Eatmywords

Mommy (wife) want mussels, mommy get mussels; classic French; shallots, wh wine, cream, butter, parsley. King crab and lobster tails steamed in an old bay riff of celery seed, salt, paprika, lemon juice. Side of sweet corn, mesc salad w strawberries w dijon vngrt and just baked baguette.....no complaints.

Sandwich au poulet frit a la recette (exact) de Popeye's - dans une brioche fait en maison et une salade simple!

Those damn suppliers! How annoying. Perhaps I can assist. The next time they attempt a drop off give them my address and I'll take on the burden for you (because that's the type of person I am). This has to stop! (Unbelievably beautiful steak tho)

Thank you! I'll pass this on to my daughters and let them choose. (The ortolons did cross my mind though - gorge on figs, drown in armagnac and roast? : )~

What, no cinco de mayo chow? We took a stab at tamales - stuffed w braised pork. Time consuming but well worth it. Best i've ever had actually (and I've sampled me some near and far). This one topped w a quick spicy jalapeno salsa. (Avocado salad on side not picd). For desert, and also a first, churros w cinnamon sugar and a dark choc nutella dip sc (kids won't do dark alone, what do they know?). These were insanely good. I had 4 (along w 4 tamales to keep things even - def gained more weight : ) Next week, whole baby bunnies (found yesterday squatting in a thyme pot just outside the kitchen window). Any good recipes?

Wow, such beautiful photos in this thread. I've gained 10 lbs since this pandemic and I blame my wife for about half of it due to her increased baking. She recently began with the sour dough starter and loving it although complaining a bit how needy it is. (caught her muttering a quote from Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential - 'Feed the bitch, feed it or she'll die'). This was her latest boule and clearly best effort - great balance of tang, chew, and perfect crust.

Tigers, zuch, veg fried rice. Kitchen sink marinade; soy, ponzu, hoisin, mirin, sweet chili sc, peanut oil, sesame oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, who knows what else. Pre-heated the bbq, came out 5min later and of course propane ran out (I thanked it for telling me before I began). Went to the double burner non stick, 5min zuch, 30sec a side shrimp and all good (except cleaning that sucker - it is not non-stick.....need a cast iron : )

We have the echo show connected to a recently added echo wall clock for countdowns. It's great except when you have a noisy house of kids and yappy dogs. Repeating 'Alexa turn off the timer' 10x can get annoying real fast.

Beautiful.......everything we eat should be topped w sour cream and a mohawk of beluga......I'll get there one day.

Tinga tacos topped with the usual suspects and Herdez guac sc. If you don't know this condiment you should give it a whirl. It's complex, spicy and crazy good on anything esp for being a commercial product. Ole!

Maybe covid w sprout a come back. You've got an army practicing diligently from home for a couple months now. They'll be primed to go public w their new interest. 🤪

So you're the one hording all the potatoes! Looks yummy! (I admit I had to google Fonio......genetically created by a group of Brooklyn scientists of Italian descent and grown on rooftops.....amazing : )~

Noooooo Steve, it's so heavy, last thing you want after 18 dishes. Though I would like that cumin lamb that's been evading me for so many years : ) So nice to see your shadows!

Penne vodka w shrimp & peas. (A comfort classic in our house : )

Sad to hear. 15yr run? Pretty good for NYC. Have cocktail lounges been on the decline (pre-covid)?

Yes that's it! (I knew in the back of my head it wasn't the yams : ) and yes it didn't come out as desert per se just in the later courses! Bizarre dish.

No, this was stickier as in caramelized plus I love candied chestnuts. Kind of like this:

That's funny. I remember a desert, a type of potato, maybe yam, cubed, fried and formed in tower and covered in a sticky sugar sauce that we saw locals going nuts for. We didn't get the allure.

Liu, off topic i.e opposite of this thread, but when we traveled through eastern China 10yrs ago the most surprising menu item we found in restaurants of varying scale were french fries. They were everywhere and usually better than what we find in the US. Have they been common for a long time? Part of the fast food invasion?

Thanks Paul, good points! You must've been reading my mind. I have not been in a rush to buy so its become a fun little distraction to browse, research materials, steel composition and just learn about knives in general. (Made me realize how crappy most of mine are...haha). So yes, I did read the stainless steel yanagis don't take to sharpening/keeping an edge as well as the carbons. I've seen a few used on ebay (is it the best online source?) but I wonder how they've been taken care of. In the site I posted originally there's a low end SK5 Carbon at $64 - https://jp-knives.com/hy-53023/. What do you think? I can't justify $150. It's an interesting topic, knife quality and upgrading, esp for those of us not cooking professionally but perhaps a bit more technical and varied than the masses. Do I need better than a block set of Henckels and a boat load of random splty knives as long as they feel good in my hands, can be sharpened well enough for precise, efficient use? I haven't thought much about it but I am a bit now.

On the chow mein topic, from the takeouts I've known, it's referred to less a noodle and more a dish with crispy chow mein on the side as noted above. How it got this name when the noodles aren't even in the dish I don't know. Aside from texture, they don't add much esp given rice typically comes on the side. I don't know why it became a thing. It's funny because if you google the recipe mostly all are using the soft noodles, also considered chow mein, just not fried/dry.

Thanks for the input. I have 2 sets of non German made Henckels plus several random chef, butcher, filet, pairing, bread, cleavers etc. Nothing professional grade. I sharpen w honing rods and a slide through sharpener and they've worked well for home (frequent) use. I can get them pretty sharp. Curious to incorp the whetstone though which I'll look into (and chk out your rec, thx). I hear you on the knife. Probably don't need it but would like to play with one given how it differs from anything I have as per the single bevel. Given my expectations (low) and that I don't want to ruin a good one, I think I'll be ok w one of those I linked. If I like it and find myself using it often, maybe I'll invest in a good one like that beauty you posted above : )

Hi Moka, thanks! When I found many years ago that I could get basic ingredients in the japanese and korean markets (in NYC) I started experimenting. Fast frwd 20yrs much of the staple stuff can be found here in my suburban hell like wasabi powder, pickled ginger, nori, soy, ponzu, sushi rice, mirin, rice vinegar, etc. I love that the masses have relatively recently begun to embrace these products. (I do have to work a little harder for sushi grade fish so we improvise). Last week, soft shells emerged so I made spider rolls along w Cali rolls w lump crab meat (canned) plus a couple with crab stick for my little one who was afraid to try the 'real stuff' but eventually came around. I also bought a piece of whole smoked salmon and put that in a roll. As well air fried Halibut w panko and made rolls with them too. All w varying avocado, scallion and cucumber and topped the cooked stuff with an unagi sauce we made (sake, mirin, soy, sugar) that went fantastically well. Look, I mean it's no where near what we can get in a decent sushi bar but the flavors were there, and they all came out pretty nice. Anyway, I probably don't really need the knife but I want something a little sharper than what I think I can get w my existing knives and to practice on a whetstone : )

Hi Rotuts, yes, I know they are rt hand, single bevel (the reason I became interested in them). I agree w you on the handles. Given most of my knives are western, a rounded or d shape handle would be something different and interesting to the grip (and maybe bring upon some sweet memories of my 2 trips to Japan, now many years ago : ). If I do grab one I'll go this route. Thank you!

I believe duck fat can be used as a substitute to pork fat/lard.