SobaAddict70

Use them as a topping for congee. Preserved duck eggs, chopped scallions, white pepper, sesame oil. Cheers, Soba

Yes, deli versions of American cheese are quite acceptable, and in fact vastly preferable in my book. That being said, yellow plastic wrapped American cheese is less of an abomination than WHITE plastic wrapped Kraft's Singles. Oh, almost forgot -- #7 to the list is Goober's peanut butter and jam....mixed together in the SAME jar. Gets pretty disgusting over time. For those who may not know what I'm talking about, Goober's is a type of peanut butter that also contains grape jam in the same jar. It was a favorite of mine back in the day, but now I'm sick of it. Soba

Friday: Dinner at Nobu. You can read all about it on the NY board under the Nobu thread. (Too lazy to post the link. The black cod is um....amazing. Got the recipe for it from a friend, so now I have to go make it. *sigh* ) Saturday: skinless boneless chicken breasts -- this time, marinated in mushroom soy, mirin, minced ginger, minced garlic and chili sesame oil for several hours -- I would've preferred overnight but couldn't do that -- then poached in Chinese chicken stock with Chinese rice wine; then served with a ginger and garlic paste. For the chicken stock, this is your basic chicken stock, made with the addition of unpeeled ginger root, reconstituted dried Chinese black mushrooms, star anise, light soy and Smithfield ham. For the paste, pound peeled minced ginger and garlic, along with a bit of salt in a mortar, mix in peanut oil and a touch of sesame oil; pound until smooth. Steamed rice. Pea shoots, stir-fried with garlic; minced scallions and white pepper tossed in at the end. Jasmine tea. Nectarines. Sunday: Made use of a pizza stone that I got for my birthday. First time I've ever used it. Ok, it wasn't a pizza, but an onion tart -- caramelized red onions and yellow onions, and minced shallots, with a little anchovies thrown in and Italian parsley. (For the anchovies, take salt-packed anchovies and soak in milk, for a little over an hour or two, then rinse. Mince finely, and add to the pan while your onions are cooking. Or you can use oil packed anchovies, in which case no soaking is necessary, adding them to the pan directly.) Simple green salad with a champagne viniagrette. A baguette. Perrier. Fresh fruit salad. Cheers, Soba ps. have to get over my aversion to working with dough. reminds me of play-doh only its not as fun.

Jonathan Reynolds on why Le Guide Rouge is a better Zagat's than Le Pudlo Paris Recipes: 1. Salmon en Gelée With Coconut Risotto 2. Flaming Babas à l'Armagnac ------ Have a good weekend folks, Soba

Lion's Head Meatballs Serves 4. This is SobaAddict's grandmother's recipe for giant pork meatballs with water chestnuts and ginger. It was originally posted in the dinner thread. It sounds delicious! For the meatballs: 3/4 pound ground pork 1 slice ginger, minced 1/2 c water chestnuts, minced 2 scallions, cut into thin slices 1 egg, lightly beaten Pinch of salt (less if desired) 1 tsp sugar 1 T sherry 1 T light soy sauce (I use mushroom soy) 1/2 T arrowroot powder (or you can use cornstarch) Pepper or white pepper to taste (or if you like them spicy, you can use crushed Szechuan peppercorns) For the stock: 1 c chicken stock 1 pound bok choy, washed and cut into bite-sized pieces 3 T peanut oil for cooking Other seasonings as desired (I use mushroom soy, 1 T. sugar, and some five-spice powder on occasion; star anise is good, if used sparingly) 1. Place the ground pork in a bowl. Add the meatball ingredients and mix together with your hands, moving in one direction. When the ingredients are blended, wet your hands slightly and form the pork mixture into 4 large meatballs. 2. Heat wok and add the oil. Cook the meatballs on medium heat until they are golden brown. Drain the meatballs on paper towels. 3. Heat the stock separately, adding soy sauce, sugar, or other seasonings if desired. 4. Arrange the bok choy in a large pot (you could concievably use the same wok if you cleaned the wok beforehand, after cooking the meatballs) and place the meatballs on top. Add the stock. Simmer until cooked (1 to 1 1/2 hours). Keywords: Main Dish, Intermediate, Pork, Dinner, Chinese ( RG245 )

