PurpleDingo99

Among those who cook, my mother. And I let her know it. If it wasn't for her neverending cycle of overcooked steaks, leathery pork chops, bland spaghetti with meat sauce, and broiled-black chicken wings, I probably wouldn't cook today. Utterly neurotic, she would inevitably overcook everything by about 10 minutes. She went through a gallon of soy every other damn week and attributed it to her 1/8th filippino side (although she couldnt even cook adobo .) Fortunately, she had the sense to keep it out of the spaghetti. Unfortunately, it made its way into everything else. The easiest way to get me to cook is to coerce her into saying "I'm cooking!" I cannot tell you how many times I have told her that i was planning on cooking just so she would stay out of the kitchen.

Ceasar salad dressing without consulting a recipe?

that is a pretty good idea actually. I imagine there is a receipt some where for pancakes made w/ graham flour. Add chocolate and marshmallows and you would be in business. The only things missing are a couple of verses of "Kum Ba Yah" and a camp fire.... ← Still havnt tried cause one of my friends whose out of town wants to do a mini foodlab (including Orange Buffalo wings, which I have to say sounds like a wickedly good idea.) That recipe i said I found on google (w/ the marshmallow cream) was actually for smore pancakes. =p ← "orange" buffalo wings? (I know this is completely off topic fr/ the original post, but...) What makes them "orange"? Is there orange zest in the breading? or sauce? or marinated in orange juice? or is it just the color? & is it some thing that could be translated to a chicken breast or even a whole chicken? ← We were thinking something along the lines of squeezing a couple oranges into the hotsauce and letting it reduce before adding the butter. Probably have to add a couple other things as we go to get it where we want, but I really want to avoid it coming out to a simple syrup (ala chinese orange chicken.) My goal is to remove the need for a dipping sauce entirely. ← dude, try making an orange butter. zest of 3 oranges, one stick of butter, heat up add zest, let infuse for a day or so. melt, strain, proceed. post pics please. or an orange chile oil. a few thai chiles, some good low flavor oil, some zest. a few days...youre set. ← With the former, are you talking about eliminating the spice altogether?

Just because I can't photograph food to save my soul, I had one of these the other day, although it was a different Grain D'or.

Including family dinners which begin at 3 in the afternoon, move on to dessert and (due to staggered eating times,) immediately onto seconds, leftovers, and sandwiches, five or six hours seated would not be farfetched by any means. At a restaurant, I think only three and a half.

that is a pretty good idea actually. I imagine there is a receipt some where for pancakes made w/ graham flour. Add chocolate and marshmallows and you would be in business. The only things missing are a couple of verses of "Kum Ba Yah" and a camp fire.... ← Still havnt tried cause one of my friends whose out of town wants to do a mini foodlab (including Orange Buffalo wings, which I have to say sounds like a wickedly good idea.) That recipe i said I found on google (w/ the marshmallow cream) was actually for smore pancakes. =p ← "orange" buffalo wings? (I know this is completely off topic fr/ the original post, but...) What makes them "orange"? Is there orange zest in the breading? or sauce? or marinated in orange juice? or is it just the color? & is it some thing that could be translated to a chicken breast or even a whole chicken? ← We were thinking something along the lines of squeezing a couple oranges into the hotsauce and letting it reduce before adding the butter. Probably have to add a couple other things as we go to get it where we want, but I really want to avoid it coming out to a simple syrup (ala chinese orange chicken.) My goal is to remove the need for a dipping sauce entirely.

that is a pretty good idea actually. I imagine there is a receipt some where for pancakes made w/ graham flour. Add chocolate and marshmallows and you would be in business. The only things missing are a couple of verses of "Kum Ba Yah" and a camp fire.... ← Still havnt tried cause one of my friends whose out of town wants to do a mini foodlab (including Orange Buffalo wings, which I have to say sounds like a wickedly good idea.) That recipe i said I found on google (w/ the marshmallow cream) was actually for smore pancakes. =p

So we're doing a tasting menu at Manresa in Los Gatos, Cali. Its a solid 21-course set, and neither of my parents had done a tasting menu before. I kept trying to convince them to watch their intake before so they could make the whole gauntlet. So we get up to the 8th course and its taken about 30 seconds for them to down each thusfar. The appetizer succession ends and out comes the first entree: smoked salmon with a pair of side dishes which escape me right now. My mom hates salmon, so she just let it sit there. My dad polished his off and scarfed hers, so three empty plates went back. Next comes veal cheek. "I'm not much for veal," she claims and visually leans away from it. Both my father and I decide to stick to our own plates so we can make the distance. So, the plate goes back untouched. Next comes pork belly. Now I know that shes a fan of shredded pork. Lo and behold, she doesn't even touch her fork. "I'm already full," she claims. At this point I should probably point out that she was polishing off her second beer. The waiter comes to clear the plates and she orders another. "I think you're filling up on beer," I suggest. She barely even hesitates. "Beer doesn't fill you up. It makes you hungrier." I like to think that the waiter was in the kitchen laughing before he brought the next dish, and his expression upon doing so reinforced the possibility. She didn't touch another bite until the dessert courses came around.

