stagis

As I was reading this thread, I started thinking about good and bad cookbooks I've owned (and either treasured or discarded) and why I either tossed 'em or kept 'em. THEN I started thinking about how I learned to cook and how I cook now. In my case, life experiences (non-cooking ones) play a big part, but I think an easier way to say that is, "You learn quicker, and it sticks with you longer, if you can watch someone do it." I'm a Scoutmaster, and just love to play with ropes and knots, and I've bought a couple books (Bibles of the genre) to learn more - and when I'm struggling, I try to find someone to show me what the book meant. My Scouts learn faster and keep it longer, if they're shown how to do something. When I started learning to cook well, I couldn't draw on life experiences. Nothing against my mom, but she was of the 'open the canned veggies and cook 'em till they're dead' school. I started with books and accumulated quite a collection. Sunset Books' series of cookbooks isn't what you'd call gourmet-style, but they present their recipes well and I never found one that didn't work. At this point, I find cookbooks like 'Look and Cook - Splendid Soups' tiresome in their presentation but with, again, excellent recipes that work. It'd still be nicer to be shown than to learn out of a book (sitting with the lady at the local Chinese restaurant as she made wontons opened my eyes - and this after serving untold numbers of fried wontons as appetizers.....) Speakin' of which, I'll be camping with the Scouts this weekend and demonstrating how not to burn your bread and bake-ables.....wish me luck :)

*sigh* Kiwis. I love 'em. Bought some 5-for-a-dollar a few years ago and had a wild reaction, chalked it up to maybe improperly-rinsed or maybe a pesticide or something but was scared enough to wait 6 months. I had a couple pieces of kiwi in somebody's fruit salad and the same thing happened. Sucks..... My granddad LOVED mangos. LOTS of mangos. Living in Hollywood, FL, he negotiated the mango-rights to all the neighbors' trees, and, at 80, was still climbing the trees to get 'em. He had one of those small chest freezers packed with 'em, bottom to top.....then my grandma developed an allergy to them. Once she couldn't eat them, she made him peel, pack and freeze - at which point he figured he had enough to last until he died.......

Hmmm... Nothing Salt Salt/Pepper Butter A HUGE pile of sauted-till-they're-soft onions - smother the steak! My propietary spice mix - just a cajun-spice clone from Prudhomme. Pat it on thick and grill it :) A HUGE pile of sauted mushrooms :)

One of my earliest and fondest memories is my dad making popcorn. We kept it in a glass jar on the counter. It wasn't anything special - back then, the thought of 'gourmet' popcorn would've sent us running for the hills. It was the big 3-lb. bag. Never refrigerated, never nuthin'. Anyway: The 3-quart pan :) Cover the bottom with oil - nothing gormay here. Corn oil is what my mother cooked with - therefore we made popcorn with it. Pan on high high, then after a minute or two, drop in a couple kernels. When they pop (and after you say,"OWWOOO!!! Hot oil!" cover the bottom with popcorn and put the lid on. Swirl a little to spread the kernels. As soon as the first one pops, shake continuously until it slows noticeably and remove from the heat. Get the lid off as soon as you can without spreading still-popping corn all over the kitchen. The escaping steam will keep the popcorn from mushing up. Use LOTS of salt - no butter. Butter's for wussies. With that said: The heavier the pan, the better, as long as it's not cast iron. A warped lit (or pan) will keep the lid from sitting tightly and will allow the steam to escape, yielding crisper popcorn. The 'high art' is getting the pan off the heat without burning the corn - and without leaving 1/4 of the kernels unpopped. Additives: Salt Salt/Pepper Salt/red pepper (for when you don't wanna share with the kids) That 'sushi seasoning for rice' sold in Asian markets - totally awesome! And, right out of Reader's Digest and guaranteed to send your wife screaming at the smell: Melt 1/2 stick of butter Add 2 tsp of tabasco (the normal, old-fashioned, tabasco unless you're adventurous - this is quite a bit) 2 Tbsp of Parmesan (the normal, old ground-in-a-jar shaker-cheese...) Stir, then pour over the popcorn :) And, FWIW, and since I'm a Scoutleader: We sell fund-raiser popcorn every fall. The bagged stuff is just plain popcorn - not as good as 'good' popcorn. However - the Light Butter Microwave is excellent. Just as light and fluffy as pan-popped without being overwhelmingly butter-chemical-flavored :)d The brand is Trail's End.

