CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
I have to come clean on this video for several reasons: The first being the garbage….which Hubby forgot to take down and which I forgot was there. Okay, it’s Sunday and I didn’t sleep that well and I’m really tired and really in a bad mood. Yes, I look fat. And yes, I am in a bad mood because I look fat…notice I say ‘look’. Henry it’s time you took a videography course….cause this video pizzes me off, sweets.
On looking back today, it was a mistake. The video I mean. Yes, Saturday night had me pigging out at a restaurant, I decided early Sunday morning to do the video and since it was on the run, I put on absolutely NO MAKEUP. Nor did I do anything with my hair except color it the day before. But you know what…it is not about me: the blog is about Food, Kitchen, Life and ….it’s a whole inspiration inspired by other bloggers and writers. That’s what Eye’z is about.
I remember years ago the magazine Cook’s Illustrated would pay $25.00 for each and every tip sent in by readers that was printed. I must say I sent in my share of tips and received my share of bucks.
Over the years they even printed a book of those tips which I promise, I never bought. I do, however, have many old copies which I promise I did not use here. These are simply the ones that have stuck in my head through the years, some that I had to research out and others probably came from Martha Stewart. I don’t swear that these are original and I don’t swear of the source because I am sure a lot of them are out there in Google-land.
I would love to hear from my readers all tips they have coveted over the years. Maybe we can print our own book?
1: Silver Cleaning the Lazy Man’s Way: or in other words Sterling Silver Cleaning Trick.
A trick for all you young and old Brides and even young and old men is the following:
Get yourself silver tin foil or a metal plate which can be bought on Ebay. Line the sink or a basin with the silver foil or lay the plate down and splash a half a handful of any brand water softener. I use Calgon. Pour boiling water slowly into the sink or basin and then lay your silver in this bath making sure it touches the silver foil or plate. Leave it for a minute or two and the chemical reaction will immediately turn your oxidized Silver into shiny Silver. Rinse, wipe and polish it. Ta Da Shiny Sterling Silver!
Fantabulous on old serving pieces that have intricate detail on them that is difficult to get to with regular silver polish.
Good on jewellery and all your cz’s too.
Great to use for pieces with intricate designs and detail that is difficult to reach with regular polish
Notice the water is darkening from all the tarnish
Shiny as a mirror...same piece as the video
Great to use for pieces with intricate designs and detail that is difficult to reach with regular polish
2: Saran Wrap- If you then, wrap each piece completely in Saran Wrap the silver will not tarnish. It must be tightly adhered to the Sterling Silver item.
3: DON’T CRY OVER AN ONION - Peel onion under lukewarm water and you will never cry because of burning eyez.
4: Spice Grinder - clean your spice grinder by using rice
5: Fish and its all encompassing Aroma - I hate the smell that fish makes when I cook it in the house - to get rid of Fish Smell soak the fish in milk for at least an hour or overnight prior to broiling, or baking or frying it.
6: A Fish tip that Eric Ripert told on one of his many appearances stuck in my mind and I use it: to test if fish is properly cooked I put a metal skewer into the fish from its side and then quickly place the metal to my chin. If it is warm and kind of hot then I know the fish is done. Too hot and its over-cooked and the obvious other side to that if it’s cold. Eric that was a priceless piece of information and cooking tip.
7: Fruit Flies are attracted to apple cider vinegar. Make a paper cone and stick it in a glass filled half way with Apple Cider Vinegar and in the morning carefully close the cone so that the flies don’t fly out and dispose them.
8: Tomatoes have better flavour out of the fridge
9: Bananas too many? Freeze over-ripe bananas which can be defrosted and used for banana cake, baby food, or anything that requires a puree.
10: Lemon Juice - always sprinkle lemon juice on apples and pears cut side to prevent browning.
11: Lemons are good to disinfect. Simply rub a cut lemon on your cutting board, your sink, and anything that you touch after handling raw chicken.
Instead of smacking the Garlic Clove to peel it, just put the cloves cut off the head in hot tap water and a bowl for a minute and the skin comes right off.
12: I GOTTA GET THE MOST out OF MY JUICE. If I need to squeeze a lemon or a lime I take it out of the fridge to room temperature and then before slicing it I roll it around the counter with a little pressure and that maximized the amount of juice I will get.
Once juiced I throw the discarded piece down my garburator to get rid of any residual smells it always seems to have.
13: Love Garlic? Instead of smacking the Garlic Clove to peel it, just put the cloves cut off the head in hot tap water and a bowl for a minute and the skin comes right off.
To get rid of garlic smell, wipe your hands on stainless steel or rub on your sink tap. Alternatively rub a cut lemon or lemon juice on your hands.
14: Hot Chile - If you eat something spicy hot like a chile and need to get rid of the burn eat a slice of bread. Water does nothing.
15: Cool down a boiling hot soup with cold water or an ice cube, instead of blowing on it.
16 Never put butter on a Burned Finger or hand, it makes it worse. Run under cold water
17: Burned your best pot? Place some baking soda in it, add water to cover by about 2-3 inches, and then boil the pot for about 2-3 minutes. It will get the burn off the bottom of your pot. Someone also told me to try diced onions; but I never wanted to use up a good onion so I don’t know if that works.
18: Cabbage Leaves Made Easy - Making Holishkes or a cabbage dish that requires soft and intact leaves. Cut out the core of the cabbage and boil it by covering it with water in a pot large enough. Once cool, the leaves will fall off and be soft enough to roll with. Even the center vein will soften
19: And age old question, are your eggs fresh or not? Place it in a pot with cool tap water and some salt. If it sinks its fresh. If it swims its old.
20: Filmy Dishes with a Residue from the dishwasher coming out with a white film or the glasses don’t shine? When ready to do a wash, splash some vinegar and a tablespoon or so of baking soda to the door. Add your detergent and voila: your dishes and glasses will shine.
21 Alternatively fill your rinse dispenser with vinegar.
22 Window or mirror cleaning: Fill a spray bottle 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 cup rubbing alcohol and 1 cup water. The alcohol will dry it quicker, the vinegar cuts the grease and grime and together this is a solution that creates a shiny glass table, mirrors and can be used on stainless steel sinks as well. Use a cloth that does not leave lint. Newspaper is crap.
23: PREPARE TO TAPE… If you have anything to scotch tape or have a pre-sticky taped something-or-other that needs to go on the wall…first clean the area with Alcohol to remove any residue that might be there from dirt or oil and voila that taped something-or-other will stick forever. Especially good when using a suction cup and want it to adhere to its place; plus make sure you slightly dampen the plastic suction piece…the water creates a tighter suction by making a barrier between the air and the hard spot.
24: Your refrigerator puts out Automatic Ice, or plain tap water Ice that tastes funny? Use Activated Charcoal in the freezer and change it every two months and the funny taste will be gone.
25: It’s summer and my windows can be opened but my Screens Have a Hole… Just go buy a small patch of screen slightly larger than the hole and then with an iron gently iron the screen patch onto the hole. Important** Put a thin cloth between your iron and the metal of the screen to protect your iron face, but both pieces will melt into each other and the hole will be fixed.
26: If your dinner Candle Spills Wax onto your beautiful table cloth, simply take the table cloth and lay it over the ironing board or table that has been protected with a towel or cover, then place on top of the wax another cloth and iron. The wax will melt onto the cloth and then you can dispose of the cloth. Good for this is disposable car towels that come in a roll like paper towels.
27: Everyone knows that to get Gum or any Sticky Substance off a carpet or piece of clothing you use ice to harden it and then gently scrape it off with the back of a spoon.
28: Got Pen or Ink Marks on your beautiful purse or your t-shirt. Spray it with hairspray and wash the t-shirt, the ink stain will be gone. On the purse, spray, wait a few seconds and wipe your purse. The ink comes off.
29: White Residue on your winter boots from ice and salt? Combine water and vinegar and wipe it off.
30: To avoid a Pot of Boiling Water from boiling over - keep a spoon in it.
31: Potatoes in an over-salted soup does not get rid of the salt. That is a wives tale. Doesn’t work.
32: Need to peel a tomato or a peach. Actually anything with a skin except perhaps grapes, the cut an x in the top of it and then place it in boiling water for 2 minutes. Rinse and cool and the skin will slide off.
33: Yogurt cheese anyone? Strain it overnight by putting a piece of paper towel in a sieve with another bowl underneath to catch the liquid. In the morning you will have Yogurt Cheese. Can you imagine I just found this….and they want money for it….
A Yogurt Maker by Donvier...it's just a strainer for $20 bucks, they call a Yogurt Maker...truly
34: To try and keep fresh Herbs longer I place them in a glass with cold water, stand them up like flowers and put them in the fridge. It keeps them longer and fresher.
35: I won’t bother telling you that if you grate a lot of ginger and then freeze it; you will always have fresh ginger by simply cutting of the amount you need, right?
36: Having a Party and need Cold Drinks or Beers? Place the cans in a big pail and cover them with ice. You can use the picnic cooler too and then drain off any excess water afterwards.
37; To Measure Butter accurately I place water of the same proportion into the measuring cup and then add butter until it doubles. That way I know the butter is just the right amount. Of course I could weigh it too.
38: If I need to measure syrup or honey, then I oil the measuring cup first. Oxo makes a measuring cup that you don’t have to bend to eye level to measure by the way.
39: I’ve been told that to rid soup of fat, paper towels placed on top of the soup will soak up the fat. I don’t believe it because the one time I tried it I couldn’t tell if it was soup or fat that my towels were eating up. Instead I just either ate the soup, fat and all, or I put it in the fridge until it cooled and the fat rose to the top.
40: SWEETENED ICED TEA - Since I am diabetic and sweetening cannot be done with sugar I try to use very little Sugar Twin. Splenda give me ‘splenda headaches‘ which are a distinct kind of headache that once you have it you know what it is. DiabetiSweet is fabulous but not sold in Canada so, again, I try it make as little use of it as possible. THEREFORE ICED TEA, when I make it, I sweeten it when the Tea is Hot, which uses less sweetener or sugar than when you wait to sweeten it when cold. Did you know that? It’s true.
41: A good Scouring Paste is to take vinegar or bottled lemon juice and mix it to a paste with salt. This mixture can be used to scour the inside of copper bowls or anything that needs a good abrasive.
42: Dry your wok on the stove over low heat. It will keep its seasoning and sheen.
43: If you make bread crumbs from fresh bread you get double the quantity than from canned bread crumbs (yech) or panko and therefore you are using fewer calories. Rice Crispies, or Corn Flakes: even pretzels whizzed in the Cuisinart can be used for coating anything.
44: Old eggs are best to use for egg salads because they are easier to peel if you find the membrane. Fresh eggs, when boiled hard, are a bitch to peel.
45: Beating egg whites to fullness I add a bit of tartar. If I drop a piece of eggshell in the whites, I use another eggshell to fish it out.
46: The penny pincher in me ALWAYS ALWAYS uses a little water to get the last bit out of:
Empty ketchup bottle
Salad dressing bottle
Liquid laundry detergent bottle
Tomato paste jar
Mustard jar
You name it. If it can hold liquid and be shooken (?) I do it. I cannot stand throwing out a jar that still has remnants of its food.
47: Instant Coffee in CHOCOLATE intensifies the chocolate flavour.
48: Ripen Peaches in a brown paper bag. If they still exist.
49: My Saran Wrap ate its edge and I can’t find it. Take a piece of scotch tape, sticky side down and roll it over the wrap and for sure it will pick up and find the edge. Same thing with tin foil if you can’t quite get it started.
50: Dried Out Cutting Board Shame ON YOU. I bought a Ming Tsai round cutting board so many years ago I can’t remember. Yet it stays in excellent condition because I make a point of oiling it with mineral oil once every two months. First, however, I use a very fine sanding paper which I rub over the wood and then I pour the oil. Let it remain on the board for at least an hour to soak in.
51: Actually any time I have to glue an object to another or have a liquid I need to adhere to a solid; I always use a fine sanding paper to lightly sand, which creates a rough surface that will then ‘grab’ the glue or the paint and obviously get a much greater result. Even an emery board/nail file will do the trick.
52: Who doesn’t know the toothpick test? In a cake, I mean.
53: You don’t need to use a whole sheet of Bounce in the dryer, just half. Then you get double the sheets.
BIG BOOBS AND A STRAPLESS DRESS
Have a dress that requires no bra but they don’t stay up? Go and buy at Home Depot or any hardware store Industrial strength Duct Tape. Tear a strip off that is long enough to go from one side of your underneath breast and up the other side: Bend down and tape but make sure the tape covers both the breast and your skin underneath. Stand up and put the dress on. I promise it will look good. Unfortunately there will be a slight amount of pain when removing the tape…Hey who was it that said ‘Beauty is Painful’?
THE BELOVED PUPPY SECTION…
1: Has the Puppy Peed on your carpet and it stinks. Go buy Vacuum Free Arm & Hammer Carpet and Room Odour Eliminator with Baking soda FOAM…not the box but the spray foam. Use it directly on the spot and do not vacuum (that’s the best thing about this) for a week and the smell will disappear.
Stay away from the Box that is labelled Pets. In fact, my experience; none of the products labelled ‘for Pets’ actually works…especially the vacuum cleaners that specify strong enough for dog hairs. That’s a euphemism for ‘more expensive and still the same old crap’!
2: Also if the pup had gone in the same place once too often then sprinkle on and around that spot a product called Tee Tree Oil - yes it will smell like a hospital for a while but that smell will keep the pup away. Good to do on anything you don’t want the dog to go near.
3: Pup eating his/her own poo? Try adding a sardine smashed into their food. It is healthy and guaranteed to stop him/her from eating the poo and then licking your face. Another idea is to add MSG in its original state. Of course, everyone knows to add oil every now and then to your dog’s food for their coat to be shiny and their skin to be hydrated, right?
4: One more pet hint: ALLERGIC TO THE DOG? The Obama’s should have come to me because my research on this probably outweighed that of the Secret Service. Out of necessity when Hubby suddenly became allergic to our Boxer, the Szterns had a dilemma. Or should I say, I had a dilemma. The dog or the husband.
We had adopted this adorable 3 month old Brindle Boxer which we named…Rocky…DAH!..Well we had Rocky for about a month and a half, when out of nowhere Hubby began sniffling, sneezing, and breaking out in a rash every time Rocky came near. I knew it was bad when hubby began calling our precious new baby, The Dog. So a real dilemma in the Sztern household was sitting in my corner of the bed. Actually the other half of the bed. Do I kick out the dog or do I kick out the husband? Believe me; I was embarking on a really tough choice here.
So I Kicked the husband out. To a hotel for five days, after having spent a solid 3 days online doing research. I found, online, a product called Allerpet. It got great reviews from what research I did and the emails I sent.
Making a long story short I bought two bottles, FED-exed it to Canada for the same price the pup cost, and used it twice a day religiously for a week. With a soft mitt, I poured enough Allerpet to dampen but not soak into the mitt and then rubbed it all over the pup. When hubby came home, the real test came; (it was obviously going to be the husband), but by then we got so attached to Rocky that any outcome was going to be difficult. Allerpet saved the day. Hubby was no longer affected and I continued to use Allerpet for the next year once a week. Needless to say we all stayed a family.
Anyone have more? Write it in the Comments Section …. Everyone can always use a good tip. Especially the friendly Bartender or that great waiter/waitress.
UPDATE A few more I remembered worth updating and adding:
to till small holes left by nails take neutral colored toothpaste and with a toothpick gently fill the hole. Let dry and witha a damp cloth gently go over the toothpaste till it sits flat with the wall.
if a piece of paint came off your wall or a nick happened to an objet d’arts, buy paint in various colors with a mixing palate and try to mix the paint as close a match to the original…paint it and you won’t notice the chip.
need to glue a difficult piece to another piece and glue just won’t hold it together. With a tiny nail hammer a small opening on the two sides that need to stick together then with a toothpick stick in one side of the piece and gently push it into the second half and it will secure it together without glue.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: activated charcoal, Allerpet, Calgon, DiabetiSweet, lemons and juice, measure syrup or honey, mineral oil, mirror window cleaning, pet allergy, Saran Wrap, Stirling Silver, wood cutting board, yogurt cheese
Dishes
When one cooks a great meal, one wants to plate it on a great plate.
Chefs go to extremes for plating dishes. Restaurateurs include in their massive budgets designs for personalized dishes, glassware and even cutlery.
Grant Achatz and others of his genre of cooking even configure and convolute serving pieces for the month’s tasting tour or Omakase.
Brides pay special attention to ‘Selections’, usually Bone China to last a lifetime serving special meals to special people in a special marriage.
Antique dealers look for odds and ends of Bone China or Crystal to sell at inflated costs.
There exist companies and online retailers who specialize in finding discontinued patterns to replace a broken plate or cup from an old Bone China pattern.
In a lifetime, one collects an amazing amount of tzotchkes; I am no different. In fact, I have reached an age where I want to divulge myself of all these things, these objects d’arts with which I no longer find use nor have the energy to dust or keep clean and sitting on display.
I have so much, that even packing into a dozen boxes for what my children might use later on in life, still leaves me with so much I want to puke.
First because of the ridiculous amounts of money I have laid out in a lifetime, and second because I have no use for them anymore and feel saddened that when I make a dinner usually there are only six of us and eight if my single children join us for a Holiday celebration. Any more people and I make it buffet-style.
So, in my youthful idiocy in purchasing at the time, I chose one of the more expensive single place settings that Royal Crown Derby (I actually used to, and still do, pronounce it Darby and not Derby) made back in the 80’s spending nearly $500.00 for one place setting including the soup bowl.
Old Imari by Royal Crown Derby
In Fine Bone China, a place setting is sold separate to the soup bowl; each usually costing the same amount of money. The logic, I suppose, being that everybody serves soup so why make it part of the package? The marketing people figured that they could charge just as much for the single soup bowl as they lure the consumer in with a good price on a place setting, thereby making double the amount of money. Those sucky brides.
Of course, no doubt there are far more expensive sets out there as I could imagine the Queen of England serves on and in the White House for their State Dinners. However, for me, in Montreal where I don’t live in a social scene of epic magnitudes; this place setting was the most expensive in my collection.
I say ‘Collection’ because unlike most Brides of the time; I did not buy one entire set but instead chose full place settings of different sets of Bone China, for fear of ever breaking a plate: the logic being, worst case scenario, I would have to replace just one place setting if anything pattern had become discontinued or irreplaceable.
So when I set a table; each place setting is different. (Fritz & Floyd also came out with a salad plate called Old Imari which I also purchased. Each place setting for 16 had a co-ordinating extra salad plate which meant using an Excel sheet to keep track of which extra salad plate went with its place setting)
THE EXCEL LIST
The following is THE list which is strictly adhered to when setting my table….which takes forever to set…
Caplan Duval P.P. Plan number 6467
16 Service Plates Gold Beads
1: Royal Daulton Martinique place set + soup
2: Royal Daulton Alice + soup
3: Royal Crown Darby Carlton +soup
4: Noritake Icon + soup
5: Gladstone + soup
6: Alabaster Gold + soup
7: Royal Crown Darby Old Imari + soup
8: Wedgewood Old Country Rose + soup
9: Wedgwood Curzon + soup
10: Aynsley empress cobalt + soup
11: Mikasa Contessina
12: Royal Crown Darby-Chardonnay
13: Wedgewood Cornucopia + soup
14: Aynsley georgian cobalt + soup
15: Royal Daulton Forsythe + soup
16: Royal Daulton Carlysle + soup
17: Versace Medusa + bowl soup w plate
Matching Salads
1: Fitz & Floyd: Old Imari
2: Gr. dolphin Str
3: Tarecho Stork
4: Geisha
5: Coquilloles
6: Kyoto Crane
7: Treilage
8: Spode Seville
9: Florentine/turquoise
10: faberge egg
11: Victoria Beale- Forbidden Fruit
12: Zanger–Magnolia
13: Fitz and Floyd “Cherubin 1″
14: Spode: Lida and Acacia
15: Wedgwood Persia
16: Mikasa Florabella
17: Versace Medusa
Serving Pieces
Soup Tureen and plate (can be platter)
RD Alice Gravy boat and plate
Carlisle small oval
Carlisle covered vegetable
Alabaster Gold teapot, sugar and creamer
Old Country Rose:1 round bowls
: 3-tier pastry
: coverd veg casserole
: 2 cream soupers
: gravy boat and stand
Sterling Silver
Birks Louis XV service for 16
Plus: salad spoon and fork
tablespoon
slotted tablespoon
berry spoon
serving fork (2)
brides knife
pie server
gravy ladle
2 serving spoons in chest as well
(I even have every original invoice for each and every placesetting or serving piece I ever bought. This is the only time in my entire personal life that I have ever kept an invoice for longer than a year.)
It meant for a magnificent table and discussions; if, in the rarest times, there was nothing political or new on the horizon, to discuss.
My Mother had Sterling Silver cutlery which she always credited to ‘Aunt Soph’**. Her Crystal goblets, too. If ‘Aunt Soph’ hadn’t insisted she have Birks Sterling Silver then she would nevert have chosen or even contemplated purchasing such a lush and lavish set such as she did, and get it engraved.
