Old Timer

I am from Chicago and love Italian Beef on Vienna Bread. The best is the 3 foot long loaves of Gonnella Bread that used to be available in every grocery store. As far as Giardenaira goes, dice some green/red peppers, add diced carrots and onion and cover with vegetable oil. This will be the mild. Add a few serrano chilis and you will have the hot. For Indy, I'd go with Pulled Pork sandwiches. BBQ is popular in Indy and Pulled Pork works just fine. Serve with fresh Cole slaw on the sandwich and maybe a nice Corn Relish on the side. This is cut/paste from the previously mentioned thread regarding real Italian Beef. The reason I posted this here is because this is very similar to how we do it in the restaurant. We make ours in 25# roasts. Italian Beef bottom Round or brisket Slow-Roasted Beef Rubbed with Onion, Garlic and Italian Seasoning, Moistened with Au Jus Last Update: 5/1/2003 Portion Size: 3 oz+Au Jus Yields: 7.5 Pound 15 Pound 30 Pound Ingredients: Portions: 24 3 oz+Au Jus Beef stock 3 Quart Beef Top Round, Raw TRIMMED 5 Pound + Kosher Salt 1 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper 1 1/2 Teaspoon Granulated Onion 1 1/2 Teaspoon Granulated Garlic 1 1/2 Teaspoon Pepprica 1 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper 3/8 Teaspoon Granulated Onion 3/4 Teaspoon Granulated Garlic 3/4 Teaspoon Peperica 1 1/2 Teaspoon Procedure: 1. Prepare Beef stock. 2. Remove visible silver skin from beef. Cut beef into about 11 lb pieces. 3. Combine salt and 1st listed pepper, onion, garlic and Italian seasoning. Mix well. Rub mixture into beef to completely cover. Hold overnight in refrigerator at internal temperature of 40 degrees F. or below to marinate. 4. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Tie beef pieces with butcher's twine to form even roasts. Place on racks in roasting pans to brown . 5. Pour 1st listed broth in pans. Place pans in oven. Roast, basting frequently or cover with plastic wrap and double foil <VERY IMPORTANT , for 5-6 hours. Remove from oven. Let stand for 10 minutes. D 6.Cook till tender like pot roast. Portion: Serve 3 oz beef with au jus. This post has been edited by chefreit: Aug 18 2005, 03:33 PM

Here is a whimsical little thread off the beaten path of restaurant life. I currently work as a Day Chef (breakfast, brunch, lunch) for an upscale cafe in my area. Several celebrities make this area their second home (or third if you are Oprah), and being real people, they have to eat like the rest of us. So here is the question of the thread. Have you ever served any celebrities? If so, who? I recall one very busy Sunday morning last summer when after serving at least 120 covers, one of the servers came to the pass-through and said "Denny Farina liked your breakfast". "Dennis Farina, the TV guy"? I asked. "When the heck was he here"? "Oh, a little while ago", she calmly said. I was a little upset that I did not get to meet him, but at least he liked my cooking. I calmly but sternly told the server next time a celebrity comes in to let me know. A little while later she comes to the pass-through and tells me Joan Cusack and her family were having brunch. I was going to go out and introduce myself, but a few diners were already chatting wth her (she is actually quite gracious) and I did not want to bother her. So I let it go. I heard singer Tim McGraw and wife Faith Hill recently bought Oprah's digs and hopefully they will stop in one of these days. You can be sure I'll be watchin'

I always wear a hat in the kitchen. If I have the time, I step out of the kitchen to allow customers to see me in my hat. If I handle any food related item in the dining room, I also don food handler gloves. I do this to put the customers mind at ease. As a diner myself, I cringe at the thought of a hairy ape-like being cooking and/or handling my food hatless and gloveless.

ha! I was telling my best friend about the place, and the $3000 sashimi knives in the glass cases... he's a cook and a bit of a knife fetishist. he said the same thing you did. I asked if he was afraid he'd walk out of there with a sashimi knife. he said, "I'm afraid I'd walk out of there with a sashimi LIFESTYLE--I'd buy the knife, for sure, but I'd have to figure out how to rearrange all my priorities in order to justify having it." ← A very good knife line to consider is the Anolon Advanced Series. Good heft, great balance (balances on one finger right behind the blade) extremely sharp, and a great ergonomic non-slip handle that makes cutting a breeze. Their 8" Chef's costs abut $50. Check them out here: http://www.anolon.com/actad.html

