KennethT

Here's the latest family photo... Lots of stuff lurking in with the gigantic lemongrass... There's the curry plant on the left of it and the kaffir lime tree on the right against the wall. This is just after an extreme haircut of the mint and replanting the laksa (rau ram).

The photos are a bit chopped up - would it be too much trouble to ask for a photo of the tomato plant? How are you trellising it? What variety is it? Is it a dwarf?

I'm with @btbyrd. I like the Maille brand - probably the best I've been able to get in the US - probably because I like the vinegar they use. If I wanted it spicier, I'd probably add a touch more mustard powder and see what happens...

@pattiWhat are the green flakes that look like oregano? Is it part of the Creole seasoning?

Just for completeness, spring rolls are found all over SE Asia. In Indonesia they're lumpia, Thailand poh pia, etc. In Vietnam, it can vary greatly depending on region - the Central Viet version uses a different type of wrapper and they're skinnier (and not as tasty imo) than the Southern version.

Everything looks great, but if it's not too much work, could you post your recipe for barbeque shrimp in RecipeGullet?

ok. I didn't understand. I thought they were already steamed by the time you got them

how does the har gow travel? Id imagine it would get really gummy

Thanks. Sorry - I didn't mean to imply that you shouldn't freeze it, I just had heard that if you freeze it, the texture changes (it was said that it can become grainy if used in a seared prep and lose a lot of fat) but would be fine in a pate.... But I had never done it myself so I have no personal experience with using frozen. Back in the days when I did use foie gras (years ago), I used to get fresh slices of it from a local butcher for $5 a slice - which seemed a lot better than buying a whole lobe for $80-90 and not being able to use it all.

I've always heard that frozen foie gras doesn't work well for searing because it basically liquifies - but obviously yours looks amazing. What was your experience with it? Did you find a lot of fat come out while searing (more than when fresh) or was it about the same?

very nice... one thing that jumped out was the quantity of duck fat included. What did they intend you do with it all??

Thanks - I didn't realize when I took that photo that you could see 5 different plants there. The kaffir lime is doing really well also, I'm letting 1 fruit mature (I plucked the other flowers) and it keeps putting out new flushes of leaves. The lemongrass has gone crazy and the mint, after its extreme haircut has come back with a vengeance. I should open up a mint stand at the farmer's market.

The cultivar is Siam Queen. I've grown it before - it has good flavor and is prolific

Thai basil redux - out of the solo cup and into its forever home

I just remembered a dish I really enjoyed during a trip to NOLA years ago - rabbit jambalaya at Coop's!!! And back then, if you asked, they'd give you the Crystal that they kept behind the bar rather than using the Tabasco that was on every table...

All the space in my bedroom is currently occupied with other stuff!!

I think I'll try @heidih idea to use the broiler since it doesn't require me to purchase anything. I don't know why I didn't think of it before!

For dinner tonight, my wife and I ordered in delivery from one of my favorite restaurants in NYC lately, Fish Cheeks - a Thai seafood restaurant (no photos - it was devoured before I even considered taking pics). They change out about half their menu periodically, and the last two times we had a fantastic dish - a filet of branzino, coated in a house made red curry paste, wrapped in banana leaf and grilled. This method of cooking is very common in Thailand (and all over SE Asia). We will soon be moving into a new apartment with no gas service - so all my cooking will be electric from then on (or maybe a portable butane burner) which will take some getting used to, but I am looking forward to getting my induction burners. But, how do you think I could replicate the grill for this type of banana leaf thing? Many years ago after watching some Rick Bayless, I made a cochinita pibil in my Cameron's stovetop smoker - the pork shoulder was wrapped in a banana leaf and I cooked it with a combo of oak/mesquite chips in teh smoker for maybe 30-40 minutes, then bagged the whole thing and cooked it sous vide until tender. It worked really well - the smokiness came through as did a bit of the charred banana leaf flavor. But it's not like grilling - it's more like baking with smoke. I've been considering getting one of those Philips infrared grills, but I hesitate because it seems like the non-stick coating on the grates comes off over time and that makes me uneasy. I have a cast iron grill plate, but that won't give it that smoky flavor. Any other ideas??? For what it's worth, my kitchen will be outfitted with a LARGE activated charcoal filter/fan combination, but my hood does not vent outside - just recirculates. But there is a vent shaft duct in my kitchen wall as well as in the bathroom (right across the way from the kitchen) with pretty strong suction. So maybe I could rig up a small hibachi and not kill myself with carbon monoxide????

Assuming it was still good when frozen, then it depends on how well it was wrapped and how cold the freezer is. If it's a non-self defrosting freezer (like most chest freezers) and it was wrapped well and kept really cold (say -10F), it should be just fine. If it was in a self defrosting freezer, maybe not since the temperatures in those types of freezers fluctuate which could create ice crystals. I don't think it would be spoiled, just not as juicy as it should be since it would probably leak a lot of moisture during the defrost.

I used to do this from time to time.... Love 'em that way.

do you mind me asking which restaurant this is from?

Yes, it includes overnight shipping from over 1000 miles away. I'd think that shipping is the majority of the cost. If I could get fresh ones locally I wouldn't even think of it, but the quality in the photos looks really good.

I just joined a new group on Facebook called Fruit 4 Sale or something like that.... it basically connects growers/importers directly to consumers. Today, a seller popped on to advertise fresh (not frozen) mangosteen imported from Guatemala. Currently selling a 10# box for $130, including overnight shipping from Houston, TX which is about 50-75 fruits (there's 10-15 fruit per kilo). I was thinking about buying a box as this is my favorite fruit, and I probably won't get to Asia (where they are sold all over in season) for another year. The frozen ones seen normally in NY are probably even more expensive and have been frozen, which completely degrades them. Does anyone in the NYC area want to go in on a box with me? I'm afraid that I won't be able to enjoy 10# of them before they start to go bad....

We need a Wow!! button for this. I wonder what your helper would have thought about real maple syrup? It's definitely not as sweet as the AJ stuff (which is mostly corn syrup)....

Fingers crossed for this! I was hoping things would be cleared up enough to be able to travel int'l this summer, but from teh looks of things, it doesn't seem like that's in the cards. So many countries still not allowing int'l travel (or have restrictions like a 5-10 day quarantine which is basically the length of our entire trip!)