What's the trick slick? Dinner 15 Feburary 2012

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Sir Loin that recipe for Mahi-Mahi with Coconut Caramel Sauce looks fantastic! In fact the sauce looks like one that could enhance other dishes too. Is that your own personal recipe that you created yourself? (I want to add a credit in my saved copy.)

I was going to have Kung Pao Shrimp but in reading Sir Loin's sauce recipe I realized that I forgot to buy fresh ginger, so now I'm debating going back to the store or having a steak instead.

I first had the mahi-mahi in coconut caramel sauce at Ana Mandara in San Francisco about 5 or 6 years ago. They have since removed it from the menu for some unknown reason. I used to belong to an international chef's message board and it took myself and three other chefs to perfect the sauce. I kept getting ice cream syrup until one of the chef's found and old Vietnamese recipe for caramel sauce for fish with nuoc mam (Vietnamese fish sauce) in the ingredients, which didn't sound very appetizing on ice cream. Then all I had to do was to replace the water in the recipe with coconut milk to duplicate the dish I had at Ana Mandara.

BTW if you're ever in San Francisco and looking for a dinner spot, I highly recommend Ana Mandara. Exceptional take on Vietnamese cuisine by an outstanding chef, a French Colonial Mansion dining room designed by a Hollywood set designer (Chef Khai Duong's business partners are Don Johnson and Cheech Marin) and the prices are reasonable for such outstanding cuisine. The restaurant is located in Ghirardelli Square, adjacent to Fisherman's Wharf.
 
Thanks SL! The fish sauce sounds fine for a coconut-caramel sauce to be served over fish. I agree with you that it doesn't sound too good for ice cream.

At present it seems unlikely I'll visit S.F. but here in L.A. we also have lots of Vietnamese cuisine which I've been intending to try more of.
 
Chicken Teriyaki stir-fry with jimica, asparagus, zucchini, carrots, spring onions, and red bell pepper served over rice at our house tonight.

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I am browning some ground beef and we will each have what we are in the mood for. James will have cheeseburger wraps and I will have nachos with refried beans, cheese, ground beef, onion, jalapenos, sour cream, and salsa. :yum:

Oh yeah, orange cake with chocolate frosting for dessert. :yum:
 
At present it seems unlikely I'll visit S.F. but here in L.A. we also have lots of Vietnamese cuisine which I've been intending to try more of.

San Francisco has a lot of Vietnamese restaurants too, but this place is special. Chef Khai is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Paris (cuisine), Ecole Lenotre Francaise Gastronomique (pastries), and Academie Du Vin (wines). He prepares classic Vietnamese cuisine using French techniques.
 
Slow roasted pork belly, with potatoes dauphinoise done in a muffin tin, some kind of green.....
First time trying a pork belly roast. Took my eye off of the broil for two minutes and singed the crackling, but caught it in time. It was magnificent. Definitely do it again. My GF said I have to..
 

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awesome as usual, rock.

dw made another plain roasted chicken, rice and beans, and cranberry sauce.

my god i'm sick of plain roasted chicken. we've been eating them at least once a week, sometimes more. but i shouldn't complain since it feeds 3 humans and 3 cats for $5.

after we're done eating, i strip all of the meat and any ooky skin off the carcass, chop it up, and dw brings it to our outdoor cats. then she has to referee the cats because they fight over it.
 
Man, there's no better entertainment than watching outdoor cats fighting over a chicken carcass...

BT did you ever consider baking your chicken instead of roasting it? :devilish:
 
awesome as usual, rock.

dw made another plain roasted chicken, rice and beans, and cranberry sauce.

my god i'm sick of plain roasted chicken. we've been eating them at least once a week, sometimes more. but i shouldn't complain since it feeds 3 humans and 3 cats for $5.

after we're done eating, i strip all of the meat and any ooky skin off the carcass, chop it up, and dw brings it to our outdoor cats. then she has to referee the cats because they fight over it.
I love plain roasted chicken.
 
you're welcome to have my share next week, rock.

and the week after that, and the week after that, and a few days later, and then the week after that..
 
My Kung Pao Shrimp came out pretty good! Due to my limited resources it took me hours to prepare, and due to limited resources (no garbage disposal, no dish washer) it will likely take me a few days to recover, but it was worth it.

This time I took good notes, measured ingredients (both weight and volume), timed steps, got some of the method language pinned down. Even harder, extrapolating a single serving into a 2-3-4 serving. I'll defer that until later.

Meanwhile I have dragon breath. I wish I had some paint that needs stripping. I like really hot recipes. I'll have to tone this Kung Pao down to make it fit for the masses, although of course I'll add a note of encouragement for those who like spicy food.
 
Man, there's no better entertainment than watching outdoor cats fighting over a chicken carcass...

boy howdy, it's fun. dw keeps the peace between them, but i like to do a little mutual of omaha/marlon perkins thing with some whispered narration...
 
My Kung Pao Shrimp came out really good! I've already beat the 5-6 nearby Chinese restaurants I frequent except my favorite. I've been stealing ideas as best as I can, mostly by tasting their food and occasional questions asked about the menu. While by no means is my Kung Pao ready for prime time but at least I'm converging on a recipe that I'm willing to launch as a contender for a good Kung Pao Shrimp recipe.

As far as I understand them I think I'm at least within shooting distance of using traditional ingredients. I had to leave off the aji-mirin because that's Japanese and AFAIK Kung Pao is Chinese and could possibly be Thai but IMO could never be Japanese. Does anybody know if this is true, or do you know what the closest Japanese is to Kung Pao?

I love the dried chili peppers and toasted nuts!
 
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