patrickamory

liuzhou I am certain that living and cooking for a month in any part of China would turn my world upside-down (in a good way) Kim no apology is ever needed for ham salad, especially not the one pictured rotuts that is the brand I see in Asian markets here, the mascot is certainly memorable.

I tried David Tanis's spring chicken soba noodle soup and heartily recommend it. Pics of the shiro miso I used (so good you can eat it straight with a spoon). Served with smacked cucumbers.

couple recent meals Yellow Indian Woman beans with leek greens Spaghetti puttanesca

Good to see some Thai food again! And hot dogs. And asparagus from the garden. I defrosted my last bag of Hatch chiles and made (New Mexicans avert your eyes) BEEF chile verde, with a 3-lb chuck roast. Served with a bunch of fixins, including this sort of pico de gallo I whipped together: chopped jalapeños, habaneros, cilantro, onion and lime juice:

Tri2Cook: Well, it's complicated. Isn't the diner's relationship with a restaurant a give-and-take, especially if you intend to return? or if you plan to see any of the people in FOH or BOH again at some other restaurant (which is a given in the NYC restaurant scene)? Eating a meal at a good restaurant is not like walking into a deli and buying a six-pack - it's more of a relationship. Of course I believe that it should be skewed in the customer's favor - we are talking about a service industry to some extent - but also the work of producing and serving food is a craft that can reach the level of a work of art, often produced on narrow margins and under high stress. I like to think that I'm the type of eater who is aware of those margins and that stress and want to attain the happiest experience for everyone - given that I'm paying for what is an appropriately priced meal - and also want to be welcomed back, seated at a nice table, recognized, and then recognized again when I'm eating at the next place that my host, server, BOH person or chef is working…. surely it's reciprocal to some degree? Maybe this is just part of the particular ecosystem of New York, where a huge percentage of the populace eats out, at all levels of restaurant, or orders in… everyone knows someone who works at a restaurant, worked at a restaurant, is investing in a restaurant, whose son or daughter is waitressing or waitering. Turns the whole thing into a different vibe? Patrick

Cheaper, more casual restaurants or brunch / diners - people contribute cash, sure. Dining out - people drop credit cards. Since I rarely dine out in groups of more than 4 (often 2 couples) that's 2-4 cards, sometimes 3. Not hugely popular with restaurants but they definitely prefer it to separate checks. I actually can't imagine requesting separate checks at a hot new-ish restaurant like, say, Estela but I'm sure it happens. If it's a larger group it's probably a company function or something similar, and it all goes on one card. Alternatively, in mid-sized groups or deuces, one person takes the group out, and that is reciprocated the next time that party dines together. This is just my experience obviously!

Separate checks are pretty rare among the New Yorkers I know… in fact I can't remember the last time I was in a party that requested them.

I'm pretty sure that here in New York if you order a martini the default will be gin.

Ranz fascinated by chops chutney! Thanks for educating me. CatPoet I thought green ham came from Dr. Seuss No pix tonight, but I soaked scarlet runner beans from a farm in Massachusetts and cooked them in the Rifi tagine in a base of olive oil, onions, tiny late garlic from my friends in upstate NY, Hatch chiles that I just decided to defrost, plus salt, pepper, Mexican oregano, a cup of pressure cooked roast chicken stock, a whole soaked guajillo chile, some bean-soaking liquid and a pinch pimentón de la vera, for many hours until they were meltingly smooth. Served with Anson Mills carolina gold rice and a batch of lemon-marinated chicken thighs and drums roasted at 400F and then broiled till crispy. Guest was happy anyway...

The regulars: Marcella Hazan - The Essentials Madhur Jaffrey - Invitation and A Taste of India John Thorne - pretty much everything, but especially Serious Pig Fuchsia Dunlop - Land of Plenty David Thompson - Thai Food (less so recently due to laziness) More and more I cook from recipes that I find online, and more and more I improvise and change them as I cook.

liamsaunt we make spaghetti with tuna a lot, almost always with the jarred Ortiz stuff. What recipe did you use?

