Lex's Profile
Vietnamese cuisine & sugar?
The Vietnamese cooking tradition is a combination of Chinese, ethnic Viet cuisine (there are many ethnicities within the country), and much of the sugar you are referring to is a tradition coming from Vietnam's first colonizer China. They have a tradition of combining sweet, sour, spicy, salty, and the fish sauce which is a 5th flavor element....to convey harmony in your mouth. Sugar and the use of it is an integral part of their culinary expression. To do away with it or limit it would render the food anything but Vietnamese. Stick to their soups Pho Bo......not so much sugar.....or stay away from dipping sauce....
Seeking the greatest PA sub/sandwich shops!!
Check out ..A Cut Above Deli.......on Rt 3 in Newtown Square.....10 miles west of the city.....unreal....they have incredible hoagies.....subs.......
incredible rolls.....
DENDE OIL IN PHILLY?!?!
there are African stores in and around 69th street in upper Darby...off of Rt 3.....near the Subway/trolly hub...not to mention lots of different Asian restaurants, grocery stores....you can find it there.....good luck
43 PIzza joints in 30 days
Went to Pietro's on Walnut in Center City today.....it was incredible! Very good....not Lombardi's but close.........
Eating in the Poconos?
check out the Power House...it is housed in an old Power staton that was also at one time a sanitarium....the food is fairly good....portions are large and I recommend the "European Chicken"...which is spinach, prosciutto, and cheese...crisp chicken.....
The restaurant is quite good, in relation to what's there....the rest. is located on the White Haven exit off of the 80........
43 PIzza joints in 30 days
Its on Spring street...east of Broadway by 5 blocks give or take...........enjoy it is unreal.....
Top 5 Upscale Restaurant Choices (Not Sushi)
Check out PRUNE...it's on 1st st between 1st and 2nd ave......next to Le Elephant.....incredible...Gabriella Hamilton breaks down the incredible truth of simple food done extremely well........enjoy...small joint so call ahead
chestnut honey?
It is mainly of Italian origin, and is known as Miele di Castagne, it can be purchased at Bristol Farms...although I haven't checked, it is fairly easy to get. It is made from bees that derived their nectar and honey from the chestnut tree, famous in Northern Italy. It is stocked at Irvine Ranch Market in Newport Beach, CA.
It has a strong pronounced flavour, that is very nice and worth the extra trouble of finding and purchasing it.
Good Luck!
Bagels
Best bagels ..Montague St. Bagels in Brooklyn Heights.....unreal....and then take a walk around the beautiful neighborhood and check out the "carriage houses" and other such architectural ephemera from a long lost era....
I live in Orange County and its not even worth talking about bagels or pizza ,for that matter, due to the inability to fathom anything like that created with NYC water and the hands of a craftsman.....
also there's a Russian bagel shop a couple of doors down from Katz'a Deli on Houston that is not half bad....but i don't know if its still there, haven't been back to NYC for 2 yrs......
Expensive Red Wine for X-mas Dinner
Pardon me, but I don't understand your logic. Why does the wine's price matter more than the quality or attributes of the wine. I like other Chowhounders suggest starting with the food you will be eating, and then pick the wine based on that criteria. I also know that there are many fine bottles that fall way under the $150 mark that are excellent. Go to a fine wine purveyor in your area, and talk to someone who know wine/food pairings and go from there. Good luck.
Bizarre reactions to tea leaves?
Yeah its just an adverse reaction to caffeine. Sometimes injesting the leaves, combined with stress, other life factors can all contribute to adverse reaction to a psychoactive chemical. Not to worry, its very normal to react that way when eating tea leaves, I was more impressed that you were just struck AWAKE! Sounds good though. Oh yeah also if your friend had also injested any caffeine within 6 or so hours then it might have had a synergistic effect, heightening the reaction.
New York Style Pizza in OC?
The only pizza i've had in OC that is almost good is Haus of Pizza in Costa Mesa, on Adams and Harbor. The sauce is pretty good and the crust is ok if you ask them to go extra crispy. I do not pine for it though the way i dream of the pizza memories from living in NYC, Brooklyn, and Italia. All very different types, but all excellent examples of a ubiquitous product that most purveyors screw up royally.
