pastameshugana
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Posts posted by pastameshugana
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My wife and I were in Brisbane for a few days for my work, and our route took us through Hong Kong. On the way home, we had a 17hr layover, landing at 7am and departing just after midnight. I took advantage of that and planned a food tour of the city. Even though we took the train/subway everywhere, we still ended up walking nearly 11 miles, so we earned our food!
First up was a dumpling shop called Sun Hing on the Island side.
Communal dining as it was tiny:
We had: Custard lava bun, shui mai, shrimp dumpling, pork bao. The custard buns were amazing. One of the best bites in my living memory. Salted duck egg yolk custard in an amazingly perfect bun. All the others were world class as well, but I have (literally) had dreams about this custard bun since we've been back.
Custard bun:
Pork bao:
Then off for roast meats at Dragon State Kitchen restaurant. We had duck and pork, both were excellent. There were others that were more highly recommended, but a combination of closed restaurants and location/distance landed us here. Still, we were not disappointed. Cash only, so I had to leave and find an ATM, but they didn't seem worried that I wouldn't come back.
Pork:
Obligatory pineapple bread and egg tart somewhere along the way:
Then we bopped over to the mainland for the rest of the day. First stop was Mak Man Kee for wonton noodle soup:
Another communal dining experience. Our table-mate spoke a little bit of english and offered to take a picture of us. The wontons were exceptionally good. Absolutely the best I've had. I loved the noodles, my wife not so much. They had an earthy flavor and strong chew. I couldn't work out what was different about them, but they were fantastic. Maybe buckwheat?
After this a few hours of wandering around Jordan and various areas (it's a bit of a blur now). Made it to Kowloon Park and the free aviary, where I snagged a short nap on a bench while my wife watched flamingoes and tourists. There we found a little McD's ice cream kiosk selling Dark Chocolate Kit Kat Sundaes. So of course...
Then ended up in a 7-11 looking for a power bank, and bought the first Slurpee I've had in probably 20 years - Orange and Blue Fanta:
Spent a little bit of time at the Temple Street Night Market, and bought an egg waffle. It was nice, but definitely more photogenic than earthshakingly delicious:
Took some photos of food I wanted to eat but was too stuffed to manage:
Then for dinner, went to Hing Kee for clay pot rice. This restaurant, along with the first one (Sun Hing) were recommendations from Bon Appetit's Lucas Sin, and they are absolute winners.
Oyster pancakes, broccolini(?), and black pepper beef clay pot rice. The broccolini was cooked perfect, a garlicky hit and delicious. The oyster pancakes were amazing. Plump oysters and scallions in a hot, crispy batter with a tangy chili sauce to dip them in. Both of those dishes we ordered after seeing them on someone else's table.
And the clay pot rice was fantastic. The flavor of the beef and sauce on top were perfect, I dipped some of my other dishes in it. If you eat it carefully and don't disturb the rice around the edges/bottom, by the time you get about halfway done, they are nice and crispy. Then we broke it up and stirred it in for the lovely rice crunch. Amazing.
Finally, we stumbled upon this little dessert place while looking for something else: 甜公館 or Sweet Moment
She had Rice ball & brown sugar pearls in mango pomelo sago:
And I had brown sugar mochi creme brulee with ice cream:
They were both fantastic.
What an incredible city. I would love to spend a couple of weeks here just eating, but life goes on...
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6 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:
Would kill for the headcheese.
That is usually a pre-requisite...
...ba-dum-tish...
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16 hours ago, gulfporter said:
Made one of our fav meals, Moroccan Chicken with Olive, Prunes and served with Pecan Couscous. Yeah, it came out a bit charred on the skin side, but we are OK with that.
That chicken looks and sounds wonderful!
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I was home last night nursing a cold and trying to take it easy (I've got several speaking engagements this weekend, so doing all I can to get better / not get worse).
Was reading a little story about a bakery and thought 'I need to bake some bread.' Realized we were out of flour so bopped over to the shop for flower, and saw a little (250ml) bottle of cream and thought, 'Why don't I make some butter while I'm at it?' - which I've never done before.
So, I made some basic salted butter, which was so easy and felt a little bit magical when the whipped cream 'suddenly' became butter. Then the super-easy no-knead bread that we usually make, but I substituted the buttermilk for the water called for.
