Jaymes

I'm not black, but most of my friends who are, fix fried chicken livers this way: 1 pound chicken livers 1 egg 1 C milk 1 C flour 1 t baking powder seasonings: 1 t salt, pepper, prepared seasonings of some kind. One girlfriend uses something called, "Soul Seasoning" that she buys in a jar; several use Tony Cachere's creole seasoning, or other prepared cajun spice. Beat egg with milk until just mixed. Soak livers in egg mixture. Combine dry ingredients in plastic baggie. Drain livers and put into baggie with seasoned flour. Shake to coat well. Fry in hot oil. Serve immediately while hot and crispy. This is best when served with some kind of really good chicken gravy.

On another thread, they discussed something I that I always heard called "rumaki." You take something - shrimp, water chestnuts, etc., wrap it up in in bacon, stick a toothpick through it, brush on some teriyaki sauce and broil. I usually include a piece of green onion or bell pepper as well. This is also very good when made with chicken livers and a piece of pineapple.

Yeah, that's me, too. The location on N183 is halfway to my house, and of course, always open. So if it's midnight or so and I'm hungry, I think all right, I'll stop in there for migas. But because of the noise level, I am ALWAYS sorry. Actually, NYT, the IHOP had never occurred to me. Haven't been into one in years. (In fact, not since the time DECADES ago that I went to the one in Omaha with Peter & Paul after a concert and Mary was sick and stayed in her hotel room and I had long blonde hair with bangs and since I was with Peter and Paul everone thought I must be Mary and kept asking for my autograph and I kept saying, "no, I'm just the waitress from the coffee house" and finally Peter said to me, "Just sign her name; they'll never know the difference and they'll probably throw it away in a few days anyway," so I did). Thanks for the reminder.....

Kirby Lane - I really like it there but it's so blessed noisy that I don't go as often as I would. First of all, the place is busy and crowded and the customers and servers are all making noise. BUT THEN - they actually pipe in this loud rock music. It's soft rock, but still. It's horrible. I like that kind of music as much as anyone in the appropriate setting, which a crowded restaurant is not. And, I usually think of Kirby Lane when I'm hung over - sometimes late at night when returning home from a party or something - I'll get a craving for migas or tortilla soup. But when I'm already feeling bad, and have a headache, I simply cannot stand the noise of that damn music.

Haven't been there for a while, but just read a very favorable review. According to the review, they've enclosed the porch and expanded the restaurant, and kind of found their niche. The reviewer said, and I'd agree, that they had been kind of wandering around, not sure who they were, but that now they've settled down into one of the most reliable, consistant eateries in town. You should come back for a visit.

BBQ

Best scrambled eggs - Beat your eggs together with salt and pepper. In a little butter, scramble them quickly. THEN (and this is the most important part) exactly at the PENULTIMATE MOMENT - pour a little bit of cream or evap milk into the skillet and finish. The eggs come out properly creamy, but fully cooked. That's the way my grandmother taught me some forty years ago, and they're perfect every time. And it isn't just me and my grandmama, by the way - A few years ago, while perusing the Larousse Gastronomique, I noticed that they also say to do it that way: "Note - .... two or three tablespoons of fresh cream may be added after they are cooked."

I live by myself and hate washing up dishes, but have been trying to seque into more protein in my diet. I've found that after eating protein I am not so sleepy, and don't get hungry again so quickly. So, every morning, I break a couple eggs into a soup cup, give them a whirl or two and stick them in the microwave for about 45 seconds, then pull them out and stir them, add a little cheese, back in for 45 seconds or so. They do "scramble" as well as can be expected. Then I pull them out, pour a little salsa into the cup and eat with a spoon. These are no one's idea of a gourmet scrambled egg, I assure you. And without the cheese and salsa, even less so. But I get my protein and only dirty up one dish that, since it has a handle, I can even take with me in the car if I have to.

Supposedly, the water in El Paso contains a kind of natural lithium. And therefore, it's said, the residents are remarkedly laid back and mellow. I understand there is not a particularly big market for bottled water.

So where does that put you? Down around Orange??

