mamster

And I tried the hot chocolate at Neuhaus. I thought it was much better than the average coffeeshop cocoa, but the chocolate flavor was a little weird. Not bad, just not the very direct flavor you expect of good H.C.

These look great, Steve. Next time I go ape and redo everything, Snapware it is.

Here's the article: http://wine.msn.com/?article.aspx?tid=12&aid=62 Thanks again to everyone who helped out, and note that neither of the people in the stock photo is me or anyone I know.

I bought some frozen leaf fat at the Whistling Train stand at the U District farmer's market today. It was fairly expensive, and I'll need to render it, but Laurie has pie plans, so I'll report in when it gets used.

I walked by two days ago and it looked close but not that close. There were sacks of flour and a cord of wood in there, but everything else was in disarray. It's possible they got it together for today or tomorrow, though. Laurie and Iris and I are going to try it ASAP.

Aha, I did try the stone bowls on the stovetop, and it still didn't work. I am planning to get the metal sukiyaki bowls but haven't gotten around to it.

Delaurenti carries Demi-Glace Gold, and I think Whole Foods does, too.

BH, how do you cook matsutakes? On the advice of Vegetables A-Z, I tried slicing them fairly thin and baking them in parchment with a dab of soy sauce for half an hour. The flavor was excellent but they were very rubbery. What would you recommend?

That's great to know about the chops, S.P. We'll be sure to get some of whatever they have this week. Last week we got some spareribs, which I cut into chunks, browned, and braised in tomato sauce for a couple hours. Shredded the meat and put it back in the sauce, and it was great.

Thanks for all the great replies, folks--I've already PMed some of you. crouching tyler, I agree with your assessment that the American meal needs some brightening up with some international influence. In fact, now that I think about it, a couple of years ago I brought potsticker filling and wrappers to my parents' house, and everyone helped make the potstickers, which I then cooked. One of the people there was a semi-vegetarian friend of my brothers' who hadn't had pork in years but ate at least a dozen potstickers. Wouldn't you?

I've long looked for alternatives to the traditional American Thanksgiving spread, which I find not to my taste (although sometimes I can put away a large amount of stuffing). Last year Laurie, who is of part Cornish extraction, and I, who am not, made Cornish pasties for Thanksgiving, and they were delicious, festive, and overly filling -- everything Thanksgiving food should be. How has your ethnic background influenced your Thanksgiving feast? If you're Chinese-American (or, hey, even if you're not) and serve a big plate of potstickers along with your turkey, let's hear about it. Or, for that matter, if you don't consider yourself particularly ethnic but have your own nontraditional Thanksgiving tradition (like Calvin Trillin and his spaghetti carbonara), that's cool too. Hmm, those pasties were good, but now I'm thinking about potstickers. I guess that's not unusual. Disclosure: I'm writing an article on this topic, not for eGullet, and may well PM you for more info. I will, of course, post a link to the article when it's up.

First of all, turn this into a smoking discussion thread at your peril. I like Thaiku, but I also usually get the kao soi. Last time it wasn't that great. Oh, there's a thing with stir-fried ground chicken and an overcooked egg, and if you ignore the overcooked egg that's a good dish, too. They have kao soi at Noodle Studio on Broadway, and Jeem Asian Restaurant in Redmond. Not sure where else. I think Thaiku's is the best of the three when they're doing it right.

Will do, then. Hey, remember those Bartles & Jaymes ads where they said their product goes with everything except kohlrabi and candy corn? I'll remember not to drink wine coolers with the kohlrabi.

LEdlund, I should also admit that I've never had kohlrabi. It's just one of those things I haven't gotten around to. How do you prepare it?

Let's see, this week we got leeks, bell peppers, and a nectarine for Iris. The bell peppers ended up as fajitas with some on-sale QFC flank steak. Iris ate the nectarine. The leeks are going into some braised duck legs. Iris on the way to the market Elite wares As ScorchedPalate said, it's not quite a full-service market; you may be in the mood for kohlrabi and there will be none, but that's part of what makes it fun. That and the fact that it's just down the street from us. Oh, I'm too lazy to start a new thread about his, but Iris and I checked out the grand reopening of the Harvard Market QFC this morning and were delighted to see that (a) they're slicing deli meats to order, including prosciutto di parma, and (b) they have a good selection of Belgian beers. Actually, I've never been in the mood for kohlrabi.

