divalasvegas

divalasvegas: that dessert is most likely semiya (=vermicelli) kheer. kheer can also be made with rice or grated carrots, or lots of other things.. milagai ← Oh thank you so much milagai. I've tried to describe it to various people but could never get a name. It was dessert perfection and as you can see, unforgettable. When I think vegetarian, that's the kind of delectable food I think of.

Okay sparrowgrass I have to ask, what exactly was so heinous about you bringing an ambrosia salad with marshmallows to the vegetarian "blowout" I described (post #11) above? I think I know, but I'd like to hear it from you. As an aside, while in Massachusetts at that time, I also had probably one of the most delicious, memorable vegetarian meals in my life at a small restaurant run by a Hindu couple (we all worked in the college's student dining hall; I was a student, they were regular staff). They kept bringing out dish after dish of flavorful vegetarian fare to me and another student, concluding with an amazing dessert (don't know the name) of some kind of vermicelli (?) noodles in a creamy sauce, golden with saffron, some other spices, nuts and raisins (yeah, it was so good, I remembered the ingredients). At the end, because we all worked together, they refused to take our money. I don't know how "natural" or "pure" their food would have been considered by the aforementioned vegetarians but I will never forget them, their hospitality and their delicious food. Peace.

And apparently snowangel they were allergic to FLAVOR!

Geez, the memories keep flooding back; how could I have forgotten this one: Flashback to when vegetarianism was becoming more popular and a somewhat unknown territory to me. I was pretty young then and really didn't know much about vegetarian cuisine, so when I was invited to a vegetarian potluck, I said "sure, why not?" Little did I know what horrors lay in store. Let me preface by saying that this was back in the day when a there was a lot of extremely bad vegetarian "cooking" especially in the U.S. that didn't seem to take advantage of all the wonderful vegetarian dishes from other cuisines. Anyway, this was during the fall, somewhere in Massachusetts at some sort of group residence for mostly college students, and I was merely a guest and not expected to bring anything. Finally we arrive and there are already a fair amount people there. There's a long table laid out with various bowls and dishes. Sorry but I can't really remember the names (if those dishes actually had names) of any of the dishes. The one thing that stood out was that I kept waiting to get hit in the face with that "wow, something smells pretty good" kind of aroma, the kind I could expect whenever my mom or any other good cook had been cooking. Alas, no such smell. I approached the table to find a couple of salads, some beige casseroles, raw vegetables, a bean dip maybe and lots and lots of plain steamed vegetables. It did not look to promising, but I got a plate and began to eat and: nothing. No flavor, no enticing aromas, no nothin'. I later found out that the reason for this was that everything had to be "natural" and "pure" so no salt, no sugar, no discernible oil or spiciness, I'm not even sure there was even pepper. I remember sheepishly asking one of the people I came with if there was any salt, butter, anything and being looked at as if I'd asked for a medium rare steak. Damn, even the house was cold; I guess heat was deemed to be "unnatural" as well. Being raised Southern, I tried to be as polite as possible and since I was hungry, I did try to eat the food. BTW, I forgot to say that there was wine and pot. Yeah lots of that and boy did I need it! So there I am trapped in this cold hippy-dippy house, with lousy food, wine, pot, the munchies, and no ride outta there, fantasizing about my momma's home cooking. Dante himself could not have imagined this ring of Hell. Unfortunately, I think it was this approach to vegetarianism that gave that way of eating an undeserved reputation as being bland and tasteless which this stuff was. When I finally got out of there, I believe I remember buying several subs at a great sub shop near my school, amongst them a gigantic lobster salad sub, like a lobster roll, but on steroids and reminding myself of one of my mother's hard and fast rules: never, ever go anywhere hungry unless you have a pretty damn good idea of what's waiting for you on the other end. Edited for spelling and grammar.

