Scrofula's Profile
my perennial garam masala problem
Why not just coarsely break up the cinnamon stick in a mortar and pestle? Finely grind the portion you are using, and put the remaining chunks back in your masala box.
I wouldn't worry too much about getting the *exact* ratio; Indian cuisine tends to have pretty large margin of error for most spices. Whoever wrote down your recipe probably just eyeballed it.
Expresso beans vs. drip coffee beans
Espresso is a brewing method where you force water at high pressure through finely ground coffee; this releases different flavors from a drip machine. 'Espresso beans' are just normal coffee beans of several varieties, blended together and roasted to work well with this brewing method.
If you want to try good espresso, your best bet is to find a good coffee shop (not Starbucks). It's hard to make good espresso at home without a lot of fancy equipment.
If you want to spread out from drip coffee at home, other brewing methods you can experiment with cheaply at home are French press, moka pot (the predecessor to modern espresso), pourover, Aeropress and Turkish coffee. Done correctly, these will all give you better coffee than your drip machine.
POLL: Can you walk to an actual grocery store?
Within a few blocks, I've got a Safeway, a Trader Joe's, a couple of produce shops, a seafood & poultry shop, a weekly farmer's market, an Indian grocery, and several other small groceries. Seattle is a nice town for pedestrians. Oh, and a QFC, though it's a bit farther to walk.
Is Nook ever open?
What time are you showing up? They close at 2pm or whenever they run out of biscuits; on weekends, this can happen kind of early.
Where do your favorite exotic coffee beans come from?
I tend to enjoy Central American coffees. Well, I tend to enjoy all coffees, but Central American ones are often well-balanced for my brewing method. African coffees are often bright and fruity, and Indonesian coffees are often heavy and earthy; these are both nice once in a while, but I usually end up coming back to Central America.
But if you're going to roast it super dark (which is what 'Italian roast' usually means) and cover it up with cream, it doesn't really matter where the beans come from; it'll taste like any other dark creamy coffee.
Breakfast Sausage: Patties or Links?
I wouldn't really think of it as being a sausage any more, but I would still call it 'Italian sausage' if I was sharing the recipe with someone, since that's more concise than saying 'ground pork with seasonings typically found in Italian sausage'. It's like calling people calling a certain Thanksgiving dish 'stuffing' even when it isn't stuffed into anything.
Breakfast Sausage: Patties or Links?
Uh huh. And my dictionary defines sausage as 'a short cylindrical tube of minced pork, beef, or other meat encased in a skin, typically sold raw to be grilled or fried before eating.'. I don't claim or want to be some food definition police, so you can go on calling all ground meat 'sausage' if you like.
Breakfast Sausage: Patties or Links?
Shape is sometimes one of the defining characteristics of a food. A salad with a slice of bread on the side is not a sandwich. Macaroni is not spaghetti. Non-sausage-shaped meat patties are not sausages.
Besides, the casing is important. It adds a nice snap to the texture, and keeps more of the juices in; this changes the experience of eating the sausage.
Breakfast Sausage: Patties or Links?
Sausages come in links, with casings. Those salty pork patties are nice once in a while, but I can't really think of them as sausage.
Hot Chocolate
I put a couple of heaping teaspoonfuls of cocoa solids in a cup, with a small pinch of salt and a small pinch of powdered red chilli. Some powdered cinnamon would work too. If you're adding sugar, do so now; I prefer it without. The lactose in the milk provides some sweetness.
Next, add a small splash of warm milk and stir vigorously. Add a little more milk if necessary, and stir until you have a thick chocolatey paste. Then fill the cup with hot milk and stir in a few drops of vanilla extract.
This won't be as thick as versions based on melted chocolate, but it works well with steamed milk from an espresso machine. Of course, the fattier the milk, the better.
Teriyaki: The Best of a Local Phenomenon
I've enjoyed the Mongolian food at Joy Teriyaki as well. For teriyaki, though, my vote goes to Teriyaki 1st in the U District.
Coffee, Coffee Pots, Tea & Tea Pots - What are Your Favorites?
I brew coffee with a Melitta pour-over cone and tea with a Finum brew basket. Pretty much the simplest devices you could use, and they both work really well. I use the single cup versions, but they come in larger sizes too.
What Makes a Good Hot Chocolate Good?
I haven't tried hot chocolate at 7-Eleven, but try pouring it back and forth between two mugs to get a bit of froth. Works for Indian-style tea.
Ideas for vegetarian grill recipes?
Paneer is great on the grill. It's pretty common in India to serve 'vegetable kebabs', which are typically paneer, onions, green peppers and tomatoes in a yogurt-based marinade, skewered and grilled. I bet this would work great with other vegetables, or with halloumi instead of paneer.