Made for a delicious breakfast. The texture of the bread was definitely different, reminds me a bit of a biscuit. I'm curious what is happening chemically when using buttermilk instead of plain water in a break recipe (or any baking, for that matter).
Anyhoo, toasted with plenty of butter, what a great brekkie. And I probably need to go have another slice now...
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18 hours ago, OlyveOyl said:
@pastameshugana Thank you, I also like to fill them with savory options, they are nice and crisp and hold up well.
Can you share your recipe/method for the popovers themselves?
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21 hours ago, OlyveOyl said:
The popovers look amazing!
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That egg looks amazing.
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13 hours ago, OlyveOyl said:
Citrus salad for lunch with Cara Cara oranges, baby romaine, radishes and oil cured black olives. A mustardy vinaigrette was the dressing for the salad.
Looks beautiful, would love to see a 'profile' or side picture to see the stack.
Also, great dish!
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13 hours ago, Smithy said:
Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than good.
Something that is regrettably true about most of my kitchen escapades...
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Thanks so much for all the input and thoughts.
@Maison Rustique - no new medications lately (thankfully!)
@Tropicalsenior - a shame!
Now I feel kind of silly, because after all the handwringing over this, and trying to figure this out, I realized that there might be a simpler answer. Our iodized 'table' salt has been stored in a metal container all this time... some googling suggests that this could likely be adding the pronounced metallic taste I've been experiencing.
This is good news for another reason: I despise that container and it's stupid-hard-to-open lid, so now I have a good excuse to buy a new one that I like!
Fingers crossed that this solves the issue.
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One of the things about heavy-handed rubs is that it always seemed to me they had the potential of limiting the smoke influence on the meat. I'm sure it's actually minimal when you consider the molecular sizes/etc., but one of those things that sticks in my head.
On the other hand, I can't fathom the heavy BBQ basting that many do while smoking. In essence, you are now just smoking the sauce, rather than the meat. Or at least it sure seems that way.
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I get the basic reasoning behind iodized table salt.
I've never had a problem with it, really. Great for pasta water, or just kept in a dish for a quick salt addition when needed.
I've also really enjoyed other salts over the years. Different sea salts, and while I certainly don't have a 'golden palate' there have been times when I've tasted salt that was definitely 'better' or 'worse' than others.
However, recently, the iodized salt has started to really bother me, taste-wise. It's like I can suddenly taste 'it'. There's a distinct metallic tang that is really standing out to me that never has before. I've stopped using it when cooking almost universally, and on the table we've got sea salt in a grinder.
It's weird because it's really sudden and pronounced. The other day my wife made pasta, and used sea salt in the sauce but the iodized in the pasta water, and I could taste it on the noodles.
Has this ever happened to any of you? Am I becoming a salt snob? Am I destined to die of goiter because I can't stand the taste of iodized salt?
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So, we had our 'Thanksgiving' early because the in-laws were in town (leaving today).
Our big plans kept getting simpler as the schedule got fuller. Seeing the lions, family pictures, shopping, etc etc etc.
So, on request, I re-made my 'not-shepherds-pie' from the dinner thread (with chicken and various veggies). Got a much better color on the top this time. I realized why we like this so much: It reminds me of the 'after thanksgiving' sandwiches we would make with all of the components of the meal between bread. For lunch today, I'll be putting this on bread with some cranberry/fig jam!
Then Mrs Meshugana and her mom made some mini 'hand-pies', half were pumpkin, and the other half were blueberry/strawberry. Plus some homemade whipped cream. Those were outstanding.
Some rolls and veggie sides. At most of the stores here you can buy fresh dough in a bag, you just refrigerate it until you're ready for it, then bake away. This batch was very yeasty, and tasted great with a real salty butter.
Then, because we're in the Southern Hemisphere, the kids all jumped in the pool.
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Given that salt isn't considered a spice, I vote that we include black pepper in the 'no spice' list.
So, salt & pepper being a given in the pantry, I think I would have to say chilli (again in all it's forms and spellings, as @liuzhou said) would be the one I couldn't give up. You can get so many flavors depending on what and how you use it.
But, I guess I'm technically breaking the rules by including black pepper.
