pam claughton
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Posts posted by pam claughton
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I only have one piece, but it's by far my favorite of all my saucepans. It's super easy to clean, browns well, and cooks evenly. I am definitely going to get more...when a good sale comes along.
:) Pam
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Never had a warm/hot lobster roll?!?!?!
It's not just about the lobster meat. It's about the warm buttery, lobster flavor that the toasted warm bun absorbs. The bun itself is enough to start my mouth watering.
Really, you ought to try one before you throw stones.
No stone throwing going on. Just never heard of a hot lobster roll. You make it sound pretty good though.
Are they available anywhere in MA? Or is it a regional thing?
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Does anyone have a decent recipe for baked stuffed lobster.
Here you go, this is a classic New England style Baked Stuffed Lobster.
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This reminded me of a sandwich which is actually Chilean, and may be one of the most popular lunch sandwiches in downtown Boston. The lines by the pushcart selling these was so long, that they eventually opened this small stand, in the Downtown Crossing/Financial District area and the lines got even longer. Rain or shine, people stand in line for a Chacarero sandwich. That's all they make is the sandwich, which sounds like a bizarre combination, but these things are addictive, inexpensive, and filling.
In their words, "A Chacarero is a traditional Chilean sandwich. It begins with homemade bread, that we make fresh daily. The main ingredient is either tender grilled steak or chicken (or both). Then with your main ingredient, we add steamed green beans, which gives it that authentic Chilean touch, Muenster cheese and fresh tomatoes. After that, we add an avocado spread, salt, pepper & our secret hot recipe to complete the sandwich. Of course any ingredient can be omitted, just let us know."
The BBQ Chicken version, with roasted red peppers and extra hots, is my favorite.
:) Pam
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Granola is about to meet my sons, Airman and Ammonite, for the first time in their short, protected lives. It will soon (I hope) start getting too warm for good old porridge, and my schedule this years means that some days I leave the house before they eat breakfast. That means Granola.
The plan is: Home-made Granola. The design criteria are: no teeth-breaking BLOs (bolt-like objects). Nobody must develop diabetes as a result of granola consumption. Total cost of ingredients must not exceed household income.
I'm just off to the supermarket, where I hope to decide whether to go for gingery granola or cocoa-y granola ingredients. Documentation to follow...
(Actually, blush, granola is not a first for me, because I spent all my undergraduate years within the "dust-zone" of Auckland's Northern Roller Mills. We quickly found that a sack of oats was much cheaper than the equivalent quantity of bread. Shortly after that, we discovered that no price was too expensive for bread.) However, I've thoroughly forgotten all that, so kindly consider my personal granola history as a kind of Japanese history textbook, write me down as an absolute beginner, and share your favorite granola recipes and methods with me, please!
This is so good, and easy. I just got it out again the other day, and made a big batch. Depending on what is on hand, I may add different nuts or dried fruit like cranberries, but this is the basic recipe. Only takes about 10 minutes to make in a skillet.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons toasted coconut (optional, I like it)
2 tablespoons nuts (almond, cashews, walnuts, whatever)
1 cup old-fashioned oats
Heat butter and honey in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until butter is melted. Stir in nuts and cook, stirring, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add oats and coconut and cook, stirring and tossing with 2 wooden spoons, until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Spread granola evenly on a large sheet of foil to cool.
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I agree with what the others have said. Save your money on the ceramic roaster, unless you really, really want it. You don't need it. Just plop the garlic in tin foil, add a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, twist it up, and throw it in the oven.
:) Pam
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All this talk of lobster, on this thread, and the lobster roll one in New England, sent me off to get my usual cure....a nice little lobster roll, from the place around the corner, Wood's Seafood, on the Plymouth Waterfront. This is a little piece of pure heaven.....big chunks of chilled, fresh lobster, topped with a dollop of mayo and dash of paprika, and served in a buttery, grilled roll.
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The best lobster rolls, or clam, or scallop rolls, are when they are tucked into a soft hot dog roll that has first been lavishly buttered on the sides and then grilled. It's especially delicious with the lobster roll because you have the contrast between the sweet, cold lobster salad, and the hot, buttery bun. Mmmm
Also, sometimes I butter my pasta before adding the red sauce. It adds an extra layer of flavor.
