Blue Heron

Well, in the South of course, we always add a little Durkee's Special Sauce. Ain't no such thing as a Southern refrigerator without Durkee's in it. What is Durkee's Special Sauce? You aren't talking about Durkee's Hot Sauce are you? I think that might be the only kind of Durkee sauce we get up here, I would have to check.

The dressing is the tricky part. Is it mayo, lemon juice, honey or sugar? Anything else? How much of everything goes in it? Does the lemon juice help to keep the apples from turning brown? How far in advance can one make this salad? I've never made waldorf salad.

tommy... your larb looks better than the larb I had the other night at the thai restaurant. Did you use the recipe that you linked to on the thai crab salad thread? This one? Do you ever make yours with ground pork or just ground chicken? Also, do you grind your own chicken, or buy pre-ground chicken? I think the problem with the larb I had at the Thai restaurant was that there was tooo much raw onion in it and not enough spice/heat, as well as not enough lettuce for my taste. Also I did not detect any lemongrass, which I think would be nice in it, too. Your pictures and words of encouragement have inspired me to try and make it early this week. I will let you know how it goes.

I had my first larb tonight at the new place up on Broadway. I wasn't expecting it to be a salad. Somehow I mistakenly thought tommy's picture showed noodles. I kept asking if they make one with noodles, and the Thai fellow kept insisting no noodles ever. Anyway, I liked it, however there wasn't enough cabbage or lettuce served with mine, so I was able to take about 1/3 of it home and will supplement with more greens tomorrow. I'm anxious to try it at another place too for comparison, because as although this dish was very interesting when I first began it, I lost interest in it and it's taste somewhere along the way, and want to see if perhaps it was just this particular restaurant version that didn't keep my interest. The more I ate of this one, the more bitter or acidic or whatever, it became, I think. (and I normally like some bitter flavors). I think it might taste better wrapped in a lettuce leaf.

I had the wonderful pleasure today of attending a 1 1/2 hour cooking class that Chef Bruce Naftaly of Le Gourmand gave at the Seattle Wild Mushroom Show. He prepared 4 different mushroom dishes. All were delectable. He started with a chantrelle dish with chantrelles, cognac, duck stock, and heavy cream . I was suprised to see him put all ingredients in the pot at the same time and just start cooking and reducing. The resulting dish was so excellent. Next came a fresh shitake dish w/butter, olive oil, duck stock and herbs. Followed by duxelle made with wild mushrooms I had never tasted before (something like matsui - I will check) which was also fantastic. And finally just some simply prepared matsutake's, which is all you need with mushrooms that taste this good. I was fortunate to be directly in front with everything cooking literally 18 inches away from me, and be able to get all my questions answered, too. Chef Natafly is a very friendly personable fellow, and when I took the liberty of mentioning that I know sfroth, he recounted several parties that he has cooked for him over the years, which sfroth has mentioned some of them, as well. Chef Naftaly also gives gourmet cooking classes at his restaurant, which another friend of ours has attended several and highly recommends. Steve, or others, have you attended any of his classes before?

What?? You have a real mouse in your kitchen? Really? Not that I would pass a kitchen inspection due to my cat. I'd let you borrow him, but he's not allowed to eat mice. A couple of times when I was growing up our petstore-bought chipmunk (Alvin) escaped. One time we found in him in the hide-a-bed and the other time he had had made a nest out of my mother's purse in the drawer below the oven. If you have a drawer below the oven, check it out, it's nice cozy warm under there and you might find your mouse.

Let me loudly second that. Worst "tummy upset" ever was this past summer from an unwashed watermelon. Doesn't matter that you are only eating the inside, the knife touches the outside of the rind before the flesh. Now I scrub all melons with a brush and anti-bacterial dish soap. Rachel, sorry to hear you got sick. I wash our melons at home now after a publicized outbreak of e-coli that was traced to cut melons (exactly how you described, too, the knife carrying the bacteria to the inside of the melon). As for the cat germs on the counter, I don't worry about them. A little cleanser takes care of that, and I don't eat off the counters anyway. Plus, he's a really sweet & clean cat (he smells naturally like perfume), I'm sure he doesn't have too many germs anyway. Does anyone wash the triple prewashed veggies, spinach and salad mixes they buy? I have to admit, I do.

I tend to be fairly cautious with my cutting boards (go into dishwasher after each use), wash sponges, careful about cross contamination, washing melons, avacados, etc. before slicing, etc. Never had a bad experience that I know of. Sometimes I don't wash my chicken/chicken pieces before cooking, as I've heard that just spreads germs around the kitchen & sink, and germs will be killed during the cooking process anyway. However, my cat has been known to jump on my counters from time to time, which does not freak me out, so I'm sure I'm exposed to plenty of germs. Jinmyo, my neighbor accidentally rubbed some wasabi in his eyes once. He said it was not very pleasant either. A biohazard suit is not a bad idea.

