huiray

OK, now that sounds dreadful. Mind you, "Southern Style" green beans cook THE HELL out of green beans (with bacon etc) until they are, indeed, very VERY soft..... ;-) But with some Southern Fried Chicken, some collard greens (cooked the same way) w/ ham and extra pot likker, maybe some mac n cheese w/ velveeta...now that's another classic.

Interesting that Canadian eG members appear unfamiliar with the dish. Also interesting the revulsion of many others to the dish. Eh, it's not gourmet food but it is not "vile", unless it truly was made horribly and left around to get stone cold and completely congealed. Original recipe, from Campbell's. Wiki article - note that it says the original recipe card was presented to the Inventors' Hall of Fame in 2002. Google answer set. I would venture that there is also that "texture thing" again - where many people find gelatinous or glutinous textures repulsive, which gluggy renditions of the dish probably would have. Cream of mushroom soup? Heh, I have a few cans of it in my larder. It's fine for what it is, and one thing I do sometimes is to make mushroom soup with a tin of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom with lots of sliced white button mushrooms added in. I like it when I'm in the mood for that.** ** Wylie Dufresne said that he would rather not be pious about things in a NYT article discussing professional chefs eating fast food, supermarket food (when the sourcing is from Aisle 12) etc...and where Dufresne talked about eating a great deal of American cheese - yes, that "artificial"/processed stuff - everyday in his kitchen at work.

Ah. I do the same with foie gras – I do the simple sear. (Oh! the aroma! Yum!!!) I have removed large veins from some pieces on occasion while trying to keep from "tearing up" too much of the membrane covering the liver, on occasion. I have not made foie gras terrines or torchon and, if truth be told, don't take to them that much, preferring to keep the liver "intact" and do the simple sear instead. I've got torchons from Hudson Valley before too - they tended to languish in the fridge... p.s. Lovely meal, c oliver!

• More of the braised mushrooms, bamboo shoots & wood-ear fungus from here. • Hong Kong Style Wonton Soup Flavored Instant Noodle King (生麵皇) [sau Tao], with chopped scallions, corned beef slices, couple of hard-boiled eggs, chopped Napa cabbage (leafy part only).

• Chinese mushrooms (dried, rehydrated; mix of thick-cap "flower pattern" ones (花菇), and thinner-cap ones (香菇)), bamboo shoots (separately simmered in hot water for a bit first) and wood-ear fungus (dried; rehydrated & trimmed) slow-braised (stove-top) with sliced young ginger & smashed garlic sautéed in peanut oil, mutenka shiromiso (slurried w/ water), fermented beancurd w/ chilli & wine (slurried w/ water), jozo mirin, then hon mirin later; seasoning adjusted. Eaten w/ chopped barely blanched wong nga pak (Napa cabbage). • More chicken curry (see here) w/ fine rice noodles.

As for myself, I like leftover potatoes, especially the semi-waxy or waxy ones. Fingerlings too. They become firmer and waxier, so to speak, which I like. Its a texture thang. Potatoes in a curry ("Indian"-type) taste better to me the next day, for example. Freshly baked potatoes, the "fluffy" kind - eh, not a fan of them. Even those eat better to me when left overnight... Just my preferences. Fries, OTOH, are much preferred fresh out of the fryer...and are best appreciated by me if they are not the fluffy-inside kind. I can't say I particularly notice an "off" flavor in any of the cooked potatoes that have been left alone for a while or overnight. It just tastes slightly different, and in my case as I've said I prefer the taste+texture of various kinds of potatoes when left alone for a while.

The shadow of Mike Isabella falls across TC Boston! George Pagonis carries the torch onwards... p.s. Did anyone ever try that (in)famous pepperoni sauce? p.p.s. ...and will be judged by the person who edged out the pepperoni sauce in that particular finale!

As the show gets nearer (Oct 15) I'm starting to look at the bios and backgrounds of the contestants as posted on the Bravo website. The very first one (Aaron Grissom) I thought curious - the website bio says that he "has a passion for Asian and new American cuisine" but when I look at the menus of the restaurant for which he is the chef I see no identifiably "Asian" dish (Lunch & Dinner) whether E/SE/S/W Asian, although those menus are from June 2012. Well, OpenTable's listing identifies it as (still) "Latin/Spanish" and lists Grissom as EC. Perhaps he is compelled by the owners to put out that style of food and his "Asian" cuisine passion is strictly on his own time? Wouldn't an EC often have some influence on what goes onto a menu of a restaurant even if he is not the owner? Curious.

