scottie

My mother eats them by the handful. I don't know how. The thought makes my teeth itch. Sometimes I'll cook with them, for the flavor, but I have a hard time eating them unless they are totally hidden by other stuff. My father calls cooked raisins "bloated ticks." Mayonnaise. Had a bad childhood experience at my great-aunt's Easter party. The food was served buffet style, so I took a big spoonful of everything. Including from a large bowl of pudding, sprinkled with what I now realize was paprika. I sat down, took a great big bite, and gagged. It was mayonnaise. It has taken me almost 25 years to get over that experience enough to even buy mayo for my husband. He loves the stuff and delights in grossing me out with it. Said husband requested that I post his idea of food other people love, but he thinks sucks: anchovies. Once, hungover and hungry at a train station in Europe, he bought a sandwich and took a great big bite- and immediately barfed in the trash can. Anchovies! I love 'em.

Peanut butter and milk. I feel unpatriotic admitting it, but I find both of these food items completely nauseating. And that is not because I've never had the good stuff. We get farm-fresh milk in our CSA share every week, my husband says it's far superior to any milk he's ever had, but it's still just mucous to me. Bleah. I like peanut satay sauce, I even make a pretty good African/Southern peanut stew, but I made it in haste the other day and there were still big glops of peanut butter in there that made me gag. It's probably due to a traumatic childhood experience. In the fifth grade, my friend and I decided to be vegetarian for a week, and write an article about it for the school paper. This being 1983, my mother decided I would need huge quantities of nuts and dairy products to make up for the lack of meat. So, peanut butter sandwiches (I never got jelly, for some reason) and lukewarm milk was pretty much all I ate for a week. Guess that explains it.

We've been to Mama Dip's twice so far. My husband likes it. I think it's every bit as good as Cracker Barrel. The sweet potato biscuits are pretty good, as far as that goes. I would try it again, but I would not have high expectations.

A light Nola cocktail, hmm... Sazerac? Do you have any Herbsaint? Pernod will do, in a pinch. I don't think Brennan style Milk Punch really works here... Maybe good ol' Mint Juleps. Not 100% NOLA, but close enough, and more refreshing, and a little apropos with Smarty Jones and the Triple Crown coming up soon... If not Juleps, then maybe Mojitos. People like those, they're refreshing, and everone knows New Orleans is just a colony of the Caribbean.

I am a lazy stock-maker. I just throw whatever I have into the pot, usually leek trimmings and bones from the weeks' dinners, and let it simmer until I'm ready to fool with it. Some times it turns out better than other times. I guess I'll skim a bit if necessary. But I've noticed that cracking the bones some definitely adds to the flavor and body of the finished stock. Does anyone else do this? We just crack the bigger bones with a nutcracker, so as to get maximum marrow exposure. This works really well with turkey. No, I don't clarify. I pick through the finished stock like my mama does. If you get a little piece of bone or gristle later on, well, you just won the prize.

The mint chutney/ whey recipe comes from a strange book called Nourishing Traditions. Sally Fallon, the author, is very much into using whey to ferment condiments such as ketchup, mustard and various British-style chutneys. Supposedly, the addition of small amounts of whey adds significantly to the shelflife of the homemade product. I originally chose her mint chutney recipe, as opposed to Madhur Jaffrey's Indian-style mint chutney, because I have all the ingredients for the former, but not for the latter. Although, with this insane quantity of the herb, I expect Madhur's recipe will get some attention, as well. This all reminds me that I need to go hang some yogurt over night, to collect the whey. For awhile there, we tried to make whey from the farm-share raw milk we get each week, but that was a little too scary. Tonight we had lamb chops with mint pesto and a simple mint sauce from an ancient copy of Gourmet, like 1989. It was very good. The mojito fest has to wait until my parents have come and gone. They do not approve. They will have to drink mint iced tea, instead.

interesting... thank you! we shall inquire around for ice cream machines. So far, we've made mint pesto, and we plan to make buttloads of iced tea, mojitos, mint ice cubes, and a rather strange recipe for chutney I will have to post about later. It involves whey.

So, my husband helped a friend with her yard this weekend, and now we have a metric ton of fresh mint. He came away with three huge "yard waste" bags full of the stuff. Any suggestions for how best to preserve the stuff? Does anyone have a good mint jelly recipe that does not call for food coloring? All responses are very welcome. Thanks!

I would add to the list: Eggplant Eating raw eggplant sounds like severe GI distress waiting to happen. Same with potatoes. And: Soybeans! "Soybeans are high in phytates and contain potent enzyme inhibitors that are only deactivated by fermentation and not by ordinary cooking." (Ologhobo, A.D., and B.L. Fetuga, Journal of Food Science, Jan/Feb 1984, 49:1:199-201; as quoted on p. 78 of Nourisning Traditions, by Sally Fallon.) This means that edamame are actually not so good for you, and the whole brouhaha about soy protein for menopausal ladies is patently false. Soy is a huge industry, one of the first to undergo genetic modification. Agribusiness has a huge stake in convincing the general public that soy is healthful. But unfermented soy products can block enyme absorption and cause malnutrition. And it's in baby formula! This is not to say that all soy products are bad. Fermented, unheated soy products such as miso are actually quite healthful, as is tempeh. But not tofu. This thread could get quite political...

