Franci

Gfweb, I got a good laugh. You are very creative! Maybe something like this would also work http://www.amazon.com/HotLogic-Mini-Personal-Portable-Black/dp/B00EC7XJ00/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Shelby, you did a great job! It looks wonderful and I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks to Michaela and Pim for the recipes! Now I just need to experiment and I might think about the buttercream as well, thanks Lisa.

Yes, Michaela! If you could PM the recipe would be really great! Thanks ;-)

Yes, I already thought about it, I'll pass the jam through a tamis!

Hi. My daughter is turning 3 and I need some ideas for a chocolate raspberry cake. I'm not very ambitious when comes to pastry, I like to keep it simple. For sure I need a cake that is light and can please young children. Maybe simply raspberry jam as filling and a ganache to cover. I appreciate also some ideas for decorating the cake. Thanks!

Spanish mackerel

My husband actually bought it because he was going to make bacon out of it. I stepped in and told him absolutely not, I want to have proper pork belly made the way I always see it on eGullet I've never eaten or cooked it before--I mean I've had pork before, of course, but not pork belly. When I see pictures my mind thinks that it must melt in your mouth…not in a greasy way, but an unctuous way with the top being crispy. Thanks for all of the wonderful ideas!!!! I am going to have a hard time choosing. Well, there's absolutely nothing saying you can't buy *more* pork belly and just eat your way through the suggestions at a leisurely, pork-saturated pace…. Well, I hope we are able to find it again, but we live in the sticks and this was a lucky find in the big city. One of the greatest things of living in the US, for me, it's that you can buy almost anything online!

I agree. I really enjoy the pork belly with cracklings but the recipe I linked it is absolutely different. Melt in your mouth skin and meat, and no greasy at all. Shelby you need to go out and buy more belly!!!

This is the best ever in my book. Going to make it again for Chinese New Year. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbfood/F2670471?thread=4012282&skip=0&show=100#p48282231

Bruce, I love your meal! I followed RRO advice on the xialongbao cook-off, so for the skin, I added a very small percentage of lard and cut a bit the flour with potato starch. Maybe I need to make it even thinnier, because it gets translucent only if sits for 8-10 minutes after steaming. I used only pork belly, as per RRO's recipe, but I did find I needed to cut that with some leaner meat and make it more cohesive. Too much ginger, according to my husband. I have enough jelly in the freezer to make some more for CNY next week. Anna, I even pickled broccoli stems! Peeled.

Trying my xiaolongbao, not too bad for first time but not memorable. SV octopus.

Bad picture but I loved dinner. Blue fish under salt was delicious

Patrick, nice! Can I bother you? Do you mind sharing the details even PM if you prefer? I'm going to make a duck for CYN but I've not made my mind yet, I was thinking of deep fried duck, or the pressed duck from B.Tropp or the braised duck from Sunflower http://sunflower-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/09/braised-duck-with-plum-sauce.html that is also very good. But yours looks spectacular!

Blether, very nice! David, I also like very much your ribs! I wish my children liked the stuff, it would be on the table more often. Oooh Franci you gave a recipe for that chicken soup?Meredith, the soup is the most simple. I had a chicken in the fridge, I deboned it, use the bones, trimmings for the stock, they went in my pressure cooker with some ginger and green onions, a tiny pinch of salt. I cooked for 45 minutes. No skimming. I broke some angel hair pasta (that I keep only for soup) and cooked in some of the stock for 2 minutes, added more salt to taste. So, really no fancy cooking but tasty enough for us. And I had the chicken breast for breading. Today I have the chicken meat to cook with miso. Oh, this is ideal snack, breakfast, lunch or dinner...anytime. Since we moved from Monaco I only had foie gras once, and before I always had a jar in the refrigerator. I think I must start making salted cure foie gras. I missed your posts MM.

Tonight we had chicken soup, cavolo nero, breaded chicken cutlets, steamed buns

I was looking at Korin store some time ago and so something similar http://korin.com/Kitchenware_2/Cleaning-Utensils_2 Anybody tried?

Bruce, interesting beer, do you like it? I love the photo. Some recent meals Black Sea bass, collards and some fried king oyster mushrooms Yesterday dinner, just me and the kids, so lazy 15 minutes dinner. Chicken breast and shiitake Tonight I made some steamed buns and some soup, Swiss chards and leftovers

Oh, wow, I'm so glad I gave you such a nice inspiration. You are really full of resources!

Thanks Cakewalk. I'll try Sahadi on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn and if they don't have it, I'll check the place you suggested. Anybody buying online?

Hi Weinoo, I have the standard coarse semolina flour in the house (Bob's Red Mill) but it is finer than what I'm looking for and I doubt DiPalos of Buona Italia carry the coarse semolina I have in mind, even outside Sardinia, in mainland Italia, it is not standard. Maybe Sahadi, which is not too far from me...

I'd like to make some fregula, that maybe some of you know as thick Sardinian couscous. Some years ago a very nice Sardinian woman showed me how to make it. She used 3 different kinds of semolina flour. One rather coarse, a medium one and a very fine flour (a little like durum flour). Then I discovered that the coarser semolina that is traditionally used in Sicily or North Africa to start the cous cous is slightly thicker than the coarser semolina needed for fregola. Do you know where I can buy semola, maybe a small mill and have the coarseness I decide, without buying in HUGE quantities? I don't want to mill my own flour. I was also considering using bulgur nr. 1 in place of the coarse semolina but I have doubts it would work.

Not this time. Lazy me, I pressure cooked them. Very little water, extra virgin olive oil, butter, salt, little sugar, I cooked for maybe 3 minutes, deglazed with a drop of stock (the sugar caramelized just the right amount-lucky me didn't burn). But I usually I do two ways. 1. classic: cipolline, oil, salt and sugar, just enough water, parchment paper hat, when they are cooked just right for me, I remove the hat, let caramelize and deglaze with very little balsamic (or water or stock) 2. my mom's way: saute' in a pan with some oil, when they get a nice color, deglaze with some white wine, salt pepper, a little bit of hot water with a tiny tiny squeeze of tomato concentrate and they go in the oven (375 F) uncovered until they are glossy and tender, about 30-40 minutes, basting them once in a while.

Robenco, so long I don't have onion soup! Tonight we had calves liver, cipolline borettane, yellow roasted beets. Pastina in chicken soup not pictured

Hi. I need a little help planning my dinner for Chinese New Year. My mother in law already called to say they are coming here. My husband thinks I'm ambitious to cook a whole Chinese dinner for New Year. I just think that if I carefully plan, I could do a good job. His family is Shanghainese so I'd like to cook things to surprise his parents. I think in egullet there is somewhere Rarerollingobject recipe (where are you, dear RRO?) for xiaolongbao and I'd like to make those. Definitely some steamed fish and some easy saute' vegetables, eight treasure pudding and some tang yuan and for sure Sunflower's pork belly which is spectacular. Any other idea?