huiray

Various meals from an initial pot of stuff. Pork baby back ribs, winter-type bamboo shoots, salted preserved mustard (梅菜), straw mushrooms, tofu skin rolls, chicken stock, garlic, various seasonings. With rice: Plus Stir-fried ong choy w/ tau see (fermented salted soy beans) and ripe Hungarian Wax peppers. The leftover pork ribs braise made into a hearty soupy stew, with firm tofu chunks added in. Seasoning & volumes adjusted. The leftover soupy stew augmented w/ more tofu, seasoning readjusted, served over mei-fun and banh pho. Plus stir-fried Peppermint & Red Swiss Chards.

Heh. Well, I've never had Skyline or Cincy chili with spaghetti that is truly al dente in the Italian-Italian manner, but rather a bit softer than that (but definitely not mushy), which is why I said "soft spaghetti". Glad to hear that!

@blue_dolphin, glad you enjoyed the high-low portrayal. :-)

@gfweb – If you do, you MUST keep in mind that it is NOT Texan chili. Or even Chili con Carne, according to some people. You need to approach it as something that is distinct in its own category, a Greek-origin meat sauce MEANT to be served over soft spaghetti.

Thanks. The "perennial-types" come inside to either the breezeway or the sun room. The annuals (e.g. the basils) are just allowed to go to sleep, and new plants will be grown the next year.

I've talked about picking stuff from my deck while using a flashlight. Eh, I might as well post some pics of the stuff here. Some shots of some of the stuff on my deck: L-R: Sweet basil, summer savory, Siam Queen basil, more sweet basil, holy basil/tulsi, sweet basil, oregano (in the front), Thai basil (running from the left middle to the right), more holy basil/tulsi (front (decorative planter) & back), a small sweet bay, sage, lime thyme, parsley, "standard" thyme, silver thyme; and the trunk of a kaffir lime plant plus the other "side" at 90º shown below. Oh, the small plant at the bottom left of the group is a Bursera fagaroides which has survived despite my best attempts at killing it. :-) View of the above from a 90º angle. In the front, which was not seen in the first pic, is a 'Logee's Blue' rosemary. The kaffir lime plant (mentioned above) on the right-side of the pic "came back from the dead", as it were. It had become heavily encrusted w/ mealy bugs &etc over the last winter due to my neglect and I abandoned it outside came end-of-winter-quasi-beginning-of-spring. Most of the leaves were lost, and I assumed it would be garbage soon. But, to my surprise, it hung on - and the almost-bare plant started sprouting new shoots as the weather warmed up. I was humbled by how strong its survival energy was. I trimmed it, painstakingly washed and wiped off remaining bugs and detritus of the mealy bugs and scale and other nasties, repotted it --- and here we are. A close-up of the large holy basil plant in the first picture. There is a story behind this. A favorite vendor at the Broad Ripple Farmers' Market used to sell holy basil plants, but had stopped doing so - because he said they "had difficulty" finding seeds. (I won't go into the accuracy of this "difficulty") I gave him (for his mother, who is the one with the Green Thumb) some packs of holy basil seed which were a couple years old (due to my tendencies towards having difficulties with actually planting or sowing stuff) and none of them germinated, by his account. I sourced some tulsi plants from an Oregon place, got some, and gave some of the plants to him. Well, his mom grew them on, harvested the seeds, and this year he/they offered plants grown from those seeds. These are not the "standard" Thai holy basil - but rather, "Rama" Tulsi --- but the taste is pretty much the same. They're just smaller plants in practice. Sooo --- of course some of these plants came home with me (with the initial ones given to me by the vendor) and here we are now a couple months or so later. A shot of the stuff at 90º from the first pic. L_R: Peppermint, Genovese basil, more holy basil/tulsi, parsley, "Pesto Perpetuo" basil (variegated one, in front - poor/weak taste, I won't be growing this again), Vietnamese coriander, Vietnamese "shiso", common sage. Aaand...just for the hell of it – a shot of one of my Calamansi lime bushes, with developing limes.

Heh. Well, I LIKE it. More for me and others like me who like it, then, when in the mood.

Dinner at Recess. Hamachi crudo – with herb oil, lemon, cucumber & carrot salad and black salt. Pork tonkatsu – with miso glazed shredded cabbage & broccoli. Spanish mackerel – with rigatoni, tomatoes, sweet corn & herb mussel broth. Fischer Farms tri-tip – with crisp parmesan potato cake, porcini mushrooms, haricot vert. Black & red raspberry cobbler. Plus excellent french-pressed coffee, from Tinker Coffee. Nice meal. The natural flavors of the ingredients shone through, with minimal aiding-and-abetting and a light hand with the seasonings. The potato cake had me asking the kitchen what was in it – the elusive taste was dill. Location on Google maps.

Skyline Chili. :-) I had my usual: large 4-way, onions. YUM. Obligatory oyster crackers, automatically brought to the table. I also had iced tea. Skyline hot sauce not shown, forgot to park the bottle of it nearby before taking the pictures. The Skyline location in Indy I usually go to, on E 82nd Street, when I have the yen to stuff my face with one of these. (The one on W 86th is not as good, for some reason) PS: The Sterns talk about Cincinnati Chili in their "Real American Food" (Knopf, NY, 1986) starting on pg 242 and give a recipe for it on pg 244 with the title "Queen of Chilis". It has been called one of USAmerica's most quintessential and/or iconic foods.

Do you mean if the brisket was cooked IN the stock? (answer: I don't know) Was it cooked separately from the stock that became the broth in the bowl? (that too I don't know, but it was tasty enough IIRC) Was it cooked to tenderness? (Yes) "...before adding to the soup" --- well, it was placed in the assembled bowl of food brought before me, as shown in the picture, which comprised noodles, the beefy items including the brisket and cartilaginous stuff, soup/broth, onions, scallions, coriander leaves, ground black pepper.

