chezlamere

great stories

you should read "found meals of a lost generation"

Russian borsch Borscht - Russia Yield: 18-20 servings • 7 quarts water • 2 quarts canned tomatoes • 2 cups onion, chopped • 10 medium potatoes, peeled and halved • 1/2 - 1 lb butter • 1 medium beet, quartered • 1 3/4 cups carrots, shredded • 1 3/4 cups celery, chopped • 8 cloves garlic • 1 green pepper, chopped • 3 tablespoons salt • 18 cups cabbage, shredded very fine – about 2 cabbages • 1 pint whipping cream • 1 1/2 cup potatoes, diced • 1 cup green onions, chopped • 1 cup fresh dill, chopped Sauté onions lightly in 1/8 lb. butter then add 3 cups cabbage and sauté. In large pot or canner bring tomatoes to boil. Add Water, bring to boil. Add beet and halved potatoes. Cook until done. Remove beet and dice, return to pot. Remove potatoes and mash with butter, add 1/2 pint whipping cream. Add remaining cream to water and tomatoes in the pot. In a separate pan saute carrots, celery, garlic and green pepper add to water mix. Then add mashed potatoes and diced potatoes. Bring to hard boil. Add uncooked shredded cabbage and bring to a boil. Add dill and green onions and bring to hard boil, add sautéed onion and cabbage and bring to hard boil. Take off burner and let stand uncovered till half cooled. Do not use margarine or omit any ingredients. If using dry dill use 1/4 cup. Have all vegetables peeled and chopped before starting. . To save preparation time, use packaged finely shredded cabbage. Can be poured off into mason jars and sealed in oven, store in fridge. takes about 1 1/2 hours Keywords: Soup ( RG829 )

Russian borsch Borscht - Russia Yield: 18-20 servings • 7 quarts water • 2 quarts canned tomatoes • 2 cups onion, chopped • 10 medium potatoes, peeled and halved • 1/2 - 1 lb butter • 1 medium beet, quartered • 1 3/4 cups carrots, shredded • 1 3/4 cups celery, chopped • 8 cloves garlic • 1 green pepper, chopped • 3 tablespoons salt • 18 cups cabbage, shredded very fine – about 2 cabbages • 1 pint whipping cream • 1 1/2 cup potatoes, diced • 1 cup green onions, chopped • 1 cup fresh dill, chopped Sauté onions lightly in 1/8 lb. butter then add 3 cups cabbage and sauté. In large pot or canner bring tomatoes to boil. Add Water, bring to boil. Add beet and halved potatoes. Cook until done. Remove beet and dice, return to pot. Remove potatoes and mash with butter, add 1/2 pint whipping cream. Add remaining cream to water and tomatoes in the pot. In a separate pan saute carrots, celery, garlic and green pepper add to water mix. Then add mashed potatoes and diced potatoes. Bring to hard boil. Add uncooked shredded cabbage and bring to a boil. Add dill and green onions and bring to hard boil, add sautéed onion and cabbage and bring to hard boil. Take off burner and let stand uncovered till half cooled. Do not use margarine or omit any ingredients. If using dry dill use 1/4 cup. Have all vegetables peeled and chopped before starting. . To save preparation time, use packaged finely shredded cabbage. Can be poured off into mason jars and sealed in oven, store in fridge. takes about 1 1/2 hours Keywords: Soup ( RG829 )

i once used my leg to stop a knife talk about stupid. It landed pointy tip in my vein. I never saw blood squirt out with every heart beat.

don't you hate when that happens.

my first day on my first job as a bonafied chef I had to make a batch of baking powder biscuits. I will never forget those damn biscuits as long as I live. I always check and recheck and double check the powder jar for the soda jar. That was a bad day.

stick my hand in a steamer without protection. (duh) Mistake a pot handle for a just sharpened knife.

beef bourgeon and dilled baby carrots ( that i dragged home from work) with many glasses of wine and garlic bread.

my daughter was probably about the same age, but she lost half her front tooth jumping on the bed with her sister and smashing tooth first into an old plaster wall. I remember picking up the chunk of tooth and thinking "i wonder if crazy glue will get this sucker back on" Amazing dentistry work, it's been like ten years and everytime she smiles I look for the fake part of her tooth but can never see it.

I'm waiting

wine with cheese. If there's no wine in the house, I don't eat. Cottage cheese on top of sliced tomatoes. Pesto, pesto and pesto.

cabbage is the worse part of cabbage rolls, I too only ate the filling. Then I discovered savoy cabbage. It's sooooo much better, rolls up without presteaming, and just rolls up better. Paper thin when cooked in cabbage rolls, try it.

