liv4fud

Thanks for the replies! some clarifications: * costco - its a chain store where customers are *coerced* to buy in bulk to save * color - i m not a big fan of food coloring, what I was trying to bring to attention was the amount of water that drained from the chicken * flavor was what I was after! * marinating time was nearly 6-8 hrs and I had cut deep cuts in the chicken thighs (on recipe recommendation to get deep flavor) * yogurt was home-made full fat - not drained * searing - haven't had luck - may be I dont have patience - coz many a time, when i m searing - i end up stir frying or get all those juices and it boils... i m not aware of the jelly roll pan, but I assume from the posts that i have read - I am assuming that there's going to be water! and that I will have to do something to get the juices away from the chicken. also - i will try to work something with a drip pan underneath or something to collect the juices in - and also i will try basting with the marinate after the 30-40 minute as it was suggested will try to post a picture if i remember

All the threads for kababs, grilling season in full flow, brings me memories of a disaster that happened a little while ago... I had some costco bought chicken thighs - rinsed them under water - marinated them in yogurt, kasuri methi, garam masala, salt, turmeric, red chili powder... and then kept them in a 350 degree oven to bake. I had shaken much of the marinate out but some remained for flavor... From what I had heard from a friend, it was supposed to get all red and about 10-15 minutes later - I was supposed to baste it with oil to get a nice outer layer... Alas, there was somehting that went out of control and it looked like this... At one point, i had to literally drain the water away to get the chicken cooked. Flavor was ok but watered down, and experience was disaster. I don't own a grill and want my second experience in oven to be a better success than the one above. Please help... (PS: I can hold my own in stir frying however grilling - i m not good @... Also a converted vegetarian here - so feel free to add your other tips as well)

I used to visit the rajun cajun place near 53rd and harper a lot and also cedars of lebanon. dixie kitchen experience has always been hit or miss - with service being the question mark a couple of times.

what is your opinion on oysy? I m new relatively speaking to the whole world of sushi. And one of the things that's the biggest turn off - is $$. oysy's has been the only place where I have been able to eat on a consistent basis. my whole obsession with raw food started with sashimi platters @ benihana... continued at an all you can eat place @ Virginia beach and trying to put my sushi fix using oysy's any other suggestions in the downtown chicago area which are manageable $$-wise and good sushi. don't know if oysy's is good sushi

Ah Leung, One quick question: the brocolli that was cooked will stand out and would not *absorb* the flavor of the dish... I guess I am spoilt by having indian food where an entire dish tastes the same (or similar). In this one -- brocolli - seems more of a garnish. Am I mistaken in my observation?

(CONVERTED VEGGIE ALERT!) What's the deal with blackened? I know that's how I got hooked to tilapia I had it near Wheaton - some high-end-but-chain-type restaurant. It was awesome. Just couldn't figure out the spice mixture and how they would have put it on! Also, I tried to do tilapia at home and a lot stuck... (using a stainless steel pan with reasonable amount of oil) coated it with a mixture of cumin powder, garlic powder, ground red pepper, white pepper, black-pepper and salt. and cooked it. Don't know if the lack of breading was the reason that it stuck. Pointers would help

correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the air-drying step a no-no with the health inspectors who like to stick the thermometer in everything? all the temperature less than this and more than this and for this long .... please let me know why would this step be an exception to the rule. PS: converted non-veggie so feel free to elaborate if needed

I am an owner of about 60 odd cookbooks myself. The issue that I find with many of my cookbooks ( and the opposite of which happens to be one of the great things about egullet and other web-based recipe/instruction sites ) is that one picture of the dish doesn't really inspire me to go all out and get things done. Process capturing is hardly present (atleast in the books I own). That's one of the reasons, cooking shows on PBS / FTV are a big success in my opinion. Capturing of the ease in process in order to yield a very fine dish at the end is a great inspiration to people like me who began as eaters and started going the reverse engineering way of 'how did it taste this good'... Another thing in my case is the aversion to certain foods - read meats - in my family. I am a converted non-vegetarian - so red meats, blood... etc. are a little hard to get and find. Space availability is another thing. Exotic dishes usually require a lot of ingredients in miniature quantities to get the taste. Living in smaller apartment with 2 other people makes it harder to store things after awhile. Thus the recipe books become a space hogger, an afterthought or a mid-night read pretty soon after you have bought them... These are my reasons why cooking books go through the phase you have mentioned in many kitchens

check out the egci section on hot food- you wouldn't need to go far

yes most certainly I meant leaving too many deposits in the pan and unusable means that I had to clean it thoroughly before doing anything else. I will try using the suggestions here

velvetting question: please let me know if my technique has anything to do with it but while velvetting, the pan becomes a real mess i.e. pretty much unusable for anything else. I had similar issues during cooking of chicken for the stir fried noodles as well. please advice

request help in the onion paste video: the white substance that was added ('shuha'?) is it salt or sugar or something else don't know Japanese but love that video as its something that Indian cooking can use too. Also the gyoza trick, is it to drain the water? I watched it a few times but am not able to translate the visualization. thank you in advance (edited to use gyoza instead of potsticker)

check this very informative and picturesque Chinese Food Pictorials thread by our very own AhLeung. Each picture is linked to its very own recipe which is another pictorial guide to making the dish exactly like it looks.

