KennethT

@Kim Shook Condolences from me as well. I know all too well what your experience was like -although not in the time of COVID....

@liamsaunt I think your efforts have been stellar!

First experiment of Cantonese whole steamed fish (striped bass). Definitely worth another shot soon and paired nicely with this 2010 Riesling which had tons of flinty acidity. ETA: BTW, the fish was steamed in the CSO....

@Nicolai I don't see the salmon...

I've also read articles (I didn't save the sources..) that said that many herbs respond to insect nibbles - they increase their essential oil production and get a stronger flavor as a way to discourage the pests.

Xe May - it's a tiny underground shop on St. Marks between 1st Ave and Ave A in the East Village... Their bread could be better - it's not as crispy on the outside and soft/fluffy on the inside as most are in Saigon, but for NY, it's one of the better breads for this sandwich. And their flavors are great. I'm a big fan of the 'Pilot' which is lemongrass grilled chicken - it's tasty and not nearly as bad for you as all of the pork options... but I'll still get a classic one from time to time, doctor be damned! ETA - also, since now it's only takeout, the bread loses something during transit - in our case, about a 5 minute walk... during normal times, we'd eat in the place (it has about 5 seats) and it's better that way...

It's the OG of English sparkling, and certainly can go toe to toe with any of the top stuff from France. The couple who are the winemakers there have a really great story too. I was recently lucky enough to try 3 of their wines - this Cuvee Cherie (named after their head winemaker) which is their demi-sec (but doesn't come off as that sweet because it is so well balanced), their 2010 '1086 Prestige Cuvee' and their 2010 '1086 Prestige Cuvee Rose'. All of them were stunning.

Another meal of Singaporean chicken curry with homemade roti prata. Was fantastic with this English sparkler that has some residual sugar but great acidity to balance it out.

@Captain Wow... just wow... we need a 'drool' icon...

So happy that one of our favorite banh mi places in NYC reopened this week for takeout/delivery...

This was my latest (and best, to be honest) attempt to replicate this: I don't think the restaurant version actually cooked it in the stone bowl - I think that was just for presentation.

Trying my hand at a Cantonese "fry-roast" jianju chicken. Turned our really well... It called for some bubbly we had laying around! Also some bok choi cooked in the same skillet that made the chicken. The water used to steam the bok choi also deglazed the pan... Yum.

what? no pictures?

I've never had my microwave cause any problems to my wifi signal - and my microwave is probably less than 20 feet from my router. Most microwave ovens don't have a powerful magnetron - but instead use the properties of a resonant cavity to amplify the signal to do the cooking. Plus, the microwave should have some kind of shielding around the magnetron/cavity otherwise it could induce currents in random wires and fry circuits all over the place. Especially since you're getting interference without it operating - just sitting plugged in makes me think this is a different problem - maybe a bad solder connection on the control board or a bad capacitor - whatever - if this is a new uwave, you shouldn't have to MacGyver it or have to take it apart - a new appliance shouldn't do what it's doing just by being plugged in. Unless the problem is coming from your wall outlet (maybe a wire is loose and arcing there? - now only discovered after unplugging a long standing device and plugging in something new), I would contact customer service for the uwave and get a replacement.

There could be a lot of reasons why the new one is creating RF problems. There could be a bad connection that is arcing somewhere that is causing the interference... The fact that it is creating RF just being being plugged in and not turned on is not a good sign. Maybe it's a defect?

@md8232 I wish we had a wow button...

Am I seeing it correctly that there is only a top heating element, but no bottom element?

Last night was more chicken thighs in the CSO - and more experimentation. This time, I did steam-bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then took the tray out, raised, the rack to the upper slot (but the rack is still a U), but the tray back and steam-broil at 450 for 5 minutes, then turned the tray around 180degrees and steam-broil for 5 minutes. Prior to cooking, was a quick dip in some fish sauce followed by just a few minutes in the refrigerator uncovered. Best chicken yet! Unfortunately, no photos.....

