Rachel Perlow

Hate to correct Jason, but the coating was itty bitty bread cubes, just like a traditional dim sum shrimp paste ball. The soupy part was obviously a cube of aspic when the ball was formed, as when you bit into them and drank the soup, it left a cube shaped impression. I asked Cecil for them when we were there, but he said they are too busy to make them at brunch time. I think the one time we've had them, he wanted us to sample them so we'd order them at dinner time. Next time, I'm going to request them when I call ahead for a table, and offer to pay separately for them.

Click the link above to order it from Amazon and it will be waiting for you when you get home!

I'm sure we'll have another dinner there on Chinese New Year. I don't think mid-Sept will work for a formal brunch get together, because the only Sunday that isn't a holiday is the 12th, when the Second Annual eGullet NJ Pig-BBQ & Potluck is scheduled. Also, Laksa, although subscribing to this topic is a great idea, it wouldn't necessarily let you know when the next event is, because we generally plan those on a separate discussion thread. Like Steven said, because this is not a traditional Hong Kong style dim sum, but a buffet with extras, you could even go there by yourself and sample a wide variety of items. Enjoy!

Wow. I am totally gobsmacked by this. What many of you may not realize is that "Food Talk with Arthur Schwartz" was the primordial soup from which eGullet evolved! Let me explain... I was an occasional listener to Arthur Schwartz, I especially liked listening in the car. Well one day, sometime towards the end of the Twentieth Century, he had on a guest named Jim Leff from a website called chowhound.com. This was interesting to me and I followed up when I got home, telling Jason all about this food website I had discovered. Well, if I enjoyed perusing chowhound, Jason become completely enamored, as many of you well know. Anyway, eventually he met Steven Shaw and together they formed eGullet. The rest, as they say, is history. I really am sad that he won't be on the radio anymore. It would be great if he could continue his show on another station, but there are very few talk radio stations like WOR. Thankfully, we still have his website The Food Maven to keep up with his activities. Best of luck to you, Arturo!

You need to go with more friends, so you can order more food.

From the $10,000 grilled cheese thread: Great news! Marlena Spieler's Grilled Cheese is now available on amazon.com. We just received a review copy from the publisher, and it looks fabulous. Not just the recipes but the mouthwatering photography by Sheri Giblin (whose previous work is included in Everything Tastes Better with Bacon by Sara Perry). In addition to the grilled cheese recipes, there's a detailed discussion of which cheeses and breads to use, and an accompaniments section with recipes for homemade tomato soup and zucchini pickles, as well as a salad summary. I know what I'm having for lunch, grilled American cheese on white bread with tomato soup. Although, that may disappoint the author, as she says, "American cheese is probably the most famous processed cheese. Don't expect to find it in this book. Why choose processed cheese when there are so many fabulous cheeses to choose from?" (p. 17) Well, first off, I'm in a reminiscent mood. Second, I have the ingredients in the house. But I promise, next time I hit my local cheese shop, I'll have to get some Telleggio and make the "Austin Powers' Shag-a-delic 1970s Grilled Ham, Cheese and Pineapple" or some Gruyere for a classic "Croque Monsieur." Grilled Cheese: Fifty Recipes to Make you Melt OK, I usually don't use such a big image, but isn't that picture of a Panini with Fresh Mozzarella, Prosciutto, and Fig Jam (recipe, p 34), just incredibly drool inducing?

my last gravy for meatloaf - i made with "better than buillion" beef flavor - a tablespoon of that simmered in a cup i think of water. well actually first i made a roux, cooked mushrooms in it, and then added the "stock". simple, yummy, tasted good with meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I made almost exactly the same thing last night. Only, I cook the mushrooms first, with butter, OO, garlic. When they are done, sprinkle on a little flour to make the roux. I get it to the right consistancy with water, then add a drop of BNB. Taste, add a little brandy and flambe (or just use some wine -- maybe I did this before adding the flour?). Stir, taste, add salt or more BNB, and/or steak sauce. It's better made with real concentrated stock, but BNB is great to have on hand. I actually used this for a london broil I had made last week and frozen in slices for a quick meal. Cook the meat rare, so that it doesn't get overcooked when reheated in the sauce. Gravy is a great way to reheat leftover meatloaf too. Or turkey (use chicken stock or BNB). When at a very low simmer, it is much gentler on the meat than the microwave or toaster oven.