that's very interesting... and informative thanx anzu

thanx for the clarification delhi girl do you have times on fermentation? any additives? special prep method? addition of yeast?? it would be really helpful

puris are also called bhature

i usually use *badshah* or *mdh* brand chole masala. other good ones are *shaan*. a trick to using the one you might not like too much, enhance it with garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric powder and amchur powder (dry raw mango powder). regarding kasuri methi - I usually use a heavy pinch or two right after cumin has heated up nice. I usually take time to crush the leaves in between the palm of my hands. If you like to see the leaves whole (presentation preference - doesn't do much difference for taste), add it a little after you have added onions and don't crush them. Just give them a minute to lend the flavor before you add the tomatoes. AND MY FIRST HACK AT RECIPE IS .... ARGH! I forgot to mention garlic/ginger minced (or paste) right after the cumin stage.... can someone (moderators - help) please add the following line just before the add garam masala part *add 1 tbsp garlic + 1 tbsp ginger (paste / chopped) and add 2 heavy pinches of kasuri methi lightly crushed between your palms)* thank you in advance

This was my try at the noodles: though I had to substitute a ton i.e. no bean sprouts or scallions - substituted some green peppers and asparagus other things were kept same it was awesome...

Inspired from the series by AHLeung, this is my try at a pictorial journal. This is not an exotic recipe - just something a college going apartment sharing guy would do... (though years of research - by usually mom's went into dumbing down the recipe for the supposedly intelligent kids... ) Ingredients: * 16 oz can of Garbanzo beans - drained, washed and ready to use * chopped onions/shallots/scallion about 2 cups * garam masala (store bought) * chole masala (store bought - you can use just this also) * turmeric powder * ground red pepper (cayenne) * fennel seeds * cumin seeds * dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) * oil * salt * cinnamon stick (.5") * cilantro to garnish * Start by sauteeing the onions using about 3 tbsp of oil. let the mixture reduce to about a quarter of its original and remove add another 2 tbsp of oil and cook cinnamon, cumin, fennel till they are brown (careful of burning) aroma is good indication also add garam masala (to taste - about 1 tbsp), turmeric powder (.5tbsp), cayenne (to taste) and chole masala (about 2 tbsp) and cook for a minute Now add the onions back in the mixture, along with the same amount of tomato paste and add about twice the amount of water and bring to a boil Once it comes to boil add the garbanzo beans and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes or so. (it tastes better with dry beans that are resoaked and boiled - but in the words of alton brown, that would be another thread...) This is usually served with puris which is an unlevened, fried Indian bread. I am serving this with some rice (plain) along with papaddum and mango pulp offcourse garnished with cilantro...enjoy

my first restaurant working experience was at Subway - and sandwiches have always been close to heart. the whole industry is being shaken up by breakfast places introducing sandwiches, burger joints pushing them big, and different competitors opening up. you are entering the market from a different side of the spectrum. What would be your take on the market growing on the whole? Do you think it will start entering the gourmet meal market (it already has by you) - where you can have quality - high quality ingredients and a balanced meal *to go*. Thank you in advance.

my second experiment with shallots didn't go so well = ended up burning the char out of them... they were coming out perfectly - the whole apartment was filled with that pleasant smell and then before you know I got distracted and as I went back, they were charred. still tried to eat them but they were really really bitter the good news is - I still have over 4 lbs to continue ;-)

I tried it with some curried potatoes added 3 shallots to a whole 3.5 potatoes. I will agree very very delicate flavor... I noticed more of an aroma (sweet oniony one) the moment it hit the oil. But yes, one of the things I kept hearing (on ftv) that its a mix of onion and garlic was no where to be found.

Love onions and in a family of 3 we go about 3 lbs in a week. but never had the nerve to try shallots - mainly because of the price! but today I got a nice 5lb bag for a reasonable price and have brought it home and I feel like I know how to use onions and wanted to know is there like a ratio if I need to substitute shallot for onions? Can I just enjoy them with salt and pepper and squirts of lemon... tips welcome!

I still remember one of the days that I stumbled across the food channel and I believe I saw a parody on Mission Impossible movie that Alton Brown had made about poaching... Then off course there was Emeril's Bam... I must agree that its what made me surf there again (I was home due to my 1 of 4 layoffs!!) But then we stumbled across your show... For such a long time, we would come back again and again, started recording it. Following your recipes. (Tabouleh -parsely salad, chicken korma) Something that was very attaching... You were like the lady next door. The aunty who would cook those amazing dishes. You know I was thrown out of the kitchen as a kid (my ma and granma didn't think I had enough years in life as they had in kitchen - THEY WERE RIGHT - that's another story). So it was a nice feeling to learn from you. I am sorry this post is taking a sort of a happy rant proportion. But I don't know when I would get a chance to do this - just wanted to THANK YOU on behalf of all of us who were lucky to have learnt from you regardless of the medium the teaching came from...

Sorry!!! I was toooo excited to write!! in the earlier post it should be: Your advice to WRITE (and not right) a recipe. I guess I don't have enough caffeine in the system yet. Thus the actual question: I do remember you mentioned once during your show an advice to the caller about how to write a recipe. I would request you if you can share that here. I have begun to get my feet wet in the culinary world. And I would love to keep a tab of the recipes that I try and perfect. Once again apologies for the inconvenience