davidkeay

Very interesting... I think I'm going to have to borrow a car and go check this out this weekend. Eatmywords - thanks for reposting that translation!

I don't know how recently it opened, but Szechuan Chalet around 72nd and 2nd ave got on my radar recently. I had a very good cold beef/tripe dish, mapo tofu, a dry fried chicken with a bunch of chilis, and a dish that was basically just sauted tiger peppers. All of it was very well done! Pretty exciting to hear the grand sichuan empire is moving a little further north.

Does the black garlic seem any better or worse at emulsifying things than normal garlic? I'd think the fact that it's a little softer (and therefore can become more of a paste) might be an advantage!

We've got a good snowstorm kicking in tonight and split pea soup sounded great. I used smoked ham shanks for that gelatinous smokey richness that pea soup needs!

TJ Maxx might be an option... I was at the one at 99th and columbus last week and got some pretty decent deals on kitchen stuff. Edit - One option that might be interesting is to line the a casserole dish with parchment paper before you prepare them, then pop the casserole out once it's frozen. Then you could give her a pile of panless casseroles and one pan to go with them.

Some friends had a dinner for 12 at back 40- they have a giant table they call the farm table which you can reserve.

Would it be possible to salt and preserve it the way you do with lemons (probably with the addition of a lot of extra lemon juice?). I wonder if you would have to cut open the individual fingers to let the salt/juice penetrate it.

I've been looking for saba for a while, and ended up finding it in three stores today! It's funny to find this topic active at the same time. Here in NYC, kalustyans had a 750 ml bottle for $55, and then I saw it again later at eataly (smaller 200 and 250 ml bottles for around $18)... I picked up one of those. It's interesting to taste it on it's own- it starts out very sweet, but the grape flavor takes over until you're left with a rich caramel flavor that is skirting the edges of burnt. I've seen a Batali recipe for sausage cooked with grapes that has Saba drizzled on at the end. I've made something like it to pretty great effect even before I was able to find this, so I'm looking forward to making it again now that I have a bottle!

That video is great, I've never actually seen the technique performed. I'm reminded of dcarchs work in this post. This is making me want to skip work and practice my knife skills...

That whole meal looks wonderful... I really like the idea of the individual vinegar pearls adding another textural element to the oyster! Very handsome pork belly as well- I just cooked some for the first time last week, but I just did a brine + roast. I'm planning on trying it again soon with a method more like yours (assuming that there's some pink salt in your brine, and then you cooked it sous vide!)

I'm having trouble placing what would have that great orange brown color... can you use sodium alginate with cocktails? I figure it's a safe bet to just try combining the two themes of the blog!

There's been a big spike in the Brazilian population there in the last few years, so I'd look in that direction for one ethnic meal. With the disclaimer that I've never actually eaten there, I've heard good things about casa brazil on court st/rt 3A near cherry st. (I'm from plymouth, but pretty much eat only homecooked stuff when I'm there!). If your friends in providence are up for a divey ethnic place, you should check out apsara in cranston. It's cambodian, and some of the best SE asian I've ever had!

The ononomiyaki looks great - This might give me the kick to actually start making it on my own! I Just need to pick up some of that pickled ginger next time I'm near my japanese market. I was wondering about how bonito flakes work for home chefs... are they pre-shaved? I think I've seen actual bonito shaving devices in stores, but I don't think I've actually seen pieces of dried fish that weren't already in flakes.

Is the red garnish a type of pickled ginger? I've had that a couple times served on top of okonomiyaki and loved it, but wasn't sure if it was actually ginger or if it was some other root that was flavored with ginger. Is it just sold in jars?

That eggplant sandwich at that Hummus Place is also a fantastic lunch deal. It's really two sandwiches with eggplant and hard boiled egg. They even have amba to go with it, something I miss at a lot of falafel joints. I'm curious about which falafel place is actually your favorite around there! Lately I've been going to maoz to take advantage of the salad bar too, but I think I still prefer the actual falafel at Hummus Place.

I always keep valentina and el yucateco around. There are 4 varieties of el yucateco that I know...red, green, brown and carribean. They're all habanero based, and I keep the brown around all the time...it has great flavor and some smokiness. I picked up a bottle of the carribean at the fancy food show this year, and it's sweeter and fruitier than the normal varieties. It's good, but I don't think it will replace the brown for me!

Now that we've finally started having some chilly weather I've been using the oven again, and I roasted my first chicken since spring a couple days ago. Lately, I've been spatchcocking the chicken and cutting the joints between the wings/breasts and legs/thighs to cut down the cooking time. This was a 3.5 pound bird and it took about half an hour in a 450 degree oven! I also tried making bread sauce for the first time, which will definitely be an addition to my cold weather side dishes.

Oh how I love those cumin and chini sprinkled skewers. We can get them out in flushing here...there's one street cart I usually get them from after dim sum. Last week, I noticed a new crop of places opening up out there that have skewers with a variety of meats (including some seafood)... one in the golden mall food court, and one under the bridge on main st near the train station. I didn't get a chance to try either of them, but I will next time I'm out there. I'm curious about how they're seasoned, since they are offering far more kinds of meat than just the lamb and chicken that I see at the other cart! Edit - To stay more on topic, is there anywhere else that pieces of pure lamb fat are served like I've seen at the uzbek and other central asian places? I don't remember seeing any in israel, though there was certainly enough lamb going around that there much have been boatloads of extra fat.

If you're lucky enough to live near somewhere with a good central asian population, you can get some pretty great fatty lamb. I've been here - http://www.cheburechnaya.com/ - we got lamb rib skewers and lamb fat skewers. The fat were just pieces of fat about the size of a finger joint, grilled and served with thinly sliced onion and white vinegar. I recall some flat round loaves of bread coming out with the skewers, as well! The lamb fat in question (not my photo) -

I haven't tried any of the places in the article, but I'm looking forward to hearing your report! I had thought about trying Fu Run last time I was out there, but I was with a friend who had never been to the Xi'an famous foods stall, so we had to give that a try that time.

Did you try to salvage the disappointing version of it? I would vote for pulling the chicken, defatting the sauce, and reducing to see how it is once you make it stronger. As long as there isn't too much salt, it seems worth a try!

I thought the 2 TBSP cups were standard! I know we had an 1/8 cup scoop growing up, and I have one now (that sits next to the coffee grinder at all times).

Do you have a favorite there? I had heard great things about saigon sandwich on larkin from the friend I was staying with last time, but I was only on larkin right after eating at burmese kitchen so I didn't end up trying it.

Last time I was out there I tried a great burmese place called Burmese Kitchen. It's an easy walk from union square, but it's in a pretty rough neighborhood so it's definitely more of a lunch place than a dinner place. If you read about it online, it's also called 'larkin express deli'... I think they recently changed the name! It's quite cheap and it's got some good light options. The tea leaf salad was fantastic, and I enjoyed the pork with mango pickles (both pictured). We also tried a roti, which was similar to a malaysian roti but, but the sauce that came with it didn't pack the flavor punch we'd hoped it would.

My usual method is 3 or 4 bags of ahmad black tea with cardamom in a gallon of cool water, put in the fridge before bed. It's ready by morning- I don't bother taking the bags out and I don't find it gets bitter, even when I drink it in the evening. Not that that's a problem in this weather, since the gallon is usually gone around lunch!