prasantrin

Well, my teachers always did say I talked too much! Actually, they worded it in a much kinder way--I was actually a pretty nice kid! Someone wrote that you could use black beans instead of brown bean sauce in mabodofu, so when I was in Singapore, I bought some black beans. Except I think I bought the wrong kind. Someone told me to buy the kind in a bag, so I did, but they're just plain old black beans--rather hard, actually. I might break my tooth on one if I put it in mabodofu! The fermented black beans were in a jar, and there were some salted black beans (I think) in a bag, too. But I didn't buy those. Now I'm wondering what to do with these black beans! I also bought some chicken rice mix, chicken rice sauce, chili bean sauce (for the mabodofu), salted threadfin (two jars!), and I'm sure there was something else, I just can't remember now. And yesterday I saw some mabodofu-specific tofu at my favourite grocery store!

I'm waiting patiently for the beans to come up. I bought some chili bean sauce in Singapore, and some black beans so I could make mabodofu. But I think I bought the wrong kind of black beans....

Like Marlena, I hope you're feeling better soon! And what a great husband--pitching in when you're sick. Not all the husbands I know (in Japan or elsewhere) would do so! My sukiyaki was pretty good, if I do say so myself. I used too much liquid, though, because I started out with too much sugar so I had to add more soy sauce and sake to balance. Then I made the mistake of adding not-parboiled-enough shirataki which sucked up all the sauce, and turned very dark brown but were still hard. But the rest was yummy!

Crap! I didn't know that! We have a lot of Japanese quince trees on campus, and I had planned to one day make some quince jam or something like that. But now I know I can't! Now that is why these blogs are so great! You learn at least one thing (most often many things) new with each one! And after seeing your pictures, I now have all the ingredients I need for sukiyaki, and my rice is cooked. Time for dinner!

I put up my food pictures on webshots. There aren't that many--I would either forget my camera or be eating something at which people would scorn (I can hear it now, "You went to Bali and ate that?"). Something that I wrote which I'll repeat here, Casa Luna really did have the best food I ate in Bali. They had the best balance of flavours, and always the freshest food. Bebek Bengil seemed to have a lot of food that perhaps had been sitting on the stove for too long, or had been reheated. At least that was the case when I ate there (twice--it was close to where I stayed). I have no pictures from Bebek, unfortunately.

If you're looking at a stand mixer specifically for roti/chappati (but may use it for other things), then I'd forgo the purchase. Unless you're making very large batches, it's so easy to make (and it doesn't really require that much kneading) that a stand mixer seems like overkill to me. I wonder what kind of food processor you were using that gave out so quickly. For the preparation of Indian food, I would think a good food processor (Cuisinart, KA) would be more useful. You can use it to chop vegetables, etc.

My dad used to make something like this a lot (he was Thai, not Chinese, though), with pork chops or spareribs. And when I was a child, I would scrape out the bits of fond from the bottom of the pan, along with a bit of the oil, and eat it with my rice. Now that's a sauce! Sometimes I think about making it just so I can do that again.

That sukiyaki looks lovely! And I want some now! For some reason, I've always though sukiyaki was more difficult to prepare. But now that I've seen how easy it is, I'm going to have sukiyaki for one! I noticed you used a shallow grill. I always thought a more pot-style was used. I was thinking of using the nabe pot of my electric grill (the other plate has ridges for yakiniku). Should I be using the other one?

I've noticed that no one in the Toronto area ever mentions Grand Yatt. Is it not considered to be good? I only ate at the Richmond Hill branch once, about 6-ish years ago, and I thought it was fabulous! My only complaint was that you ordered from sheet (not even a menu), and some of the names differed from what I imagined they were (not necessarily a bad thing, but disappointing when you're expecting one thing and end up with something else). Grand Yatt is at 9019 Bayview Ave in Richmond Hill, and also at the Westin Harbour Castle in downtown Toronto. I'm not affiliated with the restaurant in anyway, except as a once-upon-a-time customer.

I think I ate at the same place. It was right next to Bumbu Bali 1 (on the same street that Ketut's Place is on), and near the palace. I have a picture of the sign, as well as the food, and the rear end of the pig they had just brought in. It was the best thing I ate in Bali. And contrary to what I had read about the skin on Babi Guling, this stuff was crisp and just plain awesome! And the meat was very juicy and flavourful. One of the best roast pigs I've ever eaten. There was an odd sausage on the plate, though. Didn't like it too much. I think it might have been some kind of blood sausage. I can see it in your picture--top left there's a dark brown thing--I think that's it. I left mine mostly untouched. If I ever get motivated enough to put my pictures into ImageGullet, I'll post them (or at least a link to to my Webshots album).

