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PurpleDingo99

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Everything posted by PurpleDingo99

  1. God do I know that feeling. it doesnt help that im always hungry now (my exercise finally sped up my metabolism!) but I always come home with plenty of extra things in the cart. "What are you going to do with those berries" "I dont know- but they look good, huh?" "What about the salmon?" "Not a clue, but take a whiff!" "the jersey cheddar?" "take a guess!" and on, and on. At least I havnt whipped out a second cart in a while.
  2. bread, fruit, chocolate, drink, and 8 oz of soup for $10? I think Ill stick with a la carte.
  3. I am very careful not to overorder because my eyes are bigger than my stomach, but I'll clear the table anyways. Whenever there is some new or obscure place that I want to point to the menu and say "I'll take one," I usually just drag along someone to split the food (and bill. )
  4. using decent bacon and worthwhile bread diminishes the point entirely. Its obviously more of a self-dare than a dish. Reminds me a while ago of an old blog/forum game when someone would post a picture of several unrelated ingredients. Whoever posted first would get to pick the first combination of three ingredients for the original poster to combine and eat. olives, cottage cheese, and syrup kind of stuff. Then, those ingredients are off limits after the pictures are posted and it continues till all ingredients are gone. Always good for a laugh.
  5. I think I just came across a particularly strange one. While searching for empanadas on cooks.com, one recipe called for wrapping monterey jack and some jalapenos in pilsbury crescent dough (the canned stuff.) Lets hear what you got.
  6. As nuts as it sounds, 4 or 5 course meals often come out when I cook for myself. why? because its a great time to experiment. Ill gladly grab a pork chop and leave the other three. Either use those some other time and/or add another pack if necessary.
  7. PurpleDingo99

    Dinner! 2005

    Simple mixed rice semi-risotto, green beans with peanut sauce, semi-thai shrimp (lemon grass, jerk seasoning, fish sauce, garlic, sesame oil) with sauce (duck sauce w/ chili oil.) Definitely in the top five for me! Sorry for the crappy pic.
  8. salmon and cream cheese wisked into eggs with plenty of butter and some chives. shrimp quick-marinaded with lemon grass, nam pla, jerk seasoning, red pepper, and garlic and grilled really fast. for dipping, chili oil, sesame seeds, and duck sauce. Only gripe is I didnt make more.
  9. I fly on the seat of my pants for the same reason i cook about 4 dishes a night: I need all the practice I can get. so, i might as well get all the practice I need.
  10. Chicken Quesadillas Wow. I just made some quesadillas up as i went, and they were, far and away, the best quesadillas I have ever had. They went something like this 13 oz chicken meat (roughly diced) 1 c sherry 3 T EVOO 1/2 c cream cheese 1/2 c chicken stock 2 T cumin seed 2 T ground cumin cilantro (about 2 handfuls of fresh cilantro) grated cheese (your favorite mexican cheese) 4 12" tortillas 4 T butter Put the chicken meat in a sautee pan and turn up to high heat. When the meat begins a steady sizzle, add the EVOO. Once the EVOO begins to bubble, add half the sherry and cook for two minutes. Add the cumin seed, ground cumin, cream cheese, stock, and remaining sherry. Pull the cilantro apart by hand and add; stir until cream cheese is broken down. Then, stir constantly for 2-3 more minutes. Spoon out 1/4 of the mixture onto half of a tortilla and sprinkle that half with cheese all the way to the edges. Meanwhile, heat a tortilla press (or nested skillets) at 2/3 total heat. Melt 1 tablespoon butter and sandwitch the quesadilla between the skillets (and in your press) for a minute; flip and cook for 30 seconds. Keywords: Main Dish, Chicken, Mexican ( RG1201 )
  11. Chicken Quesadillas Wow. I just made some quesadillas up as i went, and they were, far and away, the best quesadillas I have ever had. They went something like this 13 oz chicken meat (roughly diced) 1 c sherry 3 T EVOO 1/2 c cream cheese 1/2 c chicken stock 2 T cumin seed 2 T ground cumin cilantro (about 2 handfuls of fresh cilantro) grated cheese (your favorite mexican cheese) 4 12" tortillas 4 T butter Put the chicken meat in a sautee pan and turn up to high heat. When the meat begins a steady sizzle, add the EVOO. Once the EVOO begins to bubble, add half the sherry and cook for two minutes. Add the cumin seed, ground cumin, cream cheese, stock, and remaining sherry. Pull the cilantro apart by hand and add; stir until cream cheese is broken down. Then, stir constantly for 2-3 more minutes. Spoon out 1/4 of the mixture onto half of a tortilla and sprinkle that half with cheese all the way to the edges. Meanwhile, heat a tortilla press (or nested skillets) at 2/3 total heat. Melt 1 tablespoon butter and sandwitch the quesadilla between the skillets (and in your press) for a minute; flip and cook for 30 seconds. Keywords: Main Dish, Chicken, Mexican ( RG1201 )
  12. PurpleDingo99

