huiray

Interesting, Liuzhou. Is there any suggestion you get that those names were, umm, inventions or adoptions of the specific local vendors as separate from a generalized "common consensus" (so to speak) for the locality?

I've shopped alone all my adult life, except for those few times when friends were visiting and I brought them along to the weekend Farmers' Market(s), when they were content to just observe what I got and rummage a littlle bit amongst the offerings themselves and comment upon it to me. Supermarkets - always alone. I alternate between simply getting what I need and "browsing", in the broad sense, depending also on the circumstance. I find the whole scenario to be similar to when I go to something like a flower or an orchid show - if I have someone along on the trip it always either slows me down or inhibits me because he/she has different "sampling" or "discovery" or "inspection" or "interest" or "rate-of-browsing" speeds and any number of variants thereof. When I still grew orchids passionately, I tried never to go to a show with a friend, because my browsing proclivities whether with the exhibits or the vendors were never the same as anyone else. Ditto "grocery shopping". Sure, compromise is always an option, but for greatest enjoyment, whether shopping or looking, I find it is always best done ALONE.

Correct. Arsenic is everywhere and is a necessary trace element in our diets. However, if one ate a lot of rice (and it seems rotuts does not really do so), like every day at every meal (i.e. it's your staple), then one should be aware that one may be taking in somewhat more than is necessary if one ate exclusively Texan rice, at least the types that were tested. Note I didn't say to avoid/stop eating that rice. ;-) p.s.: There is a thread here, I seem to remember, and elsewhere too on recent findings of high arsenic in rice, with lots of arm-waving on them. Heh.

Just keep tabs on your consumption of this micronutrient... http://blog.beaumontenterprise.com/bayou/2012/09/19/texas-rice-full-of-arsenic/ http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/09/19/study-says-arsenic-levels-high-in-texas-rice/ ------------ I have not seen these "40 lb bags" of Tilda rice as the only option in the Indian places I shop in in my area. Perhaps you might try some other brands? Royal is nice; various Pakistani brands are good; Zebra used to be a favorite but in recent years they seemed a little less aromatic but are still good for their aged stuff... Don't think of only Indian brands, try Pakistani brands.

Yesterday: "Spicy & Hot with Braised Chitterlings Flavor Vermicelli" (麻辣肥腸粉絲) [Lam Sheng Kee] Today: Slow-simmered chicken broth, with carrots & celery & some of the chicken meat & fatty skin.

HERESY! In addition to the Yorkies, proper Scottish and Canadian fruitcakes are aged a minimum of 3 weeks, and and ideal of 3-6 months in alcohol. They're passable when fresh, but as Dave Hatfield points out, improve greatly with age. I've got the first of my (many) Christmas fruitcakes ageing in their muslins as we speak. (((Shrug))) To each his or her own. See my speculation above also about maiden-aunt's fruit cake that had been re-gifted onwards for a few generations. ;-)

+1 for the cinnamon & bolognese. Haven't tried it with the cloves, but a dash of cinnamon usually works its way into my meat sauce. Gives the sauce a little something-something. Actually, a number of Greek restaurants round here add cinnamon to their meat/tomato sauce. One place puts in orange zest also. Skyline chili also has cinnamon in it. YUM. Plus chocolate. Greek-influenced meat sauce for pasta. There are any number of HORRIFIED posts from old-timers here on eG in old threads regarding this stuff, unfortunately. There are 3 outlets here in Indy, I enjoy this from time to time. I usually get the 4-way. (Not too keen on the beans)

(I'm sure anti-fans of MY will find this to be ammunition for their viewpoint. :-) )

Mind you, the local supermercado I sometimes go to (Guanajuato #3) has a meat counter around a hundred feet long or more, stuffed full of all sorts of meats at great prices (chicken drumsticks @ 69¢/lb on occasion, for example) which has always been mobbed on every occasion I've been there - i.e. the stuff "moves". ;-) Of course, the place wouldn't have foie gras or 60-day dry-aged ribeye or some such... but standard beef short ribs, meaty stuff, at a great price? Yes.

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145711-spigarelli-broccoli/ ;-)

Ah, OK.

