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Hest88

eGullet Society staff emeritus
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Everything posted by Hest88

  1. Interesting. It looks like the main ingredients are authentic, but some of the preparations aren't? Native American fusion?
  2. Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Food Section for Wednesday, February 13, 2008 Odd couples, Stacy Finz Culinarily mismatched mates achieve harmony in the kitchen Recipes: Three Bean Chili Delicate Chocolate Cake (gluten-free) Lemony Shrimp Mushroom Risotto Seasonal Cook, Cindy Lee For dessert, may we suggest a hot date? Recipes Bacon-Wrapped Dates Date & Chocolate Bread Pudding with Goat Cheese Glaze Dates & Toffee Cake The Roving Feast, Marlena Spieler Thinking outside the chocolate box on Valentine's Day Recipes Romesco Sauce Deep, Dark Chocolate Mousse Barcelona Pan-Roasted Garlic Artichokes Beard Foundation honors wine legend, Cindy Lee "Winemaker Christian Moueix of Dominus Estate and Chateau Petrus will be honored at the third Legends of Wine event March 2 and 3 in Napa." What’s New: Sweets for last-minute valentines Letting cheese breathe Dangerously good brownies Openings: Cottage Eatery in Tiburon, 2nd Brandy Ho's in SF Taster’s Choice, Carol Ness Top-rated non-organic cocoa mixes produce stirring results Restaurants Dining Out, Michael Bauer Red Lantern Offers Bold But Inconsistent Asian Flavors (This review appeared Sunday, February 10, 2008) Dining Out, Mandy Erickson San Ramon's Pearl Garden curbs dim sum cravings Pizza of the Week Goat Hill Pizza in SF The Inside Scoop El Toro reopens. . . Firecracker still open. . . Catahoula to become JoLe. . . and more.
  3. My favorite is simply stir-fying them in black bean sauce.
  4. Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Food Section for Wednesday, February 6, 2008 Luxe lentils, Tara Duggan "This time of year, the Bay Area's many Mediterranean-inspired chefs turn to these kinds of lentils for salads, pastas and side dishes that evoke the hearty styles of French and Italian provincial cooking." Recipes: French Caviar Lentil, Arugula & Celery Root Salad Castelluccio Lentils Braised in Red Wine Warm Lentil Dinner Salad Lentil & Vegetable Stew (Dhansaak) The Baker, Flo Braker A handy cookie recipe Recipes Chocolate Crackle Cookies Lunar New Year soup has sticking power, Cindy Lee "Now that my family is spread out, seollal is celebrated on a much smaller scale, but we always have to eat ddukguk, the traditional New Year's soup. Other side dishes vary but this soup of chewy, glutinous rice cakes swimming in a rich beef broth is a must." Recipes: Egg-battered Zucchini & Shiitake Mushrooms (Jun) Vietnamese New Year's Stew (Thit Kho) Korean Rice Cake Soup (Ddukguk) What’s New: Ferry Plaza Farmers market report Valentine's Day chocolates Openings: Azzurro Pizzeria & Enoteca in Napa, Xanh Restaurant in Mountain View Taster’s Choice, Carol Ness Panel turns up its nose at supermarket spinach dip Restaurants Dining Out, Michael Bauer San Francisco's Yoshi's hits all the culinary high notes (This review appeared Sunday, February 3, 2008) Dining Out, Carol Ness Berkeley's Digs Bistro appealing, but uneven Dining Out, Michael Bauer Hungering for more at expanded Jai Yun Pizza of the Week The Cheeseboard in Berkeley The Inside Scoop Scott Howard closes for renovation. . . Myth chef lands new gig . . . Nopa news . . . and more.
  5. Around here, in the expensive Bay Area, decent mid-upper tier wedding cakes are about $4.50+ a slice--regardless of flavor. The most famous bakeries around here start at about $10 a slice.
  6. When we were in Bangkok, we ended up at Lek Seafood more than once. Really good, really cheap, and definitely full of locals. As for morning glory...the first time I had it in Thailand I was confused because it looked like ong choy---what I think of as water spinach. Later on I read that, indeed, what the Thai call morning glory is indeed the same thing.
  7. As others have said, if you're looking at resale value, the absence or presence of one isn't going to make a whit of difference. That said, when we remodeled our kitchen recently, one of my must-haves was a disposal--after having grown up with one but being without for a decade or so. I don't use it a lot, but it's so convenient when I wash out stuck-on food, or cleaning out those sundry bits of vegetables, or getting rid of soup or anything else with a high liquid component. A strainer is all well and good, but cleaning the strainer isn't all that fun either.
  8. I never use my silicone mitt or most of the potholders I've tried precisely because they're so stiff. However, I've been quite happy with the "The Grid" Silicone Pot Holders I got at Sur La Table. They're as flexible as regular cotton potholders.
  9. Yeah, in my last apartment I took the batteries out of the smoke detector. In my current house the kitchen alarm supposedly detects heat instead of smoke (so the alarm company said), which is a much better option for those of us who actually cook!
  10. Digest: San Francisco Chronicle Food Section for Wednesday, January 9, 2008 Prime cutlets, Georgeanne Brennan Quick-cooking Wiener Schnitzel saves the day Recipes: Venison Cutlets with Balsamic & Cabernet Sauce Pork Cutlets with Mushrooms & Pan Gravy Wiener Schnitzel Beef Roulades with Anchovy Stuffing Turkey Cutlets with Creme Fraiche & Green Peppercorns Chef's Night In, Cindy Lee Bar Crudo chef goes for the whole fish Recipe: Whole Roasted Fish with Sauteed Winter Greens & Mustard Sauce Food Conscious, Carol Ness Battle over country of origin heating up "A recent Taster's Choice column about frozen spinach prompted a mini-storm of e-mail from readers who were dismayed to learn that the panel's favorite brands came from China." Taster’s Choice, Carol Ness Trader Joe's wedge fries panel's top pick for frozen What's New: Handbag helper, Lynne Char Bennett "The Luxe Link, a small, flat, collapsible hook (pictured at left), is smaller than a compact but will hold up to 9 pounds. Unwind the chrome tail, hook it around the purse straps then place the flat part on the edge of any table or counter where it will stay..." What's New: Alemany Farmers' Market report, Miriam Morgan "With citrus fruits and winter greens at the height of their season, Saturday at the year-round Alemany Farmers' Market is awash in orange and green." What's New: Restaurants brewing up gourmet blends, Tara Duggan "After establishing a cult following with kiosks at local farmers' markets, Blue Bottle's fair-trade and organic blends are now in 40 local restaurants." What's New: Bay Area Restaurant, market openings Sangha...Yankee Pier Lafayette...Golden Natural Foods and more! Restaurants Dining Out, Michael Bauer Sophisticated southern fare at 1300 on Fillmore (This review appeared Sunday, January 13, 2008) Dining Update, Michael Bauer New Mecca menu takes a big step back Dining Update, Carey Sweet Casual food fares best at quirky Kelley's No Bad Days Cafe Pizza of the Week, Michael Bauer Pauline's in San Francisco The Inside Scoop Fifth Floor team set...Myth deal moves forward...and more!
  11. Hest88

