prasantrin

I made the tomato gorgonzola pasta recipe from Pierogi yet again. That makes three times in two weeks. That recipe is addictive!

Fettucine Alfredo--butter and parmesan, sometimes a touch of cream. Garlic pepper beef--beef, garlic, pepper, fish sauce. It tastes better with more stuff, but you can get by with just those.

Perhaps you can direct him to this post. You can find flour at any store that sells food--even his neighbourhood convenience store or Y100 store should carry it.

I guess I've been in Japan too long. Things around here usually shut down for a few days at the beginning of January. So I guess it's Kuala Lumpur this year! Will be back to ask foodie-specific questions once I've examined the topics already on-hand and, of course, bought my tickets! Thanks!

Are restaurants and markets generally open at the end of the year? We're thinking of taking a cheap trip over around the end of December through the beginning of January, but if businesses and such won't be open, there's really no point.

Duck wings? Can you get a pack of duck wings like you can get a pack of chicken wings, or was this a special thing? I love duck. Did it work out well with the buffalo sauce? I can't imagine the flavours together, but it's been so long since I last had duck, I can barely imagine the flavour of duck! What kind of camera did you end up getting?

"it wasn't bad" is the picky person's way of saying it was d*** good! They just don't want to admit they liked it, because then it would ruin their reputations as picky people (some people revel in not liking anyting). Question about the cake--so the cream was poured on before baking? It sounds like something I'd like, except for the rhubarb part. But I could probably substitute something like peaches or maybe strawberries (too watery?).

Chicharron with a bit of fat and meat still attached (Vietnamese grocery stores sometimes have as, as do Filipino). Anchovies and Bugles (served on the same plate, but not mixed though meant to be eaten together). Sesame sticks.

I used to love TUC biscuits (crackers)! I haven't had them in years, though. I would consider buying things which have different recipes in the US, like Lea&Perrins Worcestershire sauce, but only if you have the space in your luggage. Otherwise, I'd bring back cheese! Bring along (or buy) a small-ish soft-sided cooler and some cool packs (hopefully you'll have a small fridge in your room), so you can pack it all in your check-in luggage.

The two wines were Y1500 per glass, so perhaps wine by the glass might be a better option for me. I think I could handle two glasses without making a complete food of myself. Maybe I should start practising with a couple of glasses a night now, so I can inure myself to the effects of alcohol before dining there. You should read this blog, too. The pics are great, as is his commentary. I thought the Y26 000 course looked do-able for me, and he said his dining partner usually has a small appetite, too, but managed to eat everything without feeling too bloated. Can't be too bloated, you see, because I have a wedding to attend the next day! (I heard the food's going to be crappy, though, so maybe I really should fill up at dinner!)

Coincidentally (again!), I'll be eating at Ryugin in just two weeks! I've got a 6:30 reservation, and am thinking of doing one of the Gastronomy Courses. I'll certainly have the time, but since I'll be dining alone it might get a bit boring/uncomfortable to sit there for three hours or so. Plus I will have to try to get out to Tokyo Bay after! I have to ask--I know how much the different dinners are, but how much is the wine pairing (if you remember, even though you didn't have it)? I don't drink much wine on its own, but I love wine with food, and I imagine the wine pairings are spectacular. I'm a cheap drunk, though. What to do...what to do... The lady/man standing in front of Pikachu looks like s/he's flashing it! It's a good thing you didn't go Isetan. I'm sure you would have walked out with some of the Y10 000+ per 100g iberico ham! One last thing...do you think it would be inappropriate to print out the coupon for a free glass of champagne with dinner? There's one here. I don't really care for champagne, but it might be good!

I added some parmesan cheese, too. The bleu was still the star (especially because I upped the amount), but I have a heck of a lot of parmesan to get through, so I used it. There's no such thing as too much cheese!

I'd do it if I could find it. Let me take a more thorough look around.

I used 2/3 cup of bleu in it the last time I made it (which was, I think, less than a week after the first time ), and it was even better, I thought. I'd even add more if I could!

If you're going to add ingredients like xanthan and carrageenan, why not just buy her some chocolate milk? Unless it's difficult to get where you are, that is.

