mary shaposhnik's Profile
coconut milk for Thai curry emergency
Thanks. I definitely want it to crack, so skimming off some oil from the other batches is a great idea.
coconut milk for Thai curry emergency
Am in the midst of making a ton of khao soi for a crowd, and have run out of coconut milk for the last batch. I usually use Chaokoh or Aroy-D brands. The only brand available anywhere in the neighborhood is the Thai Kitchen brand, which has guar gum added as a "stabilizer" (but fortunately, no sugar). Can I use this? I don't WANT my coconut milk "stable" -- I want it separated -- but more importantly I don't want any gum that's going to screw up my curry. This sounds like bad news to me, but wanted to check. Thanks.
pork loin cooking emergency for tonight
Dinner tonight needs to be cooked in half an hour, so the plan was pork tenderloins with sour cherry sauce (my frozen sour cherries from the annual Wimbledon pitting o the sour cherries).
But I've been handed two pork loins, about 2.75 lbs each, instead of tiny tenderloins.
What can I do? The time constraints are leaving the house at 2:30, returning at 7:30, dinner at 8 (yeah, I know).
1. Cut into 1 lb pieces and roast for half an hour?
2. Tie together and put in oven, and remotely start the oven at 6:15 at 350? (Not positive this oven does this--I am not at home--but I think it does and is quick-heating).
??
how to mash RED potatoes and keep them fluffy?
No, but I have borrowed one for the occasion.
how to mash RED potatoes and keep them fluffy?
Everything I read (and my intuition) says red potatoes are too waxy to make good mashed. But that's what I need to do -- mash the red potatoes (choosing my battles with family). Best way to get good texture?
best thai salad in years at rockaway beach
Well, THAT was a surprise. Was at Rockaway beach today, happened on the new food stalls on Beach 96th Street and the water. The Thai stand, named something like Ode to Elephants, shocked me with giving me the best beef salad (yum neua) I have had in the US in at least half a dozen years. Much better than Srip's (but must say I have not done many of the ascending Queens Thai places). Everything about it was just "right" -- the right sear on the meat, the right heat for the flavors, very well balanced and extremely, extremely good. Also had one bite of an excellent simple, deeply flavorful moo ping (grilled pork), and ate a very good mangoes and sticky rice. Neither the yum nor mango were on the menu, but they were just serving them up. None of these were destination-dishes---I don't want to mislead here--and frustratingly, they don't have sticky rice (and ran out of steamed rice! A Thai place w/out rice!!) to eat with the yum. But for those parts, a surprising show of Thai-food love.
I rarely would think that a Thai spot meant to do quick beach concession food would be at all worth trying, but something about a few of their spare menu choices -- given the location -- made me give it a go. Someone in the kitchen clearly knows Thai food very, very well.
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SriPraPhai
64-13 39th Ave, Queens, NY 11377
Ode to the Elephants
Shore Front Pkwy Beach 96th St, Queens, NY 11693
anything near Jacob Riis beach??
I just got back from Rockaway beach (just a few dozen blocks past Riis), and ate at the new food stalls on Beach 96 Street and the ocean. To my complete surprise, the Thai stand (called something Elephants) had the BEST yum neua (beef salad) I have had in NYC in at least 6-7 years, if not more. The moo ping was also excellent, and I'm finishing their very good mango and sticky rice as I write. Friends had a fish sandwich from a place called... hmm... not Rockaway Tacos, but the stand next to it... and it, too was excellent--light fish, topped with a wonderful fresh salad-y concoction including some pickled vegetables, kind of like what you might get on a good falafel. Lots of picnic tables under a shaded tarp.
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Ode to the Elephants
Shore Front Pkwy Beach 96th St, Queens, NY 11693
Motorboat & the Big Banana
Shore Front Pkwy Beach 96th St, Queens, NY 11693
What to take to west coast foodies from Brooklyn/Manhattan?
Fox's U-bet syrup? Package tightly and wrap in plastic.
Tried and True Recipes from David Thompson's "Thai Food"
I don't have the book in front of me, but from what I remember, I loved one of the miang kham sauces in TF -- sweet, fishy and spicy.