I just saw em up in the cupboard and it got me thinking. Google returned a kids recipe involving spreading marshmallow cream on the finished pancake, but nothing about actually cooking them inside. I have no idea if it would work or not, but has anyone tried? If not, I may have to tomorrow. Furthermore, what would happen were you to drizzle pancake batter into frying oil ala funnel cake?

Right now, im on the verge of a Pira Goma Shabu and sesame binge (great with salty grilled salmon!) Ive been through a jamaican jerk and nam pla faze as well as the whole cumin and sour cream faze. After this will probably come a miso paste faze. Lobster and miso bisque? why not.

One of my staple dinners (when noone else is hungry. ) involves a salmon fillet quick-marinated with some cookin sake, salt, sugar, and just a little bit of teriyaki. Then, I just sautee the hell out of it (at a rather high heat) with some sesame oil until it gets quite black. blackened outside and nigiri inside. Simple, not that creative, but I love it nonetheless. I may have to try some of the ideas in this thread, tho.

This ^ is the general tone of most cooks..... Why can't people with severe or strange allergies phone ahead by a couple of days, so that something can be arranged? My personal favourite combination: Vegan that is allergic to wheat and dairy.....Add nuts to the mix and you are screwed!!!! ← A vegan allergic to dairy? You almost got me there. Personally, i built a small shop in my home town with a sign reading "free elbow grease!" above it. The shop's floor gives way to a 30 foot chasm. We dont have those kind of problems anymore.

I would definitely say my mother. Not because she was a good cook, however. I would choose her because she was quite an orthodox, boring cook who thought bacon and eggs for dinner was something exciting. She could cook (broil. ) a steak, boil rice, etc. So, I gathered up a few basics from her, spun them to my liking, and went from there. If she could cook, I probably couldnt today.

Unless its ice cold, I cant even stand tap water any more. Its still better than manhattan beach's, though. That stuff tasted like rust. I only drink aquafina (not that I have anything against fiji. Its just that a drink a *lot* of water.) Its one of the most tasteless waters ive come across, and that is the point.

Damn! Thanks for the quick feedback. I'll have my folks sort through these later. For the record, im coming from NoCal east bay (livermore, if anyone knows it.) As far as bizarre/trendy places go, I mean oxygen-bar-bubble-tea-sitar-band-no-chairs and monkey waitstaff kind of places. Joints that are pitch black, avant garde that would make dufresne double-take, and beatnick chai bars would all fit the bill. I keep hearing that I may be able to find that Big Lebowski experience lingering around venice, but I cant help but take that with a grain of salt.

Im going to SoCal next week to look at colleges and will be all over the place (San Diego, Orange, Hollywierd, and everywhere in between.) Ive never really spent much time down there, but my parents have already picked out a couple spots along memory lane (Kelbo's, to name one.) I want to find one place where I can spot some stars, and one place that is the pinnacle of LA-style bizzare/trendy, even if the food falls behind the spectacle. If there are any other must eats, I would love to hear about them. There will be three of us, and we arnt afraid to spend a little money (one big splurge and several more affordable places would probably be ideal.)

Actually, that McCurry Pan looks halfway decent. Have you tried it yourself?

Actually, that McCurry Pan looks halfway decent. Have you tried it yourself?

Sadly, they did. Sadly, they were aweful.

You mean the chicken club chalupa? In terms of true fast food fusion, one country's McDonalds (Taiwan?) had minced shrimp burgers on rice patty buns. Singapore has a Tempura Chicken burger. The Middle East has a McArabia http://www.mcdonaldsarabia.com/english/images2/nut_pic09.jpg I still think fast food fusion beats out the obligatory 'Asian Chicken Salad' any day of the week.

I worked taco bell for two summers. # The whole bit about guns are caulking guns, and that's for the sour cream and guacamole, not beans. That bit is quite true. # The beans apparent come as a dried powder and are reconstituted. I dont know if I would call it a powder, although they are certainly dehydrated and reconstituted. # Ditto for most of the sauces. Nope- all came out of pre-mixed bags last I checked. # Meat and nacho cheese come in pre-portioned boil-in-bags. Quite true. # Lettuce arrived at the store pre-shredded Affirmitave # Tomatoes were peeled and sliced on-site. For us, they all came pre-prepared in bags. Salsa Frescas (pun intended. ) was actually prepared from pre-diced ingredients and uncut cilantro. As far as health issues go, it matters on the store. I never heard a single illness resulting from our store, but another store in a different company nearby was downright notorious for it. If you order steak-not beef- then you shouldnt have a problem for the must part. They keep rather strict time controls on all the ingredients, but the beef is nasty to begin with.

The only time I overdo is when Im trying to make a dinner out of leftovers. Green can of parmesan, sausage, cream, eggs, peso, thyme, oregano, pepper, more cheese, garlic.... oh shit!

Pork chops. I absolutely cant stand the texture, and the taste doesnt do a thing for me. Also, straight up spaghetti with marinara is the only dish I wont even be polite about any more.

Cheesy chain family establishments with crap all over the walls and 20 dollar fajitas. Im waiting for the day when hooters buys them all out.

All I can really come up with is kugel for me (of course I am!) My family is made of rather conservitave cooks, so there isnt much else. Hell, were polish and Ive never even had a pierogi (sad, huh?)