trillium

I forgot to add that I like to do claypot dishes with lap yuk and taro root plus whatever I'm in the mood for (mushrooms, fermented tofu, tofu skins, chicken etc). regards, trillium

Ohh...you're in Portland too? And you have someone in SF who would send you some? What can I bribe you with? I really don't like the stuff from Canada (no offense to the Canucks) it's too sweet and wet. I fantasize about making my own, but the recipe I have says to smoke it over lychee branches, which I think would be pretty hard to come by (plus I don't have a smoker)! Maybe another fruit wood would suffice. Turkey lap cheung? Hmmmm. Have you tried it? regards, trillium

Is their lap cheung the kind that is strung up (vs. the plastic packaged kind). I'm looking for a good place to mail order since I can't find any I like where I live and the stash brought back from Philly is running low. Grace Young has a lap yuk recipe in her book. regards, trillium

I'm far from an expert, but based on personal experience I can assure you that there is a pretty decent rice noodle eating tradition for a certain bunch of people from India (think south...sevai), plus all those noodle desserts (imagine homer simpson voice...phaaaloooooda) . For what it's worth, Ms. Jaffrey asserts in her new book that Indians have been eating noodles as long as they've been cultivating grains, which is a pretty damn long time, if that's right. regards, trillium

I think we nearly agree on what's decent, but for the prices at El Palenque you can eat much better Mexican food at other spots. Of course, non of them are in Sellwood, and there isn't much Salvadorean food around period, but I'd rather just not eat something than eat a mediocre version. I give Palenque a C- based on how bad the food was and how nice the owner was. If he hadn't been so nice, it'd probably be a D+. Instant rice in a restaurant is not ok! I'll give you that I was there on a bad night and you were there on a good night. My bad night was bad enough that I probably won't try again unless something really provides motivation. I ate at Taco Hell all through college is and if I can't find anything else in a place/situation, it'd be my first choice of many chains. Those burritos got me through my senior year! I am probably stricter about my sensibilities, though, food is serious with me, just chalk it up to the Sicilian side of the family. You know, you talk about what to make for dinner at lunch, whether the food was better at last year's family reunion or the one 10 years ago, etc. etc. But yeah, my friends can sometimes find me a pain in the ass when we're deciding where to eat. Of course, they jump at a chance to come over and eat and drink at my house, so they tolerate me. Taste certainly has a major subjective component to it, no arguments there. regards, trillium

What does decent mean? Doesn't give you food poisoning or cost too much? The rice sucked and the tamales sucked (I think it was the worst tamale I've ever eaten and I've eaten a lot of tamales from high end to trucks on the side of the road). The pupusa nearly sucked. That combined with nothing stellar counts as an over all "it sucks" in my book. Life is too short to eat bad food, I don't care how cheap or expensive it is! I loved Karam, so I don't think my sensibilities are all that much finer than yours. Maybe travel in Mexico and living in Chicago (3rd largest latino population in the US) has made me picky, I dunno. When you do I'll be the first in line. regards, trillium

I doubt the banging against the side of the bowl serves to remove air pockets. It's how the parnter learned how to do wonton filling and when you don't do it the texture is less tender or fluffy and more solid. If I were to make an educated guess, I'd guess that the mechanical force just breaks down some of the proteins in the meat and serves to allow the mixture to be more of a complete amalgam of stuff which can retain/emulsify the fat and liquid rather then a mix of seperate parts. Chewiness in other sorts of meatballs, like many things/textures in cuisine, can be an acquired taste to someone not accustomed to encountering it on their plate, but I'd hardly call it horrible! regards, trillium

I just wanted to add my 2 cents to this thread. We finally ate at El Palenque last weekend and from our meal I'd swear that we were eating at a different restaurant than the one described. I really wanted to like this place, it's the closest restaurant to where we live and the owners seem really nice, but I thought the food sucked. The pupusas were ok. Not great, and tasted watery, bland and soggy from the grease. I think they had been in the freezer too long. I have nothing against pre-making them in such a small place, but they just didn't have that nice toasty masa flavor with a crisp outside and soft steamy masa scented inside. The curtido to accompany only contained cabbage (no detectable onion, no carrot and no chillies!!), but it was better than the pupusa. They were out of black beans, the pintos were perfectly good, but the rice tasted like it was made from parboiled stuff. The beef tamale was covered in cheddar and white cheese, which is just plain wrong and would have been a sin against humanity if the tamale had been any better. It was mostly masa, no detectable banana leaf fragrance, and the masa tasted like it had been made with crisco. The filling was ok, but too dry. The empanadas made of platinos and stuffed with cheese were the best part of the dinner, canela scented and with a nice cheese to platino ratio, my only complaint would be that the platinos could have been a little riper, but that may just be a personal preference. regards, trillium