I have to agree with ScorchedPalate: the beers were great, but a lot of the food was terrible. My broth was fine too, but the short rib was way, way underdone. I am cooking some short ribs right now to wash away the bad memories. My favorite beers were La Fin Du Monde, which is always a delight, and the Wild Ale. Possibly others, but I got completely hammered and can't remember anything Matt Yount said about a red ale or anything else after the first half hour or so.

cxt, I was going to say, "Hey, didn't we go to Blue Nile recently?" but I guess that was at least two years ago. I doubt it's changed: good food, friendly service, low prices, mildly sinister atmosphere. Kokeb is now Lark, unfortunately for Kokeb fans but fortunately for everyone else.

A pastry chef named Feuillet? Isn't that like a butcher named Sally d'Agneau or a short-order cook named Patty Turner? I'm so glad this thread is back, even though I haven't made this tart in years. Not for any good reason, I just forgot about it.

snowangel, normally I like Mae Ploy and Maesri pastes, but I find their Massaman paste doesn't measure up to the reds and greens. At the very least, if you use the commercial paste, pound in some garlic and shallots and whatever other fresh stuff you have around. Pim's recipe is incredible, and the more closely you hew to it, the better the curry will be, but I have to admit that when I make it, I simplify. First, I can rarely find cilantro with roots on except in the summer, so I use stems. I've never been able to get kaffir limes in Seattle, so I use regular lime zest. Cardamom leaves I can never find, so I leave them out. Finally, I don't like whole peanuts or shallots in my finished curry, so I pound a few peanuts in with the paste. I do, however, like potatoes, so I throw some of those in, usually Yukon Golds. rjs1, hope your curry turns out great.

Iris and I had breakfast at Lola a couple of days ago. I had the donuts, which were incredible. I've never had the Dahlia donuts, and I think these are the same, served with vanilla mascarpone and fresh preserves. I got cinnamon sugar on Iris's head. I wouldn't share any donuts with her, but today I fed her a large amount of Dahlia Bakery croissant. We also picked up some of that cornbread. The Lola staff treated us like royalty. If you go, bring a baby.

Better yet, use a Lamson knifesafe, which will protect the knife against all but the most outrageous rugby scrums.

I've been. I didn't think it was very good; not as good as Blue Nile, which I don't think is even considered one of the better Ethiopian places in that area. The flavors were muddy, some of the meat was tough, and everything kind of tasted the same, which I find to be the biggest danger in East African restaurants. Matthew

It pains me to admit this, since I love fish sauce so, but the great thing about phad thai is that you can substitute for almost any of the flavorings and it's still recognizably phad thai and still delicious. I've substituted lime juice for tamarind and soy sauce for fish sauce (not at the same time) and it's fine.

On a trip to Portland last week I got a Black Tiger shake from Coffee People, and if the Tully's shake didn't tickle your shake-slurping organs, this one might. It uses hard ice cream, ground espresso beans, and a couple of shots of espresso. I'm not sure whether the ice cream is coffee or vanilla, but you would be hard-pressed to squeeze any more coffee flavor into a milkshake. Aha, here is the recipe, and the shake uses Black Tiger ice cream, which is where the grounds come in. edit: What reminded me that I needed a Black Tiger shake was this column by Karen Brooks in the Oregonian.

I finally made it to Low's stand at the market today (breezing through town on a family visit again) and was delighted with my combo plate of pork ribs, lamb ribs, and brisket. The standout was the lamb ribs, which were almost as good as Applebee's Riblets. Sorry. Actually, they were awesome. This is real BBQ with sauce on the side, and as I tore through the combo, I realized I was sitting right next to the Portland vegetarian society booth. Finish the joke yourself.