shellfishfiend

Thank you. Thank you. I knew I would get lots of great recipes and ideas. I can't wait to forward these to my sister. I will probably try out a few of these myself. I imagine they store well in the fridge and my sister is coming down for Mardi Gras. She loves this sauce so much she will probably eat it with her crawfish. Thank you all again.

I hope this is the right place to post this. I did a search and did not come up with anythhing. (Probably used the wrong words.) I was talking to my sister on the phone today and she metioned how much she loves the bright red sweet and sour sauce she gets from her local Chinese resturants. She said she saves the extra and dips bread in it until it is gone. Now, these are restaruants in a small Arkansas town and I know this sauce is probably not at all authentic. But, I think eveyone knows what sauce I am talking about. She said she has tried buying versions at the grocery store and they are not right. She said there is a light sediment left at the bottom of the containers when she gets the sauce from resturants. I asked if it was chili flakes and she said no, it is finer—like a spice. So, if someone has a recipe for this sauce, I would really appreciate it. My sister does not like to cook so the fact she is interested in food/ccoking in any way has me really excited. Can someone help me with a recipe for this "not really Chinese" sweet and sour sauce? Can someone please fix my terrible typing in the topic line? Sorry-brain works faster than fingers.

I know exactly what you mean about them helping you cook without them. The more cookbooks I read, and I do read them all, the more familiar I become with what aspects of a recipe can be changed and what aspects are never changed. After seeing a recipe for say, pan fried fish with a lemon sauce, in five different cookbooks, I can then close all the cookbooks and have a good understanding of the basics of the recipe. If I understand the basics of the recipe, it helps me feel more confidnet in experimenting.

Menon1971, So glad you tried it. It looks really good. I am saving the recipe as I think it would be a great party dish. If you try it again with the seafood, let us know about it. Thanks.

Gifted Gourmet, That is one of the most beautiful pictures of fruit I have ever seen. I don't know if it is the quality of the fruit or the photographer, but it makes me think I can almost taste it.

Leave the cloves out and I would love it. I can also see it with the addition of shrimp or oysters. Spicy, cold, salty=delicious. Let us know how it turns out if you try it.

I love the serving size for ice cream: 1/2 cup. I have never in my life sat down with a serving of ice cream and had only a 1/2 cup in the bowl. I try not to look at the calories per serving because I would rather not know. I do think it is important to understand about servign size/portion control. I just choose to ignore it when it comes to ice cream. And yes, I do think companies do that so their numbers look better.

I have always eaten oysters with just a kiss of lemon and maybe a half dash of hot sauce (louisana brand). If my only option was cocktail sauce, I would just eat them straight. And yes, I chew my oysters. When we were at Acme a few months ago, they did not have Louisiana hot sauce, but did have Chipotle Tabasco. Wow. The hint of smokiness in the chipotle tabasco reminded me of charbroiled oysters. A bottle now resides in my frig.

I recently grilled hamburgers using ground venison. I would imagine that the fat content of the venison was similar to your ground beef. I placed a pat of butter and a slice of cheese in the middle of the burgers. They turned out extra moist. however, I did only cook them to medium rare.

Penzey's does not have a specific recommendation for peppercorns and nutmeg. However, they do state that whole spices should last two years without losing much (if properly stored), as opposed to ground spices, which only last one year. Their catalog says the govenment guidline is 4 years for whole and 2 years for ground. I think that is a bit too long.

I was mentioning this topic to my husband this morning (we both love greens). He asked me if I had posted about our secret for good greens. I confessed that I had forgotten about it. The secret: add a little bit (about 2 tsp.) of soy sauce to the pot about 10 min. before greens come off the heat. It adds a real depth of flavor. Make sure you pay attention to your salt use, as the soy will provide alot.

You daughter sounds like a very smart young lady. I bet her report turns out great. Do try the pimento cheese melted. Years ago at small coffee shop where I worked, one of our most popular lunch items was a croissant, cut in half and spread with our pimento cheese, sprinked with garlic powder and run under the broiler until the cheese was melted and just browning. it was a twist on an old southern classic.