Wow CarrotTop that one actually made me want to heave. What kind of church was this for goodness' sake, the church of Satan? Okay, now I'll have to out myself. Even though it was many years ago, I still considered myself to be a pretty good cook and decent cake baker. The cake I decided to attempt was my version of a Pina Colada cake. It really wasn't such a bad idea: homemade yellow cake, crushed pineapple, coconut, a bit of rum with seven minute frosting (icing?), the latter of which I had made successfully many times. Except this time. The cake came out fine. I think the plan was to lightly brush the cake layers with a bit of rum, spread on some frosting, spoon on some drained crushed pineapple, repeat, finishing by frosting the whole thing then sprinkle with the remaining coconut. Well the frosting/icing was a disaster. What should have been heavenly clouds of fluff siezed up some how--to this day I don't know what I did wrong. I tried adding more water, more corn syrup, putting it back on the heat, beating it more, anything, to no avail. I then tried to spread this mess on the cake layers, which of course tore off pieces of cake that I tried in vain to mortar back into place with same said frosting/icing. Finally, I tried to cover up this monstrosity with coconut which stuck in some places, but not others. Having no time to make a substitution after promising several co-workers that this would be my contribution, I took it to work. It was a hideous, crumbling mess. I was so embarassed. I sheepishly set it out and slinked away. But something amazing happened: they ate it and they liked it, so much so that people were scraping the last crumbs away from the serving plate. I had been keeping my distance from it all throughout the party, so I only got to taste a few of those last crumbs and to my relief it tasted good! However, being that I can be somewhat vain about all aspects of my cooking, I'm still pretty mortified by how the damn thing looked. Lesson learned: always have a backup dish, just in case.

Thanks for the reminder to this wine novice CtznCane. From what little I know, the season doesn't last long so I'll definitely be picking up a couple of bottles. The other great thing is that they're not too expensive, allowing for a relatively cheap education on wine for those like me. With Thanksgiving coming up next week and people cooking all manner of things, not just turkey, what foods are Beaujolais Nouveau friendly, including appetizers? I especially would like cheese pairing recommendations. And what types of dishes would you use this wine, as in cooking? Or perhaps not. Any and all advice is appreciated.

As the holiday season is here, there was recent discussion in my office about having a potluck Thanksgiving next Tuesday. I think it'll be a lot of fun. But the suggestion brought back memories of potlucks past, and some of them were not very good. My objections to certain potluck dishes fall into the following categories: 1) You can't even prepare an edible dish in your own damn kitchen, so why impose your dreck on the masses, 2) Agenda cooking: I have no objections to people who make the personal decision or whose health dictates that they eat lowfat, fat free, sugar free, salt free, etc. and understand that they may want to make sure there is something suitable for them to eat (BTW, I think that there should be a little something there for everyone's taste, if possible). But to bring a massive quantity of that food and become livid when people don't exactly go nuts over it (yes, this really happened), well is just strange, I think; 3) The dish is a disaster, as in burnt, overcooked, oversalted, etc., you tried to rescue it, but it's still a disaster, but what the Hell, bring it in anyway and see who bites (literally) I'll try to think of more (I know there have to be more), but please regale us with your most shudder inducing potluck memories. As I said, number two above really happened. At a previous workplace, a particularly highstrung, anal-retentive type co-worker made some sort of whole grain, vegetarian casserole. Now, I love whole grains and vegetables, but she made it low salt and fat free; still, if that's what you love, go for it. She placed it on a table of about at least three dozen luscious dishes including ham, turkey, other meats, cheeses, all manner dips, side dishes, and desserts, most of which were pretty damn calorie laden and fattening. There were a few crudites and other not-so-fattening items, but those were in the distinct minority. Not everyone's dishes were polished off including mine. However, when this woman checked the table later into the party and noticed that very little of her offering had been sampled, she picked up the dish, container and all, and, in a rage, threw it into the trash! This same woman, for whatever reason, would also become distinctly irritated if anyone deigned to want to take home the hambone leftover from the potluck ham, which was purchased by our company, to which she seemed to have felt oddly entitled to each year. In keeping with the holiday spirit I must shamefully admit to absconding with said hambone after one year's potluck before she got her grubby mitts on it and found perverse pleasure in her consternation that "someone" took her hambone after she had explicitly announced in advance that she wanted it! How deliciously vindictive. Yes, I know, I need help. Please "dish" about your tasteless/tastefree/distasteful potluck experiences.

(Me hysterically laughing, wiping tears from my eyes.) While you weren't brave or insane enough to try it MGLloyd I can think of but one man who would be undaunted at giving this a taste or two: none other than Tony Bourdain. After beating cobra hearts, "squeazle" and iguana, I'm sure he would find this to be a piece of cake. And I'm sure he would find that drinking it makes you very strong...............

