mizducky

Unless I am massively mistaken, I just saw those super-big enoki mushrooms in a local Asian supermarket here in the States. Mind you, I do not read Japanese at all, but the packaging and look of the mushrooms were very similar to this photo. I will make a point of looking for them the next time I'm in that market, and getting a photo of them in their packaging for comparison. I slice these cross wise, sprinkle with some salt, pepper, and dot it with butter and bake them in the oven. After i take them out, I sprinkle with a little bit of chopped parsley. ← I've also had pretty good luck with slicing eryngii lengthwise, sprinkling them with soy sauce, and grilling them on an electric grill (not sure if the George Foreman Grill has made it out of the US and around the world yet--or if a Japanese manufacturer has gone and made a better one --but for what it's worth that's the kind of grill I used). Eryngii do seem to need longer cooking than your average mushroom to be tender, so that always has to be factored in.

I've tried all kinds of "diets", and I regret to report that while I dropped a lot of weight fast on the various high-protein/low-carb (ie low veggies) diets, both the fast weight loss and the high protein did seriously bad things to my health. Specifically, in my case they took my inherited predisposition to gout, and turned it into full-fledged and very painful gout. I realize you said you didn't want to hear such things, but from my experience I would be very irresponsible if I didn't offer a word of caution about any kind of weight-loss plan that goes any faster than a two-pound-a-week weight loss. Any faster than that, and a person does stand a significant risk of touching off any number of health conditions (kidney stones is another such risk). Faster weight loss than this is just really really rough on the kidneys, and IMO should only be done with a doctor's close supervision. (For instance, I understand that Optifast participants are required to have their blood and other factors checked every two weeks to make sure this super-fast weight loss regimen isn't causing any complications). As to the veggies issue: after many years of dieting, I too had gotten a certain attitude about vegetables--not in general, because I do like many veggies, but I definitely had a kind of aversion going on for green leafy salads, celery sticks, and a lot of the other typical "diet-friendly" vegetables often thrust on the desperate dieter. I had come to view them as penance-foods for the repentant fat person, and way boring to boot. Plus I was (still am) a really devoted fan of animal protein, and both my gout and my need to lose weight was breaking my heart over having to cut down on meat. Now, I came up with various strategies to address this that work for me--no guarantees that they would appeal to anyone else, but here they are for what they're worth: 1--I realized that if I hated leafy green salads and celery so damn much, I jolly well didn't have to eat them! I instead choose vegetables that have some substance to them. 2--I concentrated on various preparation strategies to bring out the more "meatlike" qualities of vegetables, such as a denser or even chewy mouthfeel, and that savory qualitiy well-summarized by the concept "umami". Things that help with this: roasting, grilling, browning, caramelizing, and other deep-flavor cooking techniques; adding "umami" through combining with naturally glutamate-rich vegetabless such as mushrooms, tomatoes, and kombu seaweed; seasonings such as soy sauce that majorly up the savory factor; using lots of meat-based broths and stocks to add flavor punch. 3--Instead of making meat the main event of a meal, I tend to use meat as a condiment/flavoring to imbue vegetables with meaty flavor. 4--I tend to avoid traditionally "diet-friendly" techniques such as steaming vegetables, as being really boring, adding minimal flavor and making some vegetables unpleasantly watery no matter how carefully you watch them. Above all, I have almost completely banished the word "diet" from my vocabulary. What I am doing now is not a "diet" that I'll be on for a short while solely to lose weight; it is a sustainable health regimen for the duration, which right now happens to have a weight loss component, but which will not change substantially once I hit my goal. And my goal is in fact not defined by a "goal weight", but in terms of functional qualities such as being able to walk with minimal to no pain. While it's nice for me to know that I've lost over 37 pounds since January, I am doing my best to avoid excessive focus on that number on the scale--in fact, I don't even own a bathroom scale; I weigh myself weekly at my HMO when I go in for my weight-management support group. And I'm finding that, even in the weeks I don't lose much of anything, I am still ahead because my general health condition is getting better simply because I am eating healthily and exercising. I do have my own challenges in exercising, due to joint pain from arthritis and a seriously cranky knee. I have been able to come up with work-arounds with the aid of folks at my HMO (like exercise videos of routines all designed to be performed while seated in a chair). I also aim my exercise sights way low--in my book, even walking around a supermarket instead of using the store's electric scooter for disabled customers counts as exercise. Anyway, that's my two cents' worth. If you're interested in more about my weight-management process, strategies, and work-arounds, I invite you to click the link in my sig for my blog on the subject.

