Doodad

Our snack night is called Last Call and occurs on Monday night when everyone is tired and trash day is the next day. Anything that does not get eaten is fodder for the can since the new wave of weekend cooking will hold us until next Last Call.

I do a beef stew in the crock pot now with a few twists including a nod to Keller. I use boneless short ribs when I can get them. Flour and brown meat. They go into the crock pot and I deglaze the pan with wine enough to just cover meat. Crank up the crock pot, add carrots, potatoes, onion and celery. Cut the vege somewhat small as this will thicken the stew. When the beef starts to be fork tender, pull it out and strain the resulting broth. Put meat and broth back in pot, cut fresh vege of your choice to bite size and add with seasonings of your choice. Eat when everything is cooked to your liking. Perfect for football day and such.

I have employed several techniques over the years, but now that we are empty nesters the volume control has been critical to keep from discarding what was perfectly good food. Having a second fridge/freezer helps. Weekend before last, I made a roast turkey breast, marinara sauce, an ersatz Italian sausage, beef rendang (crock pot) and I roasted/poached chicken leg quarters to yield a soup base and chicken for tacos. We are still eating on this. The turkey breast I pulled and made a pan sauce in the pan and froze both. Beef rendang went into storage. The marinara became a salsa base for tacos one night and mixed with sausage for spaghetti another night. Chicken was in the tacos and fried rice one night with some rendang on the side. Turkey breast is tonight and then will probably become a soup with the chicken poach liquid and leftover rice from fried rice batch. Makes weeknights a pleasure as we got in a real rut for awhile being so tired and just throwing things together.

Hot sauce, salsa and a curry paste.

Our favorite is the dim sum/BBQ joint in the corner of the Ranch 69 (?) shopping center on Buford Hwy. Uses the cart system and has a huge variety of dishes. Well priced too. And you can get some roast duck or pork to take home!

Thanks for giving Slice a shout. It is a nice addition to the area and has a great feel in that old house. Good food and the price is decent. BTW, they just fired the chef and the sous Peter Servold is at the helm for now. I know him, his brother and Dad from their wine store. Good people.

From the menu it looks to be contemporary bistro as tapas. Looks like just well prepared good ingredients. Anyone been to it yet?

I vote for chinese for a variety of reasons. It teaches mise en place, knife skills, high heat cooking and starch sauces. Plus, any leftovers or ingredients can become a stir fry.

Whadda ya mean? She told us to burn the crap of the peppers.

If you had time, you could certainly coat a good ham with a cajun rub to create a mock tasso. I covet tasso when I can find it and store it in the freezer as long as I can.

Crawfish in a cream sauce is a natural. Hard to go wrong there. If you really want to disguise them, do fritters or cakes with them instead of crab and serve over the cream sauce or remoulade.

Can someone tell me how to make tofu dumplings like the sister in Eat Drink Man Woman was making? I can't find anything here or online. Or were they made up for the movie?

We could not resist and bought this green/spice at H Mart. Now what the heck do I do with it? Do you just add it to stir frys?

It was pretty good and easy to get in and out. It is on Riverside on the east side of 400. We got tomatoes, peppers, figs and cucumbers. The tomatoes are huge and juicy. Worth the drive if you are not far; about 30 vendors of various products. Better than the one in Alpharetta.

I just moved from Dunwoody, and couldn't find a convenient farmer's market. Where is this one? Now that I'm closer to 285/75, I know I have some better options. ← It is at the park on the river. Azalea drive which is where Roswell Rd/Hwy 9 crosses the Hootch.

Oh I see. Is there a picture of it floating about somewhere? 'Cause I may be talking about another dish haha. Is it eggs, woodear, mung bean noodles (or beanthread), pork (or was it shrimp), spring onions and fish sauce? Edit: I missed your post above sorry. Your hot sausage and cheese version sounds absolutely drool worthy! Was it steamed or baked? ← Steamed. Next will be jambalaya ingredients added to the egg and steamed in a green pepper. I will let you guys know how it comes out.

Yes, I'd think if it was influenced at all, it would more likely be by the Chinese. Steamed egg is pretty common across Asia. ← The reason I thought there might be a connection is the long relationship the two nations had and I had never seen it elsewhere. Also, one vietnamese site specifically called it pate which made me wonder. Don't care where it came from though. It sure is good and easy. But, there has to be a western equivalent somewhere. An omelet casserole essentially.

That is exactly what I am talking about. I made a version with hot sausage, peppers onion and cheese for breakfast and it was super. Looking to try a cajun version this weekend.

I have fallen in love with "egg cake", "steamed egg pate", Trung Chung or whatever you call it. I had it at a local Vietnamese place and talked at length with the waitress and chef about what was in it. I made a passable rendition the next weekend with the same traditional ingredients; the flavor and textures were wonderful. So, I have already made a southern breakfast version and plan on some other combination experiments. What are the traditional western analogs of this custard like dish? I assume the French introduced the concept to the Vietnamese, but what are the dishes and their names?

My wife and I were thinking about going tomorrow morning rather than make the trek all the way to the one in Buckhead. Has anybody been and is it worth the time?

H&F Bakery's launch has been delayed (though I parked next to a nicely decorated delivery van tonight). The overwhelming response to the product at the Saturday market at St. Philip's has sent them back to the org charts. I asked one of the H&F proprietors about the oyster bar. She practically broke out in hives. ← What is the Saturday market at St. Philip's?

BTW, to add to the discussion on equipment, you could make a fairly serviceable sous vide bath with a good hotplate and magnetic stirrer. Those units can be had for much less than the real stuff and should, with a little calibration and experimentation, yield satisfactory results.

Ruhlman has mentioned it several times on his website. He is writing ala Bouchon and TFL.

No doubt. I was in the other room when they brought him on and I thought it was Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear as a surprise judge. With all the road shows and an American Top Gear in the works, it would not shock me at all. Product placement and car reviews all in one show!

Wow, this show certainly keeps up a fine tradition with leaked info, dubious judging and embarassing vignettes. Did anybody else notice that Adam's viewer driven show idea is exactly what TFN trotted out several weeks ago with Ask (somebody?) show? Lisa should have her own show mixing molecular gastronomy and french cooking in Space Bistro with your host...Romulisa. I would watch it.