pastameshugana

Chris, Love the homework in the corner. Looks like my table!

So for Valentines - Mr's Meshugana and I are doing the 'adults only' date on Friday - the local playhouse is putting on Fiddler on the Roof. Today was family day (5 kids 10yo and under) and the kids and I cooked all day for Mr's M. Breakfast was eggs on toast, with mushroom, onion, serrano, sharp 'tuscan' cheddar (from Sam's, has vegetables & spices crusted around it) and fresh tomatoes. Lunch was steamed Vegetarian Pasta, but after prep we had parent teacher conferences so it's in the fridge to be cooked tomorrow. Dinner was some 'big-o-mammo-jamma' (the house lingo for huge) ribeyes. Rubbed down with Cavender's Greek seasoning, baked for an hour at 170 brought internal temp to about 100, then a quick sear on the grill. Fantastic. Then mixed baby potatoes (what are those purple ones called? They were great!). Boiled till done, then tossed with lots of olive oil, garlic, green onion, salt & pepper and chopped basil. Then roasted for about 10 minutes till the garlic got crispy. Dessert was chocolate dipped fruit. The grapes were out of sight. The leftover chocolate made heart chocolates for the kids teachers and mom & dad. Can one of our resident candy experts let me know how to do this without the chocolate fusing to the plate? We coated the plates with butter (??) but it still stuck like crazy. I hope you all had a fantastic day!

Yikes - thanks for the heads up! Looks like I'll be making new plans.

Hello all, I just scored a great deal on some pre-cut (thick) ribeye's at the butcher. Unfortunately, the deal was only for the precut, I couldn't get a larger piece. I'm really hankering to roast them all together as one big roast - is this possible? I was thinking about aligning them all (they're from the same primal so they match) and tying them up. Maybe putting some of my spice rub between the pieces. Then trimming and eating it like we would an entire roast. Any tips, warnings, suggestions? Thanks!

Lots of interesting thoughts here - and I guess the phenomenon does seem to link to personality/personal diet as well. We all know the person(s) who can eat barrels full of anything, whether good or not! Another personal example (which I know isn't scientific in the least!) - In our home we'll occasionally do the boxed Mac 'n Cheese (with 5 kids, it's an easy weeknight meal!). When I make it, it's per the box instructions, and it'll take at least three boxes and we'll eat every drop. When Mrs. Meshugana makes it, we never come close to polishing off three, and could feasibly get by with two. The difference is she will usually add beef bullion to the cooking water, but exempts most of the milk and retains cooking water for moisture. So - the fat content can't be an issue, but it is certainly more 'flavorful' and robust a dish, and it seems to affect all of the mini-meshuganas as well. Even #2 who can eat like a black hole! Another 2.5 cents...

Our family has a great love of Indian food (having lived there for a couple of years) and we've always noticed that when we get it, we can never eat as much as we'd like. The DW and I were talking about it last night, and it seems that it's not just the Indian food, but any of the very rich tasting, very flavorful food we enjoy, we always end up eating less that we think we would otherwise. On the other hand, here in our new hometown, the traditional fare is tasty, but rather bland (compared to the rich cuisines of the world). It seems like I can put away a serious whack of beef brisket or the milder versions of Mexican food we find around here. We were led to speculate if the overabundance of flavor in some foods tricks the body into feeling more 'satisfied'. Of course, the flip-side is that the desire to eat may certainly increase when consuming more flavorful food. Has anyone else noticed this? Is this completely in our heads? Also, has there every been any clinical look at it (that you know of)? Inquiring minds want to know!

Just checking in to add 'OurGroceries' to the list. I have it installed on my and my wife's iPhone - and it stays in sync. I can add items to the list while she's out (or vice versa) and it automatically updates, it also updates what is 'checked off' on the list. The app icon also shows a badge telling you how many things are on the list (handy when I'm out I can check and see if she needs anything at the store).

TopperMom, For Indian - I would recommend Gandhi on Paradise (I think). It's one of the few restaurants that 'takes me back' to when we lived in B'lore. Gaylord Indian at the Rio (is it still there?) was great but VERY expensive. In the $50 per curry realm when we went.

I saw this interesting article here. I can't comment on the usefulness of an egg timer that plays different 'classic' rock songs (reeeaaaally stretching the definition of classic) to indicate egg consistency. However, it does look like an entertaining gag gift.

That is amazing. And I'm glad to hear your pork fat levels are back up to normal. Wouldn't want you wasting away...

For a 'non-local' - just one who loves Melbourne, I say congrats! The patisserie on Lygon street is an excellent recommendation, and the only thing I'll add is that the Brats at the Bratwurst shop in Vic market are the best I've ever had, anywhere. Have fun!

Oi - I can't believe Rosemary's closed. And I forgot about TOPH. They have/had some pretty amazing crepes and monster 'omelettes'.

From a former Vegas local, I'd heartily recommend Rosemary's on Sahara. We had a fantastic tasting menu there, 5 or 6 courses for around $100. Great atmosphere & service. Also, over on the east side, we had great experiences at Lindo Michoacan. The custard shop (can't remember the name!) just off-strip near the stratosphere was out of sight, always a line into the parking lot, and lots of entertaining 'local' scenery passing by. If you hit 'china town' west of the strip on (I believe) Spring Mountain you'll find an endless variety of all things Asian. Had a stellar Malaysian meal at a little store front there once. $.02, exchange rates may vary.

DW got me "Fois Gras Wars" by Mark Caro. It looks interesting, but I've got a half-dozen books ahead of it in the lineup this month, so it'll be a bit till I get to it. My 'big' present was a Saeco super-auto espresso machine I bought for myself a couple of months ago - so no surprise there!