I'd like to hear about any interesting first time in someone else's kitchen stories from personal chef's or first catering contracts, or just horror stories from the above. I've just started this as a side line on my days off.

I quess i'm lucky I grew up Poor. Nothing came out of a can, everything was made from scratch. I never tasted cool whip or dream whip until i started cooking professionaly. The only soup that wasn't home made that was in the house was cream of tomato and liptons chicken noodle for those days my mom was too busy in her garden or canning or freezing things.

My mother was second generation russian/canadian and made a huge canner or cabbage borsch about once a month. The fridge was stuffed with mason jars of this stuff and we would have to eat it for a week. I hated borsch week. Your statis a cook was based on how "good" your borsch was so it was sampled by everyone and comments were made about how better or different or whatever it was compared to last time. When I left home my mother used to send me borsch in her "care package" and I finally learned to appreciated it when I was dirt poor and broke on my own. And to this day I look forward to her "care packages from home". And it's been 30 years.

Horrible Horrible split pea soup. ugh- she never used ham or the bone it was this green groul. We couldn't leave the table until it was eaten. (my father Loved it) needless to say it was salty from tears and there is nothing worse than stone cold salty split pea soup. Other than that my mother was queen in the kitchen. with her limited budget and that huge garden and two freezers. I used to hate sleepovers at my friends homes because I thought they all ate crap compared to me. Everyone seemed to be eating something under campbells soup. I was known far and wide and wide as that "picky eater" at sleep overs. To this day I don't eat alot of stuff that needs what I call messing with, like pasta dishes, hamburger dishes , soups etc unless I make them, or my mother makes it. I've grown up into a "picky restaurant eater". And don't get me started on hygiene in kitchens other than mine. Commercial and otherwise. That wooden tasting spoon that goes back into the pot or bowl is my pet peeve. Then there's that rag that cleans off the plate before it's served.....

I send people home when they're sick. I hate sicko's in the kitchen. Flu shots are mandatory. Get one sick staff and before you know it we're all sick.

my grandmothers home made fruit leather. I remember the stuff on screens on top of saw horses all over her back yard. Peeling it off the wax paper in the winter. I think the last time I had this stuff was late 60's. I was on fly and wasp patrol, while it was drying.

When i cook at home ( which is not often enough) My Mini manicotti is always requested at family pot lucks. (I use rigatoni instead) if any are leftover, great cold as finger food in school lunches. Cabbage rolls, Burned black chicken thighs, ( skin thighs, and toss in bowl of lea and perrins and balsamic and whatever spices are handy, celery salt is good- and put in hot oven in single layer(400 or so) turn once or twice- chicken is ready when burned and black, and falling off the bone I keep the fridge stocked all summer with my homemade raspberry juice.

tearless and sneezless onion would be nice never mind the magic fridge, how about the magic microwave that you put a picture from a mag or book and "poof" when you open the door the actual food has replaced the picture. I want a remote control vacuum cleaner that winter tomato tree would be nice, i could plant it next to the winter peach tree.

i always hated mushrooms, and raisans, still do. I eat stuffed mushrooms - don't know why that's the only way. I grew up on russian cabbage borsch, vereniki, perahi. All that stuff. Hated it with a passion. Can't get enough of it now, my mother always make a batch for all of us once or twice a year. The strawberry perahi are to die for. I actually make borsch at work (the right kind that is) and it wouldn't put my ancestors to shame, but mother's is always the one I look forward to.

my monthly overdue fine at the library usually pays for a book. Sometimes it's just to hard to let go of the book renew - our library does it online, by phone or in person trust me - a library would usually prefer to have the circulation to the fine i do renew but i usually have about 20 books going at the same time. plus about 35+ on the reserve list. Believe me my library LOVES the fines. And I'm happy to comply (sometimes) I have been checking off the books mentioned already and all but one are at the various branches here, and many are multiple copies. I don't remember the last time I actually browsed. I just go in every three days or so and pick up my load of reserve books. I love my library. Of all the places that I have lived, this is by far the best place because of the library. I just do everything on-line.

i agree, this is one of the best books I've read on food. I wish I could write like that. I read an article in bon appetit or gourmet or some mag awhile ago on the History of food as it relates to religion, I had a copy of this mag buy my many moves - well it's gone. I would love a copy of that article again. It was probably about ten+ years ago.

after hearing about this book endlessly... I ordered it from the library. I gotta say - for the money, I don't see what the big deal is. It's lay out is tiresome, It's like reading an encyclopedia or a dictionary. One tends to miss the good parts from all the useless parts. I think my text books were better, and I don't use them anymore. I find search engines better and more up to date than this book, and it was the latest edition. And Waaaaaaaay tooooo heavy for my backpack. Of coarse if i found it at a used book store i would buy it.