pastameshugana
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Posts posted by pastameshugana
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What a great thread so far. Here's my $0.02 (depending on exchange rates).
I read quite a large amount in general (last year I purchased and completed more than 100 books through Amazon). Right there the ebook wins in the space/ease of use department. I travel a lot for work and taking my whole library with me (or just the handful I'm reading at the moment) is a huge boon.
On the other hand, there are some things I want to hold. I've got a collection of books about, written during, or related to the Holocaust (lots of family history there) and for some reason those are books I prefer on paper. I'm sure a therapist could read all kinds into that...
I've also got a small-ish collection of paper cook books that I like flipping through, but I've recently really enjoyed the digital (kindle via iPad) version of Jerusalem by Ottolenghi. It was great to have sudden inspiration on the road, pull into a grocery and pull up a recipe on the iPhone for an ingredient list (of which my grocer of course only carried 1/2 the items).
As to GlorifiedRice's comments regarding the EOL of digital devices - I think you're right with a caveat. The reality is that ebooks (and their ilk) are where we're heading. When my iPad/Kindle whatever gets to the point it's phased out, there will be an enterprising individual who will enable us to make the change, bringing our 'old' ebooks into the new digital ecosystem.
OTOH: Just watch environmental legislation over the next decade or so (about which I won't offer comment) and you're going to see the cost of paper going up with the availability falling. I can see a day when buying a paper book will be a decadent luxury (hopefully not in my lifetime) frowned upon by others.
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Mrs. Meshugana made banana bread muffins, and I got a new camera (Eos 70D!) and a breakfast pic is the result.
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We had a couple of great looking burger patties given to us by a local farmer, and the kids are back at school so me and Mrs Meshugana had these for lunch:
Fried bacon in the cast iron, then fried mushrooms and jalapeños in the bacon renderings with the burgers. Pepper jack cheese and cheap bread - was delicious.
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The power of nostalgic foods is pretty complex, especially when you factor in what I think are the two biggest variables: how memory alters perception and how your palate has changed over time...
Well said. We lived with our children in India for some time, and we've spent the years back home trying to re-create some of our favorite dishes to no avail. Even a note-perfect dish served in my kitchen is never going to taste like the Kati rolls on a busy street corner on a weekend night in Bangalore! The memories of the times, people, places all play into the memory of a dish, making it impossible to re-create.
My first time eating great dumplings was in a friends (under construction) restaurant doing a menu taste test with several other friends. The experience magnified the food many times over, and I doubt I'll ever eat a dumpling that I'll enjoy more - even if they taste measurably better.
I've evolved my 'memory cooking' - in other words, recreating favorite dishes - to doing 'riffs' on the dish. That way I can enjoy the memories of experiences without being disappointed with the results.
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I think some of this trend comes from one-upmanship. The chef who makes burgers that are only as good as the guy across the street needs to differentiate, and some go to foodie hijinx like foie and lobster on a burger.
In home cooking, most of us when presented with a premium ingredient (that we see rarely), like a great lobster tail, piece of foie, an amazing piece of beef - we're more tempted to make it simply and let it shine so we can indulge in and love it as it is.
Of course, as the ingredient becomes more common, whether because of our financial situation, location, etc., we're more tempted to experiment with these things and play dress up with our fancy ingredients.
Some things need to just be what they are. Beef Nachos at the ballpark (for example) are intrinsically more enjoyable (though not necessarily better) than 'Premium Wagyu topped tortilla crisps with aged gruyere and rare indonesian chillies'. Why? 1st because one costs $2 and the other $40. 2nd because nachos are something we want to gulp and laugh and talk around without stopping to savor the exquisite ingredients and contemplate the earthiness of the cheese and marbling of the beef.
So, yes. Emphatically yes. I believe an ingredient can be too good for a certain dish.
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I also got a lamb craving after the posts up thread. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any good lamb around here ever.
Then I went to the aforementioned laughable excuse for a farmers market and found one gem. A young sheep armed who is absolutely passionate about his lamb. He waxed eloquent about feeding, raising, proper times for slaughter and keeping the meat, cuts and everything else relevant.