Dim sum at Lucky Lou. Bean Curd Roll w/ Oyster Sauce (their "name" for it: 蠔皇鮮竹卷) (a.k.a. "fu pei quen") Har Gow, shrimp dumplings. (蝦餃) Deep-fried taro "cake" (蜂巢炸芋角), shrimp siu-mai (針尖蝦燒賣), steamed chicken feet (醬汁蒸鳳爪), my plate w/ their chili oil/paste & a dash of soy sauce.

A day & night of this-and-that, yesterday. Steamed "fresh" chee cheong fun [Lee's Noodle] (rice noodle rolls w/ har mai & scallions) and har cheong fun [Kimbo (frozen)] (shrimp rice crepes/rolls) Dressed w/ the sauce packet included w/ the shrimp rice rolls plus oyster sauce & hoisin sauce (and a little oil); topped w/ sliced scallions. Bopped over to Lucky Lou for some dim-sum. Bean curd rolls, shrimp siu-mai, steamed chicken feet, shrimp dumplings, deep-fried taro cake/puffs. Mung bean sprouts "stir-fried" w/ ginger & scallions. Fuzhou-type skinny wheat noodles (min sin) dressed w/ Bulldog sauce, shichimi togarashi & chopped scallions. Cauliflower mushroom soup. Water, gelled chicken stock, shredded Cantonese roast duck and skin [from Asia Mart], some oil, lightly crushed garlic, sea salt, simmer; cleaned, washed, trimmed cauliflower mushroom** [from Annabelle's Garden] added in, simmer some more. Bowl, dress w/ chopped scallions. ** These were wild-collected in Indiana; they look like Sparassis spathulata. Cleaning the cauliflower mushroom – trimmings (top) and one of the frond clumps (bottom) shown.

That looks like more than simply "zucchini" but rather Costata Romanesco. But I imagine any ol' zucchini will do too. :-)

My experience talking with folks (both Caucasian and not) in the places in the USA where I've worked or lived - i.e. outside of eGullet folks - have generally indicated very few folks like (or even think of) eating or cooking lamb.** Too "gamey"/semi-nasty to them. The default remains beef/chicken, sometimes pork. But lamb - rare. Duck is more common with E/SE Asians, and turkey is beloved by many too - but beef/chicken still dominates. But of course this is old news to folks here. ** ETA: One exception might be Muslims and other folks like some South Asians, to whom sheep meat is common. Note I didn't say just "lamb", although in more recent times "lamb" (as imported from Oz and NZ) have become "fashionable". ;-) P.s.: The term "mutton" in SE Asia (and also widely in S Asia) commonly means GOAT meat, not sheep, although it can also mean sheep - one may have to ask or be aware of the usage in certain sub-cuisines or geographical areas.

A simple dinner. Call it "kon lo siu ngap meen, 乾撈燒鴨麵" ("dry mixed/tossed roast duck noodles"). :-) Cantonese roast duck [from Asia Mart]; skinny wonton noodles [Twin Marquis] tossed w/ the bean-based sauce accompanying the sliced duck; ong choy (蕹菜) blanched in the simmering water (after cooking the noodles) w/ some oil added in, dressed w/ a little oyster sauce [LKK]; chopped scallions, white pepper.

Fried rice. Hot oil, garlic, scallions-white parts, marinated sliced pork cheeks & chicken; chopped Chinese long beans; eggs, (scramble), rice, (toss and stir in); sliced red Carmen sweet pepper, scallions-green parts, coriander leaves (seasoning adjusted, covered for a minute or so).

Soup. Hot oil, garlic, dried shrimp ("har mai", 蝦米) (pre-soaked), water, chicken stock cubes, dried wood-ear fungus ("muk yee", 木耳) (pre-soaked), fuzzy squash ("chit gwa", 節瓜) peeled & cut into rectangular chunks, cellophane noodles ("fun see", 粉絲), trimmed scallions. Biscuits. [From Viet Hua Supermarket] "Lou por pang", 老婆餅, Old Lady Cake a.k.a. Sweetheart Cake.

Thank you, @kayb

Hello, @thomaschristeena, where are you? ETA: Meaning both where are you located and why aren't you responding...? ETA2: It might be useful for you to respond so that it might not be thought that you are just trolling eGullet. ETA3: If you are a "student" looking for information on culinary aspects of USAmerican society you ought to state this up front. With Kind Regards.

KennethT, have you ever heard of this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_fried_rice :-) I assure you it is still served in Thailand to this day.

A riff on tôm sốt cà chua. (shrimp in tomato sauce) With white rice. On the way there. Plus green amaranth in chicken broth. I used thotakura [from Namaste Plaza].

To the OP: What do you mean, exactly, by "American"? North America. or the USA, or something else?

General Tso's Chicken. :-) It may have had some starting points in Taiwan but it is definitely a USAmerican dish now, with some ascribing its formulation to a place in NYC. :-D.** How about Big Macs, Whoppers, McD Fish Fillet? ;-) Definitely of USAmerican origin, in its execution, if not the idea behind it. ** One thinks of Chicken Tikka Masala as a national dish in the UK now...

Steamed Chilean Sea Bass. Sort-of a modified Cantonese-style, with Chinese mushrooms and Thai chillies added in. About 1.1 lbs of fish. Close-up. On the way there. Plus "stir-fried" yu choy sum w/ oyster sauce & garlic. Several bowls of white rice.

A "white balsamic" that I like a lot is this one.