prasantrin

It must be a regional/cultural thing. In Japan there is no such thing as "too perfect", and the most perfect-looking products will be out the door first. That's actually fine with me, since I like the cheese breads with oozy cheese that has crisped up like a tuile, but they don't, so those are usually left for me.

Any reports, yet? They're already talking about BC over at chow and I'm wondering what eGulleters have to say. Any MSP-specific cocktails in the mix? For those cold and stormy nights?

I used your triple-cook method a lot last year, but then was too lazy this year (deep frying is a seasonal thing in my house). I'm not getting the results I want with double-cooking, so I'm back to triple-cooking. Once you do the par-boil, how long can you hold them for before you have to fry them? Can I hold them for a day or two?

I think what you're looking for are syrups, rather than glazes. When I hear the word "glaze", I always think of something that gets drizzled or poured onto the cake. Basically you could do any kind of alcohol and sugar syrup combination--in baking class we once made a cake with a sugar syrup and creme de cassis combination. If it were going to be used in the way you're thinking, I'd limit its usage to chocolate bundt cakes, though. You could also do a coffee syrup without the Kahlua (again, I'd probably use that on a chocolate bundt cake--might make for a great mocha-like flavour).

I thought of the International Hmong Market, too, but I read it was only open June to October or something like that. Is it open all year round? I've been to Golden Fig. I was kind of disappointed, but it's in the same area as a Penzey's, Biblot, and other interesting stores, so I always drop by to see if they have anything new.

Peter Green is beating me! I've decided to start, even though I swamped with work, because I'm very competitive! Malaysia Day 1 This was by far the least planned portion of our trip, and that will be reflected in many of the food choices we made (you'll see soon enough). We were originally scheduled to fly to KL from Singapore, and when I realized how close they were, I was very disappointed with myself for not taking a bus instead. Luckily, Jetstar had a change in flight schedules, so they let us cancel our flights and we took a "luxury bus" instead. And so, we left Singapore for KL on December 30, at 9am. Our "luxury bus" tickets included a meal. It sucked. It was a vegetarian meal, but it still sucked. I can barely remember what anything was, because I've tried to block it out of my memory. From top left, clockwise: Some kind of sweet thing, vegetarian empanada (filled with lentils, I think), another sweet thing that tasted as though it were full of chemicals, and finally some kind of vegetarian gyoza-like dumpling. It was all icky, and I ate half a gyoza-like dumpling and a bite of the chemical thing. My mother didn't even finish her food, and she can eat anything! The only good thing about our meal was that they offered us coffee, tea, or Milo!! Milo!!! I love Milo!! But I hadn't had any in years. Decades, even. Mmmmm, it was good! Aside from immigration, we had one stop at a yucky rest stop. Well, the toilets were yucky, but there were food stalls! I wanted some fruit to help wash out that yucky chemical taste from the bus meal, but we didn't have any Malaysian money! Like I said, this was the least planned portion of our trip. . . We arrived in KL at 2:30-ish, and we checked in to Maya Hotel. It was quite close to the Petronus Towers and the big mall--Suria? We needed money before doing anything else, so we walked to the Towers to get some. My mother, unfortunately, only had traveller's cheques which had to be changed at another location, elsewhere in the mall. It took us another 30 minutes or so before she was done, and by this time it was around 4:30 or 5. We were both starving (not having eaten since breakfast, unless you count the chemicals from our "luxury bus" lunch). She needed to eat, fast, so we ended up at. . . That's right, we went to KFC. She was starting to get the shakes, so we didn't even have time to go up the escalator to the food court. Thing is, it was actually pretty good. The chicken was moist and flavourful (we got the spicy version) and the skin was really crispy, and my mother said the rice and mashed potatoes were OK. I ate the bun, and it was just like the buns we used to get at KFC in Canada. I loved those buns. And that was the end of our day 1. Disappointing, wasn't it?

Any favourite cake shops or bakeries in the Manila area? Cakes and other sweets are the one area that I think Filipinos excel at (in terms of cooking). I'm looking mostly for ensaimada, sans rival, chocolate cakes, mocha cakes, brazo de mercedes, sans rival, mamon. . . Basically anything yummy. I've been reading Dessert Comes First for hints, but am always looking for others. I think I'm staying in the Greenhills (Green Hills?) area, so something local would be nice, but we'll probaby have a car&driver and will be willing to travel for food.

Hey! I'm getting there! After tomorrow, I'll have loads more free time to do it, too! So humph!

