KennethT

My wife and I don't celebrate Christmas, but since I have a day off from work, and many local restaurants are closed (gasp!) or have expensive fixed menus for the occasion, I decided to cook this year. Last year, we went down to our favorite place in Chinatown but it was a madhouse and the quality certainly suffered. I wanted a bit of time to relax and work on new projects, so I didn't want to make something that required tons of time, but it would be very different from what we normally have. Dry aged, prime, NY strip steak, potato galette, sauteed asparagus and sauteed pears. I asked the butcher to save the trimmings from the ridiculously marbled steak - what's cool is that this place, unlike others, only weighs for pricing purposes after trimming! So I got all this great beef fat for free. I made a nice fat-shake and then rendered on the stove top - got tons of great beef fat. Steak was put in the freezer for about 30 minutes just prior to pre-searing in copious beef fat and butter that surprisingly didn't set off the smoke alarm - although it definitely should have. It then went in the bag (along with the cooled fat used for the searing) and cooked sv for about 2 hours (it was almost 2 inches thick) to a core temp of 125F. Post searing done with propane torch. My wife and I agreed that this was the best steak we had ever had - even in a steakhouse. The beef was crazy tender, juicy, and ridiculously beefy. Even though it was cooked SV, it had a great grilled flavor, due to it being cooked in the smoky fat. At 125F, the beef did not lose even an eyedropper full of liquid - the only liquid in the bag was the fat. Potatoes were yukon gold sliced in the mandoline, cooked with beef fat and butter and some fresh thyme. Asparagus was the healthy part - just a little grapeseed oil. The pears are a nice thing I haven't done in a long time. Sliced thin, sauteed in better and copious black pepper, then flambeed with cognac. Is there anything better than the combo of butter and cognac? I wonder... Washed down with a glass of: which was incredible. I rarely drink alcohol anymore, so when I do, I want it to be worth it. We have lots of great wine in our wine fridge that was either gifted to us, or procured at great prices, and thanks to the Coravin, we don't have to worry about needing to drink a whole bottle when we only want a glass or two. This means that there will be more of this wine on another occasion!

I was sorting through photos on my hard drive and came across pictures of the hand made, hand painted celadon tea pot and tea cups that my wife and I got on our honeymoon in Thailand - we visited a celadon factory in Chiang Mai, watched the artisans hand craft everything and then toured their shop. Their quality is amazing - but we have only used the tea set once or twice because I'm so afraid of damaging them while washing them....

I'm not trying to be snide or snippy but can someone please explain why dungeness crabs are supposed to be so great? I think I've only had it once and my memory says that it was a lot of effort for little yield... What am I missing?

I used to do duck in a cherry sauce and the sauce was based on a brown sauce. I was trying to recreate the sauce for duck they used to do at La Cote Basque (now closed). It came out very close. I think that would work well for an orange sauce as well.

I saw the watermelon radish quite a bit in Beijing - it was always an accompaniment to Peking Duck (in addition to green onion and carrot).

I think it is disgusting that these guys have gotten away with this kind of behavior for as long as they have - and, I hope that those who do that kind of thing now recognize that it is not acceptable behavior and stop it. With that being said, I don't agree with boycotting the establishments run (or formerly run) by them. I understand that they are still profiting from these places, but by boycotting them, you are also hurting hundreds of innocent employees - some of whom are the ones who have been harassed in the past. Also, rather than patronizing these places, chances are you would patronize a different place (as opposed to not going out at all) - but, how can you be sure that the replacement establishment isn't being run by one of the sh*theads who do this stuff also, but just hasn't become public yet?

Sorry - yes, the first picture, center-right... are they similar to the first picture, center-left?

@liuzhou What are those hot dog like things? I saw them all over Beijing. When my wife and I were in a nice park, we stopped in a tea house (which turned out to be extremely overpriced for the mediocre quality) and they had some food options. Since we were starving and had little other option, we ate there, which was the worst meal on that trip - and possibly the worst meal of the last several years... Accompanying the horrible "stir-fry" (which we think came from a can), was one of those hot dogs - but it was cold in the center. I tried it and it had a very odd flavor - I couldn't really place it. But we saw those hot dog things being sold all over the city - and they all looked like they were made in the same factory. I'd love more info on them if you know anything about it.

I almost never post on this forum, mostly because I forget to take a pic before eating... Salmon in a tamarind/shrimp paste sauce. Served with the last remnants of my yu choi harvested yesterday.

