Sleepy_Dragon

I love these too, but they are a major hit to the system. My first bag I practically inhaled in minutes, but payed for it in the form of salt headache and dizzyness. Now I make a bag last a few days to keep that from happening. Last okashi eaten: Black Black chewing gum. Hm, maybe that doesn't count. Pat

Mmmmm, I made this recently too for school. Though minus the banana because we didn't have any on hand, and in small ceramic pots de creme containers for individual service. Added to that a freshly baked lime wafer, pineapple mint blossoms from the chef's garden, and served it at the school's restaurant. It sold out really fast! The caramel is so beautiful the way it glistens after the flan has been upended from its container. Also made Suvir's aloo tikki and brought a plateful of those to an evening class. They got inhaled as well. Pat

Love my coffee grinder and food processor, but prefer mortar and pestle for one thing: fresh coconut for coconut chutney. Mind, I'll still go with the food processor if pressed for time, but if not, mortar and pestle work better because they squish the coconut and make it surrender its juices, whereas the processor just makes small granules. It's quite an arm workout too. Pat

I do 20%, or $2, whichever is the greater sum. Got that suggestion from this site: http://www.tipthepizzaguy.com/ edit to add: the site suggests starting at 15% and going up or down accordingly, but I'm personally good for 20% all the time, mostly from an awareness of what it's like to work jobs like that, especially wrt the hidden costs, unless they personally did wrong by me, which to date has never happened. Pat

You're welcome, and no problem. I'm not an expert either, otherwise I'd be doing it myself instead of paying someone to do it. If I'd never experienced Bob Kramer's work before, I'd probably be fine with Kitchen Song, and the owner did put a sharp edge on my chef's knife, but the paring knife was a different story, unfortunately. I know it is not the easiest knife to sharpen due to how I'd worn away so much of the belly with my own botched sharpening attempts, but Bob could follow the blade evenly as well as turn it to something almost frictionless, so his is the kind of experience I want to continue. Pat

I had Kitchen Song do two knives a couple days ago, but will be sticking with Bob Kramer from here on out. I've been hesitant about saying anything for a variety of reasons, and Bob has done my knives before so I knew his work, but I was curious about KS, so... My knives are sharp enough, but unevenly so. In the case of my paring knife, the grinded edge doesn't follow the curve of the blade. Granted, part of the belly on this paring knife had been worn away long ago so it is never going to look pretty, but the edge was turned into a wide angled uneven V. The grind on my chef's knife is also uneven, between the both sides, and just going along one side it changes too. Basically the difference between KS and Bob Kramer (or Daniel O'Malley at Epicurean Edge) is that with the latter two's work, you don't see a grind. The entire edge is polished down into a mirror tapered curve, no corners anywhere, and the belly of the knife literally melts into the edge. KS is probably fine for home cooks, and they are by far the least expensive option (my cost was 6$ total for my paring knife and 8" chef's knife, whereas Daniel or Bob would charge more than that for one knife alone) as well as most convenient (45 minute wait while you shop at the market, as opposed to mailing knives to Ferndale or going to Kirkland and waiting 24 hours), but I'm in culinary school and it's important for me to be able to do cuts that are perfectly smooth, ie. slice a potato and the surface should feel like glass. Bob and Daniel's sharpening technique not only allows for this, but IMO their edges will last a lot longer too. No corners = no friction, and more support for the edge of the blade over time. As with most things, it comes down to cost, convenience, what people want to do in the kitchen, and how often they will do it. Routine for me is dicing a 200 lbs. box of raw sweet potatoes, so a long lasting edge with minimal friction matters a lot. Pat

Yes, they are indeed back! As to COD, that's the Chef of the Day projects done by the graduating quarter. Each 5th quarter student is Chef of the Day of one of the two restaurants during the final two weeks of the quarter, so there will be new menus every day during that time. Not all of them are open to the public, it depends on the student. Some of them like to keep it a small affair. Best thing to do is to call up SCA and ask what's available. No calisthenics required. Pat