I jut had to buy something from him. Unfortunately all that was left by the time I arrived was some stew meat. I tossed it in a dressing of Spanish olive oil, balsamic, chopped garlic and onion to skewer in a fe minutes, but then had to leave. It ended up sitting until the next day, but it tasted wonderful.
I was able to educate a good friend who had never eaten lamb before, and was a fantastic meal. Mrs. Meshugana whipped up some cous cous and we toasted some supermarket 'French bread' with garlic.
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Can't stand when they auction off your food: "who had the prime rib? And who had the soup?"
It's your job to remember who ordered what!
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So, at the (laughable) farmers market in our town, a lady was selling a small handful of what she called 'lemon mint'. It smelled like just that, and was one of the most intoxicating aromas I think I've ever encountered. I immediately thought it would make an amazing sorbet.
When googling, I found it's commonly called lemon balm, and can be used in tea as well, which sounded great.
So, realizing I'm leaving town and need to use it up, I tried first to make tea, dispensing hot water from my espresso machine with some rinsed leaves. After five minutes, it smelled even more amazing but the leaves had imparted absolutely zero flavor to the water and no discernible color. I tried again with boiling water from the kettle and the same results.
Now I'm questioning my ability to get this flavor into a sorbet.
Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Or am I on a fools errand?
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...we planned ahead by brining 42 pieces of chicken or so. We fried chicken in and served it with a sriracha honey.
That sounds very yummy.
BTW - you regularly host 30 at your house? And cook for them?! I'd be fascinated to see pictures of your kitchen and entertaining space.
Do you book things word of mouth, online (especially when it's random people?) or ?? - sounds like a fascinating idea.
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The gator we had was legs - and I'd say it was certainly chicken-ey, like dark meat but more complicated bone-wise. There was no fishy or aquatic taste at all, but was a little stronger flavored than the typical American chicken. Probably more like the chicken we ate daily when living in India.
I'd get it again, but it was a bit pricey. Next time I'll check if they have tail.
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For some reason I was expecting it all to be hotter...
I have not found Cajun food to be particularly "hot spicy" though pepper sauces are always on the table for individual adjustment and add-ins. Here is a snippet from an interview with Chef John Folse giving a a good explanation:
"Cajun food is always seasoned, but not always hot and spicy. Spicy insinuates that the food is highly flavored with peppers such as cayenne, Tabasco, etc. However, highly seasoned, which Cajun cooking certainly is, refers to flavor in our food: onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, green onions, parsley and even herbs, such as basil, thyme, tarragon and rosemary. "
Heidi - that is certainly helpful for a cajun-virgin (sounds like a band name). By that description, I'd say my meal above hit all the high points quite well!
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There's a new food truck in town. Actually, it's really the only one besides a few verifiable 'roach coaches' (two friends are county health inspectors), so we took a stab today.
Seemed promising as they are actually from Louisiana and leave regularly to pick up supplies. However, I've never had genuine 'Cajun' food so I'd be a bad judge.
Ordered alligator legs, gumbo (chicken and sausage) and jambalaya. They were already out of crawfish everything.
It was all very nice, well cooked and prepared, but nothing really grabbed me. The alligator was what I wanted to try, and it was pleasantly spiced and tasty, and all the kids loved it all.
For some reason I was expecting it all to be hotter...
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I just grabbed this on a whim at the local Hispanic meat market. It really is wonderful. Tastes of avocado, chile and lime. A touch of garlic and salt.
What really interesting is all of the kids and Mrs. Meshugana all said it reminded them of something from India. No one could place it exactly...
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Was dropping off one of the kids friends when I decided to stop on a whim at a neighborhood Hispanic meat market. Grabbed two lbs of flank marinated in 'house' marinade and a few veggies.
Grilled it simple 'carne asada' style with a rough chopped pico. Was wonderful.
Tomato, onion, garlic, lime, Serrano, cilantro, salt and pepper.
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So work is taking me to Romania in October, and the only way to get the air schedule to work out right was to spend one day in Europe (shucks), so I chose Paris.
I've been a lot of places, but never France, so I'm excited. I have exactly 24 hours (7am - 7am), and haven't booked a hotel as of yet. I'll try to book near the airport so I can crash late at night and walk or catch a cab in the morning.