Last night was a feast! My real (full-time) job is as a pastor, so last night we hosted an 'Appreciation Dinner' for a number of the people in our congregation that are a big help (leaders, close supporters, behind the scenes, etc). We were planning for 25 adults. We decided to do Italian, because I love it and there's not one (!!!) Italian restaurant in our city, not even a bad one. Planned Menu: Crostini (3 types): -Roasted Veg (an Idea I got from a recent trip to Brasov, Romania where several restaurants served a room-temp roasted veg paste you smeared on your bread instead of butter) -Tomato Basil (Because that's what you'd expect) -Mozzarella & Chili (an Idea ripped from Jamie O) Bacon Wrapped Asparagus (Because who can resist that? And a 'thank-God-my-Jewish-blood-doesn't-mean-I-eat-kosher' dish!) Salad (Made by Mrs. Meshugana). Two pastas (Penne & Spaghetti) Two sauces (Alfredo & a Meat Sauce) Lemon Ricotta Cheese Cake Cheese Cake Brownies - Mrs. Meshugana is responsible for all the desserts! I started my (cooking) day at 9am, chopping veggies to roast, and roasting garlic for my sauces: Then wrapping the asparagus with bacon for frying: All fried up (in olive oil): What's nice is that as you go, the bacon fat adds to the olive oil, so the end of it gets MUCH more bacon-ey and artery clogging! Then I roasted all the veg in the broiler, as well as a few heads of garlic to use later. The garlic was heavenly! Here it is just about to be mashed up: Diced serrano and some red sweet peppers (for Christmasy colors) for the Mozz crostini: Which turned out looking like this, with a little olive oil splashed on: And the tomato basil crostini: Two sauces and two pastas going on my way-too-small stove: And here's where it almost got all stuffed up. The breaker kept tripping on my stove (ridiculous! You didn't expect me to be using all four burners and the oven at once?), so my roux for the alfredo kept getting interrupted, so I ended up turning up the heat on the roux, then the doorbell rang and..... badly burnt roux and no alfredo. That also means we'd have 1/2 the food we were planning on. I made a last minute decision to toss the penne with melted butter, garlic, a little oil, pepper, and micro-planed parmesan. It was fantastic! Far better than the four hour meat sauce in my opinion... It all ended up great - had a good time, and my feet are reminding me why I don't cook for a living! The aftermath (we used holiday paper plates for serving!)

Who has picked this up yet? I've just started it, and it's a great read so far. Talking about olive oil culture, with a historical perspective, while highlighting the struggles facing the industry today. It makes me want to do an olive oil tasting! If you haven't gotten it yet (it's brand new) go out and get it!

Lordie - anything that has foie/truffle mousse 'melted in' as a flavoring gets a hearty vote of approval from me. That soups sounds fantastic - and thanks for the (inadvertent) D'Artagnan reminder. I'd forgotten all about that place, and am eyeing some foie & truffle goodies for a Christmas feast.

French press is simple, but it is a different cup than a filtered cup - generally more acidic (which is good if you like it). I have a nice hand burr grinder I got from amazon for ~$20. I have absolutely fallen in love with the coffee from red bird coffee (redbirdcoffee.com). They only roast and ship WHEN you order, you'll get an email telling you which day it roasts/ships - and the price is killer: at 5lbs it's $10/lb - and superiorly tasty!

Scoop - as a former resident of Vegas - I'm loving this! Great writing, and love the insight into the casino food biz. When living there I was friends with the managing chef (proper title??) of one of the 'nice' casinos. Every couple of months he'd invite a few friends for breakfast in a private room where he'd cook just for us. I took one tour of a few of the kitchens (buffet, staff kitchen, etc) and was monstrously impressed with the scale at which they produced food - astonishing, really. We were really impressed the week that the 'W' family spent wining/dining him trying to hire him for the (then new) property being built. Keep it up, loving it! This would make a great book some day. (and I get a cut of the royalties for the suggestion, right?)

...showoff! Beautiful work, ScottyBoy

Country - Chicken ham is a 'ham like' product that is made from chicken, thus it is Halal (an approximate equivalent to Kosher, but for Muslims). In India you'll find all sorts of things like that: Chicken ham, chicken pepperoni, salami (the Subway's have a wide variety). There are similar products in Israel, as well. Also in Israel I found bacon vacu-sealed at the hotels (so Kosher kitchens wouldn't be corrupted) and re-heated. (Sorry Percyn!) NOTE: It's interesting that the words Halal and Kosher both mean approximately the same thing (legal, prepared according to religious law) but in their respective languages.

Amazon Prime is a huge deal - I love it and recommend it to anyone I run across. I'll order silly things (like screen protectors for my phone) and have them shipped free rather than go to the mall and deal with the snotty kid at the kiosk any day! If you're a big movie/TV fan (I'm not) it also includes thousands of free on demand movies/videos/tv shows. I just ordered a whole grip of espresso parts (steamer jug, thermometer, syrups, etc) and I always sort my searches by which are 'prime eligible' - it's certainly worth it.

Goodness - I could cry! That's it exactly - thank you so much! This is one of those 'memory' dishes for our family. I can't count the number of times one of the kids has mentioned it, wishing we could have it. Thanks again - I owe you one!

Loving the blog - having serious flashbacks. I took my family there for a 2.5 year expedition and it's been over a year since we left, so we've been really missing India as of late! Keep it up, great pictures!

I, for one, think this is an absolutely brilliant idea and it must be pursued! These would make it fairly trivial, no? Uh oh, I think I've stumbled across a foolish new obsession. Thanks...