ElsieD

I am going to make this and bought what I needed today. One question - is 15 to 20 gm the total of the two zests or each? I'm guessing it is the total but I'd like that confirmed. Thanks!

Blue Dolphin, I almost choked on my tea just now reading your post above. We watched Top Chef last night and when I saw the clip from the Las Vegas episode I said to my husband, why is Padma wearing just a slip? Looks like I'm not the only one wondering about her wardrobe choice. Or lack thereof.

Tonight I made a recipe that I got from the NY Times Called "Mario Batali's Spicy Shrimp Sauté". I made one change to the recipe in that I decreased the fish sauce by half. It was very good.

I used to have a bunch of their books and I did some cross checking and found a lot of repetition. Once i discovered that, and the fact that nowhere did they ever mention that a number of the recipes could be found in their other books, I became very disillusioned with them and stopped buying anything from them. Having a financial background, the word that comes to mind is "churning".

Toliver, will each package feed two people?

I wonder if natural food stores might carry it? Also, north of 49 would be able to tell you if any retail places sell their stuff. They had samples at the farmer's market and I preferred the blended syrup. Can't remember why.

Darienne, I was in Cochrane a couple of summers ago and a farmer's market was going on. I bought some maple-birch syrup although they also had pure birch syrup. Go here northof49birch.ca. You can order from them.

So here is our dinner - doesn't look like much but it sure was tasty! Baby back ribs and Shelby's fries.

Thank you. By the time I read this, I had already plunked a sweet potato in the oil so I decided to keep going with it. As stated, they do not crisp up. My husband did some googling and found someone who claimed to have made crispy sweet potato fries. The site was familystylefood.com. She cut the spuds up into 1/2" planks, and put them into room temperature oil. She turned the heat on high and once the oil started bubbling "vigorously" she set a timer for 15 minutes, keeping the oil to between 275 and 300. She then cooked them for another 5 to 10 minutes. I am skeptical but I do have another sweet potato so I may try this tomorrow just for a laugh. Meanwhile, off to make regular fries à la Shelby to go with our back ribs for supper.

I made french fries à la Shelby for supper and they were delicious. Since I wasn't sure of the temperature settings, they took a little longer, about 60 minutes vs. the expected 45. They were nice and crunchy and best of all, they weren't greasy. I never did like the double fry method as I always seemed to end up smelling like a grease pot, as did the entire kitchen. So, thanks, Shelby! We'll be having them again. By the way, has anyone tried this using sweet potatoes? We love sweet potato fries.

Cheesy polenta, collard greens and steak with pan fried shallots. Two good ones in a row.

I love ginger cookies. I went to the Style at Home website and they have a number of different recipes. Which one did you use?

Geez, Toliver, look at what you made me do...make Alton Brown's "The Chewy"!!!

Kenji says to put the spaghetti in a skiller and cover it with water. But maybe you already saw that.

So tonight it was chicken with salad with a tamari/honey/togarashi/coconut oil dressing. Soya nuts for added crunch although we decided there was enough crunch in the salad itself.

It just so happens that Serious Eats had this recipe in their email today. They call for 4T olive oil, 1 t black pepper, (toasted in olive oil), 1/2 pound spaghetti, (a small pinch of salt added to water), 2 T butter and 2 ounces (1 cup) Pecorino Romano. Another variation.

I bought some maple and birch syrup in Cochrane Ontario from a place called North of 49. Their Web site is northof49birch.ca In addition to the syrup I bought, they also sell pure birch syrup.

I am in awe of the meals I see posted here, and thus seldom post any of mine. Tonight however, I thought our meal was good enough to post. We had duck breast (medium rare, doesn't really look like it in the picture) with a mango/pepper salad in a jalapeño jelly and lime dressing, roasted tarragon potatoes and broccoli with some almonds browed in butter.

I have my little wish list going and the mini churros are on it. The closest TJs to us is in Syracuse, a 2.5 to 3 hour drive away. But, if it is a nice cold day like today they will stay nice and frozen in the trunk, no ice packs required. It is a rather numbing -21 celcius today, or -6 F. With the wind chill it is -31C or -24 F. We were out earlier today and very bracing, it was. Glad to be back inside.

Heidi, thank you. I subscribe to her newsletter and that started me thinking about buying the book.

Anna and Katie, thank you for your comments. They are exactly what I was hoping for. To clarify, I wasn't looking for authentic in the sense that I would have to use my (non-existent) mortar and pestle and starting pounding together 38 different herbs and spices. I am hoping this book will enable me to make tasty, enjoyable dishes with a minimum of fuss, using some store bought ingredients. I like the fact the book covers more than one Asian cuisine. As for the magazine, I did buy LP once, but it wasn't for me so I passed it along to someone who did enjoy it but haven't purchased another copy since. Hopefully a few others might pipe up as well.

I have searched the site and found a few references about this book here and there but there is not a thread dedicated to it. I am thinking about buying this book but would like to know what others who have this book think of it. I know there are Lucky Peach fans on this site and that they think highly of this publication and wondered if that carried on through to the book. I have a few Canadian $ (rapidly shrinking relative to their US counterpart) and would like to use this money to buy an Asian cookbook, a salad book and a pressure cooker book to use with the Instant Pot. The latter two I know which ones I want but the Asian one I am not sure about. The Lucky Peach book appeals to me because it is said to be easy and does not need hard-to-find-ingredients. Any thoughts?

Looks good, Shelby. What's in the tortilla roll-ups?

So if I read this right, the spuds go into to cold oil, then you turn the heat on what, to medium? Then after a bit when the potatoes have softened a bit to turn the heat up (to high?) And leave them in until they are brown and hopefully crisp? Are Idaho potatoes best? I'm keen to try this.

Shelby, I keep lusting after those fries!