chow guy

I do ALL of the cooking at our house (which often includes two menus... since my wife is vegeatrian). I also do most of the cleaning, and all of the shopping, laundry and garden chores. Since my wife works four ten hour days, and I do several part time gigs, (including cooking), I'm totally fine with being a house husband. I love getting showered with praise when she comes home to a clean house and a great dinner. Even when I'm busy, I get off on doing something quick and delicious for her dinner. I also entertain regularly (often combining business and pleasure), which works very wel. We always get alot done, and everyone has a great time, for a fraction of what it would cost at a restaurant.

Our mother was Catholic, but we were raised Protestant (Dad wouldn't sign the papers). I used to argue with my mother that fish was meat, to no avail. We were forced to keep meatless Fridays during lent, which usually meant fish or mac and cheese. My favorite Friday Lenten meal was DeeDum Ditty, a Welch Rarebid Americanization with cheddar cheese, milk, green peppers worchestershire and tobasco sauce, melted in a double boiler and served on toast. Saturday mornings were memorable during Lent. My grandfather and his pals always got together to snack, drink beer, talk politics and religion and smoke lots of cigarettes. During Lent they would eat special sausages (bockwurst and weisswurst), stinky cheese like Lindberger and drink Bock beer. It was also Shad Roe season in the Hudson Valley which was a favorite of my father's. A taste I never aquired.

I agree, the video is actually very good. The steps are all there, including checking to make sure "the meat is gray and moist" YUM! The most important tip I gleaned was: Present information at a level your students will understand and maybe even enjoy. Thanks for the link..

Alrighty then, Can anyone recommend a good FOH trainning film that has been effective for your business?

The FOH training films I've seen, are not very good. I'm thinking of producing my own. I'd love to get any insights or information you might have about producing a FOH trainning and saftey film. Has anyone done one? How much did it cost? Any warnings, amusing anecdotes or advice? Many Thanks.

I agree, when food is mediocre... I just nod and throw out a curt, "fine". If it's really bad...I will elaborate (since you asked, I'll tell you kind of thing) except... if the chef is drunk or hungover. That's a hard one for me, I usually just grunt and don't make eye contact. When it's really good I also elaborate, with specific praise and gratitude.

I often wind up going to three or four places for veggies on one shopping trip. The real trouble here, is supply and demand, which effects quality and price. La Montanita is Very pricey and all too often, they are out of things they should keep in stock, like baby greens (even at a whopping $7.99 per pound). Ta Lin on the other hand, has Great prices, like: Thai Basil ($1.29 for a good sized bag, $1.95 for a small flat of oyster mushrooms or fresh lychees ($4 a bag). But, quality is very"iffy". Fresh Herbs was much better in their former incarnation as B Riley. At this point, they often have alot of intresting things, including wild mushrooms at a fairly good price, but, they no longer carry many things, that used to be staples, like salsify. Also they're often out of things they should carry, so I always call first. Like Sunflower Market, Lowes on Lomas and 12th often has excellent prices on more common fruits and vegetables. (10 smallish red grapefruits for 2 bucks, 15 key limes or 4 lemons for a dollar. It's hit or miss at both places for quality and price. I'm also not very impressed with Tullys. Deli Mart on Coors has a better selection of Italian meats etc. and they'll also order special items for you. There's is a small Carnerceria on NW 4th, next to VSA N4th Street Theatre (where I'm directing a play). I've been too busy, but I've been wanting to try it. Has anyone tried it?

Lings' point is very well taken, and smaller portion sizes also keep us from realizing how much sodium, fat and sugar we're actually consuming. After joining Weight Watchers last year, I began doing alot of math calculation and portion control. I was overjoyed that a (low fat) Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich was only 4 points. I didn't read the label, and finally after a few weeks, I realized the 18 grams of sugar in them, was keeping me from getting skinny. Denial is not a river in Egypt. At this point, I've retrained myself to be satisfied with smaller portions and can be satisfied with just four (or five) ravioli. Now that's a miracle. I'm just grateful to have pasta at all on a diet. I think restaurant portion sizes have gotten huge so that customers won't feel as bad, about paying 13 bucks for meatloaf etc. etc. etc.

Thanks for such a great site. One comment though, there is no catergory for the vast Southwestern region. I teach Thai cookng classes in New Mexico , My daughter takes them in Denver and I've seen them listed in Arizona. You might want to add Southwest to your site. Also, I think most folks would not consider Austin to be in the South, rather the Southwest. We have a vast country going on here, so it gets confusing.

We have two very personal pieces of food art on the walls. One is a a beautiful painting of a Kabosha squash that my wife painted, and a lovely painting of my neighbors Calamondin tree, that used to provide lots of fruit for marmalade and salsas when we lived in Folrida. I'd upload pictures but... I'm tech challenged.

Thanks for the post....this looks like it would work pretty well, I think I'll try it for a lactose intolerant friend.

Carmel screams for: Cashews

Samuel Johnson said it more archly: "None but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." ← So where do we all think our blogging fits in with the not-writing-except-for-money theory? ← It was a great reason why I stopped blogging entirely (why should I generate information for others without compensation AND occasionally be plagiarized?) -- yet there are those who blog a lot and are published a lot so I guess it depends if you have already found your voice and your niche. There are those who began blogging to establish a voice and develop a following. Some have succeeded while others have failed miserably. I will tell you that it HAS made me jaded against those writers who blog to promote their published word... ← I'd never thought about it before, but your post reminded me that, I've never blogged. It would be a lot of work (especially since my writing takes way too much time) and it's hard to imagine not getting paid. I do alot of gratis cooking, for worthy causes, but somehow, blogging doesn't seem like a worthy cause.

