JustKay

A curious & ignorant question but hey! I wanna know From where do the shallots in America come from? Are they grown locally or imported? I ask because here in my country we generally get 2 different types of shallots as well as big onions. And the (red/purple) shallots from India are really flavorful as compared to the ones from Thailand which are a pale purple and less flavorful. Anyways ......

In the November 2001 issue of the Chocolatier, Chef Claudia Fleming (according to the magazine, she's one of 10 Best Pastry Chef in America 2001) of Gramercy Tavern, NY shares her childhood favorite - Individual Chocolate Refrigerator Cakes with Chocolate Sauce. The recipe also uses mascarpone cream. My scanner isn't working but the picture looks very neat and yummy. I don't know if I can post the recipe here, but if you want I can PM it to you (to try for some other time).

Woohoo!!! More suggestions and tips. Thanks a bunch. I must try the cucumber slices in water. I'll have to provide plain water as well. TP - I am serious about us getting together. Let's plan with Shiewie too. I don't mind what day or what time during the school hols coz we aren't going anywhere this time.

jgarner53 - thank you.

Oh! Thank you so much for that tip. Over here, glucose is easier to find and cheaper too!

Another good Malaysian recipe book is Taste of Malaysia (Rasa Malaysia) by Betty Yew. I bought this when I first got married and was just learning how to cook.

We could possibly try sending it to you. I've sent food items both factory sealed as well as homemade successfully. I've even sent fresh chilies to the US. Perhaps the chances can be increased if it's re-packed it into a jar of Nutella. Or Marmite. In Ottawa, the Vietnam stores sell this stuff (although that was aeons ago that I lived there).

Does this mean that I can use glucose in place of corn syrup in your marshmallow recipe? As far as I am aware, corn syrup is used in recipes to hinder crystalization as corn syrup does not crystalize. Is this correct? Sorry to digress ....

Thank you all for the ideas and links. I checked online and rum extract has 35% alcohol content. There is one mention of a non-alcohol mock rum flavoring called Rum Compound but the link provided was broken and I doubt if it's available here. I do realize the use of rum in the recipe is for it's flavor but I won't miss the rum flavor. I don't mind the slightly altered taste of dishes whenever I have to substitute alcohol with something else as long as the result is tasty as well. In fact, I think if the cake has rum flavor and/or smell, it would be a turn-off for (almost all of) my guests do not partake alcohol too. I am attracted to the recipe because of the use of chestnut. TP, you know I would love your coming to visit but unfortunately this is a high-school annual reunion/meet (where almost-40-year-old moms act like silly 18 year old school girls) as well as tahlil session for our departed classmate. The hubbies are invited along so they can look after the kids while us ladies do our thing. Can we plan something, with Shiewie too, maybe next month, during the school holidays? I'd be honored to host the pot-luck party Btw, I hope you are able to go to the wedding reception next week since The Lodge is a lovely place. What a pity I'm in Melaka then (ooo .... the Medan Ikan Bakar Umbai is calling my name!) I think I'll go for the Cassata. And Plum Crostata. And Baked Ziti. And Stuffed Chicken Breast. And Provolone & Prosciutto Bread. And Minestrone Soup. And of course, Breadsticks. And a friend gave me a recipe for lime sherbet which would be good as a good-bye dessert and a good ending to all the fat laden dishes!

Thanks ludja. The Chestnut Ricotta Cheesecake sounds special and yummy (and seems easy enough for me to handle). We can get fresh roasted chesnuts easily here although I would have to substitute the rum. Do you think the usual substitute orange juice or pineapple juice will be okay? And how do you suggest I garnish/decorate this cake? I have been looking at Cassata too. Emeril's recipe is marked as 'easy'. cassata@food network Have you ever made Cassata? Maybe I'll make both. I'm sure one cake isn't enough and I planned to make 2 of the same. But now ... I'm torn between the two. edited to add : I went thru the site you linked and found this Glacial Mists Cooler Sounds very refreshing, don't you think?

I am hosting a Sunday brunch party and my friends have requested an 'Italian' themed one. I don't want to make the Tiramisu (it's everywhere now). I want to bake a (stunning ... ha ha! ) centerpiece cake as well as one other dessert (maybe Plum Crostata). I appreciate any ideas. Oh and also, if you have a non-alcoholic beverage suggestion. Thanks. edited to add that this brunch thing will be poolside so I don't fancy making anything that needs to be kept refrigerated.

