Dinner! 2013 (Part 2)

[basquecook]

The place you went to didn't happened to be called, the Banana Leaf? I have been to on in Yangzhou and one in Canton. I am assuming they are all over the place, looked similar.

[basquecook]

It really was so delicious. The shell was super crunchy, super pork.. I would call it beautiful.. Great for a crowd. For the sides, we served a dal, a basic salad, a truffle risotto from a box of food samples Miss A brought home, deep fried brussel sprouts with sriracha and honey, roasted sunchokes, roasted fennel and golden egg potatoes. I am so full.. Tonight, we are going to put the remaining roast on a meat slicer and see if it makes good sandwiches.

We took it out when the center was 122. We then kicked up the oven back to 500 and covered the outside with some drippings..

You know when you feel like you don't get enough skin, there was no problem with this guy. I had enough

green sauce was tarragon, oregano, chives, celery, parsley,garlic, salt packed capers and sardines, lemon, vinegar, olive oil.

Edited April 22, 2013 by basquecook (log)

[liuzhou]

The place you went to didn't happened to be called, the Banana Leaf? I have been to on in Yangzhou and one in Canton. I am assuming they are all over the place, looked similar.

Are you asking me?

If so, then no. It isn't called the Banana Leaf.

[basquecook]

I was, the place looked familiar to me. Heading out to China in a couple of weeks.

[liuzhou]

I was, the place looked familiar to me. Heading out to China in a couple of weeks.

Forgive my confusion. I didn't show the place, so I'm baffled as to how you found it familiar.

[basquecook]

Plates. The plates looked familiar. They are kind of distinctive, no? Plus you are eating with a fork, so I assumed it was a chain.

Edited April 22, 2013 by basquecook (log)

[Ranz]

Aaaawkward...

[basquecook]

Haha, a real conversationalist.

[liuzhou]

I have totally lost the plot.

Why would forks indicate a chain? Forks were about the only genuinely Thai aspect of the place.

We weren't eating with forks anyway! We were using chopsticks which is just another example of the fake nature of the restaurant. If they were really Thai they wouldn't offer chopsticks - unless selling breakfast noodles which they don't seem to do.

It was a fake Thai restaurant. Chinese food with limes! That's Thai enough. The Chinese food was OK. But not what we wanted.

The plates are available in every restaurant supply shop in China (as far as I can make out). I see them everywhere.

I need a lie down now.

Edited April 22, 2013 by liuzhou (log)

[basquecook]

Sounds great. I really did not mean to bother you or get you so riled up. I hope I gave you proper clarification as to why I could have possibly thought that we ate at the same place.

[Kim Shook]

huiray – Bean sprouts are among my favorite vegetables to add to a stir fry (of course I don’t like many vegetables). I add them at the very end and they are just barely hot, so they don’t add much liquid to the dish and stay good and crunchy. Like Bruce, one of my favorites is roast pork with bean sprouts – a perhaps ersatz Asian dish, but something I love anyway .

Prawn – Mr. Kim is really intrigued with the idea of a kimchi Reuben and I LOVE the look of that pastrami!

Jason – everything looks amazing. Especially those over the top (in a VERY good way) meatballs.

Wapi – I know that chicken would be way too hot for me, but BOY does it look good.

Ranz – I agree with Tina – that is probably the loveliest pie I’ve ever seen.

Soba – what is the result of cooking the radishes?

Ashen – gorgeous pizza!

Dinner last night – salad and char siu and basmati rice:

The char siu was NOT from scratch. I picked up an envelope of something called “Hawaiian Pride Char Siu Sauce” from World Market. It was a combination marinade and sauce. Not much sauce was left after roasting and the flavor was odd – there was a bitter note that I found unpleasant. Mr. Kim liked it, though. I guess if I want good char siu, I’m just going to have to get someone to give me a good recipe and make it from scratch (hint-hint ).

[SobaAddict70]

Kim -- thanks. I find that a short simmer in lightly salted water helps tame any "bite" or "harshness" with French breakfast radishes. you don't want to cook them for too long. 5-7 minutes, followed by blanching in ice water is perfect.

[TinaYuan]

Keith, the Bearnaise sauce sounds delicious!

Liuzhou, that thai food looks so chinese and I'm pretty sure you can do much better

dinner dinner~ Oil poached bass, which is a famous dish in my hometown, a very small eastern coast city in China.

Fish was cut into small fillets, marinaded in salt, cooking wine, egg whites and corn starch. This will keep the fish extremely moist.

Firstly, fish was poached in 80C degree oil and taken out immediately after opaque.

Secondly, sauteed aromatics and vegetables till done, returned fish to pot and just combined well, adjust seasoning and drizzle a little sesame oil.

