Fugu

I just stumbled into this posting, what a wonderful thread. Cooking sure has changed since I retired my Chef jacket and hat. I am the classical cooking type but I still try to keep up with the trends and this thread is just fantastic! Thanks Docsconz! Gerry

I may have missed it but it seems no one has mentioned trans fats? As already mentioned, not all fat is bad for you and fats actually do lubricate your joints. There is a legislation being passed here in Toronto that will make fast food restaurants and manufacturers remove trans fats from their foods. These hydrogenated fats and other forms of trans fatsare reported to be a major contributor to plaque formation in your arteries.

There's no egg in the batter. A lightly scrambled egg is added to the pancake after it has started cooking (when the bottom is already slightly crispy). ← Cool street food video, thanks! Yes, it looks similar but the ones I had were like omlettes, the egg was on the outside and layered(folded). The Thai version looks yummy though, I'll try that. Thanks again, Prasantrin. Aprimei, regular sized oysters were used in all the dishes I've tried but I'd love to take a peek at your "chiu chow dish" recipe. Thanks.

I've followed the Joong/Jongzi-Sticky Rice/Bamboo Leaves, Home Cooking Series 63I with my mouth watering, so I know this is the place to ask for tips in Chinese cookery. I was introduced to oyster cakes by a good friend, a Chinese Chef. I presume it is a Chinese dish since he serves this in his restaurant. I've had similar dishes in Thailand and Hong Kong, some were greasy, some were great. I tried watching them prepare this at a fast food stall but I am not sure what type of starch they use before adding the eggs to the oyster mix. My friend told me he uses potato starch or yam starch but he may just be keeping the recipe a secret since we do try to steal techinques from each other? Can someone please help me with this recipe.

Thank you for that link and everyone's recipes. I did Google chimichuri and only came up with 2 links to egullet. Interresting old thread, I will try those recipes. Based on that link, I think my problem is I don't age it long enough? I make the sauce and use it within the same day.

LAst time I was in Saint Lawernce Market, a couple of the strores carried a selection of soft raw milk cheeses. Or give the Cheese Boutique a call.

After strainning the stock, I add more water to the strained bones, this is called remoulage, a French term for "remoistening," a second extraction from the bones. I simmer this for 2 hours hours and strain. This second extraction liquid is what I use to start my next stock.

I partially catered a beach wedding for 300 pax more a few years ago. I was asked to cater the hors d'oeuvres portion, the salads, breads and several BBQ grills for lobster, chicken and ribs. The host, from Argentina, brought some of his gauchos to man the carne asados, open firepit, by the water's edge, with a 2 bed springs in the middle as the grill. Around the firepit were 4 butterflied whole lamb on 5ft tall metal steaks and they were spike driven into the ground facing the fire pit. On the bedspring , whole tenderloins and striploins were being roasted along with some sausages I am not familiar with. They served a vat of chimichuri that I have not been able to duplicate yet. It may have been the champagne or the ambience that made this sauce fantastic but I can't seem to make the same sauce even with the limited number of ingredients this sauce calls for. Could someone share their favorite vaersion of this chimichuri.

WOW is right! I am a big fan of Rob Feenie's cooking. I've watched his shows and cheered to his defeating Iron Chef Morimoto(and I am a big fan of Morimoto as well). Talent like Che Feenie's seldom stay in the back burner, I am sure he will be back, wiser in business for the experience and, I am certain, with a loud culinary roar. If I were 20 years younger, I would moved to Vancouver to work for him! I wish him all the best.

I've been hunting for mushrooms with limited success. There is a mycological society here that I've been dying to join and they have mushroom hunting parties in the spring and fall. Ummmm, morels.

My understanding of pate(paste in French) is that it is generally made to be spreadable but can also be sliced. An example would be smoked salmon pate or chicken liver pate. I use a combination of cream, butter or cream cheese in these pates, although some would consider them to be mousses because of the cream. A terrine, on the other hand, is moulded and best sliced into portions. Meat terrines usually have a thin skin of pork fat, while vegetable terrines woulds have a leek, eggplant or zuchinni as the exterior. Galantines are similar to terrines in that they are moulded and usually wrapped in the skin of the main ingredient, ie. Duck and chicken galantine. I make a scallop terrine, mushroom and a lobster terrine that do not use a skin of any sort and is made with a mousse mixture, go figure. These terms seem to be used loosely and most label everything as pate. Pate en croute is pretty much straightforward, some forcemeat encase in pastry. Once baked, a cavity forms and flavoured(aspic) gelatine is poured in to fill the cavity through the top vents on the pastry. edited to change terrine to galantine.

The Tabagwang snails that I am familiar with, have ridges, are black and conical shaped, about 1-2 inches long. The ends are chopped off to they are easy to suck out with the sauce..Yummm! There are a lot of introduced, invasive species of snails in Philippines, to the point that they are pests on farms. I prefer the snails coming from mountain streams because they are less likely to be contaminated with chemical and other environmental pollutants. My father raised petite gris in our old cooling tower pools, along with tilapia. Although I've never tried his escargots, he says feeding them with watercress, rosemary, thyme and lettuce, for 2 weeks improved the flavour.