Vodka and Zarex syrup... :) 'Course, that was while trying to sneak a bota into a concert where bottles weren't allowed. We were triumphant!

Best pickled eggs I ever made were with castoff habanero-pickling vinegar.....and could never replicate the taste :(

Waterbury, CT - excellent sausage and pepper sandwich. NO Melona bars, though!!!

Sweet corn. As opposed to most of what I stuff in my mouth, I'm very picky about corn. At home (Plainville, CT) I buy it from the stand on the Farmington Flats. They never give a break on price, but they DO offer 2 varieties every day. How can you go wrong with a veggie stand surrounded by 2-300 acres of sweet corn? Snap peas Termaters from my own garden, still warm, eaten out of hand with sea salt.

I'm a non-denominational cook - after our house burnt (and I had discovered the Web and all its recipes) the only cookbooks I bought were the red-plaid one (I'm too lazy to get up and look), the Barbecue Bible and Southern Living....

I *just* found a fishmonger with sushi-quality fish, if you're gonna do the raw fish thing. That was the hard part. You guys with good hands should be able to figure out how to cut it. Otherwise, (and I apologize for not using the proper terms) cooked shrimp, for instance. Easy and pretty. butterfly, cook and secure with a nori-strip belt. Barbecued eel - relatively easy, though mine doesn't have the same flavor as is found in a restaurant. I'm the only person I know who'll eat raw fish, so home preparation of sashimi is effectively ruled out. While it's sacrilege, I've done it with smoked salmon (almost unacceptable), that fake seafood (not bad, actually), some truly original concoctions (rare steak and scallion - excellent, actually, and made my friends feel adventurous - 'Japanese' food!). The most fun with it is watching one of my wife's friends ignore my warning and smear a BIG dollop of wasabi on a cucumber roll..... Her: "I LIKE horseradish" Me: "I'm leaving - this is going to be bad" My wife: "Why didn't you stop her? Now she hates us." Me: "Good - she talks too much" And so forth.....

For what it's worth, homemade sushi, without getting too fancydancy about it, is easy. The Web has any number of resources with instructions and recipes. The gear and ingredients are cheap. The technique is easy. How's that for a sales pitch? I've got MS and my hands don't respond the way I'd like and I can still roll 'em acceptably well - and this from a guy who is dough-challenged. I can make any bread, but when it comes to fancy forms, go find somebody else - pie dough is a bourgeois concept, if you get my drift. You need a bamboo roller, a way-sharp knife, some nori sheets and short-grain rice. Total investment - mmmmm...maybe $5 except for the knife - and I've cut it with average-sharp knives, but it's less frustrating with a good one. And my 'good' sushi knives were only about $40 or so and they're stainless. I couldn't justify carbon-steel knives - sorry. I love my rice cooker, but I make sushi rice in a pot - for me, it's a little more responsive. You can buy seasoned rice vinegar cheaply or make your own with sugar and salt...it really is easy. F'r instance, I made it, as a challenge, on a Scout backpack outing :)

Jaymes - the Yankee issue was a 'special' issue - Jan/Feb 2001. It sounds like it's right up your alley - Chowders: Special Obsessions, Myths and Legends, and a Controversy. If you have an auntie or somebody who saves these, it's worth looking up. Just like the Food and Wine issue that I cooked almost everything out of over the years. Most magazine recipes are too fussy for me, but this one was a holiday issue...Armadillo Turkey, Cranberry Pie, a whole raft of stuffings.....