As hommage to my Mother and to understand why these pieces are important I need to tell a story.
The Birks Sterling Silver set of Louis XV are a story in themselves. The service for 8 included each piece to have ingraved on them the initial ‘L’ for her last name would be changed from Levi to Luffer, passing her hand in marriage to my father.
The set also included serving pieces such as spoons, ladles and pie servers. Each and every holiday; she and I together would share the task of polishing the Silver. A task she hated which I loved. In later life I, too, would grow to hate polishing the Silver.
As a young bride with very young children, I had the great misfortune of having to bury my Mother, who passed on when I was just 32. My brother and sister had no need for her Sterling, nor her Crystal, so it went to me to inherit these troves of treasure from my Mother. Subsequent years later, I, too, purchased Birks Sterling Silver flatware at an antique shop where service for 16 was on sale. Already I was thinking of both my children and their futures so that each child could inherit a serving for 12.
Keep waiting Kids!!! I’ll make you wait forever….;))
Until then, these will never leave my house, nope not in my lifetime - these are what make heirlooms, heirlooms and why sometimes, material items are important to inherit in death.
It doesn’t matter that I, too, have my own Crystal and Fine Bone China - these were my Mother’s, they were her pride and joy and that makes them so special to me.
So in order to continue this post, it begs a story.
My Mother used to carry an imitation of this photo in her wallet and always ask people if they wanted to see her pride and joy
‘Aunt Soph’ was Sophie Bronfman. Yes, those Bronfmans. Sophie and Abe who my mother met through her own brother, the late Dr. Irving Levi.
The Levi’s (my Mother’s maiden name) heralded from Manitoba; both my grandparents coming over from Europe as young infants so far back, I imagine centuries ago. As Canadians, they lived through Anti-Semitic times in Alberta; my grandfather a furrier and grandmother staying home to raise her family in Winnipeg. A family of two sons, three girls; one of which was born with Epilepsy and other illnesses that rendered her ’slow’. In those days to have a child like that was considered more than bad luck, it made the family ostracized and worse people did think the integrity of the blood line was poor. So as kids, we, the cousins, all heard stories of how ‘Auntie Ettie’ got sick. She wasn’t born that way…she had had an accident and hit her head on pavement and that is why she was ’sick.’
Later on in years, as Adults, we came to realize through my brother, who was diagnosed with a sister disease, Tourettes Syndrome, that the accident was a made-up lie to hide any insecurities for my grandparents.
Soon after the Holocaust in the forties; doors were being opened for ‘Jews’ that had long been closed due to anti-Semitism. One of those doors that opened was at Montreal’s prestigious McGill University.
So ironic that a school who had to open up themselves for Jews much later became directed and headed up by a Dean who was a Jew. Related to another Aunt through her marriage.
At any rate McGill University announced that they would allow, that year 1940-something, 2 Jews from all of Canada to enter into their institution for learning. Obviously the standards of which and who of these two Jews would be impeccable: the brightest and most intelligent - the elite of the non-elite Jew.
My uncle would become Jew number 1. I don’t know Jew number 2 and never actually did know his name. However, this meant my uncle had to move to Montreal; a huge city far away from Winnipeg, Alberta. Because he and my mother were such close siblings it didn’t take long for him to convince my mother to move to Montreal and then slowly the rest of the Levi’s came to live in Montreal.
It was at that time during my Uncle’s days at McGill that Sophie and Abe Bronfman began holding Friday night Shabbat dinners for these two men, on a regular basis. So the story that I remember, goes.
It was at these Shabbat dinners that Irving met a Bronfman daughter who he liked and courted. However, also at the Shabbat tables sat a niece to Sophie Bronfman, having the fortune or misfortune of growing up in such a house; a girl named Rhoda Rasminsky.
They married and that is how my Mother came to know ‘Aunt Soph’. She had become ‘Mechutonim’.
This is not such a mouth-dropping story of elegance and society, just the story to tell of my Mother’s Birks Sterling and her Crystal goblets: Water, Highball, Champagne and Wine. In a service for 8.
These were a source of pride for my Mother who did not marry a mate that matched up in the Society pages. My mother loved her brother intensely, and so her brother did her. Through five in the family, they remained dedicated to each other until her death.
So, back to my story…Irving, my Uncle, went on to marry Rhoda. However, when my Mother moved herself to Montreal; she became part of the Shabbat dinners herself. ‘Aunt Soph’ took to my mother quickly and they were friendly that as a small child, I remember the house in Westmount where the elevator took you to the ballroom downstairs. Vaguely.
Needless to say; when my mother met my father it became extremely important for ‘Aunt Soph’ to make sure my mother’s selection included Birks Sterling and Crystal glassware: the hallmarks of Society in an era when it was important to show you came from the upper-class.
My mother cherished these pieces and always credited ‘Aunt Soph’ . Each and every time these fine wares came out of the China Cabinet for dinner on every Jewish Holiday and Shabbat; with pride my Mother alway found it necessary to explain again and again why she had such fancy dinner and silverware. It reminded her, she would say, about her new life when she came to Montreal, leaving the small town of Winnipeg behind for the big city, and then the stories began.
With joy my mother would always have me set the table and with together at the kitchen table, shine the Silver. Her China plates were simple white and not even Bone China: but the accoutrements were genuine.
I haven’t even gotten to the good part. The Food. My mother was indeed a ‘balabusta’ though she held a career and a full-time job. The holiday’s at Auntie Sarah’s (my mother) were a treat all the cousins looked towards, especially because the food was endless and the choices amazing.
I was close to my Aunt Rhoda and Uncle Irving; as close as any of us were because we were the children of his favorite Sister, although my own brother and sister were closer in age and closer in friendship to the older cousins, by ten years as I was the ‘accident baby.’
There were many, many times, after my parent’s deaths, that I would spend an afternoon with my Aunt, and if we didn’t go out somewhere, we wound up at her kitchen table always with a glass of tea.
See, my most primal memories were directly related to food.
.
Aunt Rhoda’s family always loved coming to our house for dinner because like I said in our house the food flowed; unfortunately, so did the big asses.
That is how my Mother came to own Birks Sterling Louis XV.
Now, how I came to have a tea set that ‘Aunt Soph’ Bronfman had given to my Aunt Rhoda; her daughter.
It was Aunt Rhoda who taught me how to ‘drink tea and hold a teacup’. Like yesterday I remember sitting at her Harvard home with my Mother, and most probably another Aunt Ruth and some of us kids, when my grubby hands picked up the cup and almost dropped it. Aghast my Aunt Rhoda then gave me my ‘Tea’ lesson, which to this very day, is the way I drink and hold my tea, when served in teacups.
It is also, though many years later, how it came to be that Aunt Rhoda gave me the tea-set (pot, sugar and creamer) and swore me to secrecy. After all, she had a daughter and daughter-in-laws to whom she could give this too, and I was flattered. It was the nicest thing she ever did for me, in her life.
It remains a living memory of my Aunt Rhoda and holds a special shelf in my Dining Room Cabinet.
The third teapot in this trilogy is one given to me by my late Mother-n-law. All I know of this teapot is that it was her Mother’s that somehow remained in one piece all the way from Poland - and the only thing left from her family who lived through the Holocaust. She told me it is encased in pure 18kt gold. That is all I know of the history of this teapot
This is it:
I would love to hear and see pictures of dishes, glasses, or silverware patterns that my readers have and are willing to share.
Perhaps one day, Alinea and its serving pieces will wind up in the Smithsonian. I don’t doubt that will happen.
After all The Chicago Culinary Museum and Chefs Hall of Fame , according to the Chicago Tribune, recently announced that Chef Art Smith will be its 2010 inductee, joining Chefs Bayless, Carrie Nahabedian, Jimmy Bannos and Charlie Trotter.
Sterling Silver Cleaning Trick
A trick for all you young and old Brides and even young and old men is the following:
Get yourself silver tin foil or a metal plate which can be bought on Ebay. Line the sink or a basin with the silver foil or lay the plate down and splash a half a handful of any brand water softener. I use Calgon. Pour boiling water slowly into the sink or basin and then lay your silver in this bath making sure it touches the silver foil or plate. Leave it for a minute or two and the chemical reaction will immediately turn your oxidized Silver into shiny Silver. Rinse, wipe and polish it. Ta Da Shiny Sterling Silver.
** ‘Aunt Soph’ is all I knew of Sophie Bronfman’s name. I never heard her referred to in any other way, including when my Aunt Rhoda spoke of her.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
Top Chef you have nothing on me. Laughing out Loud. Of course you do, you are Chefs and I am not..yes you are definitely one up on me.
Yet, I know when each episode is aired and when you finally get to see the edited version that each of you want to vomit. I know you had no control over the editing and the worst of you is exactly what we are watching.
Nobody in TV land wants to see ‘good guys’ in a fight to the finish.
Yes, six years ago I was approached by the Producers of a new Canadian TV show for HGTV called Buy Me. We filmed the segment over months and when it was finally aired it made television history for the show’s owners and producers. Ours was the first episode of the first year and made Gemini history, when the producers called us to tell us that our episode had been nominated for a Gemini award - the first time an episode of a new television show had ever been nominated. We were flattered.
It seems the show didn’t go over so well in the States…I tried googling it and nada came up. So I tried harder and got a smidgen of a URL.
So it aired and my celebrity kept coming…I was quickly becoming the face and voice everyone was recognizing - in fact I remember two times in particular, though there were so many countless times people asked ‘were you on TV?’, once I was walking in a Mall on the South Shore of Montreal when a lady came up to me and excitingly asked if I was ever on TV and took out a pad and had me sign an autograph. I was floored by her emotion and didn’t understand it.
Another time standing in line at the Post Office a thirty-something girl asked me the same question, only this time I was in full winter gear: hat over three quarters of my head, coat buttoned up to my neck, mitts and she still recognized me.
And yet just today, in the elevator coming down from my Doctor’s office; a cute gent turned to me and asked THAT question:
“Were you on that show Buy Me?”
“Yes”
It has to be the voice or the blonde hair. That horrible voice. That Jewish-undertone, slightly New York accent (thanks Bonnie Reich) in a pitch that can be heard by dogs. That voice. The hair…the long blonde hair that allows my hairdresser to own a condo in St. Barts.
Probably why the promos, for a full month, on prime time commercials, had me on the phone screaming like a banshi to my Real Estate Agent while promoting the show Buy Me.
It was fun filming it and thankfully they didn’t show me in full figure getting out of the hot tub; a filming requirement.
Un-Huh. Reality television is not spur of the moment reality. It is cameras up close in your face, re-dos, re-takes and lighting problems; like for instance opening the door three times, because the camera man didn’t have the proper lighting or the dog barked too loudly.
God forbid they should have an allowance for makeup: No that I had to do myself...
Hidden cameras everywhere and having to ask the producers to cut out certain segments of servicemen who didn’t want to be on film; masking the faces of people house-hunting and walking in; it was a virtual movie set.
Would I do it again? Never.
Never.
However, it kind of introduces me to my blog readers and so I have decided to post just under two minutes of the episode; long enough to introduce my family ; short enough not to get any one else on film that doesn’t connect to my blog. For that you will all have to tune in or write your HGTV either in Canada or the States to find out when this episode will be aired, again.
(Henry who all the kids thought looks or looked like Goldberg from WWF) (Carly and Zack who are now so much older and have lost that teenaged look)
HGTV.com: Buy Me: Sale Slump
Episode HBYME116
HGTV.ca: Buy Me Natalie and Henry episode
Now I have some disclaimers:
1. The house was not a mansion: yes it was big.
2. We sold it to a couple who turned out to be the buyers from hell.
3. All the promos leading up to the show’s airing had me screaming like a fish-wife on the telephone and had I known that would happen I would have not done the show. Yes, in retrospect one has no control over the editing of any television show and so Top Chef’s: I understand how you all feel when you finally get to see the edited version - like crap.
4. This episode went on to be aired so many times right into today, 2010, that I finally decided to post a bit of it on my blog. I cannot tell you how many times I have been recognized on the street; in full winter garb; and even stopped to sign an autograph once. I have had my daughter call me because all of her friends watched it in Toronto and apparently it continues to be aired throughout Canada and into the United States.
5. My 30 minutes of fame came and went and now I want you to see just a minute or two of it.
6. Most Important Disclaimer: this is a tiny segment of the show called Buy Me which is not owned by me. Buy Me is owned, to my knowledge and at the time, by Debbie Travis and Whalley Abbey Productions and aired on HGTV Canada.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
Easy Is As Easy Does Japanese Cucumbers
Truth be told, this recipe came to me years and years ago I think from a television show on the Food Network. I think.
It was such an easy recipe that it stuck in my mind and the first time I tried making it, the product came out so deliciously tasty that it has been in my repertoire of those recipes that just stick in your head. The kind you don’t have to look up the ratio of this to that.
Especially in the late summer when cucumbers are at their most populous in the farmer markets.
Yesterday, though, walking up and down aisles at the Supermarket those cucumbers came into thought as I walked by the saran-wrapped English cukes selling at a buck ninety-nine each.
Of course the regular cucumbers, slicers they are called, were much cheaper and fatter, so I collected 6.
Staples I always keep on hand in my ‘Oriental’ cupboard, are Soy Sauce, Mirin, Rice Vinegar (both kinds), sesame seeds, Black Vinegar, Sake, Shaoxing cooking wine; with that in mind I decided to make my Japanese Cucumber Salad as a side-dish to the other go-to recipe I’ll repeat here as well.
The other go-to doesn’t have pictures because in the flash of the moment when I decided to make them, it was just too painfully intricate to start photographing the shots necessary. (no pun intended)
My Meatballs, Sweet and Sour
So easy it can hardly be called a recipe but here it is anyway:
2 lbs ground sirloin
1 bottle Heinz Chilli Sauce
1 regular bottle Ginger ale.
Season your sirloin the way you are used to: I use grated onion, garlic, salt, pepper, 1 or 2 eggs and panko crumbs. After letting it sit for 20 minutes I begin making meatballs by scooping my fingers into the mixture and pinching together a small softball size of minced meat which I then roll between hands into a meatball. Or the likes of a meatball.
After having created my softballs, I then pour the chilli sauce into a pot, fill the same bottle with Ginger ale, swooshing it to get every last drop of sauce, and then pour it into the pot.
Stir. Gently place meatballs into the sauce and simmer on medium low heat until the balls are cooked and the sauce is somewhat thick. Be careful of splatter; the mixture should just gently simmer because splatter will stain the clothing you are wearing.
Sometimes if I am really inventive, I will add sliced potatoes 15 minutes towards the end of the cooking time especially if I find there is too much sauce and if it is not thickened properly. These potatoes are delicious after having boiled in the sweet and sour sauce.
Japanese Cucumber Salad Easy
2 cucumber, halved and seeded
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoon mirin
Chopped fresh dill
Salt, to taste
Peel the cucumbers, cut them in half and with a spoon scoop out the seeds by simpling running the tip of the spoon over the sink and scraping. Or onto a newspaper which you can then gather and throw into the composting bin.
Slice the cucumbers in 1/4 inch slices.
Mix together the seasoned rice vinegar, mirin, chopped dill and salt to taste. Place in the cucumber slices and you’re done.
When serving them I like to sprinkle toasted sesame seeds; but hey, that’s just me. Remember not too many or you will be squeezing the seeds between your teeth all night long.
I usually jar them in Mason Jars, but you could do it in a glass bowl too. Don’t use stainless steel metal bowls because of the acid vinaigrette and the reactive vs non-reactive ingredients.
Let sit and marinate at least 20 minutes; the cucumbers will release water and shrink but don’t worry it does not affect the overall taste of the salad.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: rice vinegar, sesame seeds
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
He took my virginity, when I was in my 40’s, on a plane flying to the Caribbean.
When it came to how I eyed my favourite celebrity chefs, I mean.
With nothing to read and a lot of time at the airport I mosied into Chapters in the Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport on my way out of a wintery mess and bought Kitchen Confidential to read for the next four hours.
The book nauseated me. It plunged daggers into my heart. All I thought of the restaurant world and the Chefs who served me so many delightful and not so delightful meals over the years and years of eating out is an aspersion of the truth, he said.
I felt death. I was breathless and heartbroken and couldn’t believe this man was anything but a shame next to the likes of Ming Tsai and Emeril and even Bobby. For the next week, I couldn’t sit down at a restaurant without that knawing feeling of butterflies in the pit of my stomach wondering who and what the Chef behind closed doors was doing with my food. Was he drunk? Stoned? Did he even wash his hands or was his snot all over his towel?
Kitchen Confidential drove me crazy. I hated it. I hated Anthony Bourdain, that badass lowlife who dethroned all I loved about the food world: Chefs and cooking.
That was back in the day. The days when I spent over a hundred U.S. dollars to buy and ship Ming Tsai’s Kyocera Knives, three at a time, to Montreal. When I was busy making plans to visit L.A. just to eat at the resto of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger in Malibu (a major disappointment) and wound up at Spago next to an aging film star who my husband and I kept trying to remember all during the meal.
As the years progressed on the internet food-wise and Diners Journal began, I felt less and less raped by Anthony Bourdain’s words in Kitchen Confidential and began reading more and more comments made by ‘actual in the moment and still cooking’ cook’s who admitted that finally there was a man willing to commit to his sins and the sins of most, if not all, the cooks he encountered throughout his years behind the stoves. They loved him, they idolized him and mostly they confirmed everything Tony wrote.
It took a long time for me to come to terms with Kitchen Confidential, after all I was the customer who sat on the other side of the door, at the table, who ate the food and paid the bill.
When I was in my late teens I worked as a counsellor for kids at overnight camps and my best friend managed the camp’s kitchen. Our friendship grew and remained way after those years at camp and whenever we would eat out he never let me send anything back to the kitchen, even if it was cold or improperly cooked. He used to say the waiters and cooks do awful things to plates people send back and are then returned. I used to laugh.
Now I was thinking ‘was he right’?
So years progress, I read more books especially Ruhlman and venture to McGee and David Kamp and Youtube. Youtube is where I got to meet Anthony upfront and real. He reminded me of my friend: not gay but quite effeminate. Certainly not hard core. Not even evil; he was like me…very opinionated and upfront with no bullshit.
I was beginning to like him. Then he took to the streets of Saigon and Tokyo and to other ends of the earth where other chefs dare not go, Star Trek style, and tried it all. Sexy and daring…mmm…I was beginning to get a little horny for this guy.
Then he reviewed Montreal and I was so pizzed that I actually, Miss Opinionated, had to write and blast him, unfortunately through his friend Michael Ruhlman; who at the time I knew was connected.
Bob del Grosso took to calling me a kvetch most recently when the topic of him came up again on http://blog.ruhlman.com/ vis-à-vis the Hudson Valley No Reservation show and as always, I had to comment; okay kvetch, I’ll give you that one, Bob, on re-reading the comment you are right.
Poor Michael Ruhlman; cute as he is this poor guy gets all my opinions; warranted and otherwise. Michael Ruhlman is one hell of a nice guy and a great writer. I don’t know him, never met him, but one can tell a lot by an email response, and through the years his responses were always warranted when necessary and kind.
I like kind.
Anthony owes Montreal a re-do. Eskimo food REALLY!!
Now Monsieur Le Bourdain has another book about to be published. The other two I never bought nor read, but this one is on my wish list. This one I am going to read because through the years I have developed a respect for Tony.
True, a middle-aged food dude (Endless Simmer coined this phrase and I now take ownership I love it so much) he’s an alter-kacker. We’re the same age and I think I look like I could be his daughter, but that’s the booze and the drugs, unfortunately it does take its toll.
But I have grown into his straightforwardness, his affectionate insults at Michael Ruhlman (which are probably all true in good fun) and mostly how he puts Alice Waters in her place.
I love how people with more money than they need spout out about fine food and wine and preach these habits to the public, most of whom find it hard to make a mortgage payment let alone buy Organic at three times the price of non. Everyone would like to eat like Alice Waters, for sure. No doubt about that. Yet, Mr. Opinionated, my Anthony, will get up on a stage and tell it like it is.
Now, that’s sexy. Even if he has a tad effeminate affectations.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
Eye’z feels free. Is free. No more obligations to cookbooks, or recipes or people in the blog world except for me. It feels great, like taking your bra off after a day at the office. And flopping around.
I have had virtually not much time to spend on the net but I always visit my regular blogs at least once a day.
I have also not had time to read any magazines that I subscribe to: (see previous post)
I am supposed to be retired. It doesn’t feel like it. I seem to have more errands to run, exercise class twice a week including searching for a parking spot, lunch with the girls, coffee with the other girls, the Dog Run daily and sometimes twice, fake nails to be re-filled, hair color to do because dark roots are ugly. All of this and still trying to learn how to use the manual settings on my new Canon camera.
