huiray

Consider using a Sacagawea $1 coin or a Susan B. Anthony $1 coin instead.

Couple of lunches. -------------------------------- • Remainder of the chicken from the Hainanese chicken from previously (see above), with a new batch of rice cooked with plenty of extra chicken fat (rendered in situ in the rice pot - stovetop; chicken fat from the butcher), generous chopped smashed garlic (heirloom variety), the poaching stock from previously plus smashed ginger, basmati rice. Plus scallion "flowers" & chopped scallions. • Chopped fresh kale simmered in the leftover poaching stock. -------------------------------- • Cipriani tagliarelle tossed in the pan w/ a sauté of caramelized sliced shallots, finely sliced crushed garlic, sliced de-skinned ripe tomato, diced yellow patty pan squash, chopped parsley (lots); and finally pre-sautéed & reserved zucchini blossoms (halved). Seasoning adjusted during the process.

You're welcome. I'd be interested to know how it goes. As for the amount of rice - heh, personal (and cultural) preferences and all. :-) Keep in mind that in SE/S/E Asia with normal meals (non-banquet situations) the meat/vegetable/whatever dish usually is the accompaniment for the carbohydrate, typically rice or noodles of some sort. Not the other way around.

Redder ones are "sweeter".

I've never cooked this; but I've done Nyonya & Malay/Indonesian & Malaysian-Chinese types of sour "curries". They *do* need to be distinctly SOUR but not unbalanced in that there needs to be sweet/salty counterpoints, plus heat/hotness suitable to the dish, of course, meaning it shouldn't be JUST sour. I would think Thai cuisine is also of a similar vein? Did you add any palm sugar (or other sugar) into this dish? I suspect it would benefit from having the sugar in it to "temper" the sourness...the central Thai version, kaeng som, would use palm sugar; while this recipe uses both pineapple (which would provide a sweet note) plus palm sugar. Another way to temper it would be to use a mixture of sour tamarind and "sweet tamarind". Yes, there is such a thing. I've described use of sweet tamarind in at least one dish I've posted here on eG. p.s. Was that all the rice you had with it? I would have needed at least 5 times the amount of rice you show on your plate, maybe up to 10 times. That may also be another factor - many of these sorts of curries are meant to be eaten with generous amounts of rice in the SE Asian manner - so eating *just* the curry with a minuscule amount of plain white rice would over-accentuate the taste of the curry - in this case, the sourness. p.p.s Following on from the p.s.: It's the same underlying principle as making the soup for "noodle soup dishes" more intense in flavor (saltiness, savoriness, whateverness) than if it were a "stand-alone" soup to be consumed entirely by itself - because it is meant to be eaten with a whole bowl of noodles (in the SE Asian manner, where the noodles would be the major component BY FAR of the assembled dish) and the soup is sometimes not even drunk/consumed in its entirety. I also see the mirror-image problem here sometimes - someone would adjust the taste of a soup/stock by tasting as he/she goes along, so that the soup tastes like what he/she would like *as a soup* then when finally ladled over a bowl of rice noodles, say, finds that the dish as a whole when consumed with the noodles as the major component as assembled has suddenly become wan in taste... p.p.p.s. I read about or see folks sometimes consume a whole plate of some sort of "authentically" or "traditionally" done Chinese stir-fried meat+veggie without eating any rice with it as well, then murmur that it could have been less salty. Same underlying principle. (Depends on the dish, too, of course) p.p.p.p.s. So - if your intention is to eat these sorts of curries (or soups or whatever) with NO RICE (or very very little rice) or NO NOODLES (or very very little noodles) and the recipe has NOT already been adjusted to take this into account then you may need to dial back the seasonings in the dish depending on your taste preferences or your palate. :-)