Grilled sweet potato is also pretty awesome. I've seen people use foil for that.
Middle Eastern Ice cream ideas - HELP!
Coconut seems a little out of place -- coconuts do grow in parts of the middle east, but they aren't strongly associated with middle eastern food. Maybe coffee or pistachio instead.
The date, fig and pistachio toppings seem like good choices. Maybe also some honey -- it goes pretty well with vanilla ice cream.
You might also try putting together some version of faloodeh.
Food foreigners take back home when they visit America.
I don't think it occurred to us to buy canned peaches. We had plenty of good fresh fruit, after all. I still miss the mangoes.
Food foreigners take back home when they visit America.
When I was a kid, my parents always brought back jam after a trip to the US or UK. Most jams available in India at the time were basically sugar, coloring and thickening agents, without a lot of fruit. I understand that the situation is better now.
I also remember some smoked salmon and Carr's table water crackers.
Best (or decent) Chinese in QA/Fremont/Wallingford/Univ. District?
Mandarin Chef is my go-to Chinese lunch place in the U District, but I doubt it's particularly authentic. Compare their kung pao to a specialty Sichuan place, for instance. No Sichuan peppercorns, not a lot of dried red chillies. Delicious, but probably Americanized.
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Mandarin Chef
5022 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105
Uttapam and Bhatura?
I'd try Chili's Deli & Mart in the U District. They probably have uttappam, and their giant puris are pretty bhatura-like.
Chicago Dog Ingredient Supplier
You could check with the Taste of Chicago folks where they get theirs.
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Taste of Chicago
5259 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105
Milk Substitute that tastes similar/good in Tea?
While not similar to milk, a squeeze of lime or lemon can cut astringency in tea.
What exactly do the spices cardamom and coriander taste like?
Green cardamom is great in sweets. Goes well with dairy and/or nuts. You'll find some in pretty much any Indian dairy-based dessert. I remember drinking cartons of sweetened cardamom-milk as a kid in India; it was as common as chocolate milk. It's easy to try it; just get a bag of cardamom pods from your nearest Indian grocery and break one open with your teeth.
I don't think I've ever tried coriander in a sweet. It seems like an inherently savory spice to me.
Indian Cooking for One
I'm Indian, and I cook for one. One pot meals are your friend; it's not worth making dal and rice and two kinds of sabji for every meal. My go-to vegetarian option is rajma (kidney beans) or channa (chickpeas) in a simple tomato-and-onion based sauce. If you're in a hurry, you can use canned beans/chickpeas, a small can of tomatoes (with green chillies), jarred ginger and garlic paste, even frozen chopped onions. No need to measure out the spices; just throw some in. As long as you don't use way too much, Indian cuisine is very forgiving about everything other than salt. To go with it, you can make some rice, get some ready-made tortillas, or just eat it out of a bowl with a slice of bread. Non-vegetarians can make a simple chicken or egg-and-potato curry in basically the same sauce.
Another convenient option: rice with yogurt and Indian pickles, with any quick vegetable dish. Most of South India lives off this stuff.
Or there's kitchdi: rice and lentils cooked together until soft. Faster with a pressure cooker, but you can make it on a regular stovetop, depending on what kind of lentils you use. Traditionally eaten with yogurt, pickles, ghee (or butter) and papads (which you can buy ready-to-microwave).
Special Chili Ingredient
Just ground red chillies, the kind you get in South Asian groceries.
Special Chili Ingredient
My chili/chili-like dish uses chopped tri tip, ground beef, onions, garlic, toasted cumin seeds, oregano, a bit of jarred tomato sauce, lots of Indian red chili powder, diced fresh jalapeno, and a bit of unsweetened cocoa powder. Small shakes of cinnamon and cloves; not enough to detect. I find that the mixture of chopped and ground meat gives the best of both worlds -- meaty chunks, as well as beefy goodness that melts into a thick sauce. I do tend to throw in a can of pintos when it's close to done, but it works fine without it. If you do add the beans, it's not much good until it's had a chance to sit in the fridge overnight.
How to make cucumber sandwiches?
I used to eat a lot of cucumber sandwiches as a kid. Plenty of butter, sliced cucumber, salt and freshly ground pepper. You can use cream cheese instead of butter if you like. Mayo has no place on a cucumber sandwich.
Oh, and I'm not familiar with Pepperidge Farms bread, but these work best with a not-too-sweet sandwich bread.
Best Seattle Fish and Chips?
Mr Lu's in the U District has decent fish and chips. Their menu is quite similar to Ballard Bros.
Seattle's Best Sandwiches
Also in the U District. Shawarma King. Just north of 50th on University Way.