I think the true test of a good macaron is with the simplest of flavours. If a place can't do a simple flavour well, then how good can the more complex flavours be? The flavours might be spectacular, but what about the macaron, itself? I did a test last month using caramel and coffee flavours. I found Pierre Herme to be overly sweet as well as unbalanced (much too much filling), though PH tended to have stronger flavours than the other brands I tried. I'm sure there are better out there. There are long lines at PFChang's, Red Lobster, and the Olive Garden, too, but that doesn't make them the very best. Being crowded isn't necessarily an indication of being good. It just means the place is popular. Thanks, Braden, for posting the report. I was wondering what happened to the macaron taste test, but I didn't want to nag! I'm sorry Sadaharu Aoki wasn't included. The macaron I had from his place wasn't very good, I thought, and I wondered what others thought of his macarons. I agree with JPHevin, by the way. They were hardly spectacular. What's next? I'm hoping for pain au chocolat...or if it could be done, croque monsieur!

I'm not sure, but I think only parts of a bear or certain bears are poisonous. Or maybe all the sake they forced the bear to drink helped counteract any of the poison a bear might have. Every year the school for which I work has human rights lectures, and two years ago, the theme was the Ainu. I wish I had better comprehension, because they covered a lot of information, including food. One of my co-workers is originally from Hokkaido, and he was one of the speakers, so I'll ask for more info about the food. edited--Ainu was two years ago! Last year was Okinawa!

I like cheese mochi, too! But Cheetos are much cheesier (cheese mochi has mayo in it, too, while Cheetos don't), so I still crave Cheetos sometimes. I haven't seen caramel salt kitkats! I hope they don't taste like the caramel kitkats did. Those were horrible! I'll keep an eye out for them, though. (Pastel finally had shio caramel pudding last month, and I had 4!! No more for another year, so I hope Blue Mountain Coffee comes back again soon!) I did see mini kinako kitkats, though. If they had been single bars, I'd have bought one, but it was the bag of minis.

If a black forest cake is "light", then a plain chocolate cake with very simple icing (and filling) would still be light. Then you'd solve your image on whipped cream problem. Or just make a chocolate cake with cherry filling, and cover it with a thin-ish buttercream, and don't call it black forest cake. He'll still love it.

How important is having the image on the cake vs having a good black forest cake? If the type of cake is very important, then find another way to incorporate the picture into the celebration, but don't put it on the cake. For example, make a giant cookie (in addition to having the cake) and put the picture on the cookie. Or make a huge poster or banner with the picture. Or make the cake, then build some kind of tiered stand so the giant cookie can have its own place above the cake, but not touching the cake. If having the picture on the cake is more important than the cake, itself, then change your cake, or just don't use whipped cream. Fondant and/or buttercream on a black forest cake is a bad idea, imo, since as others have said, then it's not really a black forest cake anymore. However, if the picture is really that important, then change the cake. Or do the whole "black forest" cake in buttercream, but then serve it with whipped cream on the side.

Words of wisdom! ← I don't think eating old school French in Thailand is a wasted meal. In my very limited experience, old school French in Thailand far outclasses most North American (outside cosmopolitan markets, such as New York and...New York) restaurants with similar ambitions.

The only thing I know about Ainu and food is that bear is important in their culture. I watched a pretty horrifying video of a bear sacrifice (they do drink the blood, eat the meat, and use the skins). (Note: I only recently learned about the cultural significance of the bear sacrifice, but when I was forced to watch the video, I could understand none of dialogue before, during, or after, so at the time I could only see what seemed to be the abuse of an animal.)

I want to know more about it, too! Did you make your own kaya for it, or did you use jarred? The cake part of your rolls looks very light and moist. What recipe are you using?

At my local Co-op today, I found Chocolate Salt McVities! I wanted to buy some, but I decided to wait till the weekend. I still have about a dozen chocolate malted whopper cookies left to eat, but I think I can finish them by Sunday. Matcha McVities are also back--and are as yummy as they were a couple of years ago! And while not exclusively Japanese, I always wondered why Japanese Cheetos tasted like crap, and today I read the ingredients. They have some kind of chicken flavouring in them! US/Canadian Cheetos don't have that! They had other stuff I didn't recognize, too (not that I memorize the ingredients of Cheetos or anything, but the list seemed a bit longer). What's up with that? Why interfere with my pure artificial cheese flavouring?

If you do send in the pan for a replacement, the company will send probably send you one of the Calphalon One pans since the commercial hard-anodized line is being phased out. Speaking of which, Amazon has kick-a** prices on the commercial hard-anodized line right now. I picked up two 12-inch everyday pans and two 2-1/2 qt shallow saucepans (all come with lids) for only $70 (free shipping, plus when I checked out, my receipt noted a "buy 4 for 3" sale, so I wasn't charged for one of the cheaper pans). If anyone is interested in getting back-ups for their Calphalon commercial non-anodized, or buying some pots and pans as gifts, now would be a good time to pick some up.