I also think some of the salads are fantastic. One that comes to mind involves trout, apple eggplants, and green mango -- I substituted shrimp -- and there is another one with sweet shrimp (that is, ordinary shrimp cooked in a sugar sauce) and grachai (he may call it wild ginger or rhizome or lesser rhizome--I ONLY find it frozen in the US) that is outstanding.
Great African restaurant?
Since this is a revived, and somewhat wide ranging thread, I'll throw in my recommendation for Buka, a Nigerian place on Fulton near Grand or Classon (I think). Very cute place -- suitable for a date night -- friendly staff, cheap prices, and a pretty wide range of Nigerian food. I'm not at all familiar with these dishes, so don't have a benchmark for judging them. But we had a very good goat and black pepper soup, and some good sauces for dipping fufu. Worth giving a try.
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Buka
946 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Great African restaurant?
I have yet to read anything to convince me that the food at Madiba--as opposed to the excellent drinks and staff--has improved over the years.
The Ethiopian restaurant in FG, Bati, is okay if you absolutely need a local injera fix--and sometimes that's exactly what I need-- but I don't find it much better than that. There's not a lot of depth to most of the cooking. But then, I find that true of much of the Ethiopian in NYC, with the occasional exception of the Awash branch on Amsterdam/106th, which sometimes can really be great (and other times be fine but unexceptional). To be fair, haven't eaten at QOS in a very, very long time.
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Bati
747 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11217
cambodian fish amok
I don't know of any Cambodian places in NYC any more other than the Cambodian cuisine food truck (same owner as the place in FG, though I don't think the amok was very good there back in the day). I always hear of some possible Khmer eateries in the Bronx, so you might want to make it your spring project to wanter around there.
Othewise, a Thai haw mok is much the same, though I don't think it would necessarily be gingery (and different cooks emphasize different herbs in an amok/ haw mok). I saw some haw mok for takeaway about two weeks ago at the little Thai grocery store directly across the street from Sripraphai. I think, but am not sure, it might have been made by Ayada.
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SriPraPhai
64-13 39th Ave, Queens, NY 11377
Ayada
77-08 Woodside Ave, Queens, NY 11373
Kif in Clinton Hill
Ate there recently. I don't love the menu, but I do love the space and the warm owners. Had a very good lamb shank, couscous not as good as a few years back. Owner said the cook was Moroccan, but I'm surprised the menu is less Moroccan than it used to be.
Sripraphai - Not overrated
First time truly disappointed with Sri meal on Saturday night. Early, not crowded yet. Panang w/ beef overly sweet by a mile, with no warmth, let alone heat (no, it's not a spicy curry, but should have some balance and chil depth). Pak bung an overcooked pile of stems, couldn't taste the garlic. Pla goong/shrimp salad refreshing, but missing the chili jam that I think gives this salad its depth. Have had all of these there many times before, and never been this let down.
Uninspiring meal and not great value. Sad.
Thai Fish Sauce
I am distrustful of a recipe that suggests you warm up a lime juice/fish sauce dressing. The heat would, I think, change the flavor of the lime, and throw off the balance of your dish (for instance, in making tom yum soup, you put the lime in only after you take it off heat).
I would try it again without heating the dressing; and I'd taste before throwing out. Fish sauce smells far, far more pungent than it tastes. To my mind, the smell and taste almost having nothing to do with each other.
Thai Sausage: Are Any House Made?
It's actually quite easy to make these at home. I've done it several times, tinkering with various recipes (Thompson, Alford/Duguid, etc), and have been happy with the results. The only thing I don't do is actually ferment the sausage--don't fancy having raw pork hanging around my apartment for days.
a kid-friendly restaurant that's good for foodies too
I've taken my toddler to The General Greene outside of peak hours, and they are very used to little kids and I've always had excellent food food there. Otherwise, I could not take her to most of the places on this list--she just cannot last that long--and certainly would only try a restaurant at an odd hour, like 4:30 pm.
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The General Greene
229 DeKalb Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Buka in Clinton Hill
Why so few mentions? Very pleasing, grown up space -- brick, low lighting -- and very tasty Nigerian food served by friendly folk. I'm not best-suited for the cuisine, since I'm not a big fan of the dried fish that are an important counterpoint to the different sauces. But had an excellent spicy meal -- hearty portion of a chicken and palm oil stew, perfectly cooked, the goat-pepper soup (very large bowl, very meaty indeed), and a leaf-sauce with the fufu. Tab was about $31 for two (with 2 beers and a cocktail). Recommend.