I use this Nigella Lawson recipe all of the time. My husband thinks it is one of the best chicken recipes ever. Plus, your house will smell delightful. The recipe is from her Forever Summer book. I have changed it up a little so I can post it. Slow-Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken 4 lbs. of chicken on bone and with skin (whole breasts and leg quarters work well) 1 head of garlic, cloves separated but unpeeled 2 lemons cut into chunks (I usually use four since they are small around here) fresh or dried thyme to taste 3 Tbsp. olive oil 10 Tbsp. wine (we aren't big wine drinkers, so I usually use water or mirin) salt and black pepper Preheat oven to 300 F. Throw everything in a big raosting pan and mix it up. Make sure chicken is skin side up. Cover the pan with foil and roast for 2 hours. Remove foil and raise oven temp to 400 F. Cook for another 30-45 min. The lemons and the garlic get all golden and carmelized. It smells like summer.

The book has been claimed.

Not a cookbook exactly, but.... I just got a free copy of Anthony Bourdain's The Nasty Bits in the mail. My sister gave me this book for Christmas and I have already read (and loved) it. So, I have this extra free copy. First person to pm me gets it.

I am really a very lucky woman. My husband happily eats eveything I cook for him. We both love to cook and he would cook more often if his schedule permitted. He is pretty good about cleaning up the kitchen after he cooks and is great about helping me clean after I cook. That said, the one thing he does that drives me up the wall is put food into the refrigerator uncovered. This includes food from casseroles to pizza to roasted chicken. Sometimes, he won't even make an attempt to cover it (leftovers thrown on a plate and tossed in) and somtimes he will pull the saran wrap or foil off of somthing and then just half-ass lay it on top of the dish and put it back in the frig. I don't know why this bothers me so much. Maybe I am a little anal about it.

A touch of vinegar does wonderful things for greens. In the South, we love pepper vinegar on our greens. With greens that are a bit bitter, a little sweetness will help balance that. Balsamic, with its sweet flavor, will really enhance your greens.

Yes, I grew up eating salmon croquettes. My mom's recipe included cracker crumbs and minced onions. I think she dusted hers with a little flour before pan frying. She always used canned salmon (we ate alot of canned tuna, too). I am not sure why they were popular in the South. I think my mother served them because it was a dish that stretched the food budget dollar. Croquettes were usually served with mac and cheese (yes, the boxed version). Thanks for bringing this up. I haven't had croquettes in ages and just might have to go and buy a can of salmon.

The thyme and tangerine sounds good, as does the tellichery black pepper and berry. I already eat melon with lots of fresh cracked black pepper. Looks like I will have to palce a Penzey's order for tellicherry pepper. Clove and green apple is something I would stay away from.

I second eje's Swann Oyster Depot recommendation. When we were in SF, we had the opportunity to eat many places. However, at Swann Oyster Deport, I felt most like a local instead of a tourist and felt like I had a true SF experience. Plus, I enjoyed really great seafood.

When I graze it starts with salty(sourdough pretzels or dill pickles) and then moves on to salty/spicy (rice with soy and sriachi or soy and wasabi). I have also been known to eat almost an entire loaf of Boudin's sourdaough bread by myself (as a snack). Yes, i feel like crap afterwards, but it is so good, especially the heels.

James Peterson's Fish and Shellfish. Full of information and variations. I often randomly pick sections to read for inspiration. Commander's Palace cookbook. Lots of neat, trivia like bits of information about the dishes and the restaurant. I just got Les Halles for Christmas and I am loving it. Sometimes I like a cookbook author to cuss at me.

When I was a kid, i thought my mom was a genius for inventing a bagel turkey sandwich. You toast the bagel halves, smear on lots of cream chees, pile on sliced cajun spiced turkey breast, a big slice of tomato and lots of black pepper. Smoosh it together and run back under the broiler just long enough for the edges of the turkey to get crispy.

Please stop kicking your ass. I understand exactly what you were asking with your origianl post and think it brings about a great discussion. We all have things that we love to eat that perhpas others would trash. I love broccoli stalks and I think the skin of a baked potatoe is the best part. iIget every bit of goodness I can from asparagus ana hate throwing away any part of a mushroom. One of my gramdmother's favorite phrases when I was growign up was "Waste not, want not." Thanks for starting this discussion.

I recently grilled some deer burgers. You are probably thinking that due to the lean quality of venison, these must have been healthier than a Big Mac. Well, they would have been except for the fact I stuffed them with butter and cheese to keep them moist. they were drippingly moist, but probably wouln't count as healthy. Overall, i think anything you make at home has the potential to be much healtheir than fast food,, because you contol the quality and quantity of ingredients.