Beebs

Ok, this probably belongs on the stupid cooking questions thread, but what is the most effective way to peel kabocha squash? I had the worst time peeling it - the vegetable peeler didn't get in between the cracks and left big sections of unpeelable squash. Should I have cooked it a bit first before peeling? Use a different tool? I love kabocha and I'd eat it more often if peeling it didn't frustrate me so much!

Lee, is this Kerrisdale S+W related to the "S+W Pepper House" restaurants (Crystal Mall in B'by, and #3 Road in Richmond?) If so, I've also heard good things about them... ← I'm not Lee, but I've heard that yes, they've got a number of restaurants. I've been to the Kerrisdale location a couple of times. We had the cumin lamb (yum!), dan dan noodles (yum yum!!), little steamer buns, onion pancake, and a couple other items that I can't remember since this was a while ago. We'll probably go back sometime in the next week or two.

Our fridge (and freezer) broke down during the hottest weekend we've had in Vancouver this year. And the new fridge we ordered wouldn't arrive till 2 weeks later. We tossed everything, except for a couple items that I snuck into my office fridge and my parent's fridge. Not that we didn't need to purge our fridge, and not that it wasn't nice to fill a new fridge from scratch - but going about it this way was a bit on the drastic side.... In any event, we decided not to keep stuff because if it was in the fridge, it was probably meant to be refridgerated. And we didn't want to take any chances on food that would have been sitting around for 2 weeks. Managed to save the sodas and the beer though!

I was craving a sprout-cream cheese-avocado-tomato sandwich just yesterday! How about putting them in an omelette? No need to cook the sprouts, just fold them straight in. The heat from the egg wilts them, so they tend to shrink quite a bit.

I just had the PC Jamaican style ginger ale last night - wow! It was incredibly good! The spicyness nearly knocked me over. I looked at the ingredients and it didn't mention cane sugar, but it had a fantastic caramel-y cane sugar-y finish. Yeah, I'm stocking up on this next time we go to Superstore!

Try mixing it with some black beans? It'll probably only come out a darker shade of grey.

I've been noshing on this feta cheese spread all week: Mix finely chopped drained sundried tomatoes, red onion or shallots, and flat-leaf parsely into softened cream cheese. Smash in some crumbled feta (goat cheese is good too). Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste. Sorry, no measurements! This stuff is so delicious on bread, toast, pita chips, crackers.... I also like toast with tapenade or leftover pasta sauce. Or lightly rubbed with a cut clove of garlic. Or roasted garlic smushed on top, drizzled with a bit of olive oil, and salt.

I've made tea steeped in hot milk, and it turned out well. And I imagine coffee brewed with milk would be pretty darn tasty. When I made tea like this, I found the tea flavour was on the weak side, unless you either steep it longer or use more leaves. You'd probably need to increase the grounds for milk-brewed coffee too.

Cherry tomatoes on the vine!

I'm intrigued by how incredibly simple Thomas Keller's chicken recipe is - this would be perfect for a weeknight dinner. I looked at some of the reviews in the linked recipe and it seems that the high roasting heat produces a lot of smoke. How much smoke are we talking about? I live in an apartment and I'm not particularly keen about having it fill up with smoke!

Golf & country clubs often do not accept tips, even in their restaurants. Although I'm not sure if this actually qualifies for what we customarily refer to as "restaurants" (being typically members-only). Are service staff at clubs that don't allow tipping paid higher wages than restaurants that have tips? How do servers make up the difference?

Have you checked out the Greek bakeries along West Broadway? I don't recall their names, but there are 2 or 3 of them along that stretch west of Macdonald St. They can probably do special orders for large amounts of baklava.

Hot & sour is fantastic for noodle soup, it's a fast and tasty comfort food. We'll have this for dinner when we're not in the mood for complicated cooking and if the soup's made ahead of time. Even better with a couple Chinese dumplings (jiaozi) tossed in!

Hot & sour soup is essentially clear broth (chicken and/or pork) with white vinegar and a pile of white pepper. Cornstarch to thicken it. You can add pretty much anything to this base - egg drop, bamboo shoot, sliced shitake or wood ear, tofu, carrot, chicken/pork.... Season with soy & sesame oil to taste. That's how my mum does it, but she doesn't use a recipe and unfortunately neither do I - cook till it tastes right. Some versions call for chili sauce or oil, and I've had a version that had ketchup (yuck). But it's apparently blasphemy to get the "hot" component with anything other than white pepper (so says mom).

Nothing specific for Dynasty, but this link might give you some inspiration - The Food Timeline. If you scroll down, there's a section on 80's party foods and elegant dinners.

Tea eggs or soy sauce eggs. Dried bean curd that has been braised in soy sauce.

Savoury steamed egg custards, like the Japanese chawanmushi, but without all the solid bits. Smoothies with plenty of protein powder.

That's my knife and I love it! I thought about getting the traditional chef's knife for awhile, but someone gave me the Oriental knife as a gift. I thought the tilt would feel weird at first too, but it's really comfortable now. I would definately buy another Oriental knife!

It's not so much fried as it's a fried egg with the mix added to it. Mix a couple tablespoons of water, Japanese soy (Chinese soy is a bit too salty for my taste), and a pinch of sugar. Begin frying an egg as normal. Just as it's about over-easy, turn down the heat to low and pour in the soy mixture. Cook the egg until over-medium (or however you like it), about 1 min. I'm pretty lazy so I'll add the water, soy, sugar directly to pan without premixing. But make sure to add the water in first, otherwise the soy will explode all over your arm! I also like a lot of sauce (enough to pour over my congee!), so I'm generous with the water & soy. It's called jiang you pone dan. Yeah, the sushi does sound weird, but it's actually pretty tasty! I *think* it's Taiwanese-styled sushi.

Canada - Bloody Caesar!

Hmmm...could it have been dried pork or fish floss? That would give you the brown shredded texture, but not the fermented taste.... It's sort of sweet-salty from the soy, kind of soft & fluffy. Picture here ← Mmmmm pork floss. I can eat that solo. I've actually made congee just not to feel bad about eating gobs of pork floss(very high in bad stuff I believe). Yum. I like an omelet with siracha sauce, stir-fried morning glory/water spinach, pickled lettuce, and of course pork floss. That is my go to congee meal. *sigh* I think I know what I'll be having sometime this week. I have pad thai and galbi planned already so maybe end of this week. I'll try to post some pictures then. ← Mom used to make pork floss sandwiches (in white bread!) for our school lunches when I was a kid! Pork floss sushi, too! Mmmm...I think I need to open my brand new giant container of pork floss and have it with plain congee this week. That, a cube of fermented tofu, and an egg fried in a sauce of soy, water & sugar. I will eat the egg first, then pour the leftover sauce over my plain congee. Yum!

Hmmm...could it have been dried pork or fish floss? That would give you the brown shredded texture, but not the fermented taste.... It's sort of sweet-salty from the soy, kind of soft & fluffy. Picture here

Was it fermented preserved tofu? Sort of soft, creamy, very salty & pungent?

Cheese fondue.

It's much more common than one would think. My dad's had it for years, and at least half a dozen people I know have it too. Dad gets a flare up every now and then, especially if he's had too much red wine and other rich foods over a few days. Anyway, he swears by apple cider vinegar & honey, says it lessens the frequency and intensity of flare ups. Every single morning, he takes one tablespoon each of the vinegar and honey, stirs it into a cup of hot water, and drinks it all down. Dad's gotten a couple of his gouty buddies on this treatment and they say that it's doing wonders for them too.