lorea

The first thing you can do is to get yourself an oven thermometer - they're reasonably cheap, and you can tell if your oven is at the correct temperature. I've seen ovens that are off by over 100 degrees. Are your cookies too thin, which is leading to your burned edges? If so, you can try to refrigerate your cookies for about 15 minutes prior to baking so they don't spread as much. Another thing you can try is to double up your sheet pan/cookie sheet so you have an "insulated" bottom. What kind of cookies are you making?

For the meat, I tend to do a 2:1:1 ratio of ground beef, pork, and chicken - the chicken is really tender, and it's hard to overwork the meat.

When peeling ginger, there's no need for a peeler - just slice off the skin. For less waste, simply run a sharp knife over the skin and the skin comes right off. Or the easiest way - just slice off the amount you want, smash it, and cook away! No need for peeling.

I believe wife's cake (old wife's cake?) is a flattened filling of lotus paste wrapped in a flaky lard-based crust. Kind of similar to sun cakes.

Thanks hzrt8w! Your lo bak gow is similar to mine, except I don't use as much rice flour. I'll try yours next time and see if I like it better! Also, do you know how they keep the texture of the daikon in dim sum restaurants? Do they not cook the daikon during that initial stage?

I'm eating that right now too! Also homemade. How do you make your lo bak gow?

And the salt, and MSG, right? They are so addictive.

Do wolfberries actually taste like anything? I also put them in chicken and pork soups, but I don't taste anything different when I put them in.

That's too bad...around here, the only places I CAN count on to be open on holidays are Chinese restaurants. Midnight snacks for me would be jong zi, Cheezits, dumplings, Nutter Butter, or shrimp chips. How I love shrimp chips!

You got your wish.....Nonstick rolling pin

Yep, looks like the new nonstick coated C1 is like their old Calphalon Commercial, except the OUTside is stick resistant too. No metal utensils on this one. I was pretty baffled that they came out with this line, and I also agree with fiftydollars' assessment that this is an admission of defeat. Wasn't the whole point of Calphalon One that it was a permanent, non-coated surface that won't wear off?

Me, me! And I make them almost every year too. I too, don't boil my leaves - I just rinse and soak mine. I'm afraid that boiling them will boil out all of the flavor in the leaves.

I haven't tried it, but I would think it would result in a crumbly crust, rather than a flaky crust. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that flakiness is caused by the water in the butter that puffs the crust to form flakes.

How about Martha Stewart's over-enunciation of words? "ThaT'S VERy preTTy." I think you guys have pretty much covered the other hosts.

Yes indeed....those do look very good! One of these days, I'm going to go beyond my comfortable favorites (glutinous rice, fatty pork, and shiitake mushrooms....or using Yo Fan as a filling) and try something new. I have another question....how long does everybody boil theirs for? And do you like it so the rice is very very soft, or like it when the rice still has some chew?

Maybe there's a regional American difference? I don't think I've ever seen the yellow wrappers on the west coast. Also, it seems that the difference between egg rolls and spring rolls on the west coast is that egg rolls have meat filling, whereas spring rolls are vegetarian. I've never seen them with the blistered skins on the west coast (although I've seen the Vietnamese fried egg rolls with those skins)

Is one particular shape supposed to taste better than another? The reason why I ask is because 2 weeks ago, I learned a new shape (the long ones that Jason/Dejah posted) from my boyfriend's grandma. I had always made the triangular ones that my family had always made, and it was really interesting learning a new shape! I think the long shape is better at distributing the meat/mushroom flavor throughout the entire jongzi - it's my new favorite. I still love the triangular ones (I made both types with this batch) because you can cut off little chunks of the jongzi, place them on a plate, and microwave them until the outside dries out. This leaves the outside nice and chewy, while keeping the inside soft and moist. Am I the only one that does this?