Wow what an amazing topic SethG. You are definitely my culinary hero, especially working wounded with all of that chopping, mixing, stirring, basting, turkey turning. Your painstaking, step-by-step description of the whole process was awesome. I've seen Thompson's Turkey done twice on tv. Once was by David Rosengarten on his wonderful show "Taste." The second time it was Martha Stewart with the assistance of rather dour, humorless woman who I believe is both a friend and her financial advisor. She was the one actually who was showing Martha how she does this turkey every Thanksgiving. Both produced beautiful results. I would think that if one could secure a tape of either of these shows (I especially loved Rosengarten) that would help a lot. I think I'd like to attempt the stuffing, but would actually consider hiring someone to help me with the rest of the process. BTW, what happened to the photos? They seemed to have disappeared. Also, will you be doing this again this year? Take care.

Thanks Katie. I've tried the Gran Gala and it's very tasty stuff. I like the idea of sneaking a little crack into the sauce! My family is quite frustrating in that they want the same the darn stuff every year, bless their thick hard heads. My mother also used to add a twist to Thanksgiving which I may make ahead as well. I think about her a lot around this time of year. She would always make a small pot of sauerkraut seasoned simply, with onions and sometimes added some type of pork for seasoning, such as ham hocks. Sometimes I add sliced apples. This is an absolutely declicious accompaniment with the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and the rest, although when I tell this to most folks I usually get a weird look from them.

Thanks so much Katie and Kim for your advice. Katie I love your advice and will definitely just make the cranberry sauce and park it in the back of the fridge, folding in the walnuts shortly before serving. And I never thought about substituting the orange juice for the water used as well as adding Gran Marnier; brilliant! I usually just use the juice of one orange, with the rest of liquid being water. As for the Gran Marnier, Kim why not, since sadly I'm the only one in my home that will eat this! The rest of my family doesn't care for it, even though perfect strangers who've tasted this say it's delicious, they still want the stuff from the can, which I must also admit I like as well. Also, pumpkin pie spice, well I never thought of that, but I think maybe with the apples and raisins that might be an improvement on just the cinnamon. Actually, I might just use a seasoning called apple pie spice made by McCormick that I have hanging out in my pantry right now. Thanks so much to the both of you. Now, I hope someone could clue me in on making a roux and freezing it or maybe just store it in the refridgerator for a couple of weeks since Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching! Thanks again.

Wow that sounds so delicious and practical as well Kim. I've never roasted turkey parts for gravy, but I think I'll have to try this. I do have a question about the roux. Can roux be made in advance and frozen? Will you be adding the turkey drippings to the finished gravy? I was thinking of cooking and freezing my greens and maybe making the cranberry sauce in advance and freezing it, but wonder if the ingredients would suffer. The ingredients are: cranberries of course, diced apples, golden and dark raisins, walnuts, orange juice and zest, cinnamon, sugar, pinch of salt. Should I make this sans walnuts and maybe just stir them in after I've defrosted them? Any advice will be appreciated.

LOL Daniel!!! That was brilliant! Yes, please do the whole steaming thing; it really produces great results. It was a definite triple play of flavors: tasty moist meat, crispy skin, and that sticky, luscious subcutaneous fat. Mmmmmmm subcutaneous fat.............. I'm not photo savvy, so I may need your help on that one.

Thanks so much winesonoma but I have to confess that I'm a propane phobic. That's why I bought this electric one. It really did a fantastic job, but at $111 and change it was the most expensive piece of meat per pound I've ever made! Wish me luck in getting a suitable replacement.