Then Michael Ruhlman, my favourite food writer, gives his readers another challenge; and I go into a kerfuffle on which way to turn first. (Update: went to find this link and read all the updated ‘risers to the challenge’ and was completely blown away by the bloggers who posted: it was humbling to read their blogs and then come back here)
Free. Not exactly.
Then, of course there is the orthodontist to visit every three weeks. Why does a woman of, at the time 51, go into braces? Because, like Michael Jackson’s doctor Conrad Murray, I, too, am the victim of malpractice.
Not M.J. malpractice but Dental Malpractice. My orthodontist is convinced that I somehow pushed my old Dentist into covering 18 of my upper and lower front teeth with porcelain veneers fifteen years ago. Veneers on teeth that should never have had veneers because what the ads don’t tell you is that you need to have a perfect bite in order to have veneers.
This business of using veneers to correct bad teeth is a misconception and bad marketing. Worse is a Dentist who’s willing to forsake his reputation for 300 bucks a tooth (cash of course).
For fifteen years I know not what it is like to bite into an apple. For fifteen years and even on vacation if I bite the wrong way into a soft bagel I have to find the nearest Dentist to put back the veneer that popped off.
I have files at Dentists in France, Aruba, Florida and even I think in Las Vegas. For sure St. Martin.
And so it was two and half years ago I decided, the yutz that I was for not doing it sooner, to go to another Dentist who was aghast at my mouth.
You know the kind of Dentist who bad-mouths the way your teeth look and you feel like smacking him for all the insults he’s making. Which then, leads you to another Dentist who is kinder, but nevertheless whose second opinion is just like the first.
The first time the word Orthodontist hit my ears, I literally felt clammy and sweaty as if I were going to pass out. You’ve got to be kidding…I am not going into braces after all the work I have done on my teeth in order NOT to go into braces when I was in my thirties.
In a moment of rash thinking I quickly snapped this Blackberry picture. It is the only one that exists of me in Orthodontic Braces and the only one I will ever take. Yes, I could have gone to the hairdresser that day, I agree.
Now I realize why, when on vacation so many years ago, when we befriended a New York ‘Dentist to the Stars’ he doth said to me, and I quote…”Why don’t you have veneers put on your teeth”. Aghast I told him I had veneers and I don’t know who was more shocked: he, that I had them, or me, that he suggested I get them.
okay so I decided upon writing this to try another Blackberry photo with braces
It is now two years that I have braces on my mouth, and Marvin Steinberg each and every visit, pats his own back by saying that no other Orthodontist in town could have taken a bite like mine, with Veneers, and make perfectly straight teeth without surgery.
I am much used to having copped the smile with no teeth that I coined 'the chagrined grin
Soon, he promises, by June, he promises, they will come off. That’s the good news. The bad news: I will have to sleep with a retainer for the rest of my life…”Before or after sex” I ask him.
Weekly I also complain that he, single handedly, ruined my sex life. My husband fears me. He tells me his wife also has braces, what he doesn’t mention is that it is his second wife.
Yes for all you twenty-somethings…old people like your parents do have sex…
So free I am not. Although I am supposed to be. Not exactly.
Worse, I no longer feel like cooking, I lost my groove.
I figured if I put a TV. on the wall in the kitchen and keep it on the Food Channel that I would be encouraged to cook again. Guy Fieri, it ain’t working. All I do now is complain on Chowhound that Montreal needs a Diner.
I can’t look at another cake the Duff is making because who the hell wants to eat a cake that is part Fondant, Part PVC Pipe and only a quarter actual cake. True, they are cute; but yech, hardly something I can drool over.
However, Japanese Food Report put out a recipe on Sake Steamed Whole Chicken that I just had to whip up. Whip up; it was a whirlwind decision that made me run to the local grocer, buy the ingredients, set them up as I do when I am going to run a post on a recipe, photograph each step, and get it all going within 30 minutes.
With a little more thought, I probably should have broiled it a minute or two…But if Harris doesn’t mention it - I don’ t do it. Although I advocate using common sense when cooking, I was afraid that broiling this might definitely affect its taste.
Might not seem like such a short period of time but when you have to ’set up the shot’/ each shot, using a table top tripod and no special lighting; it becomes a whirlwind.
I did it. Thanks to Harris Salat tonight we eat Sake Steamed Chicken and just so you know, these posts are written a week ahead of time so I know I have at least something written that I can put up on the blog.
Harris put this recipe out on the 9th. I made it on the 9th. Even marinated the Daikon on the 9th. And no, I sliced it and forgot he said to grate it so we ate the chicken with marinated Daikon instead of grated Daikon.
something really cute about this chicken laying fushpreit. It looks like it wants a belly rub and it got one with salt
Look what I had to do to keep lid on tightly
I took 1 whole Kosher chicken. (I use a Marvid chicken for two reasons: much less fat and it is not so full of feathers)
Salted it inside, outside and all around.
Laid it on a bed of sliced Daikon.
Filled the pot 1.1 ratio of Sake to water.
Begin the boil or Began the boil.
Lowered heat, covered the pot with chicken
Steamed one hour
Upon the hour, I checked the chicken thigh to make sure it flowed clear and there was no pink near the bones. Harris made a special point of saying to then let the chicken cool in the pot without taking off the lid or slicing the chicken… Patience, he said. Patience I took besides which when I go on the net I lose all track of time anyway.
I made the bowl. Yes, in Pottery Class, I made this Platter. Perhaps I should have used another with more color, since the chicken looks bland. Do not be put off by the color on this chicken, the taste far outweighs the look.
In the interim after soaking the fresh Daikon in water for a minute, then putting it in the jars, I occasionally gave a good shake of both Jars: Jar 1: into which I put into my pre-marinated ginger and Jar 2: a bath of Mirin, Seasoned Rice Vinegar, fresh dill and a bottle of bought Mari’s Wafu Dressing.
Daikon and Pickled Ginger
Daikon, Mirin, Seasoned Rice Vinegar and fresh dill with Wafu Dressing
The results were scrumptious, juicy, succulent chicken: the lowest meal in calories one could have when eating a chicken. The extra bite that the Daikon gave was spot-on. Thanks Harris, and I so enjoy your Blog.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Harris Salat, Japanese Food Report, Sake Steamed Whole Chicken
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
Cook’s Illustrated..America’s Test Kitchen..It’s All The Same
Cook’s Illustrated is a magazine I have subscribed to for nearly ten years. I don’t remember a month where I have not read a Cook’s Illustrated Magazine. No, I don’t read the others in the line of Cook’s Illustrated off shoots like Cook’s Country, or Baking Illustrated, just Cook’s, the original.
I also pay to subscribe to the online version too. I have bought probably most of their recommended products in both the Testing Corner and Equipment Corner including knife sharpeners; thermometers, salad dryers: goodness the list goes on.
Unfortunately what I have not ever done was invest in the hard cardboard magazine holders which, by now, I’m guessing would take up half a house.
I am a bad magazine person. Once read, I donate my magazines usually bringing them with me to work and leaving them on a table nearby. Of course, all postage labels removed because I am a stickler for nobody knowing where I live. Too private for that, odd because I write a food blog and don’t hide from the internet…quirky, I know.
However, I have lost track of time since August when I moved and lost track of my subscription to Cook’s. I don’t know if it ran out or it got lost because of the address change, but this past Friday I walked into the Tabagerie and stared eye to eye at the February edition and suddenly felt like I was in a weird ‘Sleeping in Seattle’ scene from atop the Empire State Building. A long lost friend was just spotted.
Holy crap, what happened to all my Cook’s Illustrated issues?
I knew I had to find out where my subscriptions had fallen prey to but nevertheless this edition wasn’t going unread. At almost 7 bucks Canadian, the sticker price was a little shocking. I already knew I wasn’t making any of the recipes because I never did.
I love reading Christopher Kimball’s Editorial because being on the border of Vermont and spending many weekends in Stowe and Burlington; I know his head space and where and what he talks about. In fact, as a family we nearly moved to Burlington, Vermont several years ago after winning the last ‘green card lottery‘ which allowed a percentage of Canadians the legal right to move to the States with a valid Green Card, not needing to secure a job or sponsorship. It fell through because in the end, we just didn’t want to ‘be Americans’, and in retrospect that was a good thing.
However, that is why when Kimball tells his tales of his neighbours and their cows and their rural living, like a scene out of The Waltons, I appreciate his intentions. That food is from the land and Vermont is all land, all farms, all folks who live and love their hinterlands. When one reads the opening of a Cook’s Illustrated editorial, one is brought from their big city living to the outskirts of farm country where you can feel the milk being churned into butter and cheese.
Chris talks not of people, but of ‘folks’.
February’s edition was a good one. I had forgotten how each recipe is written: like a science experiment; Aim, Hypothesis, Equipment, Procedure, Results, Discussion and Conclusion. Who needs to do the actual cooking?
So for those who haven’t read February Cook’s Illustrated I am going to break it down succinctly and because I thought this issue had enough value to that sharing it would be both fun and informative for my readers.
Aside from the recipes for Minestrone Soup, and Beef Stew, and home-in-the-oven Pulled Pork, I want to focus on a cake they talked about called a Kolachke (this one a cream cheese coffee cake). Kolachke is a word I have read several times in the past two weeks.
A Déjà Vu, for which I reason that during the last two weeks cleaning and preparing my late mother-in-law’s house to be put up for sale, going through her cupboards and kitchen to clean its contents, I discovered a handwritten cookbook. This is obviously here she wrote her keepsake recipes that over the years that she found either in magazines or copied from a friend who made a delicious cake. Yes, cake…they were all cakes. Titled in Polish Kruche Ciasto or Kolachke…but definitely all cakes.
Due very possibly to the fact that she played cards almost every second night and each of the six card-playing Polish ladies were true ‘balabustas’ in the kitchen. For those of you who know Eastern Europeans, you know that desserts in the form of bubkas or kolachkes play a big part in a meal at dessert time and especially when the card playing stops for a bisel piece of cake, some umshtelling and probably a lot of kvetching.
So, isn’t it a b’shert thing that Cook’s Illustrated writes up their cooking lab experiment by making a Kolachke??? I had never heard the word Kolachke and here it is over and over again. It definitely put thoughts into my head of striking coincidence.
The only good Tip I found they wrote was for storing your Meat Thermometer. Drill an extra hole in the wooden knife block large enough to stick that damn meat thermometer, the thermometer you can never find in a timely fashion to stick in the chicken. Now you’ll always know where to find it. I liked that idea - enough to put it to real use today. Drill and all, I like that idea, it’s a keeper. Excellent.
Oddly enough, I guess if you read enough of these magazines over the years, like recipes on blogs, they repeat themselves so that the other hints read insignificantly in the world of good hints and tips. Like who doesn’t know NOT to re-use marinade? And that you are not supposed to refrigerate hot foods right away. These are no-brainers for those of us willing to spend close to 8 bucks on a cooking magazine.
I have only one real criticism for this magazine considering, Christopher Kimball, the title: Cook’s Illustrated; a February 2010 issue I am going to go out on a limb and strongly suggest you …introduce your illustrator to color and then to fuse color to those drawings…really…this is the Photoshop generation, so why not join the new generation and investigate how current illustrative devices can be utilized in the magazine that extraordinary artwork take a stronger place and statement, please.
Lastly and because I am tired and this is becoming boring, I “Michelin Star” the Test Kitchen Tip on Boiling Water, which is, and I quote:
“In recipes that call for a specific amount of boiling water, how much does it matter when you measure the water?”
Apparently it does, according to their testing of a Devil’s Food Cake calling for 1 cup of boiling water. When measuring one cup and then boiling it; there is loss of enough water that it made a difference in the rising of the cake. The end result being that when a recipe calls for a specific unit of boiling water; first boil a lot of water AND THEN measure the amount needed. The difference makes a difference.
They also like Cream Whippers, particularly the Liss Professional Polished Stainless Steel Cream Whipper which dispenses whipped cream that does not weep, at the press of a button.
Hmmm…have to buy that.
Before I sign off I just want to send a kudo out to Amateur Gourmet who wrote on his blog before Christmas about an inexpensive knife sharpener he loves. The Accusharp. I am not sure my link will show if you are not a registered user on this site, so here is another link. He was so enthusiastic about it on the video he posted, that ‘consumer me’ bought it on eBay and loves it to the exclusion of my electric knife sharpener (also a Cook’s ‘best of’); and just last Saturday on PBS who do you think highlighted the exact same knife sharpener? You got it! America’s Test Kitchen!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: AccuSharp, America's Test Kitchen, Christopher Kimball, Cook's Baking, Cook's Country, Cook's Illustrated Magazine, Equipment Corner.tabagerie, Liss Professional, Lotus Organzier, PBS, Taste Corner
I knew from the moment I heard that Harris Salat had a new cookbook being released called Japanese Hot Pots, that I had to deliver.
You see, ever since I was dating my husband, back in the mid-70’s, I was enjoying Japanese food. Sushi wasn’t so popular back then, but I could not get enough Sukiyaki: I loved cooking at the table and especially when we ate at the Tokyo Sukiyaki on Mountain Sights in Montreal, as soon as you walked through their front door, you felt as if you had just landed in Tokyo.
They made you take off your shoes and put on sandals. Then ushered you into a cubicle where, prior to entering the curtained opening, it was obligatory to remove said sandals. Then you hopped up onto a flat bamboo mat, slipped your feet through the opening and plopped your ass onto a homemade pillow. Your feet dangled so that the table came midway to the waist, a good thing for westerners who did not like to kneel.
Once seated each time the waitress entered she took her shoes off and bowed, never speaking a word of English. Of course that was par for the effect; but that never dawned on us twenty-sumptins that she was fully born and bred in Montreal.
They didn’t serve sushi there until many years later, but the Sukiyaki sits in memory as a comfort food for me and will until I die.
Of course, getting up to leave was a whole other story what with the crawling around on bended knees to stand up. Oh and with curtains closed there was a lot of smooching and fun sexually charged touchy feely going on with pure innocence attached. No, I did not join the Tokyo Sukiyaki mile high club - whatever.
I continually do Hot Pots. I have two of the table top burners, lots of chopsticks and a special Le Creuset that I use instead for my Nabemono. Another specialty I love is Shabu Shabu.
For the first time, if any of you have read my other posts, I took a whole set of once decorative copper pots and pans and decided to make use of them for ‘real’. This required boiling off the laquer in an arduous fashion which left my once gorgeous pots looking like ugly toads. Yet, there is nothing that retains heat like a copper pots and so, for the first time I switched out my Le Creuset for my Old Dutch.
The list of ingredients can be endless; it’s the broth that becomes important in a Hot Pot.
The broth I used for this Hot Pot was a cheat. I did what nobody shopping is supposed to do and bought a never-before-seen item.
However, it induced this recipe and this post.
I used a can of Thai flavoured ‘fondue’ sauce which I then doctored up with 1/3 cup of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of Sake, diluted dashi broth concentrate equalling 1 cup.
If truth be said, I have enjoyed my ‘from scratch’ broth much more than the Thai I used, but it was still a tasty soup.
I then put all ingredients on the stove until it was piping hot and then placed it onto the burner at the table.
On platters around the table, Family Style, I placed squares of Tofu, baby Bok Choy, mushrooms, scallions and already steamed udon noodles. Every person got a bowl of rice and a bowl with a freshly beaten egg to dip into.
Plus one full plate of the thinly sliced beef which I had the Japanese Grocer choose and cut for me. The rule of thumb for Hot Pot when using beef is to use the best cut of beef you can buy: it needs to have a little fat but the importance of being the best cut is that when cooked in such a short period of time it retains its silky soft texture and is pleasurable for the palate.
DO NOT BUY FONDUE BEEF THAT IS FROZEN AND IS READILY AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL GROCER. That meat becomes so rock hard that it is utterly tasteless and rock hard to chew.
As well as each person getting a portion of dipping sauce, the recipe as follows:
Dipping Sauce
3 tablespoons tamari dark soy
1 teaspoon hot mustard, from Asian foods aisle or other prepared mustard
2 teaspoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Siracha or to taste
1 teaspoon of sesame seeds black and white mixed and toasted.
The procedure, since it was Family Style, was everyone helped place the food into the simmering broth, allowing time to cook, then with a spider spoon (any large spoon is good to use) we scooped out what we wanted to eat.
With the raw egg, any hot broth and hot food added to it, cooked it immediately and the ultimate result was a coating that provided a more silky texture to add to the rice, dip and then eat.
This dinner turned into an hour and a half, and the conversation hasn’t been this diverse and this full of animation since the last holiday meal.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: broth, dipping sauce, Harris Salat, Hot Pot, rice, scallions, tofu, Tokyo Sukiyaki, udon noodles
Dear readers, I am still waiting on the debut of the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook, but I refuse to stop posting and the anticipation is definitely building up. So I went to a movie and then to the library.
Still reeling (no pun) from the Julie and Julia movie I went to the public library to get a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Yes people I do not own a copy of my own, I do however, own, in storage somewhere, practically every book put
out by Time-Life Foods of the World Books eons ago highlighting the different foods of the world. My favourite
being the Japanese Cookbook which if I remember correctly came in a sleeve featuring a stunningly photographed hardcover and a binder-style soft cover. Note to self: must find those books…
It is a good thing I never owned a copy in my 20’s because starting a new marriage, I would have taken Julia’s words as gospel, and that would absolutely, without a doubt, have meant me running for the tape measure to be exactly sure that my pans were the thickness and diameter to match the necessary requirements of the recipe, because I am that neurotic. One would think that striving for such perfection I would be perfect, but, I have yet to make a ‘perfect’ meal. Jaden watch out and I’m sorry in advance…
Julia’s own ways, we saw on television, never demanded perfection of us, based on her own philosophy that
cooking be fun. A direct quote from Julia and Jacques: Cooking at Home states ” Home cooks have so many
useful techniques to learn from observing the professionals, but we don’t have to proceed at their gallop. It’s the way to go about things professionally that we want to learn…”
I learnt (Canada remember so it can be spelled this way) from my mother that a fork can beat eggs well to create both scrambled and omelette eggs. Julia recommends that too. Depending on the people eating I allow two eggs per person, up to a dozen at one time, but Julia tells us that it is okay to use 8 eggs, but less will yield a fluffier omelette. To this day, I always add a bit of milk or water and still don’t know why except that is how my mother showed me early on. That is what Julia’s goal was. That food be the greatest pleasure and the preparation be a joyful occupation.
Julia Child’ s book is wonderful and I loved each page and each recipe and it is timeless and such an informative tool that indeed today I went out and bought both volumes. A home kitchen should not be without her books as well as so many other authors out there both past and current that should be part of every home where cooking is enjoyed. This is now my go-to gift for every wedding I am invited to.
Thank goodness the more modern cook who writes a book allows us readers to use our supposed learned intelligence, too, and simply makes the suggestion of the pan that was used to create the recipe being followed, yet we know we can always substitute. Some people enjoy reading a novel that propels them into the lives they are reading – cookbooks do that for me. Each recipe propels me into a luxuriously laid out, top of the line, decorator designed kitchen and has me envisioning the subliminal coming together of the final product. There is no other way to explain it, except that in reading a recipe from beginning to end I need to visualize the action so that I can understand the end concept. I am old enough to know that I probably had an undetected learning disability which today would have me deemed as a visual learner – in other words I need to have a picture in my head of what I read.
In fact, Michael Ruhlman’ Ratios(check our that video foreplay) which, when busy in the kitchen I sometimes
keep in the waist of my pants, so that I have it handy, is so hard for me to understand because it is numbers and I am not a numbers person. However, my husband who is a numbers man and who never cooks has used Ratios on numerous occasions. Maybe because he has to stick his hands in my pants to get it; but I’d like to think that to him, Ratios is HIS kind of book. Ratios is my kind of book too, except that it takes me a half hour to figure out how many ounces of this and how much of that is needed: I need an excel program, which is why I hope and pray that Mrs. Ruhlman, known to all who love her pictures as Donna, convinces her husband to print more posters ‘cause I lost out on getting one.
In all fairness to my new-found readers, I have to come clean and tell that once, not too long ago, this love-of-my-life husband hired me to be his bookkeeper and then abruptly fired me two weeks later without so much as a sweet endearing ticklish tone that might have resonated even the slightest hint of tremendous love. That was two of the most stressful weeks of my entire married life. To this day our standing joke is that I tried to embezzle money out of him.
The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook will give me not only the words to visualize but the pictures to boot. And what
pictures they will be – breathlessly talented that Jaden is.
An anecdote: on why my learning disability went undetected was not due to parent neglect, but rather my parents
were too busy raising a son, eight years older than me, who had Tourretes Syndrome (a diagnosis made 2 yrs
after the death of my last parent) in the early 50’s when this was an unnamed disease and no known cause for it. Therefore no cures or remedies. My mother and father died never knowing there was a name for their son’s affliction which my mother secretly always felt was her fault. Intuition, as with anything including cooking, takes over when all else fails, and my brother has a graduate degree in Theatre Arts and Marketing, a very successful businessman born to parents who were educational snobs; thankfully.
