As the plague goes on and on it looks like I won’t make it to New York to visit any of Xian Famous Food’s branches or to Xian itself for quite some time so I decided to make Biang-Biang noodles at home. Having laid in some superb sichuan pepper, and red chili powder from The Mala Market, http://blog.themalamarket.com/ I set out to do it. BTW @robert has mentioned The Mala Market before and I can’t recommend them enough. Fair warning though - if you use their sichuan pepper use half what the recipe calls for. Nothing you can buy here is like it.
This is my third attempt this week. It takes a little practice, but it pays off. I followed the recipe from the “Xian Famous Foods” cookbook, but substituted Caputo pasta flour for the all-purpose called for. Had to cut the red pepper in half as the first time I made it I had an emergency 4:30 AM bathroom run (TMI), but it still tasted great. A few more attempts and I think it will turn out well.
I don’t think I have seen it in Burbank - but I will look harder next time. But Northridge has it? Mmmmmmmmm.
"Had to cut the red pepper in half as the first time I made it I had an emergency 4:30 AM bathroom run (TMI), but it still tasted great. "
Not TMI, when you work with some spices, that information is extra important I!
That’s a chicken, not a pheasant, right?
No it was a pheasant. Big one. Came in at like 2.35 lbs. I upped the cooking time from 35 minutes to 42 or so - probably would have nailed it right at 40. Kinda unforgiving as far as that goes.
I got it from Epicurus out in the Valley. They also had guinea hens and capons for order. Might want to do one of those for xmas.
Wow. I’ve never seen such a plump one.
Mallorcas from New World Sourdough
They are a slightly sweet, soft bread roll with a hint of lemon. Originally from Spain they are now found in various places in the Caribbean and are particularly beloved in Puerto Rico. Make 'em and eat 'em, cuz they don’t hold well for more than a day or 2.
Love the herbs and flowers! So creative
Forgot how much fat accumulates in the short rib stew. Cooked in the oven for about 7 hours last night. Remove the 1/4 fat layer and cook for another 3 hours today. Perfect for a cool fall sunny 78 degree day in SoCal.
I like to braise fatty meats like that the day before and refrigerate so it’s easy to pull the fat off the top.
On a warm day you could chill it in a loaf pan or mold, then slice and serve with horseradish cream.
These are 3 of the Christmas candies that have been made in my family for close to 70 years. I am the last candy maker and this is some of this years’ production. All are 100% handmade from scratch.
From left to right…chocolate drop candy, almond butter crunch, iced nuts.
Beautiful!
Wow! I don’t even like candy that much, but those are beautiful.
Would you be open to sharing your family recipe for the iced nuts? Those look delicious.
The air fryer is pretty awesome and worth it imo for a home cook. Very easy cleanup, and setup.
The air fryer is very good for specific items. I don’t know why Dave Chang hates on it so much. The items we use it for consistently
Bacon
Frozen shrimp tempura
Reheating pizza surprisingly
French fries
Chicken wings
Here you go s76wisco, the recipe for Iced Nuts
It’s about as easy as it gets, plus it’s quick. Once you master the core recipe the possibilities are endless. You can make a batch in about 10-12 minutes
Iced Nuts
INGREDIENTS
1/2 Cup sugar
2 Tbls. butter
1 Cup blanched almonds
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp salt
INSTRUCTIONS
*Place the sugar, butter and nuts in a skillet.
*Cook until the nuts are toasted and sugar and butter have carmelized, stirring almost constantly, especially towards the end of the cooking process. The color should be a deep golden brown
*Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla
*Turn out onto a piece of ungreased aluminum foil and sprinkle with salt.
*Cool and then break into pieces
NOTES…
*I use a 7 1/2" stainless All-Clad omelet pan that I’ve had for ages, I’ve also been making this recipe for 50+ years, I can literally make this in my sleep. I would recommend using a 9" stainless pan to make this recipe. That will give you more surface area for the nuts to toast and the butter and sugar to melt and caramelize, as well as more room in the pan to maneuver.
*Blanched whole almonds are getting harder to find, Trader Joe’s used to be the best source, but even they don’t always carry them. Over the years I’ve used a lot of different nuts, and while almonds are really fabuous in this recipe, so are some other nuts. Cashews and Mac nuts are excellent. Trader Joe’s sometimes has them raw. If they do, get the raw nuts, if they don’t the recipe will work with roasted and salted nuts, just cut back on the amount of salt you use at the end. If the nuts appear to be toasting too quickly, you can lower the heat or take the pan off the heat to cool the molten sugar down a bit. You can also get raw nuts from some of the online nut farms in CA.
*Pine nuts do not work in this recipe, they burn too quickly. Walnuts and pecans will work, but the results is somewhat boring flavorwise. I think I’ve done pistachios a few times, but I can’t recall if they worked in the recipe or not.
*The color should be a deep golden color.