PopsicleToze

I googled cha lua, and the following picture is exactly what it looked like -- the one in the middle, except that it was wrapped in green leaves. It was very processed and tasted, well, like bologna. http://www.kamkwokfood.com/images/Original.jpg Edited to Add: (Silk sausage sounds waaaay better than bologna Wiki says this Chả lụa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Cha-lua) Jump to: navigation, search Sliced chả lụa served over bánh cuốn, and garnished with fried garlicChả lụa is a Vietnamese food, also known as Vietnamese ham or Vietnamese sausage. [edit] Etymology The name chả lụa is a plain description of its characteristics: chả means sausage, and lụa means "silk" in Vietnamese, as the texture of the sausage is smooth like silk. Northern Vietnamese call it giò lụa, a different word that also means "silky sausage". [edit] Production and consumption Traditionally, chả lụa is made of lean pork, potato starch, and good nước mắm (fish sauce, usually made from salted mackerel). The pork has to be pounded until it becomes pasty; it cannot be chopped or ground as the meat would still be fibrous, dry, and crumbly. Near the end of the pounding period a few spoonfuls of nước mắm are added to the meat for flavour, but salt, ground black pepper, and sugar can also be added. The meat is now called giò sống, meaning "raw sausage," and can be used in other dishes as well. The mixture is then wrapped tightly in banana leaves into a cylindrical shape and boiled. If the banana leaf is not wrapped tightly and water leaks inside while it is being boiled, the sausage will be ruined. The sausage has to be submerged vertically into boiling water, and typically for a 1 kg sausage it takes an hour to cook. When making chả lụa by hand, a common way to tell if it is well cooked is to throw the sausage onto a hard surface; if it bounces, the sausage is good.[1] The most well-known chả lụa comes from the village Ước Lễ, Thanh Oai, province Hà Tây, northern Vietnam, where people pride themselves as professional chả lụa makers. When cooking chả lụa, the villagers of Ước Lễ light a stick of incense with the length equal to the circumference of the sausage's cross section; they believe that when the incense has completely burned, the sausage is well cooked. Correctly-made chả lụa can be stored at room temperature for about one week. During the initial wave of Vietnamese immigrants to the United States in the mid-1970s, banana leaves were difficult to find and, thus, Vietnamese chefs substituted aluminum foil for banana leaves, a habit that continues today. The sausage is normally sliced and eaten with bánh cuốn, bánh mì, or xôi, or braised in fish sauce and black pepper with other meat dishes. If fried, it is called chả chiên.

Vietnamese I'll try to find a similar photo.

There's a language problem. Even when I order the banh mi, I have to point to the sign at the one that says $2.50 (instead of $2.00). I know I want the one with the meatball, but she doesn't understand when I ask. Same problem when I ask anyone there about anything. I'm not complaining -- it's just a fact. Typically I buy something interesting and find out what it is later. It's easier that way.

Visiting New Orleans' Hong Kong Market on the Westbank, I purchased something in the prepared foods department that I don't know what it is -- even now -- even after I've tasted it. It has a cylinder shape and it was wrapped with leaves then tied, and I suppose either boiled or steamed after that. (I thought it was something like joong, but with the different shape, I had no idea what would be included in the rice). Well, it's nothing like joong. It's either a meat or a meat substitute. It has the shape of a salami, but looks and tastes like an American bologna. What am I eating?

The WSJ has an interesting article on paella: Searching Spain for the Perfect Paella No chicken, mussels or chorizo. The classic Spanish dish has two unexpected ingredients By RAYMOND SOKOLOV August 9, 2008; Page W1

I read the blog, and when I came to "Potato Salad INSPIRED BY (UGH) you know who and you know from where... fuckers" I had tears in my eyes from trying not to laugh out loud. She did handle the situation very well

Pedie, that looks wonderful. I might just have to turn the AC to *freeze* and cook the exact dish because yours looks amazing.

Those are beautiful!! And they are very easy to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late snack.