I know, that's why I wanted to know what television program you were watching. For example, if it were on during the Olympics, I record a lot of that every day in several hour blocks (that's the way TiVo/DirecTV has it set up), so I might have captured the commercial as well.

What were you watching? Maybe someone recorded it and could review the tape/DVR.

Yeah! That's why I haven't gone to a McDonald's in ages!

Dessert University : More Than 300 Spectacular Recipes and Essential lessons from White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier by Roland Mesnier and Lauren Chattman

...and he hasn't even had the amazing soupy shrimp balls. Your number 7 - that was edamame, not peas. I never thought of it as a lobster sauce, it's much lighter, not so eggy. I loved that sweet and sour fish & tofu dish with pine nuts. There were many dishes there today that were either new to me or to the buffet.

Try Kinara in Edgewater.

Wow, I didn't even realize there had been an earlier Goi Cuon thread. I'm glad that they are now merged and with a more positive title. Here's to successful wrapping for all!!!

I'm glad you and your friend enjoyed them. I just reread the recipe, and I'd grind the lemon a little finer than 1/4-1/2 inch, like 1/4" on the outside, but I just liked the idea of using the whole lemon. The pith adds a tinge of bitterness that rounds out the sweet and sour aspect.

uh, ok.

Ooh, I have furikake in my cupboard. I'll use that next time, maybe in place of the scallions.

Do the mung bean threads cook to white? I think I've used them before for a salad, and they cooked to translucent, which I wouldn't like in summer rolls. Regarding the soaking -- do you have trouble moving the pliable wrapper from the water to the work surface? The reason I like the way I'm doing it is that you are moving a still firm wrapper. It doesn't stick to the paper toweling, so I don't have to move it again until I'm rollling it around the filling. I find that there's enough leafiness for me between the lettuce inside and the herbs, but yes, most recipes I've seen call for wrapping the roll in a lettuce leaf. I do that with the fried spring rolls though.

Here's some more detail on the shrimp. I prefer to use larger ones than the ones pictured above, but I did my shopping at a small Philapino store and they only had these medium shrimp, head on or off. The head on shrimp smelled much much fresher than the head off shrimp, so I bought a handful of those. You need 1 shrimp per roll if they are large enough, 2 if they are small. I should have bought a few more, I ran out towards the end of roll making. Bring a quart of water to a boil, add a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon of sugar. Add shrimp, simmer for 2-5 minutes depending on the size of the shrimp. Drain and shock the shrimp in ice water. Peel the shrimp and lay flat on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife (I use a 6" chefs, a paring knife would be too small), slice in half so that you get two nice flat shrimp halves. If the shrimp are dirty inside put them in a bowl and rinse them thoroughly under running water. Drain. Toss with a spoonful of nuoc cham and allow to marinate while you prep everything else.

I just had one of the leftover rolls from last night for lunch. I had wrapped it individually in plastic wrap: The insides were fine, the wrap was slightly mushy in some places, while getting slightly hard in others. It was acceptable to serve myself for lunch, and would make a much better than usual brown bag for work. However, if I were serving them to other people, I would try to make them no more than a few hours ahead. And for overnight, perhaps wrap in a dampened paper towel, then in plastic wrap as well.