Oops, I didn't mean to offend - just wanted to relate my experiences. So I guess I was trying to describe some of my favorite pans, but I wasn't very successful! So here's my list: 1) 14in Carbon Steel wok 2) 3Qt Mauviel 2.0mm copper saute pan w/ stainless steel handles (the 2.5mm version was waaayyyy too heavy without a helper handle, plus I really like these stay-cool, non-metallic-smelling, non-rusting handles) 3) 2 1/2Qt Calphalon Copper Tri-Ply Shallow "saucepan" (I use this for a saute pan too) - I think this is probably my favorite, most versatile pan that actually makes me really really happy every time I use it. 4) 2Qt Falk copper evasee 5) 3Qt cheapo saucepan 6) 7Qt Le Creuset doufeu 7) 16Qt Chefmate SS-Aluminum disk bottom stockpot (recently replaced my honking 24qt one - toooo big for me to manuver) I'm not the egg maker or the potsticker fryer in my household, so there's no non-stick on my list. I should definitely try out Dick's recommendation for using my copper as a non-stick though.

I guess I would have to somewhat agree with Dick about copper - I think it's pretty great at most cooking tasks (I'm a convert!). But there are a few pieces that I would definitely not want copper exterior-SS interior: - Stockpot - gawd...copper is heavy enough as it is....and full copper in a stockpot is serious overkill. I think the copper stockpots on the market are copper-Tin interior anyways. - Nonstick omelet pan - I guess copper exterior/NS interior would be nice, but I'm not rich enough to be able to throw away my copper pan after the NS coating wears off! - Wok - SS is way too sticky for stir-frying meat and rice. Plus, I like a nice light metal (like carbon steel) to toss around, and you can't get the "wok chi" from SS. - Indoor grill - I don't think it's even available in copper...besides, I would choose cast iron for this one Edited: changed can to can't!

I'm in total agreement. "Frosting" made with shortening should be banned! I'd prefer to have no frosting at all. Speaking of nasty cake mixes, I recently "made" a boxed Angel Food cake from a mix with a friend. Amazing! I didn't realize cake mixes were that fancy....the thing actually puffed up before putting it in the pan. It tasted like total crap (as expected) - it had a very strange chemical flavor and it gave my tongue a weird buzzing feel. Stay away from boxed Angel Food cake! It's the devil! Here's another crime - putting soy sauce in all Chinese food. Just because it has soy sauce in it, doesn't make it Chinese! Some of the best Chinese foods are flavored simply, so the flavors of the food stands out.

Since I've posted last, I've made some upgrades to my cookware, including a Mauviel saute pan and a Falk saucier. I got the Mauviel because I disliked the greyish stainless steel interior of the Falk - I prefer a bright interior so I can tell color changes in my food. However, I didn't realize this before I owned both, but I believe the brushed exterior of the Falk helps to prevent tarnishing (not that it affects performance). I've polished my Mauviel several times now, but my Falk is still completely tarnish free! Amazing. Perhaps it's the difference in high heat on the saute pan, but I've taken my Falk to very high heats as well. Just something to think about, I guess. I have a question as well - if I have a great copper saute pan, is there any time I would need a cast iron pan? I hear such great things about cast iron, but I feel that my copper saute pan does pretty much everything I think I would use cast iron on. I don't like to clutter up my kitchen with unnecessary tools, so I just wanted to check in to see if there's something I'm missing.

I always drink it in Korean restaurants too, but I have to confess that I don't really like it - it tastes like burned rice to me (this is at all restaurants, not just one particular one). Does anybody else taste this? Or is it just me? What is it supposed to taste like?

It looks like the Giada De Laurentiis version has ricotta in it. I feel like I'm a better-informed lasagna eater now! I had no idea bechamel was used in lasagnas. It's time for a trip to Italy! What are the proportions of bolognese vs. bechamel vs. parmigiano reggiano? Also, does the layering order matter? And what is the optimal number of layers?

I'll put my vote in for Cheeseboard as well....really good if you like thin crust pizzas - their crust is amazing! For great authentic Thai food, check out Siam Cuisine on University, halfway down to the freeway. If you ask for Thai-hot spiciness, they WILL give it to you! My favorite place for coffee is still Caffe Strada on Bancroft - the Strada Mocha Bianca is really good.

Definitely Mario's. There's a pretty loyal following there. It's only a few blocks from campus - on Telegraph. I think the cross street is Dwight or Channing.