    Dinner! 2005

    standard affair calzone (first time using raw yeast, actually) with a simple cesar, italian steak faux-satay, and deconstructed chicken parmesana. Too hungry to take pics.
  13. I might have to try that little recipe i made up again. Marinading, brasing, and then frying actually works brilliantly. soy, honey, chipotle, and lime make a fantastic combination.
  14. Nothing is really too much for me unless its a flavorless body/textural ingredient (too much rice, cream, dough, etc) As long as the body ingredient is kept in balance, most dishes need more of someting (or something else.) In general, though, "too much cream" is just "not enough everything else." The only real exceptions for me are a few select alcohols (too much whiskey can kill any meat) and lime.
  15. crushed walnuts, EVOO, chopped sausage (ive made it work with chicken and apple. You can use just about anything,) Bottled pesto, and some sundrieds. Its like buttah.
  16. Fennel doesnt do a thing for me, but i use cumin every other time I cook (and ive never cooked indian.) Cumin is fantastic in the right configuration and concentration in mexican and tex-mex food (ive heard of it in chili more than once.) Strangely enough, it works surprisingly well with sherry or cream cheese.
  17. Andie, thank you so much for mentioning Kelbo's. Ive been to manhattan beach probably 6 years in a row on vacation (a month each, on the strand ) and somehow, we always forgot to go to kelbos. My folks used to live down there and loved the place, but somehow we always forgot about it. Good thing ill be checking out chapman this summer and inevitably end up there. BTW- how is the place that took over the habachi's old location (next to the brewery) doing?
  18. "Why have I spent all this time trying to redefine what food is and can be when there is such an intresting food in my foodland?" Said Ferran Adrian of El Bulli, "I have never been able to replicate that smooth consistency and complex, artificial flavor before. So why fight it? Long story short, Velveeta sorbet is a favorite right now."
  19. Thanks for sharing this cornucopia of information, Nick! I aspire to open a restaurant out of college, and it's refreshing to see that such an unorthodox business plan (or proposal, at least) is still welcomed nowadays. Its only a shame I didn't hear about this whole thing earlier, because I keep trying to talk my dad into going VC from his current money manager/portfolio constructing role. He usually eats up old-dog-does-a-new-trick startups, but watchagonnado? Just out of curiousity- You said that there was only one investor you hadn't worked with before. Did you approach them with your plan, did they approach you after hearing through the grapevine (or in conversation,) or did you send out a cattle call and it just ended up that way?
  20. I worked at taco bell for two summers. Most of them wore gloves most of the time, but there were food safety violations that would make your toes curl (how about them eating roast chicken from the market using the line and fryalator as tables?) I ate there every day I worked (with several snacks. ) and never got sick once. Not even relatively. And its not that I have a particularly strong immune system (im going through my 2nd cold in two weeks as I type. ) At this point, ive eaten plenty of particularly unsafe things and Im still alive to talk about it. So, ill eat just about anyting that aint served raw off of the meat cutting board.
  21. A) I dont think people will start turning their backs on hydrogenated oils until 2010 at the earliest, because the low-carb rage will pick up the slack in the meantime. If/when heart attacks, bone decay, and other high-protein-low-carb diet side effects happen, then people will start to reach for hydrogenated oils. If those problems dont become serious nationwide due to low-carb diets, then I dont see a war on hydrogenated oil breaking out until 2012 at the absolute earliest. B) Its going to take schools until 2015 to worry about dietary reasons outside of California. Here, with some of the worst schools in the nation, we still have to wait for supplies, teachers to be hired, then classrooms added, then new schools added, then extracurricular activities added, then campuses improved, and then, maybe, dietary conditions improved. Next year, the school is closing campus and welcoming fast food vendors to sell on campus as well. California is one of the more health-conscious states, as well, so I dont see the rest of the nation being too quick to change either. C) Classic food coming back full force? I dont see that happening until 3020 . Even with the slowly (re)building popularity of things like fondue, chefs all over should be more willing to embrace 'exotic' cousines relatively unknown in america. Going back to classic cousine at this point would be like 3-piece suits coming back in style.
  22. Thats odd- i live in east bay (livermore,) but i honestly eat in SF only a few times a year. I have never seen a peruvian place around town (not that i have specifically looked for them, but still...) The only north african place Ive heard about around here is an ethiopian place a bit of ways away (danville or fremont comes to mind.) And I totally forgot about the mainland chinese influence. It will be intresting to see how soon traditional dishes start popping up.
  23. It seems like fondues have been coming back for a few years now, but I honestly cant see them becoming totally mainstream this decade. Im not going to pull anyone's leg and say I totally have my finger on the pulse, but it seems entrees are becoming sweeter (prunes' growing popularity, for starters.) Alinea looks particularly on the sweet side, for starters. I have this crazy idea that peruvian food is going to start coming alive in America soon, as well. Right up the street from us, my grandpa's new appartment complex (about 80 units) is populated almost entirely by peruvians. One of them is bound to eventually open a restaurant. If peruvian prepared right is as great as they say, and if this town is as ready for new restaurants as it looks, then it should catch on instantly. They definitely are not the only peruvians in town, and im sure our town is not alone. Eventually, someone will open a really good one and itll take over like wildfire.
  24. Classic... reminds me of "breakfast from hell," and hear you me: its pretty damn bad. not for the feint of heart. :p
  25. I will never again cut a carrot on a mandoline widthwise without the handguard. It went about 1/4" into my damn thumb and bled straight through 3 bandaids (including a 2x4 bandaid.) That thing wouldnt stop bleeding for at least 30 minutes.
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