Served with ginger and Chinkiang Vinegar. Enjoy!

Edited April 23, 2013 by TinaYuan (log)

[patrickamory]

Wow. Tina. That fish dish is on the menu next time I cook.

[patrickamory]

Cheese board. Then piri-piri chicken, succumbing to the mania around here!

[TinaYuan]

Patrick, what a lovely bird! Btw, I made a mistake in the previous post. The oil temp should be 80C. I have modified it~

[liuzhou]

Liuzhou, that thai food looks so chinese and I'm pretty sure you can do much better

Yes. It was just Chinese food with a lump of lime on top.

[SobaAddict70]

liuzhou -- that sounds positively dreadful.

basque -- yummy.

patrick -- love the chicken pr0n.

kim -- I think when you make it from scratch, Mr. Kim will crave it. you just might make a monster, lol.

tonight:





Spring vegetables (baby golden beets, French breakfast radishes, baby carrots, beet greens), vanilla butter sauce

Fairly straightforward -- prep the vegetables, then simmer in lightly salted water for 3-4 minutes or until crisp tender; drain, then blanch in ice water.

Vanilla butter sauce -- http://gildedfork.com/lobster-ravioli-with-vanilla-butter-sauce/ but scaled down for one person.




Baked cod with Chinese pork sausage, pancetta and smoked bacon

Adapted from this recipe at Food52 (with lap cheong sausage, pancetta and smoked bacon from Flying Pigs Farm (http://flyingpigsfarm.com/ ) instead of linguica, and I omitted the red bell pepper): http://food52.com/recipes/17757-roasted-cod-with-linguica

[Keith_W]

Double injected roast chicken, Mk. 3 (roast chicken injected with roast chicken jus). This time I followed the Modernist Cuisine at Home cooking technique - i.e. slow roast to 60C, then rest 45m, then brown the skin under the broiler. Result: my oven cooks the chicken in half the time specified in the book, but broils the chicken in double the time without satisfactory uniform browning (note slight burning).

Edited April 23, 2013 by Keith_W (log)

[TinaYuan]

SobaAddict70, the vanilla butter sauce sounds delicious! I will try some shrimp to go with it this week.

[TinaYuan]

Dinner, dinner~ Wensi Tofu, this is just a fun soup dish to test knife work in China. The main purpose is to cut silken tofu in extremely fine julienne. The final soup should look like a Chinese painting.

Well, obviously, I'm far from good in knife My tofu looks like noodle....noodle...noodle.....

Let's see how professionals can cut tofu.This is a picture from a famous restaurant in China.

How naive I am.....

[Plantes Vertes]

I had to work late so I just made a quick soup. I was really pleased with how it came out. Carrot, fennel and leek:

Edited April 24, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[liuzhou]

Well, obviously, I'm far from good in knife My tofu looks like noodle....noodle...noodle.....

I think yours is the nicer looking of the two.

[SobaAddict70]

tina -- thanks. i agree with liuzhou; much prefer your version.

keith -- looks awesome.

plantes -- nice color.

tonight, a celebration of ramps:



Poached farm egg, ramps, pecorino Crotonese cheese

The ramps were tossed with 1 tablespoon olive oil, a small pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then roasted at 375 F for 15 minutes.

If you don't have ramps, asparagus is a wonderful substitute, like so:



next:



Fava bean, ramp and chickweed risotto

Once you master making a regular risotto, the sky's the limit. Contains ramps, fava beans, chickweed, vegetable stock, Arborio rice, white wine, sea salt, black pepper, light cream, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, unsalted butter and chives.

for those of you who are unfamiliar with chickweed: http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Chickweed.html

ramps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_tricoccum

fava beans: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fava_beans

ramps are pungent enough that their stalks can serve as a substitute for onion or shallots. add the minced stalks to some melted unsalted butter before adding the rice. sauté for a minute or two. you'll want to watch their progress closely, since if you wait too long before adding the rice, the stalks will discolor which will ultimately affect the color of the finished risotto.

Edited April 24, 2013 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[Keith_W]

Tina, wonderful dishes. I am going to go against the others and say I prefer the professional chef's version. It is supposed to be one block of tofu cut into 5000 pieces. I don't mean to cause any offence because i'm pretty sure you would agree Having said that, I have never made this dish. I wonder if a Mandolin would help with the fine julienne? I can make extremely fine julienne with my Mandolin - I use the Mandolin to slice vegetables into thin sheets, then use my knife to make the julienne. I have never tried it with anything as soft as tofu however. Watch http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pomme-rosti'>this video on ChefSteps on how to make a potato rosti. Admittedly that julienne isn't as fine as what is called for in this dish, but you get the idea.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Keith_W (log)