Isn't "cavolo nero" the same as "Tuscan kale"? ;-) In which case it would then be not quite the same as what appears to be this spigarelli broccoli? Many of these names and varieties are probably variations of each other, mind you. :-)

Liuzhou, I'm not familiar with that term (卷心菜) for this kind of cabbage ("Napa cabbage" type) - does it refer especially to this "skinnier type" or to the squatter/rounder type as well, where you are? Baike does seem to give 卷心菜 as the sort of round "cabbage" one thinks of when envisioning dishes like corned beef & cabbage, and as you mentioned. Anna, "Wong nga pak/wong nga bak" (黃芽白)("yellow sprout white") is the Cantonese term I grew up with (SE Asia) and is also known/used in other parts especially Cantonese-speaking ones (e.g. Hong Kong). The other term I commonly hear and know of is "tai pak/bak choy" (大白菜)("big white vegetable"), not to be confused with "Bok Choy" in English which is a common term in the US and refers to a different plant. (Whereas 白菜 in Chinese ("white vegetable"; and which "bok choy" is the transliteration of) could refer to either the Napa cabbage type OR to the dark green leaf looser non-rolled-up type [also known as "small white vegetable" 小白菜 in Chinese] one associates with the English term "bok choy", depending on who is talking.) Heh, certainly Chinese names of vegetables vary for the same thing depending on where you are - but in a way that is also true for many vegetables in different parts of the world with the same or almost identical vegetable in each of those cases. The wrinkle is that in Chinese sometimes the exact same name can refer to different vegetables depending on who is speaking and where.

Hmm. Interesting vegetable. Franci, it seems the Italian Wikipedia (and the English one) gives friarielli as synonymous with broccoli rabe (http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friarielli and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapini) whereas this article talks about it as distinct from other cultivars in the Brassica oleracea group... http://www.vineyardadventures.com/2011/04/11/abcs-of-campania-f/ . The pics for both friarielli and spigarelli "out there" also seem to show smaller leaves than that of the stuff from Union Square market, more loose flower head parts and skinnier leaves - (e.g. see also this blog article) Would it also be the same as what is called "Broccolo riccio a getti di Napoli" in this article? ETA: As apparently found in the Santa Monica farmers market on some unknown date: http://www.seasonalchef.com/marketreport040506.htm

When I get a minute I will post a photo for you. image.jpgAnna, thanks. Those are Taiwanese-type long wong nga pak (Napa cabbage), as compared with the more common squatter ones found more ubiquitously. :-) [i also showed a pic of this type of cabbage here some time back]

A recent late dinner: • Cauliflower florets & sliced long brinjals§ stir-fried w/ smashed garlic, “luscious soy sauce” [Kim Lan], and ryori-shu [MRT] (plentiful amount; also for deglazing the pan & creating the sauce). The brinjal slices sort-of semi-melt into the sauce. • Beef shin braised w/ bamboo shoots, fresh tung koo and fresh muk yee, left to steep/mellow for >24 hours. See here for details, scroll down the post a bit. • White rice (Basmati). § Asian/Chinese/Indian type long eggplants (brinjal), one dark purple and light purple were cut into elongated elliptical slices, soaked for a bit in water w/ salt & white vinegar added, drained, rinsed, patted dry, then fried gently in vegetable oil till lightly browned on both sides, reserved; then added to the stir fry (separate pan) after the cauliflower had been tossed w/ the garlic in hot oil for a short while.

Some recent meals. ---------------------- • Fresh de-skinned walleye fillets - steamed w/ julienned fresh young ginger, trimmed sliced scallions, baby button mushrooms, Shaohsing wine [Wei Chuan], fresh-squeezed lime juice, bit of sweet mirin, bit of vegetable oil & sesame oil, a couple grinds of black pepper. • Parboiled trimmed “Kai Lan”, tossed in the pan w/ chopped smashed garlic sautéed in vegetable oil then quenched w/ a mixture of oyster sauce [LKK], rice wine [MRT ryori-shu], Hokkaido Kelp Flavor Soy Sauce [WeiChuan], some water, dash of fish sauce [Red Boat], ground black & white pepper. • White rice (Basmati). ----------------------- • Fried rice. Done w/ chopped garlic, lap cheong (Chinese sausages - pork, wine-flavored; & liver; pre-steamed then cut into rounds), chopped Chinese celery, 2-day old Basmati rice. NB: No soy sauce was used, the color comes from the lap cheong being fried. ------------------------ • Beef shin stewed w/ bamboo shoots, fresh tung koo & fresh muk yee.¶ • Cauliflower florets stir-fried w/ garlic and a dash of “luscious soy sauce” [Kim Lan]. • Young Tuscan kale (hydroponic stuff) soup. • White rice (Basmati). ¶ Whole beef shins cut into rounds were browned in vegetable oil then tossed in the pot w/ fermented bean curd w/ chilli [Chan Moon Kee, Hong Kong; 陳滿記辣椒腐乳] (this one), smashing & mushing up the blocks of bean curd with the beef and “browning” the tofu mush slightly; water & three whole heads of fresh garlic (Music; trimmed but entire heads) added, the whole brought to a boil, heat reduced and simmered for about ½ hour. Spring bamboo shoots [Yes! Produce] were blanched in boiling water, drained and halved then added to the beef shins together w/ smashed whole cloves of garlic (½ a head) sautéed/lightly browned in peanut oil (everything added in) and simmering continued. Some “aged gourmet rice vinegar” [Kong Yen Food, Inc.] and some rock sugar were also added. Trimmed, halved fresh tung koo (Chinese thick-cap shiitake-type mushrooms) & trimmed fresh muk yee (wood-ear fungus) then went in, plus a small handful of whole white peppercorns. Seasoning was adjusted and simmering continued till it was judged done. Total time around 2 hours. --------------------------- • Fried rice – with garlic, cubed char-siu (Cantonese BBQ pork), chopped (Western-type) celery leaves (leafy thin-ish stalks, not the “usual” supermarket-type fat heads), scallions cut into 2 inch lengths, day-old Basmati rice, petite frozen peas, chopped simple egg omelette, a bit of salt. (No soy sauce) Eaten w/ Lingham’s Hot Sauce.

