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Naftal

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    soffritto/sofrito/mirepoix...

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    Well, the one noteworthy one that springs to mind is the Creole Trinity- similar to a mirepoix, but composed of onion, celery and bell pepper.

    I'll think on it and see if I can conjure any more- menu-planning done- gotta hit the co-op for ingredients now. Their Producer's Fair is today.  :smile:

                                                            Sincerely,

                                                                    Dante

    Thanks! I know the term, but I always forget the actual ingredients of a creol trinity. :cool:

    The Cooking and Cuisine of Lazio

    in Italy: Cooking & Baking

    Posted · Edited by Naftal (log)

    For a friend's birthday, I did a meal inspired by Roman cooking.

    We started with an antipasto of mozzarella dressed with anchovies and garlic, and bruschetta to mop up the juices:

    gallery_19696_582_508848.jpg

    Bucatini all'Amatriciana:

    gallery_19696_582_678022.jpg

    We finished with scottaditti, lamb chops off the grill.  When I've made this before, Hathor and I got into a discussion about the type of meat traditionally used, which in Italy is a shoulder chop.  That makes for a lot of gristle and fat (the appeal of the dish, apparently) but not something I think would fly with guests and my wife, so I went the safer route and used conventional lamb chops. They still weren't pretty enough to warrant a postable pic, though.

    Hello- Just a note to tell you how inspiring your antipasto was.. It got me to begin experimenting with anchovies and cheese :cool::cool::biggrin::biggrin:

    Thanks for getting me into the kitchen!

    Sommaq, Sumac, Sumak

    in Middle East & Africa: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    Hello all! Salaam, shalom, etc

    I am from Israel, and just ran down to check my spice drawer-got curious... My Za'atar jar says, "Hyssop, sesame seeds, sumac, salt and lemon salt" We use it constantly. Some ideas: Pour olive oil on top of a plate of hummous and generously sprinkle za'atar on the top.

    sprinkle on soft white cheeses, dip triangles of fresh or toasted pita into olive oil and then into a bowl of za'atar. My daughter loves in on a piece of bread with chocolate spread!

    Bye

    Lior

    Greetings!

    You had some very original ideas :cool: I was wondering if the chocolate spread you use is Nutella :hmmm:

    Olive Oil For Dipping

    in Restaurant Life

    Posted · Edited by Naftal (log)

    So many people rave about the Mediterranean Diet that it is somewhat amusing to see the most staple of all food items now poo-poohed.  The use of fine olive oil, perhaps with a few drops of Balsamico added (no herbs, no Parmesan) has been considered a delicacy in this part of the world since the days of the Caesars.  Serve a bit of fine coarse Brittany or other sea salt alongside for those who like it and you have a feast fit for the gods.

    And on the off chance that olive oil doesn't make it for you, consider instead of or alongside the butter, a fine aioli.

    I tried it this way and it was wonderful. As always, Daniel Rogov rules!!!!!

    Recipe v. Formula

    in Cooking

    Posted

    Someone may have mentioned this, but in "Cooking without recipes" , author Helen Worth gives 'patterns' for various dishes instead of recipes. for example she gives a pattern for cream soups. She leaves the specifics up to the chef.SHe says(for example)"1/2Cup pureed vegetable and juice".

    When Fast Food Chains Double Up

    in Ready to Eat

    Posted · Edited by Naftal (log)

    I have run across a Baskin-Robbins/Dunkin Donuts/Togo's triple store before. . .the quality of the Togo's sandwich was substantially sub-par from what I remember growing up in the Bay Area.  However, since coming back to California, it seems that it was not simply being part of this triple play, but more from being bought out by a larger company (for example, I remember Togo's having alot more options than what is available today; the 26 used to have 25 different sandwich combinations before it, now it has maybe 8, I can't remember off the top of my head).  Course, I ran into this Togo's in Virginia. . .in March. . .so the avocados may not have been the best selection at the time (but the bread tasted differently in any event).

    We have a Baskin-Robbins/Dunkin Donuts double store in my area. I wonder if this is a common combination... :hmmm:

    European Doctors on cheese and eggs

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    American Doctors are fond of telling patients with high blood pressure/high cholesterol to limit their intake of such items. With all we know about the Mediteranean diet, I was wondering what docs in Southern Europe and other areas in that region, feel about this i.e. North African and the Middle Eastern experts please reply to.

    Why isn't Detroit a Restaurant City?

    in The Heartland: Dining

    Posted · Edited by Naftal (log)

    Good Morning All- I should really learn how to do multiple quotes :huh: .It would save a lot of time.Inspite of that I will try to do my best :shock:

    nsxtasy:Your last comments were very interesting indeed. I have a question -In your opinion(sp?) what would be a reasonable per capita ratio between population and really, really really, really good restaurants? How many places per person, or how many people per place. This type of figure would make alot of sense. We who love Detroit eateries could generate a list of appropriate length and then debate its merits, sort of like the list we have but with a less arbitrary number.

    MarketStEl:Italian Food- In Naples, one of the most popular restaurants makes only two items...And they are both pizzas :cool: My point? It doesn't matter how common or overdone a style may be, quality matter. If it is really,really,really,really good, then it is...

    Why isn't Detroit a Restaurant City?

    in The Heartland: Dining

    Posted

    Another thing I note, and I meant to say this in response to an above post which claimed that ethnic foods are "well-represented" in the area, is the relative dearth of ethnic restaurants on your list.

    With our large Middle Eastern population, how is it that we don't have any great Middle Eastern restaurants?  Can't we do better than La Shish?  Look at the threads here and you see recommendations for places like Mr. Kebab, which resides in a gas station.  (I'm not saying it's not a legitimate recommendation, but, c'mon, can't the area do better?)

    I can't think of a single truly notable Thai, Korean, or Indian place, even though I know that some affluent suburban schools in the area have an almost comical proportion of Asians.  Hong Hua seems to be the only candidate on most lists for best, or at least fanciest, Chinese in the area.  (Who am I to argue, but I had a laughably bad experience the one time I went.)  Japanese is fairly well-represented, I guess, though I suspect on a national level there isn't a really outstanding example.  It seems to me Mexican is a joke in the area, outside of Mexicantown.  Ditto Greek outside Greektown (and maybe within too.)

    What it boils down to, for me, is that it seems almost all of the "recommended" ethnic places in the area fall under the unusually good cheap eats category.  I think a true destination restaurant city, in addition to the quality cheap eats, needs to have multiple examples of ethnic restaurants at or approaching the fine dining level.

    "multiple examples of ethnic restaurants at or approaching the fine dining level"...Mario's and Andiamo fill that requirement.

    Andiamo is a mediocre "greatest hits of Italian-American cooking" type of restaurant.

    but anyway.

    since coming back to the U.S. I've lived in five American cities besides New York and Chicago. every single one of them has local boosters and media who purport that it "has the greatest diversity of ethnic and fine dining outside of New York and Chicago." my guess is that every city in America over a million people (and probably under) claims this. they can't all be right.

    Why not?

    cause the statement is, by definition, an exclusive one. (besides, last time I checked, both San Francisco and L.A. were part of the U.S.)

    Metro-Detroit (Dearborn,actully) has the largest Arabic community in this country. Shouldn't that make people think that maybe we have really,really, really,really good Middle Eastern restaurants, 'cause we do :wub:

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