KennethT

My herb farm (especially the mint) is starting to get out of control again... so bun lemongrass shrimp. 5 herbs in the bun (3 from the garden) and my lemongrass in the marinade...

I have a philosophical question - one I have thought about for years. Why is there the restriction on leaven or leavening of dough (which is inactive time, very easy to do in a bag or pot while roaming the desert) but it's ok to have a Pesach dinner with brisket and other foods that need to be cooked for long periods of time? And one thing I thought about today as I was in Chinatown was how easy it would be for my wife and I to keep the Pesach since we barely eat bread or leavened products anyway. If rice is ok for the Sephardim, it's fine for my Ashkenazi butt! So between rice, rice noodles and potatoes, I am set for like 5 months of Pesach. Ha! Is it sacreligious to have Panang curry after reading the Hagaddah? Chag Sameach everyone!

And yes, the amount of light makes a big difference to many plants - for years, when I grew sawtooth coriander, my leaves were tough and the saw teeth were really sharp. Then I greatly decreased the amount of light it got and now the leaves are nice and tender, the way they should be.

Do you know if they're deprived of light completely, or just grown using a very little bit of light?

I think the milder flavor also works better with the mild flavored rice rolls - the green would probably be completely overpowering.

A light lunch while shopping in Chinatown prepping for a weekend of cooking... Marinated pork with chives Shrimp with chives - the shrimp were perfect as was the texture of both rice rolls I also really liked them using the yellow Chinese chives - more tender than their green cousins which goes with the rice roll texture.

OK - so you can't tease us with all those photos without a length description of each!!!!!

What did you think of the pandan/palm sugar drink? To me, pandan always tastes like rice in my head. Not that that is a bad thing - but usually I've had it mixed with other flavors - like in a kueh or something.

OK - that makes sense. It is sticky rice, not jasmine rice.

By Thai rice, do you mean jasmine or glutinous (sticky) rice? I cook sticky rice in the CSO in a similar way - soak it, wash and then I spread it on a tamis, and steam at 210 for 15 minutes, then use change it to keep warm at like 150 or so for another 15. Comes out perfect every time. I can't imagine cooking jasmine rice this way though...

I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth...

I am positively drooling. Thank you so much for posting this. I wish I had access to fresh peppercorns. I have frozen fingerroot which is pretty good, but the brined peppercorns are 1 step up from flavorless.

It is in the soy sauce group - but it's very different. I can't really describe the flavor - it's a lot of umami, but it goes well with the Thai trinity of stir fry sauces: oyster sauce/fish sauce/GM sauce. I definitely wouldn't put it in anything I would consume raw - I feel like it gains something when it's been cooked through. I think it's like the liquid equivalent of MSG - you use it when you use salt, but it's different. Also, you don't use very much - just a few dashes... it can quickly overwhelm and that's just yuck.

In the summer it's not bad at all and quite green. Mid to upper 50's? Great hiking weather and so many incredible things to see. It will be cold when we do our glacier walk though.

I've been using it more and more - it's great in SE Asian style stir fries or marinades.

We're going to Iceland in the summer, but that will be in a different topic...

Haven't made this in a while, Vietnamese (un)grilled chicked on a bed of rau ram (laksa leaf). Cooked in the CSO hybrid style: 10 minutes steam bake at 425 in the lowest rack position, then move the rack up and 500 degree broil for 2.5 minutes, then 1/4 counterclockwise turn, then repeat until all the way around. Skin came out amazing and the chicken was fantastic - one of my best chicken thighs yet in the CSO. Didn't hurt that it was marinating (combination of lemongrass, garlic, shallot, fish sauce, black pepper and some Golden Mountain sauce) since Thursday night and spent about 24 hours uncovered to dry out the skin.

We are back in the saddle!!! Coming this Xmas/NYs:

Shin Black?

What did he do that they slow roasted him? 😄 Seriously, I am confused though - Mongolian Beef with sticky rice in an Italian cookbook?

I've never used the solid chunks of palm sugar, but many Thai cooks use it - they shave off what they need, but it does need time to dissolve. I like this product - it's not hard as a rock, but semi-soft. It's spoonable like a REALLY thick peanut butter, which makes it convenient to use, and it melts/dissolves pretty easily. Also, it's 100% palm sugar, which a lot of them are not.

@Kim ShookHow do you make your shrimp burgers?

Thanks... It looks great, but no palm sugar??

I'd had it there a LONG time ago, but I haven't been back in ages. Before I made my comment, I looked up their menu on their website (not on open table), and I didn't see it which I thought was really strange.

You're not kidding - it seems as though Le Gigot on Cornelia St. doesn't even have one!