davecap

The problem with finding such ingredients as Yuzu, Sudachi Lime, Wasabi Root,shiro dashi, yuzu kosho, Matsutake, natto Beans ect ect......is that most of the Asian places in philly are chinese, vietnamese, limited Thai with almost no japanese ingredients. Japanese food has its own completely different aromatic base and you would have to have someone committed to Japanese Food not other Asian Foods. None of the places on washington have anything beyond basic shoyu, oversweetened american mirin and extremely low quality kombu and bonito. Forget about fresh ingredients. You will only find basics like enoki and shiitake. You can buy all these stuff online though if you are willing to pay for it........Mitsuwa in North Jersey (Lincoln Tunnel) does a decent job, some food produce, fish is ok.......but it's worth going to......you can shiseido yourself silly.... Vadouvan Thanks. Unfortunately, yours is the same conclusion I have arrive at as well. Meat prices at some of these asian markets can be pretty good if you do a little shopping. I actually found nicely cleaned flank steak for $4.99 per pound, and with the price of beef these days, that is pretty good. Dave

Thanks CherieV!

The NY Times had a squib this week that the Whole Foods stores are carrying fresh yuzu. I called a few of the Whole Foods down here in Philly, but none are carrying it. Anyone in the Philadelphia area know where to buy it? Thanks

I had a decent meal there a few years ago, but the memory that stands out for me is the wine prices. The wine list is very extensive, and appreciated. I was not there on an expense account and had to search to find a bottle under $75.00. I think any restaurant, fine dining or not, has to understand that some people eat there as a special occasion, and an offering of multiple bottles of varying styles and prices is required. Just charging more for a particular bottle does not make that meal more memorable.

My wife and I went to Paris for her 40th birthday. We had our three year old with us and we arranged a babysitter for a night and went to L'Atelier Joel Robuchon. Brilliant meal, everything was perfect, wine and the waiter. We had these paper thinly sliced scallops and poppy seeds, unbelievable freshness. And of course the potato puree. And a short walk back to our hotel off Rue St. Germaine. Great night.

My entree was a special of the evening, the braised short ribs with spinach and polenta. The meat was falling-apart tender and the spinach and polenta were garlicky and good. My friends all had swordfish with carmelized fennel. I didn't taste it, but everyone said it was really good. Since most restaurants have pulled spinach, was there any explanation by the staff as to the reason they have left it on the menu? Is it local organic, blah, blah? Just curious.

My guess, too, is that the oven was not the correct temperature, hot enough. Or were the egg whites possibly overwhipped?

Dave, did you see this? ← Sarah Oh yeah, regardless of the dome, I used the same batter as a cake, and my daughter loved her birthday cake. I forgot to mention this - Strangely, when I baked the birthday cake, in a 4x4x5 cake tin, the cake did dome.

Sarah Thanks for the response. I used a measuring cup for the measurements. Measurements were done correctly. I may have had slightly less sour cream, than as exactly in the recipe, but I would not think that would have contirbuted to the "no dome" effect. thanks for your thoughts, Dave

Sarah Here is the recipe:a Gale Gand recipe 1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/2 cup sour cream Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the sifted flour with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Cream the butter in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until soft, then add the sugar and mix. Add the eggs, and vanilla and whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer running at low speed, add a third of the flour mixture and mix. Then add half of the sour cream and mix. Add another third of the flour and mix. Add the remaining sour cream and mix, then the remaining flour. Give it one last mix to make sure everything is blended in. Pour the batter into the muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full. Bake until firm to the touch in the center, 20 to 25 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack and let cool. thanks Dave

I made some cupcakes last night, basic recipe, chemical leaveners, and they had a nice dome on the top in the oven, but when I took them out and they cooled, the top of the cupcake became flat, the dome "deflated." Does anyone have any suggestions why there is no dome? thanks