No farewell pictures of the kitties? I love that picture of Scud. It just screams, "Welcome to my lair. bwaa ha ha ha ha." (that was my evil laugh, in case you couldn't tell)

I love how you and RG were wary of each other at first, but now you're working together as a team. To me, that's what working in a restaurant (or pretty much any other place) is about.

We go almost every summer for at least a few days, mostly to eat the foods we can't get in Winnipeg (or that are not well done in Winnipeg). We never get to the fine dining places on our list, though, mostly because we're usually too full from the large portions at Mexican and Middle Eastern places to partake. 112 Eatery was on our "must do" list last year, but after the Heartland Gathering, we were too "eated out" to do anything but our usuals. Minneapolis is a great eating city, but there are certain foods which Winnipeg still does better (dim sum, Cantonese Chinese, Eastern European, etc.).

Does Canada count?

They're based on a Japanese cookie, so yes, they do exist in Asia. I meant to search for the cookie place when I was last at Fushimi Inari, but I forgot. Maybe next time.

I recently did a crock pot version of caramelized onions using yellow onions and a big chunk of butter. Used high heat for maybe 2 hours, then turned it down to low. It ended up taking more than 24 hours to get decent colour them, and there was a lot of liquid. I was going to use the liquid to "punch up" my onion soup, but I never got around to using it (and I neded up throwing it out for fear of spoilage). As for the onions, the flavour was OK, but the onions never got as soft as I would have liked. I could have let it go for another 24 hours (or however long it would have taken), but I didn't want to leave the crock pot on all day while I was at work. I'm a little disappointed with the method, and I don't know if I'd do it again.

You're from Winnipeg, right? Assuming you are, and with that in mind. . . In all the times I've been to MSP, I've never made it to any of those places. I've always wanted to try Hell's Kitchen, but Al's Breakfast keeps pulling me back. Last summer in a 5-day period, I ate at Al's twice--would have been three times but the line was too long the third time (standing in line at Al's is part of the experience, but we were headed back home and I couldn't wait). During the week you don't have to wait so long, but Thurs-Sun, expect a long wait unless you're there as soon as they open (on Sundays, be there half an hour earlier. My point being, I'd go to Al's instead of Hell's Kitchen. Eggs Benedict, hash browns, and a short short wally blue from Al's is the perfect breakfast, with real maple syrup, of course (you can even get a little order of it). I love diners, and I've never been able to find one that I like as much as Al's (not even Lou Mitchell's in Chicago). Scrambled egg dishes and omelets aren't anything special there, though. I'd strongly recommend Bangkok Thai Deli on University. It's a lot like the food you'll actually get in Thailand (and just as spicy). If you're lucky, they'll have haw mok. They do it differently from what I'm used to, but it's oh so good. Siam Thai in the 'Peg is good, but they've had to make a lot of concessions because of the customer-base. Bangkok Thai Deli customers are mostly Hmong or Thai, so the food is much more like "back home". Although I've not been to Pho Tau Bay, I've heard if you've had good Vietnamese food before, PTB is just OK, so I'd skip it. You can get really good Vietnamese food in Winnipeg, so why waste a meal in MSP on that? There are so many other cuisines in MSP you can try that get the short shrift in Winnipeg. Go for Mexican unless it's not the kind of food you like. You will never have Mexican in Winnipeg as good as what you can get in MSP. Hit the food court at Mercado Central (or walk around the area--many Mexican places around there), or drive down to El Burrito Mercado (far, but it's good and the grocery store is quite large). You can even go to the Midtown Global Market food court and get good Mexican there. Also try to get to one of the Middle Eastern places--again, a cuisine Winnipeg sorely lacks. Da Afghan is out of the way, but when we were there several years ago, the food was quite good. There's also a branch of Holy Land at Midtown Global Market. I don't think the food there is as good as at the original location (which is also in a good area for Mexican, etc.), but it's still better than what you'll get in Winnipeg. I wanted to try Big Daddy's barbecue (open Friday and Saturday only), but we couldn't get there last summer. No good barbecue in Winnipeg (that place in St. B sucks), so I'd try one of the other bbq places in MSP (Brickhouse, for example) if Big Daddy's isn't open. 112 Eatery, Alma, Solera, and La Belle Vie have been on my list forever (we go to MSP almost every summer), and one day, we'll actually go to one of them. Oh, I'd also search out some good Neapolitan-style pizza. Went to Pizza Nea last summer, and it was a better example of that style than Pizzeria Gusto in Winnipeg, but still not great. Punch is next on my list. I'd also go to some of the Thai or Hmong markets. They have a much better selection than in Winnipeg, and the prices are a fraction of what you'd pay. We always pick up a lot of Thai eggplants and other Asian vegetables to bring back to Winnipeg. We usually go to the farmer's markets (they are really awesome, and they put Winnipeg's markets to shame), but they'll be closed. The only place I can think of for cheese is Surdyk's. If you're in the area, anyway, Kramarczuk's (sp?) for sausages and other assorted mostly Eastern European goodies is just a block or two away (there's also a Punch across one street, and a Pizza Nea across the other). We like to get sausage from them, too (their andouille is particularly good, though I've never had "real" Cajun adouille). Bradstreet Crafthouse just opened recently and I've only read good things about it so far. Excellent cocktails and small plates. If you like cocktails, it's another thing that's missing in Winnipeg, so it would be a good opportunity to try some good ones. It's also on my list if we go to MSP next summer. That's what I'd do (and that's what I usually do). We usually stay in the UofM area, but drive all over the place to eat. That's really the only reason we go to MSP.

