Kouign Aman

Curry naan with peanut butter quesadillas burritos scrambled egg sandwich w mustard flatbread and hummous bread, butter & marmite

This is where I am right now - dont know if its technically feasible. Poach lotus root slices in syrup based on Pad Thai/Mee Krob sauce. Fill the holes with a cilantro jelly Serve with sweet peanut sauce (ala satay) - will need taste test to decide whether to make this one picante or not. Cardamom custard, with maybe pistachio decor. Trying to decide if I want a 'toothier' base to this, as contrast to the soft smooth texture. If so, might poach an appropriate root veggie and put a slice beneath the custard. Depends on what I find in the store - not sure I can get a boiling potato big enough, yucca and boniato dont seem right (memory of texture only). Maybe yam or yellow sweet potato-starchy thing. editted to add: My concern about the first part is that it will feel like eating a sweet appetizer rather than a dessert. Only a test will tell. The Tenor has agreed to be the beta-site.

I have a problem with the word "justly", which implies justice is on your side. "Not surprisingly", or "naturally" would work better for me. Particularly as you are aware of the law. I think you should not be disturbed, tho you might have been surprised, that the waiter would not serve you. He should be gracious. Sounds to me like he tried to be, if awkwardly so.

I think its time to go shopping and get me a lotus root or three, and some kinda greens. Im sort of stuck on this idea of small baked custards, with an indian flavor (cardamom, etc), some way of incorporating lotus root, and maybe making some nice crispy cilantro leaves to go with. I have to go pick a couple leaves and see how they taste sweetened. I wonder if I can partially roast/braise the lotus root slices, then fill it with custard and bake the custard into the lotus wheels, or if things will separate and get all wet. The other idea pushing for expression is some kind of a dessert ravioli, with green leafy veggie filling, thai-inspired sweet peanut sauce and nasturtiums would be pretty on top, but mine arent flowering yet. I wonder if I can construct a tasty flower from a persimmon or yam. Ibet a thinnish ring of kabocha squash would make a nice flower-like "surround" - and there we are at thai pumpkin custard! (Thanks Pan!) oh - that made me wonder about making a sort of sweet terrine: green veg tbd, persimmon puree (lovely orange, fits with indian sweets), and TBD for a top/bottom layer. All ideas are welcome. Shopping and cooking will begin tomorrow evening and most of the experimentation will occur during the day Friday. What's the deadline again?

If I, as a manager, owner and/or chef of my restaurant would have overheard this, I would have had a serious talk with my steward that would have possibly resulted in him loosing his job. I think there's no harm in asking, and if you get served (your ID never checked and so forth) it's the restaurant's fault if they get busted. ← You don't work in New York. Management KNOWS what's going on. This is apparently the way the law is enforced here. Why is this so hard for people to understand? ← Does Bryan or anyone else here know who was sitting at the other tables? Perhaps the restaurant had an enforcement bigwig celebrating at the same time. Its the law, they chose to enforce it. Just because you would advise your clients to gamble on the lax enforcement doesnt mean you should require every 'high end' establishment to follow your advice.

Fuyu's dont need to be soft. They are eaten while still firm. Doesnt change the chemistry for baking, but saves time. They dont get that astonishing astringency. Thanks for the flan followup. Ilike the idea of layers. I'll make sure I make the layers good and thick! And use a glass pan, and make a small batch only. Spicing etc. I'm with you, but I've steamed the Fuyu's before and they just cried for pecans, like stilton cries for apples. I dont imagine I'll add any sugar at all. The inherent spiciness reminded me of pumpkin pie, hence the idea. I'll try to cook down the puree today and perhaps get to the pie itself the day after. I'll set aside a little of the puree before and after, to try in the flan.

Does it matter if you use Eureka or Myer lemons to preserve?

If ya dont eat sulphites, of course you wouldnt drink this juice. And if its red dye 5, avoid. Food coloring agents are odd things. My point was to check if the lanquage on the sulphite is consistent with the language on things you do consume and are comfortable with. People have been quite put off by the MSDSs for water and for NaCl (table salt) (MSDS = manufacturer safety data sheet).

Well, I am still toying with the brussel sprouts from the garden.... Hmm - why did your post make me flash on deepfried basil leaves, or cilantro or baby spinach? That would reference pakora, but would need to be lighter and very crisp... Why do you hate me? Its the wrong season for baby praying manti, so if Tammy'd given me bugs, I'd have gone to the indian store for some red food color (cochineal) and considered it done :weasel:. I dont do bugs. Tummy not happy just thinking about it. Tho' I'd consider eating tarantula if someone else did the cooking: "spider crab" as it were. Im not an expert on pronunciation - I've only heard these pastries spoken of once, in Key West. It was sort of like "Queen" Uh-mahn. I picked the user name because it was a blogger's post on them which ended up leading me to eGullet. And they are delicious.