Okay folks, I've got good news and bad news and pretty damn good news and some more bad news and............................. oh Hell, let me just get on with it. Well the good news is that I took the advice given by all of you to steam the duck first. Wow even flabby and steamed, it still smelled and tasted good. So I washed, dried, and filled up my turkey fryer with the peanut oil, turned on the switch and............. NOTHING. NADA. NO JUICE. NOT EVEN A CLICK. NOTHING, I SAY!!! To say that I was really pissed off would be a gross understatement. I was livid and reporting back to eG at that time would have made me look way less than lady-like, to say the least. I had my brother take a look at it. Mind you, I've only used this thing once, just once last Thanksgiving. Since it was the first electric turkey fryer made by Masterbuilt, my model is a bit outdated and doesn't have a spout to drain the oil, so removing the oil is a bit of a chore. The newer models have such a spout and drainage system. He's an engineer and could find nothing wrong with the unit. He also checked the outlet I plugged it into; still nothing wrong. The desire to cook quickly evaporated needless to say. I put the steamed duck away and began furiously calling Masterbuilt. It was late, so I couldn't get a "live" person, only a recording. I left a couple of rather pissed off messages. I finally did speak with a real person, who said something about making sure the mount bearing was connecting properly or whatever. Unfortunately for Masterbuilt, not only is my brother an engineer who will be speaking with one of their customer service reps but his girlfriend works for the national headquarters of the Better Business Bureau in Arlington, Virginia. I've already lodged a formal complaint against the company. All I can say is thank God for QVC. I called them and even almost a year later they told me to ship it back to them and that they would do whatever it took to make me happy, either replace the damn thing or give me a full refund. Again, kudos to QVC. I really like having such a device, but I'm dubious about taking a chance with Masterbuilt again. If I do decide to let them replace it, it will be the latest model. Anyway, I seasoned the duck with some soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper and oven roasted it. Wow that was so delicious, the skin so crispy and the flesh moist and tender. I will definitely be doing this again. Thanks again everyone for your advice to steam the duck. I bought flour tortillas and warmed them, wrapping that lovely duck in them with a little hoisin sauce. I also bought some plum sauce made by Reese. I know that this product is probably not authentic Chinese, but I really like it; the taste of plums, five spice and soy and whatever else is in there is really tasty. Why the Hell haven't I been eating more duck? Well I will now. Oops almost forgot to say that I made hrzt8w's bamboo shoots and snow peas and it was most certainly the da bomb! I'll report back with my Masterbuilt saga, but for now all I can say is keep your money and don't buy this product. The really great news is that at least my Thanksgiving won't be ruined by this crappy product since I had planned on making my turkey with it this year.

Hello All, Well I'm back, finally. Little ducky is now marinating in garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and soy sauce. I also got snow peas and bamboo shoots to make hrzt8w's dish. In about an hour or so, I'll be dropping--bad use of words--gently lowering the duck into the hot peanut oil. Again, thanks so much for all of your advice. I'll report back later.

Well I'm off to the grocery store for some last minute items and running a few errands. I should be back in a couple of hours. If anyone has anything to add, any advice in the meantime, I would deeply appreciate it. I'll be marinating the duck for a couple of hours after I get back, so write away if you can. Wish me luck. Have a great Sunday.

OMG racheld , fifi and M.X. Hassett ................ I just read the post about that damn armageddon turkey. I can't thank all of you enough for making me laugh so hard, that was just the best!!! And, since I'm about to go to the store in a few hours thank you for guiding me away from any kind of sweet stuff to inject into the duck. Just a couple of questions. 1) Should I not inject at all? Would it be too overwhelming for the duck flesh? 2) I've decided on the seasoning before I deep fry...... soy sauce, a little sesame oil, salt, pepper, garlic, ginger. I was thinking about adding sherry to the seasoning melange, but I'm not a big sherry drinker and don't know if it's worth it to buy a whole bottle of something I would probably rarely use. Also, I was going to use 5 spice powder, but I'm planning to serve this like Peking duck and have several sauces on the side such as hoisin, plum, sriracha even, so I don't think the five spice is necessary. Opinions? 3) I'm not sure if the store has the type of "pancakes" used for peking duck, so any substitutions? Should I just buy wonton wrappers and steam them? Sorry for being so clueless. Thanks everyone for helping me get through this. Now, what to do with all of that duck fat infused peanut oil................

Right on both counts! Getting the excess fat out is crucial. People who claim that duck is "greasy" have probably been subjected to gross quantities of subcutaneous fat that didn't get properly rendered. Steaming does help with the skin crisping thing as well. One of my favorite duck recipes is Paul Bertolli's "Steamed and Roasted Duck" from Chez Pannisse Cooking. One crucial step is pricking the skin wherever the fat layer is thick. Just take a fork and gently poke through the skin. Don't stab violently! The idea is to perforate the skin so that the fat renders out more easily. Steam the duck in a big roasting pan or wok. Place it on a platter that's deep enough to catch the juices and fat as the duck steams. It takes about 1 hour to steam a ~ 5 pound duck. That sounds like a lot, but the steaming temperature needs to be slow and gentle. When you're done there will be a huge amount of fat in the platter. Save it to do wonderful duck-fatty things. You'll also get some highly concentrated duck jus - excellent! Bertolli's recipe calls for crisping the skin in a high oven. Your deep-frying should accomplish much the same. I think the traditional asian technique is actually to suspend the duck over the oil, basting it continuously with the hot oil. Deep frying sounds easier. ← Thanks edsel. I think my concern is that after steaming this bird will be going into a whole lotta hot oil and that the moisture absorbed by steaming it will create a somewhat hazardous situation in my kitchen. Am I wrong? I can see steaming then roasting in an oven, but putting a steamed bird into 400 degree oil, even if I wipe/pat it dry won't it still be pretty moist and perhaps cause a boil over? Your advice/opinions are deeply appreciated.