Nightscotsman, what about your current job? Are you thinking of a career change? My favorite thing to get at SSCC pastry shop are their Napoleons. Also their Napoleon Cakes, which I order special order to make sure they have them, which they will slice for you expertly upon request ahead of time. French pastries, cookies, chocolates, cakes (sacher torte, carrot cake, fruit tartes, honey almond tarte thingy, etc)... I've never had a bad experience there with their pastries (although their breads are just so). Their hours are 11am-4pm (best stuff goes between 11am-1pm depending when class finishes), at 6000- 16th Ave. SW. Seattle, 206-764-5828. For special orders to their pastry lab, the phone # is 206-764-5818. They also do holiday theme cakes.

Bringing this one to the top again. When will Alton Brown be there? I will have to read the web site to glean any info... Also, don't forget, the Wild Mushroom Show is also going on out there at the same location.

nightscotsman, thanks for posting the menu from the Seattle Central CC. I never knew they served such good food there, and I even used to live just 1 1/2 blocks away! I'll stop up there for lunch soon when I visit my tenants who now live in my old place. I can see it's going to be hard to decide what to order though, everything sounds so good. I've mentioned this in an earlier thread, but South Seattle CC also has an excellent culinary program, with similar gourmet lunches served M-F during the school year, as well an an excellent pastry shop (cheap), and florist shop. I used to go regularly with a neighbor of mine, but haven't been the past year since she passed away.

I love everything I've ever had at Thai Tom on " the Ave.", including the Swimming Rama. I love the theater of the place too, sitting at the counter watching the cooks at work with flames shooting to the ceiling. Considering there are so many Thai places in town, many of them are mediocre and not recommendable. I can't really recommend either Thai place in W. Seattle that I've tried. They are ok for some things (like Sate), but the Phad Thai is too sweet for me, a common problem. My Thai friend from Bangkok doesn't eat at any of Seattle/Eastside Thai restaurants since she says they don't taste the same as in Thailand. Does anyone know of a place I could take her to, that she might like? I haven't taken her to Thai Tom since it's so small, I never know if there will be an extra seat available. But maybe we should just go and take our chances.

torakris - I'm glad to hear you liked the crab salad! Thank's for the tips on Nigella's mint chocolate mousse, too. mb7o -that Steamed Curry Fish recipe looks really good. I'd like to try it, too. Especially now I know I can get kaffir lime leaves at Uwajimaya. nightscotsman & mamster - where on Broadway is the new "Simply Paradise" Thai restaurant? mamster, did you like it better than the other place on Broadway that you like a lot? I talked to my Thai girlfriend from Bangkok and believe it or not she's never made larb! She said her mom has made it before, and asked me for the recipes tommy provided, so she can make some. So mamster was totally right about larb not being something a homecook in Bangkok might make regularly. I'm also sending her tommy & Jinmyo's pictures of it, too.

Yikes that looks good! I'm calling her today!

I'm officially on a larb quest! I wonder why I never knew about this before? I think I need to get out more often! If I don't find this in one of our zillion local Thai restaurants I'm heading over to my Thai friend's house to make some with her.

Perhaps we should do an eGullet dinner ? - S Great idea, but how will we ever decide on a place? There are so many that I want to try! Places I haven't tried yet, but are curious about are E & O, Nishino's, Zoe, Szmania, Tulio. There are also some places on the list I've been to and wouldn't mind going to again. What appeals to everyone else? And welcome to eGullet Malaika! Among the Participating Restaurants: Andaluca, Assaggio, Barking Frog, Brasa, Canlis, Cascadia, Earth & Ocean, Etta's, Fandango, Flying Fish, Hunt Club, Kaspars, Market Street, Nell's, Nishino, Ponti Seafood Grill, Ray's Boathouse, Restaurant Zoë, Szmania's, Tulio, Waterfront, Yarrow Bay Grill.

Yes, I shook the can of lite coconut milk (a Thai brand) and mixed it up before I used it. It was still pretty thin though (since with the lite there's not much that separates) and maybe that is what added to the overly juiciness of the crab mixture. I'd be curious to see how it turns out with regular canned coconut milk, which I think is thicker. Either way, I don't think you can go wrong on this one. Also, regarding the crab... I used fresh dungeness, as that's what we have on the west coast. I think any kind of fresh crab will work well... or shrimp. Also, the larb sounds right up my alley. mmmm.

torakris, let us know how they turn out, as well as the squash soup and mint chocolate mousse which also sound delicious. I think you will like them. If you use regular coconut milk, please let us know if you can taste the coconut flavor, or if it all melds together the way it did when I used the lite coconut milk. I think it's great that you get together with your friend every week to try out new recipes and have lunch together. Good break for you, too!

So if I find this product at De Laurenti... my next question is, how do you make the sandwich? What type of cheese do you use? When you say egg, do you mean egg salad? Do you make it on a hamburger bun? How thick do you slice the pork roll, or do you use several slices? What condiments generally go on it? My curiosity is really piqued now, and it's a good excuse to go to De Laurenti at Pike Place Market, which I love going to anyway.