It's hard to tell because of the lighting (of the picture), but I'm wondering what style of pizza it's supposed to be. My first thought was Neapolitan, but if that's the case, there's too much cheese (for my tastes). From the colour of the cheese, it looks like there might be too much sauce under there, too. I like the blistering, but there's something about the looks of the crust that makes me think it might be a little tough. Maybe the colouring, but again, that could be due to the colouring of the picture, itself. But if it's not Neapolitan, then I take back my comments. Actually, I think your friend might just have to send me some, so I can say for sure.

I made a "faux" cream of mushroom soup. It started out as a leek and potato soup, and then I realized I had some cauliflower I needed to use up, so in that went. Pureed it, then found some mushrooms that were on death's door, so in those went. It's not bad, but not as good as cream of mushroom.

When in Malacca, taxis are relatively expensive. We paid MR35 per hour. A local told us that in Malacca, taxis are mostly for the tourists and there aren't so many of them (although they seemed to be plentiful at the bus station), so they can charge whatever they want. From the bus station, we got our taxi to take us straight to Tung Fang Food Court to get some laksa and cheung fan. Unfortunately, they were out of laksa when we arrived (around 10:30 am! Or maybe 9:30. . .I can't remember now), so I just had char siu cheung fan. It was amazing--the best I've ever had. They make it fresh in front of you. In terms of food, that's pretty much all we had time for within our two-hour taxi ride. If we had gotten a car and driver from KL, we would have gone to get some kuih keria, too. There was no way we could make it there with our limited time there. If you're interested, you can read about it at Eating Asia. Eating Asia is also where I found out about Tung Fang Food Court, and they have other eating advice for Malacca (and other areas), as well.

You won't be back till April!?!??!?!?! Crap! I'll only be there till April 4th. We'll definitely go to Cafe by the Ruins. I love love love breakfast! I've read that about the food--it's always better at home! Thanks for the link! I've been trying to do a lot of research online. We'll be going with someone originally from the area (or maybe his family is from there), so I hope he can find us some good places! I want to be prepared with a list, just in case, though. Thanks for dropping in, and I hope you're having a good time in the freezing temperatures of the US! If you happen to get back to Manila before April, please let me know! I think we're going to have access to a car and driver, depending on where we stay, so we may be able to get around fairly easily.

Hard-cheese like parmesan might be OK for you. I love cheese in and on my pancakes. With parmesan I would cook one side, then when I lifted the pancake to flip it, I'd sprinkle the parmesan on the pan, so it would make a nice crust on the other side. Sliced apples are really good, too.

Singapore Day 5 continued From Hediard, we walked a little down Orchard to do a few last-minute errands. Then we went back to the hotel to nap before our late check out. We were smart enough to book massages for that afternoon since our flight didn`t leave until midnight or thereabouts. We didn`t do much in Chinatown except the massage. Not even a last-minute chicken rice fix! Instead, we went back to the hotel and sat around in the lounge until dinnertime. Which was. . . I know y`all are going to be disappointed with me, but we went to Cafe Iguana again! We just wanted one last taste of the Queso Fundido, and it was good! You know, I think their queso fundido looked suspiciously like the stuff that comes in a jar (in Canada Old Dutch makes a cheese dip like that), so I think I`ll have to try it out when I`m home this summer. OK, I think I finished with Singapore, and I did it before Peter finished Vancouver! Now it`s off to figure out the Malaysia pictures, and figure out what the heck is going on with my apostrophe.