We went to dinner at Amada on Friday and had a nice dinner. The place was full at 6pm so we had to wait a few minutes to pounce on some seats at the bar, but it was worth the wait. My wife started with the sangria tinto, which went down way too easy. I had a San Miquel. We thought about getting a pitcher of the sangria, but with someplace to drive, we thought a little better about it. We had a limited amount of time to eat, so we did not delve into the chefmenus or some of the larger offerings. The people sitting next to us at the bar were very friendly,and appear to be neighborhood regulars. They suggested the parmesan artichokes. As an aside, this is one of the things that I enjoy about eating at bars in restaurants, or eating in european restaurants. In a restaurant like Amada, I think the dining community is adventurous and everyone is having fun and talking. I think the bar really aids this experience where you can share what you like and don't like. You casn easily look overand see what looks good and ask about it. So we started with the manchego, granny smith apple and honey. This was a nice light start, and we both love Manchego. We ended up saving the last few pieces for dessert. Then we ordered the marinated anchovies and the parmesan artichokes. I told my wife she had to trust me on the anchovies,as she is not one for oily fish. She was very surprised. I thought I would have to eat the entire plate, but she ended up eating half. I loved them. I think they were the best thing we had that night. Then we had the parmesan artichokes, which I thought were good, but not great. The parmesan was not as salty as I would have liked, and the dish needed some spice, white pepper even. Round two was another glass of sangria tinto and I had the sangria blanco after having read the recipe from Katieloeb on egullet. Again, this stuff was going down way too easy. I guess with two glasses each, we probablycould have had a pitcher, but then I would have felt obligated to finish it if there were more than four glasses in it. Next up was one of the specials for the evening, a seafood crepe with shrimp and scallops, mushrooms, red peppers over a shrimp seafood sauce. A small frisee salad was on top. This was very good and probably our next favorite dish. The flavors were on and I think they could offer this as a full dinner menu item. Thesauce was not too rich and with a bite from the vinaigrette, was very tasty. Finally, we had the spicy potatoes, which were nice and smoky with paprika, but not as spicy as I had thought. The potato was cut into a "tater tot" shape and then fried. Nicely crusted on the outside and melting in the center. The only issue I had with these as that one would be mildly crunchy in the center, and then one would be melting in the center. The bar tender was really informative and nice to talk with about the menu. He was very polite. The bar also seemed to have plenty of people working so that the bartenders could take food orders as well as drink orders. Often times, the bartenders barely keep up with the drink orders. We had a really nice meal and will be returning as we did see a lot of things we want to try. I kinda wish we lived in the neighborhood so we could be regulars.

Dan does the apple jelly work beceause it is essentially pure pectin, reduced and sweetened? I guess you could flavor it with anything then, right? Dave

You have greatly overestimated my abilities here. The only thing simple about pie dough for me is a frozen pie crust. There is no rolling pin in this house and I have no idea what it means to "dock" the center of the rolled out dough. Most baking around here starts with Duncan Hines! ←

How about a simple rustic looking peach tart? You could make a simple pie dough (or use frozen puff pastry) roll it out, and place in the center some peaches that you have macerated for about 30 minutes with some sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and any other spices you like. Roll the dough into roughly a circle, pile the peaches in the center, dab some butter on the peaches, fold the dough over, will still have some peaches showing, then brush the dough with some cream,sprinkle with sugar, pop in a 375 degree oven for an hour, and you are ready for a party. If you use puff, dock the center of the rolled out dough with a fork. As far as peeling peaches, if the peaches are perfefctly ripe, you do not need to boil to skin, just get a knife in your hand and peel. good luck.

While on the subject of chemical manipulation, Alex mentioned the use ofmethylcellulose above. Can you clue us in when/why this substance is useful? I know you are not a fan of horseplay with alginates but it sounds like lecithin and methylcellulose are things that have a place in your kitchen.

Thanks for the suggestions. That thread is just the type of thing I was looking for. I am glad you already worked out my issues Anna, thanks!

I made fish and chips on Friday for dinner and was not really excited by my results. I know how to make chips, so don't need help here, but the batter that I used for my fish was just alright, kinda doughy. I actually made yucca chips, and they are great! The ingredients for the batter were equal parts all purpose flour and self rising flour, salt, beer, egg yolk (all these mixed together, then fold in two beaten egg whites and let rest for about 30 minutes. I would have liked my fish to be more crispy, crunchy. I think I should have thinned out my batter to be more tempura-like. What do you think of this recipe? What is your favorite fish and chips batter recipe? thanks Dave

You all crack me up. In DC, a well known restaurant actually hired models, both male and female, to hang around its bar when it first opened as it wanted to attract the "right" crowd, which I am guessing translates to people wearing pointy shoes, silly looking sunglasses, and other things that will be out of fashion in a week.

I have only ever used plastic sheets with raised decoration for chocolate work

no reason to throw away. that is how pastry cream looks after cooking. some people add butter while it is still warm to enrich the flavor (all the cream and eggs are not enough I guess). If you chill in the fridge, will stiffen up quite well. When use in this state, I would pass through a strainer before use. I usually pass through a strainer after removing from the cooking vessel as well.

Lee Ho Fook was very good for the crispy duck, but the fried rice was disappointingly flavorless

Glepore Good luck. I have been looking to open a restaurant in Chester Co. for a few years now, but getting past the liquor laws is causing my hair to fall out. Unfortunately, in PA it seems that money is the only thing that makes the world go 'round. As far as pastry is concerned, there are plenty of desserts you can make or train someone to make with little experience - various flavored creme brulee, cheesecakes, fresh fruit tarts with pastry cream, lemon curd, etc, chocolate tarts, chocolate mousse, any flavored mousse for that matter, chocolate terrines. Chocolate goes a long way.

One of my most memorable food experiences on my last trip to Southern California was eating at various taco stands, especially eating fish tacos. The flavors are amazing, fresh fish, corm tortillas, and dirt cheap. For breakfast you can't beat a chorizo and potato breakfast burrito. I was in San Diego. Interestingly, the NY Times ran an article this past week by an author who drove from LA to San Fran tasting nothing but tacos. Since you all are driving, you may wish to check out this article (online) for places to stop on your way to TFL and Manresa.