gfron1

What an experience - thanks for sharing it with us. And, no problem about the pics or specifics - you have more guts than I with what you did do.

Thanks for the recs. The taxpayer is footing this bill, so I'm limited only to what America is willing to let me have (and my willingness to pay beyond my per diem). I normally do one nice meal (over $75) and then keep it reasonable (under $25ish for the rest) but that's never a limiting factor for me since I live in the middle of nowhere and don't get out much. And I love Ethiopian; have never had Salvadoran - we only get standard Mexican fare; and the darker and dingier, the better! Really, if it doesn't have a tagline that says, "America's Favorite Chain Restaurant" then I'm going to love it. And I won't be in in time for crabcakes - which is too bad since I don't know that I've ever had a good one - all are heavily breaded, overly processed and fried to taste like french fries.

Based on your experience, how do you determine the optimal picking/eating stage?

Cassava Cake (Slightly Updated) Serves 8 as Dessert. I made this cake during a weekend of Fililipo baking. During my research I learned that Cassava Cake is one of the most common foods found at potlucks and family gatherings. It was a very simple, but excessively sweet looking recipe, so I made some modifications. You can see my eGullet posting HERE Cake Ingredients 32 oz Cassava Root, grated fresh or frozen 10 oz Sweetened Condensed Milk 12 oz Evaporated Milk 10 oz Coconut Milk 9 oz Coconut Cream 2/3 c Sugar 3 Eggs, whole 3 Eggs, whites 1 c Coconut, grated Preheat oven to 325 F. Mix all cake ingredients together and combine. Pour into 9 inch springform that has been buttered and coated in coconut. Feel free to line the springform with parchment paper for easy release and less cracking. Bake until the top is no longer fluid and browns slightly. At least 30 minutes (at high altitude it took over an hour). Cook completely. Make whipped cream and incorporate mango juice. I took 1/4 C. mango juice added, 1/2 C. whipped cream and folded, then folded that mixture into the rest of the cream. Cover the top with the mango whipped cream, chill and enjoy. I added a pineapple jelly that was melted down and steeped with lemongrass, cooled to room temperature, then added to the top to chill. Very nice addition. Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Cake, Southeast Asian ( RG2012 )

I was planning on doing a write-up of the Hatch festival (9/1-2), but now I'm going to Tucson. If anyone else was planning on going - I'd love to see pics. Also, this is Hillsboro's last Apple Festival ever, so drive up the hill and make it a weekend.

The tuna have started changing in the past week. In a very short span of time they have gone from green to light purple - some a very deep purple (especially the small ones). So it was time to continue playing around. I picked a small deep red tuna (for perspective, this is about 1 inch long): It had already lost most of its stickers, so I just had a little clean-up to do. Then I lopped off the top and bottom, and with my sharpest knife, peeled the outer flesh - leaving as much inner flesh as possible. I then split it lengthwise for the picture: You'll notice the red in the flesh. The seeds are very hard, and at this point seem inedible (someone earlier mentioned that you eat them, but maybe that will come later). I then de-seeded which was the hardest part since those suckers wanted to hang on for dear life: Then I popped it in my mouth praying that I didn't miss any stickers. It was tasty. Not slimy at all. It reminded me of a cantaloupe rind - the part where the sweet flesh transitions to hard bitter rind. I found it pleasant, and will wait and see how the taste evolves. I'm still convinced that these have uses beyond jelly and drink. I think salt might interact well at this stage of development, especially a flavorful smoked salt or I have some Murray River salt that might be nice. I'll continue pulling a tuna each week for the fun of it. I also need to pull a big one to see how the consumable mass increases...meaning is it flesh or seeds in there?

For anyone interested, just PM me and I'll connect the dots. If you don't already know why I need to go to Palena...click HERE.

I'm coming to town this coming Sunday through Wednesday and will be staying near Capitol Hill. Anything new that I should care about? I eat anything especially ethnic. Also, I'm travelling solo, so if anyone's looking to play host, I'm not a fan of dining alone I would really like to get to Palena but only if its doable by the metro.

Here are some recent topics on star fruit that you might find helpful: Pie From a blog

And, if you haven't already, check on THIS topic. Great resource.

Except I find ChefRubber very slow when ordering through the website - 3-5 day delay before they acknowledge the order. But after that, the box is on its way.

Mataam Fez was it - yes belly dancers, but a big, good meal.