I don't know about coconut milk and alcohol (me no drinkey alcohol ) but we make a dessert here called bubur with coconut milk using green beans, red beans or corn kernels ... with palm sugar added and these 'soupy' desserts are very yummy when frozen. In fact, there are frozen pops in those flavors sold here. At home we don't have to use the pop mold, we make them in a long tube-like plastics about a foot long and an inch diameter. This is even better than the mold as you won't have any drippings.

kitchenetc, thank you for sharing your experience with us. Please continue to do so.

I see a lot of the dial 'hanging' type on e-bay. I'll have to check for the bulb one. Thanks for replying. And now I must ask what are quarry tiles? I don't have pizza stone (never seen them anywhere in the stores), don't think I've seen pizza peels either. I usually bake my pizza on a ceramic plate lined with lightly oiled unbleached baking paper. p.s. : I am in Malaysia. No Home Depot or Bed, Bath & Beyond here. edited to add : I googled for ceramic tile Malaysia. Can you please have a look at this site and see if this is the tile you mean. quarry tile Malaysia Should I get the untreated ones then? Do you know if they are naturally colored or are color added? Is it safe then? So many questions ... I know ..... Thank you so much for all the new things I'm learning from eGullet. Aaah ... I've found the answers and posting them here just in case someone else don't know what they are. It seems that the colors are obtained naturally from either shale or clay, so I suppose that's safe. what is quarry tile

Thank you so much for all the replies. I think I'll try pounding it in a lesung batu = mortar & pestle made from granite (this is very tough) I also have a small grinder (to grind dry spices) which I will also try. Thanks also for the recipe to make the paste.

These are good. And hot. Goes well with lots of garlic. We have a chicken joint from South Africa called Nando's Chicken and they use only peri-peri chillies in their sauces. They also sell the sauces. Very good. Here's a link to their website and some tips on peri-peri chillies. Nando's Chicken

Using white chocolate as substitute for the marzipan is certainly a good idea. I had in mind to just buy the rolling fondant, which is sold in boxes, imported from the US. I'm enquiring about the almond paste used in the recipe posted to make the cake itself. Is this just finely grounded almond ie almond flour?

markk, I am no expert but the bird chili, unlike Szechuan peppers, has no particularly distinct taste. It is used primarily for it's potency. Szechuan peppers, on the other hand has quite a distinct flavor and fragrance, which is what makes Szechuan dishes special. Therefore, IMO, if you ordered a Szechuan dish, it must be made with Szechuan peppers. If it's not hot enough, perhaps you could request them to double the amount of the Szechuan pepper. If you add Szechuan peppers to other Chinese dishes, you will be altering it's taste. If you ordered a Szechuan dish and they use some other pepper, then they are cheating and that makes it not an authentic Szechuan dish And I don't find Szechuan peppers very hot - just mildly hot. Chinese dishes are not as hot as Thai or Malay dishes. I am of course, speaking as one with a 'Malay' palate. In Malaysia, most Chinese restaurants would also include a few Szechuan dishes in the menu. However, they would not taste as good as the ones offered at Szechuan Restaurants. Therefore, if you are seeking to amplify the heat factor of other Chinese dishes, go ahead with the bird chillies, although bird chillies are usually used fresh. It is easier to just add fresh peppers to a dish than to work with dried peppers. So, as suggested, if the dish uses chili paste, then soak your dried chilis and grind to a paste and use this in addition to (mixed in) the chili paste they use. If they use chopped chilis in the dish, you might get away with just adding chopped dried peppers during the end of the sauteing period (as dried peppers can burn fast). I would say 1T of bird eye chili paste is good for one serving portion, and about 4 or more for dried peppers. You could also cook up the paste of dried chilis and add them to any dish you wish to make hotter. There are several places here which do that. I am not so sure of the ingredients but if you want to try make this, I could possibly find out. I hope this helps a little. I know how frustrating it can be. When I was living in Canada, I had to tell them to make the 'hot' dishes really hot but they are still not hot enough for me.

I have always wanted to try to make petit fours. I'd like to try out the recipe posted. I would have to make my own almond paste though. Can someone please tell me if this recipe looks right? Homemade Almond Paste It says to grind the almond to a fine powder before adding the powdered sugar. I would think that you can't get powder but rather a paste, unless it is coarsely grounded. Or can I just use ground almond? The ground almond we get here is imported from the US but it is NOT a fine powder - just finely ground, still gritty. Thanks for any help. edited to change 'it' to 'petit fours'.