Thank you Gael Greene for having made changes on your Insatiable Critic with respect to a long ago written critique. So much appreciated especially since I was a complete unknown to you and still are. Great class lady.
Over the past years I have gotten to read and get an insight into a lot of bloggers whose blogs I have been reading and through my reads I have become a loyal follower of all that sit on my Blogs I Like Page that I have become addicted to a daily dose.
I see, from the last few weeks of posting and the weeks prior trying to design – reading all these blogs will become an impossible task if life is to exist outside the computer room. And if I want 32 years of marriage to become 33.
I thank all of those giving current time to this blog and all those bloggers who gave me time of theirs.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Canada, Jacques and Julia Cooking At Home, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Ratios, Time Life Foods of the World
THE PIZZED OFF PART 
My Birthday PIZZES me off because not only have I stopped receiving birthday presents, nobody makes me a birthday cake. My husband stopped buying me birthday presents a long time ago because he says I have expensive taste and I always want a piece of jewelry. What’s wrong with that?
Happy Birthday to me, I turned “ǽǼ¾¥ “years old yesterday, so why do I still feel 25???
There is always something that pizzez me off, at least once a week AND this shall now become my new Friday post. I know, if you are actually reading my posts I am redundant but since feedburner has only recorded 3 visits so far I must keep repeating myself. Martha Stewart would say this isn’t a good thing. Redundancy I mean.
This means every Friday I get to unhinge and tell the world what pizzed me off and it may not always be food-related, but funny in an after-the-fact, sort of way, and for sure it beats paying a psychiatrist. Been there done that.
So first item on the agenda: Know why nobody writes on hardcopy paper anymore? CAUSE THERE ISN’T A STORE THAT SELLS A PEN THAT WRITES A FLUID ALPHABET LETTER….
I just bought a box of a dozen BIC round stic (yes the ‘k’ is missing from the word: oddly enough) medium pens and not one of them can write a fluid letter of the alphabet in its entirety on an envelope. And this is not the first time I’ve encountered this problem. After buying a dozen at the Dollarama store in the ‘shmall’ I chalked it up to the pens being less than 0.15 cent each and that I deserved pens that didn’t work. But give me a break: BIC PENS not to work…isn’t that their raison d’être?
I sound like Ed Schultz.
THE ROCKS PART
I have got to admit that I am a big menu reader and for that I give big kudos for any blog that links to a menu I can read online. Therefore the first kudo goes out to Jaden Hair (of course and who else) who wrote about and linked to a sushi restaurant she ate at while visiting Mount Dora which is like Quebec’s Eastern Townships
The September issue of The Montreal Gazette Food and Wine highlighted a recipe
just perfect for yesterday’s rainy day – actually days. Our weather is all screwed up: September we are experiencing April, May weather, summer encompassed a week or two sometime in July and now when we are supposed to be picking apples and wearing fall coats, Montrealers have on their galoshes and light sweaters because it is hitting 22 degrees F. I have yet to figure out how to add video direct to this site just click on Chef Louis Rhéaume and watch his cooking class on Thai Soup,
THIS IS A SOUP I ORDER EACH TIME I GO OUT FOR THAI. A GOOD THAI SOUP IS INDICATIVE OF THE REST OF THE MEAL and the quality of the Restaurant.
Now an issue for which I have no answers. When someone writes a blog, how do they have time to read other blogs? I have been spending so much time on writing that I am now limited in the blogs I get to read and that depresses me because I know I am missing out on great and interesting news and discussions. In order for me to keep up now I must forget about eating or answering the phone. Laundry has to be done so quickly that I forgot about putting my pants up to air dry and instead threw them in the dryer and shrunk them….geez I hope I shrunk them – I forgot about the possibility I could be gaining weight from all this food focus. Once upon a time I had days where I focused on the treadmill.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Bic Pens, Chef Rheaume, Eastern Townships, Montreal Gazette Food and Wine, Mount Dora
At Holiday time I get this sentimental….Neil Diamond where were you when I was dating?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
RE-POST
Pineapple Chocolate Cake, oh Dear
don't judge a book by its cover this is fabulously delicious
The ‘High’ Holidays have just left us: the High Holy Days, the most pious of holidays for Jews everywhere. For the next month there will be many religious days coming up – my kids loved this time of year, not for the family celebrations, but for the days off they were entitled to at school. For all intensive purposes Jewish kids should start school in October that is how many holidays are pious enough to be considered a synagogue day.
Every year during my husband’s childhood his mother would bake his favourite cake and I couldn’t understand why I always heard about this cake while we were dating. It seems she took a sabbatical on baking it during his early 20’s and into our marriage and baking just didn’t ‘turn me on’. To be a good baker one has to be precise and dedicated to the art and I was just never dedicated to that art. Good thing too, because when I became pregnant at 25 with my daughter I developed Gestational Diabetes and again when my son was a bun in the oven. Two years later I developed it for ‘real’ and for the rest of my life I spent a journey trying to discover who made the best sugar substitute in the world.
I have discovered it. DiabetiSweet.
Now, after telling many of the ‘baker blogs’ about it I am still waiting to hear back on their opinions. I guess Bakers have no desire to bake with anything called a ‘substitute’.
When the children were ‘begat’ and of the age they could sit in a high chair, she renewed the tradition and so it started that this ‘Pineapple Chocolate Cake’ continuously appeared at any Sztern celebration: be it a birthday, an afternoon tea, or even a bridal shower.
THE most requested dish, it was.
And I doubt it is called the Pineapple Chocolate Cake but alas, that is how we fondly refer to it and in the next breath we also add‘ ‘Daddy used to eat the whole thing and that is why he was so fat as a kid.’ Laugh, laugh or might I say LOL.
Mom is not so well now, but the cake and its tradition must go on my daughter insists, so last year Carly and I took notes on how her grandmother makes this infamous cake. Actually it is cut into squares so it is not a cake but a Square.
We took notes as there is no hard copy recipe; it simply sits in my Mother-in-law’s memory as do all really good recipes from grandmothers who were great cooks. She claims it was given to her in 1959 by a friend and it is definitely not Polish and she knows this as she is Polish. She has no idea where it came from and so goes out the call for anyone who knows where this Square came from and what it is true name.
The following is the recipe for the written in the EXACT way it was prepared. I would have chosen a higher quality chocolate but this is meant to be an exact duplication of a beloved recipe and in 1959 refined chocolate was practically non existent and not readily available to housewives. Bear in mind (what a term) this was written as a Coles Notes: (and as always read through the recipe in its entirety before beginning)
Note: the pictures are no indication of the taste – I obviously did not use a big enough Pyrex and so it looked like this, BUT should these instructions be followed to a tee, it will turn out just like it should…Perfect I am not….but this recipe was re-done in its exactness by mother-in-law who insisted it be done ‘her way’.
PINEAPPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE
1/2 lb sweet butter (regular unsalted), room temperature and soft
1 c. sugar
1 egg, well beaten
2 c. flour
2 tsp vanilla or vanilla sugar packets (2)
2 sq semi-sweet chocolate, melted
2 cans crushed pineapple, drained
4 tb flour
2 egg yolks
1 c. sugar
FOR DOUGH:
Combine the first 6 ingredients into a bowl and crumble with hands till mixed thoroughly.
Spread this batter-come-dough, on bottom of a 2 qt Pyrex rectangular baking dish, taking away aproximately 1/2 c. of dough for garnish
FILLING
Combine the next 4 ingredients and place on top layer.
With the remaining dough break off pieces and roll into strings decorating the top in x’s or lines.
Bake 55 min -1 hour at 350 F
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: cake, chocolate, coles notes, DiabetiSweet, dough, filling, gestational diabetes, Pineapple
THE PIZZED OFF PART
Should I be pizzed off?
Daughter sent me a video that she made in honor of my birthday and what she thinks are my cooking talents.
I have one thing to say: ‘Carly your talents in acting are just like my talents in
cooking’…
ABSOLUTELY GREAT
And I am so glad RADA paid off…now when are you paying me back?
The Rocks Part
Bragging Writes (rights). (daughter, of course)
I also just got sent to my inbox a site called Tasting Table; a 
newsletter on any and everything food and I have got to say I am loving it thus far. What took you guys so long to find me?
who here doesn’t think the T-Mobile IPhone commercial isn’t sung by Cat Stevens?
Did you hear? Did you read? The best post of the week: The absolute best
post of this week and the winner goes
Cookbook is just about to be released!!!!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
101 Cookbooks posted a recipe she got from a vegetarian cookbook. Most of the time I read a recipe I have this power to envision the product, its ingredients and already taste the dish. Not that I have umami taste buds, or for that matter the five other receptors on my tongue. In fact, with the allergy season on its way and the fact that my nose is always stuffed up, I doubt I could judge an Iron Chef match or sit on the panel of Chopped.
I own stock in Breathe Right, or I should own stock.
Not only that, but I have stayed away from squash for a long time believing that its high glycemic content, like potatoes, is a food I need to stay away from if I was going to lose the ten pounds I want. Thanks Suzanne Somers for those great diet tips: NOT. I always hated Squash. My mother never made Squash. I have never seen Squash served at any dinner table I sat at. I know Squash as the square frozen box in the freezer isle at the grocery store – yech! Pumpkin’s only use in my house was to carve for Halloween and roast its seeds. Don’t get me started on Spaghetti Squash – just like eating spaghetti. COME ON…Nonna Lydia, is that really true?
Spaghetti Squash non è assolutamente voglia di mangiare pasta Spaghetti
Which then begged the question: If I am going to go out of my comfort zone to write a food blog about Asian food then certainly I could make a Squash.
Maybe not true for Lobster – Lobster is a fear, a true fear, to cook. For many reasons, the first being cost and the second being a screwed up expensive Lobster. I do believe there are some foods that need to be eaten only in a restaurant. One needs to be able to look forward to going out to eat and not be able to say “I could cook this at home.”
Therefore, for my 53rd birthday (I acutally look 52) I cooked An Acorn Squash and I loved it. I loved every bit of it. I ate it cold, I ate it hot, I ate it microwaved warm. Then I made six all over
again. Help!! I am becoming an Acorn Squash lover.
“Heidi Swanson (Swanson frozen food: word association – I’m sure I’m not the only one…) you will forever be a part of me for having induced me to baking my first Acorn Squash.”
Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash
1 small (2lb) acorn squash, cut in half lengthwise and seeded
1 tablespoon clarified butter or olive oil.
1 cup milk
1 egg plus 2 egg whites
½ cup fresh corn kernels (or more if you like)
¼ teaspoon anise seed, chopped
½ cup chopped scallions
A tiny pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup grated white cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F with rack in the middle
Rub the orange flesh of the squash with butter/oil. Place cut side up on a baking sheet. You will want it to sit flat and not tip, if you are having trouble then slice and level off the bottom of the acorn squash using a knife. Cover the squash with foil and bake for 40 minutes or until flesh is slightly tender.
In a bowl, combine the milk, eggs, corn, anise seed, half the scallions, nutmeg and salt. Fill each squash with mixture ¾ full. Carefully transfer the squash back to the oven with spilling (tricky!). Continue baking uncovered for 30-50 minutes more or until the squash if fully cooked through and the pudding has set. The amount of time can vary wildly according to your oven temperature and the size of squash. At the last minute sprinkle with the remaining scallions and eat hot.
Serves 4-6
**When a recipe calls for sea salt or for freshly grated nutmeg, do not be afraid to use kosher salt or the bottle of nutmeg spice sitting in your cabinets. It would be more heresy NOT to make this recipe because you have not the recommended ingredients. One must always read a recipe and improvise according to one’s tastes and ingredients on hand or readily available in your part of the world.
I used canned corn niblets, kosher salt, and the nutmeg spice I bought in bulk for apple cooking season. Who noticed the yellow Cheddar Cheese instead of Heidi’s White?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: 101 Cookbooks, Acorn Squash, Cheddar Cheese, Heidi Swanson, Lydia Bastianich, Spaghetti Squash, Suzanne Somers
It has been a full month of posts and a full month of Wordpress and FatCow html to literally fill a Fat Cow. I have had 3 Theme Changes and Color Schemes too numerous to remember.
Now that it has been smooth sailing and actually quite enjoyable: a labor of love another blogger described his blog to be, I have yet another
change.
A NAME CHANGE Eye’z in a Steamy Kitchen Cookbook is now called
Eye’z in a Cookbook.com
The premise has not changed: I will be cooking Asian Food. I will be cooking from the wonderful cookbook entitled and soon to be on Amazon: The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook written by the wonderfully brilliant author Jaden Hair.
Once in a while I will take my tabletop burner and cook a hotpot from The Japanese Food Report Harris Salat’s Japanese Hot Pots Cookbook. Hotpots are a fabulous way to entertain a small group of two –four friends interactively
Eye’z in a Cookbook still has its purpose and
I intend not to embarrass Jaden.
I intend to serve my family Asian food at least once a week.
I intend ‘knot’ to put on any weight and to use my treadmill also at least once a week.
I intend to feed the dog any leftovers.
I intend to make each recipe sound as delicious as it was intended to be.
I intend to make Jaden Hair proud.
I intend to honour the promise I made to my Japanese Grocer to visit him once a week and buy all my Asian staples from him.
I intend to cook all the recipes that my blog was premised upon and agreed to by Jaden, even before she knew I dyed my hair blonde. Not just the easy ones – the hard ones too.
Yea, yea - The Road to Hell was paved with good intentions.
But this is a road I have looked forward to travelling through the many hours it will take and I hope to save a seat for as many passengers as are willing to come along on the journey with me.
Eye’z in a Cookbook is a good name.
Because if truth be known, I had planned on a one year tour and then Eye’z would mutate into another hemisphere with another name. THAT would have been a mistake. Let nobody tell you that changing Domain Names is easy. It is damn hard and damn time-consuming and damn expensive and Feedburner doesn’t give a shit.
I will be back on Friday as usual. But for all who have subscribed…please make sure to re-enter your email subscription and to click on the Feed so that the proper posts can enter your mailboxes in a timely fashion.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS A POST.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Asian Food, Fatcow, hotpots, Jaden Hair, Japanese Food Report, Wordpress
THE PIZZED OFF PART
(Since initial writing Eater has become a National read offering all of $25.00 to each blogger if they were to quit blogging – Eater, the cost of my server is more than that – at least cover the cost of the server for a year…)
At any rate, Eater N.Y. sent me an email inviting me to a Sake Event on Thursday, September 24 which just happens to be my birthday. Should anyone feel Eater N.Y. is sending spam emails be assured that I am on their mailing list to receive all their posts. New York is the bees knees for the best of everything: shopping, food, Broadway – you name it and New York has it and they flaunt it better than any other city in the States. New Yorkers know how to walk the cat-walk walk and still shake their booties.
I happen to love Sake. I love the shitty sake that you’ve got to drink warm because it reminds me of my dating years when Sukiyaki at a Japanese restaurant was what I always craved. I love the fine Sake and I love the medium and not so fine Sake. Sake2Me (I love that name) and not in this sense, but rather the Laugh-in kind of way.
SAQ est une entreprise du gouvernement . Même si j’étais un maître sommelier je ne pouvais pas ouvrir mon propre magasin de détail vendant les meilleurs des meilleurs dans le vin ou les spiritueux
Since 1921, Quebec alcohol is a government run business, regulated by the SAQ - Societe de l’alcohol du Quebec. The government has the first, final and only say as to all things related to any kind of alcohol one is able to buy in Quebec. Their website reads as follows:
“Since its creation in 1921, the SAQ has lived through a world war, the Great Depression, the advent of radio, television and computers, and even the landing on the Moon! It has also lived through enormous changes: name, mandate and status, the beginning of self-service stores, the introduction of wine in grocery and convenience stores, labour disputes, economic recessions and many privatization attempts. Fortunately, the 80th anniversary of the SAQ coincides with the most prosperous period in its history. The SAQ is now enjoying its moment of glory*, its peak years. And this trend may be for keeps, because the foundations of the state-owned corporation have never been as solid—a story of well-earned success.” (I am choosing not to speak of Bronfman and prohibition except to say I should’ve been born a Bronfman or at least married one).
And that glory* is a limited supply of any one kind of alcohol be it wine, sake, spirits and beer. If I missed any, they restrict that too. I don’t know why it is this way but obviously as long as I know Alcohol in Quebec it is always bought at any one of these stores- the grocery stores can carry the cheapest brands of whatever is brought into Quebec and trust me: you wouldn’t want to cook with these wines.
Big deal that our drinking age is 18- sure because at 18 you’ll drink anything alcohol – all you want to do for the next 2 years is get drunk every weekend and who needs a $50 bottle of good Sake when you can get a $50 bottle of bad sake that has a 300% markup. Tell you what, raise it to 21 and let us have all the brands and wineries in the world breaking down our doors.
To Make Matter Worse: we now have to buy our own booze bags that decorate each cash register, otherwise we are hauling bottles by the neck. Which I thought was illegal to do. But they’re not stupid - each bag holds up to 4 bottles of booze enticing one to at least make the trip worthwhile.
Plus, it makes quite the fashion statement on the streets of Montreal: Louis Vuitton slung over the shoulder, Prada Sunglasses over the eyes and the North Face Triple C long coat,(hey it’s cold here!) in black of course, Fendi scarf tucked into collar and two cashmere gloved hands clutching the neck of a wine bottle one side, the other an Absolut; hip to hip. If it was a really good day a Holt’s shopping bag could be slipped onto a few loose fingers, still clutching those booze bottles. Chez Paris. I think not.
This is why, when crossing the border, Quebecers use their allotment for the day or week to bring back booze. We buy it on the way there and on the way back. This is why Quebecers will always ask friends in Toronto to bring them back booze of a specific name – we do our research. Toronto has no problem in letting their citizens in on choice. Quebec does not allow us much in the way of choice. No Sake2Me here.
In fact the Japanese Food Report has an article on Sake tasting and I searched each bottle and each Sake maker and Quebec carries not a one. Makes you wonder who gets paid off and how much seed money goes into pockets just to get shelf space in Quebec Liquor Outlets? Wine is a whole other sad story.
If only I could get my hands on a decent bottle of Artisan Sake.
Whole Foods, when are you coming? I know there is tremendous controversy, but Montreal is very limited in our grocery stores. Besides, Toronto has one, and on that note what about a Williams Sonoma or a Crate and Barrel? Damn language laws and Bill 101 that stipulates stores must be bilingual with French being the predominant size. It is too expensive for large sized retailers to bilingualize so they stay English and out of Quebec.
Now this does not affect us Canadain bloggers but oh oh, the FTC is now going to regulate bloggers eminating out of the states. http://bit.ly/1967Pn
“The revised guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. If the “connections” are not disclosed and the FTC finds out, the blogger could be fined up to $11,000, according to a TechCrunch piece in The Washington Post.”
Hey, the Canadian government taxes the tips our waiters and waitresses make: all’s equal in the eyes of those greedy tax-tors
Rest in Peace Gourmet Magazine.
THE ROCKS PART
Orangette is a blog I subscribe to, and since it goes directly to my inbox I get to scan it quicker than the ones on my Reader and most recently she has been highlighting the opening of her restaurant called Delancey. I love blogs about food, but more I love blogs about food not necessarily relating to recipes…of course my blog isn’t going that route so thankfully there are people who love blogs that cater to just about recipes. Orangette’s, on the other hand, is really like reading a first hand diary account of opening her restaurant and if anyone remembers the series (when the Food Network had great programming) called Opening Soon, these past few posts of Molly’s has been just like that. It reminds me loosely of Eric Ripert’s On The Line which has to be the best and most indepth account of how a top level restaurant runs and the stars behind that success, ever written. Not only are the pictures beautiful art, but the layout of the book ingenious: the eye keeps moving and dancing from one side to the other making turning the page something you don’t want to do. Whosever concept this was deserves a bonus, not an IAG bonus, perhaps a Michael Moore bonus.
Starchefs Congress: What can I say about Starchefs? They have kept me busy all weekend and week long from September 20-22 reading up on their 4th annual International Chefs Conference – the schedule looked amazing so I can definitely commend the rave reviews I have been reading from Dirt Candy, the Feedbag and every other foodie newsletter online. Starchefs is an amazing website with amazing and informative industry news that for me, not of the industry, just gobbles up. Sometimes I think, in another life, I have been in some way shape or form, in the food industry. The flip side of that is not attending the Blogher convention, which I wish I could have. There are so many conventions now for the blogger that food bloggers are creating their own directly relating to food blogging and how to get more than 3 readers….ahem ahem. Yes, I really need to go to one.
101 Cookbooks posted a recipe for Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash. http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/roasted-corn-pudding-in-acorn-squash-recipe.html Just the name is enough to salivate on, it conjures up oomph to the taste buds. I am including this in my Rocks part because this post rocked me so hard I actually made it and posted it on Tuesday step-by-step.
Lastly and by fluke on Thursday, My Birthday, I channel surfed upon Avec Eric on PBS. Avec Eric is going to be another PBS hit and I am happy that in Montreal it is being shown on Thursdays prior to prime time programming. It was enthralling, he is enthralling, and the audience was treated to a dinner at ook me right to the Manressa website. Thank goodness for intellectual PBS programming because life is just not long enough or rich enough to visit all that is out there. And that pizzez me off.