Okra. And therein lies the quandry, don't it just? You notice I didn't mention it. We're like you... some really like it, some merely tolerate it, some can't stand it. If I'm making it for a big group that includes my mom and dad, I put it in.... they both love it. When I do add it, I don't add as much as some people, so it's easier for those who don't like it to eat their way around it. When I made it just for my family - husband and kids - usually left it out and thickened with filé, but somehow it just didn't seem "right," ya know? You're also right about the cost of seafood gumbo. It's really expensive to do it up properly. A treat reserved for special occasions, only two or three times a year. Like Christmas Eve - Used to make oyster stew, but years ago, my kids said, "Mom - this is good, but gumbo's better. Why can't we have that?" So ever since that plaintive plea, we have.

That's what we do, too. Crawfish tails, shrimp, crab, and a lot of nice big fat plump juicy oysters. Most of the crab breaks up. The crawfish tails not so much. The shrimp not at all. I slip the oysters into the hot soup just before serving on the first day. They get hot but don't cook much. The second day and we're into the leftovers (I make a LOT), and the oysters are cooked through, but don't break up. To my seafood gumbo, I always add a little sausage, but not much. Just enough to flavor. That's our favorite. I also make chicken gumbo, and that's chicken and sausage. But the seafood gumbo is our favorite, and what everyone hopes I'm making when I say I'm cooking up some gumbo.

Klink - I make da gumbo in my Dutch oven. "First I make a roux" in the bottom of the Dutch oven, then I do add the stock as you said....a little at a time, till the stock is smooth. My "redatives" like da mudbugs (crawdads), so we add lots. Gumbo has got to be one of the most satisfying dishes ever invented.

I would assume that I'm having some sort of marinated beef cut broiled in a kind of, but not exactly, BBQ method. Flank steak likely, but just as likely top round, or brisket or something. Sort of a dark, steak-house kind of dish. Something marinated, then broiled - not sauteed, or fried, or grilled. I may sure be "wrong" but would not necessarily assume it was a flank steak by any means. In fact, if the menu didn't say, I'd ask what cut of beef it was. Edit - I know that often recipes that we in the States refer to as having come from some other country, like "German Chocolate Cake" have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the named country. But, I always thought that, most-likely, British beef was not so tender as ours. And, that if the name "London Broil" did indeed have anything at all to do with London, it was a method of marinating and tenderizing and then cooking, via the broiler, any tough cut of beef.

My (much loved) recipe for London Broil went like this: Take one flank steak, tenderize it twice. Lay strips of bacon across flank steak. Roll up, and slice across the grain into rolls about 1 1/2" thick. Stick rolls on skewers. Marinate overnight in fridge. Marinade: 2 T soy sauce; 1/4 C oil; 1 onion, grated; 2 cloves garlic, mashed and minched; 1/2 C dry red wine Broil, basting with marinade. Or, grill on BBQ.

Okay - I'm confused. I always thought "flank steak" was the name of the actual cut of beef, and "London Broil" was a recipe, a method, for preparation. I gather you are discussing the actual cut of beef here, correct? And not the recipe for London Broil - right? If I am correct, I'll add that the main thing I use flank steak for (in addition to London Broil), is my bulgogi BBQ which is one of my most popular cookout summer dinner party main dishes (recipe on the bibimbap thread). I also use flank steak for all my other Asian beef dishes - beef and broccoli, pepper beef, etc. In addition, in that (bibimbap) thread, I mentioned that in order to slice flank steak thinly enough for these Asian beef dishes, I always slice the raw steak against the grain, while frozen solid (the meat, I mean). In your stores, wherever you are shopping, at your meat counters, are these cuts of beef labled "London Broil" instead of flank steak? Are we talking about the same thing??

In my recipe (see earlier in the thread) my kids would sometimes put cheese on theirs. I also gave the recipe for Mexican Sloppy Joes - Sloppy Jose's - and it always had cheese. Also, sometimes would serve Mom's & Dad's sandwiches with a big slice of onion, or fresh tomato, or pickles.

It's black and it smells burnt. Scorched. You can't miss that odor.

