mizducky

One of the many stories my mom told me about growing up in New York's Lower East Side in the 1930s was about eating schmaltz on spaghetti. All I can say is that she must have had a heartburn-proof GI tract when she was a kid. The stuff is delicious, but man can it ever give you that "fire in the belly." (Sorta tangentially, I remember hearing Buddy Hackett on Carson or something tell a story about leaving home to go in the army, and getting concerned that something was wrong with him. In actuality, unbeknownst to him, he'd had heartburn his whole life up until going into the army and, for the first time, eating food cooked by somebody other than his mother. "I thought my pilot light had blown out," he said. My bet was that his mom cooked with a ton of schmaltz. It will do that to you.) Myself, I remember my mom saving up hunks of fat from various chickens for months on end, squirreling them all away in the freezer, and then rendering a whole bunch of schmaltz in one go for a holiday batch of gehakte liver. Most of the gribenes would go in the chopped liver, but a certain amount of it would get noshed by my mom and me. Holiday chopped liver was pretty much the only thing we ever used either schmaltz or gribenes for--we too had gotten assimilated enough to aspire to somewhat "healthier" eating. I made a little batch of shmaltz and gribenes a few months ago--the gribenes was as yummy as I remember, but damn, I cannot eat more than a little bit of it at a time anymore--way too rich for me at this point.

When I first moved to Seattle in 1989, Spot Bagels made a really nice chewy product--they were huge, but they were not spongy, definitely felt like they were done right, boiled and not steamed. Alas, I think Spot went out of business even before I left Seattle in 2002. Anybody up there remember them? I think PCC carried them, among other places. I liked them so much, I almost didn't mind that they did non-traditional flavors like jalapeno and such.

I suspect that with ground meat, the act of grinding has already fragmented the muscle fibers into such miniscule lengths that they no longer show up in the food's mouth-feel as fibers at all. Whereas with cubed meat, even with the small-size cubes some have mentioned, the fibers have been segmented but the fibrous structure is still basically intact within each cube. I further theorize that the meat fibers in chili made from larger cubes of meat would be more noticeable than those from small cubes, simply because of the relative fiber lengths in the two sizes of cubes. I vaguely recall seeing some chili recipes that specify both ground and cubed meat. I theorize that this would give a really nice combination of the thick sauce-texture of an all-ground-meat chili and the shredded/pulled meat texture of the cubed-meat chili. I confess to preferring pork to beef in general (oy, what a nice Jewish girl I turned out to be, huh? ), so it pleases me that so many New Mexico chile verde recipes I've seen on the net specify pork. Oh---how about spices in addition to the chiles? Cumin is pretty common; allspice seems to be one of the flavor secrets in Cincinnati-style; I've also been known to sneak a little cinnamon in there for its natural "sweetness." As to beans: I fear that kidney beans are not my favorite beans by a long shot--I just find them too big, bland and pasty. Pintos are a bit better to me--somehow, their smaller size makes them register as a little less pasty in my mouth. The pulses I really like are black beans, lentils, and garbanzos. I know the latter two are definitely not traditional chili-makings, but I wonder how they'd work out. Using lentils might result in a chili-flavored dal! And we saw garbanzos, I think, way up at the top of this thread in an Algerian chili-like bean stew. How about other beans folks have used, or thought about using? I'm especially wondering about beans like black-eyed peas (they have a fresh vegetal flavor even when cooked from dried beans that I really dig); and azduki beans (their natural sweetness and digestability might be an great asset in chili-making).

I have been known to eat the slice/wedge/etc. of citrus fruit garnishing my beverage. Peel and all. Yeah, I know it sounds kinda weird. I just think of it as instant marmelade without the sugar.

Now that's some lovely-looking cannoli there. Looks like they've got a whole mess o' pistachios on 'em--yum! The garlic salsa is store bought -- it's the generic Safeway brand from Dominick's. It's quite chunky with lots of garlic slivers. I'll try to remember to take a pic for you. ← Safeway/Vons salsas are amazingly decent for store brands, aren't they? I really like how chunky they all are. I can go through a big jar of their mild Southwest salsa in the blink of an eye. Yes, Cashew is quite good at open doors, so the cleaning supply cabinet (under the sink) has a velcro ribbon to keep it shut. He can figure out how to pull open a door but not tug on velcro ← As the saying goes: just think of the trouble the li'l darlings could get into if they only had opposeable thumbs! Cashew's size reminds me of a humongous orange tabby who lived on my block when I was a kid. His name was Stewball, and his face was a little on the homely side for a cat, but all the kids loved him because if you sat down next to him he would start giving you a methodical tongue-bath as if you were a kitten. Because he was so big, you really knew about it when he started in to washing you! A bit scratchy, but really sweet.

