Tropicalsenior

I think I found it.

The women kind of look French. I'm not familiar with the license plates of France and to me they kind of look English. Wherever they are, it's a pretty generous spread of food for that close after the war years.

😁😁😁 I don't know why I'm laughing. Been there, done that.

It's the same in my house. Ketchup is an ingredient never a condiment. When I was little my mother made her own ketchup and I loved it. Nothing I have ever tasted since can compare with what she made and I just don't like it. And of course, she made 20 quarts at a time and never wrote down the recipe.

Sadly, it looks like they were the only edible parts of the meal.

Recently, @Dejah posted her recipe for Char Siu in PDF format on the dinner thread. @kayb uses her recipe and was kind enough to post it from her blog. It's quite a bit simpler than mine and without a doubt she knows what she's talking about.

I've never frozen the unbaked buns but I have frozen them after they are made. They freeze beautifully however I never have enough left to freeze. If you do freeze them, you can pop them, frozen, in the microwave for 30 seconds and they are just like new. Fresh, they will keep for about 5 days in the refrigerator, if they last that long.

Do either of you put vinegar in your water?

As a Westerner, I would be more inclined to eat them if I didn't have to look into the eyes of the animal that I was eating.

What I use almost exclusively is my recipe for Light Brioche Bread. It's easy to make and just the right texture. A full batch will give me enough for eight buns which is perfect for us. That also leaves about 18 oz of dough that I can make into hamburger buns or a loaf of bread or cinnamon buns. It's a very versatile dough. I weigh out the Buns and about 2.5 oz is perfect for each one. When I make Char Siu Bao I make my own Char Siu and I use this recipe from David Soo Hoo for the filling and sometimes for the dough but his recipe is very similar to my brioche recipe. It's just that his is made in a bread machine and if you don't want to have to refigure the recipe the brioche recipe is a little quicker.

If you had made that offer 10 years ago I would have been there in a heartbeat. However... I haven't read through the whole thread but I am looking forward to it. The ones that I make are always made with a bread dough because I don't do well with pie dough or empanada dough. I always wind up with leaks, cracks, and lumps. The one trick that I would recommend for making them with bread dough is to let your dough relax between steps. First shape it into balls, relax 10 to 15 minutes then using a small rolling pin, roll it into ovals or rounds in order to fill them. If you are making them empanadas style, roll them into completely flat ovals, put your filling in the middle and stretch the dough up and over to seal. If you are making round bao style, roll them into circular shape, leave the center a little bit thicker and roll the edges very thin. Put the filling in the middle and pleat the edges up around the filling. I hope that makes sense.

I have eaten crocodile, or was it alligator. I don't remember. It was at a southern barbecue in Seattle. They had ordered ribs from Louisiana. Would the taste be different or would it be similar? All I remember about it was that it was delicious. The texture was kind of like chicken and the taste was a little fishy. The one thing that surprised me was that the ribs were not bones, they were cartilage. We have both alligator and crocodiles here in Costa Rica but they call them all crocodiles. The crocodiles are allowed to eat people (it happens a couple times a year) but the people here are not allowed to eat the crocodiles.

I have a slicer and a sharpening stick that have the same type of handle. Mine also has little grooves in it. When mine get sticky, I use Bar Keepers Friend and a nail brush. Takes care of them for about 6 months and then I have to do it over again.

Thanks @Smithy for telling me about this cook-off. I make stuffed pastries almost every Sunday and I'm running out of ideas for fillings. The ones that I make are with a brioche type dough but I guess they still fit in this category, and I'm happy to restart the thread. My favorite ones to make are Char Siu Bao. This week's offerings were A variation on Russian piroshki. Last night I made Kafka on flatbread and I enjoyed the seasoning in the meat so much that I am going to try it next Sunday in some sort of stuffed bun.

I do indeed cook Chinese food. The Shabu Shabu sauce is one that I use as a dipping sauce for Chinese dumplings. I also have kikoman and tamari in my pantry but I didn't think that they were even pertinent to this discussion.

I think we need another emoji. Kind of like Green With Envy.

That's the brand that I can get here right now. All the stores have it right now but it seems to change periodically.

I have three, light, dark, and a cheaper one that I use when I need a large quantity such as a shabu-shabu sauce base that I have had going for about 10 years and my master sauce. I'm always confused about which one to use when it just says soy sauce in a recipe. Whenever I am making any dark meat gravy, I always add a touch of dark soy sauce as my finishing salt and to give it a little richer color.

To find a good recipe for meat pies you might want to look for recipes from the UK. They've been doing them for centuries and seem to be doing a pretty good job of it. Whenever I see them on programs, I always think that I would like to make some pork pies. Then I read through a mountain of recipes and decide maybe not. However, it seems that most of them use lard or a combination of lard and butter, and they use the hot water method to make them. Here is one recipe that I found that seems to be what you might want. If you have problems with pastry shrinking, it isn't the recipe it is the way in which you handle the dough. When placing it in your molds, you have to be very careful that you don't stretch the dough as you put it in. Make sure that the bottom is pressed flat then gently shape it up the sides without stretching it. That way it will be completely pressed into your form and will not stretch out when the heat hits it. It seems to me that this would be an excellent idea for a cook-off. Aren't we just about due?

Are you looking for a flaky crust or something sturdier like the English meat pies?

Thank you so much. I've spent all afternoon trying to think of the name of this and Googling didn't help me a bit. However, Google found it for me this time.

You can also make a slurry with flour and water. Or if you don't want to water down the flavor take out a little of the broth while it is still cold and mix the flour into that. You just want to cook the soup or stew a little longer than you would with cornstarch.

I've always been fascinated by food history. YouTube has quite a few that are really good. I enjoy this one about Royal menus because the recipes are interesting and the people on the program are absolutely delightful.

I've watched him a few times on YouTube. This is his channel.

I just found an interesting article on molasses. It is not as sweet as maple syrup and it is thicker so maybe you could use less molasses as a binder then you would need for maple syrup. That way you could cut sweetness two ways.