IT’S OYSTER SEASON:IN CANADA
BEAUSOLEIL
MALPEQUE
RASPBERRY POINT
BLUE POINT
CARAQUET
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: 101 Cookbooks, Acorn Squash, Avec Eric, Beausoleil, bees knees, Blogher, Blue Point, Caraquet, Delancey Eric Ripert, Dirt Candy, Eater, Fendi, Holt's, Japanese Food Report, Louis Vuitton, Malpeque, Micahel Moore, North Face, On The Line, Orangette, Oyster Season, Prada, Raspberry Point, Roasted Corn Pudding, Sake, Sake2Me, SAQ, Societe de l'alcohol du Quebec, Starchefs, The Feedbag, Whole Foods
I am a Diabetic who craves sweets. Especially on days when PMS comes to town and drops by my house to say hello. She used to do this once a month but lately Menopause is accompanying her and the cravings are not as strong because Menopause is one ugly duckling to look at: makes your skin crawl and takes away your hunger. She’s got a face that could stop a clock.
Unfortunately she is completely unable to stop the clock - shucks.
With Thanksgiving Monday, came Friday marketing and way too many bananas; what does one do with lemons; they make lemonade. What does one do with bananas; they make banana-ade… uh… Banana Cake.
I wrote too numerously to remember and to a great many pastry chefs all well known to bloggers (yes Michael Laiskonis and Shuna) to try out a product I found a few years ago that is a sugar substitute, if only to have them give a professional opinion on the product and how they used it; according to package directions or with adjustments
No one responded. DiabetiSweet is a sugar substitute I discovered about ten years ago in Chicago in a Rite-Aid or Publix, but it is only sold in the United States and is unavailable in Canada. I have written DiabetiSweet many times, to no avail, and I fully intend to email them this post - to hell with blogger protocol whatever that means - because it is imperative that I be able to buy DiabetiSweet without shipping or duty costs.
In fact so should other Canadian Diabetics.
The two boxes I have, that a friend brought across the border for me, cost $50 US with taxes and exchange rates, a hefty sum for 8 cups of sugar.
DiabetiSweet, in my humble opinion, is the BEST SUGAR SUBSTITUTE on the market. Splenda gives me ’splenda headaches’; Sweet n Low is not sweet enough and the amount I must use is scary even for me; the same goes for all the other crap that call themselves sugar substitutes. Sugar Twin I use in my coffee and I would not use it to bake with.
Sepia is the worst product on the market and I cannot imagine anyone describing it as the next best thing to sugar; Sepia has a bitter taste, and for my taste buds is not even sweet. Sepia must be paying big bucks for its promotion in that way because I just can’t wrap my head around this product as being a sugar substitute. No Way Hos-ay.
DiabetiSweet want me to promote you? I am neither ashamed nor bashful and I won’t even ask for money: Just send me a bulk package of both white and brown sugar and we will be even for ever or at least until the box is used up and then I’ll call.
I love you. I live to consume you. I will bake with you forever. I will be your love slave. But not at $50 US bucks for two packs. And whatever happened to the tin packaging. Bags are not as airtight as the cans and the cans are far better for storage in a cupboard. Go back to Tins. I am ready and able to help you market DiabetiSweet properly. Again, just a case and we are even.
THE TASTING PANEL
Son, 23, single and gorgeously handsome and a soon-to-be graduate in business
Husband, 54, married and gorgeously handsome and married to a stunning woman.
Me, 53, vivacious, sexy, voluptuous lips, married to Brad Pitt…oh, s’cuse me I got lost somewhere in my thoughts….
Each person sat down at kitchen table. On right side of each person was a hot cup of coffee in a saucer with a spoon and DiabetiSweet in a demitasse cup from which to scoop a level teaspoon or two or three. DiabetiSweet is teaspoon to teaspoon equivalent to sugar and that is a dead-on true fact.
Below the coffee and in the center of each place setting, sat one slice ½” thick of Banana Cake with no adornments like ice cream or whipped cream.
RESULTS
Son: “mmm this is good are you going to make this again? Will there be any for tomorrow?”
Husband: “Great cake, really moist and banana-y, where’s the ice cream?”
Me: “Oh mm, this is amazingly good, better than even I expected? You know what, I need another piece.”
Son: “See that’s what I mean; now there won’t be any tomorrow.”
Me: “You could be right.”
MY THOUGHTS
The cake could be a tad moister and it is definitely sweet enough and not at all overly sweet and in a million years you would not, could not, tell that this cake is sugar free. Using a sugar free substitute, DiabetiSweet. Yes, I could have added some nuts; walnuts perhaps, but the absolute taste of banana is there and this makes for a wonderful afternoon coffee and cake hour with a good read or a good friend.
I may have over-baked it by a few minutes because being Thanksgiving; the turkey had to get dressed.
This is the cake to always have on hand in the freezer - if it lasts that long. No Mixmaster needed.
THE PICTURES
I took pictures every step of the way: gathering the mise-en-place; and then various steps throughout the process of the baking. Not too successfully. I mean, how did Husband’s package of cigarettes get behind the mise-en-place. I thought I had cleaned everything off the table. Oops and then I forgot to add the milk, milk should have been in the mise-en-place picture.
–
Those sorry looking eggs. Nothing like the eggs that Donna Ruhlman took and so a light bulb moment hit and I remembered that Donna said people are entitled to use her pics (certain requirements must be met) and that is when I decided to take full advantage and use a picture. Ta Da - her egg picture.
–
I went further because if Donna can make one ingredient stand out so elegantly, well begs the question, so can I, right? WRONG.
My mother, may she rest in peace, always had a saying which I repeat to my kids who never let me even finish the sentence…”if you don’t try then for sure you’ll never know if you could have succeeded.”
I say that each time I buy a Loto ticket too.
So, I tried. I found myself using all these gizmos and gadgets like tape to hold up the bananas to the door handle for height. Like quickly snapping the milk so the bubbles would show…I even had a square cake plate that I had to unbox, wash and dry to hold the rectangular cake onto which I added a few bananas for the ‘decorative’ touch.
(This has nothing to do with this post but how many of you have a square cake plate? I own round ones but for the last 20-odd years searched for a square cake plate and finally six years ago I found one. Today I got to unpack it and use it. I needed that square cake plate and it became a ridiculous quest to find one - but have one, I do.)
I think I might be getting the hang of Food Photography…PIMPL (pissing in my pants laughing)
–
The Simple Banana Cake listed on http://www.diabeticproducts.com/pages/pop_ups/banana.htm
and simple it is. No mixer needed and the ingredients are always on a shelf in my house and I am not even a baker.
The following is the recipe printed on the above website and it reads as follows:
Banana Bread
Ingredients
- Non-caloric cooking spray
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1 cup DiabetiSweet
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 egg white
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 2 cups flour
- 1/3 cup margarine
- 1/3 cup skim milk
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9×5 loaf pan with non-caloric cooking spray. Mash the bananas to a lumpy consistency. Beat 2 whole eggs and egg white together. Combine margarine, DiabetiSweet, and cinnamon. Add eggs to mixture. Mix flour and baking soda together in a separate bowl. While stirring, slowly add flour mixture to the margarine/egg mixture Add milk to mixture and stir until blended. Add mashed bananas to mixture and stir until blended. Bake about 1 hour (toothpick inserted into center should come out clean). Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.
Makes 20 servings. Each serving counts as 1 starch and ¼ fruit exchange.
Each slice contains 97 Calories, 18g carbohydrates, 3g protein and 1.5g fat.
1 serving = one 1-inch slice Each serving is 1½ starch exchanges and 1 fat exchange
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: banana cake, diabetic, diabetic products, DiabetiSweet, Glucose, Menopause, Michael Laiskonis, PMS, Shuna, sugar, sugar substitute
This was supposed to be a Pizz Me Off Day and Great Blog Post Day but instead I have just one thing to say:
OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD
I am going to keep saying it OH MY GOD OH MY GOD
It’s finally here. The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD
I have it in my hands and it is fresh and it is cold and it is just perfect.
It has 10 fingers and 10 toes and it is pink and…No it doesn’t I’m just joking-no I am just crazy excited!
I can now really say I am: “Eye’z in A Cookbook”. In the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook
And really mean it. For Now.
And really cook it. For The Time Being
And really devour everything I cook. With Great Gusto
And really put on the pounds; all because I decided to do a food blog.
Here goes nuttin’:
And Guys It is Great.
Pizz Me Off Friday and The Blog Post(s) That Rock the Week(s) will return next Friday
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Eye’m Zoey
Eye'z just 3 mos
Eye’z belongs to my Mommy and my Daddy
Eye'z one yearz old - And the Good Camera Broke
Eye’z was 3 months old when adopted
Eye’z 1 yearz old Today…..AND
Eye’z a Dog: ½ Boston Terrier and ½ Pug.:
I AM A BUGG
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Boston Terrier, BUGG, Pug
CURRENTLY HAVING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS PLEASE VIEW THROUGH FIREFOX OR OTHER
I thought I would be beginning The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook right from the first recipe listed but it is now Oyster Season in Montreal and the third recipe in Little Bites is creating a Raw Bar with Asian Mignonette.
I am not a Raw Bar girl and frankly I really don’t like Oysters. However, I have been reading up on the kind of Oyster I would prefer to eat considering I do not like Oysters except perhaps for once trying Oyster Rockefeller.
The Oyster Guide on line gave me a lot of information so together with a computer print-out I moseyed (I love that word) on over to my favourite fishmonger and together we discussed Oysters 101. He offered a lesson on opening the oysters but Jaden gave a pretty good visual guide and together with a dish towel and the just-bought Oxo Good Grip Oyster Knife sitting in my purse, I wasn’t worried that the job would be difficult. Man that’s one heavy oyster knife. Good soft grips and all.
Just to make sure I lent husband the camera so that he could do a pictorial close-up of the procedure.
Disregard the fingernails: I could not get to the manicurist this week.
I chose to prepare the Raspberry Point Oyster which is a good oyster for the beginner. It originates from Prince Edward Island National Park, a majestic area of Canada that can only be appreciated in person. The Raspberry Point Oyster is raised in pristine waters and is the ‘cleanest’ in taste and brine and would be a perfect entry for the Raw Bar dish. And the only entry.
The clams would be out of reach for me: since unlike The Steamy Kitchen Husband, the Eye’z in a Cookbook Husband has tools that include one set of pliers and one caulking gun; hardly the necessities for opening a clam or two.
At home, immediately I put the ice that Monsieur Robitaille was kind enough to package along with the oysters into one bowl and into the freezer. I know that Jaden says to use two bowls one inside the other - I am a ‘less is more’ kind of girl.
The’ less’ I have to wash the ‘more’ I like to cook.
Then I stuck the entire bowl into the refrigerator until I was ready to begin.
Maybe I should, maybe I shouldn’t but I scrub the outside of the oyster shells with a potato scrubber just because I want to make sure the oyster is clean that no extra dirt or grit or loose shell gets into my delicate crustacean.
Scrubbing Oysters
Here my fingers are trembling - maybe that’s why the picture is blurry. I am scaring the bejeezers out of myself because knowing if I should stab myself in the palm; it is easily a six-hour waiting period at the Emergency room this Sunday.
That’s - a- medicare! You can self cauterize before you even get to triage.
Anyway back to Oysters.
Look!!! An Open Oyster. A Tongue Twister. A very excited woman. I can begin to see the tongues all salivating awaiting the first taste of Oysters with Asian Mignonette…the anticipation killing.
The second thing I do is spill all the oyster liqueur into a small bowl with a strainer so I don’t lose any, and also to catch any debris or pieces of shell that came off with the opening
It is to this bowl that I add all the flavours of the Mignonette: ginger, red and green peppercorns that I have pounded into bits, the shallots and the vinegar. The sweetness of the rice vinegar and the bite of the pepper made a completely wonderful contrast of flavours on the palate. I think I could have had a glass full of just the dressing.
Now would be a great time to you that I bought an enormous piece of ginger since I know that ginger will become a part of my repertoire of Asian goodies. I then spent a good half hour grating the ginger on a microplane and then took Jaden’s tip of wrapping and freezing the ginger. I love this idea. I also do not have to do hand weights this week. Or, I should have done hand weights this week; not sure which one is correct but it is a damn good thing I am ambidextrous. The arms they are a-killing.
Now that all my oysters are opened and the juices have been strained, I add the oyster liqueur to the mignonette dressing and spoon into each oyster.
The first one is mine. You can’t see me now but I am dancing in circles devouring my oysters. Not only did the final 8 become easy-peasy; but I think I am a pro.
You cannot imagine how absolutely delicious these are. My husband, who hates oysters, is on his sixth half of the dozen we are sharing. Only a dozen to shuck - WHAT A SHMUCK I AM. If only I had known how good how delicious these would be: I would have gotten a dozen Raspberry Point, a dozen Malpeques and whatever else would be on ice.
And there you have it. Raw Bar with Asian Mignonette. A treat to eat, a treat to make and a beautiful piece of art to look at.
All in all I’d say this is a keeper and I have become an oyster girl. At least and Asian oyster girl
THE STEAMY KITCHEN COOKBOOK THIS ONE ROCKS
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Asian, Montreal, Oxo, oyster, peppercorn, Prince Edward Island National Park, Raspberry Point, raw bar, rice vinegar, The Oyster Guide
CURRENTLY HAVING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS PLEASE VIEW THROUGH FIREFOX OR OTHER
THE PIZZED OFF PART (and) HELP!
Years ago I moved into my dream home complete with state-of-the art kitchen. I had always wanted a hanging pot rack filled with Copper Pots. I indulged, called in the handyman and hung a pot-rack filled with the shiniest and most beautiful pots, pans, bowl, lids all hanging over my center island.
Ten years later with the oldest moving out and the house far too big, we down-sized and the beautiful copper pots went into a box and into storage, only to be forgotten.
With another move under my belt I found these forgotten pots and bowls and made the conscious decision that I was going to use these as cookware at least once before I died. Morose, I know.
After contacting the company I proceeded to take the laqueur off said pots and said pans. I tried boiling them with baking soda. I tried laqueur remover to get the balance off. I bought a copper scraper which did nothing but scrape my copper.
To this post: I have a dining room table full of copper ‘stuff’ which no longer have sheen and no longer have beauty. They have become the ugli-fruit. Dark, with blemishes so black I am embarrassed for them and by them.
$25.00 worth of copper cleansers did absolutely nothing to restore their beauty. Then I did the unthinkable, I place an online order for Bar Keepers Friend Copper Glo from a Canadian online kitchen supply company along with two other products to make the shipping costs worthwhile.
Guess What? canada post lost the order. canada post even though they had a tracking number that cost an extra ten bucks – lost the order!!!
Never have I had that happen in all the years I am using Canada Post.
The Online Kitchen Supply Company had only one Bar Keepers Friend Copper Glo left and they had shipped it to me. No, no more on order, not for another six months….too bad Natalie.
Un-efff’in believable.
I give up! Those copper pots, those copper pans, those copper bowls can go _____ bleep bleep THEMSELVES.
The saying that sometimes things just never go right is so true. You know how you sometimes regret ever beginning or starting a task especially when you have a sinking feeling you really don’t know what you are doing?
Now every morning I wake up and sitting on my Dining Room Table staring at me are these, the ugliest copper pots I have ever seen – so any suggestions from anyone? Cause I am really pizzed off.
INTERNET EXPLORER DOES NOT SHOW MY BLOG IN ITS ENTIRETY.
SOMETHING IS SCREWED UP IN MY CODING FOR INTERNET ON WORDPRESS
BUT
FIREFOX AND ALL OTHER SEARCH ENGINES WORK FINE
In Fact a Wordpress Member told me I had the MOST CODE VERIFICATION ERRORS he has ever seen!!!
Do they give medals for that?
So if there is someone willing to help I would be grateful. Otherwise not only will I have given birth to a new name: this baby might be changing Themes too.
THE ROCKS PART
See directly above: This Baby Will Soon Be Looking Mighty Different
What would a week be without reading the Gurgling Cod. Half the things he writes I don’t understand and the other half I get the gist of. Great writing talent. I’m sometimes to stupid to understand him.
The Kitchn: Apartment Therapy printed my question on how to clean my copper pots and the comments were great. I love that people actually respond with input when it comes to reading and blogging online. The Apartment Therapy website has fabulous articles and editors and Thanks very much.
Adrianemoore.blogspot.com had an interview with an anonymous Michelin Guide inspector. That was a great insight and interesting tidbit of information…good idea and great post.
On the other hand I fixed my Blackberry Curve when an error code JVM 102 popped up and neither technical nor store support could help.
AND I got my Food Network Magazine even after I sent in an address change. Boy it’s FAT. Have they eaten Gourmet?
Is it possible that Pinch My Salt puts out a Wordless Wednesday September 9 showcasing her Boston Terrier, the cutie, and she STILL is getting comments to this day? Pinch My Salt…good for you…and will you be at Blogger Camp? Does your Boston hide his treats like mine does? She just walked out of her 2 by 4 crate having left behind her teether bone; does she really think she hid it? And cries if she can’t find a good spot.
Just before this is going to post don’t you think I get this fabulous rustic apple pie recipe in my mailbox from Simply Recipes:
Now I am off to get the ingredients and start the oven…that and some ice cream: Why Not Go All The Way!
And I thought not much this week Rocked. I spent most of my time on the computer fixing, YES FIXING, the Blackberry, I DID, and then trying to fix Internet Explorer language glitch for Wordpress. I DID NOT. So this week probably had a lot of Rocks, but I didn’t get to read them. I hope next week give me more free time to roam the world; but I’m telling you now: If it snows I will be plenty pizzed.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: adrianmoore.blogspot.com, Apartment Therapy, Bar Keepers Friend Copper Glo, BUGG, Copper Pot, Firefox, Food Network Magazine, Internet Explorer, Michelin Guide, Pinch My Salt, Smack, The Kitchn, Wordpress, Zoey
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS:VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
Just so you know, I am not going to win any awards for Photography.
Monday’s are the day I take it easy on dinner. Friday is Barbecue Chicken night from my butcher who makes an utterly delicious eat-the-bones kind of chicken: truly finger lickin’ good. Saturday night we go out with friends and Sunday night is football night which means a whole lot of pizza.
Monday’s are an awful day just because it starts the work week. If Tuesday started the work week, it too. would be an awful day. So on Monday I take it easy on everyone’s stomach and make a light dinner. Tonight it is eggs. It will be accompanied by the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook’s version of Ginger Scallion.
With all of Jaden’s posts that I have been reading she has left me carboned-copied with some great tips. One being the ginger, which you see in my prep picture.
The other tip was telling her readers not to be afraid of letting your stir-fry sit in the pan frying, that it is not necessary to constantly move the food around. This was always my mistake. However, this dish relies on that belief so much so, the oil must get literally smoking hot. Probably as smoking hot as I am afraid to let it get.
But this is going to be the key to the dish. Pouring hot oil that sizzles as soon as it touches the food. For this dish I am going to use the copper gratin dish that I talked about previously. This will be the very first time I am using copper to cook with and the very first time this pan, which has been in my possession for ten years, will be utilized. Properly, I hope.
Following Jaden’s advice on chillis, noting her debate on the spelling, I used both red and green chillis: the red with their pith and seeds and the green seeded. Since garlic called for only 1/2 tablespoon and that is not enough for my husband who could eat raw garlic as he does an apple, I used probably a whole tablespoon. So next time, I would stick to the 1/2 tbsp. I also added, on my own volition, a 1/4 teaspoon of the hot siracha chili sauce (the rooster sauce) because the red chillis I bought were sweet and I wanted a touch of heat to the dish. I noted that Jaden says the smaller the chilli, however, even though these red ones were small; I found them quite sweet. The added rice vinegar gave the oil a really umami taste.
This was an easy dish to prepare; the hard part was the oil. Going against my nature of letting oil smoke was hard but necessary and I think I did okay cause there was that audible sizzle was crazy sounding.
Having my daughter call me long distance three times during the cooking process upset my instincts. Imagine the electrician fixing her oven didn’t know how to turn the broil on…apparently it is such an old oven there is no indication on the knob…daughter needs a new oven.
This was a cinch to make and a great side dish relish to the cheese omelet I cooked. Next I will be preparing all of the sauces that I can do in a day. I hope to be able to double their quantities and store them in the fridge for the following recpies that will include them. Asian sauces are delectable.
Since I did make a few changes to the original recipe and adapted it to my family’s tastes, I will give my ingredients as follows:
2 scallions, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon of the minced ginger
3 small red chilli pepper sliced in rings
1 small green chilli pepper sliced in rings
1 teaspoon rice vinegar, unseasoned
pinch of salt
1/3 cup of high heat cooking oil
In a heatproof dish combine the first 7 ingredients and when oil has been heated on stove to smoking point, carefully pour over the ingredients and hope for an audible sizzle sound.