Well, at some point the meat and other ingredients overshadow the cheese to the point that "grilled cheese sandwich" would be misleading. For instance, getting a Reuben sandwich when you ordered grilled cheese might be a bit of a surprise. ;-) That doesn't make meaty, cheesy, goozy sandwiches - with or without fruits or vegetables added - any less delicious. Cuban sandwiches I've read of but not experienced. Medianoche sandwiches are beyond my ken. What are they, and how do you particularly like them? True enough, I guess. Heh. A Cuban is made with crusty "Cuban bread", a Medianoche is made with an egg dough bread somewhat like challah. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medianoche and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_sandwich I had an amusing "conversation" with a poster years ago on another food forum about stumbling out of bars at closing time and getting sustenance and she pointed out some places around SF where one could do the stumbling-out routine and be resuscitated by the medianoche (literally, "midnight") from the abuelita near the bar(s) with her cart.

BRAVO!!

But have you tried a taste of it, though? Just asking.

http://www.bravotv.com/foodies/recipes/ribeye-grilled-cheese-sandwich-amp-spicy-tomato-soup http://www.bravotv.com/media/top-chef/season/8/top-recipe/pdf/ep810-recipe.pdf http://www.sporkorfoon.com/spork_or_a_foon/2011/10/top-chef-dale-taldes-iron-grilled-cheese-and-filet-mignon-with-a-smoky-tomato-soup.html Oh, BTW, Dale Talde WON that particular episode of Top Chef with that grilled-cheese-and-tomato-soup. :-)

I don't know if this counts, since I've been making this for years and years (and like it quite a bit since the first time) and didn't know it was not something that one was supposed to do - but how about spaghetti/pasta meat sauce (in the manner of "Bolognese-inspired", let's say) with sautéed chopped onions, ground beef (maybe plus ground pork or sausage meat), TOMATO KETCHUP, tomatoes, water/stock (as needed), LOTS of rice vinegar, and CINNAMON STICK & WHOLE CLOVES as the spicing agents. No oregano or thyme or any other "Italian" spices/herbs. (Mind you, cinnamon with meats was once not atypical especially in olden times in parts of southern Italy especially Sicily - where there was a significant Grecian/North African influence) p.s. Yes, I do make "more traditional" type sauces with oregano/thyme (and no cinnamon or cloves) as well. :-)

DH needs a good talking to, I think. Not liking fruit cake? What's wrong with the man?? Must be something in his raisin'. Maybe he was swept up in a currant as a child. Now he just can't see the appeel. Sorry; I'll stop now ... Fruit cake + cheese is a long-established tradition in Yorkshire and probably other parts of the UK. There's a particular very soggy, tea-flavoured cake called Yorkshire Brack that's eaten with Wensleydale cheese. Cracking, Gromit. He must have had the proverbial "fruit cake" that was originally made by one's Maiden Aunt and that had been passed around/re-gifted for several generations? ;-) Freshly-made fruit cake is nice - I enjoy it when I do have it, which is not frequently, admittedly.

Interesting. This provoked a memory of a chili cook-off I entered about 30 years ago, in the Detroit area. The winning entry, like your pizza, had some chopped celery. Heresy, so it seemed, but the judges said they really liked the texture contrast. Hmm. Why do you think of this as heresy? Just curious. Although I've not actually had this (I rarely eat pizza) the combination seems fine to me, at least conceptually...

Fish. Hooked. Dunno - I usually dislike fruit (like strawberries) with meat or fish... One combination I do like, however, is seared foie gras slices with fresh peach slices, plus some simply barely blanched baby veggie. :-)