$20/dozen large crabs Baton Rouge, LA

I wish you luck. I tried to do the fish head stock, and all it did was make me sick seeing those heads swimming in the water. But, okay. Then, even tasting the fish stock, it was inferior. (All of that work for nothing!). I have banned fish stock from my kitchen. I use shrimp stock all of the time, and I use clam broth, but NEVER AGAIN will I do fish head stock. Life is too short. Rhonda

He's already having a shrimp boil. Wouldn't using shrimp in the rolls be redundant? I just wouldn't do it. If the choice was have a shrimp boil with lobster/shrimp rolls on the side, I'd skip the shrimp rolls. because the shrimp boil is more important. Rhonda

Yes. Watermelon rind pickles. I just made some less than 2 weeks ago, and they're already gone. That's what I'll be making this weekend because the reason I made them was to give to a friend. When we ate at Cochon he asked if he could purchase some, but, no, they use that for cooking/serving. *This time* I'll deliver them right away. And as soon as Mayhaws are in season, it's jelly-making time. http://www.mayhaw.org/ Rhonda

Zuppardo's has them. But you can find them in just about every grocery store. Even Wal-Mart has them. Whatcha canning? I don't know which size you're buying, but I've switched to the wide-mouth jars. Cleaning the wider jars is so much easier than the narrow-mouth jars. Rhonda

If you want to just use lobster, you could scale down the lobster rolls to appetizer sized rolls. For the full sized rolls, that's a great idea to cut it with some other seafood. A quick Google for "faux lobster" yielded a recipe that uses cod or torsk. http://www.justshellfishrecipes.com/she-0205564.html

Axe, and ye shall receive... Brooksie's Tomato and Basil Pie It's pretty swell. Addictive, actually. Enjoy. ← Oh that sounds fantastic. ← Ditto! But one question. Brooks -- the recipe says to add the cheeses, but the only cheese I saw mentioned was mozz. Do you just use the mozz or do you add anything else? Thanks

Is he giving you six specific wines or do you get to choose them. The food ingredients definitely need to be matched up to the wine to get the optimum flavor benefit.

I'd top the deviled eggs with caviar. Epicurious has a recipe for caviar pie the different colors of caviars. It's always looked interesting, but I haven't tried it. It does look good, but their site doesn't show the picture with the recipe. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/CAVIAR-PIE-1172 Also, I found a site that said Alexis had croissants flown in from France. I remember watching the series years ago, but the only scene I recall is the catfight. Rhonda

I wrap it in dampened cheesecloth then with plastic wrap or alum foil and it stays fresh until it runs out -- just keep the cheesecloth damp. The only parm I've ever frozen was the rinds to use in later minestrone soup.

Aw, man! Now I know

You have a good start with the homemade stocks. They're invaluable. Favorite soup? It varies with the season. Right now, it's hot. Very, very hot. I don't even think of soup -- except a delicious dessert soup based on watermelon. Fall -- precisely, the FIRST cold snap after the summer heat, it's gumbo time. Chicken and andouille. Winter - split pea soup with ham. Also, not really a soup, but chicken-n-dumplings wins smiles everytime. Spring and first summer means tomato soup, but not the heavy cream-based version. A light and great bread-based version with lots of basis is a show-stopper. For the watermelon soup, I just wing it. And with gumbo, I've made it so many years that I just do it by love and what feels right that day. Split pea soup -- Cooks Illustrated has a great recipe that is my guideline. You could probably never go wrong with chicken noodle soup. However, it gives me grief to make it in advance for someone. I don't like mushy pasta in soup, so when I give it away I give them the soup in one container, and the pasta (or rice) in another container. Good luck to you!

That's exactly it. Lisa knows what she's doing. And the FN execs can teach her how to be more comfortable on camera. I recall seeing a Giada bio on FN and, in her early days, she said she was terrified and extremely uncomfortable in front of the camera when Everyday Italian (whatever it's called) started production. So since Lisa KNOWS how to cook, all she has to do is learn how to do the presentation in front of the camera. What I won't watch is one more BBQ show, which is Adam's expertise, if I understood correctly. Though I have no doubt he's a worthy contender and has cooking abilities not yet apparent to me via TNFNS. Aaron, on the other hand, did pull off some really good dishes. I do recall Bobby Flay saying Lisa's cassoulet was the best he'd ever had. Now the question remains, how many different cassoulet dishes has Bobby eaten? ← I like her NOW, too. I didn't at first, but she does grow on you. For me it happened when she was obviously scared of heights, but she got on that wine-lift thing and tried her hardest. She knows how to cook and she is so driven. She just might be a good thing for that network.

