Seattlegirlychef

I just saw the flick last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was amazed at how well the creators did so much homework on the actual workings of a kitchen and bringing so much passion for cooking into the movie. I'm wondering if anyone knows about the sweetbreads special that Linguini becomes famous for...what exactly was in it? Collette rambles off the menu description so fast, it was hard to follow. Thank you Busboy who posted the ratatouille recipe from Thomas Keller, my husband wants me to make it tomorrow night! What an ingredient list! At least it's a fairly cheap dish to make. I'm just wondering how he made it so compact and small, without the the thin disks of squash toppling over and losing it's shape. Interesting, anywhoo, back to life....

Jaime rocks my socks off, I fell in love the first time I saw him on the Food network!

SOMEONE PLEASE tell me why the idiot-intern Drew was sitting at the table with Chowderhead and his minions while taste testing Ralph's food? Was Drew not fired??? Hello?

Did anybody catch the previews for the next show, something about 'who's the hottie? oh, he's Rocco's replacement'? The camera pans to a tall, dark and handsome guy sitting at one of the booths. If I'm not mistaken LAST WEEK they teased us with the same 'replacement' gag and showed a nerdy, bushy haired 30-something attempting to saute pasta. ...getting desperate???

'See my enormous ego here'...a picture of Rocco (my blog). Rocco is insane, the show is crazy, mama knows nothing, poor mama, so much drama! Poor Antonio cooking in the kitchen and not speaking English, what is a fullatore? I know...do you? I know why they're losing money, Rocco's ego is getting in the way of payroll. Just cuz the place is packed everynight, doesn't make it profitable, Duh, look at your food cost! I didn't go to cooking school just to cook, I learned a thing or to about running a restaurant.

You're right mnebergall, I do believe the breast has no fat on it. I'm discovering from other posts that goose breast is served like you described, grilled or seared to med-rare, either that or cooked to oblivion until it's mush. I'm cooking for my family, and I don't think they're too keen on eating such a rare piece of meat, but I would try it! I will be cooking it this weekend, thanks for the suggestion, I'll let you know how it goes, Leah

I need some advice on what do with 2, close to about 10 oz. each, goose breasts I have in my freezer. My dad got them from his boss after a hunting trip. I've never cooked goose before, should I sear and then roast? I wish i could smoke it...but have no smoker. Could I marinate it and grill it? What flavors should I use? I need some help please! thanks!

Another Installment, yeah for me: 18/7/03 I filmed Eva in they kitchen making the sweet cake the serve at Patsatzis. It's made mainly with semolina, sugar, yolks, baking soda and powder, lemon zest, and egg whites folded in, baked, then a cider type of syrup is poured on top-sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and water, then set to cool. She also did lamb's neck-roasted with mustard, s&p, retsina wine, bay leaf, lemon juice, water, and roasted in the oven at 300C-about 450F for 3 1/2 hours-I can't wait to try it. Nikos is a cutie- he reminds me of one of the guys I cooked with at school-Matt- but Nikos is actually nice. He just asked me, "You write letter now?"-"no, It's my journal", I say. 23/7/03 Yesterday we ate at the Canadian Pizza place-blech. I learned that you should never eat at a place like that-where they make frood from another country-named by another country-served in another country. I think even the CANADIANS would be embarrassed. It was pretty sad-I ordered a 'calzone'- A squishy pocket filled with gobs of unidentified white cheese, sliced kalamata olives, some greasy mushrooms and slathered in tomato sauce...which was actually ketchup. And the 'cobb salad' was actually large chunks of iceburg lettuce, cubes of edam cheese-which I'm still not clear on the origin of-kalamata olives, slices of canadian bacon, and the dressing which was mayonnaise...yes, straight mayonnaise, not oil, vinegar, s&p...eek! I made an attempt to be as gracious as possible picking through the this messy dinner, trying to recover the somewhat edible bits. The Greek family I was eating with seemed unphased by this culinary humiliation. It was pretty sad, I learned I need to eat at places where the food is made by people that actually know how to make it-in a region where the ingredients are local and used appropriately. Yeah and I won't eat at Goody's ever again-I need to eat some calamari!

Ah moussaka, you guys make me so happy, stuff to read! woowooo...I was informed from Evagelia that ground beef is harder to come by then ground pork. They used very little beef anything in their dishes, mostly pork, chicken and veal. And lamb as well, but not as much as you think. They don't use lamb for the gyros like most places here in the states. Eva tells me that lamb is too expensive and greasy for the majority of Greek's taste. So instead pork and chicken is used, seasoned and skewered onto a huge metal rod, propped up vertically, not horizontally, cooked over hot coals. Most eateries have the gryo displayed proudly for passerbys to see and smell the delicious meat. ~~~ Pictures from my travels here. more to come!