I dont see a "too" about it, FatGuy. If you enjoy playing with the pairings, more power to you. Nice hobby to have. Kind of fun to have the option of being selective in the tiniest details. Probably not a hobby indulged daily. If you prefer to pick a bottle and take it thru the entire meal, thats a whole 'nother kind of matching, which can indulge much the same attention to detail, since you are trying to select something that will work with all the parts of the meal. "Too" would only be if the first group of folks insisted the rest of us adopt their hobby. Of course restaurants push wine pairings. Its a nice way to up the profit from the meal without greatly increasing overhead costs. If anyone tries to force me to select different wines for each portion of the gratin (this for the crust, this for the creamy middle, and this for the chewy bit at the bottom), I shall reciprocate by asking them to paint patterns on their toenails, as I do. I suspect we'd reach a laughter-laden compromise.

Wow! Now I have to try making a persimmon flan, to see this. I wouldnt puree in the skins of Fuyu persimmons because they are rather tough, but I havent noticed any unpleasant taste to them. I just steamed up about 10 of them, cut in chunks. They held their shape very well, and were very easy to scoop from the skin after steaming. Im planning on baking a pie similar to pumpkin pie, but with a pecan topping. First I want to cook down the persimmon puree a bit a) to caramelize the sugar in them a bit and b) get rid of some of the water. I will probably spice the pie very lightly, as these persimmons taste rather spicy to me as they are.

So very pretty too! The group of them all together is so beautiful. I'm kind of toggling between a custardy thing and playing with my user-name. Kouign aman are breton pastries that taste like butter and caramel. I suppose every western culture has a version. These are supreme among them, as pralines are supreme among nut candies. (Can you tell Im fond of butter and sugar?) Either could work well with warm spices, like cardamom and pistachios (like the indian rice pudding that first came to mind). "Plateability" will have to come last. Perhaps a ka studded with candied ginger, and with some spice in the dough (its laminated, so should be do able). I shall have to go sniff spice jars at the market. Anyone know the texture of cooked lotus root? Im wondering if a custard could be baked inside the little holes of a cross section, or if it would fry up nice and crispy or? Something about the wheel shape appeals. I feel like I could lift any number of desserts straight from SuzySushi's blog, and meet all the requirements (except the key one of originality ) Allspice and citrus - carribean influence?

Oh my, that was fun! thank you!

Eggplant and garlic. yum. I like the photo juxtaposing the xmas trees and the pagoda.

How are your plans shaping up?

"E122, Azorubine; Carmoisine" - is this by any chance "red dye #5"? Sulpher in its own right is nothing to be afraid of. And the quantities of sulphite are probably quite low. Can you taste it in the juice if you take a sip? Do you ever eat dried fruit ? Its often sulphered. Perhaps you could look up a few of the coloring agents you do frequently eat, and see how the descriptions compare.

Hmmmm - you've got me wondering about variations on carrot halvah (spelling unknown).

Tammy, thank you kindly ma'am, you clever lady you. My first response to your very clever challenge was "Urk! Hoist on my own petard! " I shall have to learn to post pix to complete this challenge, so thank you also for helping me meet one of my 2007 resolutions. Gathering my thoughts to address: a dessert from/inspired by an ethnic cuisine I don't usually cook incorporating at least one vegetable, preferably purchased from my local "good and accessible source of interesting produce". The cuisines are essentially unlimited. As long as its not an american classic, I probably dont cook it, tho I may have dabbled in a few, some many years back. I seem to be focussed on indian just now (rice pudding with cardamom and pistachio). I think I have some reading to do. Vegetable..... oh my. Im going to try to stay with whats locally in season (So Cal, thats a lot of options), but reserve the right to change my mind and go for the sweet baby peas in the freezer section, or some such. brainstorming: *A variation on the blette (swiss chard) tart I've read about *Some way to use the tiny baby brussel sprouts from the garden (by far the most convenient and interesting if somewhat limited in stock) *Do herbs count as a vegetable if used in larger than seasoning quantities? *I wish tomatoes were in season - glaceed tomatoes in curry spices perhaps. Kind of like the italian mustard fruits but different spice. *Sweet potatoes seem too easy - roasted, they are pretty much dessert on their own. *what would go well with a thai-satay-peanut sort of sauce? *modified bastilla?

Wow! Another fab looking and sounding dessert.

"miso infused spinach with a gorgonzola syrup" Interesting.... ?syrup?

Might be considered "waist" if done too often

I think Wensleydale might be nice as a dessert component. Its very crisp and tangy, hard & a bit crumbly. I think it would go well with some kind of concentrated fruit flavor.

For those poor sore tastebuds (oh how I hate that soreness!), drink, drink, drink. Helps flush the salt and rehydrate the tissues deprived by attempting to flush the salt. For fairly fast relief while waiting for the anti-dehydration measure above to kick in, try holding a mouthful of water for as long as you can stand it. Do that a few times. After a few minutes, the tastebud usually settles down.

Such rich and beautiful colors! You are so creative to come up with a winter dessert that features fruit in so many ways. Its also wonderful to hear it tastes as good as it looks. Oh my!

The Marine Room is an always, because of the view again, as well as the food. But that's one heck of a cab fare.... Since one of San Diego's strengths is its location, dont shun the view! It makes everything taste better!