As promised: (this chowder is rich and sweet.....) 1 large red bell pepper 3 cups fresh, frozen or canned corn kernels 3.5 cups milk 2 Tbsp butter 1/2 cup diced onion 1/2 tsp dried thyme salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 1.5 pounds bay scallops 1/4 tsp red pepper sauce, such as Tabasco 1. (OK - not verbatim - I'm not into typing that much) char, steam and peel the pepper. Reserve the juice while working on it. Halve the pepper and remove the seeds.Do not rinse - flick off the seeds. Remove stem and ribs. Cut into small dice and put pieces in with juice. Set aside. 2. Combine half of the corn and 1.5 cups milk in a food processor; process until corn is pureed. Place a strainer over a bowl and strain the milk. (see thread above *grin*). Press down on corn skins to extract as much flavor as possible. Discard the skins. Set the milk aside. 3. Melt butter in a large, broad saucepan. Add the onion and cook over low heat, stirring until the onion is softened, but not browned. Add the corn-flavored milk, the remaining milk and corn kernels, the diced pepper and juice, thume, salt and a grinding of black pepper. Heat until simmering. Stir in the scallops and cook, stirring, just until cooked through, about 2 minutes. Add pepper sauce to taste. Yield: 4 servings. k - the concise recipe: Roast and peel the pepper, reserving the juice. Dice the pepper and put with juice. Combine half the milk and corn and blend until pureed. (I've got an old Vitamix - I could blend a brick if pressed) Melt the butter - then saute the onions over low heat until really soft. Combine everything but the scallops and pepper sauce, heat until simmering. Add the scallops and continue simmering until cooked - like 2 minutes. Add pepper sauce - enjoy.

Jaymes, I found it, but I'm off to the doc's. I'll post it in a couple hours. It's Corn and Scallop Chowder, and uses blended corn to thicken the pot.....cya soon. Rob

Pickled eggs work pretty well.... I made 'em with fake sugar of some sort and they were just fine. I think egg snacks are the easiest to pick out of the fridge. Hmmm...what was that one? Hard-boil some, then crack the shells all over and rotate for a couple hours in a shallow bowl with (the original recipe calls for brown sugar, but these work with fake sugar) soy, liquid smoke and sugar. Pickled eggs - I like 'em spicy-sweet. Vinegar (the time I used habanero-pickling vinegar was the time I thought about going into the egg-pickling business), fake sugar, hot-sauce additive or some such...maybe toss in some punctured habaneros. Deviled eggs. (poverty-stricken gourmet tip - use Old Bay instead of paprika. Eliminate any salt in your current recipe) Stuffed cherry peppers.

So - going for a family camping trip means pre-mixing a jug of margaritas - god's gift to vacationing dads. I use: 2 parts tequila 1 part Triple Sec (or generic equivalent) 1/2 part lime juice. Put in an insulated, camouflaged-as-lemonade drink jug and stick in the freezer. My hugemongous LL Bean insulated stainless steel coffee mug does its nominal task until lunchtime - then gets refilled with my one drink of the day. Any other recommendations? While we're on the subject, a gallon of peach moonshine was given to me by somebody who was at a loss as to what to with it. It was essence of peach. Anyway, after much experimenting, I came up with a couple martini variants: Peach moonshine and: Peachtree (schnapps? brandy? I forget) Triple Sec (this one was good and pretty-much consumed the remainder of the gallon) kir (not good)