I think of Panang curry as being an interesting Thai curry - not just because it's delicious, but I can't think of another Thai curry that is like it. Most Thai curries that I can think of are pretty thin - almost soup consistency, however, Panang curry is thick, so that it coats whatever it touches. With that in mind, the way I make it is not dissimilar to how I'd make Malay or Nyonya curries which typically have a similar texture. There are probably a million ways to make this curry, but this how I've been doing it lately. I usually don't have the time to make my own curry paste, so I use a store bought. If it's possible to get, I prefer the Nittiya brand of curry pastes - it comes refrigerated (it freezes well too) and has the closest flavor to what I've had in Thailand. Unfortunately, it's really hard to come by - when I go to the Thai store, they say they bring it in every few months, and when they do, it's gone in the same day. Of course, this prompts me to wonder why they don't bring in more, but also, I can't make it into that store all that often, so lately, I can never find it. 2nd place, that I've tried, is Maesri - in the can. Although the ingredients between the can and tub versions look the same, for some reason the can tastes fresher, although I've never tried them side by side. Maesri does not add shrimp paste or ground peanuts to its Panang paste, so you need to add them yourself... also, keep in mind that Maesri's Panang paste and red curry paste seem extremely similar... I think the Panang paste has a bit more ground cumin and coriander seed than the red paste, but I wouldn't swear by it. So, I add my own - and I also use some Mace, which is what a Thai cooking teacher told me in Chiang Mai years ago... Finally, a note about coconut milk. I'm not too fond of the canned milks - they typically have stabilizers added, which make it really hard for to use. For a long time, I was using an unbranded frozen coconut milk that I found in the Thai store, as well as the Indian store near me. The only label was that it was made in Thailand and brought in by East Distributors or something like that. It was good, but quite expensive. Lately, I've been using the Aroy-D coconut milk that comes in a shelf stable carton. Evidently, there are a couple different versions made, so make sure you check the label. I've found them on Amazon - a six pack of 250ml cartons - on some of the versions the label says 100% coconut milk - that's the one you want... other versions have stabilizers or homogenizers added. I give it a good shake before I open the carton. Anyway, my recipe is based on convenience sizes - I don't think the quantities are super critical... I typically make this with skinless boneless chicken thighs - I use 4 normal thighs worth of chicken. This goes well with 1 carton of coconut milk, and 1 can of curry paste. Ingredients: Curry paste: about 1t whole cumin seeds, toasted about 1T whole coriander seeds, toasted 1 piece of whole mace, very lightly toasted about a handful of roasted peanuts - unsalted preferably about 1t shrimp paste 1 can Maesri Panang or Red curry paste - probably about 3-4 heaping Tablespoons 4 normal sized boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1" cubes (roughly) a few squirts of fish sauce a couple teaspoons veg oil (I use a homemade garlic oil (made from peanut oil) that I keep in my fridge) 250ml (about 1 cup) coconut milk, divided about 1T palm sugar about 10 kaffir lime leaves, ribs removed, torn into pieces. (nb - if your lime leaves are a little tough, you might want to finely shred rather than tear into pieces) Method: 1. Marinate chicken with the fish sauce and oil for about 1/2 hour 2. Grind cumin, coriander and mace in spice grinder until very fine 3. Add peanuts and pulse the spice grinder - if you go too fast or to far, it will turn into peanut butter and muck up your grinder 4. Add shrimp paste and ground spice/peanut mixture to curry paste and mix well. Sometimes you need to mash the shrimp paste a bit to get it to incorporate 5. Pour about 3/4 of the coconut milk into a 4Q saucepan, and then add a bit of water to the remaining coconut milk to bring it back up to about 1/2C 6. On medium - medium/high heat, bring the saucepan coconut milk to a boil and reduce until thick, stirring and scraping the bottom often to prevent scorching. 7. Add the curry paste to the coconut milk and stir to completely incorporate, stirring/scraping constantly 8. Add the kaffir lime leaves and palm sugar and continue to cook until you start seeing the oil bubble out of the edges of the paste. The paste should be considerably drier by now 9. Add the marinated chicken, and stir to completely coat with the paste. Cook until you don't see any more raw chicken (it's probably about halfway cooked through by now) 10. Add the remaining coconut milk/water and stir to combine. Simmer until chicken is cooked through. 11. Taste to adjust seasoning. If more salt needed, add fish sauce. If more sweetness needed, add palm sugar.

No problem... I'll do it when I get some time.... maybe I'll put it in RecipEgullet

Panang curry with boneless chicken thigh using my home grown kaffir lime leaves. The leaves are so aromatic and tender! Not the leathery things I get at the Korean or Indian store... Sorry about the photo - we dove into eating it and almost finished before I thought of taking a pic.

Maybe use a little less oil? Most commercial fryers are only half filled since the level goes up with increased volume(the food) and even higher with all the bubbling. Also, can you use it for a giant crawfish boil?

I love garlic chives... try a stir fry (or even better google "fry roast") with big slices of ginger and garlic chives...

watch out for that hot mug handle though!!! I think it would be a lot more efficient and faster to heat the water in a small pan on the stove top, rather than in an oven. I'm sure that would take forever. Heat the water in the pan, pour into the cup and put in the tea bag and steep.