And now, something about Greek food, yes, I did learn some things on my voyage overseas last summer. I have my journal sitting here next to the keyboard waiting to be transposed into this lovely message post. I added in more descriptions and information. Here we go: Monday 14/7/03 (notice the change in date display) So, today is Monday, My parents anniversary-30 years- I'm sitting here in the tabepna (taverna) that's how you write it in Greek. Evagelia helped me write it. Were' listening to Josh Groban on the stereo, she likes his music. My tummy is upset-I think it's freaking out from all these new things I'm putting into it. We had moussaka earlier-sliced potatoes, eggplant, ground pork, and mornay sauce, layered, very rich and heavy. I didnt' eat much, some bread, tzatziki-yogurt, cucumber, dill, and onion, some salad-with green peppers, tomatoes, olive oil and dried herbs. And now I'm drinking sprite to calm my stomach. It's not as sweet as the US's drink. The main soda beverage's of choice here are coca-cola, diet coke, sprite, and fanta. No dad's root beer, dr. pepper, mt. dew, overly complicated sugary soft drinks, etc. All the soda comes in refillable glass bottles so the restaurant doesn't have to pay extra for new bottles. Themis took me to buy some ice cream at the village 'convenience store'-an outdoors kiosk of sorts, with all types of candies, chips, drinks, cigarettes and magazines on display to sell. These kiosks are located almost every other block, super convienent for that momentary sugar fix. There's all types of ice cream novelty treats-cones, bars, 1/2 pint containers, pop-ups-and all different flavors-chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, caramel, mocha, hazelnut, peanut butter and various fruits. Some topped with nuts and fudge, some with a frozen fruity sauce, they're definately big here on the ice cream. more to come~

Hey, for those of you wondering (quina), I'm still in the process of actually typing up some of the FOOD stuff from Greece, it's all in my handy journal laying on my desk in the other room, but I'm too lazy to get it and about to retire for the night. I know, I gotta start living up to my 'chef' name eh? Believe me, I did try plenty of Greek foods, and yes...some eats from "Goody's", their version of an 'upscale' McDonalds. All in due time, but for now, one more email....and I think I actually mention something in here about cooking: Sunday, Aug. 10, 2003 Hello my fellow Anglos~ This will be my last report from Greece. I know so sad, but not sad that I'm finally going home! It really does seem like an eternity since I've been home. I'm missing all your happy faces too much. I went to the beach with Maria this past week. I finally got some color, sort of, but nothing like a major tan. We went to Goody's, one of the major fast food chains here in Greece, even bigger then McDonalds. Goody's was the first fast food place I've been in were the serve Heinken on tap and the majority of the seating is for smoking. Pretty crazy. I made some grilled pizzas for the crew in the tavern on Thursday. Evagelia bought me some top ramen noodles so I could make some stir-fry. I have been craving Asian food like mad. I don't trust the Greeks to do Asian food. I made some more lemon squares on Friday for a family lunch we had today at church. They turned out pretty yummy. Today was my last day at church. It was such a blessing because the had one of the tall black Nigerian guys pray for me and an older lady that was going back to Africa. We ate lunch after church and I talked to a lady name Ute ("ewe-tah") from Germany. She's really sweet. I took several pictures as well so you can all see the faces of this very international church. God is good! We've had about 2 more rainstorms this past week which I always get a kick out of. We have been pretty lucky with the rain, unlike the other countries here. I had seen several shots of forest fires of Italy on the Greek news, but didn't realize how severe it was till I read the news online. They even had the Pope ask everyone to pray for rain. Well, I was hoping to make this last email longer then the rest, but my brain's fried. For those of you that would like to meet me at the airport (hint, hint) I arrive this Wednesday, Aug. 13th, around 4:30pm on British Airways. My parents will be there was well, at the top of the escalator. On my flight back I take an hour flight to Athens then I'll be camping out in the airport till the morning when my 8am flight to London leaves. Fun times! Pray for a safe trip home, love you all, Leah The English word for "Ya sas" is "Health to you".

seabeasties...as in seafood? no shrimp, I thought I said already, but i did eat lots of grilled fish, a bit of calamri, evagelia said it's never seriously fresh so she didn't want me to try, but I did anyways (not much to say, a bit chewy, no flavor)...I think that's it!

hey guys, thanks for that, you're right, I should write more about food...duh...I will probably type up some stuff from my journal then. I think those might be more insightful. thanks~ Leah