There you have it - Ginger Scallion adapted from the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook which has its place day in and day out; week in so far and week out; on my kitchen table.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: chilli pepper, chilli sauce, garlic, ginger, Ginger Scallion, Salt, siracha chilli sauce, unseasoned rice vinegar
Blogging, Emails and Etiquette
I admit to being a new food blogger and I admit that I am an avid commenter of food blogs I love to read and find stimulating. I hope that the blog owners appreciate my comments: I don’t make a comment when a post is uninteresting or un-appealing, therefore my comments are either always positive or there is a question involved regarding the contents of that post. A relative question I believe.
An interesting and very negative situation happened to me when I posted my Friday blog. I added a picture from a blog I regularly read and linked back to the sight. Apparently I did not link directly to the recipe.
I quickly had an inbox email. Trying very hard to understand my mistake and in a few emails that went back and forth I tried to ask the newbie questions in order to correct the post and give the original author her dues.
For the first time since blogging; for the first time since I began emails; I got slammed and slapped in the ugliest email one could get, from the blog owner.
Now it is not that I tried to out rightly steal something because I emailed her telling her I linked; I tried to understand what she wanted and asked a simple question when the return email slammed me against the wall. What did I do? What were the hating and biting words all about?
I was told that she had no ‘time’ to explain things to me and if I didn’t already know what to do I should just take down her picture. She had no time for me. She boldly told me that Food Blog Alliance was only for ‘professionals’, (yes I joined and asked a question in the wrong place, so what?), and again in the following emails that ensued, I, in no uncertain words, was told to ‘link properly or take the picture out. How menacingly mean a statement to make.
Her nastily written explanation was that I didn’t deserve her time nor any of her effort and blamed me for my lack of knowledge; I had asked her permission and if I didn’t do it according to her way; I should remove it – never once did she thank me for liking her recipe and never once did she thank me for even making the attempt to link to her. Moreover, my first email to her was all about the fabulous recipe.
In the end, I realized my mistake, did a proper link back to the recipe AND took her picture out of the post. It was never my intention to cause harm to her professionally nor in my assumed negligence and certainly not to add to her disdain.
My confusion came because if you scroll to the very bottom of her page this is what you will see the following:
( Link to this recipe
Bookmark this page using the following link: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/apple_walnut_gorgonzola_rustic_tart/
Do you have a website? You can place a link to this page by copying and pasting the code below.
<a href=”http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/apple_walnut_gorgonzola_rustic_tart/”>Apple Walnut Gorgonzola Rustic Tart</a> )
So I thought she wanted me to link the website version of her since I assumed she read my ‘website’. I easily know how to link back to a recipe as is evident in my previous posts. However, she wasn’t intelligent enough or intuitive enough to envision why I could have misunderstood her. Could you Elise?
Emails are words; they have no connotation nor do they have tone so it is my experience that when communicating via email the writer needs to be keenly aware of the words she chooses; men seem to get it right.
Well, newbie or not I was not taking this lightly because I did no wrong and my intentions were to do no wrong. I blasted back and we emailed for six times. True she apologized for her ‘bruising boldness’ but she wasn’t “bruising bold” she was downright rude. As if bruising boldness is her right of passage and a pride she wears as a badge.
How the subject came about to tell me Food Blog Alliance was not for me was elitist and snobbery at is highest level that I have encountered since I have been reading food blogs. I was told that Club Med was only for ‘professionals’ and that the attendance in Blog Camp was meant for the already initiated blogger and not the ‘newbie’ I am.
I admit I once placed a question on Food Blog Alliance and got a nasty note telling me just that, from the same person. So I guess she already was irritated with me.
All this and she and I don’t even know each other. At least I didn’t think so; but obviously she must know about me and resents me in some way; although logically and intellectually I don’t know how.
Communication should be a bloggers raison d’être. Alienating a reader should be a no-no. Now I understand that this particular and many other bloggers are busy 24-7 on the internet trying to make a living by writing and scouring other blogs, newspapers, authors etc. I understand that.
But the time it took for us to email back and forth didn’t have to be. She could have, in a very nice tone, simply told me how to link her and her picture; instead she chose to reprimand me. And reprimand me so boldly that it shocked me.
One thing that is important for all people who email and especially bloggers is that when one is all the things this blogger is: Rude, Snobbish, an Elitist – at the very least she should have tried to hide it with her words…but she couldn’t hide any of it she was so irate.
This is not a girl I will remember for her journalistic ability. This is not a girl I will remember for her proficiency and knowledge of food. This is not a girl I will remember for her contributions to food blogging. This is a girl I will remember for being the most abrupt, abusive and savage lassie I have encountered on the internet in the last fifteen, or so years, I have been using emai
And this begs the question: Do bloggers who reach a certain echelon of fame be allowed to slam those bloggers just starting out? Is there a jealousy, a fear of perceived competition or are there bloggers who just feel they are riding the high wave and damn the others trying to follow suit? Is that an assumption and an instinctual reaction?
I now see, that my kind of ‘newbie’ is like a pimple on the face of seasoned bloggers and like a clique of popular girls I should not come to Blog Camp. I would assume that if blogs are begun, it is exciting to include other bloggers and even just the readers as your client base no matter.
Seems this blogger doesn’t agree with me.
So, is this a blogger who needs etiquette rather than teach it?
AND NOW THE ROCKS OF THE WEEK
I was accepted into the Foodie Blogroll.
And I am off to Toronto and The Sound of Music where I will be going backstage after the event (it’s so good to have a daughter ‘in the industry’)…
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
I am in Toronto this weekend visiting my daughter who is working The Sound of Music at the Princess of Wales Theatre - she is an actor (term actress does not exist anymore, just like stewardess does not). However, I did not want to leave my post empty and I won’t be around to cook a recipe out of the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.
Instead I am leaving you with food for thought and a mission: not a mission impossible but a mission for most of you, improbable. My late mother gave me a cookbook when I got married called A Treasure For My Daughter. It originally printed in 1950 as a fundraiser by the Ethel Epstein Ein Chapter of Hadassah, Montreal. A group my mother was a member of and probably contributed a few of her own recipes, none of which I actually know are hers. But this book and all its recipes are indeed the recipes I grew up on. The Beet Borscht is the exact soup I ate every Saturday I returned home after a day at the ski hill - not sweet, not sour: just perfect and it always evokes the same memories, like good food should.
A Treasure For My Daughter has had thirteen printings since its very first and was revised in 2000 and re-printed again in 2001.
When chefs like Chris Cosentino promote foods like sweetbreads, brains, beef cheeks to the newer and younger gourmands, he is promoting history. The history I know is that of the European Jews, but most cultures that ate Offal all have a history and their children have, in one form or another, either experienced the food itself or certainly heard about it. As have my children; one of which I finally succeeded in getting to eat pickled tongue.
Oh Pickled Tongue, thou doth maketh my stomach full with each and every bit I savour your very essence.
Oh Pickled Tongue if only you were bigger then I could feel safe to share you. Instead I harbor you all for mine-self
Oh Pickled Tongue I could not imagine a month without the aroma of your very pickled essence boiling in my Le Creuset.
Oh Pickled Tongue you cost a bloody fortune.
Which brings me to the punch line of this post. It has been a long time that I have seen a sweetbread or a calf’s brain, however the other day a new butcher opened near my house and inside his freezer was a full shelf of frozen sweetbreads, frozen individually packaged calf’s brains and beef cheeks. Now I have never had beef cheeks and always thought it was an Italian delicacy because I had never heard of beef cheeks until Molto Mario.
So I was surprised that it was in this butcher’s case: a Kosher butcher. I don’t keep Kosher, for a few reasons: one of which is basic; I don’t keep a Kosher kitchen and never grew up in one so I didn’t have a tradition to carry on nor a strictly Kosher relative to cater to. The other reason, being thankful for the first one, is that Kosher meat is double and sometimes triple the price of non-Kosher meat. Note: I always buy Kosher chickens because I find they are cleaner with fewer feathers, and their diet makes them juicy with very little fat. The French Canadians also buy Kosher chickens for that very reason.
24.99/kg for sweetbreads…21.99/kg for beef cheeks …and 11.99 for each calf brain.
Wow!! Those are mighty steep prices even for Kosher. Then, I remind myself that one cow may provide a lot of rib steaks, and other cuts of meat; but they have only one brain, two cheeks and one set of sweetbreads. So with the onset of the revival of all things Offal, I suppose the supply and demand allows them to price accordingly.
If I had been home this weekend to cook and post for today, I would be posting from the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. This is not the case and so in advance, I am setting forth this recipe from the A Treasure For My Daughter cookbook, which happens to be an easy recipe to follow and is deliciously like a breaded veal chop and for the uninitiated a very easy recipe to follow.
I would use oil instead of chicken schmaltz and I would add a beaten egg to a bowl in order to coat the sweetbread prior to breading so that the breading will stick.
Sweetbreads and Mushrooms
1 lb sweetbreads
1/2 to 3/4 c. fine dry breadcrumbs or Panko
1 c diced onions
1/2 lb (1 1/2 c) fresh mushrooms of choice, sliced
2 tb fat: schmaltz or oil… (use oil) and if you should buy the canned schmaltz may your fingers fall off!
1/2 tsp paprika
Salt, Pepper to taste
Defrost the Sweetbreads, if frozen. Blanch by cooking in acidulated salted water (2 tablespoons vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon salt in 1 quart water) for 15 minutes. Drain, cool and cut in cubes. Roll in the crumbs. Sauté the mushrooms and onion in the fat until lightly browned, sprinkling with paprika, salt and pepper. Add the sweetbreads; cook 30 minutes longer over low heat turning occasionally, until browned.
Makes 6-8 servings
If that doesn’t hit the mark there is one more recipe I want to add.
This is one that would be impossible not to love because it is a Latke and who doesn’t love a Latke. Okay, so this Latke is not potato, big deal. It’s better:
Just picture the shock when you tell the kids what it really is, after they’ve eaten it all up. Great with applesauce or sour cream.
Brain Latkes
1 pair of calf’s brains
1 egg
1tsp grated onion
Salt, Pepper to taste
Matzo meal about 1/4 c
2 tb chicken fat (oy-again!) but use oil
If brains are frozen defrost first. (Like the kids brains aren’t frozen - and impossible to defrost)
Blanch by dropping in acidulated water (1 tablespoon vinegar for each 2 cups of water)…I know its different from above…hey I’m just following the recipe…Cook 3 minutes, remove and pull off outer skin with a sharp knife. Mash brains with a wooden spoon (don’t ask why wooden ’cause I don’t know). Add the egg, the onion, the seasonings and matzo meal; blend well forming a paste; Heat fat in skillet, add mixture by spoonfuls to hot fat, fry until crisp and golden on both sides.
Makes about 12 latkes.
And a room full of crying kids.
*pics courtesy of Cook’s Thesaurus
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: A Treasure For My Daughter, Beet Borscht, calf brain, Chris Cosentino, Cook's Thesaurus, Hadassah, Kosher, Latke, Molto Mario, Offal, pickled tongue, Sweetbread
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
PIZZED OFF FRIDAY AND THE POST(S) THAT ROCK THE WEEK(S)
I know it is Pizzed Off Friday, but having come home from Toronto on Thursday, sick as a dog; there is nothing that can Pizz Me Off or Rock My Week. I came home with a cold, a cough, probably fever and who knows, the H1N1 flu, cause that is just my kind of luck. I am brain dead. Plus I packed away three bags of Solea Cracked Pepper and Salt Olive Oil Chips coming and going. For those of you not in the know, Solea chips are made with olive oil and sea salt and usually sit in the kosher aisle at your supermarket. These are, if NOT THE BEST, THEN SECOND BEST potato chips IN THE WORLD.
For those not entrenched in the Entertainment Industry, particularly Theatre, I want to describe just a bit about my Cultured Weekend.
Downtown Toronto must be one of the only cities certainly in Canada that without exaggeration and literally has a restaurant, a cafe, a small dive Japanese-style, a bar, an ice-cream store holed up in every second store-front. I am not kidding; and I am not talking Canoe, One, or any of the high-end costly restaurants. Those exist too and right now rival any out of New York or Chicago and I would venture to say San Francisco.
Susur Lee get your ass back home and continue because your following is anxiously waiting your return.
New York might be dying in the Restaurant Industry, but Toronto is booming. This weekend I ate breakfast out twice; three cheapie lunches and two high end dinners: I won’t critique because I am not a restaurant critic and won’t bore my readers with nonsense about the food I ate but I will let you know that each and every place I went to was jammed full of people. Where is the recession here?
I also found that even the cheapest of Japanese Sushi joints down on Bloor were so busy that it delighted me to sit and eat and pay those small prices because damned if the fish wasn’t going to be the freshest that day. Restaurants like New Generation Sushi can’t help but have the freshest fish because they sell so much of it. For $12.95 CAD I had a soup, salad, a bowl of Seafood Chirashi with Octopus, Squid, Salmon, Tamago and Whitefish. Then I ordered an 6.95 rainbow roll which consisted of the entire 8 pieces of the freshest mouth-melting rainbow collared maki which melted down my throat that I didn’t even feel full after the roll. It left me wanting for more.
I am sorry but I am not yet at the period in blogging where I will take out a camera to photograph my food. Sorry but I can’t EVER see me doing this; I commend those that do, but it is just not me - the day I do will surprise and shock even me.
It’s tacky, it’s bourgeois, and it’s embarrassing. I’m far too snotty to do this, YET.
Another place I went to was called the Grapefruit Moon and it is a throwback to my teens and the places I ate at back then. Very Bohemian atmosphere with the best on-tap Ontario beer to be had - what the Grapefruit is known for. It is also known for sponsoring only Ontario fresh farmed produce and products including their milk, cream, breads, fruit of season and fair trade coffee. So when I ordered a bagel with cream cheese and jam, I thought and hoped I was eating farm-fresh, home-made artisan creamed cheese. Instead it turned out to be Philadelphia which meant to me that the menu promoting their philosophy was probably full of crap and priced according to that crap. Yet, it is a beloved Annex mainstay and rightfully so because whether or not their philosophy is true - I ate there twice.
I did love the old milk bottles though and indeed they entitled a local farm. Plus the lady beside me told me that their hamburgers are simply the best in Toronto: she should know, she said, she eats there every day. Add to that, without asking for, a pitcher of water and glasses go right on to the table.
Now for the reason of my trip. Daughter works at The Sound of Music which is closing January and wanted me to finally step foot to see her at work and to meet her friends.
As glamorous as the Front of House at the Princess of Wales Theatre is, the diametric opposite is backstage. The musical was marvellous; the Cast brilliant and The Kids. …Wow, The Kids were great. (and they are all reading this)…’You Kids Were Awesome!!” Each one brimming with such amazing talent. I only got to meet the ‘oompahs’ and not the second cast of kids which are known in-house as the ‘loompahs’.
It was fun going backstage; the actors in street clothes, revved up and making plans to go next door for a drink, didn’t resemble their on-stage characters at all. I had a hard time recognizing some of them but they all knew me!! The Mother. Carly’s Mother.
I have one word for stage actors: Humble. It is unimaginable that these actors day in and day out go on stage, sing, act, dance like the world is their oyster and then are as humbled by a compliment as shy little girls.
All I can say is that the stage designer is…is…is…words escape me that would be his due. I thought the Lion King had costuming, no doubt the greatest I have seen - but the physical scenery and imagery of The Sound of Music was pure genius. To see Maria on a mountain and then sitting on a rock and walking her way back to the Abbey within one song was a sight to behold and just downright amazing.
Backstage during performance, I am told, is a madhouse, an orchestrated chaos, and the least glamorous place; full of wood and iron and dirt and indeed there are wires and sliding staircases and sliding stages; but what struck me the most interesting was that when the chorus sings or when the children sing, to fill a void and add depth, they have singers backstage, closeted and hooked up to the mikes with visual screens in front of them and they sing backstage. That surprised me. So when the next Broadway or Musical you go to see and the house is filled with song and sound: know that there are backstage singers also adding to the voices of the onstage ensembles.
And yes, the stars have their own dressing rooms. When actors get presented awards and they thank the cast and crew there is a very good reason. Without the costumes, the set designs, the producers, the stage hands, the orchestra, the conductor, the various directors, plus everybody else- there would be no show.
Oh Oh and something really important happened before I left. Remember how Pizzed I was at Canada Post for having lost the package I ordered containing a bottle of Bar Keeper’s Friend Copper Glo. Well, just before I left guess what got delivered. Yup that package with the Copper Glo that happened to be the last one the internet had and was going to have for a while.
I used the Copper Glo on the hideous copper pots and Presto: they glowed. So Copper Glo really does give a glo!
YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE BEFORE IF THEY LOOK LIKE THIS NOW!
After a week like this who could be Pizzed Off?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Bloor St, Grapefruit Moon, New Generation Sushi, The Princess of Wales Theatre, The Sound of Music
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
I have had this Guacamole recipe in my repertoire since, I don’t know. I call it Rick Bayless’s Avocado Spread. I believe I have read it in other blogs as other titles and most recently in Restaurant Girl as Topolobampo’s Mango Guacamole. This weekend Food Network Canada highlighted Rick Bayless on their hit show At The Table With and craving to be sitting in Mexico right about now I needed a hit of guacamole. Especially since Haas Avocados are on sale.
Before I go any further into this discussion, it revolves around a topic that held great discussion in Jaden Hair’s the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook and which I have mentioned before. Chile…or Chilli…Chile? She states she researched the topic of how to correctly spell the fruit of the Genus Capsicum, and it came down to “chilli.” I went on to Rickbayless.com and searched for all three spellings. Chilli (double ‘l’) came up empty. Chili came up and so did Chile. As of this writing I have emailed Rick his opinion and will follow up with his answer. Discovery.com, as the links shows, spells it Chili. Go Know!!
Just last night I watched an episode of Bobby Flay doing a Throwdown episode on Chiles Rellenos and caught just the piece when the two brothers were describing how their mother taught them to judge the heat of a Poblano by whether the stem was straight or curved. I think that is a myth, but if anyone reading this knows if it is one of life’s little secrets, please write in.
Having had a sister living in Chicago I spent many weeks there every year either with the kids for holidays or just for a shopping spree week to visit my sister and her husband. Going to either Topolobampo or Frontera Grill was always the first night out to eat, weather permitting or not. Many a night I lucked out on seeing Rick walking through the restaurant greeting guests and yes, he is as good looking in person as on television: maybe cuter. Living in Montreal it seems so much easier to come across Asian ingredients than Spanish or Mexican except in the recent couple of years there are popping up Latin Grocery stores one end of the city. Chiles are still hard to find, like the Poblano or the Habanero; the Jalapenos, the Thai Bird chiles, and the Jamaican Scotch Bonnets are quite common.
Rick would probably be the first to point out that there exist so many Guacamole recipes that it is impossible for any one to put a credit to any one recipe. However, I have made this one always with the knowledge that it was Rick Bayless who originated it and perhaps along the way has been adapted, whichever which way who cares. This is a fantabulously delicious spread which I prefer to make chunkier and can eat with a spoon while watching PBS re-runs of Mexico:One Plate At A Time. Just a note: I could not find any Serrano chiles and the chile I am using is supposed to be a Habanero; instead I found it to be very mild and so I think it is actually and perhaps an heirloom variety of the yellow bell pepper.
**A Note on using onions be they red, or regular: to easily peel them without crying I peel under lukewarm water and have never shed a tear; at least over onions. Also running onions, once diced or cut under water will take away the sharp burn of the onion taste and actually make it milder.
Adapted from a Rick Bayliss Recipe of Avocado and Mango Guacamole
3 large, ripe avocados
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 to 1 serrano chile to taste, seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus a few sprigs for garnish
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 large, ripe mango, peeled, flesh cut from the pit, and diced
Salt
Cucumber and jícama slices or tortilla chips for serving
Procedure:
Remove the stem at the top of each avocado. Cut the avocados in half, running your knife around the pit from stem to blossom end and back up again. Twist the halves in opposite directions to free the pit, and pull the halves apart. Dislodge the pit, then scoop the avocado flesh into a large bowl. Coarsely mash the avocado with a large fork or potato masher.
Gently stir in the onion, chile, chopped cilantro, lime juice, and two-thirds of the mango. Taste and season with salt. If not using immediately, cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface of the guacamole and refrigerate, preferably for no more than a few hours.
When you’re ready to serve, scoop the guacamole into a serving bowl. Garnish with the remaining diced mango and the cilantro sprigs. Serve with the cucumber and jícama slices or tortilla chips.