The drinking perception thing bothers me too. And I'll likely be in those restauranteurs' shoes someday, so it's not like I wouldn't appreciate (if not outright -need-) the profit from alcohol, but as someone allergic to alcohol I don't want to be made to feel unwelcome anywhere either. Thankfully this has yet to happen to me in restaurants, and I hope it never does. Mostly I chalk it up to the waitstaff generally able to sense that I'm low maintenance, happy to be there and appreciate food. (Besides, my partner does drink and knows a thing or two about wine; wouldn't do to treat me badly and then lose her biz as well when she's in town!) Whatever place I end up opening will have a good list of non-alcoholic things to drink in addition to the alcoholic ones. It's always been a mystery to me why restaurants don't have equally extensive coffee, tea, etc. lists. Mine will though damnit... Speaking of which, I was at Union a couple days ago for their promotion. Mostly I went in search of inspiration because we were doing a small plates service in school, and I wanted to see what Chef Stowell was up to with this season's ingredients. I enjoyed what I had, especially the celery root and chestnut puree soup, though interestingly enough the most memorable thing was the drink the bartender made me, a pear nectar lemonade without alcohol. Yum! I sipped that as slowly as I could. Also agree with Foodie-Girl about wanting a little more food. It was nice but afterwards, the whole experience felt a bit fleeting to me. Probably didn't help that I coveted a poached duck egg waiting for pickup afterwards. Of the actual food, I am probably remembering the soup best of all because there was enough of it to enjoy the flavors constantly unfolding over a period of time. I could sense the rest of the food could do that as well, but it was over too soon. I'm really curious as to what their food, labor and overhead costs are like, and am hoping to pick my chef-instructor's brain about it once they get to Union. And I'd do any number of unspeakable things to be able to make soup as nice as theirs. The memory of the cold tomato soup with scallop from Union's FareStart dinner still burns brightly in my mind. Pat

Spinach wrap sliced beef enchilada-like things, with french fries and spinach salad. The guy who does staff meal at my place is quite good at throwing leftovers together into something enjoyable. Also snacked on raspberry muffins and crostini. Pat

Oh no, one of the other species from my school is here!!! Hehe, seriously, hi, I'll look for your embroidered name in the halls tomorrow. Whatever you all decide for the great culinary expansion of your sisters' palates, let us know how it goes. Pat

Ali Baba on 408 Broadway Ave E is inexpensive and good, and will answer the "Um, what's hummous?" question too! If your sisters really dread the unknown, there is an option to order french fries with the food, so they can have a little bit of familiar to hold onto. And if any of you like coffee, they've got good Turkish style coffee there as well served in those pour-yer-own brass side handled things. Pat

Now I am curious. What do we say to the Pagliacci operator for an Irwin Special? Pat

Cool, seafood at the Capitol Hill market soon, thanks for the news little ms. Today at the Capitol Hill market: cup 'o cider, eggs, humongous bunch of celery, dinosaur kale, delicatta squash, apples and pears. Also inquired about bones at the Whidbey Island based pasture finished meat seller's stand but they had none today. She said to try them next weekend so I'll wait until then to make stock. Was fun riding the bus back home afterwards, passengers around me commented on how good the celery smelled, and they wanted to run right home and make soup ASAP. Pat

Got clarification on next week's service. The latest menus posted above are actually over, my apologies if I crushed anyone's expectations and lunch plans. What we will be doing on Tuesday November 9, and Wednesday November 10 is a Taste of the Academy small plates service. The variety to choose from is extensive, both 3rd quarter and 4th quarter are participating, and each student (with the occasional student pair team) is making one dish. On our end (3rd quarter), that's around 20 different small plate choices international in scope. Pricing will be based on a ticket system, where each dish will be x number of tickets (1-4), and tickets will be .75 each. We will be closed for Veteran's Day Thursday November 11, and Friday November 12 in order to prepare for the 2004 Harvest Dinner on Saturday. Thanks for supporting us. Pat