I had known about gomashio ever since a brief flirtation with macrobiotics back in my 20s, and about furikake in general from readings here and there (including here on eGullet), but it wasn't until the other day that I picked up a jar for myself. Major yum! I can see myself eating a ton of this stuff without batting an eye. I've put it on brown rice and on garbanzo beans as well as on plain white rice, all to great effect. The variety I got is Katsuo Mirin, made by Mishima/Shirakiku (for what it's worth, while the ingredient list is not all that short, the most artificial-ish ingredient of the lot is caramel coloring--the diet pop I'm currently drinking is much worse ). My local 99 Ranch Asian market had a couple different brands in a variety of flavors, some looking relatively staid, some containing multi-colored candy-looking bits which I assumed were aimed more at kids. I get the impression that manufacturers just keep on inventing new and different flavors of furikaki, of varying degrees of inventiveness, like American breakfast cereals--would that be a fair comparison? (Given that there are also some cereals loaded with wacky-colored bits to entertain the kiddies, and other more sobersided varieties aimed more at adults). Are there some furikake combinations that are considered "classic" and/or traditional? Also, what's considered a typical traditional serving amount of this stuff? I've read through the thread and seen that some people happily go ga-ga with it; but noting the Japanese preference for smaller food portions than we tend to consume in America, I'm assuming that the Japanese way with this stuff is similarly (relatively) restrained. Correct assumption or not?

I have been told that Whacked-Out Chili is a sort of Cincinnati Chili but I am not sure of that. I have seen some recipes called that and they have a similarly outrageous list of ingredients. But I really don't know if that is what makes Cincinnati Chili. If anyone knows, please tell. ← Mind you, I have yet to even visit Cincinnati, let alone try that town's chili, but a bit upthread I posted this link to a page all about Cincinnati-style chili, including a copy-cat recipe for Skyline Chili (Skyline is apparently one of the reigning purveyors of this style of chili). Reading the recipe, I'm intrigued by the choice of spices, but I'm so married to the idea of a thick stew-like chili that I'll probably try some other style (if I get it together to take part in this cook-off, that is). Re: vegetarian chili--I too have used various incarnations of the Moosewood recipe with the bulghur. I really like how it turns out texture-wise--prefer it to using TVP as the latter's texture/mouth-feel never quite feels right to me. Re: New Mexico-style green chili--I really like the idea of this, as I fell in love with green chiles on my brief visit to that state. Anybody got a pointer to a recommended recipe?

You could always do as the folks in Cincinnati, Ohio do, and serve your chili on your namesake pasta.

Sigh. I don't know what aspect of this ad campaign I find the most annoying: 1) The total disregard of the fact that the issues people have with fast food in general is not the purity of the ingredients per se, but the greasy crap they wind up creating with them. And to add insult to injury, McD's can't even make their greasy crap taste good. (Mind you, I eat my share of fast-food burgers, without any delusions as to their grease content etc.--but McD's is my port of very last resort because I find their food so bleah.) 2) This type of spin-doctoring ad campaign, in which a company sings the product's praises without actually changing the product one whit to better it in any way. Somewhere, I feel that the ghost of George Orwell is laughing sardonically, as large corporations continue to demonstrate they have an even better grasp of double-speak than do governments. 3) The implication that such advertising must actually work on enough people to justify its cost to the corporations that engage in it. Sure, there are weisenheimers like us that will just give this kind of corporate propaganda the Bronx cheer it so richly deserves. But I doubt McD's would be spending money on this essentially meaningless advertizing unless it produced results, so that means they're so sure a whole bunch of people are going to buy more McD's because of such ad-blather that they're betting cash money on it. I dunno, I just find the thought of a whole segment of the population so--well, let me be diplomatic and just call them gullible--a wee tad bit scary. (Not that I haven't had this thought before. Numerous times. Doesn't make the thought any less scary.) 4) That this whole thing begs the question of why McD's doesn't take the money they spend on trying to persuade us of the virtues of their product, and instead spend it on, oh I dunno, actually improving the product. (Unless, again, they have proof that sufficient people like their product just as it is. Which again kind of scares me.)

Roasting is always a reliable option. Especially since, as they're detached from a whole bird, you don't have the white-meat-vs.-dark-meat timing issue. I've not done any smoking at all myself, but smoked turkey legs are definitely a great good thing to have on hand. The turkey osso bucco sounds like a lovely idea too. I may have to try that sometime myself.