I rarely needed to devein foie gras I'd got from Hudson Valley in the past. Or I just simply didn't bother.

Yes, the robustness of the cup is a factor. The actual pie tee cups are delicate and *will* fall apart or get soggy if you use "wet" fillings (or if they are left out for a long time before the filled cup gets picked up). In SE Asia they are often brought out to one already assembled in restaurants for your consumption but then one eats them fairly quickly. Sometimes they bring out the components and you fill the cups yourself. The best way to eat pie tee, in fact, is to assemble them as one goes along - like at a party or dinner where all the stuff is laid out and folk engage in do-it-yourself - but I imagine that may or may not go over well at your sister's reception. :-) If you intend to use a moist/wet filling and expect the cups to stand around for a long while it might actually be better to go with the wonton skins, even if I expect those would also fall apart or go soggy if left around too long. One could make the pie tee cups thicker by using a suitable (thicker) batter if making the cups yourself. If you have the time and do want to try making them here's a detailed blog article on making them. A substitute mold is a Scandinavian Rosette/Timbale mold, as suggested in this blog article.

Yes, do contact (or let Kerry contact) the NA distributor. Perhaps he supplies shops in heavily-Chinese/SE Asian areas (like California or NYC/NJ) in the USA and maybe they might send them to you by mail-order. Ordering the pie tee mold from the shop Shelby found should not be a problem. That shop is in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia - but I have ordered/bought books before from Penang too and they get sent to me from Penang without any problems and quite speedily by airmail at very reasonable cost. (I paid through my US-based Paypal account also) Do you still have time to do the sourcing of the molds/cups at this point? (See here) Does someone know of a cooking supply shop in the US that serves a clientele that includes a large E/SE Asian population? Otherwise those wonton skin substitutes suggested by Shelby would work well, I imagine. Have a look at this webpage, and on there look in particular at this one, or this one... Or, maybe wire a bunch of muffin cups together (they don't have to be perfectly aligned :-) ) and dip into batter and then into oil, just like one would do with the "real" kueh pie tee mold?

Chicken curry. White rice (Daawat basmati). Curry: Oil, fine brunoise of yellow onion & shallots, chopped smashed garlic, ground candlenuts (buah keras), ground galangal, curry leaves (Murraya koenigii), ground cumin, ground coriander seed, ground turmeric, sliced red cayenne chillies (not deseeded); chicken quarter & drumstick & thigh pieces, salt; wholes cloves, green cardamom pods, water; Rose Finn Apple fingerlings; sliced Hatch chiles; coconut milk; seasoning adjusted. Heat shut off, left to rest for a bit.

Not specific "chefs" as such, but these are "overviews" on Youtube (and leadoffs from the suggestions posted on the pages) of some types of Asian food that folks may overlook or not think much about (myself included). video1 video2 video3

OK, then we will have to disagree about spooning gremolata over ANY kind of soup, even the "Asian" (now do you mean E/SE Asian, not South Asian or West Asian?) ones, over ANY kind of "Asian" soup. But it would seem you like it, so carry on. (Bird's Nest Soup...Sharks Fin Soup...Old Cucumber Soup...Double-boiled Pigs Brain Soup...etc...adding a gremolata...personally, eh, not for me)

Blanch/parboil beef and pork bones (and wash/scrub them uner the running tap) before making stock with them. (This is an old technique, but it seems many people don't do it or are not aware of it) Not to be beholden to using ingredients only from cuisine xxx when making a dish in the style of cuisine xxx. Use lateral thinking when imagining a dish, cross-cultural especially. There are many others. (BTW, I gather you have only Western-type soups and stews in mind when you state that you make gremolata to spoon over them, "no matter what the soup or stew recipe is". I think I would find myself reluctant to do it with something like this, or this, or this, etc etc, as just the most recent examples of some soups I've made and posted about on just the most recent dinner thread. :-) I.e. many E/SE Asian type soups and stews would, um, clash with gremolata spooned into and over it; but I imagine some may benefit, yes...it might be an idea with this - but with many other soups (and the many stews I post about) it would be an iffy combination.)