Groceries 2014-0703 Asia Mart: Soft tofu, firm tofu, dried shrimp (har mai), frozen vegetarian spring rolls, frozen glutinous rice & pork/shiitake wrapped in lotus leaf, scallions, bitter melon “#1” (a “select” variety – possibly this one or similar), yu choy sum, Chinese long beans, long hot green peppers, coriander leaf, Japanese cucumbers, fresh galangal, garlic, ginger, short-cut pork spare ribs, fresh chicken wings, head-on shrimp, soba (w/ yam) noodles, (8-year-old) Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Rice Wine [Tang brand] (塘牌 八年陳釀 花雕酒). ----------------------------- Groceries 2014-0705 BRFM: Maitake mushrooms (brown-streaked variety), zucchini blossoms, leafy celery, shishito peppers, baby new potatoes, roma beans. CFM: Chanterelle mushrooms, rhubarb, heirloom garlic, tomatoes. Maitake. Three pieces, the bottom-left piece is about 6 inches across the 3 lobes. (bottom-right piece has one lobe)

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/146914-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2014%E2%80%93/page-11?p=1976161#entry1976161

Hainanese Chicken Rice. Yellow-skin chicken used. Red chard in a portion of the poaching stock. Ginger-scallion sauce. Chilli sauce (Kokita Sambal Bangkok + Lingham's Hot Sauce + Kong Yen "aged gourmet" rice vinegar + chopped scallions). Simplified rice - Basmati + the poaching stock w/ lots of the smashed ginger included.

Hainanese Chicken Rice, with yellow-skin chicken. Nope, no grilled meats no BBQ no burgers no potato salad no watermelon no corn. No apple pie either. There are many ways to celebrate or acknowledge any particular holiday or day of observance, there only needs to be a common sentiment. :-)

Prawn wontons¶ w/ skinny wonton noodles & blanched yu choy sum. Chicken stock simmered w/ smashed garlic, a bit of oil, ikan bilis & shiitake mushrooms. ¶Chopped-up prawns mixed w/ finely sliced scallions, black sesame oil, Redmond salt, some ground white pepper.

Chicken soup.

I've never had this Manhattan variation myself before...wonder what it tastes like. http://safr.kingfeatures.com/idn/ck3/content.php?file=aHR0cDovL3NhZnIua2luZ2ZlYXR1cmVzLmNvbS9CaXphcnJvLzIwMTQvMDcvQml6YXJyb19wLjIwMTQwNzAzXzM4NS5naWY=

Early dinner. • Chioggia beets, simmered in salted water, deskinned & trimmed, sliced, drizzled w/ EV olive oil [Alziari] & 10-year-old Modena balsamic vinegar and dusted w/ ground black pepper. • "Stir-fried/flash-sautéed" snow peas & broccoli florets (no pre-blanching), very hot almost smoking EV olive oil [California Ranch]. Sea salt in the oil before the veggies. • Nicely browned free-form omelette. Three eggs beaten w/ some corn oil, ryori-shu (lightly salted cooking sake), jozo mirin, ground white pepper; fried in very hot pan w/ plenty of hot oil. Dressed w/ chopped scallions. • Basmati rice – cooked w/ chopped smashed garlic sautéed in corn oil; cumin seed + powdered coriander seed + green cardamom pods, tossed in the garlic+oil; raw pistachios + dried bay leaves + a few whole cloves; then the raw rice + a bit of salt + water; cooked in the usual way (stove top). ETA: whole black peppercorns also went in. • Vella Dry Jack afterwards/later.

• Itek Tim. Adapted from recipe P26 of "Irene's Peranakan Recipes" (Epigram Books). Sliced pork belly, duck leg quarter pieces, preserved plums, smashed ginger (I was out of galangal), smashed garlic, cut-up pre-soaked pickled mustard (kiam chye), sea salt, sour tamarind pulp (two pods' worth, pre-soaked), water. I skipped the brandy. I added in a sliced-up ripe tomato, Teochew-like. :-) • Simple fried rice w/ just chopped scallions (lots), very generous grinds of white pepper & a few dashes of fish sauce [Red Boat].

Take a nice drive out over the Bay Bridge and head for The Narrows. It's been a couple of years since I was last there, but I'd always found their crab cakes to be amongst the best in the region. Their cream of crab soup is nice too. (But not so much their Maryland crab/veggie soup) Faidley's - meh. IMO. Consider looking at theminx's guide to area dining. Regarding pit beef - p.s. Pioneer is (or was, the last I knew of it) cash only, BTW. p.p.s. I see you also posted on another forum. :-)

http://www.thebraiser.com/17-secrets-hugh-achesons-unibrow/

Maybe it's his unibrow?