I know there's 1,001 great things to see in this amazing city, but what are one or two of the must see locations? And of course, the food! I'm not looking for high end cuisine, I'd be happy to spend the day eating vendor and cafe food in a nice neighborhood.
If you could help me set my sights on one area (one cab in, one out at night) that could consume a whole day I'd be eternally grateful!
Thanks in advance.
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Today's breakfast.
Baked Eggs
With Potatoes, Peameal Bacon and Green Onion.
Ann, am I correct in assuming you pre-cooked (pan fried?) the bacon and potatoes - or did you cook everything at once in the oven?
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I love El Pato. When I was a kid it wasn't available in KC. My uncle in Los Angeles would send it to us by the case. My first venture into chilehead-dom. Now it's available everywhere and there's at least one can in the pantry at all times.
Yes! My wife and I spent 2.5 years with the first three mini-meshuganas in India, and cases of El Pato were on the 'must pack' list.
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I didn't see it mentioned - so I'll put a plug in for the yellow canned El Pato. I grew up with it on everything my mother made.
Now I use it for: Marinating chicken, on any kind of mexican food, and to dip potato chips in!
It comes in the little yellow cans for usually about 50 cents at the grocery store.
Of course, I like sriracha in scrambled eggs and in a few other dishes.
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Eggs with chile garlic paste and cheddar.
Same dish, different morning...
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So a friend bought me a little propane smoker by camp chef, which I'm really starting to love.
This was my first experiment, tri-tip with mesquite. Tasted amazing. Had it sliced for dinner, chopped up with eggs for brekkie, and on sandwiches for lunch:
After several other meals, I'm in the middle of smoking 26lbs of boston butt for my 9yo daughters birthday party tomorrow. We're going to make pulled pork sandwiches. This is with apple and hickory wood chips.
Shoulders were rubbed with cavenders Greek seasoning and spicy brown mustard 24 hours ahead of time:
And a couple of lbs of chicken thighs for the non pork eaters:
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I’m ashamed to say that I still love this stuff.
Don't be ashamed! We've all got some 'trashy' faves that we'll rarely admit to loving. Good on ya!
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This picture was taken by a colleague in New Dehli a couple of weeks ago...
I'd be interested in trying the Uncle Chipps Chilli-Cha-Cha, the Kurkure Masala Munch, Lay's Chaat Street, and the Lay's Spanish ...<something> Tango!
Replying to a post that's 8 years old? Oh well, here goes!
We lived in India 2.5 years, and the Lays Spanish Tomato Tango were my 2nd favorite Lays flavor, the first being 'American Cream and Onion'. We didn't eat the Uncle Chipps but the Kurkure made an appearance every now and again.
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Marinated two thick ribeyes with garlic, black pepper, soy sauce, and fish sauce while heating up the charcoal grill. Grilled one ribeye to medium for the boys to split. Grilled the other rare, sliced thinly, briefly simmered the slices with chicken stock, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and roasted rice powder, and then tossed with bird chiles, shallots, scallions, Thai basil, and mint. Served over salad with coconut rice.
That sounds incredible!
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Since my last post in this thread, I have to change my recommendations for Hobbs:
Taste of Italy is Closed
Dan's has gone way down hill
Pacific Rim has traded all their 'quasi-asian' cuisine for certified tex-mex. They even have a sushi dish served with BBQ sauce...
However - I found my stand-out mexican meal at a place on the south side called El Mirador. The tacos al pastor are the best I've ever had, asado is within the top-ten, and huevos rancheros are very good as well.
The 'hidden gem' of our city has turned out to be a steakhouse called Saxony, stuffed into a dive-y hotel on the east side. Fantastic steak product & preparation, great sides like asparagus sautéed in and served with fresh sliced garlic and chili. Sautéed mushrooms are also great.
How to maintain (online) freezer and pantry inventory
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted · Edited by pastameshugana (log)
I haven't used it but there's an app called 'mini fridge' for ios that does this. You can enter items and dates, even photos. It looks like it helps you work out expiration dates/etc.
EDIT: Now that I look, there's LOTS of little apps like this, with mixed reviews. You'd have to find the one that fits your lifestyle.
We use a grocery app for our shared shopping list thats very helpful.