I was wondering where the weekly foodblog had gotten to! I really don't have a good place to set up a conventional outdoor smoking apparatus where I live, but I had recently contemplated the possibility of doing a little indoor smoking in my wok or something (which also has the advantage of being small-scale enough for an audience of one). But even if I don't get it together to do this as a smoke-along participant, I will be happy to vicariously enjoy all you guys' efforts. Happy smokin'!

Abra, I swear to God I thought that was an overloaded Sicilian-style pizza till I read your description.

Ow. Is there a topic on food-related puns? If not, maybe there should be. Even though it could turn into a really painful experience. (And would eat up more of my ever-shrinking free time. ) Okay, valiantly attempting to haul this sorta back on topic: the Boar's Head website turns out to be a little Disneyland of computer animation--especially their so-called "Digicatessen" (ow! I'm in pain again!). I do like their products, though I admit to a little head-scratching over buying pastrami from a company with a pig's head as its logo.

I am also a Hansen's fan, and am especially fond of their black cherry, peach, and strawberry-kiwi flavors. I can sometimes find them in Albertson's as well as Trader Joe's. Here's their entire diet flavor lineup. Diet-Rite sodas are also sweetened with Splenda, are reasonably good-tasting, and can sometimes be found in mainstream supermarkets. Here's their website.

Oh, these are all incredibly yummy-sounding suggestions, folks! Definitely am going to try all of these sooner or later. Now this is a really helpful tip. The market did have chunks from the tail of the carp as well as the steaks--I'll definitely go for one of those the next time.

Dang! So that's how you guys handle that! Somehow, that never seems to get covered in any of the cross-cultural etiquette guides I've ever seen. Probably because, as you correctly observe, Westerners tend to be wimps about that kind of thing. Well, I'm gonna give it a try--should be a fun parlour trick to play at my next dinner out. No, seriously, I really am going to try this. I'm not sure my tongue is quite that dextrous, but we'll see.

That's a very good question. I did learn on the web that the konnyaku plant is related to taro. Do people cook and serve the konnyaku root as-is? I wouldn't know what its texture is like. It did seem that the "taro"/konnyaku/whatever in my duck stew, while much softer than the konnyaku I have bought at the local Asian market, still had the slight translucency and homogenous texture I associate with konnyaku, so that's what I identified it as. Hmmm ... an interesting little food mystery!

For the record, I should state that the definitions in the post are strictly my own. I'm not looking to codify any label. Rather, I was simply looking to refute a troll's assertion that all foodies are "classist" and "elitist". Your own definitions may vary. ← Cool, and my apologies for misreading you. I think we're actually on the same track then ... only I was foolhardy enough to expend energy trying to guess at your troll's argument, which they seemed insufficiently capable of articulating effectively.

Heh. An argument which that blogger either ignores or is not aware of, goes that foodieism is by its very nature "classist/elitist" regardless of the apparent class associations of the food enthused over, because only people of some financial means can afford to treat food -- whether highbrow or lowbrow food -- as a recreational hobby, whereas poor people, no matter how much they may enjoy food, must treat it as the survival necessity it really is. Mind you, I'm *not* saying *I* ascribe to that philosophy--heck, people only have to look at my number of posts, let alone their content, here on eGullet to know that I'm a dedicated "foodie" myself (yeah, I don't much care for the term "foodie" either, but it's a convenient shorthand, which is why I think the word persists ... but I digress). And I also think this argument is in itself somewhat elitist, because I know of all sorts of communities of modest economic means that also love and celebrate food as so more than a mere survival requirement. But ... inasmuch as there are indeed some foodies in the world who spend more money than I earn in a year on a landmark bottle of rare vintage wine and such, I also think that there's definitely something to the concept that socioeconomic class differences do influence how some people choose to express their food enthusiasms. I'm not ascribing values to that either way ... I'm just playing armchair sociologist here and noting the existence of the phenomenon. Anyway ... as to how I identify: well, I'm already on record as labeling myself the Tightwad Gourmand, and I think I can also make a case for calling myself a proletarian foodie. I really do prefer the types of foods that were traditionally poor people's food. I mean, I certainly wouldn't, and haven't, turned down caviar when it's offered to me, and have heartily enjoyed expensive restaurants--though mostly when other people have been picking up the bill. But left to my own devices, I can usually be found scanning the neighborhoods for the more promising-looking mom 'n' pop hole-in-the-wall joints. So--yeah, proletarian foodie. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Well, I tried an experiment later last night, and left some konnyaku slices to simmer for a very long time, and it finally did get a *little* bit softer. So long-enough cooking does have an effect eventually. Now I'm wondering if giving the stuff a bit of time in a pressure-cooker might help here. A future experiment for the next package of konnyaku I buy. (We likes cooking experiments, yes we do! )

