Jinmyo

Thanks, Suvir. I hadn't looked at that thread in some time. Jaymes, stellabella, and Toby all have great posts there.

You're welcome. Actually, I usually use my own bread crumbs for tonkatsu as well. Kristin, the persimmon soup sounds interesting (though sweet).

I will. But I have to go now. I'll edit it into this later. edit: Okay. I caramalize dicced apples and onions with a bit of ginger. Add half as much tamarind and twice as much mirin. Puree. Strain. To this add equal amount of shoyu. Season with white pepper, sometimes with a bit of chile.

Priscilla, did you make a tonkatsu sauce?

Yes. Yes. Yes. "Mr. Butcher Guy, could you please grind up 4 pounds of that [points] for me? Thank you."

Lime and corn taste great and taste great together!

Jin, most Moles don't taste much like Chocolate. True dat...most moles don't even have chocolate as an ingredient. We have chocolate so tied with sugar in our minds that it is impossible to imagine the flavor and subtlety of a molé with pure, unsweetened chocolate as only one of the many rich and varied flavors. Bitter chocolate and fiery peppers are wonderful together. I have several recipes for chili that include a dash or two of unsweetened chocolate to add substance and layer to the final dish. But, I have finally decided, it is utterly impossible to impart the thought of chocolate in a savory dish to those who have not tried it. Yes, shame on you Jinmyo for perpetuating this myth! Go hide in the corner! (and contrary to what someone wrote before... most Moles I've had containing chocolate used the unsweetened variety. To be SPECIFIC I am talking about Mole Poblano--which I have somewhat been assuming was what was being described by this topic instead of any of the other major categories. Poblano alone is made in almost unlimited variations, but unsweeted chocolate does seem to be close to universal) I've had moles with unsweetened chocolate. Better than sweetened chocolate, sure. But still not to my taste.

Disclaimer: Professional kitchen, staff of three. Still, please try this at home. Sliced seared duck breast interleaved with slices of porcini mushroom (these were from my freezer) sauteed in the duck fat. Green garlic stem puree (with mirin and ginger). Baby Yukon Gold potatoes, parboiled, smashed slightly, fried in EVOO, with rosemary. Spinach wilted in butter.

Yes, David.

This is a great idea, Basildog. Oh, and: Pie.

Otay....

Suzanne, thanks. Hm. Ummm....? Was....?

Rochelle, chicken and rabbit can be rather bland and uninteresting. But rabbit benefits from strong herbs, good caramelization before roasting, and so on. Chicken thighs can be worthwhile. Chicken breast is just bad tofu.

Yes, it will. It will intensify what flavour they have by reducing the liquid content. It will add flavours through the caramelization. And of of course EVOO and s&p.

You can slow roast at around 250 F for a few hours (EVOO, s&p) or just blast them at 350 for 40 minutes.

Kristin, I usually either roast tomatoes for a frittata or start them in the pans long before the egg goes in. That way, when they're flipped out, the tomatoes are on top and look fabulous.

LML, I haven't seen you around lately. Nice to see you.

A great account, Grant. I make chile pastes but not mole. I'm a woman with no chocolate gene.

Gah.

tommy, I feel very comfortable. Thank you for asking. First let me just say this: ediot: I forgot about the deep-fried shrimp heads. I split the shells of the shrimp (one fills my palm), deveined, rubbed some sambal thinned out with olive oil. Grilled them on each side. When the shells were quite red, the flesh deep inside was still raw I pick them up with tongs and stand them up so that the flesh is to the grill pan. When they were finished I seasoned the flesh and plated them like that, tails up in the air with some more sambal mixed with olive oil, mirin, lime zest. Then gave the shrimp a spritz of lime juice.

Disclaimer: Yada yada, yada yada. Still, please try this at home. Lobster risotto. (frozen lobster meat, carnaroli rice, butter and butter and butter) Clear fish consomme (stock from shrimp and lobster shells, sake, lemongrass, ginger) with mussels and shiso. Grilled huge shrimp with sambal and lime. Salad of microgreens, baby spinach, chevre wrapped in filo packages (about thumb-sized) with toasted almonds and a tarragon-lime-almond oil dressing.

These sound wonderful, Jin! (As do all your dinner posts.) I have been in a dumpling-making phase and would like to try them. Is the asparagus chopped finely? Are there any binders in the filling? I assume pan fried, not deep fried? Also, a bit more detail on the dipping sauce would be lovely. Last night we had a friend from out of town staying with us. Luckily, he is an avid cook, so he did not mind the (extened) cooking and hanging out in the kitchen portion of the evening. My S.O. saw Mario Batali using the KitchenAid pasta rolling attatchment on TV, and ordered one on the spot. Last night was the first test, and it works beautifully! He made pumpkin ravioli based on a Mario recipe. He added a bunch of carmelized onions to the pumpkin before pureeing it. (The recipe calls for rather a lot of Balsamic, and he was not pleased with the results--the onions were great and helped balance the vinegar.) These were served with sage butter & parmesan. Then we had lamb chops with sauteed broccoli raab, and several kind of sauce, also based on a Batali recipe. This was okay, but a bit fussy-80's style because of the sauces (eg roasted red pepper jus). Dessert was thin, french style apple tarts. Oh, and we started with 2 kinds of crostini: some with mushroom spread and some with tuna tartare. We had lots of Foghorns (gin, lime jiuce, ginger beer) while cooking and various colors of wine while eating. My keyboard is loud, too... mixmaster, thank you so much. The asparagus (stems) are buzzed in a robocop, the tips left almost whole. A few eggs help bind. Minced ginger, drizzle of shoyu, white pepper. The lemon dipping sauce was pureed lemon with sake, s&p, and a bit of grapeseed oil. Your meal sounded great. Actually, my lemon sauces (I do a range of them) was based on St. Mario's lemon jam which I saw him make on the Molto Mario show: He cut a lemon in half, dropped in a blender, and buzzed it. Full stop. Mine is a bit more time consuming but I'm a plodder, not a saint. I am an ediot: I actually said "actually" twice in the same sentence. ediot: Urf.

Sandra, you used rose water?

Thanks for that, ivan. It was an idea that just sprang up as I was posting my answer.