reesek

last night was LARB Monday: i called it experimental ramen. it was pretty good. if a shocking display of fusion - fresh egg noodles in a brown miso flavored dashi with fresh water chestnuts, chili paste, chinese cabbage, kimchi, mirin & scallions. topped with salmon & hamachi sashimi. kind of like taking SE asia and hucking it in a blender. i thought it worked though.

LMF - i think because the thai language doesn't translate perfectly to english - the exact spelling is up to the preparer of said 4 letter word starting with L. in seattle - you can get both powdered and fresh galangal at uwajimaya or viet wah - galangal looks like ginger in shape - but it's thicker. it's also lighter in color, denser and has a totally different flavor - bright, almost lemonish but with gingery notes. you'll know it when you see it. i've never been to PFC - but if the lettuce cup chicken is ground and salty/tangy/spicy - my guess is that it's a variation on the theme. though i've never been to PFC, i've seen your work and am certain you can do better.

losing my larbinity was just like he said...no wait - it really was fun. my mise en place. the roasted rice powder is in the mortar and pestle. i used fresh galangal instead of dried - snowangel - do you use dried for a reason other than ingredient availability? i love it fresh but wonder if it adds a tarter note dried. i'll add a pinch of sugar and a bit more lime next time. here's my pork. i went to a little vietnamese grocery and the pork cuts they had were either all on the bone or offal - so i went with ground. the specks are the ground thai bird chilis. it must be a completely different dish with a more coarsely ground pork/chicken. i think i'll prefer that texture. final larb! my boyfriend loved it. i will love it...just want to tweak a bit. it is a lot like the thai tuna salad we make - i think next time i will serve with wedges of green cabbage in addition to lettuce - the smooth sweetness of cabbage will accentuate the fruitiness of the peppers. many thanks to tommy (for starting the thread) and snowangel for a wonderful recipe!

so you can't/won't stuff it...sigh. it's just so much better when it gets all slickery. i'm not hosting this year and my host plans to grill the bird...would that mean we can't stuff? if i were to host, here's what i would do: make rich, luscious turkey stock - which is also essential for decent gravy...especially if you stuff. cube a couple loaves of good white bread and let the cubes dry overnight saute lots of pork breakfast sausage add chopped onion & celery and some criminis to the rendered fat, add chopped sage and thyme. stir in the cubed bread and moisten with a mixture of butter and stock. fill the bird. several hours later cause major distraction in kitchen and gobble crusty stuffing cap while eunny and chezcherie aren't looking.

YAY! susan (& prepcook!) i'm so excited that you're blogging. i am always so flattered that you take so much time to share your meals with us...plus your northeasterners (me too) living in FL (like my mom) so i feel connected! the layout of your house looks so much like her last one it's eerie. pasta putanesca is one of our favorites too. mmm anchovy.

i made a soup/stew with chick peas that has immediately become my favorite. i wanted to make collard greens, so i sauteed some garlic in olive oil with chili flakes and then added a bunch of chiffonaded collards. i had been playing around with my smoker, so had some smoked leeks & shallots on hand which i chopped and added, but pork would work too. i added broth just to cover and stewed the greens slowly until tender. then i added cooked chick peas and a bit more broth and let it all kind of meld together. i roasted some sausages and served the stew in a shallow bowl with sausage on top. it was one of those things that kind of evolved as i was doing it - but greens, broth, pork and beans is a beloved combination. the roasted chickpeas rock too. i like them with coarse salt and rosemary. or with roasted cauliflower.

i just read the entire thread...aka..the world according to larb. we make a thai tuna salad that is related to the squid salad snowangel mentioned. but i'm a recovering non-flesh eater and am finding that standards that i used to love no longer satisfy me. so tonight i shall larb. i'm still a little leery of chicken - but pork and beef don't freak me out at all. i'm wondering what cut of pork i should get to larb? how long should i freeze it before pulsing in the processor? snowangel, does that recipe feed your whole family? i wonder if our thai chilis that we proudly grew and then forgot all about are still alive in the garden...better get extra just in case.

it reads like an "onion" article. " 'They have this thing called 'soyberry steak' instead of Salisbury steak,' says Michaela Goodman, a 19-year-old customer service staffer, while delicately picking at a plate of corn and coleslaw." that cracked me up...almost as much as this: "It also will hopefully teach them respect for animals, he says, a value symbolized by Lucille, the paralyzed dog he adopted that follows workers around on a little wheeled contraption." you couldn't pay me enough to work in a place like that. but 'soyberry steak?' you just can't make that up. it's brilliant.

i went to saba with a friend for lunch on thursday. the veggie combo was very generous, and had, in addition to yellow and brown lentils, tomato fit fit, an okra dish that was excellent, good collards and a tasty green bean dish. also on the platter were the cabbage/carrot mix (no potatoes) and a green salad with beets. the lentils were not as good as others i've had...not creamy enough for my taste, but still decent. $9. we also had an order of foul. this was unbelievable. a dish of garlicky favas (i assume) with chopped onion, pepper, feta (i think) on top. and about an inch of ghee. it was served with a baguette which seemed odd, but we ate it with both baguette and injera. $5.50 (i think) for that. delicious (and properly hot).

