How about COSTCO? Must be good because there's tons of the baked hams every year around Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Hey Chowhounders:

We are planning a 4-day trip to Mendocino County for some R&R in the first week of March and will be staying at the Fairfield Inn in Ukiah (using my Marriott points so it's free). We have never been to that area and we’re hoping you folks can provide some insights on places to dine and wineries to visit.

I read through some previous entries but there were only a few comments regarding the wine visits, so I’m hoping for an update and an expansion in the dining area and wineries.

Thanks a bunch

My cousin introduced me to a website with lots of food videos. Check this link out.

http://azdrama.net/search/midnight%20...

Unfortunately, most of the videos are in mandarin or cantonese.

I love to cook too so I pretty much cook and eat what I want; but I’ve always dream of a kitchen that would include the following but not limit to:

Eight commercial grade gas burners with dual ovens and a griddle top; two commercial wok burners with built-in back water drainage; a BBQ Pork/Peking Duck Roaster; two microwave oven; and, the best built-in sub-zero refrigerator/freezer, commercial hood fan, storage pantry and wine storage along with energy efficient lighting and other efficiency options with a nice big house and a backyard to entertain my guests.

Professor - my email address is rinkatink888@gmail.com.

Thank you for your comments back. Do appreciate it.

The tea was brought over in 1958 from Hong Kong to the US. She was originally from the Guangdong province in a small Taishan village . As for the style and/or vintage, I don't know. I remembered my mom telling me this was the best Bo Nay tea and now I regret I didn't pay more attention when she spoke about the tea. I remembered the teas were in round compressed "cake" form but she decided, for whatever reason, to unwrap, break-up the cakes and put the pieces in in a large tin can. The lid is tight and the tin was stored in a dark part of the pantry. The tea taste absolutely wonderful. You can taste the difference between the vintage Bo Nay and the new one, like tasting a vintage wine vs a newer one, it has that nice earthy, musky taste and smell.

It never occur for me to sell it because I like the tea so much. I was just got curious thinking about it when my cousin described the tea as "liquid gold". "Professor" - I'm willing to give up some of the tea for folks like you who will enjoy it. Where are you located? I'm in the Los Angeles area.

My mother also brought over "Lok On" tea, taste very similar to the Bo Nay. Some of my Chinese friends/relatives have not heard of the type of tea and I heard this was described as "old people" tea.

One of my favorite tea is Pu-erh. When my mother passed away in 2006, she left behind 2 square tins (gallon size) of pu-erh tea which I took with me since my dad doesn't like tea. This tea is part of the 50 lbs she brought from from Hong Kong to the United States in the late fifties so the tea is over 50 years old. It has aged beautifully and just a wonderful drinking tea with a heavently aroma. I gave some to my cousin and he label the tea as "liquid gold" which got me thinking and curious - how much is this kind of tea worth nowadays it was sold?

I have tons of cookbooks but when it comes to good basic technics, I generally refer back to the cooking techniques in my timelife books, and cooking with meat is no exception. I believe there are still some sites where you can get these books, if you are still interested.

The link below is a good illustration:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94749796/...

Oh how would I have love the opportunity to purchase 1 or 2 baskets, but mostly likely, they would be all gone by now and probably not worth the drive since I live in the South Bay.

Thank for you the info though. Maybe will see if they have the same basket for any nearby Big Lots here.

Thank you for the info for the Original Farmer's Market. Haven't been back there for a while. Looks like I'll be paying them a visit in the next day or so.

Thanks again!!

Does anyone know where I can purchase a Hot Sauce Gift Basket locally? I won't be able to get one purchased on-line in time.

Thank you

Wish there are servers who are observant and attentive of their customers’ dining experience. I know we may have bad experience in restaurant services but my basic grip is - please don’t ask me how the food is as soon as I put food in my mouth and start to chew. My mouth is full, therefore, I can’t talk, I have my hands over my mouth and can only nod my head. Lately, I’ve had a lot of experience with this (wonder if they do this in purpose – lol).

A few years back, one of the most attentive services we have ever had was in a nice Italian restaurant in downtown Portland, OR (forgot the name of the restaurant). During the course of our dinner, the server was polite, attentive but unintrusive. She seemed to know when to come to our table “at the right moment”, to either refill the wine or serve our food at soon as each course was completed, but - the standard of one service this server had provided is something I continued to rate and observe with other servers - is – she waits until we completed the drinking and/or the chewing the food before she will approach our table to ask how the food was, when to clear for the next course, etc.