Dinner tonight at Nobu, with four other e-gulleteers. (I'll let them make their own impressions.) I did not take notes, but here are my impressions: 1. The room is dimly lit, perhaps poorly lit. We had to ask for candles to brighten the table environment, and even then, that was barely insufficient. Also, the acoustics are poor, because even though the space is large, we had to, at one point, literally shout across our table in order to be heard. 2. The food is superb and stunning across the board, except that the sushi course seems almost like an afterthought, as if to say that that is not the focus at the restaurant, but here it is because this is a Japanese restaurant and you're expecting it anyway. At least that's the impression I received. I also felt that the pieces of unagi were too large, but that's just me. Dishes according to my recollection: A. Starter amuse of one single sweet shrimp, with garlic and herbs, atop shitaake mushrooms in a single radicchio leaf. B. Tuna (o-toro?), topped with spring onions and osetra caviar, surrounded by a sweet miso sauce. I felt there was too much of the miso, even though it seemed to have been plated more for a visual effect. C. Salad with a jalapeno dressing. There was a sashimi component, but as it was TOO LOUD for me to hear the waiter's description, I can't give an accurate recollection of the dish. D. Seared yellowtail sashimi with a black pepper crust, in a jalapeno/chili sauce. Again, the problem with too much saucing threatened to overwhelm the delicate balance of flavors present in the dish. That said, the yellowtail was about as decadent, if not more so, than a nicely seared slice of foie gras...it was THAT good. E. Pan-seared Chilean sea bass, white asparagus, baby radishes, chervil, white miso broth. Delicate flavors, clean crisp vegetables, nice piece of fish. F. The much afore-mentioned black cod with miso, served with a couple of pickled onions in what seemed like an anise or five-spice powder flavor coating. SHEER HEAVEN! God, I think if I could have that for dinner, for the rest of my life, I'd be in foodie heaven. Rich, luscious, like eating braised pork belly but not as heavy, great mouth feel. WOW WOW WOW. G. Sushi -- average assortment, served with miso soup and baby clams. See above for commentary. H. Sort of like an ice cream/kulfi with a circle of phyllo on top, sesame seed sprinkles, grape coulis. Was all right, nothing special -- but in their defense, I scarfed it down. Guess I must be a tourist, eh? You be the judge. Nobu has a BYO policy with a $20 corkage fee, which was not applied to us -- one of our tablemates had brought two sakes. All in all, a great evening and great company. I'd go back again to sample the higher end of the menu, my quibbles with the lighting, the acoustics and the sushi notwithstanding. Better notes next time, too. Cheers, Soba PS. I know I'm missing something, but can't remember what. I'm sure it'll get sorted out eventually. If anyone is curious, we had the $80 omakase. There are three other levels of omakase --$100, and $120 and $120+ being the other tiers.

What, no larb? heheh Good luck with the ex-, btw. Cheers, Soba

You're allergic to chocolate? That would suck. Jason's lactose intelorant. I fully sympathize btw -- I'm mildly lactose intolerant -- i.e., milk is out, but not butter, cheese, or yogurt. It's funny because when I was growing up, drinking half a gallon of milk a day was not unheard of, at least where I was concerned. However, all of a sudden, when I was in my early 20s, I had trouble digesting milk. Shows you what too much of a good thing can do... Cheers, Soba

Liza -- "American cheese" is that yellow cheese like substance that's made with vegetable oil and not milk like real cheese should. (I think its vegetable oil...someone pls correct me if I'm wrong.) Kraft's Singles comes to mind. Cheers, Soba

William Grimes gives us his take on Barbalùc Soba

Caviar is exotic?!?! How about a soup of some sort? Vichysoisse comes to mind. Or a buttermilk peach soup. (I adore soups.) Can't help you with the flavored mayonnaise though... Soba

Yeah, but the problem is, he'll make 'em with that Mrs. Dash stuff he likes, which I'm sure is on someone's list.* *Not mine, of course. LOL touche I only use Mrs. D when I'm in the mood to be lazy. Not all the time, of course. I think my new love is bhel puri mix. Of course, I don't recommend following in my footsteps. Cheers, Soba

Hey, Stone, I LOVE ketchup.... 1. ...as long as its not officially proclaimed a vegetable. 2. Try banana ketchup if you can. Beats Heinz's any day. 3. That said, I like Heinz compared to Hunt's. You haven't lived until you've had ketchup on grits. Cheers, Soba

