Foods You Can Cram into Your Gullet - With Nasturtiums

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

For the record, my 12-year-old son already has an 8" Henckels chef and a knife block to store it in. He will be getting a new knife every year until the block is full, at which point he will be expected to move out.

[Phox]

For the record, my 12-year-old son already has an 8" Henckels chef and a knife block to store it in. He will be getting a new knife every year until the block is full, at which point he will be expected to move out.

If he has a block of knives and knows how to use them, I'd say he's ready to live out on his own. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

For the record, my 12-year-old son already has an 8" Henckels chef and a knife block to store it in. He will be getting a new knife every year until the block is full, at which point he will be expected to move out.

If he has a block of knives and knows how to use them, I'd say he's ready to live out on his own. 

That's my thinking!

At a rate of one per year, the block will be full when he's 20. Theoretically he should be in college by then anyway. The week I got him his "starter" knife, he was so excited he wanted to make dinner every night. I need to press him into service more often.

Unrelated, but amusing: He has asked for this book for his birthday: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594202435/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

[Nast]

Shit....

Nast, you want this crap split off from your thread? I shouldn't do it since I'm the protagonist but I'm sure one of the other admins would be happy to.

No, it's cool. I'm not really touchy about my threads. It is, after all, just the internet.

PS - Sorry for laying this in your thread, Nast, but I was waiting for this idiot to expose himself as a complete fraud.

BTW, your food looks really good for a home cook. You might have some talent (not as important as you might think, really) and clearly have passion for it (vastly more important). If I ever get bitten by the restaurant bug again I'd totally hire you.

Also, this Nast (except that I'm not a professional chef and all that). All this food looks awesome, the presentation's great. While I've tried my hand at some "Asian-style" recipes (which a lot of your seems to be, or be inspired by), I don't always have the time/patience for the prep work and/or the focus to keep up with the often quick-paced cooking (at least not when I'm home from work and trying to do 20 million other things while I cook dinner). Perhaps part of it is picking and choosing what I'm going to cook on a particular night.  And again, the presentation!

Definitely keep it up.

Thanks, you guys! Lately I've been thinking about the kinds of food that I most enjoy and have been working at trying to "perfect" them. I guess I do naturally gravitate towards Asian foods; I love the variety of flavors and textures, and I love learning about new ingredients.

[Phox]

Shit....

Nast, you want this crap split off from your thread? I shouldn't do it since I'm the protagonist but I'm sure one of the other admins would be happy to.

No, it's cool. I'm not really touchy about my threads. It is, after all, just the internet.

PS - Sorry for laying this in your thread, Nast, but I was waiting for this idiot to expose himself as a complete fraud.

BTW, your food looks really good for a home cook. You might have some talent (not as important as you might think, really) and clearly have passion for it (vastly more important). If I ever get bitten by the restaurant bug again I'd totally hire you.

Also, this Nast (except that I'm not a professional chef and all that). All this food looks awesome, the presentation's great. While I've tried my hand at some "Asian-style" recipes (which a lot of your seems to be, or be inspired by), I don't always have the time/patience for the prep work and/or the focus to keep up with the often quick-paced cooking (at least not when I'm home from work and trying to do 20 million other things while I cook dinner). Perhaps part of it is picking and choosing what I'm going to cook on a particular night.  And again, the presentation!

Definitely keep it up.

Thanks, you guys! Lately I've been thinking about the kinds of food that I most enjoy and have been working at trying to "perfect" them. I guess I do naturally gravitate towards Asian foods; I love the variety of flavors and textures, and I love learning about new ingredients.

Judging by this, you would be a fun person to have over for dinner. I love hearing people's commentary on various foods. 

[Nast]

For the record, my 12-year-old son already has an 8" Henckels chef and a knife block to store it in. He will be getting a new knife every year until the block is full, at which point he will be expected to move out.

If he has a block of knives and knows how to use them, I'd say he's ready to live out on his own. 

That's my thinking!

At a rate of one per year, the block will be full when he's 20. Theoretically he should be in college by then anyway. The week I got him his "starter" knife, he was so excited he wanted to make dinner every night. I need to press him into service more often.

Unrelated, but amusing: He has asked for this book for his birthday: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594202435/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

He asked for a book on toxicological forensics? What a cool kid!

