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Bond Girl

eGullet Society staff emeritus
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Everything posted by Bond Girl

  1. Since my favorite japanese bakery is closing, anyone have a recipe for those light fluffy breads?
  2. I read somewheres that Milk in china was widely consumed by nomadic tribes that roamed the grasslands. The Hans who populate the developed parts of China (I believe parts inside the great wall) did not want to include it in their diets because it was consider food of the "barbarians". That might just be fibs but I think that might be why many westerners carries misconceptions about milk in Chinese diets. Because westerners who arrived in China for trading purposes in those days dealt many with the Hans. While we are on the subject, does anyone know what stir fried milk (a savory dish) is called in Chinese?
  3. I think it is unique for the home cooking it represents-I guess it's new and fascinating to a city girl like me because it is not so standardized and because it is home cooking, each and everyone is different and unique. You can have three different versions of etouffes if you like. You are right, a composed lunch of a meat and 3 veg is not so extraordinary. For the same argument, you can say, a course at Per Se is really not that special since it's a little piece of fish sitting in a sauce on top of a big plate. It really comes downt o how it's done.... I haven't traveled in the South at all. I've never had to drive car to get anything (no drivers license) so even the snowball / daquiri drive throughs are a riot for me. It's just perspective that's all.
  4. Thanks. I think the plate lunch places in and around lafayette is kind of unique, now that I have a few things to compare it to.
  5. "plate lunches" are common across the U.S. the constituents vary based upon the regional cuisine. ← Nathan, can you give me some examples for specific places? I don't travel through middle america much so the concept of a shack that only serves lunch is kind of wild for me. Also, if it's really common across US, can I find a plate lunch place say in San Francisco, or in Seattle, or even Tallahassee?
  6. I just came back from Lafayette and noticed that there are an abundance of plate lunch places. Is it a Louisiana thing, or strictly a Lafayette thing? Anyone know what defines a 'Plate Lunch"? How did the tradition evolve? and how is that different from plate lunches in Hawaii?
  7. That's beautiful Ellen. Something I can relate to, having lost my own father recently.
  8. you may find helpful chillies cheers Waaza ← Great resource Thanks!
  9. I am researching for an article on the role of chilies in Goan Food and need easy traditional home recipes for dishes like curries, xiacutis and vindaloo. Can anyone help? Also any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. ps. I will give full credit for any recipes used.
  10. Having just came out of the Harold McGee's seminar where induction is discussed at length. The opinion is that induction is a great efficient way to go. yes, the unit sucks a lot of electricity, but it evens out because it takes less time to cook stuff. The problems, from what I heard, are that most induction designed for home use require a 220 V line to have decent power, and most have not worked out the kinks in the cooling of the unit, so the circuit blows out after heavy use. Infrastructure for servicing the unit is not really there so getting it repaired may be a pain. The guy who outfits the kitchen for FCI says if it were his own home and he has all the money in the world he's go with gas and get an induction on the side for stuff like boiling water. Having said that, I am looking for a cheap single burner that uses 220V for my own kitchen. If it blows, I can replace it without crying over it.
  11. Damn, I got the title reversed. It's actually Grains, Greens and Grated Coconut. (Sorry, Ammini!) Nonetheless, this is a undoubtedly one of the most delightful cookbooks in the Bond Girl Kitchen library. Written beautifully by our own Peppertrail. Apparently the New York Times think so too. Read it here. Congrats! Ammini!
  12. I have the cylinder from kitchenaid that you freeze. For general reference, there is an excellent Gourmet article on ice cream machines last year (or may be the year before). I'll bet if you search for it, you can find it.
  13. I just keep it in a random glass jar with a little caviar spoon in it to keep it clean.
  14. Geoff, You have the patiences of many saints. I would have checked myself into a mental home by now. Every weekend, I walk by the greenmarket and I weep because I cannot cook. Not much longer now....I hope. At least, the cabinets are all up.
  15. The joy of appliance related matters. Here are some advices for those shopping for their appliances. The big fancy showroom you see is just as inefficient and flakey as the little mom and pop shops or on-line services. I bought my relatively high end appliances from one of those places in Gramercy park with the big fancy display, fast talking sales person, and five diget refrigeration units, undoubtedly built for palatio homes. The sales person promised that I can get my appliances right away, on-time etc etc. Afterall, they are not sales person, they are "kitchen professionals". My appliances not only did not get delivered on time, they forgot half of my order. This meant further delays. When I call up to complain, I get a reply that goes something like "Chill lady, nothing in life is guaranteed" Hell, I might as well go with a cheaper on-line outfit. Hest, Yoga is a good idea. I've practiced my "Oms" a lot, went to a lot of session that sings the virtues of "patience" and learn to breathe when confronted with the urges to kill someone.
  16. Bond Girl