What wrong with that one? "I could care less...but I don't." Now if you want to get into those dreadful spelling errors (which are not just spelling errors, but become semantic errors because of the spelling errors), then we can have a conversation! For example, "I need to loose 10 pounds," "Let me give you some advise," etc. My skin is crawling just typing those! And "irregardless"...how can people who purport to be writers use a word like that?

Kristin and I had reservations for the Wednesday cooking class (taught by Janet, the owner) at Casa Luna, but we were the only two who signed up so it was cancelled. We ended up at Bumbu Bali 2, which had no minimums for their class and required just 24 hours notice. Ketut was great. Again, not really a hands-on class, but good nonetheless. There were only two other people in the class, and we were able to ask a lot of questions. There was so much food, though! We left, stuffed, then had 6 or so hours to kill before attending the buffet at Ketut's Place (a different Ketut). We were still full by the time the buffet started, though, so I don't think either of us ate much there! edited some mistyping

You mention that you try to feed the staff out of the same budget for the house. Does the staff eat the same meal as the family, or do they usually get a completely separate meal? How many staff members do you feed, and do you eat with them, as well? I assume to travel to the different houses with the family, but what happens during, for example, trips to Europe to to places where they don't have residences? Do you fly with them and cook, or are those times considered your holidays (away from the family), too? Do you do their parties and events, too, or hire caterers for those things? I want your job! It sounds so fabulous! No, actually, I want to be the people you work for!

There are actually two different cakes from Gramercy Tavern on Epicurious. There's a Guinness Stout Ginger Cake, and there is a Gingerbread. The one with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda is the Gingerbread (for which one may use either oatmeal or Guinness Stout, and which calls for a 10-12 cup bundt pan). The Guinness Stout Ginger Cake recipe is the one that calls for 1/2 tablespoon baking soda and 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, requires less sugar, specifies Guinness Stout *only*, and adds some grated ginger to the recipe (the amount of spices varies just a bit, as well). This recipe uses a smaller pan--9x5 loaf or 6-cup bundt. It seems to me that a Ginger Cake should be lighter than a Gingerbread (just going by the names), and that's why there's more leavening in the cake recipe. But they are two different recipes, so whichever you make depends on whether you want a gingerbread or a ginger cake.

This isn't about food, but have you ever mentioned whether your kids are bilingual? I can't remember... Have you ever tried the breakfast sausages from Costco? I can't remember the brand off-hand, but they're pretty good. Unless your kids miss the smoked kind of sausage, then they won't do at all! edited to add: Did you mention you had a recipe for kinkan marmalade? I wouldn't seeing that, if you do. I've been craving kinkan but I'm too poor to buy some right now!

I don't usually dunk, because dunking makes things soggy and soggy food reminds me of vomit (which brings back some horrible childhood memories of illnesses). But I've always had a fondness for Chips Ahoy cookies dunked in milk. Those and any kind of commercially made super hard gingersnap cookie. Dunking softens them up just enough to reduce the amount of crumbage when I bite into them, but doesn't make them so soggy as to remind me of vomit. My grandmother always dunked her bread in coffee with milk and sugar. Not loaf bread, but old style Filipino pan de sal (which would be like crusty Portuguese or Italian bread rolls). That always reminded me of vomit. edited to add: A friend's ex-husband used to dump a bunch of jilabi/jalebi/jilebi in a glass of milk, then microwave it till hot and eat it with a spoon. I usually eat jilabi with a glass of milk, but not mixed together and certainly not nuked till soggy! That would really remind me of vomit!

I'm not Pim, either, but I can say that wealthy Thais do eat at street stalls. My father's family was very wealthy (and very prestigious at one time) and many of the men in the family would, and still do, eat at stalls. The women wouldn't usually, but they would send the maids out to buy them foods from the stalls, then eat them at home. However, I noticed that those in his family who frequent the high-end restaurants (rather than stalls) are also those who lived abroad for the longest periods of time. My father was sent abroad when he was 15 or 16, and didn't return until he was 33, and then only stayed another two years before leaving again (permanently--he visited maybe only 6 times in the 30 years after that). His stomach just couldn't handle most Thai street foods after that. Many wealthy Thais nowadays spend a great deal of time abroad so perhaps their stomachs no longer have that special protection one gets from eating those kinds of foods regularly. And of course the reasons OnigiriFB gave are all valid. Plus the nicer restaurants are great places for the wealthy to rub shoulders and catch up on all the gossip. (I met the daughter of a disgraced former Prime Minister at one place!)