Thanks for the compliment. If by "hung-shu" you mean "紅燒" ("hongshao"; a.k.a. Jyutping/Yale Cantonese hung4 siu1) then I don't see why not, if that is what you'd like to try. I myself would probably not use the typical marinade for that on shrimp/prawn, as IMO I think the flavor of the shrimp/prawn would be lost. (I myself would also add some sort of acid if I were to try it and cut down on the amount of soy sauce - both light and thick/dark - that would go into a typical hung4 siu1 marinade, plus eliminate the star anise & cinnamon. But then it would no longer be a hung4 siu1 marinade, I suppose. Still, perhaps I might try it just for the hell of it myself! Alternatively, maybe dilute the marinade with something - even just water; or rice wine, or something. Perhaps some corn flour or egg white might go in too, both of which I did not use for this dish. Or cut it with stock made from the shells and heads of the shrimp one had just peeled. :-) Many other things could be tried.

Tangy shrimp. Vegetable oil, chopped smashed garlic, some slices of fresh young ginger, de-shelled de-veined wild American shrimp.¶ Shrimp cooked till just barely done, removed, reserved. Peanut oil added to the pan, rest of the (generous) sliced young fresh ginger went in; tossed around; chopped ripe de-skinned tomatoes added, fish sauce [Red Boat], hon-mirin [Takara], tamarind slurry (from a tablespoon of paste), some of the shrimp marinating liquid. Cooked down. Sliced red onions went in, followed shortly after by trimmed scallions & hot long green chillies. The reserved shrimp went back in, tossed to re-warm and mix in. ¶ Shrimp was premarinated in Shaohsing wine, black sesame oil, corn oil, ground white pepper, splash of light soy sauce (“sang chau”), jozo mirin. White rice (Thai hom mali).

Couple of lunches. -------------------------------- A sauté of garlic, a kind of fried tofu sheets packed in sesame oil (now sliced up), marinated chicken pieces & ginger, broccoli, red shishito peppers, dashes of this-and-that sauces. Eaten w/ skinny wonton noodles. -------------------------------- • Fedelini w/ leftovers from the previous lunch, w/ remaining broccoli fished out; augmented w/ zucchini & Hatch chiles. • Corned beef (store-bought) & kkakdugi (store-bought).

Very nice. Great knife skills too. Please tell me more about that plate?

I use them all the time, both Chinese and Japanese iterations.

Do you NEED meat? Or, do you need to have "significant amounts" of meat? Try E/SE Asian type stir-fries where the meat is basically a condiment in the dish and vegetables are the star. Pair that with some noodles or rice (cheap!). Soup, stews, braises etc of course, just with the meat as only a small component. Tofu, in its many, many forms. No, I reject the misinformed notion that tofu takes only one form and is horrible. (hint: step away from the Western macrobiotic/vegan tofu dishes which *are* less attractive) Pair it with any number of other inexpensive ingredients. Egg dishes, with vegetables. Omelettes with various vegetables. (Try bittergourd omelette) Beans - how about green beans, long beans, as sautéed/stir-fried dishes, not just shelled beans in dishes such as given by others here. One can get interesting beans from "ethnic" markets, if one has access to them, to cook as "whole beans". All the preceding dishes furnish plenty of protein and taste.

5500 Victoria Ave, Niagara Falls, ON L2G 3L2, Canada it seems to be. The "Waterpark" is across from the restaurant. One can see the building on Googlemaps. Views from the windows on the south side upper level of that building, looking across the parapet wall of that "well area"? (Did they recently renovate those windows?) There is a two-headed old-style street lamp about the right position - or thereabouts - shortly beyond the parapet edge and "positioned" between the squarish "tower" on the left (eastern point of the Skyline Inn, in front of the Waterpark) and the angled view of the NE end of the Waterpark...?

Like these? (Mind you, I think the author of that "review" doth complain too much; although the rest of the gallery is amusing to flip through. The dishes were the product of their circumstances.)

Well, I frequently leave the residues (plus some residual brewed tea) in my teapot, add some more fresh tea leaves if needed or desired, and pour in more hot water. Does that count? This could go on for several days, in fact. I don't often use the gaiwans I have (蓋碗; Jyutping Cantonese: goi3 wun2; literally, "covered bowls") which are antiques. Perhaps I'll post some pictures in the thread on tea paraphernalia I've discovered here on eG.

I don't know how often you do "E/SE Asian" type dishes including stir-fries...but simply use brussels sprouts as the "vegetable" part in some stir-fries (as Franci does) – with meat-of-your-choice if you want (like this).