1 recommendation: Last year some time (maybe early this year) I picked up Yankee magazine because they had, splashed across the cover, 'CHOWDER RECIPES!'. If only for one recipe, it was worth it. Scallop and sweet red pepper Chowder. *swoon* Perfection in a bowl - but no bacon! And home cooking at its best...or maybe, camp cooking. When family camping, a standard meal is corn chowder, and because of the limitations imposed when camping (basically, being alcohol-induced) it's easy: Potatos, peeled and cut up larger than dice, but not much. (My wife insists on peeling 'em - I don't) Say, 5 pounds. If you want a quicker dinner, boil them first and set aside. Onions 1 pound or so. Peeled and thinly sliced Bacon - half-pound or so, diced Cream of mushroom soup 1 can Oh, yeah - Corn! If I've got leftovers frozen from corn-on-the-cob season, I'll use those, otherwise 2 cans of supermarket corn. One of our local brands offers 'sweet' corn, and it's better by far. Fry the bacon until crisp. Remove it from the pan, but leave the fat in. Turn the heat way down and soften the onions. If the potatos are precooked, then everything except the bacon goes in, heat it and serve. If the potatos are raw, then add everything and cook until the potatos act just like the precooked ones ;) Season to taste (salt/pepper only, please), top with the bacon and serve. A healthy blob of butter and black pepper garnish are de rigeur.....

The very grossest I ever made was out of the VitaMix cookbook - grind 'em up dry, then make your soup. If you're not familiar, the VitaMix's claim to fame (for ad copy, anyway) is to cook stuff via friction. The recipe was something like "Grind 'em up dry, add your seasonings and water and turn 'er on!" It was godawful. So, I then threw it on the cooktop to simmer for a while. That was more acceptable. Ate some, fridged the rest - but when I pulled it out of the fridge (with the memory of the first percolating internally), it jiggled. That was enough for me - into the trash it went.

Excellent link!! Of course, since Web access is supposed to be limited at work, I got some strange looks while laughing out loud at what appeared to be a terminal screen..... I was watching Food TV the other night - Follow That Food - as they traced buffalo wings back to the source: The Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY. And of course, with hormones spewing everywhere you watch guys drink shots of the stuff.....why? There's a good hotsauce store in Danbury Mall (Connecticut) and while on a spicerun with a Texan buddy, this young 20-something came in looking for the 'hottest sauce you've got - my buddy says that he can use anything'... This was very early in the chemical-burn-hot craze, and the lady sold him a small bottle with a skull on it - and made him sign a legal release! Turns out, after talking to the kid, that he and his buddies must've been hot-sauce dense. After eating buffalo wings (and presumably drinking way too much beer) his buddy made that statement. Glad I wasn't around to view the results.

I know this topic comes up regularly, but it's still fun. What are your experiences with spicy food? I'm talking peppers here, not wasabi or other wannabes. Let's see... I'm able to grow, in a good season, habaneros. I'm in Connecticut, US in Zone 6. One year, I planted Red Savinas and got a bumper crop. They were excellent! Very large and thick-fleshed - but what to do with them? You can only eat so many, right? I pickled some, ate as many as I could, then dried and powdered the rest. The result was frighteningly hot powder - I think habanero powder is generically rated at 400,000 Scoville units, and mine was right up there. Remember - never ever ever ever blend dried habaneros inside....We're gasping, choking - I had to carry the blender outside - finished them on the picnic table. Habanero Mustard - a recipe out of Chile Magazine (is it still out there?). At a picnic, as much as I warned them, one guy came to a gasping halt right in the middle of a hot dog. Huh - maybe should've used less of mine than Grey Poupon ;) Habanero Powder - Be careful! :) Mine was good for only about a month or so, though, then started cooling off rapidly. Adult do-gooder party...a local, to be unnamed organization. We had a Christmas party which degenerated, after the right-thinkers left, into a drunken frenzy - and of course, around 11:00 PM, the hot sauces come out. Drunks never listen, eh? "I can eat anything! Watch this!" Suuuurrre, buddy..... poor guy. Another mid-afternoon party in the summer. I clearly labeled my sauces with skulls and crossbones, warned everybody verbally, and was still almost assaulted by a thoroughly drunken party-denizen..."You a**hole!!! Why didn't say they were that hot?!!!!" I did...poor guy. Get a friend to help you piddle after cutting peppers.....you'll need someone to hold if you cut 'em without gloves, as I always do. After pickling those habaneros, by the way, I used the vinegar to pickle some eggs. *swoon* Too good! I'm trying to figure out how to replicate that vinegar. Any ideas? By the way - I've finally outgrown the need to kill myself with hot sauces. Maybe my macho is slipping? But - I love it when some kid challenges people.......