[Nast]

So I checked out a book on Asian dumplings from the library the other day. The recipe for stuffed buns looked tasty and simple to prepare. There are a variety of savory things you can fill the buns with, but I chose to do a sweet red bean paste filling -



They looked nice when they came out of the oven, but the texture of the dough was hard and bleh. I went wrong when the recipe called for "rapid rise" yeast, and I used "active" because that was all I had. Herp derp. Now I know there's a difference.

[Nast]

And then I made Northern Chinese shui jiao - boiled dumplings with a pork and cabbage filling, served with a spicy vinegar dipping sauce.



This was my second attempt at making them. The first time I lost half my work to an unfortunate accident (the assembled dumplings got stuck to some plastic wrap and apparently molecularly bonded with it - they were unsalvageable). But this time went without incident and the dumplings turned out delicious! While making your own dumplings from scratch, wrappers and all, is a big undertaking for the home cook, it's definitely worth the effort.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

For the record, my 12-year-old son already has an 8" Henckels chef and a knife block to store it in. He will be getting a new knife every year until the block is full, at which point he will be expected to move out.

If he has a block of knives and knows how to use them, I'd say he's ready to live out on his own. 

That's my thinking!

At a rate of one per year, the block will be full when he's 20. Theoretically he should be in college by then anyway. The week I got him his "starter" knife, he was so excited he wanted to make dinner every night. I need to press him into service more often.

Unrelated, but amusing: He has asked for this book for his birthday: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594202435/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

He asked for a book on toxicological forensics? What a cool kid!

That's what I was thinking when I looked it up! He really is. He comes across as this handsome little jock, and it's always a delight when he reveals his inner geek.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

And then I made Northern Chinese shui jiao - boiled dumplings with a pork and cabbage filling, served with a spicy vinegar dipping sauce.



This was my second attempt at making them. The first time I lost half my work to an unfortunate accident (the assembled dumplings got stuck to some plastic wrap and apparently molecularly bonded with it - they were unsalvageable). But this time went without incident and the dumplings turned out delicious! While making your own dumplings from scratch, wrappers and all, is a big undertaking for the home cook, it's definitely worth the effort.

The red bean paste buns and these look delicious.

[Phox]

And then I made Northern Chinese shui jiao - boiled dumplings with a pork and cabbage filling, served with a spicy vinegar dipping sauce.



This was my second attempt at making them. The first time I lost half my work to an unfortunate accident (the assembled dumplings got stuck to some plastic wrap and apparently molecularly bonded with it - they were unsalvageable). But this time went without incident and the dumplings turned out delicious! While making your own dumplings from scratch, wrappers and all, is a big undertaking for the home cook, it's definitely worth the effort.

That looks fantastic. 

[Nast]

My job experiences in the food service industry so far have been pretty lousy - from working as a white waiter in a dysfunctional Japanese restaurant, to all-night 16-hour catering drudge work. But I've decided to stick with looking for a job in that field because that's where most of my skills are, and besides I'm going to school for it.

I am hoping to get a part-time job at a small local hotel that has its own restaurant. It's close to my house and it would basically just be things like prepping veggies and rolling out pasta - things I can confidently do for a few hours each day without much stress or fuss. I talked to the chef and the manager, and they seem willing to hire me as they're desperately understaffed, but apparently it's the hotel owner who makes all the hiring decisions and I haven't heard from him yet or even seen him.

[Nast]

The red bean paste buns and these look delicious.

That looks fantastic. 

Thank you.
Dumplings are a delightful food, and I want to become a master at them! It would probably be helpful if I had a tiny old lady yelling at me in Cantonese in my kitchen as I learn to make them, but that is a luxury few can afford.

[Phox]

My job experiences in the food service industry so far have been pretty lousy - from working as a white waiter in a dysfunctional Japanese restaurant, to all-night 16-hour catering drudge work. But I've decided to stick with looking for a job in that field because that's where most of my skills are, and besides I'm going to school for it.

I am hoping to get a part-time job at a small local hotel that has its own restaurant. It's close to my house and it would basically just be things like prepping veggies and rolling out pasta - things I can confidently do for a few hours each day without much stress or fuss. I talked to the chef and the manager, and they seem willing to hire me as they're desperately understaffed, but apparently it's the hotel owner who makes all the hiring decisions and I haven't heard from him yet or even seen him.

Well, good luck. If I could, I'd totally hire you for my personal kitchen. 

[Don Coyote]

I need to stop clicking this thread. It makes me hungry.