AmyDaniel

I've been wanting to make this daube d'Avignon for a long time: even though it's not summer, I think I'll give it a shot! Hopefully I'll have enough time next week...Great idea for a cook-off!

I'm interested in learning about regional differences in South Asian chai masalas and proportions. My mother (Punjabi) has always mixed fennel seeds with cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves, the latter three spices cut (by us daughters ) into tiny bits before mixing with the fennel. As explained above, we'll let the spices boil in water before steeping tea leaves or bags on the stove; then we'll add milk and let that just come to a boil. Off the top of my head, I'd say, proportion-wise, that we mix about 1/3 part of each of the latter three spices with 1/2 to 1 part fennel seed (I'll ask my mom about it).

I haven't posted in a long time, but at an outdoor concert I attended a few weeks ago, I had this little treat...I asked for cheese fries, but got cheese CURLY fries instead! Remembering this thread, I snapped a shot. Maybe this'll serve as inspiration for you, Anna.

*blush* I remember this from one of your blogs, Kristin! It's zosui! Those kimchi nabe posts inspired me to try to make it myself. My sister and I love kimchi nabe, and I've made it quite a few times. Now that the cold weather's settling in, I'll probably make it again soon. I'll post pictures, pretty and ugly. Amy

I was born in 1960, fifteen years after the end of World War II, when most Japanese were still poor. In those days, stew was nothing more than carrots, onions, potatoes, and a small amount of meat stewed, seasoned with salt, and finally thickened with flour. According to this page of House Foods Corp., this company released Stew Mix (powder form) in 1966, and since then, "white stew" and "cream stew", not found in Western cookery books, have become popular. P.S. I think the terms "white stew" and "cream stew" are used interchangeably. I think I use "white stew" more often. ← So originally white/cream stew was a basic meat soup, thickened with flour? What are the seasonings in the boxed cream stew roux?

Intermediate steps are great! But most importantly, did you feel better after eating the soup? ← Much better, thanks! So much better, in fact, that I made Parmesan crackers (recipe by Melissa Clark, published in the New York Times, "Delicious Deception to Go with Wine", September 9, 2003: article and recipe): and banana bread (cooling on a messy table ): I must make mention of my sister's glorious salad for dinner tonight - say mmmm!: Amy

I've been feeling a bit lethargic this week and needed a pick-me-up, so I made my mother's lamb soup last night: First I sauteed some chopped onions and ginger in oil, then browned the lamb. I added water to cover: Three chopped tomatoes, and the rest of the onions and ginger ready to be added to the pot: Veggies added, along with salt and crushed peppercorns: I let the soup simmer for a while, like 45 minutes. All finished; you can see how much liquid the tomatoes released: In the bowl - mmmmm: And today my sister made Sweet-and-Sour Butternut Squash with Ginger and Chiles from Indian Home Cooking by Saran/Lyness: I'm still unfamiliar with photographing my cooking, and I like documenting the steps like this as I go along. How do you like it, though? Are you interested to see dishes at intermediate steps, or do you like seeing pictures of just the final products?

One of my favorite restaurants, Menchanko-Tei (menu), serves maguro poki just as Tess describes, except without the salt on top. It's *incredible*. edit: er, um, bad grammar

Thanks for the kind words. I forgot to post about dessert... The Baked Apples thread got me craving for apples in some cooked form - I almost never eat them raw. I didn't want to bake, though, so I improvised: First I sauteed an apple in butter: Removed the apples, fried a little cinnamon and cloves in butter, and added sugar and water for caramel - didn't realize that the fat-coated sugar would seize in the water... But it worked out in the end: Added the apples and some walnuts to the sauce: In the bowl, topped with crème fraîche: Yum. I have to figure out how to take close-up shots that aren't blurry.... Amy

I received my new digital camera today, and of course I had to use it in my first Dinner! post! Please forgive the quality of the pictures, I'm just learning to use this thing... Last night I made chicken curry; my sister and I heated up the leftovers for tonight. I usually make it as my mother does: just cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves fried with the onion/ginger/garlic paste, and simmering the chicken in water with tomatoes. I wanted to try something different, though, so I made the Bombay Chicken Curry with Coriander and Coconut Milk from Indian Home Cooking by Suvir Saran and Stephanie Lyness. It's great, but next time I think I'll cut down on the number of cardamom pods in the spice mix - it overpowers over the flavors of coriander and the other spices a bit too much. It's a nice change from everyday chicken curry, though. Pics! In the pot: In the bowl (sorry about the curry leaf on top - it looks like an insect, doesn't it? ): All mixed up: Amy edited to fix bad image link

We're Indian, but my mom does that. In fact, we all do. Don't invite my family to any event with free snackies; we'll wrap 'em all up in napkins and whisk them away! We're all the same in the end.

Good night, Soba! Whoever suggested Pegu Club, I'll second (or third) that. Cendrillon would be a good choice. Try to go to the Tasting Room, though!!! It might be hard to get rezzies, though.... Amy edited to take away an "actually"

Ohhhh, but if you did do one, it'd be sooooo appreciated...

We eat samosas with ketchup in my family...fine, I only eat them like that! Pakora, bhajis, etc., we only eat with coriander or tamarind chutneys. I'll eat my samosas with chutney too, if we have some around (otherwise ketchup!).

Hmmmm...I'd bring back some "real" mirin, as discussed here. Can't seem to find it in New York; maybe it'll take some hunting, like for sujiko.

Hiroyuki, thank you! I'm going to print this out as well!

Here's the thread in the Japan forum from where the inquiry originated, and as one can see, I'm interested in finding sujiko also!

Kristin, how careful do you have to be to not break the eggs while washing them? Can you be a little rough with them?

I found this:

Hi Kristin, "Curd" in this case is referring to yogurt. Good luck!

Perhaps it's most useful to discuss this in the New York forum, but in any case, the usual suspects in Manhattan are Udon's Thai-Indonesian Store on Bayard St., the Thai store on Mosco, and the Vietnamese store on the west side of Mulberry between Bayard and Canal. ← Thank you, THANK YOU, Pan: yes, I did intend to post this request in the New York forum, but I caught the laziness bug. I think I'll link to this post in a new topic in the NY forum, but thanks so much for the suggestions! I've not been to these stores, so I'll definitely check them out.

My sibs and I were raised similarly to Milagai, except in NY instead of India - Mom in the kitchen, kids studying... Well, I have the good education, now I need the good cooking skills! Each time I'm home, I watch Mom cook, writing down how she works her magic. It seems to be working - the first time I made sambar, it tasted just like hers! Both of my parents were really impressed. My mom's automatic reaction when she hears about us cooking is to wonder aloud why we'd want to be in the kitchen? But then I start pressing her for tips, and everything just comes out... Now she feels sorry for us b/c we don't have a properly seasoned "masala" saucepan for tadka! Aw...I live in the city, and my parents only live a little while north out of Manhattan, but writing this really makes me miss my mom right now.

I'm going to; I also want to really start cooking more Malaysian food, and will also look for things like kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass, limau kasturi (kalamansi lime), stuff like that. Do you (or anyone) know of any places in the city where I can go? I'm guessing Chinatown is the best bet, but anything more specific?