I made Summer Rolls last night and we took pictures of the filling and rolling procedure. But to entice, here's the finished product: My mise en place: Pickled Carrots, Daikon, and Red Bell Pepper Cooked Shrimp (Boiled, peeled, sliced in half, cleaned of any dirt, dressed with a spoonful of nuoc cham) Other cooked meat, sliced into strips (anything you may have leftover will work, I used a leftover turkey burger and a few slices of roast turkey breast) Lettuce: soft leaved, like red or green leaf Herbs: Scallions (just the green part, sliced thin), mint (leaves) and cilantro (on the stem) Rice Noodles (soaked, boiled for about 3 minutes in salted water, rinsed and drained) Nuoc Cham - Vietnamese Table Sauce Nuoc Leo - Vietnamese Peanut Sauce 6 dampened paper towels (soak in water, then wring out thoroughly) 1 package of Banh Trang The Banh Trang on the right are actually made of wheat, not rice. Also, they have been sitting in my cupboard for more than a year. The rice one's I bought fresh. I made some with both types of wrappers. It made no difference. Fill a basin with warm water. Lay one of your dampened paper towels on your work surface. One at a time, briefly dip the wrappers into the water. Just submerge it for a couple seconds, allow the excess water to drip off, then lay it out on your paper towel. Repeat two more times. Turn over your paper towel/banh trang package so the first wrapper is on top. Check to see if the wrapper is ready, you may have to wait a minute or so, you want it all soft with no stiff spots. DO NOT PICK UP THE WRAPPER, fill and roll it right there on the paper towel. Lay out two pieces of shrimp, pretty side down just above the midline of the wrapper. Place some lettuce on top of the shrimp. If you are using a firm lettuce, shred it, if not (I'm using red leaf lettuce) just tear it into 2-3 inch pieces. It is there to make a dark background for the shrimp as much as for vegetal content of the roll. Lay a handful of rice noodles on top of to a little below the lettuce (you should see some lettuce above, but not below the noodles). I leave the noodles in a strainer in the sink while I work. If the noodles become too sticky, just rinse them again and allow to drain. A good time to do this is just before the dampening/layering of the wrappers. That way the noodles have a couple minutes to drain before being needed again. Sprinkle some slivered scallions on top of the noodles. Then add your pickled vegetables and other meat on top of that. I try to tuck the vegetables into the noodles. They are softened from the pickling, but will still poke through the wrapper if you're not careful. You can use shredded vegetables if you are worried about the poking. Finally, place several mint leaves on top of everything, I like quite a bit. Now you are ready to roll. Pull the bottom of the wrapper up over the top, then fold in the sides. Now is the time to place your garnish herbs. I'm using cilantro, but chives are nice here too (if using chives, then add cilantro to the inside, with the mint, and then the scallions are optional). Take a stem of cilantro, trimmed to the length of the roll) and place it so the top leaves are stickign out the side. You can repeat this on both sides, or just have it sticking out one side. I like a lot of herbs so I use two stems. Finish rolling it up, the shrimp should be right on top with the folded part on the bottom. Lay on top of one of the dampend paper towels on a plate, place another one on top of the rolls while you are working. Here's a nice plateful of rolls, serve the rolls cut in half with two little individual bowls of nuac cham and nuoc leo -- we prefer to use a teaspoon to add sauce to the rolls rather than dipping (too much stuff falls out). Oh no! The one on the right ripped open! Don't panic, just rewrap the torn roll inside another wrapper. Note: RecipeGullet links for sauces & salad above.

Goi Cuon - Vietnamese Fresh Summer Rolls I'm cheating. The recipe is too approximate and long to add to RecipeGullet. Instead, here's a link to my pictoral recipe. OK, I'll add a list of ingredients here. Vietnamese Pickled Vegetable Salad, recipe on RecipeGullet Cooked Shrimp Other cooked meat, leftovers are great: beef or turkey burger; grilled or roast chicken, turkey, pork, beef, duck, etc. Lettuce, preferably soft leaved like Red Leaf lettuce Herbs: Scallions, Chives, Cilantro, Mint, Basil (esp Thai Basil) Rice Noodles Nuoc Cham - Vietnamese Table Sauce, recipe on RecipeGullet Nuoc Leo - Vietnamese Peanut Sauce, recipe on RecipeGullet Bahn Trang, rice paper wrappers Roll everything up in wrappers. Cut in half to serve. Dip in sauces. Eat. Mmm. Can be made up to 1 day in advance (but better fresh), store wrapped individually in plastic wrap in the refrigerator. See link above for detailed instructions, with pictures. Keywords: Appetizer, Side, Main Dish, Intermediate, Dinner, Lunch, Southeast Asian ( RG1150 )