Hi folks, okay, no need to get snooty here, but I was hoping for more people to actually reply to my posts, ie ask questions, comments, whatever, just let me know you're reading. Thank you Pan for commenting :) I need some feedback! I'm thinking of simply taking excerpts straight from my journal while I was in Greece instead of posting more emails...though I only have about 4 left, well tell me what you think~ thanks love :) ~~~~~~ Wednesday, July 23, 2003 Halkidiki is beautiful! I'm learning that the three "legs" of the beaches (look at map for you none-world travelers http://www.halkidiki.com/english/sinfo_e.htm ) are where people take their long summer holidays to get out of the city. Themis' parents and I drove to Neas Marmaras, http://www.halkidiki.com/marmaras/index.htm the middle leg of the beach, where the water is as blue as I have imagined, much better then the beach I went to last week. We drove up to a small kids camp where Themis sister, Maria was working. She's a very energetic 22-year-old, greeted me with the traditional kiss on each cheek (right to left!) They chatted for a while, then the parents and I drove down to the beach and went for a quick swim. There were actual waves for me to jump through and over, lots of fun. Luckily, it was much later in the evening and so I didn't have to worry about the sun scorching my skin. I haven't gotten much browner, I need to work on that! I collected some pretty rocks (mom) too. The sand is really nice, not too grainy, more like little tiny pebbles that are comfortable to walk on bare foot. After words we drove into the small tourist town, I think I actually passed by English speaking families, made me feel not so foreign. We should be going back on Friday, looking forward to it... I have been doing a minimal amount of cooking, more eating then cooking. Themis tells me "you come home 100 kg fatter!" Well...I don't know about that. Evagelia tells me not to worry about helping in the kitchen because I'm on vacation, "no need to work!" I'm gonna try making my yummy lemon squares, I'll see how the Greeks like them. I have to first convert the measurements into metric, I hope they turn out alright. Anyways...almost 1/2 way through the month...I am looking forward to coming home :) The language barrier hasn't been too hard, well sort of, Evagelia has been helping me with the words and the pronounciation. For those of you unknown to the Greek culture, they use a completely different alphabet compared to the Latin one. The "R" is a "P", the "L" is an upside down "V", the "G" is an upside-down "L", the "S" is a squiggly looking "C", the "B" has a "V" sound...well you get the picture. It might as well be any Asian alphabet for that matter. Until next time, same bat time, same bat channel! Love you, Leah -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Greek word for "Bless you" is "Stin-ee-ya-sas".

My mother is not home yet, I am hungry, did she go grocery shopping or not? I wonder. Please do not get me confused for a 20 something adult that STILL lives with their parents and mooches off of them, that is only partially true for me. I've lived on my own for a cumulative number of years and do know how to shop and cook for myself. I'm just lazy and would rather sit here and eat these delicious kettle potato chips instead. And now for my 3rd installment of my emails from Greece. FYI: If you would like to know more about what this is all about, please return to the main "adventures in eating" board and click on pt. 2 of my emails, you'll understand it better. So without further ado ~ Monday, July 21, 2003 Wow...email every 2 days from me, how exciting.... I made it to church! The bus only took a half hour, considering almost all businesses are closed on Sundays in the city, so there's less traffic. The church is pretty small, maybe 20 people max. The pastor and his wife, Ernie and Gladys Guitterez, are Phillipino and speak fluent English and a good amount of Greek. I met 2 girls, Kristin from Wash. DC, and Brenda is from New Zealand. They were at the church for several days, working for YWAM, and had just back from Georgia and Albania, preaching the gospel. How awesome is that? There were some family's from Nigeria, Switzerland, Germany, and of course here in Greece. It was great to finally have some fellowship, it really helped me keep my eyes focused on where God is putting me. I thanked Ernie and Gladys and they were very friendly and offered to take me to the beach while I'm here. I gave Kristin my email and contact number so possibly I might get together with her and Brenda for their time here. Very awesome... Yesterday after church I went to my first REAL big, fat, Greek Orthodox wedding. Evagelia, Themis and I all drove about an hour and a half north, up to this early Christian Basilican church, on the side of this mountain, literally. The drive was crazy, a winding, curvy road, if I didn't keep my eyes on the in front of the car, I was sure to get sick. The wedding was outside, in front of the church where we all gathered and waited a half an hour till the bride and her entourage showed up. The groom's family was waiting there as well. The bride and her family entered from a long dirt road visable from the church, with a band playing music in the front of the procession. They made it up to the front, while the priest blessed them and did the ritual of reading the orthodox bible, drank some wine, smashed a glass, placed a round ring and on the bride and groom's head, and then we all threw rice and crossed our hearts like 10 times. It was pretty interesting :) We couldn't stay for the reception because we had to get back to the restaurant. I did take some amazing pictures though. I'll get those all scanned when I get home. Tomorrow I'm going to Halkidi beach with Themi's parents...we were going to go today but they cancelled because they had a funeral to go to. There seems to be a lot of those....I'm mailing out some postcards to some of you, I hope they get to you before I get home! Until next time, love you~ Leah ------- Also, you can always see my pictures from my journeys here.