Although, I think if I had to choose only one (plus salt), it would still be chilli.
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22 hours ago, TdeV said:
@haresfur mentioned a stuffed pumpkin which reminded me of a delicious Swiss Savoury Stuffed Pumpkin. I enjoyed it so much I set out to find a recipe to replicate that fabulous dinner, and came up with this Pumpkin Recipe from Ruth Reichl. Mine differs from haresfur's because of the addition of Swiss cheese – Emmenthaler, Gruyere or Appenzeller.
More than the sum of its parts.
Both of these stuffed pumpkin ideas sound amazing. I'm pretty certain I'll be making some version of this. Especially since, here, as in most places outside of the US, pumpkin is nearly always a savory item, rather than sweet.
Also @Rickbern's suggestion of springboek isn't a bad idea. It's certainly easy to find, as well as Wildebeest, Crocodile, & Zebra pate...
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Thank you for all the great ideas to ponder!
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I'm just curious to see what kinds of creative things people who both a) Celebrate Thanksgiving and, b) Don't want to make a turkey, come up with.
We're in South Africa currently, and while I can find a turkey, it's a bit of a chore. And to be honest, I don't really love turkey all that much. It's just ... ok.
We'll be having an early TG because family will be visiting, so I want to start to get a menu and a plan in place.
There's obvious 'holiday mains' we can sub in, like a roast, a ham, etc.. Curious if anyone has any creative alternative ideas that might not be springing to my mind.
I also wouldn't mind trying something completely different, like co-opting an entire meal - from mains to sides to desserts - from a different holiday or even a different culture to create a truly unique Thanksgiving meal. For us, everything is already upside down, as we celebrate what are traditionally fall & winter holidays in the summer, so changing the menu shouldn't be any more shocking than going for a swim after a Thanksgiving meal.
Anyway, I'm open to creative ideas!
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Ok, here's my question, but it comes from an experience:
A week or so ago, while in an experimental mood, I thought it would be nice to try poaching chicken with milk. We had some thighs that needed to be used up, and I had been browsing some vaguely middle-eastern sounding recipes and thought I would create something. (Actually, I'm a huge fan of Ottolenghi's Jerusalem, but didn't have the ingredients to make one of my favorite recipe's, so I was just making stuff up.)What I think my first mistake was is taking the skin off the thighs. I reasoned that it would get 'squigly' and unappealing while poaching, so I removed it with the idea I would fry it separately and add crunchy bits back. The frying didn't turn out, so I had naked chicken.
I added aromatics, salt & pepper, some seasoning to the milk, and poached low and slow until I got the internal temp where I wanted it. Removed the thighs and covered, then strained the milk and used it to cook the rice I was serving with the chicken.
The results: the rice was really quite amazing. Had a velvety texture close to a risotto, but not quite. The interior of the chicken was also incredible. Really moist and pleasant. However, the outside-most of the chicken dried out pretty badly. I presume this was from off-steaming after I removed it from the poaching liquid. Also, the flavor imparted from the poaching liquid was negligible. I think I would have to both increase the amounts, and also do something like sweat or soften the onion/garlic, and maybe toast the spices before adding the milk to get more of that flavor into it.
So - am I on a fool's errand? Is it worth pursuing the milk-poaching method further, any experience with this? As for the texture of the chicken: Would leaving the skin on have helped avoid the off-steaming and drying of the outermost layer?
Any other words of wisdom to send my way?
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I was craving Mexican, and the family was out again. When I get to cook on my own, it's very cathartic. I work from home, and it's a mostly 24/7 kind of job, so when I can get ahead enough to devote time to cooking it just feels good.
Put on some Stevie Ray Vaughan and went to work!
