tryska

I'm not really sure, actually. My guess is that ground spices need a high heat and a shorter cooking time in order to meld together because well they are already broken up and tiny. So it's only so much time before they become gritty little bits all to themselves. if you use whole spice in low heat for a long period of time, it's forms almost like a "tea" so the essence of the spices gets into the "broth" well. totally unscientific, but that's my guess.

depends on how much time i have, and also how intricate the spicing is on any given thing. imo the slow cooker doesn't do a good job of melding dried ground spices together. much better with whole seasoning.

hmm. you need to quit monkeying around.

the times i've made suace form scratch, i did both. (and you mentioned the gianelli's to rub it in one more time didn't you? )

well i don't typically make my own sauce when it's craving time, and i don't typically use meatballs either. it's on my list of stuff to do tho. in any case, i usually use dried spaghetti and a jar of paul newmans sockerooni. i doctor it up with some hot italian sausage that i've cut up and fried so they are carmelized a bit, and then sautee some mushrooms in the leftover spicy grease and then simmer the sauce till the sausage has taken on the flavor. i like it with lots of parmesan. in a bowl.

well yeah, but it helps to at least appear remorseful.

can i come? November 1st is my birthday. well maybe not to the hotel.....

excellent post kimwb! incidentally i think y'all might have taken me a little too literally when i said that chicago-land and the tristate area were too large. (notice i didn't mention LA) that's because i find it too much of an Urban Sprawl city to count. I think large was probably the wrong word as well, because i didn't mean size, so much as i meant density per square mile of the "urban center" for insteance - parts of Jersey can be seen as suburbs of NYC, but their still "city" in comparison to say, the suburbs of syracuse, population-wise. And close suburbs of Chicagoland don't compare to the true outlying suburbs either. even here in atlanta, i straddle that inner suburb/city line being literally right on the border. my area is fairly cosmopolitan for a suburb, but in no way compares to a suburb say 5 miles further out.

thanks for a great read! and when can i expect that sucky nasi lemak?

do they have a standard tomato pizza sauce on the crust? mmm..baked beans....on pizza....(sounds wierd to me)

also i don't think it's fair to judge on the Tristate Area or Chicagoland either. Those cities are just too large to see the dichotomy between urban and suburban dining, like say Atlanta, or Houston, or Orlando.

i'll eat it. i don't know any better anyways. all i've got is takeout style, which has no fish or peanuts. only chicken curry, potato curry (same sauce as chicken) and glorious rice. oh and egg and cucumber, but the eggs fried. which i actually like better.

oh great. this is the 3rd domestic disturbance i've instigated in the last week.

that makes sense to me. does he simmer them long? i know with the indian dishes i use them in tho, i tend to just have coconuts bits without actually having coconut flavor, so i'm wondering if soaking it would bring out more of the umm..coconutty essence of the stuff, so you could use it like coconut milk, you know what i mean?

never mind i'm wrong on the thai basil - look what i found! http://www.asiarecipe.com/asianherbs.html

that leaf looks like thai basil? yes? and thanks for clarification trillium. i about exhausted my hindi vocabulary translating that word. oh and laksa - maybe dessicated coconut soaked overnight in water?

i thought it was hilarious FT.

mali = jasmine?

so pindar is considered a mass production wine now? hmm. good for them i guess.

even better than takeout my friend....delivery! as for coconut milk.....i take it since you are using canned that you don't have a coconut scraper? i'm really tempted to ask my mom for her's if she didn't throw it out during various moves.

a couple different versions. all on a nice heavy wholegrain bread, preferably with a moist chewy crumb. and i like peanut butter fresh ground from honey-roasted peanuts. if not than peter pan will do. 1. Toasted, with peanut butter and orange marmalade - the more rind the better. 2. toasted with peanut butter and patak's garlic pickle. 3. with banana and bacon, no need for frying (the sandwich i mean) everyonce in a while i curl up in my version of the fetal position (wonder bread, peter pan and gobs of grape jelly)

i should try it your way next time, rachel. adding the flour to the mushrooms after they've softened, and adding some alcohol. maybe a sprig of thyme. actually i just remembered along with the mushrooms i added some onion too.

so from your perspective, leaves - good, essence..mmm..not so much?

so you get the pandan flavoring from essence, eh? how many drops? i've been so confused about this essence thing, so i just order nasi lemak from my local takeout. (it's my roommates favorite - i like it too, but am gonna opt for coconut fried rice next time.)

you know i was at a bp yesterday, and decided to get a beverage. i don't normally do gas station fountains, but this time i decided to live ont he edge and got some iced tea (i think it was nestea) anyways....i pushed the fountain thingy, and out came this clear stuff thatg looked like thick water. hmm. i smelled it and it smelled like iced tea. i even tasted it, and it tasted like what fountain iced tea would taste like if it was brown. but then i thought...hmm..i could be drinking cleaning solution that's got leftover iced tea in it. so i asked the conveninece store clerk, wondering if this wa some sort of XTREME iced tea. he said no - the fountain wasn't working right. i left it at that, and got a free cup of ice and some orange juice instead.