This Squirrel Fish dish requires a lot of mastery. The goal is to criss-cross on the fish meat without separating the meat from the bones (for presentation purpose). Then the fish is deep-fried. The meat will curl up like a squirrel's tail. I think that's how it got the name. It's much harder to do than it seems. I believe the criss-crossing is done on the inside of the fish meat and the skin is used to hold the meat together. ← Okay, so I guess I'm not doing that technique anytime too soon! I suppose, then, the only solution to the boniness problem with this fish is to try and yank out as many bones as I can in advance, either before cooking, or after cooking and before serving. I now also know why my ancestors went with grinding this fish's flesh and making fishballs with it. Still, given this fish's taste and bargain price, I definitely would buy it again.

You may certainly use bighead carps for this recipe: White Bass Braised with Bean/Soy Sauce (酱烧鱼) Different fish, same process. ← Thank you, Ah Leung. I did see that in your pictorial collection, but wasn't sure if it would work with the type of fish I had. I will certainly give it a try next time. It got on towards dinner, so I decided to try braising the steak in one piece (with several deep cuts through the skin so it would cook more quickly). I braised it in chicken broth seasoned with garlic, onion, ginger, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili bean sauce, and a whole bunch of black mushrooms (the soaking liquid from the mushrooms went in too). I really liked it a lot. This fish sure has some fierce bones, though! Would that squirrel-cutting technique be meant to break up some of the bones while still leaving the fish whole (more or less)?

Oh, while we're on about konnyaku, I've got a question for the experienced konnyaku cooks here: Once when I was dining in my favorite Szechuan restaurant here in San Diego, Ba Ren, I ordered a dish that the menu identified as duck and taro cooked in a clay pot. What the taro turned out to be was konnyaku--only they had managed to get it way more tender than I have managed so far (I mean, without resorting to the shirataki form). When I've tried cutting block konnyaku into the same shape used by this restaurant (slices about the size and shape of dominoes), mine have stayed springy and bouncy even after a couple of hours of stewing. Did the restaurant simply use a brand of konnyaku I don't have access to, that's much softer to begin with? Could they have made their own? Or did they just stew the heck out of it overnight or something? I really liked that soft but still holding-together texture they achieved, and would like to duplicate it.

Thank you, Rabbi Ducky! Where do I sign up to become a Wiccan? Can I get by with Wiccan Gefilte Fish? Are there any dues? ← Well, I haven't personally checked out the following book, but according to its description on Amazon.com, you can not only find out some suggested dishes for various Wiccan festivals and special occasions, but also get an intro to the tradition(s) in general: The Wicca Cookbook You'll even notice that these modern Wiccan cookbook writers feel free to incorporate dishes from other cultural traditions. No, there's no recipe for gefilte fish, but there is one for latkes. As a matter of fact--jsolomon, you might find this cookbook useful for your wedding reception. (Be aware that there are some land-critter recipes in there, but there also seem to be fish and vegetarian recipes as well.)

I see others have tackled the kashrut question already, so I'd just like to offer a point of clarification about the Wiccan aspect of things here. I have hung with a *lot* of Wiccans/Pagans of all different stripes over the years, but I have yet to hear of any tradition having specific food requirements. Not to question your guests' food requirements, nor to say that there aren't some Pagans out there who have adopted some form of vegetarianism as part of their spiritual practice--hey, the Wiccan/Pagan community is huge and almost by definition extremely decentralized, so anybody could found a "tradition" of their own with practices that have meaning to them. But I just wanted to make it clear that there are no "blanket" Wiccan food practices out there. In fact, I've met all kinds of Wiccans who enthusiastically eat all kinds of critters who have walked on land. Not that this affects your situation, jsolomon, but like I said, just wanted to clarify in case anyone out there was wondering.

