ChiFlyer

Hi Nickrock. I am a newbie with regard to 24x7, but have lived in Jomtien for most of the last 6 years. Just so I understand - > given that advertising can be a grey line. As an example discussion point, my TGF owns a restaurant. Now I would think that if I start posting daily specials and what not, I have definitely crossed the line. OTOH, if I just mention the place in general (adding that I have an interest) I am not crossing the line. Any comments?

Chicken Parm The America's Test Kitchen (ATK) recipe for this item is worth reading. It explains why many home cooked versions of this dish get messed up. Chicken Parm.pdf The use of fresh Basil in this recipe is critical. I follow this recipe exactly, well almost. I cut the chicken breasts according to a method that ATK published a few years after they published this recipe. Cut the breast in half across the middle. The fat end can now be butterflied into two pieces. One can then pound each of the three pieces accordingly. Some of the three may require no pounding. For pounding (not that kind you dirty birds 🙂), I place two pieces of chicken on some plastic warp. Fold more of the same sheet of plastic wrap over (start with about a 12" piece of plastic wrap) and gently pound the chicken with a mallet to the desired thickness. I have received many compliments on this dish. It is filling, so I do not serve a pasta with it. For this reason, I make only half of the sauce. Instead of a pasta, I make what one might call toasted bruschetta. The recipe for that is something I came up with based on a few other items that I had read about. I will detail that recipe in front of the pic. Pics The Chicken Parm The Toasted Bruschetta This is actually pretty simple and quick, but I often get more compliments from this than I do the Chicken Parm. Take about a 12" baguette and cut it on the bias into 1.5" or so slices. The 1.5" size is an upper limit. I usually try and go a little smaller. Cut a garlic clove in half and scrape it against the baguette pieces. Put a little olive oil on the slices (just a little) put some cheese on top leftover from the Parm, and broil it for about 2 minutes. It is done just when the cheese shows some initial browning spots. Pull the baking sheet from the oven. Use the leftover sauce from the Parm to top the baguette pieces. Then top the baguette pieces with fresh Basil.

He should have put some garlic in it. 🙂That egg does look excellent indeed. I think I have seen Ming Tsai (well known cooking TV guy) do that as well.

Recipe - Chicken and Dumplings Soup Usually going into the weekend I make a pot of soup. I eat lunches from that throughout the following week. This is supposed to help me lose a little weight. Well at least it is keeping me from gaining more. This week I made a "Chicken and Dumplings Soup". https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/chicken-and-dumplings/#wprm-recipe-container-13840 I had to make a few changes: I thought that the recipe needed a little garlic, so I added 3 cloves of minced garlic near the end of the veggie saute. I cooked the garlic until it bloomed (about 30 seconds until you smelled it). I have never seen Chives in the greater Pattaya area. I substitute the top ends of fresh scallions for the 2 TBSP of chives in the dumpling section. This is once again American Comfort food. The TGF liked it, but asked me several times what the dumplings were called. For some reason that is a word she has some difficulty in pronouncing. I think it might be the "PL" in the middle of the word. In any case a few pics: Nearing completion in the pot Served

I do not attend Xmas or American Thanksgiving dinners anywhere in the greater Pattaya area. I have tried several times, but was always disappointed. I find these Western Holiday offerings to be over-priced and because the restaurant is working for a bigger crowd not that great. It's kind of like New Year's Eve being considered as amatuer night IMO. I do have many fond memories of these holidays from growing up, but much prefer to have a few friends over to celebrate and I have built up the cooking skills to entertain a smallish gathering.

Thanks EP.

Hey, "Gin" was the first flavored Vodka. 🙂 I am also not a Gin drinker. I seldom drink hard liquor other than an occasional shooter of tequila. My favorite poison within that category is Monte Alban Mezcal Yes that it is the one with the worm in the bottle. I was introduced to it by a friend from work that I met in my 30s. https://www.google.com/search?q=monte+alban+mezcal&source=hp&ei=AWKrYoi3MNKNseMP04qwsAE&iflsig=AJiK0e8AAAAAYqtwEVuQ-Mm5d9YU2h4d9ikfYy5fcP2C&oq=monte+alban+&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYAjIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQ6CwgAEIAEELEDEIMBOg4ILhCxAxCDARDHARCjAjoICAAQsQMQgwE6CAguEIAEENQCOgsILhCxAxCDARDUAjoICC4QgAQQsQM6CwguEIAEELEDENQCOgUIABCxAzoLCC4QsQMQxwEQrwE6CAgAEIAEELEDOg4IABCABBCxAxCDARDJAzoOCC4QgAQQsQMQgwEQ1AI6CwguEIAEELEDEIMBOgsILhCABBDHARCvAToFCC4QgARQAFj3ImDmR2gAcAB4AIABdIgB5QeSAQQxMC4ymAEAoAEB&sclient=gws-wiz I have not seen it anywhere in the Bang Lamung area. If someone spots it, please give me a yell. I have been struggling by with Cuervo Gold. Also, if ordering a cocktail at a better restaurant (where slamming shooters might not be appropriate), I usually order a very dry Rob Roy (Scotch Manhattan) made with 12 year old single malt Scotch. The GF likes an occasional Margarita. Also and probably most importantly, if I am going out and expect to probably be consuming more than a couple of glasses of wine, the GF and I call a cab, much cheaper than a DUI. And a considerable reduction in a possible guilt going forward factor.

