Chris Amirault

Um... minced onion?

Hushpuppies!

Interesting review of Jewel Bako by Ya-Roo here. It's not pretty -- and it includes the following dagger: Ouch! Makes me wonder how other starred restaurants are reacting to the big news. Any other reports from the field?

A few quick thoughts a bit too early in the morning.... You could try ladelling off most of the moisture into a pot with some of the beans, and then gently crush those as you heat them with the liquid. You could also just reduce that liquid without the beans. Fried tomato paste, corn bread, shredded tortillas, even corn flour can be used to thicken up chili, too. As for the extra fat, that's really about taste -- but if you get your chili to thicken up it'll incorporate instead of sitting atop the meat.

Folks, we're dancing quite close to the line between strenuous debate and ad hominem attacks -- not too big a surprise given the thread topic. Let's avoid personal commentary, ok?

Sandy, to what doneness do you seek to cook these bad boys? And how thick is "thick"?

Fantastic stuff, Russell. Did that horchata have hibiscus in it? Or was it some other reddish-purple fruit of some kind?

In my on-going attempt to catalogue every interesting food shop in the greater Providence area, I present two Chinese food sources next to each other on Central St, behind the McDonalds/Dunkin Donuts parking lots at Broad near the Elmwood split at Trinity Square. Yuen Yuen Dry Seafood at 29 Central St has a pretty good selection of Chinese and Korean items (nothing fresh and no meats), and what looks to be the widest selection of dried herbs and medicinal items available in town. Next door is Wing Kee BBQ and Poultry, where char siu, duck, chicken, pork belly, and a few other things await you. I haven't tried anything there -- yet.

You'd have to prepare yourself for about three hundred jokes and/or complaints about portion size per night!

I'm not buying oat bran with cocoa on this one! Oh, holy crap -- what the hell is THAT? ← Given the loving photo, perhaps it is, indeed, holy crap.

Goodness gracious! As Michael and Matthew said, that soup and those short ribs both look outstanding -- and all in one night, in one dutch oven? You're clearly a veritable Norse goddess of cooking, Kathleen!

"Burger Bar" sounds like "salad bar," which sounds like sneeze guards, Sysco presliced vegetables, and shite. Please, oh please, after all this, don't use "Burger Bar"!!

I second this. Tropp's voice is scholarly, intimate, and humorous, all in one. ← A lot of people feel this way, but she's a good example of someone whose voice really grates on me. Love both books and use them regularly, and I agree that her loss is very sad. But every time she says "impeccably clean," I dig my nails into my palms.

In SoHo last weekend, I saw several nesting in a bowl of arborio....

I need a drink. That's exactly the sort of thing that sends me over the falls....

Does char siu use red fermented bean curd? Is that how it got its red color originally?

Lots of other great threads on that subject here thanks to melonpan, including eumnyosu korean beverages and this amazing thread on shikhye. Mmmmmmmmm....... Shikhye..........

Great thread! A few thoughts: When doing your mise en place prep, do the scallions last. If you cut them and let them sit around for a while, they can exude that sticky substance. There is nothing that replaces wok hei. Establishing a good relationship to a wok is easier than you think, and just requires a quick brushing with water and swipe with oil for maintenance. Hunting down fresh ingredients to replace stuff you get canned (bamboo shoots, say, or -- especially -- water chestnuts) is really, really, really worth it. There are very few things that a dash of good chicken stock, schmaltz, or shaoxing don't improve. Peanut oil is worth keeping on hand at all times.

Great thread -- and thanks as ever, Adam, for the dip into history! To chiantiglace's ratios, which I use at home with marsala -- -- I can only add lemon zest. I think I first got that from Craig Clairborne in the NYT Cookbook.

Astonishing, once again. And those pictures! Just fantastic.

I can't quite believe I'm writing this, but: Bill, that looks damned tasty! Say more about what the zucchini does. I'm surprised and interested that it works. This recipe makes me wonder if grilling those vegetables before sautéing might add a nice smoky touch. This recipe reminds me of a veggie chili recipe that a friend used to make back in the day that used TVP. Anyone use that? Anyone even know what it is? (I know, I'm dating myself...!)

Which came first: the wedding date decision or the French Laundry reservation?

I'm not exactly sure, but I think that this may prove my point....

Abra, I posted a simple baby bok choy in garlic sauce recipe in my foodblog here. The key ingredient is schmaltz, but a decent chicken stock alone will do the trick with peanut oil.

Here in Providence, we "feel your pain," since Zagat has "completely ignored us for years," except as a "toss-off mention" in suburban Boston. After that, we "wouldn't use it for toilet paper!"