spell, I think a giant pot of avgolemono would totally hit the spot.

Uhmn...can I come over now?

lorelei76 at 6:02PM on 05/01/08

From Required Eating

French Fry Holder For Your Car

ccbweb, that.was.HILARIOUS.

lorelei76 at 12:33PM on 04/25/08

From Required Eating

In Videos: Drive-Thru Rap at McDonald's

This was SO AWESOME. I utterly lost it at "We'llslow it down for you." and "Can you throw it down again?"

lorelei76 at 12:24PM on 04/25/08

From Talk

In a ruffle about truffle salt

Do it. Oh lordie, do it. I've sprinkled it on everything from McDonald's french fries, to pasta (a little truffle salt, a little olive oil, a little cheese, and let's call it a meal), to steamed veggies. It's brilliant as a finishing salt. I will also admit that sometimes, I can be found finger deep in a small pile of truffle salt, licking my finger clean.

There's something about the smell of truffle that I find so incredibly appetizing. I don't care how full I am, if I smell truffle I get hungry. Since I can't possibly afford a chunk o' truffle to shave onto everything I cook, I get my kicks out of the truffle salt.

lorelei76 at 4:01PM on 04/15/08

From Required Eating

Grocery Ninja: Japanese Genmaicha

onedaylingers, I make it with mugicha (thanks for letting me know the name. When I go to the store, I just ask for that "Japanese roasted barley tea thing. " I usually get pointed towards the right direction) - it's got that nice, deep barley flavor.

...Which I immediately overwhelm by adding a boatload of sugar. MNNN!!!!

lorelei76 at 3:42PM on 04/15/08

From Recipes

Essentials: Rice

Amandarama, thank you so much. I will attempt this tonight and see how it turns out. What kind of pot do you use for this? I have a heavy Le Creuset, a stainless steel one (with a thick-ish bottom), and a non-stick. I usually use the stainless steel, with claggy results. Same w/ my magical rice cooker. I don't do the soak (just rinse till clear), so I'm hoping this will solve my problems (I can't make Spam Musubi with mooshy rice!)

I'll make two batches using this recipe and cook on stovetop and in the rice cooker.

lorelei76 at 11:15AM on 04/14/08

From Required Eating

Grocery Ninja: Japanese Genmaicha

Mnnn delicious: I love that earthy toasty flavor next to that faintly grassy green tea. I actually love this hot, even during the summer - I find it incredibly refreshing on a warm summer night and I'm sitting out on my balcony, swatting at bugs. It reminds me a tiny bit of barley tea (which is awesome cold, with some sugar in the raw. yums yums.)

lorelei76 at 10:58AM on 04/14/08

From Recipes

Essentials: Rice

I've cooked (jasmine) rice since I was a kid - grandma taught me the way of the rice cooked in clay pots, in bamboo, steamed with banana leaves, cooked over a coal fire, over a gas stove. Then we came to the US and we got a rice cooker and it was good. So, I'm not a rice novice, by any means.

Yet...sushi rice. The Japanese short grain, extra gooshy smooshy rice has defeated me. What the heck am I doing wrong? I started w/ a 1-1 ratio but that was too claggy. So I've lessened the water considerably, I've cooked in a rice cooker and on the stove. I've fluffed and fanned per directions. I still get claggy rice. What is up short grain rice? And anyone want most of a 50lb bag of it?

lorelei76 at 10:05AM on 04/13/08

Responses to Comments by lorelei76

From Talk

"Drop It Like It's Hot"

Hmmm spectacular drops in my past include a tortiere that was baked in one of the infamous dollar store foil pans mentioned above. Ex hubby took it out of the oven, the pan folded and efficiently dumped the entire thing on the oven door, which of course, was hot so the contents COOKED onto the door. Then there were the hamburger condiments that were sprayed onto the living room wall when I tripped on my boyfriend at the time's cast. My mom once dropped an entire roast chicken on the floor with company sitting in the next room. I once flung a plate of spaghetti with meat sauce clear across the kitchen (I kept a hold of the plate but the contents went flying) when someone scared me as I was serving myself from the stove. Peppercorns are a nemesis. Oh and then the time I had raw cookies sitting on top of the stove waiting to go into the oven. Opened the door above the stove - my mom had not wrapped up the bag of rice correctly and it poured directly onto my cookies.