I have recently heard about a new (to me anyway) restaurant in a condo complex near CDA. https://www.facebook.com/cafeblupattaya/ Given the name and location, does anyone know if there is a connection with CDA? Just curious.

Bruno's no longer exists. The location was sold and is now a Chinese place. I used to like Bruno's on occasion as they had an excellent Rack of Lamb offering and several other very good items on the menu. They seemed not to be doing as well in their final years. I have heard that the Chinese place is targeting primarily to Chinese people. Nothing wrong with that, but I have never been.

Credit cards work differently in Thailand, much differently compared to the US. With Bangkok Bank they refer to it as a fixed amount account or something like that. One has to deposit the requested credit card limit into the account when it is opened. Once a month one is sent a statement and has to replenish the account to the limit. Opening the account is a bit of a pain. I ended up with a cramped hand after signing my name and phone number at least 25 times. The worst part was that after a few months I decided that I had set my limit too low, so I requested that it be raised. You guessed it, another cramped hand. What can the Thai's possibly be doing with all of this paper? So why go through this bs? It makes life a lot more convenient if you are a full time ex-pat. After I moved to Jomtien, I tried using my US credit cards for about a year. The US banks drove me nuts. They were constantly challenging things and sending me verification text messages that I was unable to receive. They were unwilling to text to an international number. This amplified the Lazada Wallet problem. I had cancelled my US mobile number with Sprint. WTF (that's a why not a what) should I pay $75 a month for a cellular service that I will not be using. I had no intention of paying international charges on top of that. I signed up for a Skype account at $40 a year. Problem is that the US banks include boiler plate adds in their text messages and Skype is unable to process attachments for technical reasons that would be a waste of time to get into. @forcebwithu commented on another board that Google works better, but it has some caveats as well. So I moved my US credit card to AmEx. They do charge a yearly fee, but other than that they are a pleasure to deal with. I have never been pestered on transaction verification texts. The only problem was that my US mailing address is a mail forwarding address. They recognized that and bugged me for a while. I took the "#" out of the address and all was well. I do not like using debit cards for online transactions, as that exposes a bank account to a hack. With the Thai Bangkok Bank credit card I am able to limit what is exposed. I use the Bangkok Bank credit card for transactions with businesses that do not accept AmEx. Works well for me. Oh as an added note, I am very happy with Bangkok Bank. Their online systems and mobile app work very well. The only negative is they have a lesser amount of ATMs than say Krungsria, but I use a US Schwab Debit card for ATM withdrawals, which has no charge.

I have been a several times a year customer at CDA for 5+ years. I would not call Blu a close friend, but I enjoy bs'ing around with him. I do wish they would put their Beef Stroganoff back on the menu. It was the best version of that dish that I have ever had. Would love to have an approximation of the recipe. My version is pretty decent, but their's is two levels up.

I like Italian food. This may well be a contributing factor as to why I am having difficulty loosing weight. 🙂 There are a lot of Italian restaurants in the greater Bang Lamung area. My favorite is Gian's. I chose this restaurant for my warm up birthday dinner meal. https://www.facebook.com/giansitaliandiningpattaya Gain's will also not make the 300 baht list. I have heard from others that Grotinos over in Naklua should be in any conversation for the best Italian restaurant in the area. I (being a Jomtien guy) have never been there. I have been told that "Little Italy" across the street from the Royal Garden is operated by the same people as Grotinos. I have been to "Little Italy" and it was indeed very good IMO. It is currently listed as "Temporarily Closed" on Google. Little Italy gets a little closer to approaching an under 300 baht rating. Anyway, a few pics from my warm up birthday dinner at Gian's. Oysters For me - pasta with a Calabresia Suace The GF Had scallops with veggies. She is not as big on Italian food as I am, but puts up with me a few times a year about this (maybe 20 or so). 😘 With the moderately priced bottle of wine (about 2000) dinner came to about 4000.

