infernooo

Shalmanese: Have you found that US bacon is far more fatty than AU bacon? As you know, our fattiest cuts are the "middle bacon" with fat and rind attached, and the "normal" bacon is short cut which is pretty much just the loin (very lean). The middle bacon seems to be the loin with a little bit of the belly attached to the end.

Hi there! I have certainly made it before, here are some tips from my experiences - probably obvious but important none-the-less :-). * Use VERY high quality dark chocolate, this recipe was designed using the premium stuff. * Be VERY careful when melting the chocolate, the chocolate should be very high quality, slightly bitter, but you don't want to scald or burn it turning it unpleasantly bitter (obvious, but I've done it before :-) ). * The cream should be 35% butterfat without additives (like gelatin) * Be very gentle when doing the final folding of ingredients, otherwise you will have a cake with a texture like a brick. * Keep an eye on the cake in the last 20 minutes it is left in the oven, if you have pizza stones etc, the temperature won't drop nearly as quickly as an empty oven, so check the cake after 10-15 mins. Anyways, that's all I had written down, hope it helps!

16oz ~= 0.47 litres = 470ml ~= 2 cups sounds about right... about 1/2 a cup more ketchup than the amount of sugar in the recipe.

Hi Folks! I was hoping some of the resident experts on Japanese food could provide some advice... Here is what I have planned for dinner tonight, it was just something I thought of today and so I have typed it out in the form of a recipe: Chicken Liver Yakitori: Chicken livers, cleaned and trimmed Spring/green onions Glaze/Sauce: 1/2 cup Shoyu (Soy Sauce) 1/2 cup Mirin 1/2 cup Sake 1/4 cup Sugar 1.) Alternate chicken livers and pieces of spring/green onion on skewers. 2.) Simmer Glaze/Sauce until reduced and syrupy. 3.) Brush chicken/onion skewers with oil, Grill livers until nicely browned on both sides 4.) Brush on glaze and cook until heavily glazed. 5.) Serve with sushi rice (sushi rice made as usual - i.e. with sugar, salt and rice vinegar added after cooking). 6.) Sprinkle on chopped Spring/green onions. OK, so that is the plan... but I have some questions: 1.) Does this sound reasonable? Would livers work with a sweet glaze like this? Usually in western/European cooking they are served with creamy sauces. I know that this recipe works with chicken thighs and breasts, I have made it many times and it is beautiful. 2.) Should I soak the livers in any way? (once again, in western/European cooking they are often soaked in milk or brandy or some form of alcohol) 3.) Should the livers be cooked through or still pink? (I know in European recipes livers are usually cooked until rare - pink in the middle, not sure about in Japanese cooking) 4.) Any suggested improvements? 5.) What other cuts of chicken would work well using this "recipe"/method? (besides the obvious chicken breast and chicken thighs) Thanks!

One way to find out! :-) Out of curiosity when I get home today, I will post the ingredients/nutritional information of a bottle of heinz ketchup, then perhaps someone on here from the US can do the same... it would be interesting to see if they are the same or not!

Yep I'm in AU! Lots of Cantonese here so we are extremely fortunate that there is a big influence on our food... the boring, classic "Australian" (or should I say, "British hand-me-downs") food is largely being replaced by food brought in by immigrants (mainly Cantonese, Thai, India, Japanese). Anyways, sorry for being such a pain in the ass asking all these questions, you have gone above and beyond to help me out - if I can help you out with anything, please don't hesitate to ask :-). Thanks again!

Teepee: Your photos look divine! If you don't mind my asking, is there any chance of getting a rough recipe for the yee sang? Also, what are the bits on the blanched bok choy? looks like pickled/fried vegetables of some sort? Thanks!!