I have loved the octopus I've tried in restaurants--including Asian preparations that leave it a little more on the chewy side. A relatively-good Asian buffet I frequent often has a lovely spicy octopus salad. I love tako sushi. I've also had a Japanese salad of whole baby octopuses--even I had to pause momentarily at the look of a bowlful of the little critters, but boy they sure tasted good. Haven't quite gotten up the nerve to cook it at home, though I've seen it in markets around here--apparently it's big with Mexican as well as Asian cooks. I'd have to wait for a weekend when Fearless Housemate is way out of town--I bet he'd totally freak at the sight of the critters, let alone catching a glimpse of me attempting to dismember one.

Heh. I was desperately trying to remember the dialog from "The Meaning of Life" among the tankful of fish in the restaurant (something on the order of "Look--someone's eating George!")--but couldn't quite pull that one together. dirt but in a good way! ← I think we might need to start a whole 'nother topic entitled "Regrettable Food Descriptions."

Well, just be glad it wasn't a chocolate chip "bagel". (Who comes up with these ideas, anyway? Presumably not people who grew up eating bagels with lox.) (Or maybe it was the same folks who decided to create the chocolate-chocolate chip muffin--the bakery good for people who like to pretend they're not eating cupcakes for breakfast.)

"I'm not dead yet! I'm getting better! I think I'll go for a walk! (Erm, or at least a flop-around outside this bowl...)"

Wow. Not to make light of any of the financial and artistic losses suffered by all these people, but this could be turned into one hell of an intense true-crime book. Or movie. (Maybe some of the vintners could at least recoup their financial losses that way... a hairbrained idea, probably, but you never know... ) (Edited to correct grammar/wording)

Well, I'm a day late (and a dollar short?) on the brussels sprouts query, but for what it's worth you can find my method for brussels sprouts in a mustard/maple syrup vinaigrette here. If mustard and maple syrup sound like an odd match at first blush, just think of a not-overly-sweet honey mustard, but with a nice dark grade-B maple syrup playing the role of the honey. Really goes well with little mild-flavored brussels sprouts. As to the water consumption--dang! I have enough trouble remembering to get a half-gallon of water into me daily. I think if I went for a full gallon my back molars would start singing "Anchors Aweigh" (to borrow an expression from an old college acquaintance) ...

I have only had goat a very few times, but I really loved it. Haven't had the opportunity to cook with it, however--though I suspect I should be able to find it in a Mexican market around here somewhere. Meanwhile, for some reason I have now flashed back to this one butcher shop in Boston's Haymarket, where my roommate of the time and I were regular customers back in the 1980s. One of the wise guys who ran the shop showed us a lovely lamb carcass hanging from a hook, waiting to be cut up. "A terrible thing happened to this lamb," Wise Guy intoned. We decided to take the bait--"Okay, what happened to it?" Wise Guy: "It died." I swear that line was funnier when actually standing in the middle of a meat locker staring at a lamb carcass. In any case, the lamb was quite delicious--glad those guys went into the meat biz instead of show biz.

Now this sounds like a book that I will really enjoy getting into. Right on, fellow rebellious fat person! P.S. I was thinking of the famous Hitchcock profile cartoon too ...

Heh. A college friend of mind had one of those things that took the little nitrous cartridges. Once in a very great while he did actually use it for making whipped cream, but the use to which it was more often put, while great fun at parties, is pretty much off-topic for eGullet ...

And I had a college friend who ran marathons. A lot of them. A little wiry guy. Watching him put away mass quantities of food was pretty breathtaking. I'm glad your blog has brought all this stuff up, Soba. Your experience is definitely the flipside of my life experience, in which I have spent large amounts of time and effort fighting to lose weight and keep it off. Certain diet pundits keep insisting there's a simple linear relationship between weight and calories consumed, but they seem to keep forgetting the influence of one's metabolism. And then there are those other diet pundits that hold out the promise of various practices designed to "reset" your metabolism ... well, I dunno about other folks, but I have yet to succeed in making my metabolism re-set or re-tuned or any of those other things. I guess it does work for some folks, but it sure doesn't work for everyone. I don't have any restaurant suggestions as I'm so totally out of the loop with NYC upscale dining, so I'll just sit back and see where others send you.