It's usually an incentive for me to drink elsewhere, which is why I avoid Laurelwood. I hate out of control loud kids running around and that place is one of the worst in that regard. The food isn't that good for me to go back! Oh, another place I haven't seen the likes of in Seattle would be Corbett Fish house. Transplanted Wisconsoners that do a better fish fry than what I ate outside of Madison. regards, trillium

Or Bewon. I don't think there's anything like it in Seattle. Good neighborhood places kinda depend on the neighborhood. Ken's Place is a nice spot in Hawthorne (different Ken from Ken's Artisan). Grand Central is no different than what you get at the GCs in Seattle, so I'd skip it. I adore Ken's bread. His pastries are ok and expensive (not bad, mind you, but not as out of this world as the bread). If you decide to have a snack in the shop, I recommend the croque monsieur, it's good, and piled high with Niman Ranch ham. He also carries mariage freres teas, for very reasonable prices by the pot (and they're properly brewed in a Chatsford tea pot as well). For more on the sweet side, there is Pix patisserie, which I always take out of town guests to. Good stuff. And if you're by Powell's, check out mio gelato. regards, trillium

We tried the pomme eaux de vie years ago. I remember it being very rough and flavorful, but preferring the Calvados I buy to be smoother. It was a while ago, and maybe my tastes have changed. They're in downtown Portland, and I keep trying to get there for a tour (you have to call ahead) but since it's only during business hours I haven't managed to yet. At Park Kitchen, a local restaurant and bar, the pear brandy sidecars are rumored to be quite good and they use the poire from Clear Creek. regards, trillium

You might check out the Tilia foodsaver "professional" model. You can pick them up on ebay for at least $100 less than the list price. I wouldn't go for the other models because they don't have as many useful features, but I love mine and feel like it's totally worth the money we spent on it. It virtually eliminates freezer burn and the bags are microwavable or boilable, although I tend not to use them in that fashion because they aren't as useful a second time around if they've been cooked. I like reusing the bags because they're costly (but a pretty good price at Costco). Even soups work ok, you freeze the soup with the bag unsealed and then vacuum seal it after the soup is frozen. It also vacuum seals canning jars, although it involves some fiddling. On the frozen food front, red wine braised beef, Bolognese sauce for pasta, and braised chicken dishes like chicken marbella all freeze really well. regards, trillium

Not that I'm trying to talk any of you out of buying a new kitchen toy, but the guys behind the meat counter at my grocery store grind up whole chickens for people's pets. They recently started charging a little more / lb for the service, it was free before. regards, trillium

Su yuk (Cantonese). Most of the time I see it, it's the whole piglet, but the belly is what gets roasted if you're just roasting a piece. Yan Kit So's Classic Chinese Cooking has a recipe. regards, trillium

Here in the Pacific Northwest, I go for late June or early July. I think Jim does his later, but I like the nuts to be younger. It's not at all unusual for these sorts of differences amongst people who make nocino, it's really a personal preference for how much green herbal vs. dark nutty flavors you want in your tipple, I honestly think the saints days have nothing to do with it. Walnuts grow like crazy everywhere in this town, I can't imagine having to buy any. If I didn't know someone who had a tree I'd probably just knock on the door of a house with a tree by the sidewalk and ask for some. You don't need that many and I rarely see that people around here can keep up with all of the nuts from a mature tree. I've never seen them for sale in Arabic shops in larger cities, but it could just be that I haven't looked (I have seen green almonds though). happy sipping, trillium

I buy my beef from River Run Farm. I like it that they dry age it, and I really enjoy the taste. If you're looking for super lean, they're not it, though, the meat is well-marbled. I know for a fact that their butcher is in Seattle, but I don't know if they sell anything there. If you email, I'll bet Ellen will come up with something. regards, trillium

That sounds like it has promise, thanks for the link. Last night I started candying some of the peels and they really make the house smell good. If you want to, you can use the http button above where you type text, you'll be prompted for the url and then the name you want to give it. It will appear in the text as the name you assigned it, highlighted and attached to the website. regards, trillium

Hendrick's has been discussed quite a few times in this board most notably here, here, and here. It seems to have a few fans. I haven't tried it yet, I'm done Junipero and now I'm on Plymouth. regards, trillium

Hi Lucy, How funny that you posted this recipe right as I was thinking about making some vin d'orange (well vin d'citrus really) with all the cool citrus I can get to right now. The recipes I have are a little different, but the idea of blendering up the oranges sounds kinda neat. Are you looking for ideas for infusing alcohol with different flavors? Or something that is more a wine based thing? When green walnut time rolls around you could make nocino or there's always rosolio or limoncello and it's variants. There's also a long threadon infusing vodka with different flavors, I got in trouble for thinking jolly ranchers in vodka was gross, but there are other ideas as well. regards, trillium

