I_call_the_duck

What's wrong with chicken feet?

Oh my, those look deliciious. For dessert, I had two white-chocolate chip macamadamia nut cookies that some mystery person brought to the office. Of course, some person with a grudge against us could have brought them, so I ate them at a great risk...

Looks great, Klary. Glad you're back. We missed you.

I've only been there twice, but have liked it both times. Don't remember what I had, so I'll need to refresh my memory.

Alinka, Ling, SiseFromm, everything looks wonderful! SiseFromm, when life hands me tangerines, I would think sorbet, but foie gras works. Alinka, that steak looks great. How was it prepared? And what were the sides? Thanks for the tips on photography. I also have a basic camera, and am never satisfied with the way my pics turn out. Ling, did the guy like the lamb shank? Did you serve a Cotes du Rhone with dinner too? Last night was a basic stir fry of tofu, carrots, and broccoli in a semi-spicy sauce that was loosely based on hzrt8w's ma po tofu recipe.

These are some of our favorites for using leftover chicken: chicken fried rice, quesadillas w/mozzerella (borrowing from Daniel), sesame noodles with shredded chicken, stir fry them with green beans, asparagus (not in season, but just an idea) or other vegetables, add them to black bean soup, make an omelet or egg foo young (add a bit of frozen peas, a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil). This way, you can stretch out a little piece(?) of chicken into an entire meal.

I’ve never had gow yook. I don't think I'd mind if I wasn't told, but for the moment, I can't separate the distinction between a pet and my dinner. Then again, I love squab, which are a different breed than those street pigeons. Irwin, are the gows in HK also bred for eating or are they your “let’s pick one up at the ASPCA" type? Benji? Lassie? Old Yeller? BC, you’re lucky. I think I also asked my mom to order hom ha gee yook once in a restaurant. No go.

Danielle, that looks great! Tonight was part ??? of clean out the freezer night (aka Freezer Fun). I marinated a steak and grilled it on top of the stove. Served it with a red-wine reduction, carmelized onions, sauteed spinach with garlic, and a yellow sweet potato. Still can't see the bottom of my freezer though. I think maybe my husband restocks it when I'm not looking.

Yeah, I do that too. My mom has a picture of me when I was about five with my face in a box of ice cream. (I call it the "let's embarass Karen in front of her date picture.") Not that I've changed much since then. Now I also lick the churn whenever I make a batch. And those silicon spatulas are really good at cleaning out the bowl. It's surprising that some actually makes it into the container. Here's a picture of my brother that I took this Thanksgiving. He absconded with the gravy pan down to the basement where he can "clean" it in privacy. He'd kill me if he knew I posted this up on the net, so I protected his identity. edited because I can't type.

I wish I had Daniel's doorman too. I never lived in a place that had a doorman, so I didn't have the opportunity to exchange meals. I'll just have to live vicariously through Daniel. If you get that recipe, please share it with us--it looks soooo good. We were originally going to go out tonight, but our plans changed so we just had angel hair pasta with jarred sauce that I doctored up.

I don't know if this is Toisanese, but in addition to what Ah Leung mentioned, we used to have spinach or string beans with fu yu (fermented bean curd), long beans with black bean sauce (sometimes pork mixed in), sauteed bok choy, boiled chicken. Pretty much what is in Ah Leung's pictorials. Sheetz is right though. I've never seen Toysan food offered in restaurants. In fact, when I once requested something like yook beng at a family dinner in a restaurant, my mom said that the waiters would laugh for asking for such a dish. Why would anyone want to order yook beng in a restaurant? Then again, if Tuscan food (which is also peasant food) can be popular in restaurants, why not Toysan?