Ok, someone gimme a clue about dese riblets. I know they're around here somewhere. Holly: The cheesesteaks I've had have always used REAL cheese. Dunno where you've gotten dose cheesesteaks. Next someone'll be tellin' me all about cheesesteaks with radioactive cheese. (j/k) Speakin' of radioactive cheese, that includes cheeseburgers from Burger King. That's what you get when you nuke those steamed burgers (I'm not kidding!), topped with slices of American cheese in a microwave before assembling the burger. The burgers ARE flame-broiled, but they go into a steamer so that there's available sandwich material in case there's a lunch crowd rush. Technically, the burgers are supposed to be thrown out after a certain time period...but that almost never gets done. I suppose you can add that to the list as #6. Cheers, Soba

The top five, in my black book of shame: 1. Pimento stuffed olives 2. Margarine 3. Cheez Whiz 4. Anything that says "fat free". Gimme fat (in moderation) any day. 5. Canned green beans. (Or canned vegetables, period.) What's in your black book of shame? Soba

Tuesday: Steak au poivre Brown rice Steamed broccoli (lime butter) Poland Spring nectarines --------- Tonight (Wednesday): broiled boneless skinless chicken breasts, rubbed with EVOO and lime butter, smothered with diced yellow and Italian sweet peppers couscous steamed broccoli (almond oil and kosher salt) Poland Spring Cinnamon ice cream with leftover baked apples cheers, Soba

What's your favorite spice/herb/salsa/sauce/dressing/oil/prepared bottled sauce/flavoring agent that you automatically reach for, if you're in a pinch? Is it homemade or jarred or bottled? Fresh and natural or artificial and full of fake flavors (but good)? Mrs. Dash or Emeril's Essence? Newman's Own or Wishbone dressing? Sesame, peanut, grapeseed or EVOO? Mirin or balsamic vinegar? What are your spending habits when it comes to condiments? Do you make your own in preference to commercially made or store produced ones? Would you consider a giftbasket of sauces and oils for a Christmas gift to someone? Discuss. Soba

Chocolate. Caviar. Vine ripe tomatoes with salt, pepper, basil and EVOO. Mango sorbet. No bacon. Steak. Soba

I'm reminded of the Voice's less than glowing review of Sugiyama last year, in which we were treated to an unromantic interlude during one of his meals there. Fortunately, I haven't yet had a similar experience, although time will tell I suppose. Soba edit: I'm not quite sure that it was that particular critic who reviewed Sugiyama. Maybe someone can dig up the link -- its buried somewhere on the boards. In the meantime, edited post to cover any possible bases.

Jason, Hijiki are those spindly black or dark brownish bits of seaweed that you often find cooked in some sort of soy glaze or sauce, as an appetizer or a bento box accompaniment. It has a chewy texture that closely approximates...plastic twist-ties (I can see where Jin's coming from, but I love them so more for me. ) Awbrig, I'm at a loss for words....heheh. cheers, Soba

I think we can agree that ethical sense varies with each individual person's sense. That said, in my opinion, its unethical to have more than one reservation because its dishonest. If in doubt as to the true size of the party in question, I recommend reserving at the upper end, allowing for last minute cancellations and change of plans. In general, its always easier to reduce the number of seatings than to add on. Then, if need be, when I confirm with the restaurant the day of, if the number has changed (and it usually does), I can then modify the number of seatings. A recent dinner for two at Diwan initially started out as a table for nine. Ok, I reserved about a month in advance, on the premise that people often make plans in advance, this way there was more than adequate time to back off if something unexpected came up. When I confirmed with the restaurant that afternoon, I modified the number of seatings from nine to three. A really last minute cancellation ( ) forced it to two. Kids, I don't recommend doing this at home. But that's just me. Soba

Impossibly small tables. [Please clarify as to how I am expected to have room for all THOSE dishes and eat at the same time?!?] Impossibly small spaces within which one is expected to squeeze between said tables in order to seat oneself. [if I can't squeeze through this space without disturbing the next table, then something's terribly wrong. People and e-gulleteers who know what I look like can attest to this.] People TELLING a sushi chef what to do. [Don't believe me? Click here and shudder.] Soba

its soy sauce with straw mushroom essence added to it. salty, but with hints of earth and fungus... Soba

I prefer mushroom soy, which I usually get at an Asian supermarket in Jackson Heights. Slightly less saltier than light soy (to my taste, anyway), and imparts traces of mushroom flavor. Soba

definitely hijiki nori, either as tempura (great with soba); in a layered omelette with eggs (cook eggs in a jelly roll omelet pan, let eggs set, add a sheet of nori, roll the omelette up with chopsticks, slide off pan, and repeat); or toasted and crumbled on top of rice with a little gomasio or togarashi and flaked, dried bonito. Soba