Thanks to all who participated. By my count, if we had one piece of each dessert, we would consume 6,320 calories each. I could do it! Some really wonderful desserts were posted starting HERE. One idea that emerged from this weekend for me is that it might be fun to take a country a month, and have it be hosted by various eGullet Society members, and then we all bake their traditional desserts and eGulletize them. If you're interested in the idea, please PM me. Cheers! (Host's Note: I will be locking this topic later today and sending it to the archives.)

And last, but not least for my weeekend of baking. From the jumanggy Collection: That's Dr. Jumanggy To You Mister! Just as Mark has grown from simple rice cookies to chocolate rice puddings, he is now a doctor (well, almost), and now he deserves a revamped Filipino classic: The Cassava Cake. I took a traditional recipe, all of which ended with "dump a can of sweetened condensed milk on the top." And as jumanggy has mentioned he doesn't like things overly sweet, and also likes pineapple. This version of Cassava Cake starts with freshly grated cassava. The topping is a light mango mousse. The glaze is pineapple lemon grass. I also experimented with crusts. The bottom is three layers of lumpia wrapper brushed with butter between each layer. The edges are a series of layers of fillo dough brushed with butter. I expected this to be a dense, heavy cake. Instead I got a light, well balanced sweetness with a nice little tang on top. Congratulations Mark!

Everything looks great - the lemon meringue are perfect!

Welcome to the Society Bruschetta! Looking forward to many great posts. I used to go to a Moroccan restaurant sort of near the airport - any idea if it still is around? They were very friendly and the food was pretty good as well.

I've never seen that done with the big commercial roasters or the personal ones. It would be too messy, because after immediately from the roaster - while piping hot, they are dumped into a pillow case or trash bag, tied off to steam, and taken home. If you added moisture... - eegad!

No yucks here - I love the creativity. How did the napoleon taste - it looks perfect after a weekend of overly sweets.

Interesting idea. I wonder what taste you're really shooting for - would it be enough to infuse cream with anise? Melt down licorice candies. Licorice liquors. Licorice root infused in cream. Or just plain old licorice or anise extract. And you said ganache, so I assume you're going for chocolate licorice. No answers, just questions.

After reading all of the responses I'm left wondering why you went out for dinner. That's a very serious question - meaning, were you going for the food or for the eating out experience? Based on your comments, I would think that it must have been for the food, but maybe a combination of both is closer to the truth. I ask that because if it is the food, then does the restaurant provide carryout? I have a customer at my store (we're a very small store, in a small town with a small staff) and she called once and asked if we would deliver. Being nice guys, we did. And we've done it a dozen times since. No problem - she's happy and we're happy. She has ventured out once to come into the store during a very down time. Anyway, the solution isn't to lock up but find a way to manage the situation to enjoy life.

As I sit in my store right now listening to the rumbling hum of the compressor (the thing that makes your case cool), and I feel the heat it is putting off - it is definitely an issue. The problem I have found is that I can't find anyone qualified to remove the compressor from a brand new machine - so they won't. If I had an older unit, then there are workers willing to do it. It has to do with the type of freon apparently. So I'm stuck with my humming sauna. Let us know what you find out.

Thanks for these reports Bryan - I've been enjoying them. I have long wondered if the patisserie was going to hold its quality as it matured. I've been watching since its launch documented in a previous topic, and have even had a friend drive a pastry to me (12 hours). And I've heard its become a major training ground and has huge output through the hotel, so I would love to know if people who were there in "the early days" think its the same or slipping - or maybe improving. I also think its interesting how many people have said they were out of the exotic - that is what I ordered but was unable to get on my delivered pastry.

"Whew!" You meant that for the desserts, but it fits for passing your exams even better! We've been rooting for you thousands of miles away. And in fact, we had the same dessert theme going (for the most part) - A Filipino celebration. Your exam completion desserts are in the oven and coming this afternoon!

And since everyone and their hermano in my town is processing their green chiles right now, and we all do 40 pound bushels to last us til next year...my additional tip to the above is that I package them in varying sized packages - 2 peppers, 5 peppers, 10 peppers and so on (not separated and allowed to freeze clumped) to be used accordingly. Obviously the 2s are for home meals for my spouse and I. The 5s get used for small dinner parties, the 10s are for fall soups and stews. We also will vary the amount of seed and membrane to vary heat somewhat (moderately effective technique). And as a friendly reminder - wear gloves and DON'T WIPE YOUR EYES! We've all made that mistake at least once. BTW, I haven't done it enough to really vouch for it, but oil packing is good too for some uses.

The Tynant designers are consistently the best - their red bottles, their wavy bottles (large and small), even their Tau brand labels are attractive.