I did a search for Cafe des Amis in this forum and got zero hits, so I thought I would put up a review. I have lived in Jomtien for most of the last 5 years. I would describe Cafe des Amis as eclectic dining with a French leaning. It is probably my favorite restaurant in the greater Bang Lamung area. This place will not qualify for an under 300 baht ranking. The GF and I do not go here often due to the splurge factor and also I like cooking at home. Still for my recent birthday, I chose this as where I wanted to go for dinner. When I am in a place of this caliber, I usually order a bottle of moderately priced decent wine to go with dinner (usually about 2000 in a better restaurant). We had cocktails as well, so about half of the 5000 bill went for alcohol. The birthday boy went a little nuts I guess. https://www.cafe-des-amis.com/ The dining experience was very good. A few pics. I had Rack of Lamb. Sorry, but I like them a little bloody. The GF ordered the Duck Breast in a tart cherry sauce. I have had it many times and it is excellent. Notice that the fat cap is nicely seared off, unlike many other local restaurants who serve duck. My complimentary desert (White Chocolate glazed Cheese Cake). Damn this was good. We also had some complimentary appetizers and a complimentary bread basket. Both were delicious. I think I ordered fresh oysters as well and they were really good, but I spazzed on taking a pic of the oysters. Here is a pic from a previous visit.

I had similar (maybe the same) problems a few years back. I forget how I was paying at that time, but I moved over to paying with my Bangkok Bank credit card. No problems now. When an order gets cancelled it is soon refunded to my credit card. Lazada is convenient and I am surprised at the depth of their inventory. Prices, when delivery charge is included, are not the greatest, but it beats going to a multitude of stores looking for something a little different.

Recipe - Roasted Salmon and Asparagus I try and keep things a little healthy diet wise and usually do a poor job of that. Still I have my moments. I have tried to incorporate more seafood and veggies into my diet, especially salmon. I have also begun using more one pot methods due to the reduced cleanup effort. The other night I made Roasted Salmon and Asparagus. https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/280094/rosemary-roasted-salmon-with-asparagus-potatoes/ The only deviation that I make from the attached recipe is that I use two smaller baking sheets to split things up. This is because the oven in my Thai condo is significantly smaller than what one would find in a US kitchen. This recipe turned out well and the TGF gave me a reiterated from last time level 1 rating. A few pics. The Veggies The Salmon Plated Oh also, I have never seen Yukon Yellow Potatoes in any Thai store. Villa Market does usually have available some smaller Red Potatoes that work well for this recipe.

Same here. The TGF insists that I am not part of the cleanup effort, but I try and help out a little so that it is not a total pain for her. I only cook Western (and sometimes Western adaptations of Asian food) food 3 times a week, with Saturday being sandwich night (light cleanup usually). She helps with the cooking by mincing garlic and ginger (necessary prep tasks that I dislike). She has commented that my home cooked Western food is better than the restaurants that we go to and I should open a restaurant. At 73 that is beyond my physical capabilities, not to mention that maintaining a profit margin would make the cost of my products a non-starter for most potential customers.

Muchisimas gracias. The Mayo biscuits get compliments. One thing though is be sure to grease the 1/4 cup before scooping the dough to put on the parchment paper covered baking sheet. I use an olive oil spray. The dough is very tacky. Also, buttermilk is difficult to find in Thailand, but one can substitute a cup of whole milk mixed with 1 TBSP of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Ok - since there is some interest in keeping this thread going, here is what I consider to be my number 1 recipe. (Honey Fried Chicken and Mayonnaise Drop Biscuits). Obviously this is American Comfort food. I did close to zero home cooking until 2015. I was always on the road for my IT Consulting job, which is how I came to meet you guys as I increasingly worked in Asia. Due to the improved communication vehicles (Zoom etc.), I began working more from home more around 2015. I needed a hobby, so I focused on cooking. A few years later I had my younger son over for supper and made this dish. He had a couple of bites, looked startled, and said "this is really good". I said thanks thinking "so what has not been so good". My younger son is not known for his PC abilities"). Here is the recipe. Honey Fried Chicken.pdf I have found that the best side to serve this with is "Mayonnaise Drop Biscuits". Mayonnaise Drop Biscuits.pdf Some Corn on the Cob (COC) would be a good way to complete this meal, but the COC in Thailand is grown past maturity from what I see. A few pics. I make this recipe with bone-in chicken thighs as they stand up well to high heat.

My BBQ ribs recipe is most likely not what you are looking for and it has most certainly not been passed down for generations. Still I will post it here, as there may be something in it that you find to be of interest. Basically, this is what might be called a no sauce recipe. From the one and only Alton Brown (the man is a maniac). https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/who-loves-ya-baby-back-recipe-1937448 In the area of the States that I come from (Chicago) we tend to use Baby Back Ribs. This is the standard Spare Ribs cut that many other locations use with the bottom bones trimmed off, so only the most tender meat is used. I have never seen Baby Backs in a Thailand store, although I just noticed that they are offered on Sloane's (Expensive way to go). https://www.sloanes.co.th/product/baby-back-ribs/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuq7N3IKm-AIV1jUrCh1Zbg5BEAQYBSABEgL50_D_BwE I have noticed that most British Rib places (like Smoking Joe's use spare ribs) and also tend to go with a sweeter sauce. In any case, here is a pic of the results of my rib recipe. These were made with locally available Spare Ribs. Obviously Mr. Brown's pics make mine look sick.