<swoon> roasted cauliflower for dinner last night. i've been playing with cooking times & techniques. i have a convection oven, which i've recently had the nerve to play around with. i think the original heat is a little high (or my oven runs hot) and usually bake at 350. I've found that I love the convection - but at even lower temps. 350 with convection is too hot...so i like 350 (regular roast) or 300 convection for about 40 minutes or so. i added some red onion - a la fifi and cut it a little too small. next time - slightly larger pieces...maybe an inch and i'll be in heaven.

the leftover thanksgiving special? anyone? the mashed potato & stuffing sandwich...my mom's gravy was repulsive so we never ate it - though i can see the general appeal of gravy. i used to add ambrosia* to mine for that hint of sweetness. side of sweet gherkins. eaten with hand still dripping with gherkin juice. like a wild carbohydrate-blissed animal. (*and yes, it is divine. drained canned pineapple, tons of mandarin oranges, a bit of flaked coconut, mini marshmallows that bloat and foam by day 2 - bound together with a healthy dollop of sour cream)

cold toast is the devil's handiwork. (looked pallid too) awaiting lunch anxiously

robyn, white salmon, as doc points out, is determined by the food the salmon eats. my fishmonger (in seattle) insists that there's no season per se (see - on topic!) but i always seem to see it here in the winter. it's one of my favorites too - and because it's a lusciously oily fish - it's super easy to cook. check out this timely article

ronnie, you were blogging last year when i joined egullet! i'm very excited to hear about your restaurant / food exploits...have some greek fries and stuffed pizza and chicago dogs and old style for me! and describe it in detail

we had hash yesterday too. with fingerling potatoes and part of a smoked pork chop BF had ordered out on thursday. with it i served the best poached eggs i've ever made.

a weekend to cook! bliss. saturday we had another couple over. i served a simple green salad with paprika spiked candied pecans, goat cheese and a pear shallot vinagrette. (it doesn't really sound that simple, does it? but it was) the entree was seared then roasted scallops with an orange buerre rouge, horseradish potato silk and buttery green beans. i sprinked pancetta on all but one of the plates. dessert was 1/2s of vanilla poached pears with cinnamon caramel and gelato. last night i had extra scallops and some razor clam meat too, so i made a simple fish soup which i finished with saffron aioli. shipwreck bay sav. blanc delicious! someday i will take photos!

deborah - please do post your findings (incl. photos!) here... NY pizza isn't more "italian" it's definitely american...some people insist it's the water. my order-in-go-to is pagliacci. it's not NY, but piecora's crust ruins the rest of what makes it closer to NY for me...none of it is particularly satisfactory. fortunately, there is some very good wood-fired pizza here. tutta bella (negative reviews, odd experiences aside) is worth a visit. so is la medusa (across the street - dinner only) and definitely - as anita mentioned - cafe lago. there's also abondanza (sp) in west seattle. i'd like to try it again and eat it there. pizza and cardboard are sworn enemies, so i'd like to give it another go. edited to add - NY pizza uses Mozzarella traditionally, not Muenster

i agree with anita that the slices at piecoras are not the way to go...but i think their crust is too thick for NY/EC style. however - at piecora's the simpler you go, the better - otherwise the crust seems too doughy. deborah - please post back here on your findings!

i think i'm in love! please tell us about the last 2 weeks!!

rachel, i think your chicken looks delicious! daniel is adorable, very cool of you to involve him in projects while he's young and he looks so happy! i love spice cake. does the pumpkin replace some of the moisture in the recipe? i have used apple sauce a few times to replace some of the oil & sugar in carrot cake recipes...works really well.

i didn't know there was a second outpost. the original (on alki) is great. it's just the place to go on a "sick day" afternoon and drink coffee or tea and eat crumble and watch the rain and wind whip along the coast.

*bump* mamster - what ever happened? has anyone tried this on a "ceramic-topped" electric range? (using quotes, because danged if the thing doesn't look - and shatter like - glass) what if i got a stone one and put it under the broiler? mmm, dolsot bibimbap. i've been aching to try this. the korean place i go to doesn't do the dolsot version, and i've been willing to let that slide given the divine pancake and tender bulgogi. but i dearly want that crunch.

mary jane's? charleston chew?

yaaay! i had a feeling it was you from the teaser soba put in torakris' blog. for those new to rachel's posts, check out the egullet pantry challenge thread. you have come a long way, baby. keep it up! 5 cups sounds like a massive amount of broth. different meats have different levels of water in them - it's possible that yours was watery - and her original recipe used less watery meat...i love bloviatrix's idea of using the leftover as chicken sauce. you could brown the chicken, then slow cook it "cacciatore" style in the oven until tender. a lot of the liquid will evaporate in the oven, leaving a thicker sauce. i love Jaffrey's recipes. is there a keema recipe in that book? I used to make her recipe for keema from Introduction to Indian cooking with lamb, but it could be easily made with beef - and it's very simple - maybe daniel might like it?

this is so wonderful. i'll take a look at deep cove and look into getting a driver. thank you shelora!