I have never had a lobster roll. Do you know how to make the salad? I can get lobster tails here. If I like (and I truly think I will) that, I'd like to try the same thing with crawfish tails. Same taste, almost. Maybe spicier. I'd like to try it though.
It's super simple. A pure lobster roll is just fresh lobster meat, tail, knuckle, whatever you have, chopped into nice big chunks, and just barely coated with a little good mayo. Some people add a little finely chopped celery, but that's it. I like to squeeze a little lemon over it, and salt and pepper. Some places even serve the mayo on the side, so you can make it to your taste.
If you make it with crawfish, I bet it would be delicious if you sprinkle a little cajun seasoning on the mayo.
:) Pam
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There is no controversy. Lobster rolls are served cold, without diced celery and not on a bed of shredded lettuce.
I agree, there is no controversy. I've never even heard of a hot lobster roll. I don't think I'd want to waste hot lobster on a sandwich, when I could savor it with melted butter instead. Oh, and Holly, I think I can see why the one from Red's wins awards.
:) Pam
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I've not written a cookbook, but I am the author of three food-related novels -- The Value of X, Liquor, and Prime -- and am at work on a fourth. These tell the story of two young New Orleans chefs who open a restaurant where the menu is entirely based on liquor, a concept I think would be perfect for a N.O. restaurant. Some readers have expressed interest in a cookbook. There are a few problems: (1) people outside the business tend not to understand that the publisher of your novels won't automatically want to publish a cookbook based on them; (2) much of the food in the novels is inspired by other chefs' food I've eaten, so I don't really think of it as "mine"; (3) I have no idea how to write or test any but the simplest recipes, and my husband is a chef and thus at work all the time, so there's no help from that quarter.
As far as the importance of an agent, I've made my living as a freelance writer for fifteen years and I know a good agent can help you as much as a bad one can hurt you. I don't know if there are any Stephen King fans here, but whatever you may think of his fiction (I like it), he knows the writing business as well as anyone and the second half of his memoir/guide On Writing contains some of the best advice I've ever read on how to obtain literary representation.
I'm a new subscriber to eGullet and it's exciting to see so many writers here whose work I have enjoyed. (Michael Ruhlman's The Making of a Chef has been an invaluable research tool, ultimately inspiring me to visit the CIA a couple of years ago, and I've recently been comparing some of Clifford Wright's recipes with traditional foods that appear on the St. Joseph altars held every March 19 by New Orleanians of Sicilian ancestry). I introduced myself briefly over on the Louisiana board, but would like to do so again here. I look forward to discussing and obsessing over food with all of you.
Poppy Z. Brite
Poppy,
I remember reading about your book Liquor, and thinking I should check it out. Are all 3 books connected? Which one would you suggest reading first? I love books set in the food world, there aren't enough of them.
:) Pam
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Thanks, Owen, for your tale, which I will resist using to draw sweeping generalizations about every restaurant that serves lobsters. (I'm trying to show restraint.)
Having said that, it strikes me that -- unless you're a Maine lobster shack with a few 50 gallon pots roiling away at all hours -- it would be a challenge to steam or boil lobsters as they are ordered. Does anyone know how it is done in more reputable restaurants?
I worked for many years on Cape Cod at the Riverway Lobster House, and we always cooked to order.
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It was my first year waitressing, and I was working a banquet and carrying a tray between two long very close together tables. My foot caught in something, there was a shocked gasp and then the room of 80 something people went strangely silent. I had yanked out some poor old woman's oxygen! My foot had tangled in the cord connecting to her tank. In shock, I set the tray down, and somehow managed to plug her back in. My face was beet red. I was completely horrified.
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As silly as it sounds, and I'll freely admit feeling foolish about it, I used to be squeamish about buying a live lobster somewhere and taking it home to cook it. If I ordered it in a restaurant, it arrives in front of me already 'killed' and cooked. I didn't have to be so 'aware' of it being a living creature before eating it.
I feel really stupid admitting that on a food board.
