weinoo

I have trouble understanding the whole air frying thing. Proper frying is not bad for anyone. And not greasy.

My first ever attempt at flour tortillas... Looked at 4 recipes online (some of the usual suspects, some not, none from here (sad face)), made dough in a food processor. The dough had a bit of baking powder in it, and home melted pork fat from the other day. My rolling skills have deteriorated significantly since cooking school! \ But still! (Yes, that is a torn one atop - cook's gotta taste). While light years beyond any prepackaged shit, these were not what anyone would call perfect. Though Significant Eater audibly mmmmmm-ed after loading her first one with carne adovada, @rancho_gordo freshly stewed pinto beans, avocado, yada, yada, yada. All those years in Albuquerque evidently did something to her! I call in the Breaking Bad syndrome. In any event, these were, how shall I put it, more chewy than I was expecting. Possibly the baking soda, possibly too much lard? Rosie walking around under my feet while trying to roll these out, and enjoying my cursing? It's time to hit the books and continue trying...these are fun.

American Unagi - From Maine. https://www.americanunagi.com/

This past Saturday, we went out for a passeggiata, usually a stroll taken before settling down for dinner. Only problem was I had no idea what I was making for dinner...and it was approaching the time where I really needed to start thinking about that. Didn't want to do much - some days are like that, no? But we strolled by Cervo's, and I popped in for a peek and got inspired. They had nice looking clams and mussels, so I bought a dozen of each, and a Bien Cuit baguette, thinking I'd just steam the shellfish in some stuff and we could sop up the juices with the bread. But I changed course when I got home. First... Steamed open the shellfish in white wine and a bit of saffron, and took almost all of them out of their shells and strained the liquor. Decided to go a little fancier as there was a bit of marinara in the fridge. Spaghetti with clams and mussels. Topped with Calabrian chilis. And garlic bread! Not bad for getting everything prepped and on the table in well under an hour.

Taking a cue from @Chris Hennes; Forkish's Same-Day Straight Pizza dough. San Marzano tomatoes, seeded and strained, then mostly pulp smushed with olive oil and salt. Nice fresh mozz from Formaggio. Parmigiano-Reggiano. Getting better at the sauce/cheese ratio. Second picture blur as I was burning the shit out of my fingers. This "00" flour is such fun to work with; dough is so soft and, hmmmm, workable? One bigger dough ball resting in the fridge overnight; gonna make some focaccia with it. Or try to.

I've had a few of those dishes at St. John and can vouch for the fact that they are GREAT! Oh man, those brown shrimp... On our second visit, suffice to say that there might've been a dish or two not to Significant Eater's liking. I like Fergus's books as suggestions (but aren't almost all recipes suggestions?). As a side note, the last "concert" we went too pre-pandemic was Jay Rayner's Last Supper - he was pretty funny! You know, for a Brit.

What's your recipe? I'm gonna have a go at this tomorrow for the first time.

Very good.

I think I've had some duck fat go off and me - you know as soon as you smell it. But using scrupulously clean spoons to scoop it out, and not contaminating it (often, there is some schmutz left in renderings, so you gotta strain it carefully) stuff lasts a long time. Like I run out before it goes bad.

By the way - @liuzhou - are a lot of your neighbors sous viding?

I don't believe Buddha and Lucky are actually brands sold in Manhattan Chinatown. Or if they are brands, they are simply branding poultry from someone else. Most Chinatown chickens are supplied by a company called BoBo; they are considered Buddhist chickens; i.e. slaughtered according to proper ritual, etc. etc. I've been shopping in Manhattan's Chinatown for longer than I care to admit; believe me, I know what's being sold there and at other places. I've tried practically every freakin' chicken on the market, and even gone so far as to get live birds at LaPera Poultry. White-cut chicken is far from the only reason to use a quality chicken, don't you think? Have you tried a Joyce Farms bird? A D'artagnan bird? Even Cook's Venture is a darn good bird; lots of chefs using it. Now tell me - have you ever eaten white cut chicken, and nothing else is on the table? Or perhaps is there rice, and maybe even some sauce if you want it?

That's why they look like real bagels!

Right from the horse's mouth... Hunan Slurp, Silky Kitchen, or something newer?

Ha! The "gourmet wonders" indeed! I have a friend who is Spanish sephardic; often, I'll mention a dish I'm making or had growing up, and he'll say he's never heard of it nor tasted it. Very interesting. (he recently got his Spanish citizenship; took him years working on it, as his ancestors were expelled from Spain a long time ago)

Certainly not as lovely as @liuzhou's chicken dish above (and really, remember to take the picture before starting to dig in), a chicken dish based on a Fuchsia Dunlop Hunanese recipe, out of her Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). Numbing-And-Hot Chicken - ma la zi ji. We commented on how different the taste of this dish is compared to so much other Chinese food we either eat out (or once ate at restaurants), as well as what I cook at home from various books and other sources. Reason? No sugar at all in the dish - maybe a touch from the dark soy in the marinade, but that's it. As Fuchsia relates in the introduction to Hunanese food at the beginning of the book: "sugar is often absent from the mise-en-place of the professional Hunanese Kitchen, and sweet foods play almost no part in everyday dining." This dish, with its use of Szechuan pepper, is evidently an interesting deviation from culinary norms.

Well, I have to interject being in the NYC “vicinity.” What is the Buddha brand chicken and why do you think it’s good? If you’re thinking of Bobo chicken, they’re just okay in my opinion. I don’t believe Bell and Evan’s markets a kosher chicken. I’m sure your mother is lovely. And yes, it’s important that the chicken be perfect. But what good is perfect chicken without rice and sauce? P.S. Have you told your mother you’re sous viding?

Just what I wanted to know!

Don't you mean gefilte fish, like my grandmother made? (Classically with pike, whitefish, and/or carp.)

There were corn tortillas, but I plan on making some flour tortillas using a bit of the pork fat! There was also a salad, but who the hell needs to see that?

No cracklins. I was tired and just strained it out.

Still working the chow fun jonesing. Yesterday, stir-fried with some pork shoulder strips and green pepper. Stir fried choy sum alongside. I will note that the rice noodles are probably best used within a day or two of purchase, or maybe frozen? These were a few days out, but still worked, though I had to smush them around in the wok more than when I first bought them.

I received a much bigger heritage pork butt than I thought I would. And it had at least a pound of fat on it. So... \ The fat got melted down. The beginning of a process which in total took about 4 hours, I guess. Now, 2 nice jars of clean, white pork fat in the fridge!

Significant Eater begs requests... Hatch Red Chilies. Red chili sauce fried in some of that melted pork fat. Carne adovada. Carne adovada with @rancho_gordo's pinto beans.

Well, I didn't wanna mention that! But now that you bring it up, that might be a reason why the larger of the two I have stays in the cabinet.

I googled square baking sheets, and seems like there are plenty of choices which might work for you.