Serves 6-8
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: chile, chili, chilli, Frontera Grill, guacamole, Habanero, Jalapeno, Jamaicon Scotch Bonnet, Mexico One Plate At A Time, Poblano, Rick Bayless, Thai Bird Chiles, Topoolobampo
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
THE PIZZED OFF PART
The other day I wound, up not at Tim Horton’s where I normally go for a quick coffee and to finish reading The United States of Arugula, but at a supposed breakfast place they call Chez Cora. Chez Cora is a breakfast place and not a supposed one. Walk into any branch of Chez Cora and you will be caught off-guard with the whimsical and colorful sunshine cut-outs of all their breakfast menu ideas. Indeed their menu is a bevy of delicious choices, coloring-book quality drawings of all their delicious entrees, or small appetite bite ideas for breakfast or brunch. I mean, how bad can a restaurant do on making eggs to order or a stack of pancakes with a side of bacon? Yogurt and granola in oversized sundae glasses and each and every dish comes with fruits cut up like they were meant to decorate an exotic fruit platter. Yes, Chez Cora can get an award for the size and decor of their plated dishes.
THEIR COFFEE IS TOILET WATER.
I am a coffee freak: no less than 3 cups before I leave the house and a must-have around ten. Lunch is definitely a diet coke, but afternoon tea in my house is coffee. Coffee. It’s a deal breaker.
It’s a no-brainer. If you’re going to open a slew of restaurants and then franchise some of them, and these restaurants specialize in breakfast of every imagineable food; for goodness sake invest in market research and buy the best damned coffee you can. Even if it means raising the cost of the menu and offering a more expensive, deeper, better roasted, fair-traded coffee bean. Why serve the most important beverage of the day if it isn’t the best tasting beverage available. It’s a deal breaker and a no-brainer and I will never walk into a Chez Cora again. Their coffee is TOILET WATER at best.
I am a really early-riser. Before the sun early-riser, and when on a cruise ship, the top deck is just where you want to be when the sun rises, with a big cup of coffee in hand. So when I took a cruise with hubby and woke up one morning to find him outside the galley, already seated and a waiter who looked completely helpless at the coffee machine, I got pizzed. Couldn’t find a bloody cup and blurted to the waiter to get me a cup. He came back with a cup and a saucer and politely placed it in my hands. Poured my coffee but couldn’t find the sweet n low, uncharacteristically and in an unusually rough tone I demanded the waiter find me the sweet n low, which after running through entire rows of tables, he managed to find. But there was no cream. Uhhh, waiter go get the cream. Yes ma’am and away he went through the double doors into the kitchen and came back with cream. After asking me if there was anything else I needed and could he get me anything at all, I said no and walked up the few stairs to greet hubby at an outside table. Two minutes later up the stairs comes the waiter whereupon my husband says to me “There is Manny Sanguillen.”
“That’s not Manny Sanguillen”, I say. “That’s the waiter. Who’s Manny Sanguillen?”
“Are you nuts? I’m telling you who that is. I know. He’s a baseball player!” (with an expletive I am quite used to)
“Henry”, I insist, cause I always insist I am such a pushy broad, “That is THE WAITER. He just finished getting me coff…”
I didn’t get a chance to finish cause up went my husband to shake the hand of, yes, Manny Sanguillen while I sat, shocked and in shame and absolutely speechless. Here, I, who am always so polite and careful and kind, treated this ‘waiter’ like a servant because I couldn’t down a cup of coffee in my own time. I mean, how do you explain to a man why you thought he was THE waiter? How do you apologize to someone who just finished running through the galley and kitchen of a cruise ship he is a guest on, like you, just to make sure you got a cup AND a saucer full of coffee, sweet n low (a harder thing to find than the sugar on tables everywhere) AND cream - milk wasn’t good enough.
After much apologizing; he joined us and spent the better part of the morning having a much better time shmoozing with my husband.
So, when I say coffee is a deal breaker; I mean it.
Besides if you Chowhound Montreal, there are so many good and great places for a cup of coffee; mine is usually taken at Patisserie de la Gare.
TWITTER pizzes me off. What is TWITTER? What is it for? Why do people over the age of 25 use it? I un-follow anyone who advertises goods, I un-follow anyone who RT’s someone other than me…my nails are too long to type properly and my fingers too arthritic to type fast. Was it really necessary for the New York Times Dining Section to have a recipe contest in 140 words or less. Like for who? Lawrence (Downes), you must be my age.
I twitter when I make a new post, I twitter shit because I feel I have to twitter, who reads it, and the twits I really want to respond to don’t follow me so they can’t read shit about what I twit. I actually feel like a twit - So explain to me why a person Twitters.
WTF is TWITTER?
THE ROCKS PART
Thanks go out to all the people who took the time to write to me and comment on my Simply Recipes Pizzed Off post. I was thrilled to find out and hear from people and to know that what I write actually gets read. It’s quite an unreal experience. I hope I never get so busy that it becomes impossible for me to respond. When someone takes the time to write whether it be one line or several; the proper etiquette is to respond back. There are plenty of blogs where I take the time to make a comment that goes unanswered and you know what - I am no longer writing them.
Michael Ruhlman, probably the only busy man I will accept a non-response from, posted on a new concept of E-commerce that he is a part of called Open Sky. The best part about Open Sky, aside from the obvious, is that having called their 1-800: true to their word they called me back in a timely fashion to tell me that all ground delivery to Canada is Free….Freee. I love that word. Aside from the Food Experts associated with the project and who are known to me, I also found Marta Wohrle, the Expert who writes Truth in Aging, my beauty bible to which I have been subscribing for years. So, Marta how come you haven’t mentioned Strivectin? (Vanity thy name is WOMAN) Free ground shipping, Marta, I”d order two. My one complaint is that no Expert has recommended my all time favorite Olive Oil from Nicolas Alziari, a product of France and impossible to buy in Montreal. I also wish someone had recommended the Aerogarden - in US Dollars with free ground shipping it would be a steal for me and a product I soooo want. And the soda stream. And…and…and…now I know why the c.c is maxed out.
This oil was discovered on a visit to Charleston when the Williams Sonoma there held an Olive Oil taste test of over 40 bottles of oil and I tasted Nicolas Alziari and fell in love with the fruity taste of the oil. They no longer carry this artisan oil; in fact I don;t recall seeing any food products recommended by any of the Food Experts. I will have to keep an ‘open eye’ regularly perusing the Open Sky.
David Chang, chef/owner of Momofuku Noodle Bar, SÄam Bar, Ko, and Milk Bar will be here in Montreal for an exclusive book signing at my favorite cookbookstore called Appetite for Books. For $65 I will break ‘buns’ with David and his co-author New York Times Columnist, Peter Meehan at this very special event, have a glass of wine, chat, get the book, Momofuku, signed by both authors, eat a lot, network a little, schmooz with the store owners and even have some time left over to flirt.
I have also gotten to join two Food Blogger sites this week whose content and publishers and members run the gamut of good and interesting issues regarding not just recipes but food issues as well. Foodbuzz thank you for having me come on board and I hope to become much more active in the weeks following.
Lastly it seems everwhere I turned, this week, Rick Bayess popped up. Including my own posting on Tuesday. So, naturally, I am twitter-following Rick. Or at least I was twitter-following because boy, oh boy, does this man twitter…he twitters more than I blink and if I ever want to read someone else’s twitter then Rick has to go. Now tell me someone, please…What The Hell Is TWITTER For????
Easily, though, a post by The Kitchn : dessine moi un project is probably the best post this week. They post such great ideas but for someone who loves to craft in the kitchen: baking your own utensils and bowls to eat. Prior to retiring from the Domestic Shelter I worked at, I always looked for ways to keep the mothers and kids occupied with fun artful projects to do and this would have been a wonderful way to get the kids and mothers involved together and spend time away from their worries and troubles. The kitchen was always the place where worries and troubles never seemed to follow. It’s true. Enter a kitchen and what do you immediately begin to think about?
My big ‘thing’ is soup in a cut-out round small pumpernickel bread bowl. Everything tastes better in a cut-out round bread bowl: tossed salad, tuna salad and egg, layered meat with mustard, lettuce, pickles, onions and tomatoes: the ideas are endless. Have a great weekend.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Appetite for Books, breakfast, Chez Cora, coffee, David Chang, Open Sky, Patisserie de la Gare, Rick Bayless, Tim Horton, twitter
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
MY FORETHOUGHTS
I know I am supposed to be cooking out of the Steamy Kitchen Cookbook, but sometimes a recipe pops up on another blog that just screams “Make Me!”. That happened with the post Michael Ruhlman placed on introducing Michael Symon’s new cookbook Live to Cook.: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen.
I am addicted to reading Michael Ruhlman (interesting his brand, notice I didn’t say ruhlman.com) and now that his wife is on board with amazing photos, it has become a blog that I actually wait for. (I don’t know of a more talented couple who compliment each other’s professions like this couple). So when he posted a recipe as easy as Mac and Cheese with Roasted Chicken, Rosemary and Goat Cheese on a day when I was sick as a dog with the worst chest cold since 2008, I knew immediately I had to blog this. Otherwise I wasn’t blogging this week.
With such a cold it is impossible not to care less what one eats let alone one’s family. Now the dog is a whole other story; that baby eats no matter who is sick, Mama makes sure of that. LOL.
I digress.
Now Michael Symon whom I never met, he is a ‘celeb’, seems like a genuinely homegrown down-to-earth guy. These ‘celebs’ who have personalities that shine through the cameras, like Michael are rare. Another I have found and actually communicated with is John Besh. I watched him leap through my television into my room with his smile, from ear to ear, and those blue eyes; another is Oprah. Yes, Oprah Winfrey.
Oprah and I had occasion to speak for about 15 minutes once (I am no stranger to television…) and she has that same aura. Anyone who has never met Oprah or ever met Oprah should know she is a ‘close talker’. Truly, she gets in that space that is meant just for you. BUT this girl emits an angelic light that completely surrounds her and for the time you spend talking to her, she acknowledges no one else. She exudes that ‘you’re my best friend’ personality that is really rare in people. So non-judgemental; so full of compassion without even having to use her words which is exactly why she is ‘who Oprah is’.
I am lucky enough to have another friend like that. Her personality so bubbly, so friendly, you just want to be around her more and more: Judy L, I have always loved that about you. Ever since I was 17, got drunk and fell off the top bunk bed in camp, and nearly got fired – you are my oldest (uh-huh in BOTH ways, sweetie) friend.
Of course, I lack all those qualities. Which is why, Michael Symon, when I read this recipe the first thing that popped into my head did not exactly fit with the title of your book: Live to Eat. Ahem…ahem, a Quart of Cream... That was my ‘always on a diet’ alter ego. The real me, the chef me, after reading through the ingredients couldn’t imagine a more homogeneous group of ingredients.
The Alter Ego, that itch-bay, is always so conscious of healthy foods, she really, at times, pizzes me off. She never uses too much fat, too much sugar or too much chocolate; she never fries anything but latkes and certainly never makes a pasta with cream sauce. This recipe was going against every grain of her alter ego being. Except that she loves cheese.
I love cheese, and could eat cheese all day long especially goat cheese. I love its strong but tangy creaminess; give me a bowl of goat cheese, a spoon and a cup of coffee and I could make dinner out of just that. I love a cheese that melts in the mouth with the warmth of a sip of coffee.
The goat cheese, sold me on this, however, I am compelled to make a non-comical, very serious notification to Michael Symon. It’s very important and he need not answer me, but take heed, Mister.
“Michael Symon, if my husband drops dead within a week of eating this - you had better find me a replacement!” “And fast.” “While you’re at it you can make sure he’s rich.” “And bald is not a problem.”
Hubby looks like he could pass for a WWF wrestler and be riding a Harley Davidson, tattoos and all. Very sexy.
So here goes: how can anything with goat cheese, cream and pasta be bad? I just have to say that goat cheese is my all time favorite cheese next to Oka Cheese, made only in Quebec.
My Mise-en-Place began with the above.
Adding to the cream, chopped Rosemary
On a low slow simmer, so as not to scald the cream.
Carefully simmering so that the cream can reduce and coat the spoon - not quite there yet. My go-to spoon is always a wooden one and if you are careful to notice: this one is for LEFTIES…
Reducing cream is looking good.
Adding the al-dente pasta to the Rosemary, Goat and Cream mixture which has been reduced successfully.
My son’s bowl to eat.
MY AFTERTHOUGHTS
We are in the middle of eating Mac and Cheese and I had this terrible urge to ungraciously leave the table and turn on the computer to blurb my sentiments. (Like anyone actually closes their computers now-a-days). They begin something like this: OH MY GOD, this is plain and simply THE best Pasta dish to hit my table in a long long time and I am not sure I have made enough to satisfy the three of us eating.
This Mac and Cheese recipe hits a home run out of the park. It has to be the easiest dinner to make on the fly, the tastiest Mac and Cheese to ever be cooked on the Sztern Stove and the best thing of all: husband survived, so far in. Seriously it is so good even my alter could care less the amount of cream and cheese.
The flavors of the rosemary coupled with the goat cheese just simply raises this dish to an extraordinary level of simple complexity that makes it impossible to stop eating.
If this one recipe is any indication of the other recipes in this cookbook called Live to Eat; then Chef Symon can start making plans to create a cooking school at Princeton and call it curriculum (hey I might have an ‘in’)…Encroyable!
FOUR DAYS LATER
I have finally finished the last of my Mac and Cheese: three forkfuls that have been refrigerated as leftovers.
Note:** I adapted the original recipe to use leftover rotisseried barbecue chicken and I salt my water for pasta with enough salt that it tastes like saltwater. With any recipe please read through before beginning the cooking process and needless to say a mise-en-place is a very necessary process of cooking or baking. Essential. Also essential is to not be afraid to add your own instincts, common sense and enjoy the process.
The recipe I printed from ruhlman.com blog reads as follows:
Mac and Cheese with Roasted Chicken, Goat Cheese and Rosemary
From: Live To Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen
Kosher salt as needed
1 pound dried Rigatoni
1 quart cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Rosemary
8 ounces goat cheese
2 cups of shredded roasted (or barbecued) chicken
Bring a pot of water to a boil (add enough salt so that it tastes seasoned). While it’s heating, pour the cream into a large sauce pan, add the rosemary and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring it to a simmer, careful not to let it boil over. Reduce the cream by about half. Add the goat cheese and chicken and keep cooking it till the cream coats the back of a spoon.
Cook the rigatoni till it’s al dente, about ten minutes. Drain the pasta, add it to the sauce. Toss the pasta in the sauce till the sauce resumes a simmer, then serve.
Serves 6 to 8
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: goat cheese, leftie, Live To Cook:Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen, Mac and Cheese, Michael Symon, mise-en-place, Oka cheese, Oprah Winfrey, rosemary, wooden spoon
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
THE PIZZED OFF PART
Padma, Padma, Padma Lakshmi, am I jealous of the way you look? Darn tooting right I am. First time I saw you was on the Food Network years ago when you hosted a cross culture cooking show, then the second season of Top Chef: since then I have seen you drive the internet berserk when a hint of gossip surrounds you (is that old geezer really worth it?), then it was the sexy commercials, all the magazine shoots, I even love your jewellery website and now a pregnancy. The most shocking is 30 Rock alongside a Baldwin, my favourite intelligently written and acted boob toob show.
Just tell me how is it your voice never alters in pitch? Not up, not down, it stagnates whether you be overjoyed or unhappy; I need your voice coach in as much as my voice can reach pinnacles that give me headache.
On a much sadder note I had to miss the book signing of David Chang. Thankfully I did not pay in advance - A previously scheduled and un-noted Doctor appointment took priority, especially this doctor. (Thank goodness for reminder calls). Since recent years living in the land of Medicare; Doctors have the dubious choice of kicking a patient off their appointment list for many reasons primarily missed appointments. My particular doctor has a 3 year waiting list of patients literally dying to see him and I ain’t giving up my spot for David Chang. Don’t worry I am not dying; he is a rheumatology specialist who was the only one to properly diagnose and treat my swelling fingers five years ago. Getting him to agree to see me was a chore too difficult to describe, but Martha Stewart knows, it’s a good thing to know people with ‘pull’. My swelling fingers put a whole new spin on ‘let your fingers do the walking through the Yellow Pages’, or was that just a Canadian thing, those yellow pages?
David Chang, believe me I agonized over you and your ‘buns’.
Monday is a day I will remember forever, I think. IT was truly a PIZZ ME OFF day. It was the day a Labradoodle nearly killed my Bugg. Yes, these are dogs believe it or not. The dog du jour in my area of the city is a ‘doodle’ anything: a Cadoodle, a Goldendoodle, a Schnoodle - all cross breeds of a standard Poodle. Mine is a Bugg: 1/2 Boson Terrier 1/2 Pug and all of 16 pounds. This Labradoodle was my waist height and probably my weight and it took off after my little thing, unprovoked. All I heard was yelping and crying from my Zoey as the crowd of dog-owners all tried to get that thing off my pup. In the end, which seemed forever, my traumatized pup was bitten in three places, deep - but thankfully there wasn’t enough time for the Labradoodle to go for the neck - because for sure he would have killed her. Fighting dogs is a scary sound…I have a hit out on the Labradoodle.
The dog’s owner I think was as horrified as I was. The worst part is that this dog turned on a dime because the first half hour everyone was at play. Then I heard from a distance “Natalie pick up Zoey. Pick up Zoey”. But before I could turn around it was too late. For the past week, if I were a Kangaroo, my dog’s life would be complete.
My question to the owner was if he had kids.
THE ROCKS PART
I may hate Twitter, I know I hate MySpace (does it still exist) But honies, Youtube has to be the genius that revolutionized the internet. Youtube is what crib notes were to school. What Coles Notes are to Canadian students.
On Youtube I have learned how to tweak Photoshop, and now how to learn the ins and outs of my new camera the Canon SX200. Out of box, this camera was daunting, especially because it is so small that I needed the extra special set of magnifying glasses I made for small print.
So, what does a middle-aged woman do, who has no patience to learn a camera that I need an engineering degree for: She googles Youtube for a Tutorial.
Thank you all those people out there who spend the time and hours it takes to actually make a Tutorial on anything…anything…even Wordpress.
The award of the week for the best post to Rock is the following copy and paste:
http://eatingtheroad.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/the-all-inclusive-all-you-can-eat-buffet-guide/
by Eating The Road and to which I was alerted by Diners Journal. I spent the better part of fifteen minutes reading this intricately written-left nothing out-so true hilarious satire to eating at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Sensational.
Now I must tell you, the most embarrassing time I had at an all-you-can-eat BBQ ribs outing took place while on vacation at the elegant island of St. Maarten, the Dutch side. At the hotel restaurant was an all-you-can-eat for bubkes in price, and so we and another couple we met went to dine. We were all staying in the Time-shares on the beach. Hungry early, we ordered drinks, whatever appetizers came with the meal, if any, because I have no re-call of anything prior to my humiliation. Our two big guys, having spent the better part of the day doing all kinds of beach sports, were famished and began their indulgence into man-size ribs drowned in sauce and juice which dribbled down their chins like a gentle waterfall. The waiter could have put a 3 foot stack of knapkins on the table and it wouldn’t have made a dent in the amount they actually needed AND used. First came the plates with four ribs twice. Then ordered again and the four ribs were gobbled up. Somehow between discussions and talking there was time for their stomachs to empty because the next order shocked the waiter a bit and out came two plates, this time with three ribs each. The excuse being they were so sweet and melt-in-your mouth made them order another dish. One rib each. They needed another.
Then came that paralyzing moment: a moment never ever repeated again thus far in my life, thankfully. The waiter refused more ribs. The higher being told the waiter to serve them no more. That is exactly what the waiter said: “No more because we need to have for the rest of the guests and I am not allowed to serve you more.” I wanted to die of embarrassment: they wanted to argue the point.
It is like going to a Chinese restaurant and having the waiter tell you, you assume for your own sake, that you ordered too much food. Then ignoring him, proceed to wipe the plates clean, proving him wrong. Yes, that happened too, and still does sometimes.
Eric Ripert, oh Eric Ripert could your accent be more sexier - it is nothing like the French Quebecers who speak English, no, no comparison but you know that…I am talking Eric Ripert’s On The Line hardcover book that I just finished reading. If reading is what you can call it, because it is far too involved a book just to be a read - it is the adult version of Pat the Bunny Book without the touchy feely pop-ups. On The Line is at the top of my great books list because if readers who have been reading this blog know, I love to read cookbooks, and menus and anything I can get my hands on that talks about the ins and outs of owning and running a restaurant like Le Bernadin and this book is a must read on that subject.
Most importantly though, kudos have to be given for the layout of this book. If I could have one wish for books, it would be to have this designed layout. There isn’t one inch of unused space on any given page and the eye darts from left to right, up to down, making it almost impossible to want to turn the page and making each page a wonderful stay for a much longer length of time. Plus the bios of all the chefs, their duties relating to their stations; the layout of the kitchens both up and down and ultimately and in detail, the front of house. A pure pleasure visually, an intellectual and learned read, I found On The Line to be the best book I invested in this year and why I know this is because I am constantly going back to it and re-reading parts just for the pure pleasure of reading elements of its contents.
This is too fine a book not to lend out and yet it will not leave my possession.
