nightscotsman

Superb report and gorgeous photos, Ellen! Thank you so much for letting us join you for dinner.

Guinness Ice Cream Schielke and I had an ice cream night where we made Blue Cheese Ice Cream with Fig Compote, Pineapple-Maple Ice cream with Pecans, Chocolate Malt Ice Cream, Coconut Sorbet, and Grapefruit-Rosemary Sorbet. You can read about them (including some recipes) on this thread.

Thanks to everyone for their encouragement in discovering a wider range of (non-spicy) Indian food. I think one of the problems I've had is the limited number and scope of Indian restaurants in the cities I've lived, which cities also aren't known for their adventurous diners. Another problem is the general public's seeming mania for anything spicy these days. Everything from junk food to fine dining is jumping on the bandwagon for extra spiciness, and Indian restaurants seem like a natural to cater to the demand. I would be more interested in exploring the range of Indian food, but I have been burned in the past (if you'll excuse the expression) by menus that list nothing that I can comfortably eat, and there are so many other ethnic foods to explore that don't tend to use any hot spices that I don't feel deprived. I'm also quite ignorant of the vast array of Indian dishes and cooking styles, so I would be much more comfortable taking a risk on eating at an Indian restaurant if I had someone knowledgeable to guide me with selections. But I know it's annoying to dining companions (and embarrassing to me) to constantly have to ask which dishes are spicy, or can the chef reduce the heat on this or that item - especially when everyone else at the table loves the spiciness and eats Indian food for that very reason. And I just want to clarify - I don't avoid spicy foods because of any gastrointestinal distress after eating them. It is the burning sensation in my mouth that is the "pain" I refer to. I've never understood why people seek out and enjoy this experience for the same reason I don't understand why many people enjoy scary movies.

Wow, I actually know exactly how that feels. I still have the scar from my incident, which wasn't food-related, so I won't bore everyone with the story. Let's just say I was blond when I was a child.

I'm in. Thanks Schielke!!

You're both very welcome, but I should quickly clarify that I didn't invent the drink. It's from Paul Harrington's "Cocktail: the Drinks Bible for the 21st Century" which has been discussed on several other threads. Hope you enjoy it.

I love Gosling's since I started buying it last year. I used to use Myers in cooking, but I find that Gosling's is much stronger flavored with a great spiciness. My current favorite dark rum drink using it is: Apple Pie 1-1/2 oz dark rum 1 oz sweet vermouth 1/2 oz lemon juice 1/8 oz grenadine Shake with ice and garnish with a lemon slice. Rich, spicy and on the sweet side, but nicely ballanced.

We do need a shrink to come in here and give an answer. There's just something about nipping the price up a nickle and rounding it off to an even dollar that puts people off. What is it? I've gotten so used to the scam that I don't know if I could handle the $xx.00 myself. It even goes into new car pricing. The price is not $35,000; it's $34,995. It's really not so difficult to understand. The vast majority of people are deeply, deeply lazy when it comes to using their brain (do NOT get me started on who's in the White House and the idiocy of the impending "tax cuts"). If it takes an extra split second to calculate the total price of rounding up a nickel, then that is simply too much work. I'm not saying that people are stupid, just that it's easier and faster to think less.

Me too. That's why I love these things:

Hey, that's my can! I meant to get salt and vingar at the store, but when I got home they had mysteriously transformed into sour cream and onion. Pringles can be so cruel.

You caught me: Pringles® reduced fat sour cream and onion.

Yikes! Milk tea doesn't cost that much here in Seattle. I think it's usually about $1.50 at our big Asian grocery store. Less on sale, which it was last time I was there. I think it's closer to a buck from vending machines in Japan. My favorite bit of engrish was found on the plastic sanitary wrapper enclosing a glass in a hotel room in Tokyo: "DISINFECTED Maybe I've been hoping too hard. But I've gone this far. And it's more than I hoped for." Deep. Thoughts.

NyQuil dude? Not even.

My Mom was completely inconsistent - we never had Velveeta, spray cheese, or American cheese slices and getting sugary cereals like Cap'n Crunch was a rare special treat. BUT we always had Miracle Whip and Cool Whip in the fridge, and a meal did not go by without dessert (even if most of the time it was purchased cookies). Coffee and any form of alcohol were out of the question in any quantity.

MODERATOR! Ellen's posting pornography!

Malaika - you certainly aren't the only one to think that the Seattle restaurant scene is not all that it could be. You can read some other opinions and comments in this older thread: The Seattle Scene: how does it measure up?. And please do continue to post. I'm sure we would all love to have your insights from the inside. Oh, and to stay on topic - I've also heard less than wonderful reports about Seastar. I think the comment that stood out for me was "worst dessert ever".

MSG?

Actually my CO2 tank isn't aerosol and looks like this: Quite a bit heavier than an aerosol can, but a charge lasts a long time, the gas is very dry, and it doesn't freeze up. For airbrushing I use 20psi, but there is a pressure regulator, so I could take it down to 6 pretty easily. Someday I may try it out with a paint sprayer to see if it will work for chocolate. Thanks for the info.

Pork.

Hey, I've been trying to read this article (and a few others) all morning, but my browser refuses to connect using the link above or any of the links on the Daily Gullet. Just spins it's wheels saying "resolving host egullet.com...". Is it me or is there something funky with the server? I can read all of the threads in the forums just fine. Edit: Turned out it was me. Sorry.

When I made the Crazy Cake for one of my bosses (who was convinced for a few months that she was alergic to wheat, dairy and eggs), I made a simple "buttercream" using margarine. Since it was chocolate, the butter flavor wasn't as important: 1/2 cup softened margarine 4-6 oz melted and cooled semisweet chocolate 16 oz sifted powdered sugar cream margarine and beat in about 1/4 cup of sugar. beat in chocolate, then continue to add sugar to reach spreading consistency. If you want to do a glaze, you could do it with chocolate and water: 12 oz high quality semi or bittersweet chocolate (not chocolate chips) 6 Tbsps very got water Melt chocolate and whisk in water all at once, do not add gradually. stir until chocolate is smooth. Pour over cake while still warm.

I haven't used a paint sprayer for chocolate, but I used to do quite a bit of airbrush illustration work years ago. One problem I always had with compressors was they would suck moisture from the air and send it through the air hose, eventually ending up sputtering from the nozzle of the air brush. That's why I switched to using CO2 tanks - smooth consistent airflow, silent operation, no water condensation spattering onto my work and ruining it. I could see the water-in-the-hose issue being a real problem when working with chocolate. Do the commercial sprayers with separate compressors have technology to deal with it? And what PSI does it take to spray chocolate?

I'm in Seattle in the US, and the only fresh fruits I have on hand at the moment are apples, lemons and limes - all of which I seem to always have around. The next most frequently stocked would be bananas and pears. Others would be purchased for specific recipes or uses.

Absolutely. Two words: Crazy Cake. Makes a rich tasting, moist, fudgy chocolate cake. The one I linked to is only one of the probably hundreds of recipes for the same cake out there on the net. Of course you can just as easily bake it in round pans for a layer cake.

The traditional filling for napoleons is vanilla pastry cream, which is custard based and thickened with starch. Some patisseries lighten the pastry cream with a bit of Italian meringue or whipped cream which would make it more like a chiboust. Bavarian cream is typically creme anglaise (a custard) lightened with whipped cream and set with gelatin - kind of like a mousse that's firm enough to slice.