Hugh Acheson has been around for a few years and has some experience and some chops, IMO. Two-time James Beard winner (for a cookbook as well as Best Chef SE; also a Food & Wine Best Chef) He has 4 restaurants and is opening has just opened a new one in Savannah. Etc etc. I also find his blogs on Top Chef to be amongst the best blogs on the show around. Droll. Dryly hilarious. Creepy? Not in the least, to me anyway. He is also not afraid to challenge and contradict Tom Colicchio on TC - a definite plus, IMO. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Acheson http://hughacheson.com/

Some chit-chat about Padma-Tom-Gail-Hugh sightings in town. http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2014/06/10/top-chef-judges-are-here-filming-and-dining/ObWZj591hav0qXtvH3xdFI/story.html http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2014/06/16/take-a-look-at-where-top-chef-judges-have-been-dining-in-boston/

• Soup: Tuscan kale & garlic; in chicken stock. • Oyster mushrooms sautéed w/ julienned ginger & chopped parsley. • Sliced shallots sautéed/caramelized in duck fat; stirred w/ stone-ground mustard & splashed w/ balsamic vinegar in the hot pan at the end. • Duck livers, dressed w/ Redmond salt & ground black pepper, sautéed in duck fat + the pan residues from the sauté of the shallots. • White rice (Thai Hom Mali). Cochon 2010 Petite Cochon Rouge (95% Syrah, 5% Viognier) earlier & while putzing around.

Heh. :-) IMO there is nothing wrong with ketchup. It's a perfectly fine condiment with a place and time for it; and also a nice ingredient to cook with, also in the appropriate place and in the appropriate dish. Heck, fine-dining chefs hither and yon in the US have stated on the record that they try to make their own ketchup for their restaurants and at least one has said that he strives to reproduce the taste of Heinz ketchup (and never quite getting it right). Ketchup is also used in E/SE Asian cuisine, no bones about it - and aficionados of "authentic ethnic cuisine" as found in the relevant locales nowadays might need to have second thoughts about actually eating such "authentic" dishes (some forms of street food included) if they hold to their disdain of ketchup. :-)

• Battered & deep-fried halved zucchini w/ blossoms, and broccoli. (Batter made w/ rice flour) Chopped romaine. Later: • Fusilli col Buco [Rustichella d'Abruzzo] w/ Hazan simple tomato sauce, using fresh ripe tomatoes. Pecorino Romano.

Regarding the "shrimp in aspic" ideas - hmm, dunno. Chris Hennes (or his sister) will know his intended audience/diners better but it seems to me that many non-foodie/non-eGulleteers/non-adventurous eaters or folks who basically do the meat-and-potatoes routine *may* have an issue with savory things in "aspic", and a cold savory dish in "jelly", of all things (gelatinous texture), at least in my experience in Mid/Middle USAmerica. I'm sure there are many exceptions and yes yes, in older times "stuff in aspic" was a common feature and perhaps fell out of favor etc with abuses such as tomatoes in aspic/jello, that sort of thing. The last time I brought in a Chicken in Aspic dish for a Departmental get-together meal when I was working at my old company basically no-one there knew what it was, and in fact the table organizers (plural) put it together with the desserts rather than the apps or mains. (I didn't realize it until the repast was already well underway when I came back in and joined the meal later). Yet the dish had chunks of chicken flesh, hard boiled egg slices and chopped scallions clearly visible, layered in the aspic; and it never even occurred to me at that time that I needed to describe precisely what kind of dish it was and specify where it should be placed when I dropped it off. I think only one other person took a bite from it other than myself. The general sense amongst the folks appeared to be that it was a "Sort-of-Jelly" dish therefore it must be a jello dish therefore it was dessert. Only one person there even knew what the term "aspic" meant, I discovered later.

Kueh Pie Tee. Alternate spellings include Kuih Paiti. One can omit the chili (not much to begin with) in the traditional recipe. Other recipes have no chili at all. Final assembly in the kitchen at the reception.

Prawns w/ ginger & scallions (and other stuff) in sauce over pan-fried thin Chinese egg noodles.