Singapore Day 5 Our last day, and was I ever ready to leave! It wasn't that I was finished eating, but overnight my chest had magically filled with, you know, stuff, and I managed to find myself with a headache and fever to boot! Most unfortunate, but I had felt it coming on since Malaysia, so I suppose I was lucky it waited until my last day to appear. But ever the trooper, I continued eating. We wanted breakfast (most important meal of the day, remember), but I hate jook/congee. Hard to believe since I'm 5/16 Chinese, and jook is *the* food to eat for colds, but I hate it. Too vomit-like. So instead we went for comfort food, my style. No, we didn't have curry puffs. Instead we took a bus to Orchard Road, and walked for about 10 minutes (I told you I was a trooper) to Hediard. Yes, that's right. We had French for one of our last meals in Singapore. And it wasn't really French French, it was just breakfast. I don't think most French people eat the kind of breakfast we ate, which would explain why most French people are much thinner than my mother and I. My mother had the H "XL" breakfast set. This included: Madeleine blend coffee, chocolate or Hediard blend tea Orange juice freshly squeezed Choice of one viennoiserie (croissant, brioche or pain au chocolat) Half boiled egg Hediard toasted bread and butter One 30gr jar of home made jam and one 30gr jar of honey Plus Creamy scrambled eggs Choice of one Norwegian smoked salmon or Parma Ham platter The orange juice was very orange. What kind of oranges do they use, I wonder. Looks like mandarin orange, but I don’t remember it tasting like that. She let me have most of it (I was sick, doncha know, and needed my vitamin C), but I don't really remember it. And those little jars of jam and honey were something like S$4 each. And she had the chocolate. OK, I had the chocolate, but at least I let her try it! This was so thick and rich I thought my already phlegmed up chest and head were going to explode, but I wouldn't have turned away a second cup. Luckily they provide you with a little pitcher of milk to dilute it. The soft-boiled egg was overcooked on the bottom, perfect on top (like a microwaved egg might be). I ate that. And most of the toast. She chose the brioche (no, I didn't eat it), and she loved the texture of the crumb. She thought it was very fine, and even worthy of Tom (she still likes to talk about his bread). She chose the salmon. This, too, was enjoyed tremendously by both of us (she let me have half). I didn't care for the sauce, though. I can't remember what it was, but it was just like mayonnaise with not much other flavour, but I may have thought that because of my cold. And she had scrambled eggs, too. She liked them, I didn't. I prefer creamier eggs that are less coagulated, but she thought they were perfect. I liked the little salt and pepper dishes they provided. Actually, I really only liked the little mother-of-pearl spoon. It was so cute! I wanted to pocket it, but that would have been stealing. Plus when we left, we were the only two people in the restaurant, so I'm sure they would have come after us. That was an expensive breakfast, and would we do it again? No. With the exception of the salmon, the brioche, and the chocolate, nothing about the meal was really memorable. I'm not sure why it warrants a S$45 price tag, unless it's because the name "Hediard" is attached to it (and I'm sure they use scads of butter in those scrambled eggs), but S$4 for little pot of honey? That's a bit much. Come to think of it, they may have been more than $4. More like S$6. But I could be wrong. We pocketed the honey (we asked if we could have it), and my mother switched out the jam for another honey from a table which left theirs untouched (she asked--I think she may have asked if she could have the other table's jams, too, but all she got was the switch-out). It's not like we didn't pay for it! Oh, lest you think I just mooched off my mother, I ordered something, too. Eggs "Benedicte". I don’t remember much about it, except that the egg was a bit overcooked to my liking. And really, the parmesan is the only thing I remember tasting. The sauce wasn’t hollandaise, but I don’t know what it was. It was comparatively chunky. Here’s a close up of the sauce. Maybe it was just broken? I didn’t have anything else to drink, because orange juice was a whopping S$14! And I thought Café Iguana was a rip-off! But had I been up to snuff, I`d probably have had a cafe au lait. Hmmm, it seems for a sick person, I ate an awful lot of food, but I really was sick! I should add, my mother`s breakfast was around S$45, and mine was around $16, I think. Our total bill was somewhere in the $70-range, if I remember correctly. A very pricey breakfast, indeed, but I`m still happy I tried it.

I'm not sure I'm picturing your mousse correctly, but if you have a gelatin-based mousse that's tall like a cylinder, in Japan they usually put one of those clear plastic-y strips around it, so you can handle the sides. And a hard cardboard square (or round) underneath. Japanese people usually have slender hands, though, so it would be easy for them to stick their hands in the box to get the mousse out.

I want to go!!! Save some pork for me? I want some of the braised one.

If there were problems that resulted in a customer taking the time to write a letter of complaint, then perhaps the management (and others) deserved to be stressed out. And letter-writing is not always a ploy to get free stuff. I'd love to know markk's experience at Babbo( or Lupa?) which he has alluded to in the past. It must have been a doozy of one.