I am the FNG (NG stands for New Guy), so I will go with what the vets on this board recommend. Speaking of @Evil Penevil I always enjoyed his posts over at PA. I would guess that close to half of my more economical restaurants came from his posts. tko - I always found your posts at PA to be informative, well documented, and more than worth the time to read them. I visit both "O Delices" (bakery for the best croisants in Jomtien) and Ta Chuap (reasonably priced Thai food) based on your reports. I have not made it to the later one recently. The GF does not care for it and I thought it was a little off the mark on our last visit. The Sir Elton posters were down as well. I think that there is a difference between these food topics and splitting the topics up provides for better searching of what my old brain can't quite remember. Additionally, this proposed topic could get into kitchen gear. OTOH - I am a newbie on a well established board here, so as I said in the post just above, I will use the method that the Board veterans prefer.

We have a food thread, but I thought it would be better to split out cooking at home from restaurant reviews. I have posted two cooking at home recipes at the usual food thread. I thought I would start a Cooking At Home Thread here and see if there is any interest Earlier posts, More later.

Home Cooking Recipe 2 - Forty Cloves Chicken This is a long standing favorite recipe of mine, which I made again recently. I have made several versions from various cooking show luminaries, but have found Ina Garten's version to be the most direct and still very flavorful. https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/chicken-with-forty-cloves-of-garlic Some things to make sure to observe about this recipe are: Blanch the garlic cloves for one minute before peeling the garlic. The best way to peel the garlic IMO is to cut off the root end, give the clove a light smash with a lesser knife, and the peel it. One should be able to peel the garlic in 15 minutes this way. Pad the chicken with paper towels several times. This will give you a crisper skin from the browning process. Also I use 8 bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe. IMO this section of the chicken is the most moist and flavorful for this recipe I really like serving this dish over couscous. I think the sauce and couscous work very well together. My recipe for the couscous is: Follow the recipe for the couscous package, which is usually add some salt, and olive oil to water. Bring the liquid to a boil, turn off heat, add couscous, and cover for 5 minutes. Then fluff with a fork. A better description with regard to volumes is provided in a link below. I use homemade chicken broth instead of water. I also bring a small dish of water to a boil, turn off heat and add a goodly pinch of saffron threads. At the point where the chicken broth liquid has the heat turned off, I add the saffron liquid, couscous, 1/2 cup of golden raisins, and 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. Worth the effort IMO. The Couscous link https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/couscous.html A few pics Chicken on a serving plate Plated

The FNG (me) (the NG stands for New Guy) has a suggestion. I think it might be best to have separate threads about home cooking vs restaurant offerings. As usual the FNG has no idea about how best to approach accomplish this, providing others agree that this is a decent idea.

I am a somewhat serious home cook. I spend a fair amount of time planning and delivering dishes that I like. I thought I would post some of my more recent experiences here. Many of these dishes were initially posted over at PA, but here I will post the more recent versions. Number 1 - Crispy Orange Beef The TGF gave me a 1+ rating on this one. Here is the recipe Crispy Orange Beef.pdf I use Flat Iron steak instead of the suggested Flap Meat. Less expensive cuts of beef (Flat Iron, Skirt, Flank) can be difficult to dependably find in the Pattaya better Western stores (Villa Market, Makro, and others). I order mine through Sloan and Passion Delivery, both out of Bangkok. This is an expensive route to go, but I only need to do so 2 or 3 times a year. I also reduce the soy sauce in the cooking sauce by 1 TBSP and replace that with 1 TBSP of Fish Sauce and 1 TBSP of Sambal Olek. A few pics. In the pot Plated

I am pretty certain that you are correct about the "Private Ryan" correction. All's that I remember is my mom talking about it at the kitchen table. Also, I incorrectly believed at the time that I did not have to register for the draft because of being a "Sole surviving son". Someone told me that I was wrong, so I went and registered about a month late. The guy behind the desk threatened to conscript me on the spot, after I told him that I would be a 5G status. In addition to "Sole surviving son" that is/was(?) also the status for "Conscientios Objector" which is what Mohamed Ali filed as. I explained that I was a "Sole surviving son" and he snarled at me "we can check that". About 10 minutes later, his partner said "hey, the kid is not lying". After that I was afforded a greater courtesy.