Abra

I think on a weekend night you do need reservations at Andina, but I'm not sure about week nights. And yeah, you need to go to the market on Saturday morning, if only for the cured meat vendors. It'll absolutely make you drool.

I know I'm always saying this, but Andina!

The Dolfin milk chocolate hot masala is delicious for eating. It's not at all hot, just warm and creamily sweet. Normally I'm a darker the better chocolate person, but this is really good. Right up there with the Pralus Indonesie for things I'd better not keep around the house.

I have just loved this blog. I especially appreciate your showing us how to use so many of the ingredients that I see often, but can't even pronounce because there's not a word of English on the package. Although I already use a lot of Asian ingredients, this blog will help me to use many more. And I'm making Coca Cola chicken tonight in your honor!

Just gorgeous! That pea frittata is a jewel, and the celeriac fritters, escarole, poached tuna, and of course those beautiful cakes, really make me wish we'd been there. I think you were very wise not to do the lasagne. Happy birthday to himself!

Is rou sung the same as "pork fu" which I see everywhere? I always wanted to know what to do with it.

I think Chefpeon is busy preparing for her upcoming appearance on a Food TV cake challenge (!), but I can tell you that the recipe makes just the right amount. Here's why - they taste really good on their own, so you're going to eat some while you work. They freeze well, and it's a nice thing to have in the freezer. And you may make them larger or smaller than I do, so an exact number is hard to come by. Oh, and by the way, she's using the Pichet Ong recipe now, as far as I know. She renounced her former favorite when she tried his. So that's what my comments were addressed to.

Hmm, I have a bit of pork loin, some red apples, carnaroli...maybe I could wing that dinner? Hints gratefully accepted!

As beautiful as those sausages are, it's the green apple risotto I really want to know about!

Interesting article, Catherine. Now my husband's a real supertaster. For example, he can't stand beer of almost any sort, claims it's unbearably bitter. Every so often one that's super low in hops tastes ok to him, but beer is basically out. He loves coffee...with milk and sugar. The tannins in red wine make him spit. A supertaster is what I don't want to be!

My husband is a Coca-Cola fanatic who loves Chinese food, so I'll definitely be making that chicken for him. And if you get that RV, please come share some wok hey with us Seattle folks! It's funny about the Safeway. It looks more or less exactly like our Safeway as well. Only, we think of the Safeway as a crummy store, and only go there for stuff like cat food and Coke. In your pictures it looks fabulous and bountiful and fresh, but in my life, I hate the sameness of their stores and the plasticness of lots of their food and always prefer a smaller, less formulaic place to shop. Maybe if we had a stainless steel horse I'd like it better.

They claim I'm a supertaster, but I enjoy all of the supposedly detested list of foods. It's a dumb test - they're asking ambiance questions about what's a purely physiological state.

I love those tiny octopus too, and have been known to eat them with my fingers, ahem, straight out of the fridge. I can see a classified picture of that now.....just my finger and thumb and a little red octopod, with all the rest blanked out.

I'd definitely go with the raw rind. The cured and smoked, besides changing the flavor, probably won't melt in the way the raw rind will. I think the cured, unsmoked belly would be fine.

Well, I've eaten and served it dozens of times, and by limiting the portion size to 4-5 oz per person max it's never been a problem. It's a delicious fish. Try a bite or two and see what you think.

Lots of places will rent their kitchens but they're not necessarily certified. This is the case with most church kitchens. When you call the county health folks they'll tell you exactly which kitchens are certified and available for rent. I find that they're very helpful about that stuff, because they want you to follow the rules.

I'm a Tiger (metal tiger, although I'm not clear how that matters). And in Western life I'm a Leo. So that must be right, a person who's a tiger and a lion both - sounds exactly like me! Except that I'm not much for raw meat.

I agree that calling the health department is the way to go. But I can tell you that I live in Kitsap County, WA and here you can bake for the farmer's market without a commercial kitchen if and only if you aren't selling anything that's potentially hazardous. So if there's any sort of custard, cream cheese, or eggy component to your baking, pastry cream, that kind of stuff, you need a commercial kitchen. However, you can get what they call here a "bake sale permit" if it's just bread and cookies, dry stuff. But the market itself might require that food be prepared in a commercial kitchen. Our little market does, for example.

Ah Leung, would you show the packages of the oysters and the hairy moss fungus, if you still have them? That dish looks delicious, and I've never cooked with either of those before. The whole dinner looks quite wonderful, in fact. Also, I see that grass jelly in cans all the time, but am ashamed to say I've never tried it. I'm confused - you drink it straight from the can, or you have to mix it with something?

Those sweets look so delectable. I might have to go hunting for some tomorrow, if I can stand the thought after having a morning root canal. Boo hoo, I really want those water chestnuts, too. And the lotus root. And the sesame treats. Oh dear, bad week for dental work!

I love pismaniye, and always have a couple of boxes keeping cool in the garage for parties and surprises. It's not like anything else, and is guaranteed to amaze your friends.

As to those squash at the farmer's market - the top ones that are tan, those are butternut squash. The lower picture, yellow with orange stripes, are Delicata squash. They're one of the most delicious squash in existence. You can bake them whole, then scoop out the seeds, or you can slice them into rounds, brush them with a little oil, a little sweet soy, and roast them. Even the skin is good to eat.

That's a beautiful tutorial, Vengroff, and the wettest dough I have ever imagined! Do you know what causes that shininess in the crumb of your close-ups? I have gotten that occasionally in my breads, but I don't know why.

The rules vary state by state, and even by county. The basic rules in effect in a very large part of the country are that you may not prepare for sale any foods in your home kitchen. Some areas make exception for non-hazardous baked goods, like bread or cookies, but not for pumpkin pie, or anything they think needs refrigeration. In most places your home kitchen CANNOT be certified as a commercial kitchen. So technically, if you accept money for food you cook, you can't cook in your own home. But hey, test the waters? Totally. Get your friends to "hire" you to do parties for them - they pay for all the groceries, you donate your services. They don't pay you, but they'll give you a reference if you do a good job. Do all the cooking legally - by cooking in the CLIENT'S kitchen. Another great thing to do is to go to work for a caterer for a while, one with a good reputation. Learn some of the ropes about how to do catering, which usually involves a lot of service and presentation skills in addition to cooking. That's how I got started, so I know it works. I hate to be all preachy. How you read what I say depends on whether you're law-and-order oriented or not. Catering from home is generally illegal. Lots of people don't care.

I need a new stone, my old one having expired after about 10 years by accidentally having some plastic melted onto it. By which I mean a LOT of plastic. Even though I put it through the self-clean cycle a few times, it always had an acrid smell. So it's outta here and I'm shopping for a new one. I don't see an ultra-heavy one for sale anywhere near me - does anyone have a reliable online source for the very heavy rectangular kind?