Tomatos creeping in? Good question! And one for which I don't know the answer, of course. Chili is also known as a bowl of red...which says, at first glance 'tomato'.....then at second glance...hmmm...chili powder is red, too. So I don't know. Does anyone know the origin of chili? Was it cowboy food? I tend to think that cowboys ate lots of beans, especially after studying that historically-correct film, Blazing Saddles ;) . If it was cowboy food, then tomatos weren't in it, right? I mean, if you're on a cattle drive or living in a line shack, you ain't gardening, and sun-dried tomatos in olive oil probably weren't part of the chuckwagon pantry :). So, if it WAS cowboy food, we're talking meat and spices. In any case, while I'm sure my recipe isn't even close to original, it IS close to Kit's (see farther up in this thread). I played with tons of recipes, and pretty-much like 'em all, even Cincinnati-style chili! That's just different - and makes a truly tremendous hotdog meat sauce. The one thing I noticed as a common thread was *fresh* spices, which, honestly, I've never used. This is where I'm going, I think - it's been a while since I made chili. It IS a pain to make, since I like it spicy and the family, as a rule, doesn't. I think I disagree with the idea of putting habaneros in there, but I agree strongly with putting non-green peppers.....a ripe jalapeno tastes nothing like a green one. With that said, I think I'll start a thread on hot stuff.....it's food as entertainment! :)

My way: Bake 'em..... Say, 5-8 pounds, depending on how hungry I am when I start cooking. Probably the Cook's Illustrated recommendation of 1 hr 15 minutes or so. Peel, put 'em in (my grandmother's prized blue ceramic) bowl, add a stick of butter, a couple smashed/minced garlic cloves, a pint of cream of sour cream, salt and white pepper, milk after they're smashed (by hand, thankyouverymuch) to get the desired consistency and enjoy :)

Heh - oatmeal with brown sugar, nuts and raisins. Remembering that I'm talking about outings with Scouts, instant grits with some torn-up dried beef in it...sodium OD, but it sticks to your ribs..... Never EVER get oatmeal at a restaurant...they scoop the overcooked stuff out of a pot.........it'd make great wallpaper paste. Oh, yeah - and if you deep-fry prepared cream of wheat, it doesn't change texture or color.

*grin* I didn't pay much attention to this thread when it started, but as I read all the replies the memories start returning: The Point After in Orlando, FL - truly great dive outside the city limits. The tables were cable spools laying on their sides with photos imbedded in a poured-lucite/plastic cover. A typical night would be watching a babe kicking ass at the pool table - shooting with one hand (not bracing the cue). Walking into the men's room and seeing a guy in a stall (no doors, of course) snorting some powdery substance off his knee. Cheap beer :) Edgewater and Parr, again, in Orlando. Tuesdays were tequila-shots-for-a-quarter (that's 25 CENTS!) night....... hooboy - you didn't wanna be there at closing. 'Specially the tequila-night Steppenwolf was supposed to play - we waited until like 12:30 before some band showed up with Steppenwolf's old drummer.....it was BAD. Pink Pussykat in Orlando :) Strip joint. Beer in foam cups. Buddy of mine married one of the strippers - I got rolled by another one. (seems as if they're all in Orlando) nameless strip joint outside of one of the Forts in Florida - East Coast. Babes missing limbs - not as a feature...just missing things. Hmmm...Creston, Iowa. Hotel bar downtown. Beeyooteeful corn-fed midwest babe waiting table, girls' half-court highschool on the tube...cheap beer. Bernings'? I've been in that bar up in Saratoga - excellent place and legendary with the locals. The Rathskeller in Middletown, CT. Keep your hand on your wallet and sit with your back to the wall. Country-music joint in Westerly, Rhode Island. Dive with tourist-babes and haltertops :) *grin* I'm almost blushing.....almost.

What's Christmas without chruschiki (sp?)? Angel wings!