Well, according to this brief news item from an NBC affiliate, it appears the customer who found the offending bit of digit is *NOT* pursuing legal action--which makes me think the whole incident was real (as opposed to a lawsuit scam). Oh wait--there's also a notice about the incident on TGI Friday's official website. I at least give them credit for jumping right on the story as opposed to blowing it off. As to dining at TGI Fridays ... I think I only ever ate at one once, for brunch or something, way the heck back in the early 1980s in Boston, and I was frankly underwhelmed. To judge by the out-the-door lines on Saturday nights, the place was enormously popular, but I couldn't quite figure out why, other than the novelty factor and the foofy drinks. An amusing sidenote: the Boston TGI Friday's in those days happened to be right next to the movie theater that was home to the local midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show--which made for some very entertaining, erm, cultural interactions on Saturday nights between the lines waiting for the movie and for the restaurant (the TGI crowd definitely came out a little the worse for wear ). Oh yeah--three guesses which line I was in.

Cool. Could you say more about this "squirrel-cut" thing? It's not a term I'm familiar with.

While AB's online (and TV) recipe for jerky specified AC filters among the "hardware", I recall him using furnace filters at a cooking demo I attended. I have no idea if paper furnace filters are any easier to find than paper AC filters, but that would at least give you another product to investigate. I also recall AB waxing droll during that demo about seeking filters at his local hardware store, and trying to avoid admitting to the "manly men" down there that he needed them for cooking. But now I think of it, I vaguely recall he went to a local indie store rather than one of those big box stores, specifically to find store personnel who might actually know something about their stock.

Okay, the inquisitive Caucasian girl was loose in the Asian grocery store again. I saw these substantial fish steaks on sale for $1.99/pound, labeled as "Big Head." I had no idea what kind of fish that was, but they looked purty, so I got one, figuring it would make an interesting experiment if nothing else. Turned out to weigh about 1.5 pounds; at a guess, it's a good 2 inches thick, dimensions probably more appropriate for braising or roasting (or cutting up into smaller pieces) than grilling. A bit of Googling turned up that this is probably bighead carp, but was a little low on inspiring recipes. I did get the drift that this is a fish originally native to and popular in China, and so I'm interested in hearing about Chinese-technique recipes. My first thought is to do it as a hotpot. Am I getting warm here? I'm also aware that carp is popular in several areas of Europe--in fact, it's a traditional fish for making gefilte fish (essentially, fishballs). Which leads me to wonder if there are Chinese or other Asian cuisines that also make this fish into fishballs. Though that's more an academic question as I don't have either the time or the tools available to start grinding fish.

Now now ... I can think of at least one nominally omnivore friend of mine who has *much* less adventurous food habits than a whole lot of vegetarians I know. Given an ominvore with food aversions for days, who won't eat any foods she didn't eat when growing up; versus a vegetarian who boldly eats all kinds of foods, as long as they don't come from animals, I'd definitely prefer the vegetarian as dining companion, let alone life companion. Besides, this particular vegetarian seems to have totally grooved on Fresser's cooking, including the tons of garlic, so that's a good sign that culinarily she's no shrinking violet. Still, Fresser, I too am thinking your second social occasion with this woman should be to a restaurant--preferably one with a whole lot of vegetarian choices on the menu--not just for her comfort, but for your investigative purposes. It's amazing what you can learn about a person by watching what kind of choices they make, and how, when confronted with a wide variety of options.

Never heard of them. I wonder if they're called the Cringe because he cringes everytime she laugh/gigles or has a food orgasm. I know I do. ← Here's their webiste: click Never heard of them before either, but to judge from the clip playing on their site, they don't sound half bad. If you're into that sorta punk-pop sound, that is.

Sounds like the food of love to moi. Including the garlic. Nothing wrong with garlic on a first date ... just as long as both parties partake.

My foodie roommate/buddy from back in my early 20s in Boston has a tradition of doing a participatory potato latke brunch on (secular) New Year's Day. How the latkes got postponed from Hanukkah to New Year's I no longer remember, but these brunches would turn into a group cooking extravaganza, with people lining up to take turns at frying things in oil in our tiny galley kitchen. People's latke-frying skills tended to vary widely--we always wound up having to unplug the smoke detector at some point during the proceedings -- but the friendly competitiveness and kidding the results would engender was part of the fun. Regardless of their looks, though, each new batch of the product was vacuumed up almost as soon as presented. Lots of fun (until it was time to clean up the disaster in the kitchen, that is!).