I ate at Cochon last week. We parked on the street facing the side of the building and noticed a sign that they were opening what looked like a butcher shop. It said "Cochon Meats" I believe. If that is happening, that is great. We need some great butcher shops. I was buying short ribs a few weeks ago and didn't see them. I asked the meat-cutter stocking the shelves if they had any. She pointed out the beef spareribs. I told her, no, not those, but short ribs. She said, "Look, you can either have the beef ribs, the pork ribs or the babyback ribs. That's all there is."

Gosh I seem to recall that Daniel went to Galatoire's recently, and he had a great time and a great meal. The first time I ever went there, I left disappointed. I went with a girlfriend who is really into food, also, and we expected a wonderful time. It was not. I had the bouillabaisse and it was a glorified seafood soup with no saffron to be found. She thought the same thing. The rest of the meal was forgettable. We were both quiet about it at first, but then we talked about it. What we did wrong was order from the menu. One of the great things about New Orleans dining is that the waiters were professional waiters. That was their career. They weren’t wannabe actors or anything else. There was a dedication to their craft. One of the best things about Galatoire’s was their waiters. Where we went wrong was not putting ourselves in his hands and getting the full Galatoire’s experience. The next time I went, it was a completely different experience and I hated to leave. However, in your case, you tried that route and it didn’t work. I don’t think it was because you weren’t regulars. I’ve heard that spill before, but I don’t buy it. It sounds like you had a really lousy waiter. In all fairness, it is extremely difficult in today’s times for New Orleans restaurants to find quality staff. Still, that’s no excuse for the food which sounds really bad that night. One thing about Galatoire’s is that they don’t have a chef. They have good old-fashioned line cooks who cook old New Orleans favorites – nothing too fancy, but they do them well. But not on the night you went. I’m shocked about your experience. As a side, since I notice you live in New Orleans, definitely go to Broussards, which is a long-standing great place. I was just there last week, and it was so great that it almost brought tears to my eyes. I remember stating, “Now, this is what a New Orleans restaurant is supposed to be.” Chef-owner Gunter Preuss is a constant, Marc (his son and restaurant manager) sat us, and Evelyn (his wife) checked in on us. It was a fabulous meal in a fabulous restaurant with fabulous service in a fabulous city. Did I mention it was fabulous? Rhonda

Mustard greens are straight-up soul food no matter if you use bacon, ham hocks or whatever as the seasoning meat. Ever since I read Patti LaBelle's recipe for Screamin' Mean Greens, I've started seasoning mustard greens with smoked turkey wings or necks. It's easy to find them around here, and they are surprisingly good in the greens and a little healthier than smoked pork. Here is a copy of the recipe I found on the web: http://www.recipezaar.com/266985 One thing, however, take the time to make a stock from the smoked turkey wings before you begin the recipe and it will be mo' better. (Don't Laugh!) I've even tried making red beans and rice with smoked turkey necks. There's this little soul food meat shop near where I work and I always try to start a conversation with other people at the counter finding out what they're going to be cooking with what they purchase. This one lady told me that she uses a couple of smoked turkey necks, a couple of pounds maybe, (nice and meaty -- dark from smoking -- and cut into about 2-3" pieces) to make red beans and rice because her daughter won't eat pork. She assured me they were good, so I bought some, too, and tried it. It was delicious. After the beans cooked, I just took the meat off the bones and added the meat back to the pot. No one who ate those beans questioned me about what type of meat was in the beans, and they were very good. Another lady at that same market was buying pig tails. Now, I had never tried those, but she said that she uses them in her black-eyed peas. Done. I bought some (had them sawed into pieces, also) and tried them. They were great. I served brought those to Sunday dinner one day (also cooked fried chicken, mustard greens and cornbread) and everyone loved everything. After dinner I told Mom about the lady in the meat store, and she said, "You had better not ever serve me any of that." Not wanting to lie, I said, "What would make you say such a thing? I love that little store. Rhonda

No, I don't slice the okra. Just keep it whole. It adds a great new dimension to the dish when it kindof oozes in your mouth. For the sausage, it's usually andouille, which is smoked and not as fatty as regular sausage. You're making me hungry A plate of fresh field peas with a side of corn bread and iced tea is definitely in my immediate future this weekend.