I've been thinking about what I might like to see you make. I don't know if it's been done before, but I'd love to see sukiyaki--you could even do it with lamb! Or I'd love to see your kabocha croquette. Mine are still not very good--don't know what I'm doing wrong! And I think you mentioned once that you had a cream croquette recipe that called for cooking the roux for a very long time.... edited to add: And maybe you could show us what you might do with a can of demi-glace sauce. I must admit, I've never used it, but I feel I should. Especially after my friend complained about not being able to find it in Canada. But what would I do with it other than use it as a sort of gravy?

I'm not sure I understand...are you saying that reminding a potential customer that, during this event, there is a limited seating time is ungracious and/or potentially insulting? And can tarnish a restaurant's image? I don't see what the problem is. From the management point of view, limited seating times are necessary to ensure the smooth flow of the evening for all customers. Fact is, many customers do overstay--sometimes because they're just assholes, but sometimes because they are unaware that tables are booked for limited periods of time. The reminder was most likely given to all those who made reservations for DOV, not solely to you, and it was probably just that--a simple reminder. Think of it as a public service announcement--many people already know the information and think it's common sense, but others needed to be reminded every now and again. If the problem was specifically with the tone of the person who left the message, it is also important to keep in mind that was is businesslike to some, may come across as being rude to others. He (or she) may have thought his tone and message were simple and straight to the point, whereas you interpreted them as being rude and abrupt. Personally, I can't stand it when people hedge--I find it annoying and a waste of time (that's not to say I don't hedge when necessary), and it can even be obsequious at times. Regardless, I think it's better to give the caller the benefit of the doubt--he wasn't trying to pigeonhole anyone, but was trying to make the evening work for everyone involved. And, well, if you decide to cancel your reservation, let us know when it was for, so someone else can grab it. edited to make my pronouns agree.

Any kind of alcohol. I can drink, but it does bad things to my stomach. For something like a Dine Out experience (trying to keep this on-topic), or any kind of prix fixe menu, I love the idea of ordering wine pairings because I do know that wine can enhance a food to an entirely new level. But things like teas or juices are usually not paired specifically with menu items, and often mute or interfere with flavours rather than enhance them. Soft drinks are even worse (and they have a similar effect as alcohol on me, anyway). Perhaps this could be something for how Dine Out can be improved--for restaurants to offer non-alcoholic beverage pairings for their menus. I'll just wander over to that topic now...

I think it's relatively cheap--cheaper than it would be in Canada, anyway. It's used on all sorts of foods--hamburg steak (as opposed to hamburgers which have a bun), omelettes, steaks, etc. Heinz even has one out here. It's easier to find a can of demiglace sauce than to find a pack of instant gravy mix. I should note that Japanese demiglace sauce may not be the same as one would expect of demiglace in North America or Europe, and given its ubiquitousness and relative (keyword--relative) cheapness, it's probably not made the same way. edited to add: Found some pics of the Heinz stuff here. The first section are all demiglace products (left to right): Just a Little Demi-Glace Sauce, Demi-Glace Sauce Shefusoshie (that's transliterated--I can't figure out what it is), some kind of special Demi-Glace Sauce, Regular Demi-Glace Sauce, and the squirtable kind. The next section is their White Sauce line, then a Tomato Sauce, and then Sauces for specific uses (Gratin Sauce, Hashed Beef Sauce, Hamurg Sauce). The most interesting one is the last can on the page--they have a Shefusoshie Fonds de Veau. That one, I think, is kind of expensive. It even has white wine in it. I think the "Shefusoshie" might be "Chef Saucier", but I could be wrong.

Post two pictures in a row rather than three, and they'll fit the screen without having to scroll to the right. (i.e. put the third picture on a new line, rather than immediately after the second picture.)

Maybe not a vat, but probably a can or two. When one of my Japanese friends moved to Canada, she often complained about how impossible it was to find cans of ready-made demiglace sauce in stores. They were so readily available in Japan, and very useful. Most people I know in Canada wouldn't know what to do with a can of demiglace, or even know what demiglace is!

I admit, I'm one of those tap water drinkers. But it's not because I don't enjoy wine (actually, I don't really care for the stuff, but I can appreciate it), it's because alcohol does terrible things to my stomach. So for those of us who cannot enjoy delicious BC VQA wine, how can we avoid the "oh my god what cheapskates, they're only drinking tap water" glances from the waitstaff? Short of ordering bottled water, that is. Do most of the restaurants have amazing non-alcoholic beverage pairings for their menus?

At a kaiseki place, I recently had a kumquat shell (kumquat with the top cut off and the insides scooped out) filled with ikura, meant to be eaten in just one bite. It was delightful!