Here is the menu for One World, it is French. It runs for the next two weeks, with Fridays being our buffet days, and Thursday November 11 a special menu TBA. ONE WORLD November 2 - 10, 2004 Billi Bi -- $3.00 Normandy Saffron Mussel Bisque Salad Lyonnaise -- $3.00 Warn Salad of Baby Frissee, Bacon Sherry Vinaigrette, Poached Egg Galette de Pommes de Terre au Chevre en Salad -- $2.75 Mesclun Green Salad with Potato & Goat Cheese Cake Souffle au Franche Comte -- $2.50 Cheese Souffle from the French Alps Pate de Campagne -- $2.50 Country style pork pate with stone ground mustard & Mesclun greens Rillettes de Canard -- $2.50 Shredded & seasoned duck meat with baguette & cornichons Bouillabaisse -- $6.95 Classic French fish stew with halibut, shrimp, mussels & scallops Agneau Roti a la Lavende Ratatouille -- $7.95 Lavender Roasted Lamb, Ratatouille, Honey Lavender Demi Glaze Truit a la Menuiere -- $6.75 Brown Butter sauce with Brussels sprouts and new potatoes Cassoulet Toulousain -- $6.50 Traditional white bean stew with homemade pork sausage and duck confit Entrecote Grille Bearnaise -- $7.95 Grilled New York Steak with Bearnaise Sauce, potato au gratin Pat

Eh, put me in the Tim's = molar breakers camp as well. And even worse, I dislike their wasabi chips. They taste of chemicals. I realize it's not economically feasible to use real wasabi to flavor them, but still... Pat

Yesterday's U-Dist. haul: assorted winter squashes, sack o' organic edamame, umeboshi, more honeycrisp apples, pea vine, hedgehog mushrooms, chanterelles, leeks, and potatoes. Also picked up my Thundering Hooves pasture finished beef and chicken order two weeks ago, and have been enjoying that. Pat

*sob* Pellets? Oh well... guess I will be sticking with Hot Mama's veggie or ham and pineapple slices. Yes, good luck, eagerly awaiting the next installment. Pat

Here is the menu for Square One Bistro starting next Tuesday. It is Thai, and also a bit abbreviated; it ends Wednesday, November 10 instead of running the usual two weeks, because we will be doing a special menu on Thursday, November 11 (more details next week), and Harvest Dinner after that on Saturday, November 13. Fridays as always are our buffet days. More about Harvest Dinner 2004 here for those interested. The guest chef this year is John Sarich, Culinary Director at Chateau Ste. Michelle. I'll post One World's menu early next week. SQUARE ONE BISTRO November 2 - 10, 2004 All entrees served with a cup of Coconut Chicken Soup or Green Papaya Mango Salad Grilled Pork Tenderloin -- $6.25 Spicy Peanut Sauce, Steamed Rice & Seasonal Vegetable Vegetarian Spring Rolls -- $5.25 Coconut Rice, Cucumber Salad & Housemade Plum Sauce Shrimp Pad Thai -- $5.95 Grilled Thai Beef Salad -- $6.00 Velvet Chicken Breast in Red Curry -- $5.95 Straw Mushrooms & Bamboo Shoots Desserts -- $1.75 Beverages -- .75 coffee/tea/decaf, Coke/Sprite/Diet Coke/orange pop/root beer/lemonade/iced tea Thanks for our chance to practice on you all. Pat

Is the sausage on the top half the crumbled kind or the pellet kind? And thanks for posting your progress. This is a fun thread! And yeah Hot Mama's is better when gotten fresh from the oven, easy for me to do since school is a couple blocks away. I'm also glad people are calling them slices instead of pieces. Hearing a "piece of pizza" rattles the insides of my teeth as hard as an energetic child in a small room beating metal pots with metal utensils. Pat