Well, I can offer a few over-generalizations based on anecdotal evidence... As far as I've observed, the American obsession with raw veggies is a relatively recent phenomenon. When I was a kid growing up in the 1960s, most veggies were served cooked--often way overcooked; if I recall correctly, the penchant for serving vegetables just steamed until barely cooked but still crispy and bright-colored only started cropping up at our dinner table in the early 1970s. Meanwhile, we always had a tossed green salad with dinner, but as the Tossed Salad topic demonstrates, these salads could be pretty rudimentary. We'd also have a token crudite' tray at festive gatherings, but they were pretty boring, mainly carrot and celery sticks, and most people ignored them. But over the past few decades a lot of that changed. The American taste for raw and/or extremely lightly cooked veggies just skyrocketed, inspired by a few different waves of interest in healthier and/or more natural cooking, the massive popularization of salad bars, and a growing interest in gourmet cooking in general causing many people to be more into tracking down quality ingredients and treating those ingredients with care. Mind you, though, there are still plenty of areas of the US where people continue to serve veggies cooked to death ... As to the fruits: I think tryska has got a point about the need to preserve fruits out of season. Much of the US has temperate climates with delimited growing seasons, so traditionally people had to preserve fruits to have a winter supply, by cooking, canning, drying, pickling, etc., and then we just kept liking them that way even after refrigeration and easy shipping made a year-round fruit supply available. Plus in a lot of the US, it gets cold enough in the winter that cooked fruits are really appealing in that season (baked apples, etc.). Conversely, we've got a strong association between some fruits eaten raw, and the hot summer months (watermelon is one huge example).

Peep Treets Serves 24 as Dessert. Those puffed-rice cereal treats have been around for years, but I bet you haven't seen 'em made out of Marshmallow Peeps. Extremely silly, great fun for kids of all ages--and the Peeps add a fun flavor as well as color. The only problem is, you really have to make these with fresh Peeps to get the best results. But if the Easter Peep chicks aren't currently in season, you can certainly use other holiday-themed Peeps with equally-amusing results (I haven't tried using the Halloween black cats yet, but I think they would make some delightfully super-creepy treets). 33 Marshmallow Peep chicks, your choice of colors 1/4 c butter 6 c puffed rice breakfast cereal (Rice Krispies or equivalent brand) Butter a 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan. Have ready a buttered spatula or some waxed paper. Carefully remove the heads from all your little Peep chicks. Reserve both the heads and the bodies. (You're going to have some extra heads, but that's good backup in case a head or two gets too mooshed up to use later.) In a saucepan large enough to hold all the cereal with plenty of room to spare, melt the butter over low heat. Add the Peep bodies, and keep heating and stirring until they are completely melted. Now the next bit you need to do quickly before everything cools down and congeals. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the cereal and stir until completely coated with the melted Peep mixture. Press the mixture gently but evenly into the buttered baking pan, using the spatula or some waxed paper wrapped around your hand to push the stuff around without getting it stuck all over you. Don't cut it into squares yet, but roughly measure 24 squares (six rows of four) and stick a Peep head in what will be the middle of each square. Do this while the mixture is still warm so the heads will stick. Let the treets cool completely, then cut into those 24 squares. It helps to use a sharp knife, either greased or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, using a gentle sawing motion. These will keep for a few days covered or wrapped in plastic wrap--if you can keep the snackers away from them that long. Notes: It's fun to pick a couple different colors of Peeps--you get different head colors to play with, and the melted Peep colors blend. I made Peep Treets in a lovely shade of light lavender by starting with pink and purple Peeps. If you want to try this with other seasonal Peeps that have a different weight per unit than the Peep chicks, know that you're shooting for about ten ounces worth of marshmallow critters. Keywords: Easy, Dessert, Snack, Brownies/Bars ( RG1436 )

I absolutely adore lamb. Its tendency to gaminess is, to me, a feature rather than a bug (heh, old software industry insider joke). The only reason I don't have it more often is relative expense and relative scarcity--as I discovered to my chagrin some months ago when we were doing the Indian curry cookoff, the variety and quantity of lamb available in supermarkets has shrunk to almost nothing, and at ridiculous prices. However, I recently discoverd that the local Food 4 Less carries lamb shoulder neck slices on a regular basis, and at excellent prices, and that this cut really lends itself to braised/pressure-cooked stews, so I expect to be indulging in the stuff on a more regular basis. Speaking of which, one of my best friends back in Seattle is a dedicated vegetarian (personal beliefs about health), but she would make exceptions to her veg diet for a very few occasions every year. One was to eat Thanksgiving turkey, especially if I was the one roasting it. The others were when the two big Greek Orthodox churches in town would have their respective saint's-day festivals, when she would belly on up to get a roast lamb dinner. It would throw her system out of whack for a couple days afterward, but she'd count the discombobulation worth it in order to enjoy lamb expertly cooked by a bunch of Greek grandmothers.

L'chaim! and thanks for all the lovely photos! (My paternal grandparents had a little grape arbor on their property outside of Peekskill NY; however, I only remember it producing little tiny grapes the size and color of large buckshot, with a flavor something like the soot that might wind up on said buckshot. But they shore looked purty! )

Terrific work documenting your process! I'm impressed that you were able to take a picture of the flame at all, even if the image wound up overexposed--that's some tricky camera/cookery juggling. Plus it looks totally yummy and I'm learning stuff.