dammit, I could have been paid for that?!? next time... I dunno. Maybe the Bengalis I know are just wimps. Whole green chillies? Forget it. They're too busy putting jaggery where it doesn't belong. Andhran food....yum. Yeah, in general, from what I've noticed, SE Asian food can make the toughest Indian sweat, but I've never had a serious heat loving southerner (from India) eat at our house. When a Bombayian eats at our house he suffers, but it doesn't stop him from eating, just slows him down a little. I'm originally from the Pacific Northwest but I've lived with a chilli-loving Singaporean for the last 10 years and I guess it's rubbed off. We grow our own because the shops don't carry the right kind and they're never hot enough. He's complaining because now in Portland we don't have those scorching summers like we did in the midwest and the chillies aren't as hot. When it's not chilli growing season, we usually have those little green SE Asian guys, little reds, long reds and medium reds in the freezer, dried medium and long red, at least 3 or 4 sambals and plenty of rempah (fresh tumeric, chillies, galangal and shallots with a touch of belecan) and pickled big green guys, plus Nonya "curry" powder from S'pore made to his mum-in-laws specs. When it's just us, I'm the wimp in the house, but then someone from a spicy food eating place comes over and screams bloody murder about the hot and it makes me feel better. My mum claims that living with him has robbed me of my tastebuds, she literally cries sometimes when she eats with us, and he's actually toned down the hot for her. regards, trillium

If we're talking about obscenely large sums of cash, one could argue that this is a fairly recent development in the long line of human invention.... regards, trillium

Blue Heron: Baked Salt Chicken doesn't have a Crispy Skin since it baked in a External Salt Cover thats cracked open before being served. I like to explain salt-baked chicken to diners not used to the concept as a chicken that is steamed in a crust of salt in the oven. You're not the first person who has been surprised that the salt-baked chicken didn't resemble baked chicken at all! A good salt-baked chicken should be very moist and tender like you described, with a velvety soft skin and flesh lightly scented with cilantro, scallions, ginger and star anise, which are stuffed in the cavity while it cooks. (Not everyone enjoys eating steamed chicken skin, though.) The chicken gets chopped up and sprinkled with cilantro. It should also come with at least one dipping sauce, the default is an oily ginger sauce, but can also come with chilli, garlic or citrus based sauces as well. When I'm in a hakka restaurant I always try to order things made with preserved/salted vegetables, fish or eggs or dishes featuring innards. I've been told by a hakka guy from Taiwan (there is a large group of them there) that hakka foods are very salty and fragrant because the hakka were traditionally laborers (as weza mentions) and liked the extra salty food because they sweat so much. Do any hakka restaurants in the Seattle area serve lui char fan (lai cha)? regards, trillium

The Bengalis I've known didn't really impress me with their spicy food eating capabilities (The Tamils and Singaporeans could take them down every time) and they insist on putting too much sweet in savory dishes (ok maybe I should clarify that they were Ghoti or will that just make it worse?). So...I'd tend to side with your lovely wife. That being said, the Korean chilli powder we've bought has been really wimpy in the capsaicin department but we thought maybe we just bought a dud bag. regards, trillium

susan, see above for my pho credentials (non-existent). that being said, i use the chopsticks for the noodles and meat, the soup spoon for the broth; not sure why you need anything but those two. perhaps they were covering all the cutlery bases? if the restaurant's clientele is largely anglo they probably have a default service that may have nothing to do with the clientele's actual abilities and preferences. and i've seen meatballs in many a hardcore pho house (nothing but working class vietnamese patrons) in gardena and torrance in l.a, so i don't think their presence means you're getting something unusual. however, in my experience it is very unusual for the broth to come with everything in it. usually the broth will have just the noodles (and maybe the still mostly raw meat on top)--you mix everything else to your liking. or at least this is how every pho place i've been to in the u.s has done it. (edit to fix grammar) I agree. There are plenty of places where you can pick from a smorgasboard of other offerings besides just raw beef (tripe, flank, brisket, tendon, meatballs etc) but usually you get to pick what you want. The cooked meats always come mixed in but I've never seen cilantro given or the garnishes already added into the soup. The whole point is to flavor it to your liking. I, for instance, never add hoisin to mine, can't stand the stuff, put in lots and lots of sliced chillies and lime juice along with the sawtooth corriander, basil and beansprouts. The partner likes much less lime juice, and siracha in addition to the sliced chillies. Usually you hold the chopsticks in your right hand (if you're right handed) and use it to put noodles and other bits straight into your mouth or you also use them to load up the spoon (which is held in your left hand) with the right balance of stuff and then stuff that (from the spoon) into your mouth. Now I'm hungry. regards, trillium

I wasn't sure whether or not to put this in this thread because it's not exactly Italian....but we used one of the bergamots on some salmon on Friday night. I put it out to warm up and sprinkled zest, plenty of salt (a la Judy Rodgers) and black pepper on the top. When it was time to bake it I put sections of the orange on the top of the fillet. We ate it with garlic and oil pasta and steamed asparagus. Good stuff. Marmalade next weekend...thinking of adding some blood oranges to the mix to counterbalance the bergamots. regards, trillium