I can't comment on any of the packaged products. Sloppy Joes were my middle son's very favorite thing when he was a kid and I made them a LOT. Not only for him and the family, but for sleepovers and kiddie potlucks, etc. I was afraid to try one of the commercial products because when my family was in the mood for Sloppy Joes, or if someone asked me to bring them to the Scout meeting, or swim meet, or soccer party, and they weren't any good, I'd have been in trouble. I made two basic types: Sweet & Sour and Mexican S&S Sloppy Joes 1 T Worsty 1 T dried onion flakes 1/2 t garlic powder celery salt to taste 1/2 C catsup 1/4 t chili powder 1 T brown sugar 1 T vinegar 1 T yellow prepared mustard 6 oz cooked meat Mix all ingredients and simmer in saucepan til thickened. Serve hot or cold on buns (good picnic sandwiches), or in chafing dish with small rolls alongside. Now - for the "cooked meat" you can use anything. And I mean anything. Sometimes I'd cut up weiners. I've used leftover turkey after Thanksgiving. I very frequently used a can of drained tuna. For the traditional ground beef, I brown the beef in the skillet, and saute the onions and fresh garlic, sometimes chopped bell peppers, just as you'd imagine, then simmer it all till thick. But it's just as good with dried onions and garlic powder. Sloppy Jose's 1 lb ground beef 1 package Taco seasoning Prepare beef according to Taco seasoning instructions (you may need to add a can of tomato sauce or something, but just do whatever it says.) shredded lettuce chopped onions chopped tomatoes shredded cheese salsa (either home made, or Herdez brand, or, if you buy the whole "Taco shebang" kit thing with the shells, there will be some salsa in it) Large-size hamburger buns Prepare taco meat; spoon while still hot onto bottom of bun. Sprinkle meat with cheese so it melts a little. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, salsa. Put bun top on and eat. EDIT: Can't help myself. Have to add a "story." Was invited to a party, and we were told to bring "heavy hors d'oeuvres." I got home late that day, and discovered I didn't have any ground meat in the freezer, and didn't have time to shop, or to cook anything that took too long. So, I made the BBQ Tuna Sloppy Joes. At the party, I had the tuna hot in a fancy chafing dish, with rolls alongside. Everyone was shoveling them down enthusiastically. One of my friends came up to me and said, "Solve an arugment, will you? Helen says your Sloppy Joes are pork, but I think it's beef." I leaned over to her and said in a low voice (figuring this might not impress the crowd) "Actually, it's tuna." "TUNA!" she said loudly, "And you passed that off as MEAT?" So, my BBQ tuna turned out to be the talk of the evening. It's good. You should try it.

I love sesame oil. I read somewhere that it's really a good moisturizer to put on your face, and that Liz Taylor uses it exclusively. I tried it. What a mess. And worse, I kept having an irresistable urge for Korean.

I love that Pet Peeve thing, Rachel. I'm stealing it.

My dad was a rancher. When we were running low on beef, he just selected a likely but unlucky cow, called the slaughter guy, who drove his pickup right out into the pasture, slaughtered the selectee on the spot, hauled everything away, aged and processed the meat, cut it up, wrapped it in white packages, called us, we went and picked up our packages, put them in the freezer and ate really well for several months. As for quality, though - it was hit or miss. Some of those cows were tender and succulent - the finest beef available. Some of them made us damn sorry we'd picked them.

I usually double the amount of pepper myself, but i find that even 1 tablespoon freaks most people out and they end up using only about a teaspoon. It is really the black pepper that makes the dish, don't be afraid of it folks! Even at 2 Tablespoons there is only a hint of it! My recipe is similar to these - same ingredients - slightly different proportions. In the summer, I use a flank steak. Score it well on both sides. Then, cut the scored steak across the grain into strips about 1" wide. Marinate the strips for several hours or, best, overnight. Cook outside on BBQ. In the winter, I also use a flank steak, but freeze it first. Then slice across the grain into very, very thin strips. This is easy to do for bulgogi, or pepper beef or whatever, if the meat is frozen while you're slicing it. Then marinate for several hours. Then I either fry it in a wok, or broil in oven. BUT - for the marinade, I use Korean soy sauce. And, MOST IMPORTANT, I ALWAYS add, in addition to the black pepper, several whole pods of those fabulous dried red Asian hot peppers that you get in Oriental markets, and that you see in many dishes in Asian restaurants. Have lived a few places where they were not available, so didn't use them. I can tell you for sure, bulgogi isn't as good without them. At least not in my opinion.

Down here, it ain't turkey gravy unless it's giblet gravy. We love the little chewy bits. To the gravy, in addition to the giblets, we also add the neck meat and chopped hard-boiled eggs. Yum. The holidays are coming.

That calls to mind something that happened to me thirty years ago. I never really considered it much until I read your post. When I got married, we received place settings of our silver pattern. The "northern" relatives sent place settings with soup spoons. From the Southerners the place settings did not include soup spoons.... every one of them had an iced-tea spoon instead.