As a general rule, we salvage all we can! The cookies were, however, a tad crunchy!

Maureen at 12:34PM on 05/15/08

From Talk

"Drop It Like It's Hot"

Drop stuff on the floor on a regular basis. I reckon eating it gives me fantastic immunity from almost everything. Obviously not fond of basset hound hairs on stuff, so they get washed off if I can get to the dropped goods before the basset. Meat is definitely washed. We worry a little too much about bacteria. Food safety is necessary. But too much sanitizing leaves you open to food sickness when you travel to other countries. Why does the US think it can't eat raw milk cheeses under 60 days' old? Are the French and Italians dying like flies? Why do cured meats from Europe have to be pasteurized? Do you think if an Asian, a Latino or an African in their own countries tosses food when they've dropped it? It's a privilege of the wealthy.

eatWashington at 10:38AM on 05/15/08

From Recipes

Essentials: Rice

I love good rice! I noticed several entries that mentioned cooking rice in a pressure cooker. I recently inherited my Dad's old Mirro and I would love to try it for my next rice cooking. Could someone please describe how to do it in a pressure cooker? Thanks!

FltAttendt at 9:03AM on 05/11/08

From Talk

What am I going to do with these lemons?

@butterface, that's probably a good idea, as far as reconstituting the dried lemons, or maybe next time I'll grind just one, measure it by weight and figure that's what equals a lemon's worth of juice and zest, then add liquid if the recipe needs that in addition to the flavor. Or (duh) grind it all, weigh it all, and divide by the number of lemons I used.

For many things I just go by taste and feel, so it's not really critical, it's more of a curiosity.

dbcurrie at 11:16PM on 05/01/08

From Talk

What am I going to do with these lemons?

If you want to try a great limoncello recipe, the one I've used for year is at
Divina Cucina.

Otherwise, you can certainly zest the lemons, juice them, and save the juice and zest in the freezer until you need it. You might want to put the juice in several 1/2 cup containers so you can thaw what you need quickly.

To reconstitute your dried lemon powder, figure out how much powder you got from one lemon (maybe dry and grind the slices from one and measure it) and add about 6 Tbs water. That's about how much liquid is in the skin and juice of a fresh lemon.

butterface at 7:15PM on 05/01/08

From Required Eating

French Fry Holder For Your Car

You have to admire the brilliance of the people who realized people would buy something like this.

apsteph at 11:25PM on 04/25/08

From Required Eating

In Videos: Drive-Thru Rap at McDonald's

Dang, Robyn. I've been sitting on this one for a while and just couldn't think of a thing to add to it. Well played.

My favorite part is where they go "Big Mac?" and "Yeah, I got that." Worth waiting until the end.

And then there's the fact that they never actually asked for a Big Mac in the whole thing.

Lauren Krueger at 9:10PM on 04/25/08

From Required Eating

French Fry Holder For Your Car

Am I the only person who has good memories of sitting with my mom in the car and both of us reaching into the bag of fries as we drove home after a long day?

I don't eat McDonald's anymore, haven't for 7 years, but jeez, I do sometimes eat a protien bar or some grapes when I don't have time to have lunch.

But isn't the fun of eating fries in the car the sharing and the mixing up of the stuff in the bag as you ride home? A professional fry holder seems to fly in the face of such pleasure.

HeartofGlass at 8:14PM on 04/25/08

From Required Eating

French Fry Holder For Your Car

ccweb & bobcatsteph -- bring it to the haters!

seriously, people are assholes (i think that is supposed to be in a david cross voice but i'm not quite sure). i personally love there there are so many people willing to make decisions for me..it makes my life easier. i just wish i could figure out how to make them do my job for me while i sit back and sign the checks.

sloppy at 4:48PM on 04/25/08

From Required Eating

In Videos: Drive-Thru Rap at McDonald's

mo' frizzle from the roboppy-izzle. please.

Raphael at 2:59PM on 04/25/08