Lastly, not only and always thinking of food I do read the gossip columns on the net. I don’t know, it’s just instinct perhaps and a desire to know the ultra rich also have their demons. When I read of Hulk Hogan and his fight with Rick Flair it brought back flooding memories of a Rick Flair story I have. Having once owned a Time-share in St. Maarten we always spent March break there (in Canada March break dates differ from the States and it is always so much quieter). Apparently so did Rick Flair whom I knew from nowhere. One day at the beach, a quiet day, this gigantic white haired, muscular man, who looked 60 back then, approached me and asked if my kids knew who he was, as they were the only two in the water with their dad. I said, ‘I don’t know, who are you?” He answered “Rick Flair”, I wrestle with some kind of wrestling organization and I think he said WWF cause it’s the only one I actually knew about. Yes, okay, I had been known to be found sitting at a few WWF shows with a huge crush on the Hulk. Past tense. Oh, okay so go ask them I thought.
A half hour went by and they were already back on the towel but not for long as they zoomed back to the water, with me in tow this time. Rick Flair came into the water and as he was tiptoeing his way right next to us, he kindly came over and asked the kids the same question. They definitely knew who he was and together the three of them spent the next hour playing in the water together. He was down there making plans to open a gym at the hotel, spoke of his kids who at the time were in their twenties and how he was getting ready to retire. A nice guy; and what interested me the most was he was all about my kids and their having spent time with him, which I found to be a real act of character for the man, but definitely he was a tad whacko.
Later we found out he was staying in the villa directly above ours and made plans to get together, which never happened. But the most interesting thing I observed was his not-so-beautiful wife asleep on her water lounger slowly drifting out to sea and him scrambling up and down the rocks frantically looking for a way to get to her: this act in and of itself not so glamorous, not so WWF, but genuinely human. In the end everything came up fine but I never did see the two of them together that entire week. Now the secret: how he gets his hair to stay so white: he dyes it every day with bleach so much to the point the hairdresser at the hotel refused to do it but instead let him have complete access to the salon: Here, I always thought vanity thy name is Woman, but I guess it is also vanity thy name is Celebrity. My Rick Flair story.
Have a great weekend.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: 30 Rock, BUGG, Canon SX200, coles notes, David Chang, Eating The Road, Eric Ripert, Labradoodle, Le Bernadin, Momofuku, On The Line, Padma Lakshmi, Pat The Bunny book, Top Chef
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX
Eye’z Am Crisped with Fish Cakes…yumm
CRISPY FISH CAKES
Glad to be back in my Steamy Kitchen. This recipe is still from Little Bites and Appetizers and is called as above. There is a reason for that title, because they need to be eaten just after coming off the stove to maintain their crispness…if they last that long, because in my house, son, who was taking some pictures, was getting paid with crispy fish cakes. He demanded payment in advance of my seeing the pictures and it is a good thing too, because otherwise he wouldn’t have gotten paid. You’ll see why later on in this post.
One thing I find about making a chinese recipe is that there are a lot of ingredients, all in small increments, each spice or condiment adding its own individual identity which when combined create a delectable dance of taste.
This recipe is no exception and unfortunately for me and for you: I did not get a chance to make the dipping sauce because as I stated, son was getting paid in Crispy Fish Cakes and he wasn’t about to wait until I prepared the sauce so instead he grabbed the Nuoc Cham Vietnamese Dipping sauce out of the fridge and added 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese black vinegar to it, and voila, he created his unique dipping sauce and you know what, it wasn’t so bad.
Son's Dip Sauce
Next time I make this: I double the recipe. To those who have never worked with rice paper, you have to dip the sheets into a bath of warm water and count to 30. You don’t want the paper too stiff nor too soft. I worked on wax paper and laid the finished product on a plate covered with a damp cloth so as not to dry out the rice paper.
It was only upon having finished all my little packages that I noticed Jaden had tied them with two chives and I used only one. Hers looked nicer. My chives got dark and didn’t stay too green after frying, hers did. Hmmmm…
Thankyou goes out to my manicurist who cancelled my appointment today. Otherwise I doubt I would have been able to tie the chives into a knot: one must have nimble fingers to do this, as well short nails.
Jaden suggested using an inexpensive fish like Tilapia, which I did. However, in Montreal, it is no longer a cheap fish. Supply and Demand has kicked in here. And I guess Demand is winning out, because my Tilapia priced in a little under the Salmon Trout it sat next to.
Heated pan I use for toasting spices
Coriander seeds being toasted...Watch carefully: when you smell them, take them off the stove
I constantly move the pan from side to side so as not to burn
An old coffee grinder grinds the spices
Ground coriander
bigger pic of ground coriander
2tsp of fresh lime juice came out to be a half of a lime and the extra coriander seeds that I toasted and ground, I mixed together with some Kosher salt and made a coriander salt. For the actual entree, tonight I made some more Tilapia and seasoned it with the coriander salt and I must say this became one heck of a delicious seasoning.
One more tidbit of info: when I don’t use a measuring spoon, I use a regular teaspoon and I fill it until one more drop pours out the spoon. Then I know I have a full teaspoon.
Also a great way to get your kids to eat fish, if they are not so nuts about eating fish
Mise-en-place
Chinese chives make glorious foliage
Prep for rolling- I used waxed paper for my surface and a paper towel to wipe dry
Tying of chive
First batch came a little too dark because heat was too high
First shot son took: now you know why he wanted payment up front
second shot son took: now you know why he wanted payment up front
Last shot son took: now you know why it is bad to pay in advance!!
Final product: a beauty
I suppose this is why acrylic cookbook holders are sold...
Crispy Fish Cakes by Jaden Hair of The Steamy Kitchen, or facsimile of, pretty close to, just about or thereof:
1/2 lb of fish, I used Tilapia at Jaden’s suggestion, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tb finely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup of Panko bread crumbs.
2 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice, which comes to a half a lime.
2 tsp fish sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced. I did a horrible thing and used the jarred garlic. Smack my hands. I had no fresh garlic
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp minced fresh chile pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander, I used seeds which I toasted and then ground because that is what I had in stock
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tb cornstarch, or flour
1/4 c water
8- 9-inch dried rice paper rounds
8 Chinese chives, softened in warm water, optional
2-3 tb high heat cooking oil
In a food processor add the Fish Cake ingredients and process till it becomes like a coarse paste. Divide this into 8 equal portions.
Combine the cornstarch and water and mix well untill dissolved. This is called a slurry.
Fill a large shallow dish, or pie plate with warm water. Dip one rice paper round into this water and depending on the rice paper either count to 10 or longer until it has softened. Place the round on a piece of waxed paper or dry surface.
Using your hands, form one fish paste portion into a flat square and place it on the rice paper. Fold the botton piece of rice paper up over the fish paste and fold over the two sides, as if wrapping a present. Dip a pastry brush into the slurry and then onto the tip of the last piece of rice paper which will seal it closed tight, when you fold it up as the last fold.
If using the chives, tie like you would a package around the fish cake and place the fish cake on a clean dry plate and cover with a damp cloth so as not to dry out the patties.
Repeat with remaining portions and rice paper.
In a large non-stick frying pan, on medium-hot heat, add the oil. When hot place 4 patties into the pan and fry on one side then the other. Repeat with remaining fish cakes. Make sure the rice paper do not touch each other or they will stick together. Fry for 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Serve immediately with a dipping sauce.
Delicious and definitely crispy. However, these cakes when cooler loose their crispiness so be sure to make these as close to serving as possible.
Update:
The new camera has arrived, in box. After Donna Ruhlman so graciously explained the F-stop and Aperture settings, I hope in the coming weeks to display photos worthy of this blog. Me thinks I have a lot of homework.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: chinese chives, Donna Ruhlman, Nuoc Cham, panko bread crumbs, photography, rice paper rounds, Tilapia
“Why have a code?
In Ethics on April 30, 2009 at 9:52 AM
“As the blogging world expands exponentially, more and more people in the culinary world believe that food bloggers—as a group—are unfair, highly critical, untrained and power hungry individuals empowered by anonymity. As writers, trained journalists and food bloggers, we feel it is unfair to be labeled something we aren’t. By creating a food blogger code of ethics, we hope to elevate our craft and draw attention to the food bloggers who hold themselves to higher standards.
Why should I subscribe to the ideas of The Code?
We believe you should be able to write about your experiences as you wish. We know everyone’s truth is different and we thoroughly appreciate the diversity of opinions within the food blogging realm. We are not against free speech. We do not believe in censoring. We do, however, believe in civility, honesty and truth.
We strive to make our blogs stand out from the rest through our writing and story telling. We created The Code because we felt it was important to define what our ethical standards were and clearly state them so that we could hold ourselves to those standards. The Code is not meant to be a mandatory thing for everyone in the blogosphere. This is our way to define what our standards are.
We are proud to be bloggers and hope to give the blogging community a better reputation. We wrote this because we were concerned that food bloggers were being unfairly judged as hacks, which the majority of us are not – with or without journalism degrees. And that by creating a code of conduct should give us MORE freedom to be honest, not less.”
This is a citation directly from the Food Blog Code of Ethics…. http://foodethics.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/why-have-a-code/
The Real Truth is that to be labeled “unfair, highly critical, untrained and power hungry individuals empowered by anonymity” could not be closer to the Truth. Your small elitist clique believe in “believe in civility, honesty and truth” is the biggest lie. I am a case in point and I know I am not alone.
A few years ago, I befriended Jaden Janice Hair and in my naiveté truly enjoyed her articles, manner of writing, what appeared to be her true persona and character. Also at a similar point in time I took great pleasure in reading food blogs written by Elise Bauer (www.simplyrecipes.com), by Diane Cu (http://www.whiteonricecouple.com/todd-diane/), by Jaden Hair (http://steamykitchen.com/) and many others.
It was only two months ago at a time when I was so very inspired by these people, in particular Jaden, when I finally decided to start a blog that I believed I would truly enjoy. For one, I truly enjoy writing…I also have a great love of interesting and inspired food recipes and finally I love the culinary arts.
As I had been in regular contact with Jaden, I learned that she was authoring a Book called The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook and at that time I asked Jaden if she would agree to allow me to do each of her recipes in the Book, comment on them and photograph them in my upcoming Blog. She loved the idea and agreed…so I purchased a domain 2 months ago and named it Eye’z In The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. It took me a great deal of time and effort to acquire a working knowledge of Wordpress to enable me to start on my pursuit of what I hoped to be a fun and interesting Blog.
Several weeks and posts after launching my Blog, Jaden contacts me and asks that I rename my Blog so that the name Steamy Kitchen does not appear. I didn’t understand her reasoning, but I readily complied and invested some money to have my domain and site renamed to Eye’z in a Cookbook. At the time I did not see her true motives.
Then a few weeks later, I decided to make reference to a wonderful recipe in an article in Elise Bauer’s website (Elise Bauer is a very close Blog buddy of Jaden’s) however, innocently and inadvertently, instead of creating a certain type of link, I simply created a hyperlink to her post. This enraged Elise and she blasted me using words not befitting a drunken sailor. She also told me that I do not belong in the food blogging world of their’s as I apparently did not meet their high standards. I was shocked and outraged at Elise’s crude and brutal assault and it was at that time that I realized that the food blogging community was actually comprised of a very small tight knit group of people who had no intention of allowing anyone in.
In response to Ms. Bauer’s rude and antagonistic assault, I stated my mind to her and posted a comment on my own Blog providing my view of what had happened. This created a stir and not more than 2 weeks later, I received an email from Jaden Hair suggesting that I was linked to some person on the Internet who apparently has created some havoc in the community and whose views I have never been privy to. Jaden didn’t even ask…she presumed that somehow our names “popped up” and therefore I was associated with this person. I explained precisely to Jaden that I never had any contact with this person and that I would never be interested nor have a common interest in anything he had to say. I not only advised Jaden but also emailed a number of other known food bloggers to ask if they had heard this same information. Not one food blogger worth their weight replied….an incredible loud silence.
Jaden decided to ignore my explanation and just 2 days ago, on November 21, 2009, she decided to “google” my entire family, including my husband and children. She then proceeded to collude with Diane Cu, another one of her blog buddies, and arranged for Diane to email my daughter demanding to know if she was the daughter of yours truly and her husband and then threatened her that Private Investigators wanted to meet with her. My daughter was in shock….my husband and I were in shock and enraged.
When we analyzed what caused this chain reaction of events, it became clear that Jaden and her clique did not want me in the world of food bloggers and decided to use intimidation tactics to ensure I no longer existed in their world.
This behavior is elitist, snobbish, corrupt and ugly….I now see it is shared by the small group that apparently control this food blogging society. One might ask…what is it that they fear…is it their plagiarizing of other people’s recipes, is it their concern that people will really learn that they are charlatans….is it that their sponsors will learn that they are just smoke and mirrors with no substance…….is it a combination of all of this and more……..what is their fear??
They obviously have no code of ethics but their own distorted code that would lead to the menacing threats they have proceeded to impose upon my own daughter. They clearly have no honesty nor truth as they would not have created the illusion and excuse that I somehow, without any logical basis, would or could be associated with someone who has clearly expressed some very ugly views, not one of which I share.
They profess to be civil, but civility does not exist in their vocabulary…..they are what they are….a gang of thugs whose avarice and low self esteem rejects anyone who is not “one of them”. Yes…I am speaking of Elise….Jaden…..Diane……and a group of silent well known bloggers who stand and watch and do nothing. Shame on you….you people have created unearned reputations with well known newspapers, journals, TV networks and numerous sponsors….these people will all learn your dirty little secrets.
Rest assured that I will not rest till each and every one of you are exposed for what you are…..you started this and I will end it!
And Eye’z in a Cookbook shall go on.
UPDATE
After much discussions amongst family members, it was decided that the RCMP be notified of the email Diane Cu sent. The RCMP because this message was sent through cyberspace across International borders.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING INTERNET EXPLORER PROBLEMS: VIEW IN OTHER BROWSER IE. FIREFOX 
It’s Saturday and my entire family is home. Even Montreal had a Black Friday and quite frankly I am pooped. Walmart, The Bay, Ogilvy’s, and Louis Vuitton saw me, showed me, reached into my pockets and picked up my Amex, took it to the cash and took away many of my bucks. Too many. They even took my grocery cash, damn them. So, in order to prepare hubby for the end of the month I thought I would fatten him up for the kill, and prepare those once-in-a-while recipes he loves so much. The first being a Baked Salami from a recipe I got, who knows where. So many recipes out there are the same; save for one or two ingredients and over the years I have accumulated so many that I actually get to go back to my Cooking Light Cookware Program from the early 90’s where I store each and every favourite recipe since eternity, and sometimes even catch a thief on the net.
(That Cookware Program is a story in and of itself and one used to be able to buy and download a package of recipes purchased online and sold monthly by subscription from Cooking Light Magazine. Until the whole thing disappeared. In fact, it was a program I purchased on an actual floppy disk: remember those. Since then every recipe I accumulated via the internet has gone into this program and it gets backed up monthly like the rest of my computer. Hey, I hope people back up monthly because those that do have suffered the way those that don’t soon will.)
Let’s face it, we are all thieves in one way or another when it comes to recipes, especially if one reads Ratios. Ruhlman highlighting that all recipes in one form or another have to be based on a ratio, if just for the science of it. I can’t tell you how many times Baked Salami has been served to me at parties or brunches and how many different ways there are to prepare it.
This is my way and it comes out at the end of 4 hours as the most succulent, soft, and addictive salami one could possibly hope to attain in 4 hours of pure baking. How easy a meal is this?
You can make sandwiches, add it to scrambled eggs, slice into a Chef’s Salad, eat it off the counter as you are emptying the dishwasher; any way you choose. Buy a salami: I like to buy a Kosher one; don’t ask me why. Make it a real salami not an Italian one, a hard one or anything different than a good old salami made the American way.
Take 1 cup of orange marmalade,
and 1 cup of Dijon Mustard.
Now here is where creativity and instinct in cooking comes in: any mustard can be used just like any marmalade or jam can be used. The above is simply a suggestion, so GO FOR IT. Use whatever is in the fridge if you want. I like mustards, all kinds including the yellow, which has its place among mustards. For this recipe I used a Beer Mustard; the tang is what I was going for. Mix it all together and yes, it is a lot of mixture for one salami; then use two. Slice the salami into 1/8-1/4 inch slices straight through but not entirely SO STOP BEFORE YOU HIT THE DIRT…1/4 inch above the cut that goes right through. Massage that mess of a mixture into your salami with lots a love making sure to get into the slices. Balance goes on top and salami, which has been wrapped in strong tin-foil, is then placed into a low oven at 350 for 4 HOURS. 4 hours baby; which means the dog can get walked, the lawn mowed, take the kids tobogganing, get a haircut and even attend the Church Bazaar.
By hour 2 the house smells so good, the neighbors will be envious. If you’re lucky, the young’un will have friends over just in time for a slice or two and by evening that mother will want the recipe.
Baked Salami
1 whole American salami
1 cup orange marmalade
1 cup Dijon Mustard
Set oven to 350 F. Mix last two ingredients together and shmush and massage over salami. Roll in tin foil; not tightly so there is room to grow (but it will shrink). 4 hours later take it out, open the foil and let it cool slightly. Yes, Rachel Ray it is indeed Yummo.
Next thing I prepared was Soupe a L’oignon gratinée.
Before I give this recipe, let it be known that we count amongst our friends a pride of lawyers, including one judge, and one who has argued twice before the Supreme Court of Canada, a feat only a handful of lawyers in Canada can attest to. Yes, Brent; the only Anglo fighting for our rights and who has been a good friend to my husband all these years. The rest of them are of French Canadian descent and if they saw this recipe they would be aghast at the insult I am about to do to a dish considered a French Canadian classic.
Hey, sue me.
Ready for the Broiler
It goes like this: and chefs around the world I apologize for this - but it is so damn good and so damn easy and is so contrary to the true Soupe a l’oignon gratinée that I call it a ‘copycat’ recipe.
2 14oz cans of Condensed onion soup
1 1/2 cans of water
1/4 cup of Sherry or Good Red Wine
3 or 4 slices of French bread or baguette, cut fairly thick and toasted
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
1/ cup grated Mozzarella cheese
Optional ingredient 3/4 cup of canned French Fried Onions
Mix the cheeses together. In a saucepan, combine the soup, water, sherry or wine, and heat. In individual oven proof bowls or onion soup bowls, place a slice of the toasted baguette and some of the optional fried onions. Pour in the hot soup and top it with the cheeses that have been mixed together. Broil until cheese is melted and golden brown. You would swear you just ordered it from La Crêpe Bretonne.
The Third in this trilogy of easy and somewhat ‘copycat’ recipes belongs to an original recipe from The Original Orange Julep in Montreal.
A copy in an original
The Orange Julep must be given its history and the following pays homage to an institution in Montreal going back to the 1940’s: What is not mentioned is that the OJ, from its inception, was a hang-out for teens and early on was THE last stop everyone went to after a Saturday night out. Many a marriage was made at the OJ. The OJ never, ever lost that reputation for the generations of teens to come; the Orange Julep never had a generational gap. They still meet up here. It is the place where a teen who got their driver’s license celebrated THAT DAY.It was when my brother and sister were teens, it was when I was a teen, it was when MY KIDS were teens and I have no doubt it is that today.
The Orange Julep was the last of its kind to have its waitresses (only waitresses btw) come up to the car window and take an order. It was the last of its kind to have the trays that used to sit on the driver’s side window, rolled half-way down, with hooks.
The Orange Julep had an opening and a closing: that is how Montrealers knew that Spring was on its way and Winter was about to come. THE ORANGE JULEP EITHER OPENED UP OR CLOSED DOWN. You never missed an OJ opening: it was a mandatory event like Apple-picking is to us - A MUST HAVE AND A MUST DO. The Orange Julep has been written about by every journalist and every newspaper numerous times and the following is from the Wiki page….take time to go to the link and read…especially if you are an expat. And think of the summers when who had the coolest car was the most popular…uhhh like today.
“The Gibeau Orange Julep (also known colloquially as OJ or The Big Orange) is a roadside attraction and fast food restaurant in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[1] The building is in the shape of a giant orange, three stories high with a diameter of forty feet. The restaurant was started by Hermas Gibeau in the 1940s to serve his trademark orange drink, similar but not identical to that of Orange Julius.[2]It is believed Gibeau intended to live in the three-story sphere with his wife and children. [3] The restaurant and its orange sphere was rebuilt further back from the roadway when it was widened as the Decarie Expressway in the 1960s. For a time, the Julep was noted for rollerskating waitresses but customers today order food in the more conventional fashion of a fast food restaurant. Food can then be taken away or eaten at one of a number of provided picnic tables. [4] The restaurant operates 24 hours a day during summer and reduced hours in winter. [5] Today, it also hosts classic car and motorbike enthusiasts on Wednesday nights from May-August. [3] The restaurant is located at the corner of Decarie Boulevard and Pare Street, just off the Decarie Expressway, in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. It is just north of the equestrian harness racing track Blue Bonnets, and directly across the expressway from the landmark hotel Ruby Foo’s. It is within walking distance of Namur Montreal metro station.”
And now I present to you the copycat recipe of a