markemorse

In my wife's Italian-American household pecorino has always been the pre-dinner nibbling cheese of choice, always. With asiago as a common second choice.

Nice writing....and photos. Thanks!

We're shooting for 100 euro per person per month in Amsterdam, but we're broke so that explains that. Also/however, that figure doesn't include entertaining. And we don't eat out unless coerced. +++

And the verdict is...very good, it's a keeper with the one caveat described below. General notes: as expected, I certainly miss the crispy bits of texture that fried tempeh gives you, but the taste here is that of cooked tempeh, none of the gummy metallicness of uncooked tempeh. And the flavor is very good, perfectly spicy. This would probably be very good on the sandwich for which it was originally intended. Caveat: one thing to consider is that if you cook it at the temp specified in the recipe (medium-high) for 3-4 minutes per side, you will almost definitely unpleasantly blacken your tempeh due to the sugar in the marinade. So, either saute it a bit slower and more carefully, or I might also think about leaving the sugar out of the marinade and glazing the tempeh at the end with it.

Just made the 101 Cookbooks marinade Chufi was talking about above. The marinade's great, we'll see how the tempeh is tomorrow.

I'll try the chipotle-marinated thing tonight (to be cooked tomorrow), I've got everything for it already.... And regarding smoking it? Sounds awesome, especially if we deep-fry after it's smoked. Actually there could be something to this, considering all of the recipes I see for BBQed tempeh....

Wanted to bump this thread, considering that the last post was 4 years ago, and tempeh has become a tiny bit more mainstream since then... I really love tempeh, but, as so many others mentioned above, only fried (and sadly, most often with ketchup!). For me, there's absolutely a specific color it has to get to in order to taste "cooked": Any lighter in color, and its taste remains thoroughly incompatible with most seasonings for me. But: I would definitely like to eat it more often....just not constantly fried. Has anyone developed any non-fried techniques that really work? I tried a long marinade and bake approach last week, and it wasn't bad but the texture was kind of useless.

Somehow I've managed to avoid looking at this thread until now...bad move. This is probably upthread somewhere, forgive me if it is...percyn, I can't help but notice the consistent presence of biscuits in your breakfasts. Are you buying or baking? And if baking, are you using a well-known recipe?

hey jasonz, I've never been to curacao, but almost went, and did some research at some point... some local things i had my eye on were jambo (or giambo, sort of a light gumbo), sopa di yuana (iguana soup), and keshi yená (some sort of Gouda wheel stuffed with spicy chicken). i'd also look for bakiyou (bacalau) and scabechi (escabeche), probably on sandwiches or with rice. here in amsterdam there's an interesting habit of taking food from the former colonies (indonesia, suriname) and putting it on crisp baguettes for sandwiches (broodjes). i'd be interested to see if this tendency has extended to curacao as well. if i were you, i'd definitely try to find some surinamese food, it's an interesting mix of chinese, indian, indonesian, and creole cooking. it's not normally a table service kind of deal, you order at a counter and grab a table....i would try to find a lamb roti, a broodje pom (a sandwich filled with a malanga-chicken casserole, great), and bloedworst (blood sausage). there's so little good information out there, it'd be great if you could document your eating a bit....

Before I forget, I think you'd be interested in picking up some Cope's corn... Maybe someone here knows if it's hard or easy to find these days...

FWIW, went to Pura Vida a week or so ago for a taste, ate at the bar: Diablo Shrimp Cocktail with Butternut Gelee; Duck Confit with Caramelized Plantains; Fried Zucchini Blossoms with Smoked Sour Cream. All of it was fine, but not amazing. We were trying to order a bit light, and probably could've done a better job, but...I think if I had it to do over again, I'd go somewhere else (Eugene, Holeman & Finch, JCT, and Woodfire were my other main interests). Great cocktails and atmosphere, though.

hey kip, looks like you did pretty well last time... due to budgetary constraints i don't have any new suggestions other than what's already discussed above... if you're on the northwest side of the Jordaan you might want to try Klary's regular spot Orontes West for Turkish...Yam Yam (discussed upthread) is also right over there.

As one of the people who absconded with the leftovers, I can attest to the greatness of the musakhan bread...awesome! And the dessert was pretty perfect, ignored presentation advice notwithstanding. Thanks again Chufi!

Bumping this up because I've made pozole twice in the past couple months with quite different results and thought I would share. Long story short, the first time was with prepared nixtamal from a grocery store in Phoenix. I used Chris's mother-in-law's recipe linked above, and while the result was edible, it wasn't as good as other pozoles I've had. After trying it again tonight with Rancho Gordo hominy, I can say that the recipe was not the problem at all, the issue was the texture and flavor of the prepared nixtamal. I cooked the bejesus out it back in November, and it never really did reach a lovable tenderness. Or really taste like much. Tonight I did a very simple shrimp pozole from a Diana Kennedy recipe with the RG hominy, and it's night and day. As someone mentioned above, the RG hominy is very corny (in a good way), and cooked up to a great texture without any real effort. Thus, my point: another solid endorsement for RG.... +++

Nothing can ruin bacon. If the Internets and hipsters died tomorrow or I was somehow de-tethered from the zeitgeist tractor beam, I'd still be thinking about bacon within, say...48 hours. 72 hours tops. And I don't even eat it on a weekly basis, it's just my magical fantasy food. ETA: it's like salted caramel, or real salmon, or dark chocolate. Or fresh corn. Or....hey. Was this a trick question?

I was thinking of the flavors of two things: harira, and a Spanish thing I saw Jose Andres do...something like this.

I too was going to suggest chickpeas as a side. but I was thinking of a warm thing with tomatoes and saffron...maybe with merquez "lardons"?

It feels wrong to be reading this thread since I'm actually going to be eating this dessert, but on the other hand...how could I not read this thread? Pistachio brittle gets my vote...I'll help prep!

I've never been to a brasserie or osteria that were anything like each other (my osteria experiences being generally quieter, smaller, and with a more limited menu and a greater focus on smaller dishes and "uncooked" food like cured meats and cheeses), but as you mention, I think that the definitions have been corrupted for marketing reasons over the past 20 years or so, just like "cafe", "diner", etc. +++

Yes, it's a shitty season of Top Chef, but can't we all just pull together and get along? I'm kidding, of course we can't. Only thing I gots to say bout Jamie is: if you're going to have something dismissively critical to say (on TV) about an acknowledged master of the craft you're making a career out of (and, oh right, he just had you over for lunch), you had better 1) have your own technique down to where you can do everything they can do, you just "choose" not to, or 2) have developed such a unique and groundbreaking style yourself that it's easy to see why you've had to blaze your own trail, otherwise you just kind of look like a jackass. IMHO. +++

i'm agreeing with whoever's yawning: i haven't seen a single thing worth giving a shit about this season other than fabio's weekly how-to seminar on italian charm.

I think "jumping the shark" has jumped the shark.

So when is Nouf going to share her, mmm...evocative description of what cloudberries taste like? ETA: explicitness.

real maple syrup. good sherry vinegar. my standard "impulse purchases" at the Asian grocer.

Unsurprisingly gorgeous pictures of everything, but I must re-emphasize one thing: pistachio cake + poached quinces + quince liqueur + custard + whipped cream = a great idea in a bowl. I think some of my taste buds defected for Klary's place that night. ok....carry on! +++