The water in NYC is what makes the baked goods incredible......and no one out here knows what the good stuff is really like. I dare someone to do it right.
I try in my own oven and I can't come close. Its truly perplexing,,,,,,
Haus is cool too because of the family atmoshpere and the 70's vibe.
Oil for easoning cast iron cookware?
I'd use grapeseed myself because it has the highest smoke point.
How much Beef Tenderloin?
You should also compensate for it being beef tenderloin and who your friends are. Here's what I mean.... If I were to have a party with some of my friends and family I could go 3/4 LBS. AND it might be alright. Sometimes the tenderloin will lure people away from some other perfectly excellent dishes, and you'll have leftovers of them and still no tenderloin left over. I'd go big due to the holiday season and prepare for the tenderloin to be eaten anyway.
Favorite twists to basic meatloaf?
to spice it up..add a can of Chipoltes in adobo......and you will be flying in the friendly skies!
Pumpkin And....
you could easily make cinnamon chips.
Get some good quality white chocolate.....or dark....
purchase some high quality cinnamon...grind your own if possible...
put the choc. in adouble boiler...add enough cinnamon so its nice and tasty...
pur it out on a sheet pan lined with silicon pad.......wait til it sets.........chop it up into chips...
presto...you have killer chips in about 20 minutes!
good luck.......
braising chicken with tomatoes, chick peas, onion, fennel but
just saw a cooking show and the timing and temp was 275 degrees and 1 hour...for braising......
tough call, it might make sense to split the difference...and go 300 degrees and 1hr......then check....
good luck!
braising chicken with tomatoes, chick peas, onion, fennel but
This is a homecooking issue...
i would recommend if the chicken has its bones to lengthen the time....
i would go 350 degrees for and hour and a half.....top on, no checking....with enough liquid in it, so it can truly braise....
My chicken broth is dark and flavorless
Well there are a couple of things that you can do...
Start with a good quality organic chicken (i'm convinced they're younger and have more gelatin/collagen) which gives the broth a more velvety mouth feel.
Start with a large pot, heat it up med/high, throw in your corsely chopped Carrots/onions/celery/ bay leaves, hand full of peppercorns, into some olive oil......cook 'em for a bit 10min....
put your chik in fill above the chix with clean drinking water....and bring up to a boil....top on....once you've reached that, take the top off, turn it down to a simmer and skim foam as needed and don't stir.
In about an hour or so the meat will be cooked. Take the chik out put in colllander...let cool, all the while continuing to simmer broth.
Take off all of the meat, and put all of the bones back in. Simmer for another 4-7 hrs. depending to your time and the intensity you are looking for , as time passes tyou may need to add water in order for the bones to not get swamped.
I'd throw in a bit of salt to allow the flavors to come out but not too much and at the end of the process.
This is not brain surgery...do not make it complicated, and if that isn't what you're looking for I recommend buying and having in your kitchen The Professional Chef (the Culinary Institute of America's bible)....it will elucidate on any and all food preparation that you may have a question about. Once you have the basics you can riff off of them and start experimenting with different flavors and ideas.
I hope that helps you. I don't brown the bones, some people do, it gives a different flavor that is excellent, but it is a different process. Also the yellow color comes from the skins of the onion which incidentially you should not throw away and cook those in your stock. It will lend a nice color to the stock (onion skins were used to dye clothing and make paint with in the Victorian era and before).
keep cooking!!
Best Real Chinese Cuisine in the East Coast
Sweet and Tart Cafe on Mott and Canal....is sublime. I believe it is traditional Cantonese cuisine, based on a specific "tea lunch", or midday meal. They have a wide variety of cold soups such as the "cold-mountain frog with ginko nuts". The best they have to offer in my opinion is the Shanghai pork dumplings (they come in a bamboo steamer and are perched atop pickeled daikon, and served with a dipping sauce of dark Chinese soy and minced ginger. Not to be outdone by a side order of shrimp and watercress dumpling soup! Amazing!
I love this little restaurant very much and haven't been back in a while, so forgive me if it does not exist anymore. Check it out and give feedback.