Has anyone been to the Cheese Boutique recently? I was just wondering if some of the fresh produce and prepared foods always look pitiful? I visited CB mid week and that could explain some of the items I took notice of, the dried up cakes in the display case, the flies buzzing around the bread and pastries beside the case. Rotting portobellos, dried up chanterelles, water on the floor and lack lustre choice of meats. Don't get me wrong, I am not bashing CB and think their selection of oils, condiments and vinegars are wonderfull but they could do better with keeping their place pristine. I did go home with some Israeli couscous, some finishing salts, some morels and some grains of paradise. Got curious with the expensive Argan oil and found some expensive duck fat. I may visit again this Saturday and see if I just came on a bad day? I also want to take pictures of their cheese cellar. All those giant Pargeiano Reggiano and machego cheese being aged, that was way cool!

It would help to know what you are serving. Preparing ahead of time depends on what you have on your menu. Items that can be prepared ahead of time: Cold hors d'oeuvres or hot(just warmed in the oven), Soups, salads, peeling potatatoes for mashed potato, blanching vegetables. Stuffing can be wrapped in plastic wrap, rolled into logs and poached ahead of time, or wrapped in foil and cooked with the turkey. Stocks and gravy(athough, I prepare this with the turkey drippings and giblets), deserts, garnishes, chopping onions and garlic for sauteeing. Brine your turkey. Serving your food buffet style would cut your work and stress level. Rent a few chafing dishes along with the tables and chairs you plan to rent. Chafing dishes will keep your food warm using those gel fuels. You have a 20 lbs turkey, it takes a while to cook that birdzilla, that will give you plenty of time to heat, cook and saute the foods you prepared ahead of time. Stuffing the trukey will increase cooking time so I prefer rolled stuffing and just slicing them to portion sizes.

really?? I am trying to imagine it and I think it must be an interesting addition...we are discussing this at home and will try it as soon as we can get the raw ingredient ← Last January I was fortunate enough to be in Bicol for the fiesta of Santo Nino. My aunt had a hog slaughtered and I particiapated in the butchering and cooking prep. One of the dishes cooked with offals is this dinuguan and I was surprised when I saw them use coconut cream. The other thing that surprised me was how much pork fat this dish containes.

Oh, I forgot to list a favorite of mine, tabagwang but I rarely see them for sale in Bicol. These are river snails, from the mountain, cooked in ginger, garlic, onion and coconut cream. These are usually served with fiddle heads called paco and they grow by the river as well.

Those "Huge Shellfish" are called Pen shells. I read an article on them in scuba diver magazines, on foraging under the sea.

For pates, terrines and galantines I use 1 gram of saltpeter per kilo of forcemeat ingredients. For regular salt, 10 grams per kilogram of forcemeat. I use the same formula for foie gras terrine.

Coconut cream and hot peppers are widely used in the Bicol region. I stayed in Bicol, my mother's birthplace, for a few months last year and was treated to some unusual and tasty cuisine. Some Bicol dishes that include some part of the coconut are: adodo sa gata, Laing(taro leaves), tinomok(shrimp with shredded coconut wrapped in dasmagan ng aswang leaves or substitute squash leaves or taro leaves, hulog-hulog, nilubak, Bicol express, kinunot(usually shark or skate), suman, even the dinuguan in this region has coconut nut cream. There are over 7,000 islands in Philippines and regional cuisines vary in seasonning proportion and ingredients. My father is Kapampangan and their cooking is also very different. Burong Baboy served with steamed vegetables is a treat, almost like serving aioli with boiled vegetables.

Sous vide would be my choice, you don't draw out as much of the fat as cooking it in an oven, just press it into your terrine mould and weigh it down. The rendered foie gras fat from cooking it in the oven would be great for your roasted potatoes. Here's another option: Grilled and pressed foie gras terrine.

Serving the scallops 3 ways on a long plate might be an interresting way of serving the shellfish?

Several ways to approach the mousse: 1. Make a ham mousse and add rendered chopped bacon. 2. Use Canadian back bacon and proceed to make the mousse. For the mousse: 1.Use cream cheese, cream and gelatin. 2. Use bechamel, cream, and gelatin. 3. Use mayonnaise, cream, gelatin.

Duck stock, reduced to a glasze, will improve the flavour of your terrines, pates or galantines.

The place we order from is Hakka Garden Chinese Restaurant at 25 Overlea BLVd, Unit #7A (416) 421-8898. I have tried their Bombay Chicken and Manchurian Squid and both have been great and I love the hot pickled peppers they give. Price is cheap-moderate. They are Halal as well. ← Thanks, I used to live around Don Mills and Sheppard, so I am familiar with the area. I may pass by when I go to our monthly orchid club meeting at the Toronto Botanical Gardens.

Ok, I'm a little confused here. Do I really need to emulsify them? I'm thinking of placing the herbs and/or spices in oil in their original state (maybe bruised a little) because I think it looks nice to have whole leaves and fruits or berries in there. Is it a bad idea? ←