I was very inspired by Calvin Trillin, Roy Andre de Groot and Elizabeth David. About eight years ago, I pitched the editor of La Cocinita, a monthly food/lifestyle magazine here in New Mexico. He accepted my piece ( which was about local honey). It was well recieved, and I began to get frequent assignments. I was fortunate to be able to write, about subjects I really wanted to know more about myself, like, a local produce farm, apricots, herbs etc. I also write lifestlye articles (gardening, fitness etc.) for "Albuquerque The Magazine" and essays for "Man Alive", a mens wellness journal. The Intrepid Traveler published my first book "New Mexico Chow Resaurants for the Rest of Us". It's a restaurant guide with lots of information and reviews. I wanted to let folks know about the many mom and pop places here, that often close because no one even knew they were there, let alone really good. Next, I got a gig as the restaurant reviewer for "The Alibi", an alternative weekly newspaer which led to another weekly recipe column called Bite. I woulld like to pitch ideas for articles for creative healthy meals with recipes to Eating Well and other national publications. My current interest in healthy eating, is related to loosing over fifty pounds (and wanting to keep it off), while enjoying delicious food and sharing that information with others. Your post has made me realize most of my writing has been about things I felt passionately about and wanted to share. Thanks for the topic and the wake up call. It's time to start pitching again. I've also been working on a cook book idea and will need to start looking for an agent... any day now. Any ideas?

I love it in lemon ginger ice cream and fresh juicy pear pies.

We did a wonderful grazing party after the rehearsal, with lots of different finger foods, which required, only a small plate and fork. It took place at our newly renovated house, so, a sit down dinner was out. We had lots of friends and family from all corners, including kids, octagenarians, and vegetarians, and they were all invited the night before to meet and greet etc.. This format was perfect, folks got to move around (inside and out) and meet all the "distened" family (as my wife likes to call it). We also included heiloom family desserts from both sides. It was casual but substantial and it was a big hit.

Think of jazzing up street food with high end ingredients like Sam Etheridge from Ambrozia in Albuquerque does. He makes "Lobster Corn Dogs". Or like the "Duck, Duck, Duck Burger" they used to serve at the Anaconda Bar in Taos. An amazing 18 buck burger made with confit and duck breast with a stash of foie in the center, served with caramelized onions and white truffle fries. I think the trick is to keep it delicious and not too gimmiky.

I join a group of potters (called the mud bunch), once a month at a different place for lunch. The choice is up to the folk, or folks that have a birthday that particular month. We can have up to 20 lunchers, so that precludes certain places, and I avoid the chains, but, I must admit, I've tried places I would not have tried and was glad I did. There are several foodies and food writers in the group so there 's always a lively discourse afterward. It always amazes me to see how widely divergent the reviews are, about the food. Vive la Differance!

There is a new, hidden treasure in Santa Fe, (for lighter fare, and pastries etc.) that even locals might not know about. It's called Tree House Pastry Shop and Cafe and it's located down a garden path at Plants of the Southwest (a native plant nursery) on 3095 Auga Fria. Sit outside and enjoy our incredible crisp fall weather.

They told me (At Whole Foods here in Albuquerque) that their Italian purveyors could not provide chemical and hormone free product.

Bingo! Even if you're showing a porfit the first year, you need money to fall back on. I've watched several profitable places close (including one of my own), because there was not enough capital to weather the cost of an illness, a season of bad storms, a major repair bill etc.etc. Money in the bank is essential.

I'm slated to do, "authentic" Hungarian Goulash for a group of ex pat Hungarians. I was told it's never served with noodles and there is not a drop of sour cream involved. I'd love to get some help with this. Any: cardinal rules? Brand names for paprika? Tomatoes or not, caraway seeds or not? Which cut of beef? Any helpful tips, will be greatly appreciated.

Last year,I harvested the bulbs too soon so they were really small. I would wait, as late as you can, (before a hard frost) to harvest the bulbs. I served poached fennel at a wedding reception over the weekend. It was part of an antipasta platter with caponata, marinated mushrooms, fire roasted peppers and marinated olives. I sliced the fennel bulbs in fairly thick slices, and the stalks in even lengths and browned them, on both sides in EVO...I added toasted fennel seeds, fennel fronds, fresh marjoram, bay leaves, sliced garlic, a touch of sugar, two dried chile peppers, lots of peppercorns, salt, sliced lemon, dry vermouth and water. Then covered and poached till tender. It was a big hit, even with guests that had never tasted fennel.

I think many folks call the rolls you mention, spring rolls, but... they're actually called "summer rolls". Spring roll wrappers need to be sturdier and thicker because they're deep fried. The thin rice wrappers with the rose on the package are my favorite brand for summer rolls. They're sturdier than all the other brands, they sell at Ta Lin... and I've tried em all.

Hey Chow Guy: Yeah, I've tried the Hell's Backbone Grill in Boulder. I love Boulder!!! The Hell's Backbone people did a book signing for their book on the restaurant at Arches Books (where I coffee up each morning) here in Moab. Boulder is not far "as the crow flys"..............But there is a big canyon (the Colorado River gorge) in the way , so it's about 3 and a half hours from Moab by car . I go thru there on my way to Vegas if I have all day (about 11 hour trip), and want a pretty drive. Otherwise Vegas is about 7 hours by I-70 I won't get over that way this week, unfortunately. Bill ← Too bad, those darn canyons.... I actually have a signed copy of "With a Measure of Grace" from Hell's Backboe Grill. It's my favorite new cookbook.