After I read your post, my first thought was to browse through my 50 year old copy of the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook. The book is chock full of recipes for meat and potatoes folks, and even includes ways to economize and stretch meals. Betty was good for that, you know? If I were a senior, I would absolutely freak out (yeah, I'm a child of the 70's) at having a throwback dinner cooked from recipes popular when I was young. Complete with the non politically correct foodstuffs such as real butter, gravy, mashed potatoes, etc. Especially if the dinner were accompanied by some Benny Goodman swing music. One time we held a retro USO dinner for our local veterans and their families and it was an overwhelming success. The Main Course? Why, Creamed Chipped Beef, of course! Straight out of the WWll Kitchen Field Manual.

Temperature control is very critical when it comes to home making curd for cheese. That is why most home made cheeses fail. The easiest way to assure sucess is to purchase prepared curd from companies such as http://www.goldenagecheese.com/_wsn/page4.html They offer a more comprehensive kit than New England Cheese. However, I have used the New England Cheesemaking kit with fair success. The biggest problem I had was getting rid of the vinegar smell. Other than that, the mozzarella came out good.

I would certainly brine. Wild pig can taste a little bit "off" depending upon what the pig was eating all its life and its age. Roasting is the way to go, as well. Sounds like you have a good plan, but I am sure that others that have more experience than I will chime in with suggestions. ← Wild pig can acquire a gamey flavor. In the past, I have used a milk marinade (allowing the meat to soak overnight in plain milk in the refrigerator.) This removed most of the gamey taste and allowed the meat to absorb moisture. Afterward, I coated the meat with a good homemade dry rub and roasted it. It was very good.

I think she may need help along the way of "how to cook hamburger a 101 ways". She has a child and will very soon have another. Taking care of two small children at home is a 24 hour a day project, leaving little time for anything else. The idea of teaching her some simple techniques to get her going is fine if she has the time to implement them. My approach (knowing her time constraints) would go something like this. Have her cook up 10 pounds of hamburger for example. Then I would show her how to season a portion for tacos, season another for spaghetti sauce, and form the rest into a meatloaf. Then freeze them. The same goes for chicken. Portion it into different meals and freeze it. I would also show her a simple soup base ala bechamel, that can be modified into many different soups with a few different veggies. The idea is multi-use products that would be both cost effective as well as diverse.

In my neck of the woods, the wineries have been flourishing for many years. The soil here is ideal for grape growing and the many hundreds of acres of grapes that surround us are a loud testament to that fact. "Harbor Country" as this area of Michigan is known, is about 75 miles from Chicago right along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Here is a link to some of the local wineries are their wares. http://www.harborcountry.org/php/attractio...eries.php?city=

In my humble opinion, the first step in the rebuilding process is to determine what clientele you are trying to serve. Is it college kids, locals, tourists, or a combination. I believe each would dictate a different approach and pricing strategy. If its locals you are after, stick to the traditionals and do them well. Being in NY, it would seem Buffalo Hot Wings would be a necessity. Thick, rich soups and stews (maybe served in a "bread bowl") are also very popular. Seafood Fritters, breaded mushrooms, fried chicken etc. are all good. Don't forget cold sandwiches. Grilled chicken breast with lettuce, tomato, avocado and mayo served on a grilled baguette with a good salad is a great combo. If you are doing burgers, enhance their flavor with a little ground sirloin and you will become "known for your great burgers". A great salad costs little more than a mediocre salad but will bring many kudo's especially from the women. If you want to attract the college kids, follow the latest trends and serve them. Another good draw with the college crowd is to offer a "free if you can eat it all" type product. For example, a B & G in Texas offers a giant hamburger (maybe 3 pounds or more?) that is free if you can eat it all, or you pay full price. Needless to say, very few can eat it all, but it is a great draw gimmick.