Goi Cuon - Vietnamese Fresh Summer Rolls I'm cheating. The recipe is too approximate and long to add to RecipeGullet. Instead, here's a link to my pictoral recipe. OK, I'll add a list of ingredients here. Vietnamese Pickled Vegetable Salad, recipe on RecipeGullet Cooked Shrimp Other cooked meat, leftovers are great: beef or turkey burger; grilled or roast chicken, turkey, pork, beef, duck, etc. Lettuce, preferably soft leaved like Red Leaf lettuce Herbs: Scallions, Chives, Cilantro, Mint, Basil (esp Thai Basil) Rice Noodles Nuoc Cham - Vietnamese Table Sauce, recipe on RecipeGullet Nuoc Leo - Vietnamese Peanut Sauce, recipe on RecipeGullet Bahn Trang, rice paper wrappers Roll everything up in wrappers. Cut in half to serve. Dip in sauces. Eat. Mmm. Can be made up to 1 day in advance (but better fresh), store wrapped individually in plastic wrap in the refrigerator. See link above for detailed instructions, with pictures. Keywords: Appetizer, Side, Main Dish, Intermediate, Dinner, Lunch, Southeast Asian ( RG1150 )

Vietnamese Pickled Vegetable Salad If you've ever been to a Vietnamese restaurant, you'll recognize this salad as the garnish on almost every plate of food served. It is also an ingredient in fresh Vietnamese Summer Rolls. Adapted from a recipe in Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. 1 Carrot 1 Daikon radish, a piece about the same size as the carrot Kosher Salt 1 Red Bell Pepper 1/4 c Rice Vinegar Water 1 T Sugar Peel the carrot and daikon. Cut into julienne strips or batons. Or, use a garnish tool to make crinkle cuts. Place the carrot and daikon into a stainer in the sink or over a bowl. Sprinkle liberally with Salt. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes. Cut red bell pepper into the same cut you did for the carrots & daikon. Set aside. Heat the vinegar with about half a cup of water and the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool naturally or add a couple ice cubes. Rinse the salted vegetables, which should now be slightly wilted. Combine the carrots, daikon and red bell pepper with the dressing and place in an airtight storage container. Add just enough water so that the vegetables are submerged (up to another half cup or so). Allow to marinate at least 1 hour before serving, but better the next day. Keywords: Side, Salad, Easy, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Vegan, Condiment, Southeast Asian, Healthy Choices ( RG1149 )

Vietnamese Pickled Vegetable Salad If you've ever been to a Vietnamese restaurant, you'll recognize this salad as the garnish on almost every plate of food served. It is also an ingredient in fresh Vietnamese Summer Rolls. Adapted from a recipe in Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. 1 Carrot 1 Daikon radish, a piece about the same size as the carrot Kosher Salt 1 Red Bell Pepper 1/4 c Rice Vinegar Water 1 T Sugar Peel the carrot and daikon. Cut into julienne strips or batons. Or, use a garnish tool to make crinkle cuts. Place the carrot and daikon into a stainer in the sink or over a bowl. Sprinkle liberally with Salt. Allow to sit for 20-30 minutes. Cut red bell pepper into the same cut you did for the carrots & daikon. Set aside. Heat the vinegar with about half a cup of water and the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool naturally or add a couple ice cubes. Rinse the salted vegetables, which should now be slightly wilted. Combine the carrots, daikon and red bell pepper with the dressing and place in an airtight storage container. Add just enough water so that the vegetables are submerged (up to another half cup or so). Allow to marinate at least 1 hour before serving, but better the next day. Keywords: Side, Salad, Easy, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Vegan, Condiment, Southeast Asian, Healthy Choices ( RG1149 )