BKEats I have found to my consternation that farmed cheap shrimp from Chinatown tastes better than allegedly wild-caught stuff from upscale places uptown. I go to the seafood place on Mulberry just north of Bayard, on the west side of the street. liamsaunt great food photos. You have got it down.

Interesting… never heard of the pressure cooker taste problem but maybe I should give it an A-B. Yes with a 3-4 hour stock the meat is spent

BKEats I prefer a "dry brine" which I guess isn't really a brine at all, more a dry rub or salting. I find the texture superior - it's the kind of thing I'd have thought you'd be into. The chicken can rest on a rack in the fridge with the cold air circulating around it. It has the moisture-giving effects of a wet brine with the added benefit of a taut skin that crisps up really well. (Obviously won't work for buttermilk marinades for fried chicken etc…) but give it a try sometime! Speaking of chicken, I made chicken adobo based on SobaAddict70's family recipe (what happened to Soba anyway? I miss Soba).

I steam for 45-60 minutes depending on how long it takes to get tender. If I'm feeling adventurous, some bay leaf, celery and a splash of vermouth go in the steaming liquid. Most times I'm not feeling adventurous. I serve with my dad's hollandaise recipe and nothing else. I don't think artichokes need anything else. Actually they barely need the hollandaise, though I do love it!

BKEats a wet brine?? ! But looks delicious… actually an incredible dinner to throw together in one day. Not that I'm surprised given your record.

Shelby I don't enjoy watching any sports but hmm… that could induce me to do so.

I thought Wolfert advocated separate tangines for fish and meat, not for different kinds of meat...

rotuts yes! eggs with tomatoes in sandwiches. The British introduced me to that.

No picture, I roasted a 6.7 lb label rouge chicken from a local farm last night. Paprika-salt-pepper-tarragon rub, extra fresh tarragon inside along with a pierced lemon, trussed and cooked upside-down then right-side up a la Marcella… tough to figure out the times on one of these birds, because a lot of the extra weight is bone not meat. So the 20-25 min per pound rule is not applicable. Also at my boyfriend's mom's house and her oven temp is not reliable. Ended up at nominal 350F, 35 mins breast down, 60 mins breast up, then 450F for 20 mins sear. About 10 mins rest. It was perfect. Actually, the best chicken I've had in a couple years. For those of you in Massachusetts, the source is Meadow Mist Farms. Unfortunately - no pictures!

liuzhou and BKE wonderful food and info. BKE, I will say that as a child I was forced to learn how to work for my lobster. For years I only sucked the little legs dry, then gradually learned the claws and finally the rest. huiray, tasty looking congee. I feel like I'm always cooking the same things and it's boring. Nonetheless here they are again, and you'll have to take my word that they have varied over my time here (details on request). Kheema mattar - back to the Madhur Jaffrey concept, but with ideas borrowed from Atul Kocchar and what I've learned making Texas chili over the years. White cannellini beans prepared Tuscan style from Purcell Mountain Farms. I'm making all my dried beans in my Rifi tagine now and the results are consistently superior to anything else. Variation on the marinated lemon basil chicken I posted about a few weeks ago… this time I did not pulse the basil leaves but left them whole. Far superior. The high-heat roasting method in a half sheet is also the ticket here. Served with leftover beans (which got better overnight).

Bangers and mash with duck fat carrots look to die for Anna. Rancho Gordo are out of white coronas and in fact all their white beans so I went back to Purcell Mountain and placed an order for their giant whites as well as some cannellinis. Cooked the giant white beans in the tagine with onions, celery, garlic, rosemary and not much else but the soaking liquid till the beans were falling apart creamy… superb. Purcell Mountain Farms - I'd forgotten about them - highly recommended!

Hassouni, I don't think orange bitters are canonical, though they may be tasty.

Constantin pizza looks incroyable BK Eats everything is awesome but somehow that whole grain mustard really speaks to me - anything unusual? Arroz caldo

Berkshire black pig pork chops. Cooked using Kenji's reverse-sear method, marinated in Julia Child's spice rub. These were particularly well-marbled, having come from Eli's Manhattan (they better have been good at that price - fortunately they were).