IMO, thin crispy and chewy crust is important, and so is a balanced tomato sauce and quantity of cheese. For the crust, it's something about the satisfaction of chew, and having just the right amount of tomato sauce and cheese so that you can fold a slice right down the middle and shove it in your mouth, and after taking a bite out of it, the taste and chew is still great. Whereas doing that with local pizza, it's not so great because the sauce is too seasoned, there is too much gloppy cheese, or there isn't enough sauce, and yucky thick bready yeasty crust, etc. For some reason, folding a slice and sinking one's teeth in really tells the tale wrt balanced components. I also wonder if it's the baking process as well. Much like one could try making Indian naan bread at home, but the result is never anywhere near as good as an 800F clay tandoori oven cooking it in 30 seconds. And lastly, those sausage topping that are shaped like animal pellets are the devil. Ick, thrrrpt. I hate it when places use them, they should all be serving us sausage sliced up from its original cased tube form, redolent with fennel and Italian seasonings! Pagliacci thankfully does this, don't recall if Hot Mama's does or not. edited to add: chefpeon, I see you are of that other species, could you tell us what's going on if anything with regard to firing dough at different temperatures? Pat

I miss NY pizza too, having been born and raised there. And no, there isn't anything that's really comparable. With that in mind, I think Hot Mama's Pizza on Capitol Hill is pretty good, especially if the slices are right out of the oven. This is the only pizza place I get meatless slices, and I'm really fond of meat on pizza; it's just their simple yet seasonal veggie toppings (not overloaded, thinly sliced) are so good, I never want any meat interfering with them, if such a thing could be imagined. Pat

Here is the new menu for One World, it is Oaxacan. ONE WORLD October 19 - 28, 2004 Starters Guacamole with Plantain Chips -- $2.75 Authentic guacamole with homemade chips Shrimp Ceviche -- $3.00 Gulf shrimp & fresh snapper marinated in lime and cilantro Salads & Soup Ensalada de Betabel Red beet salad with sauteed Swiss chard, oranges & aniseed dressing Nopale Salad Cactus salad with heirloom tomatoes and Serrano peppers Sopa de Tortilla Classic tortilla soup with Poblano peppers, pinto beans & queso fresco Entrees Tamales Filled with Poblanos and Cheese -- $5.95 Banana leaves filled with homemade masa, salsa verde, roasted peppers & manchego cheese. Served with Mexican rice Mole Negro Oaxaqueno: Oaxacan Black Mole -- $6.50 Authentic mole sauce with Slow Braised Pork, Corn Tortillas & Mango Salsa Tilapia with Tomatillo Sauce -- $6.75 Avocado filled with Maque Choux Pollo Enchiladas Verdes -- $6.75 Homemade tortillas filled with shredded chicken, salsa verde, and queso fresco Grilled Chorizo & Potato Molotes -- $5.75 On lettuce with fresh Salsa de Jitomate Pollo del Mercado Juchiteco: Juchitan Market-Style Chicken -- $5.95 With Mexican rice & fried plantains Lenten Lentils, Oaxacan Style -- $5.25 With pineapple, plantains and cumin Pat

Hi all: I didn't get a chance to grab One World's menu, but here's what my class will be cooking next week at Square One Bistro. I'll post One World's menu next Tuesday if nobody else beats me to it. SQUARE ONE BISTRO October 19 - 28, 2004 ...served with a cup of soup or salad... Flash Fried Calamari with Green Aoli -- $5.25 Spinach, apple & pinenut slaw Cioppino -- $6.95 Mussels, clams & shrimp in a slow simmered tomato sauce Grilled Lamb with Gaeta Olive Infused Demi Glace -- $6.75 Ratatouille & Roasted Fingerling Potatoes Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni -- $5.95 Rosemary Duck Breast -- $6.25 Butternut Squash Ravioli & Arugula Pesto Desserts -- $1.95 Mascarpone and Pear Filled Phyllo Cups, others Beverages -- .75 coffee/tea/decaf, Coke/Sprite/Diet Coke/Diet Sprite Pat

Yes, agreed about the fried rice. Being a white rice lover (don't even like the fried rice of my people), I was skeptical for ages about it and never ordered it. Then after a few years I took a chance and found myself transported to Bacon Heaven at first mouthful. I like their posters too. The hotness one's cool, and so is the one which advertises "Vitamins! Calcium!". And said hotness is actually very good. The hot sauce they serve with all of their nabe is the same one used to pickle their kimchi, I love it. Hot, garlicky and a little nutty. Mmmm, mouth watering... Pat