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Buka
946 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11238
braised short rib thai curry--need advice
I want to do a thai curry (paste, coconut milk) with braised short ribs. I've made plenty of curries, but not with a meat that throws off this much fat, or that needs to stew for hours, so I am not entirely sure what the best method would be. I think that braising the meat in the curry itself would lead toexcellently flavored meat (like rendang), but a terribly greasy, muddled curry sauce that would be difficult to de-grease. So I am thinking I should braise the meat separately and combine the two towards the end. But does that make sense? If so, what to braise the meat in - -basically the same curry flavors and a coconut milk mixture?
Ideas appreciated.
sour cherries at Grand Army Plaza greenmarket still?
Does anyone know if there were any sour cherries at this market last Saturday, or if there are expected to be some this weekend? Or are they all finished for the season? Thanks.
sour cherries at Grand Army Plaza greenmarket still?
Does anyone know if there were any sour cherries at this market last Saturday, or if there are expected to be some this weekend? Or are they all finished for the season? Thanks.
Masses of sorrel
It is very commonly used as a centerpiece of the meal, in the form of a thick sauce (flavored with some meat or fish, and eaten with the local starch), in several countries in west Africa, especially Mali and Burkina Faso. I don't have any specific recipes, but look around -- I agree that searching with the French term will help -- and you could use it in any recipe calling for "sauce feuilles."
[Cambodia] Groceries in Phnom Penh?
I googled to see if Psah Luckeeeee (my phonetic spelling--aka Lucky Supermarket), which was Phnom Penh's western grocery, was still around. And dang -- I wasn't prepared for it to have become an empire:
http://www.luckymarketgroup.com/stores.html
They should have most western things. I have no idea about Korean.
Paris--best yassa/ like chez rene
Totally separate questions:
1. Any favorite Senegalese places in Paris for poulet yassa? Craving...
2. I haven't found reliable leads yet for a place like Chez Rene, where I could take a toddler (jetlag is in our favor for a few days at dinner time) . . . and by like Chez Rene, I mean solid renditions of coq au vin type classics in a neighborhoody setting. If you tell me CR still fits that bill, I'll return there; but I've been hearing complaints what with all the changes in ownership, tour buses, etc.
Thanks.
baby-appropriate spots in the 10th -- restaurants and best takeaway shops?
Thanks, all. With the time change, some dinners out may actually work -- but who knows with a 2 yo...
Are any of the Belleville SE Asian spots exceptional? Wandered around there a few years back and nothing caught my eye. I probably shouldn't even try... but there's just little good Vietnamese in NY...
Awash (uptown branch) was completely on
I've usually had unremarkable meals at Awash (both uptown and downtown), but the other weekend, was at the Amsterdam/106 branch on a Saturday night and they were spot-on -- it was GREAT. Best I've had in a long while. Nothing unusual--doro wat, misir wat, veggies--but the spices were layered and balanced, the injera was just the right texture and sourness, everything just really sang out. Don't know if you'll replicate the results, but they were worth reporting.
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Awash
947 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025
baby-appropriate spots in the 10th -- restaurants and best takeaway shops?
Will be staying in the 10th -- near Goncourt and the canal -- with my just-2 year old and an 18 year old niece. Picnics and eating at home would work best with the baby, but I do want my niece (first time abroad) to get some time in restaurants. Any local places that would be okay with the toddler at dinner?
And for the picnics, favorite places near there for takeaway?
Thanks.
need berry muffin recipe with no butter or milk (eggs ok)
Trying to accommodate a dairy allergy. Thanks.
where can i find rue (herb)? [from Home Cooking]
This thread got moved from its original board and I only just now found it...
Sorry I didn't specify, but I'm looking for the fresh herb--hence Kalustyan's isn't a source.
It is used in Ethiopian coffee--just a little branch submerged in your cup, like a twig of rosemary. I had had it there, but didn't know the English name until now.
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Kalustyan's
123 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016
where can i find rue (herb)? [from Home Cooking]
I mean this herb:
http://www.chow.com/ingredients/215
What type of store would usually carry this? I'm in NYC. Thanks.