I like the idea of using rice wine vinegar. Yes you are suppose to use boiling water to scald the skin, and generally the meat is hung for this process. I tried it, without a meat hook and ended up burning myself, so I just use really hot water and take extra time in pushing the salt out.
Let me know how it works out.

Good luck

Hi fourunder:

Recipe follows below.

As I said earlier, the “crackling” pork belly is labor intensive.

A background to this recipe. My husband’s cousin came for a visit a couple of years ago and her husband brought with him a slab of pork belly. She claimed his version of the pork belly is better than any BBQ Roast pork than you can buy at any Chinese BBQ place. I tried it and was so good that I had to have the recipe, but the recipe was in his head and he didn’t speak any English and although I spoke his language, I couldn’t write Chinese. So I was trying to convert and wrote down what he was saying from Chinese into English with the proper measurements and after some trial and errors, I believe I finally came up with this great version.

Ingredients/Cookware:

A slab of pork belly – roughly about 8-10 inches square and about 1½ to 2 inches thick.
Sharp object to poke holes into the skin, i.e., sharp knife, fork, etc. (I finally invested in a meat tenderizer blade)
Baking Soda
6 Tbs Sugar
2 Tbs Salt
Char Sui BBQ Sauce (I make my own (but that’s another recipe) – but you can purchase a store bought version)
Chinese Five-Spice
Half-Size Baking Sheet with cooling rack
Chef torch (crème brulee torch)

Instructions:

Combined the sugar and salt.

Rinse and dry the pork belly thoroughly.

Take the pork belly and poke holes evenly throughout the entire surface on both sides (meat tenderizer works the best).

Layer the baking sheet with towels (or cloth) and put the cooling rack on top of the sheet (moisture from the pork belly will drench the towels). Lay the pork belly, skin side down on the rack.
Spread the sugar/salt mixture evenly onto the meat side of the belly, cover loosely with plastic wrap (Glad Press n’ Seal works best) and put in the “coldest” part of the refrigerator for 48 hours.

Take the pork belly out of the refrigerator and rinse thoroughly with hot water for at least ten minutes, pressing the pork belly constantly during the rinse (if you don’t the belly will be too salty).

Lay the pork belly back on the rack, this time skin side up (leave it wet). Spread a good portion of baking soda on the skin until it is thoroughly coated and put back in the coldest part of the refrigerator for another 24 hours.

After 24 hours, take out and rinse again thoroughly. Pat dry, put belly back on rack, skin side down and brush with the char sui sauce with a sprinkle of 5-spice sauce stirred into the char-sui sauce. Put back in refrigerator for at least a minimum of another 4 hours to marinate.

Turn oven to 350⁰.

Take pork belly out, set aside, remove and clean baking sheet and cooling rack and line with aluminum foil (if you don’t want to spend your time scrubbing the stuff off the sheet afterwards) and put the pork belly back on rack, skin side up and bake in oven for about an hour (until skin become brown, crispy and tiny bubbles starts to form.

Most of the time I can’t get all the skin to form the bubbles, so, I have invested in a chef torch to finish it off after I take it out of the oven.

Cut into small bit size pieces and enjoy!!

Hope you enjoy the fruits of your labor. We do, and if you have any questions, let me know.

Good luck!!

Most of my family, friends and co-workers knows that I’m a great cook and whenever there is an event, I am always asked to bring something or if my family is visiting, they would always put in their requests. Here are some of the most requested items:

Chicken Wings with Oyster Sauce - (always a favorite with my kids, nieces and nephews. In fact, my pregnant daughter had such a craving, she made a special request last week so I made a triple batch and took it took her house – 130 miles away).

Chicken with Mushroom in Oyster Sauce - (another favorite with my kids, nieces and nephews)

Chinese Style Spaghetti - (more nostalgia with the family – another one of my family requests)

“Cracklin” Pork Belly – (labor intensive – about three days, before it is baked in the oven. The cracklin pork skin will melt in your mouth. No one in the family turns this down. Even my father-in-law, who can’t eat this type of food anymore will not hesitate to eat some and take some with him. My father, who critiques everything I make, grudgingly told me this is some of the best pork belly he has ever had and it spoils him to the point he won’t buy the Chinese restaurants BBQ Roast Pork anymore).

Char Sui Sauce – (My mother’s recipe. The Char Sui Sauce is so good that everybody clamors for the recipe).

Braised Oxtails in Red Bean Paste – (kids not so much, rest of the adult family – they love it)

Braised Pork Belly with Taro in Red Bean Paste – (again, kids not so much, rest of the adult family – the love it).

