KennethT

I currently have the best smelling garbage can around....

After some, ahem, aggressive pruning.

What happens when you don't trim your mint plant as often as you should...

You can grow them....

Viet lemongrass chicken

Some of those dishes (like pork with chili) look similar to what I get at Hunan places here. Are they as spicy as they look? Looks more like chili with pork than vice versa.

My parents always served with applesauce, but just the thought of it turns my stomach. Bad association from taking medicine as a kid - crushed up in applesauce.... ugghh..

You're right - there's nothing to say about the mealy texture the meat gets. I just made chicken stock last weekend (I do it in the pressure cooker) and the meat is just awful. I chucked it all.

I used to make a celery root puree all the time. It's really easy, and gives a flavorful version of a fine mashed potato. Just peel and cut into chunks. Boil in salted water until tender, then put in the blender with a bit of the cooking water and a small amount (maybe a 1/2 teaspoon) of Vitamin C powder which keeps it from browning. Once done, taste for seasoning, and add maybe a tablespoon or two of creme fraiche or sour cream. You can also add a bit of olive oil while it's blending which will give it a nice sheen.

@mgaretzare there any brands of frozen hash browns taht don't have tons of additives (dextrose, sorbitol, et al)?

When I made stock, I let it go a long time to extract as much flavor and gelatin as possible. By that time, the meat has lost any and all flavor to the soup, so it's either discarded, or sometimes I'll save it for when I made Thai chicken soup, and then I'll give the meat a splash of soy or fish sauce to flavor it before adding to the soup.

I never thought of using frozen hash browns as a base... hmmmm....

When I do Brussels sprouts, I separate them into their leaves (getting rid of the core). I saute in a little grapeseed oil/s/p until decently browned and they get really sweet. That's my favorite prep for them.

I use feet when I made chicken stock and I don't have access to old hens... When I don't have access to a lot of bones but I'm out of stock, I'll use a combo of cut up legs, some wings (dependign on price) and feet.

They add to the cost, but if I want a really gelatinous chicken soup, in addition to the old hens, I'll also throw in a silky... those are some tough birds and make fantastic soup.

When is it not a good excuse for Chinese food? But I don't know if we'll have time to go down to Chinatown this year - plus, it's not the most pleasant outdoor dining weather unless the wind dies down and I don't know if Wu's installed any heaters in their outdoor space. I may just have to break out the cuisinart with the shredder blade to make some latkes.... I haven't made them in a long time. I also have a lot of excess duck fat from all the confit I've been making... and a new, nicely seasoned cast iron griddle.... hmmm...

I completely lost track of when it was this year!!! I just realized it's right around the corner!

The original in Harlem?

also, holy basil is much harder to find. Prepandemic, when I'd go to teh Thai store on Mosco St., if you didn't get there early, they'd be sold out.

@weinooIs that holy basil on top or thai basil? Holy basil is not usually eaten raw.

We don't really eat anything, grain-wise, other than rice based or wheat based. I have a ridiculously strong buckwheat allergy - remind me one day to tell the hilarious story of me at Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy... anyway, because of it, I tend to avoid anything that is not white - including whole wheat... with the exception of rye - I know that's not a problem. Many years ago, my wife was on a quinoa kick, but after a while I had to put an end to it because I just couldn't take it anymore... haha... One of these days, I have to get back to making stuff with couscous - we ordered in recently from Cafe Mogador because I was jonesing for their lamb tagine and their couscous. It's hard to make couscous at home after I have theirs just because anything I can make relatively quickly is gross by comparison and is completely offputting.

@scamhiI would have never thought to put chili crisp on vanilla ice cream. Have you done this before? If not, what were your thoughts about it?

My rice cooker is actually a 15 year old Krups rice cooker / slow cooker combo but I dont' see how my epxeriences with it wouldn't translate. I've made Hainanese chicken rice in there with no issues - just cook the garlic/ginger in a pan on the stove first, add the rice, then put that combo in the cooker along with the chicken stock. Worked great.

There are actually 2 bags in the large sack. The outer woven one is really just to protect the inner one. The inner bag is a translucent plastic bag. We keep a large glass jar in the pantry which is what we go to on a regular basis. Once it gets low, we refill it from the big bag, and then reclose the big bag's inner bag tightly with a twist tie. The big bag actually sits on the floor in the middle of the living room, right up against the tent where it's out of the way.

Pre-pandemic, we started buying larger quantities of jasmine rice - the type we use most commonly... Not only do we not run out as fast, but I find the large sack is different than the jasmine available in the smaller 5# bags - it cooks up fluffier using the same technique. My theory is that the smaller bags sit around longer while most of the sacks we've gotten lately are labeled "new crop". We keep smaller quantities of basmati, sticky and carnaroli which I've used (in a pinch) as a replacement for bomba.