Ah Leung, I’m afraid I don't have many specifics about that oven. I haven’t actually seen one—I remember reading a cookbook many years ago (back in the 70s) which referred to a rotisserie inside an oven. I looked around, and found that there were some stoves made back in the 50s and 60s that actually had built-in rotisserie attachments in their ovens (Fridgidaire and maybe GE--no good pics). I may have been thinking about that, because now I'm not sure if there is an actual machine that goes inside your oven. I saw these that go on your stovetop by: Jenn-Air (for electric stoves) and Whirlpool. Most everything else that I’ve googled turned up with either the Ronco “set it and forget it” type of machine or an attachment for an outside grill. Sorry if I can’t be of more help. …and if you’re using dental floss, don’t forget to use unwaxed (you may have a big mess otherwise ).

Plastic boxes which hold things such as cereal, tea, and other dry goods. And the ubiquitous plastic containers.

Duck popcorn?! I'm lovin' it. Daniel, you're too much!

I love nuts, so I always add a lot of pecans or walnuts in my banana bread, and sprinkle some on top too. I've had some good banana bread with slivered almonds and chopped apricots. I'm not a big fan of candied fruit, but dried cranberries or raisins may work well too. To liquor it up, I substitute the vanilla extract with banana liqueur. I haven't tried Wendy's recipe yet, but it looks good.

I may lose some credibility as a foodie, but I love Tater Tots.

I don't have an answer to rotating the bird in the oven, but think I saw a rotisserie that goes in your oven. I've seen the hooks in various sizes in NY Chinatown, but Jo-mel's idea sounds like a good one. As far as sewing the opening, I've seen people just take a giant skewer to close up the opening. I just take my biggest sewing needle and sew it up with unwaxed dental floss, which works better than string because it doesn't stick to the skin. I'm not sure if this will work, but how about freezing the marinade before putting it into the cavity so it seeps slowly while roasting?

I haven't seen the Folger's commercial in a long time, but it always chokes me up. I was watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and I saw my favorite Christmas commercial with the M&Ms. Red and yellow are walking in the house and run into Santa. "He does exist!" says Red. "They do exist!" says Santa. Both faint. Funny. Yeah, I'm a dork too.

That's really a frightening thought. If coke can remove rust from a cast-iron pan, think of what it can do to your stomach lining. I also heard it'll make your enamel sink sparkling clean. Yet, I drink it. ← http://members.tripod.com/~Barefoot_Lass/cola.html ← Now I don't know what scares me more, the fact that Coke can be used for all this or the fact that people sat around thinking of uses for it other than drinking. Now I think about it, my bathroom grout needs cleaning...

Lesfen, how were those brats? Are you warmed up yet? I'm nowhere near as brave as you are. My grill is under the cover on the patio waiting for the warm weather again. Daniel, never met a duck I didn't like. Camera's still upstairs. Dinner tonight was leftovers. And STILL trying to clean out the freezer. I took some ground turkey and sauteed it with some yellow squash. Added some black bean & garlic sauce, served on top of leftover rice. There was some linguine and pesto too. Real smorsgasboard.

My method is very similar. Learned it from Pastry Witch in my restaurant days. I add the coffee (she used finely ground espresso, I use whatever is in the freezer) to my custard base (don't use lemon peel or brown sugar) after it reaches the thickened stage. Take it off the heat, give it a stir until it reaches the desired color, strain, cool, and churn.

That's really a frightening thought. If coke can remove rust from a cast-iron pan, think of what it can do to your stomach lining. I also heard it'll make your enamel sink sparkling clean. Yet, I drink it.

I'm afraid to even ask what is in a French toast bagel. Is it glazed with maple syrup or something? Oy!

Going back to the plate-lifters, I just bought something very similar to this Joyce Chen plate lifter. I chose it over the three-pronged model because it seemed sturdier and would seem to work with both oblong and round plates. (I was in the store lifting different things, testing their weight and balance. I haven't tried it yet with steaming hot food, but hey, it was only $1.50, so I figured what the heck.

I'm by far not an expert on latkes, so maybe Jason or someone else can handle this one. My husband likes it with sauteed onions, sour cream and applesauce.