Happy Birthday Rachel. And thanks for sharing those wonderful pictures and experience with us.

What is a good oven thermometer for a home baker? Are the ones on e-bay good enough? Thanks.

I have been thinking and thinking about my Kosher marshmallows and I think Kojel simply won't work because (1) it is a fast acting gelling agent and (2) once set it you can't do anything to it anymore - it can't be set, melted and re-set like agar or gelatine. Hence, I think what happened was during the beating time, the Kojel have passed it's setting stage and therefore will not set again. And the result - marshmallows that won't set. It also has a funny slightly sourish taste that even the sugars won't mask. I will try with agar next. I realize this isn't useful information to most people as you can all use real gelatine, but I hope this info might be helpful to those who need to make Kosher marshmallows like I do, because I've searched the Net for a recipe that gives correct instructions to use Kojel in making marshmallows but all recipes out there seem like the word gelatine is simply replaced with Kojel or Kosher gelatine.

Yes, you can cook with them. Depending on what the dishes you want them to cook. If it's just fried rice or fried noodles, maybe just add 4 or 5. I suggest they chop it up some and add when sauteing the spices/onions. If they're using chili paste, then to grind them up (after soaking in hot water) with the chilis they use or replace with with this. If you can carefully grind them up, you can put the powder in a shaker and use it like you would paprika although it would be HOT. Good on pizzas and spaghettis. But be careful of the pwder though as these are really hot chilis. You can also take out the seeds to lessen the heat. edited to add : there are less potent variety of bird chilis and these are usually slightly bigger (more than 1 inch long)

It is very hot - even I can't eat it by themselves. They're hotter than Serranos. Habaneros are mild compared to bird chilies. You can do what Shiewie suggested, chop it up and soak them in light soya sauce and use a condiment. Add a little vinegar too, if you like. Or you can pickle them - this will slightly tone down the heat. Then use them as an a condiment - especially good with fried noodles, fried rice or soup dishes like noodles soup. Another common usage here in Malay cooking is to make Sambal Belacan. I don't know if you can buy belacan or if you eat them. In my home though, I add some fresh red chilies to my sambal belacan to tone the heat down a bit. Grinding them up and adding a little soya sauce is how the sambal for Soto Ayam is made. However, some people like my grandma could eat these bird chilies like Shiewie's friend does. It is also used a lot in Thai dishes. Usually the chilies are just bruised and thrown in TomYam and other fried dishes. There are several Malay meat dishes that uses them like Rendang - a very hot and spicy meat dish that also uses coconut milk, Masak Lemak Chili Padi - a coconut based dish, not spicy but hot .... Bird chilies are good chilies to use when making freshwater fish dish since sometimes freshwater fish can have a strong muddy-fishy taste. Another sambal that often accompanies grilled fish is called Sambal Air Asam . A mixture of tamarind juice, a little belacan paste and a handful of bird chiles are blended and then raw big onion slices added to it. You could also infuse oil with it. I sent some to a friend in California and she made chili oil with some of them. Mostly we use fresh ones, and I realize you have dried ones. Perhaps, you could adapt and soak them in hot water. But dried chilies are always good for Sambal Tumis a thick chili paste dish which can contain boiled eggs, anchovies, squids or prawns although not all at the same time, Masak Asam Pedas a lot of tamarind juice makes a thinner version of the sambal tumis and this also uses Bunga Kantan Torch Ginger Flower Bloom which lends it's unique fragrance and flavor to the dish and also Masak Gulai which is a variation of the aforementioned dish but uses polygonum as the herb and also slightly thicker, but less so than Sambal Tumis. This plant is also easy to grow and quite hardy. A small plant will yield hundreds of chili padi. You can try growing them from the seeds of the dried chilies you have. germinate them on wet cotton and transfer it to a small container barely covering the seed and then later transfer the young plant into a medium sized pot. Maybe you already know this but it helps that after eating a hot dish, if you chew some white bread or drink milk (slowly so that it coats your mouth).

LOL! Yes. One of my best friends is from Te-nganu. One day I brought over some Roti Jala which I made and she asked if she could learn how to make them and where can she buy the sarang = nest. She meant acuan = mold. What about pinggang and pinggan? Pinggang is waist and the Terengganu people pronounce is as pinggan. Pinggan is plate and they pronounce it as pinggang. And don't forget Ikang Paran.