Don't feel stupid! I only just learned a few years ago that most fish markets and supermarkets will steam the lobsters for you, so you don't have to deal with it, and most don't charge either. Makes it easy to pick them up ready to eat, throw out the newspaper on the table, heat the butter, and go....
:)
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I'm especially curious about this assuming that most of you enjoy baking. When it is time to make a cake, do you always do it from scratch? Or do you ever or always use a box mix, Duncan Hines, or Betty or some such instead?
I'll admit it, I like to bake just about everything except cakes. None of my made from scratch cakes have been as good as Duncan or Betty.
Which could just mean I make bad cakes...
:)
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Ha! I meant that the market was just silly, and insanely good. I worked as a headhunter to internet companies that were hiring like mad, paying crazy salaries if you even knew what java was it seemed. Everyone was making, and spending a lot of money back then, and restaurants were very happy.
:)
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She who reports a good meal at Jimmy's Harborside has done far, far more research than should be expected of anyone, and has my respect.Back in the silly internet days when we used to go out to dinner at the drop of a hat, we were on a strange mission to try baked stuffed lobster EVERYWHERE in Boston, to determine who had the best. A tad obsessive, but we didn't care. :) [snip]It's been a few years though, like I said, so there could very well be some great new contenders...
Well, as a smart person once said, the best thing to do with one's obsessions is to foist them upon unwitting others. Perhaps in service to eG and New Englanders everywhere the research needs doing once again!
Yes, I agree, it may be time for more research. Good idea! :)
We only ever had baked stuffed lobster at Jimmy's, so I don't know much about the rest of their menu.
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I'm with you Chris. The flashy lobster dinner (steamed or even grilled) holds no interest to me when I am at a restaurant. For the most part the meal is overpriced and is a pain to eat whilst trying to keep my outfit presentable for whatever we are going to do after leaving the restaurant.
I do like lobster meat in other dishes, from risotto to ravioi to the famous lobster roll or even the lobster burger at Citronelle in Washington DC. But the flashy red crustacean on the plate with drawn butter? No thanks.
I do agree with both of you on boiled lobster though. I won't order that out. It's a stay at home treat, when you don't mind getting covered with butter.
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Two words: stuffed lobster.
Say more. In my experience, that has consisted primarily of doubly- and thus over-cooked meat dumped into shells or ceramics, with some butter and bread crumbs tossed on it. For $28.95, no less.
Since there are now two claims to this dish's superiority, I want answers. Answers, dammit!
Well, go somewhere where they won't over cook it. :) Back in the silly internet days when we used to go out to dinner at the drop of a hat, we were on a strange mission to try baked stuffed lobster EVERYWHERE in Boston, to determine who had the best. A tad obsessive, but we didn't care. :) Our hands down favorite, and keep in mind this restaurant is not the least bit trendy, and some would even consider it old fashioned and stuff, and it's been a few years now, but we had baked stuffed lobsters at Jimmy's Harborside by the World Trade Center, at least a dozen times. We kept going back, as they were the absolute favorite, and no one really came close. They keep it simple, and stuff the lobster with butter crumbs, a little onion and seasoning, and the key ingredient...more lobster. But, they then changed this to be a seafood stuffing, which is ok, but not as good, but you can still get it stuffed with more lobster, you just ask for it, and pay extra.
It's been a few years though, like I said, so there could very well be some great new contenders...
Pam -
Two words: stuffed lobster.
Yes, those are the two most important words!!!! I agree.
Here's a few more that aren't bad either.
Lazy man lobster.....fresh lobster meat, sauteed in creamy butter, drizzled with a hint of sherry and served in a casserole dish on a bed of buttery stuffing like crumbs.
Or, Lobster Thermidor, the Yarmouth House in West Yarmouth, MA has one that is to die for. Plenty of fresh lobster meat is mixed into a creamy sauce with a bit of mustard, sherry, cream, mushrooms, and cheese, and served in the shell.
and of course there's Lobster Newburg, just a rich, creamy sauce filled with large sweet fresh lobster pieces.
Or, when you want something a bit less formal, how about a lobster roll? A buttered grilled soft hot dog roll stuffed with fresh lobster meat and a dab of mayo?