It's vegetative growth has been slowing for a couple weeks... time to move on and plant another!

My final yu choi harvest... they're starting to go to flower... The plants...

I'll echo others' sentiments - thank you again! I love being able to see things most tourists would never get to see - even better with your commentary and knowledge of the area. Out of curiosity, what should the translation of that hotel sign be?

@chefmdThat's a great idea - but I think they'd have a pretty long lunch.... I've never seen even a close relative of the Viet banh mi outside of Vietnam! I've tried just about every banh mi place in NYC, and no one comes close - they're all just french baguettes that they warm in the oven or salamander to try to crisp and lighten them... but it's still all wrong. I've talked with some of teh Viet owners of these places and they say that they just can't get a supply of the bread - seems like no commercial bakery in NY makes them - and don't necessarily deliver all day, forget a few times a day!

I wonder if it would be possible to par-bake and freeze, or freeze the proofed product just before baking? That way you could make a batch, but only bake 1 at a time so it's fresh...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/104487240267896/ This is the user forum...

@Anna NInteresting. My experiences eating banh mi in Vietnam were that the best ones could be described as having a "light, cotton-y" interior. But it is also necessary to have a shatteringly crisp, tender crust - like an eggshell. When you bite into a banh mi sandwich (made with the banh mi bread), that tenderness is essential so the ingredients don't squish out the other end, which would happen if the crust is too chewy (like a French baguette). Also, the crust needs to be tender so the fact that it is so crisp doesn't end up tearing the roof of your mouth! One thing to keep in mind are the typical uses of banh mi - either for sandwiches, or for just ripping apart into pieces and dipping into sauces or just eating plain as an accompaniment to grilled fish, snails or chicken. I've never seen a loaf sliced or toasted or anything like that, not that my experiences are by any means comprehensive! So, from your descriptions, the original texture of the crumb is what is traditional, although once it sets up is more suitable for western uses. Also, FYI, in Vietnam, the banh mi are typically eaten within hours of being baked. The busiest banh mi vendors will typically get 2-3 deliveries per day - note that the bakeries themselves do not usually sell retail, but sell wholesale to the vendors who then sell them as is for people to take home (usually eaten soon - not kept overnight), or fill them for sandwiches for immediate consumption. I would imagine that they would consider a day-old banh mi to be bird or fish food.

Which one of Fairway's blends did you have problems with? I regularly get their 1L jar of unfiltered EVOO (it's basically the same price per L as the 3L can) and haven't had a problem. I probably bought the last one a couple weeks ago.... If you want, I can take a pic of the label when I get home.

@liuzhou I can't really express how much pleasure I get from reading this - although I have to admit there's a twinge of jealousy - I'd love to have been there with you!

Sorry to see this end so soon! Now it's time to relax!

I know it's OT, but the produce industry uses vacuum to chill lettuce in large quantities. Large packers use a walk-in vacuum chamber where a pallet of lettuce can be cooled from field temp to 40degF in about a half hour, which is much faster than can be done with refrigeration, resulting in a longer shelf life.

Not only is it almost the full moon, this time, it's also a Super Moon - when the moon is closest to the Earth in its elliptical orbit - so it looks larger than normal. After tomorrow, the next time it will be closer will be in November, 2034!

I'm loving this, both pics and your commentary. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us!

Wow - that drawing is amazing - you did it freehand?

yay! More hunting blog! I don't want to rain on your parade or anything, but Mam Nem isn't really fish sauce... it's more of a fish paste-y-sauce and is much thicker and more pungent than normal fish sauce (nu'o'c mam) which is thin and clear. They're certainly not interchangeable if making a dipping sauce. If you take a look at my Central Vietnam foodblog (shameless plug) you'll see us eating things with mam nem a few times. While Red Boat fish sauce (nu'o'c mam) is certainly high quality, it is really expensive. When in Vietnam, I've asked people about it, but no one I've spoken to over there has heard of it - it seems that it is only made for export. Then again, most of the brands used over there are not exported, so take it for what it is. Personally, I always have a big bottle of Squid brand fish sauce (it's Thai, not Viet, but practically the same thing). It's good enough to have straight, but cheap enough where I don't cringe every time I use a whole lot of it. We use a 1 liter bottle every couple of months - and it usually costs us maybe $4-5, unless I get it while in Chinatown and then it would be like $3.

Sorry to hear that. Sometimes tourist traps are unavoidable. Is the Argentinean definition of rare/medium etc similar to that in the US?