HungryChris

Fresh ripe tomatoes chopped into 1/4" cubes, fresh garlic paste, chopped fresh Basil, fresh thyme( just a little), chopped capers, sea salt, pepper and some good EVOO all mixed up and served on a toasted slice of good bread. It starts off as an appitizer and ends up as dinner. Of course the only way to celebrate FTD (First Tomato Day) and mine is easily three weeks away, is a mater sammich, though...and yes, it must include mayo. Gawd, I can't wait!

I have a Lussino model 4080 made by Musso that I bought on e-bay. It's much like a Simac in size and capacity. As I am someone who has to be careful in what I eat in order to keep my cholesterol below 200, I tend to be more of a sorbet person. I have found that a pint of fresh blueberries or strawberries put in the blender with 1/4 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of simple syrup (I use 1/2 cup of Splenda dissolved in 1/2 cup water) then put in the machine makes a very satisfying sorbet. If I make more than I can finish and try to keep it in the freezer, it's hard as a rock in a few hours, though. I think the Splenda has something to do with that. I think if I used sugar it might fare better in the freezer. I have gotten in to the habit of just making enough for 1 dessert and it works out pretty well.

I booked the room for myself and accomplice tonight, Varmint, so we will be heading south from Connecticut. I am looking forward to picking some pig! Next I have to figure how the hell we will be getting there, Air, Rail or Road.

I go to a friend's house down the street and on the water every 4th of July. That is the place I drink more beer at any one time than I do all year. I will bring sausage and peppers and probably some fried chicken this year. This year, because you asked the question and because I am curious as well, I have decided to ask my accomplice (this just works out so well!) to count how many beers I have before deciding to leave. This way all I have to do is hand her the empty cup and the rest is history. This is the way reasearch should be done! I get to the point that I just can't drink another beer! Usually that is after the fireworks and I'm ready to go home anyway.

Paul, EVOO is extra virgin olive oil and Sriracha is a hot chili sauce made by Huy Fong Foods. It come in a plastic squeeze bottle with a rooster on it. No kitchen is complete without it IMHO.

Cubed, seasoned pork sauteed in evoo with shallots and garlic until browned. This was set aside and into the pan juices more shallots, garlic were added and sweated down a bit. Then white wine, diced tomatoes fresh basil and chopped capers were added along with a couple tbs of Sriracha for some heat. The pork was then readded along with drained angel hair pasta which was finished up in the sauce and the combination served as a main course accompanied with an endive and water cress salad with mustard vinegrette, garlic bread and Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon. I was quite happy with the mix.

I have what I call "the big three" for hot sauces and I think if I had to keep just one it would be Sriracha. I like that stuff tons!! I put it in Shrimp Fra Diavlo with diced tomatoes, garlic, capers, basil, chopped olives and of course, shrimp, over angel hair pasta. Next is Texas Pete. I don't know if it has ever been tested for narcotic content, but I would await that investigation with some concern. I like to use that stuff in soups, most notably, my rendidtion of Olive Garden Pasta Fa Gioli(SP). Then it's Frank's Red Hot! Put eggs and home fries in front of me (actually please don't, since my recent blood tests) and I won't eat the stuff without Frank's Red Hot. There is something about the heat from cayenne that fills another endorphine receptor that the other guys don't touch.

I used to go to a place in RI that would give you a little dish of garlic pickles along with the menu (Richard's Pub). I loved the way they tasted so much that I decided to try to duplicate them. I had been growing picklers for a long time because I think they have a better flavor than regular cukes. The first time out of the chute, I was blown away at how good they were, twice as good as what I was hoping to duplicate! I now use these as bribes at work on a regular basis. These are refrigerator pickles, so they must be kept in the frige and used within a few weeks. Once you taste them, that will not be a problem. In a perfect world, pick the cukes when you are ready to make these. I have made some great batches with good looking winter ones from the grocery store, however. Just make sure they are not so mature that the seeds have gotten woody, no matter where they come from. I use 1 quart mayo jars and buy the plastic canning lids for them. Into each quart jar place 3 crushed garlic cloves, 2 tsp dried dill weed and 2 tbs kosher salt. Rinse off the cukes (breaking off the spines if they are freshly picked). Slice them lengthwise into quarters or into 3/4 " slices. Pack them into the jar fairly tightly. If quartered slices, I try to keep the skin sides out, just for appearance. Fill the jar with distilled vinegar to just below the shoulder of the jar (just before it starts to turn inward. Top off with tap water, cap tightly and shake until you see that all the salt has disolved. Refrigerate for three days. That's it.