:)
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Lots of Bostonians rave about the lobster rolls at B&G Oyster in the South End. I've not had the pleasure yet, but can assume that Barbara Lynch does a good job with them. She's not failed me yet.
It really is a very good lobster roll. I know some purists gag at the price ($22 I think). Substantial amount of knuckle meat. Almost parsimonious with the mayo and celery which is the way I like the salad prepared.
I haven't tried many versions of this classis but B&G is worth a visit.
I'm dying to try B & G. I'm super picky with Lobster rolls, and don't mind paying more to make sure I get Fresh Lobster. That's the key. Sweet fresh lobster, both tail and knuckle meat, a hint of mayo, and served in a buttered, grilled hot dog roll. I get mine in Plymouth at Wood's Seafood, and it's a steal at around $11.
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For those who don't know, archestratus is known beyond eGullet as Clifford A. Wright. I'm a fan -- as are many others here on eG -- and count "Sardinia from the Inside" (from Saveur, No. 68 August/September 2003) among my favorite pieces of writing in that great magazine.
Given my admiration, it astonishes me that Mediterranean Feast, a book that won two Beard awards and was nominated for IACP's book of the year, took six years to earn out its run. That's a sobering warning about the realities of who makes out in the "booming cookbook industry"....
A question for the authors:
I don't want a restaurant and I don't want a TV show. A few years ago I did a guest show with Sara Moulton and my mom gave me some advice, indicating what she thought of food network--"don't act like an asshole." Well, if you're doing tv you have to act like an asshole.To what extent do you feel that TV is an important component of cookbook marketing? It seems to be a crucial element of the business, particularly concerning the importance of having a very explicit, focused, niche angle for your book. However, given your intelligent approach to cuisine and cooking, "act[ing] like an asshole" must be... er... challenging.
I think it can get and keep a book onto the bestseller list. In doing my research I found that Rachel Ray, who has what 3 or 4 shows on TFN, also has 6!! books selling very well on Amazon, and huge dumps in the Borders I went to, much more so than any other right now. Also in the top 25 selling cookbooks on Amazon, were 4 titles by The Barefoot Contessa and 2 or 3 from Paula Deen, all women who have very popular shows on TFN.
The shows can make the difference between selling well, and achieving 'breakout' major bestseller status.
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The best lobster rolls, or clam, or scallop rolls, are when they are tucked into a soft hot dog roll that has first been lavishly buttered on the sides and then grilled. It's especially delicious with the lobster roll because you have the contrast between the sweet, cold lobster salad, and the hot, buttery bun. Mmmm
Also, sometimes I butter my pasta before adding the red sauce. It adds an extra layer of flavor.
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I'd love to open a place like this! Wine bars have recently popped up all over Boston, first with my favorite, Troquet, in the theatre district. You can create your own flights of wine, or choose from a taste or two, either a 2oz or 4oz pour, and the food is great. I gushed over the scallops and different wines I tried in a mini-review on my blog if you want more info, http://efoodie.typepad.com/efoodie/2005/03...an_excelle.html
There are also two new wine/oyster bars that have opened this year. B & G Oysters is by one of the city's more well known chefs, Barbara Lynch. It features up to 18 different kinds of oysters, simple seafood dishes, and wines that specifically match up to the shellfish. Also, in the North End, Neptune Oyster and Wine bar recently opened. I've heard it's very good, and less expensive.
Here's a link to the food that B & G offers, http://www.bandgoysters.com/#menu
One thing I didn't like about Troquet were the higher than they needed to be prices on both the food and wine. I think if your prices or quality need to be high on anything, have it be the wine, and have some good quality, but not necessarily expensive tapas type options, like cheeses, pates, olives, shrimp, mushrooms, scallops in bacon (just had these at a tasting over the weekend, and they are great with wine, red or white) Good crusty bread, and maybe some tortellini.
I'd love to go to a place like this, try some new wines, and enjoy some appetizers.
Tipping with Cash or Credit?
in Restaurant Life
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I've never heard of restaurants charging waiters the credit card fees! This is awful, and I suspect, illegal.