Ah Yeung, I hope you don't mind my asking in your blog, but when I was on holidays in the Philippines, there was a fantastic Cantonese restaurant we visited. I had something that looked identical to the picture you took of "Sauteed scallops with mixed vegetables: baby corns, snow peapods, celery, carrots, green onions, straw mushrooms": Is there any chance you could give me some guidelines on how that would be prepared? I noticed that it had a very light but tasty sauce which did not overpower the rest of the ingredients and was perfect over rice. It was very light coloured and quite thick (obviously thickened). Also, how do that get that lovely sheen? Is that a special type of starch (perhaps potato or arrowroot? cornstarch doesnt seem to get that sheen) or just added oil at the end or... ? Vegetables blanched or fully cooked before wok stirfrying? Sorry about all the questions, but it really stuck in my memory as a lovely dish and I would love to make it at home! p.s. keep up the blogging, it is terrific!

You and your dad are legends - thank you for that! What size is the heinz catsup bottle in the US you are using? Here in Australia we have them in every conceivable size ! Thanks again :-)

Excellent - thanks Gastro! Look forward to hearing a scaled down version :-)

Hiya hsm, Just out of curiosity, is this just fresh ricotta spread on the toast with honey? The reason I ask is that I find ricotta bland as hell and always mix it with looots of salt until it tastes lovely. However if it is on toast with honey it is more like a desert so perhaps this isn't an issue? Guess there's only one way to find out :-).

Hi Forest, I can't give you a definite answer, but from my experiences with pressure cookers, if you overcook meat, it will NOT be tough, it will be even more tender (TOO tender) and pretty much disintegrate when stirred. I would have put the lid back on, brought it up to pressure and let it go another 20-30 mins. Anyways, they are just my observations!

Fu Yu Kaya Butter + vegemite Peanut butter Butter + strawberry jam Butter + thick honey

They look like Banana Flowers to me... very popular in Thai cuisine!

Hi AzianBrewer! Any chance of getting rough quantities of each of those ingredients? :-) Thanks!

Unopened they are OK, but once opened they really don't last as long as one would think.. they don't go off per'se, but the flavour does degrade into something not too pleasant!

Thanks Gastro! That would be terrific... I'm glad to hear the restaurant is still going, it's always nice when family restaurants have been around for a while and have a loyal clientele!

Thanks Gastro! Keep us informed won't you? :-).

I know about the sediment... you can actually see small flecks throughout the sauce, and I'm pretty sure it isn't just charred bits picked up from a blistering hot wok. I still haven't been able to make the sauce the same as at a restaurant myself either (and I do have the high heat capable of reproducing the "breath of the wok" flavour). Tried the sugar + water + ketchup + vinegar versions + every other one I have found (one including boiling lemons + oranges etc).

Hi folks, As an Indian food lover, I almost jumped out of my seat when I saw this on ebay while searching for some cookbooks! I really wish I could afford the space it takes up, but living in an apartment has its downsides :-(. I have always dreamed of having my own tandoor oven - I know you can make substitutes by mucking around with tiles and webers or cast iron pans and ovens, but it's never the same. Anyways, just a heads up for anyone like myself who is food crazy and would jump at the chance to get something like this. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...em=250059020035

Nice find , it's always good to have backup suppliers :-).

Make good use of it - it is EXTREMELY expensive here in Australia. I believe some restaurants use it in the marinade when making Cha Siu.

The essential ingredient in Crows Nest (Sydney) has almost everything you would need. It is VERY expensive, but they have it. (http://www.theessentialingredient.com.au). They have chillies, mexican chocolate, hominy, white and blue masa harina, hot sauces, mole paste, etc etc. For a larger selection chillies, goto Herbies in Rozelle (expensive once again but you can get them). The best place to get any mexican is to mail order it from Aztec (http://www.aztecmexican.com.au/) in Victoria. Hope that helps!

boar_d_laze and snowangel: What would you serve with your suggested methods of cooking? My family tends to like a couple of sides on the plate rather than just meat... any ideas? Thanks!

w@w & Abra: Absolutely divine! I love this non-westernised type of proper Indian food! I have a couple of questions if you don't mind my asking :-). Are the puri's themselves prebought? Is it like a batter that you buy and fry yourself, or a prebought shell? Do you serve them at room temperature or heat them in some way? Finally, is there any chance of the recipes for Dabeli, Vada Pau and Pau Bhaji? Thanks again for the recipes, I am going to try them all this coming weekend, should be a treat!