I have grown to love Squid brand in anything hot with seafood. It does seem to add that depth that you appreciate, but don't know where it comes from unless you do the cooking. While I love to cook with this stuff, I'm still not ready to "do shots" of it for a comparison test. How would you propose to do the test? Perhaps break your next use of it into camps?

QUOTE (HungryChris @ May 24 2003, 09:15 PM) I have checked with my accomplice, varmint, and we have decided to show up. All we need are the details and what you want us to bring or do! That's great, HungryChris. Where are you located? We'll iron out details over the next couple of months.

I have checked with my accomplice, varmint, and we have decided to show up. All we need are the details and what you want us to bring or do!

I like to treat Beet greens just like Chard, Turnip green, Spinach or Rabbi. I like them best sauteed in OO with a bit of crushed garlic. Begin the sautee with them dripping wet from the wash. Cook on high heat until limp and tender, hit them with some sea salt and pepper and a dash of fresh lemon juice. They make a great tasting side dish that is quick.

Thanks, Suzanne for your reply. Soft shell crabs have been late to arrive in these parts (SE Connecticut) this year. I have never tried to prepare them, but do have a memory of a cook telling another cook in a resturaunt that I was a Busboy in how to prepare them, that I have never forgotten. "Cut just Aft of the eyes and remove the part in front, remove the gills, then flip them over and strip off the clinger on the bottom." They were so perishable that this same cook used to cook the non-survivors at the end of each shift an pass them out to the help....My first and only taste of Soft Shell Crabs! Wow, were they good!

I remember seeing many Sea Salt Ponds in Spain with bulldozers at the ready (from my train window) and thinking that they probably don't list the leaking oils from the machines on the list of ingredients.

I have had some dynamite soft shelled crabs, but have never prepared them. I have never bought them, for that matter. Anyone have comments on reliable sources and or methods of preparation?

Awright, since we have gone off color...I got one. I was once training a new waiter. He was doing pretty well. It was a Friday night and we were starting to get a bit of a wait. As I said, he seemed to be holding his own. I got embroiled in a problem with the water heater not working. The people using the rest rooms kept the faucets open waiting for hot water, which ensured there wouldn't be any and so on. The dishwasher wasn't performing up to speed without hot water, you get the picture. Once this crisis was resolved by shutting off the hot water to the rest rooms for a bit, I got back to the waiter in training. I found him ashen faced in the kitchen. I think his name was Al. I said, "Al, what's wrong?" He stopped pacing, mid circle and confessed that he had just asked a table of 7, grandmother, kids etc, if they wanted a cockteaser before dinner. I reassured him that the only recovery was to go back out there and pretend it never happened, which he did.

I once went on a company ski trip and got paired up with a guy who let the waitress know at a place I frequented (Nikkis at Okemo base) that he wanted more water by tapping his water glass on the table to get her attention. I went to dinner with a cooworker who had a $16 glass of cognac after a $30 lobster dish to my $5.95 sandwich and wanted to split the bill when it came time to "settle up".

I have a few of the Mexican Lava ones (called Molcajetas) that work well and look pretty cool to. They did require a few hours of breaking in by grinding rock salt to smooth them out a bit.

Isn't Persian Wool the coat of unborn lambs?

Keep the big plastic jug of amonia next to the one of distilled vinegar during pickle season. I saw the lable before I tasted any of 'em, but made four quarts of "basic pickles".

Marinated in evoo with a little sea salt and freshly grated pepper over night and tossed onto a hot grill and rolled about until they color is my current fav. If the weather isn't too good, I'll preheat the oven to 500F and cook them in a little cake pan or sizzle platter until they sizzle a bit when I roll them about. I also like to steam them until their color blooms, pitch them in ice water, pat them dry and serve them as an appetizer with a little Gorganzola dip. These steamed beauties also work well in a salad ( as does a little Borcoli prepared in the same fashon).

I had a friend who's wife worked opposite shift from him. They would often communicate with notes and little displays on the kitchen counter. Upon getting a message he wasn't all that fond of, he replied by leaving a little troop of his wife's Peeps on the counter. Each had been subject to a little more time in the microwave. He was quite pleased with the effect.

I regret to submit that as of today all the tickets ( there were 200 of them) are sold and our only recourse is to show up early and hope that all the passes issued to the press are not used. I am on the fence and have not decided if I will be there or not. HC

Cab, Just go here and call the phone numbers they give you. They want you there more than you want to be there! http://www.mohegansun.com/plan_visit/faq_t...nsportation.jsp

cabrales, I know there is a ferry from NYC as well as the many busses I see from China Town, every day.