    Beans

    I second Rancho Gordo. His product is awesome!
  17. Kitchen renovation part 2. Architect is an idiot. There are lots of panels and units that came wwith the kitchen that did not work. Wondering if I am actually paying for the excess. Never buy a kitchen from a friend. You can't get mad at them afterward.
  18. As a forst generation chinese american, I am somewhat spoiled by the chinatown work crew that blows into your home, do what they need to do, get paid and leave. When I had my floors done the whole thing was a day. My friend's kitchen was done in two weeks. Not the best job, but ain't the worst either. The thing is most of these guys are illegal and will only work during weekends and few of them are licensed. You pay them cash and no questions asked. Those are the good old days. These days, the condo requries insurance proof, deposits, you can only work certain hours, licenses, sku numbers etc. The Chinatown crew is out. I would have thought anticipated my kitchen to take longer if I were living in a huge space and has a gigantic suburban size kitchen. I have 42 square feet. That is the size of a shoe closet elsewhere in the country, How long can it take? I don't understand why workers only show up on certain days and do an hour of work then leave. Nor do I understand why prices quadruple. I am relatively happy with my installation guy right now and he has been on-target with his 2 day estimate. It's the this is suppose to happen but did not happen that is creating all the delays. Somehow I think Kiliki's experience only happen on rare instances. The one guy that came with rave reviews from all his clients is the greasiest and slimiest of all. His price was five times everyone else's and he refused to sign a contract.
  19. Do tell us more! Terila, after hearing your story, I am getting down on my hands and knees to thank the great kitchen god. I bought one of those obscenely highend Italian cabinet that require a special contractor to install it. Thankfully, the guy that does the installation is terrific and a pillar of calmness. But, the architect was relatively inexperienced and did not know that the fridge require three inches of space between the cabinets or it would overheat, and she measured my ceiling wrong, which meant that the custom made cabinets did not fit. Of course the whole thing was shipped from Italy, as if I want a new piece, it's another 12 weeks of waiting. My worst experience so far had to do with the demolition guys and painters. The job kept on going up in cost and all of them had this greasy-ness about them that makes you want to triple check what they tell you. Don't get me started on the appliance sales people.
  20. Three weeks and I have already turned into bridezilla (without the wedding), despite all best efforts of Yoga instructors and thoughts of peace and tranquility. Six to eight month? I'd probably check myself into a mental hospital, or the local county jail or both.
  21. New irritation: appliances that are supposed to get delivered, but did not show up. The sales person forgot to log it in. Another day in rubbles and dust. This is somewhat like workers who only show up when they feel like it.
  22. I did not think renovating my 42 square foot space was easy, but nothing in the world could have prepared me for whole renovation process. My super told me demolition takes two days at most, and my cabinet contractor told me the same for the installation, so figure in a day for painting. I figure, I'll be living out of my bed room for a week at most. That's not so bad for a high end Gourmet kitchen right? Wrong. What I didn't figure was that to get the new kitchen installed, I need to get a new electric line and move a few pipes. Well that meant hiring an electrician and a plumber before anything can be installed. It also meant dealing with shady contractors who quadruple the asking price once the work has started, workers who did not respect your furniture (I went ballistic when I saw a dirty trash can piled haphazardly on my $9,000 Italian sofa), big gaping holes in the wall that make you think of Manhattan critters like mice and rats, and an overwhelming amount of dust that seemed to regenerate itself everyday, even though I tried to sweep and vaccumm when I came home from work. By the third week of living out of my 100 square foot bedroom, I did everything I thought I would never do. I yelled at my dog, fired two separate contractors, had several screaming teary meltdowns, and even toying with the idea of moving into a $600 a night hotel room until the whole thing is done. This is week four and my cabinets are at least assembled, but my kitchen is still a heap of plaster and wires. Is this normal?
  23. Not a public knowledge, but a fact nonetheless. A chef at an very upscale seafood restaurant is allergic to shellfish. Last I check, he's still at his job. So, no reason why you can't do it.
  24. Not in India, but recent trip to India proved that Chinese food is on every indian menu and whenever my Indian friends in Delhi or Jaipur goes out, they go for chinese food. If you ask the peripetetic ones in the states, they usually tell you that the best Chinese food they ever had was in a little restaurant outside of Delhi/Bombay/Calcutta/Bangalore etc. Everyone talks about the hot and sour soup made with tamarind and the Manchurian cauliflower that has become part of Indian food in its own right. As far as I know of Indian Chinese food are typically Hakka food, but these days the range has been expanded. The Chinese have been in India since the 1600, so the cuisine is bound to be widely available. I pitched a similar article to Gourmet earlier this year, but they didn't go for it. I would love to read your piece when it is out.
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