Had to cut 'tortillas' out of some 'wraps' from the store. Mrs. Meshugana is the tortilla maker in our house. The right size to cut was the lid from our sugar container:
Melted some cheese and fried the shells in the cheese for something a little different:
My wife absolutely loves elote, and we haven't had it in years. Boiled the cobs, stripped them, mixed with butter and a dab of plain yoghurt (in lieu of sour cream), some lime juice (and a wedge), and topped with chili powder and crumbled South African feta. Can't get cotija here, but this worked out well. The sweet corn, plus the sour and chili were perfect:
Mexican rice from a random recipe on the internet. Turned out better than I was hoping, and my wife is a little bitter because she said it's better than hers (I disagree) and she's been doing it for years. The mince was pretty standard seasoning and some onion/garlic:
And for dessert, I modified a fudge brownie box mix with: Dark Lindt chocolate pieces, cinnamon, and chili powder to make 'Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies.' These were wonderful. The spices complimented it perfectly, and the little chunks of dark chocolate were lovely little surprises:
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On 10/12/2024 at 8:35 PM, Shel_B said:
I haven't had these in more than a decade. They were somewhat of a staple in our home when I was a kid. I didn't know they were still in business. They're not as tasty or texturally satisfying as I recall, and they weren't that great when I was 13 years old, either. But there they were, on an end display in the market this morning, and I just had to try 'em. I'm good for another decade ...
When I was a kid, the Entenmann's man came to our church (still does, just retired). There were always plenty of goodies to give out at the end of his route. The donuts weren't very nice, pretty plasticky, but my dad and me *loved* the danish twists and crumb coffee cakes.
A quick glance at the website shows they are now owned by Bimbo, wonder how long that has been the case. But I also haven't seen one in ages, so distribution must be pretty small.
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8 hours ago, Norm Matthews said:
I was reading @pastameshugana chicken pie recipe and thinking how good it sounded. At the same time I was trying to think of a name for it. All I came up with was Chickherd pie or Flockherd pie while imagining an image of someone trying to herd a flock of chickens. Suddenly I remembered some left-over turkey that needed to be used soon and got inspired to try a turkey version- without mashed potatoes though. I made a roux with butter, flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg and oregano , added some evaporated milk and chicken stock. I melted in some guyer cheese. I cooked in melted butter and oil until soft, some onion, celery, carrot, peas & broccoli. I intended to add mushrooms but forgot to put them on my shopping list. The ingredients were added to a bread pan along with some turkey and topped with biscuit dough brushed with butter and baked until the biscuits were browned and the casserole was heated through. I was going to use James Beard's rich biscuit dough but chickened out (pun intended) and used refrigerator biscuits instead.
Norm, this looks (and sounds) great!
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4 hours ago, liuzhou said:
a vegetarian atrocity not fit to grace these forums
Lol
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26 minutes ago, Kerala said:
That looks really great, and I'm tempted to make that myself. But, I'll be the one to say it today, that's no shepherds pie!
Alas, I figured as much. From my googling, it appears that to qualify it must, at bare minimum, be beef or lamb. Is that the main distinction?
Also, is there a 'name' for a dish like this with chicken, or just 'chicken shepherd's pie'?
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Last night, the family was out again, and I saw some potatoes sitting there. My actual inspiration was making 'something with mashed potatoes' and I thought about Shepherd's Pie.
To be fair, I have never eaten Shepherd's Pie (in my memory, at least), or even read a recipe, but I've seen plenty of pictures. I was about to look up a recipe and then thought 'This sounds like the kind of dish someone just made up out of what they had on hand,' and so, with hubris as my guide, decided to just plod ahead.
Boiled potatoes in chicken stock, mashed in the stand mixer with butter, plain yoghurt (easier to find here than sour cream), mustard powder (again, because plain mustard is hard to find here, but I just 'felt' like it needed it), salt & pepper.
Roasted veg (sweet onion, carrot, button mushroom, butternut squash, and a whole clove of garlic which was set aside). Also boiled some fresh peas to add color.
Sautéed chicken breasts with salt, pepper, chili, and a dash of liquid smoke, then chopped.
Made a thick roux with the roasted garlic from earlier, and some of the reserved chicken stock/potato water. Mixed the roux with the roasted veg and chopped chicken and put into the casserole dish, topped with a layer of cheddar cheese and broiled to consolidate, then topped with the potatoes, a light sprinkling of chili powder for color, then roasted, and topped with chives.
I don't know if this even qualifies as a shepherd's pie, but it was far tastier than I was expecting, and the family was extremely happy with it. I am counting down the hours until I can eat it again for lunch!
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Lunch 2025
in Cooking
Posted
This sounds amazing. Especially with something like a brie and a blueberry or raspberry syrup.
I'm going to have to make some...