Hi Mayhaw Man. All the best to you and yours; I hope you all are getting back to normal as quickly as possible. You know all of the fire hazard issues always concerned me even though I really wanted to deep fry a turkey. I admit to be totally chicken shit when it comes to propane, open flames, and gas lines. So when I saw this electric version I knew I had to have it. You use it indoors and it is so safe and idiot-proof you wouldn't believe. Thanks and take care.

Thanks jsolomon. I was wondering how the deep frying process might change with a smaller bird. I will certainly take your advice under consideration.

Oh mizducky .................. I should have known with your screen name that you'd have some great input! That Chinese-style recipe has me drooling. And when they got to the part about chopping it up, bones and all, well I love eating any kind of meat, poultry, fish on the bone. Delicious! I think I'm going with this one. Thanks so much. However, I think I'll skip the steaming part since I can't imagine that steaming it would really make much of a difference since the deep frying will most likely render the fat quite well. In the seasoning suggestions part, it says: VARIATIONS: 1. In Step 1, rub duck with any of the following mixtures: a. 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon anise pepper and 1/8 teaspoon Five Spices b. 2 tablespoons sherry, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon red pepper c. 1-1/2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon brown bean sauce, mashed; and 1/2 teaspoon Five Spices d. 1 to 2 scallion stalks and 3 or 4 slices fresh ginger root, both minced; 1 tablespoon Szechwan peppercorns, crushed; and 2 teaspoons salt 2. In Step 2, before steaming, add to bowl with duck 2 scallion stalks and 2 or 3 slices fresh ginger root. 3. In Step 3, before trussing duck, coat with a mixture of 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon soy sauce; or 3 tablespoons flour and 1 egg, lightly beaten. I was thinking about a combination from the above: soy sauce, sherry, (still not sure about adding sugar), five spices, maybe rub it all over inside and out with garlic and ginger before frying. Thanks for the encouragement Daniel. rooftop 1000 maybe I'll do a search on the FoodTv website, but I think I've found what I'm looking for. Thanks!

I love crispy duck skin and moist duck meat, so I've decided to try deep frying one. It's a six pound supermarket duck (Safeway, Maple Leaf is the brand name, I think). Last year's deep fried turkey was such a success and the manfacturer's booklet with instructions and safety precautions that came with the deep fryer offered a wide variety of foods that can be either deep fried, steamed, or boiled. Using this device is incredibly easy. But the manufacturer didn't say anything about duck, though I can't understand why that would be a problem. Anyway, here is the device I own: Electric Turkey Fryer I tried to find an image on the web without any reference to where I purchased it, but apparently this version is already a bit obsolete, since the newer models have a few more bells and whistles. But I still love the results of this one. I found the following recipe in one of GiftedGourmet's previous posts and it really does sound delicious. However, I don't think it would be suitable to marinade/brush this on before putting it in the deep fryer since it might burn the skin because the sweetness of the ingredients used before the meat is done. I have an injector, so I was thinking about injecting the bird with this glaze, saving what's left over for the table. As for seasoning the skin, usually I just make sure the turkey is absolutely dry inside and out, rub with a little oil, season with creole seasoning and black pepper and fry away. But for the following recipe, maybe just rub down the duck with a cut orange and garlic clove, dry and oil it, salt, pepper and then cook. I was also wondering if I should prick the skin all over as is done with roasted duck or would the deep frying method make that unnecessary? Also, the recipe calls for port wine: any not to expensive suggestions? Glazed Duck Recipe Any tips, suggestions, caveats, additional recipes would be appreciated. Edited for grammar and to add another question.

Everything I've seen so far today, as well as previous posts, looks so luscious so I feel kind of inadequate posting what I had for dinner, but here goes: Oven roasted turkey thighs, rice, spicy cabbage and kale, okra and tomatoes. Basic but oh so tasty.

Wow Jason that's beyond lovely fried chicken porn! Now if I could just get a recipe for mambo sauce.