Interesting study on this by Russ Parsons several years ago:

http://articles.latimes.com/1996-10-1...

He directly compared eggplant slices prepared three ways: unsalted/unpressed, salted/unpressed, salted/pressed.

He concluded from his tests that salting didn't make any difference in bitterness or oil absorption (unless salted for a very long time and then pressed, and then the texture wasn't good anymore). He did report a slight difference in texture when frying eggplant, though, if the eggplant had been salted for about 1.5 hours, which made it creamier. Pressing didn't make much difference unless the eggplant had been salted for a long time (~4 hours), and then it was only slighter denser in texture.

His concludes with "I'll still grill without salting, but if I fry the eggplant before baking it in a sauce (like eggplant parmigiana), I will take the time to salt it for an hour and a half or so. The texture was improved enough to warrant the effort. On the other hand, I can see that in some kinds of stews, where you want the eggplant to have a little more bite, I'll fry it without salting."

can you post the link to the post about organic rose petals in Pasadena? I did a search but couldn't find it. thanks!

We went last Friday night and had a great time. I don't know if it was because of the guest-chef or the fact that my dining companion was Italian, but the food was great, and service was prompt and friendly. We also used the 30% off coupon, which applied to food only (not to the wine). Two thumbs up!

Thanks for the tips, ns1 and burp_excuzme!

Lucky you! I was making fig jam to serve with cheese. It turned out great!

Ooo, I found organic dried figs at Whole Foods in El Segundo. They're in the bulk foods section, and they have both black mission and calimyrna. Yay, my recipe is saved!

Hi all,

I always see tubs of dried figs (black mission and calimyrna) at Trader Joe's, and so I was planning to buy some tonight to make a recipe this weekend, but they didn't have any! The employees told me they've been out of them for a while. Does anyone know where else I can find dried figs in the LA area (preferably south bay part of LA)?

Thanks!

Otafuku, if Gardena isn't too far

Didn't see this place mentioned on the board, but there are a few positive reviews on yelp and apparently it only costs $5 for all-you-can-eat? Has anyone here tried it?

Lol! It was indeed perfect. There were chunks of chestnuts in the lovely creamy filling. Well, words aren't adequate. ;) The filling was a bit different from the standard plain choux filling they have...I'd say it seemed a bit more custardy, which I liked. We enjoyed the chestnut choux so much that we bought another choux the next day when we picked up our cake order, knowing full well we were already going to be enjoying two Chantilly cakes that evening with our guests....!

Yeah, some of the restaurants on the Stimulus plan seemed like they weren't great deals for this, but some friends and I will try out Thousand Cranes. I went there once years and years ago and enjoyed it, but don't know how it is now. In any case, it couldn't be too bad, and the view is always nice.

I just stopped in today to get some things, and it turns out that they are just introducing a new chestnut choux today! I couldn't leave without getting a couple for dessert tonight. They're a bit more than the other choux (3.95 rather than 2.95), but I'll bet they're pretty good. I also got a couple of my old favorites there, the black sesame choux.

Thanks, everyone!

Hi all,

I know of a few Indian markets with food counters in Torrance, but does anyone know of one near the LAX/El Segundo area? Especially interested in finding a market/food counter that sells good samosas, but also like to hear about generally good Indian food places.

Thanks!

Where are the other places for Chinese breakfast in Torrance?

I agree--Azeen's is great! I loved the challaw badenjan and bulanee. The firnee was pretty good too.

I've been thinking of getting one of these lovely items for a party. I called them, and the woman told me it was 18.50 for 16 cm, 27.50 for 18 cm. Her English seemed a little shaky, so I was wondering if these truly are 6.3 inches and 7 inches in diameter (seemed a little smaller than I expected)? I had some trouble confirming this with her.

ps. not sure if it's clear or not, but I was responding to gomagoma's post about the paris-brest at Chantilly.

Ooo, ooo, I've been wanting to try that and take my tomato-fanatic friend with me. I just called them, and they said last year it ran until mid-Oct. He said this year could end mid-Sept, but I hope not.

Frying Fish in Little Tokyo comes to mind. Small place, but good.

If you cannot get fresh ones, you can get freeze-dried ones at some Trader Joes. They are crunchy and very sweet.

Thanks for the report--I actually also stopped by this afternoon and got a plain choux and a Mont Blanc. I was hoping I might also be lucky enough to get one of these macaron samples, but that didn't happen.

I also wanted to get a black sesame puff, but they were out! :( Do they usually run out by mid-afternoon? Oh well, I have had the pleasure of eating one of the black sesame puffs before, and maybe I just have to get there earlier in the day next time.

I may have to give both a try. ;) Thanks!

Wow, thanks for a great tip! When is this free macarons offer good--yesterday only? Did I miss out??

Thanks, I will definitely check out their soba! Cool!

Where is Ichimi-an in Rolling Hills Plaza? Is it in that string of Japanese businesses around Nijiya Market and Koraku?

what's the address for ichimian honten? I didn't see it on the web.

I just saw this book on the Amazon "top sellers" list. This sounds awesome, especially given all the positive comments here! One question though--the recipes use 100% whole-grain flour, not a mix of whole-grain with refined flour, right? (If I missed the answer in the above thread, then apologies)

Ok, we made it over there for lunch today. We really, really wanted to order dosas, but they said they didn't have them available, because they were too busy with the lunch buffet crowd. (Apparently Friday morning is the only time they don't have doses.) They told us we could have them after 12:30, but we didn't want to wait that long so we had the buffet instead. The weekend buffet includes dosas. The food seemed decent. I want to go back and order off the menu and try the dosas some other time.

Thanks for the review! An Indian co-worker and I are planning to drop by and check it out. I'm so happy to hear that we don't have to drive all the way to Artesia for south Indian food anymore!

Hi,

I'm taking a possibly large group (not sure of size yet since still planning, but maybe somewhere around 75 people) to the California Science Center. We're hoping to arrange for a group lunch either at the Science Center or near it. I see several recs for the Mercado La Paloma, although with a group of that size, eating at the Science Center itself might be easiest. I see they have the Rose Garden Cafe there. Anyone been there?

Thanks!