Now that I think about it again, I think you could also try cutting the coconut milk by half, to make it 1/4 C., and see how that works, and if you need to, then add the other 1/4 C. I think the coconut milk also acts to cut the acidity of the lime juice a bit, too. But you definitely need to strain the crab mixture a little bit from the marinade when you fill the endive, to avoid them from being too juicy, which was the only problem with them I had. I'm going to try making them with shrimp next, and see how that tastes, too.

Thanks! However, I don't know what larb-like means. Unless you are allergic to coconut milk, I don't think you need to skip it. When I used the lite coconut milk, I couldn't even taste it as a separate ingredient. It all melds very well into into a complex flavor with everyonce in awhile getting a tiny hit of lemongrass, chili, basil, or cilantro. In otherwords, I couldn't detect the coconut. I think you could skip it though if you like without any harm. I used a large lime rather than a small, so mine was quite limey, I think.

Rachel asked that I post on the cooking forum the following recipe that I served at our Seattle eGullet potluck on Oct. 10 that Jason attended. These are light, refreshing and yummy! I hope others will post or link to their yummy potluck recipes, as well! Everthing there was a standout! Thai Crab Salad in Endive Leaves - makes about 24 filled leaves 2 (or 3) red chilies, cored, seeded & finely chopped (I substituted green serrano as I couldn't find red) 1 garlic clove, minced 2 inches of lemongrass, very finely chopped (I used the inside tender part). grated zest & juice of 1 lime (I only used the juice, but I think the zest would be a nice addition) 1 T. fish sauce 1/2 C. canned coconut milk 1 tsp. sugar 1 small onion or shallot, finely chopped, or 2 green onions finely sliced (I used shallot) salt to taste 3 1/2 C. cooked crabmeat or shelled deveined shrimp, finely chopped (I only used crab, but I think shrimp would make a good substitute if you don't have crab) 1 bunch basil, preferably Asian basil, torn (I used Thai basil) 1 bunch cilantro leaves, torn, plus extra to top (I chopped coarsely) Belgian endive leaves, preferably red, or mini Little Gem lettuce leaves, to serve (I used green belgian endive, as that's all I could find) The recipe calls for putting 1 of the chopped chili, garlic, lemongrass, lime zest & juice, fish sauce, coconut milk, & sugar into a bowl & mix well until the sugar dissolves (but I used both chili's as they seemed mild enough). Taste & adjust seasonings. Fold in the crabmeat or chopped shrimp and chopped herbs, then spoon about 1 T. in the base of each endive or lettuce leaf (I filled the entire endive with the crab mixture instead). Serve topped with finely chopped chili and torn cilantro leaves. Tips: When I made this salad, the coconut milk and lime juice caused it to be kind of juicy. This may have been because I used lite coconut milk (as that's what I had on hand). I think next time I would use regular coconut milk. Also next time, I would use a sieve to separate the crab salad from the marinade mix, when it comes time to fill the leaves. It's fine to make the crab salad a few hours ahead of time, although I would wait to fill the leaves just before serving, as the endive will lose crispness if filled and refrigerated too far in advance. This recipe is adapted from the cookbook Fingerfood by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern/Time-Life Books. Below is a picture of my Thai Crab Salad in Endive Leaves.

You mean only $1.50 for a glass of beer? Isn't that cheap? Do you remember what other items were on the menu? ie. did they have spring rolls or salad rolls? With the weather getting crisper, it's a good time to have some pho again.

Sept. & Oct. is wild Huckleberry season! Mr. Heron spotted them in the Monroe, WA area while he was foraging for chantrelles today. Unfortunately he didn't bring any home, except for 1 lone huckleberry which made it's way into the chantrelles he brought back. I believe my neighbor also finds them on Snoqualmie Pass, but perhaps they are also at the farmers markets this month, too. Hubby brought back about 3 3/4 lbs chantrelles today and we feasted on some for dinner tonight made into a chantrelle ragout. mmmm. tsquare... I'm not really sure which chantrelles are better... the smaller ones or the larger ones. As long as they are dry, I think they might be the same? Psychologically maybe the smaller ones are better? This is a good time to get them as they are still pretty dry. As it gets more rainy later on this month and next, they will get more water laden and not be as tasty, I think.

Ben, you absolutey need to try pate, and I mean soon. Nothing to be afraid of! It's very very good with crusty country bread or baguette. It's best to get the good stuff, though, not the stuff that comes in a small crock that I don't like as well. I buy it by the slice at Admiral Thriftway (it's great on a picnic or as an appetizer before dinner). I also like the pate at Cafe Campagne and remember buying some to go when they used to have their deli case. As for salami, I also love it, and the salami at Le Pichet was very good. However I tend to more associate it with picnic fare or something I would have at home and their other choices appeal more to me.