Devil Eggs – (Another favorite with my family and co-workers)

Bruchetta – (Always a favorite my family and co-workers. A special request for this dish for my daughter’s upcoming baby shower).

Sticky Rice – (labor intensive but well worth it. Generally make this during the holidays)

Cream of Asparagus & Leek Soup – (wonderful soup to make when the weather is chilly).

Osso Bucco – (great recipe)

Banana Bread – (many of my friends put in this request).

I use to make many types of Cheese Cakes and was really good at it and my co-workers loved it (don’t make them anymore. No one in the family is really that fond of cheesecake). In fact, I had made cheesecake cupcakes and shared them at my daughter’s school (that was a long time ago) and one parent asked around who made these cupcakes and when he found it was me, he raved how great they were and that he is a French Baker at a local French Restaurant. That made me felt good.

We get our moon cakes at Kee Wah. Not sure if they are made here in the US and yes, they are a bit more expensive, but we love their white bean paste with four yolks.

AS a kid, I loved slathering butter on Wonder Bread and pour sugar on it, squish it down, tear off the crust before I would eat it. It always amazes me how soft the bread was. Now I shudder at the that thought. I use to like Hostess Snoballs, but haven't had one for over 30+ years. Over the years, I lost my taste for the really sweet manufactured stuff. I use to love pouring catsup over everything, and now I rarely use it.

Was the one who posted recently asking for good sopapillas but so far little results, however, I also came back to L.A last week from Albuquerque bringing two large bags of the “Hatch” chiles. One hot and one mild. Would have loved to have brought back a 30-lb sack (some of the stores were selling them for $12.99 for the whole sack and roast for free if you purchase the whole sack) but couldn’t do that since I was flying. Will be roasting what I brought back this weekend. Yummm

Funny you mentioned "Christmas". When I order my meal with, of course, with extra sopapillas, the server asked me if I would like the red or green sauce and I told her make it "Christmas".

I know there's been some threads in the past on where to find sopapillas in the Los Angeles area and I just got back from Albuquerque NM and after eating some wonderful sopapillas there, wondering if there are any recent finds that serve New Mexico style sopapillas.

My parents would serve cooked cabbage as the side dish vegetable soak in ham stock once a week in their restaurant. Dad would simmer the ham bones for hours until the meat falls off, then cook the cabbage in the water until soften. I didn’t use to like it until one the servers had me try it with some white vinegar and to me, it was delicious. I haven’t had this for quite some time so maybe I’ll have to make it.

We love the Malbec from Alamos (Wines of Catena). Had the opportunity to purchase a bottle against a Costco Coupon, liked to so much, went back to get a case. In Southern California, it was around $7.00.

Thank you everyone for some very insightful information.

I received an email indicating my name has been moved to the top of their waiting list and, if interested, my first allocation, will be the 2009 vintage, which will be offered in the Spring 2012 at the price of $2,250.00 per three pack. Any opinions if the price is worth it and what do you think are the possibilities of reselling one or two botles of the wines?

Most of the time I have seen yakiamis at the Marukai store at the Gardena store on 1740 West Artesia. Also, I have seen these types of grills at the Marukai 99 cent Plus store on the corner of Artesia & Normandie

I've been purchasing the balsamic vinegar from Leonardo & Roberto's at the local farmer's market in Torrance. Once I tried their's, it was difficult to use anything other brands. It's a bit pricey, about $30 for 12.7 oz but it is so good. Here's their website and in their website is an embedded video from ABC.
http://gourmetblends.us/

I tip, around 10% for takeout, and since we generally do business with the usual Chinese restaurants, they remembered us and I think we get better service.

I think the longer, it sits in a cool dry place, the better it taste. Just remember to adjust the water ratio. We just finished our rice a few weeks ago that I have had for over 10 years. Actually I gave the last lb away to my guest because she loved the flavor so much. She indicated she didn't like white rice, but when she tried mine, she basically inhaled it. I recently purchased another 70 lbs, 20 lbs of aged basmati, 25 lbs of Texas long grain and 25 lbs of jasmine. Mix it altogether and store until needed.

Well, there's always buca de beppo. They can accommodate large parties, they have a full bar and their thin-crust pizzas aren't too bad.

Rain or shine, I try to visit the local farmer's market weekly and especially look forward to the first week in May when the cherries are available, especially the rainiers. I also like apriums and still waiting for the first crop of the different varieties of pluots.