    Storing duck breast

    YMMV, but I've cooked many an item I've left out for longer periods without an issue. And some of those weren't even cryovac-ed.
  12. Actually, I like milk chocolate and I find that the expensive stuff makes a big difference. As I've gotten older I've been less tolerant of super-sweet chocolate, yet dark chocolate doesn't quite hit the spot. My favorite milk is Scharffen Berger, which has a nice burnt caramel flavor and complexity, and is nowhere near as sweet as cheap milk chocolate.
  13. - The wok I've had for 15 years - even though one of the handles broke I can't bear to replace it. It's so wonderfully seasoned now that it's practically non-stick. - The plastic rice paddle that came with one of my rice cookers. I know I can get bamboo or other plastic ones, but I don't know if I can get one that's exactly like this without paying for another rice cooker. I use it as my all-purpose spatula for everything. I mix batter with it, I stir soup with it, I scoop food into Tupperware with it. I use it far more than I use any regular spatula or whisk.
  14. Yeah, but then I don't assume any fried food is good for me...though I can dream! I loved Bugles as a kid but forgot about them so completely that years later I found myself trying to remember what those weird corn things were that were at the back of my memory. When I finally realized they were Bugles I was quite delighted to find they tasted just as wonderful as I'd remembered.
  15. I like large glasses--even though I'm a petite woman who doesn't drink all that much liquid--because I'm a klutz. I like being able to fill my glass part way and know I can clomp around without worrying about spillage.
  16. Well, of course! I finished up my bottle of mineral oil and now I'm using Boos Mystery Oil (which smells rather nice), but I'm always looking for something new to play with!
  17. Okay, sorry this took longer than expected. In real life the contrast between the different colors of the wood is much less prominent, but I'm not a good enough photographer to get a good picture. The maple pepper mill should give a good idea of the color difference and size, though.
  18. Octaveman, I'll see if I can get a picture tonight! I really like the feet; it makes it easy to shove the block out of the way without scraping the counter. And, yeah, with a board this weighty the odds of you flipping it over all the time are pretty slim.
  19. Wow, those photographs are great! I can't wait until this is published.
  20. Thanks to this thread, I ended up ordering a 16x22 mahogany butcher block from David Smith. It *is* really beautiful and solid, and both a pleasure to view and use. My only slight regret (which has nothing to do with the product) is that I ordered it with the juice groove. My old cutting boards all had juice grooves because I cut a lot of messy and juicy stuff, but they were light enough for me to just tip them into the sink and lightly rinse and scrape. My new one is not only too heavy to move, but of course I don't plan on abusing it in the same way, so wiping down the surface is more difficult with stuff getting into the grooves. David was delightful to talk to and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend his boards.
  21. Yep, I'm also in the slightly green camp. Of course, I generally dislike banana-flavored anything so I guess I like underripe bananas because they don't taste as strongly of banana!
  22. Of course. The woman chef always drizzles a happy face on top of her dish.
  23. Hest88

    Prep bowls

    Usually I use Chinese rice bowls. I have lots of them, they're the perfect size for small amounts of chopped veggies and herbs, they're cheap enough so I don't cry if they break.
  24. Hest88

    I'm a fraud

    Oh, I use garlic powder in my beef ribs and, worse yet, on my rib eye and lamb chops if we're not entertaining. The shame, the shame. But nothing else makes them taste like the beef my mom use to make.
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