I don't think that food processing, per se, is necessarily bad; what is bad is the industrialized processing that's been going on for the past century or so, e.g. hydrogenated vegetable oils, bleached and bromated flours, etc. I do think that ancient methods of food processing and preservation, usually involving fermentation, are actually quite healthy. People would do well to eat more lacto-fermented products such as sauerkraut and certain cured meats. The pickles you can buy at the supermarket these days are not like the old-fashioned, lacto-fermented varieties made by many of our grandparents. I have a book called called Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon. She talks a great deal about this subject, including lots of footnotes and supporting research. She talks about ancient and traditional methods of soaking and/or fermenting grains before grinding into flour. These processes break down the phytic acid, which is what can cause trouble for animals lacking a multiple-stomach digestive system. About phytic acid, she says: "This is why a diet high in unfermented whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss." She goes on to recommend whole-grain sourdough as the most healthful of breads.

Sounds like a good opportunity to seek out your local farmers market. I realize that many people here live in big cities, but even Manhattan has the Green Market. Farm fresh milk and eggs are worth the price. Buying directly from the farmer cuts out a lot of middlemen. Opting out of the agribusiness system by buying locally, from organic producers, makes us all less dependent on a)Monsanto and their ilk, and B) gasoline. Oh, and C) government subsidies, which often backfire in this way. I'm sure people remember pictures from a few years ago of farmers dumping out huge quantities of milk. The gov't paid them to do that. That was to keep the market from being flooded and milk prices from going down too much. We live in central NC, like JennotJean. We get our milk weekly as part of our CSA farm share. It costs $2.50/half gallon, plus a deposit for the bottle. Plus, it's completely raw, unpasteurized and unhomogenized. Technically, it's "pet" milk, for animal consumption only; it's not supposed to be sold for human consumption. But this milk is WAY, way better even than the fresh milk from Maple View farms, the local dairy whose products you can find throughout the Triangle. I work at a grocery store. I will start paying attention to the dairy prices; I'm curious whether the products from Maple View will rise in price. They make butter, too. One day, we will have our own darn cow.

Varmint!! I can't believe you! What are you waiting for, a gilded invitation to Allen and Sons?! You will be sadly missed. Somewhere, a greased pig contest sighs in despair. Anyhoo, Hen and I expect to see the rest of you folks at the Towers next Tuesday the 11th. At 7:30. I hear appams are a delightful treat!

Very thorough website. I think I've picked out my dinner already! Tuesday the 11 would be best for us, as I work the other nights. And directions would be great! We're coming from the west (Chapel Hill).

I definitely enjoyed the clams, as well as the duck and the beef stew. I don't remember what kind of green was in the clams, it was sort of spinach-like. I found it amusing that the duck was listed on the menu as "steamed," but was very clearly fried. I guess it had been steamed first. I thought it was pretty yummy. I also really liked the star anise flavor of the beef. The waiter's hair was rather spectacular, I must say. We would really like to go to the Indian restaurant. Hendrik loves dhosas (sp?). Weka, you'd like to go before you...um...go, so when's a good day for you? Did Thursday evening work out for people? It worked for us.

Wait Wait! We're coming after all! If anyone saw the last post, I hope they see this one too. We will be there after all. sorry about the false alarm.

Oh, man, I'm afraid we have to cancel too. Sorry about the short notice. I'm really sorry. We were looking forward to it. Next time, Gadget.

Yes, Hen and I will be there on the 15th. Hurrah!

Hrm. Dean, I am so sorry to hear about your MIL's ankle. I know that is pretty rough stuff right there. Hen and I are glad to give this week a pass. Let's all try again when the stars are more fortuitous. Perhaps this week's Independent will give us all a little inspiration! Good bye for now, and good ankle health! -emily and hendrik

We will plan to be there. China One, here we come! Funny, as I just spent the morning perusing the China volume of the old Time-Life Foods of the World series. Varmint, thanks for taking the initiative. See you there!

Hey! Mennonites drive cars AND my dad saw some dance once! But their baking is great. Lew, I believe you are going through Harrisonburg. home of Eastern Mennonite University. You should be able to find some good cooking around there, too. I totally second the comments on Floyd, the food scene there has gotten pretty good over the years, if a little crunchy. If you can, you should try to make it to Floyd on a Friday night for the famous Friday Night Jamboree at the Old Country Store. You will see a real live hoedown with some excellent fiddlin' and banjo-pickin'... and fried pies. As for Blacksburg, I agree with sput, there's plenty of cheap college eats like falafel, but not much good local stuff in town, as far as I know. The Cellar is the only bar in town I would bother with.

Really? Good Vietnamese in Greensboro? Whereabouts? sensing a road trip...

Hey hey! I'm from Roanoke! You can find some regional flavor at the Farmer's Market in downtown Roanoke every day except Sunday. Mostly it's produce, some crafts, if you're lucky you will find rare and/or heirloom varieties of apples and pole beans. Sometimes you see creasy greens- I've never seen them for sale anywhere else, they're sort of like giant land-based watercress. There are usually some Dunkard (sort of like Amish) farmers with some homemade baked goods. One stand has authentic pork sidemeat just sitting there in an unrefrigerated case. Never tried it. Wertz's Grocery, also on the market, acts like it has all kinds of regional specialties, but you have to look close, because a lot of their stuff does not come from the area. However, you should be able to get some good fried pies there. Also, good Virginia ham, the kind I had to have my mama send me last Easter when we lived in New Orleans. Sumdat Farms also carries some unusual local and not-so-local gourmet items. Both Wertz's and Sumdat have extensive selections of fine VA wines. I recommend Valhalla, it is crafted right there in Roanoke County. Across the street is Good Things on the Market, among their huge candy selection are some local old-fashioned hard candies. Here's another local thing: Tinnell's Grocery, on Crystal Spring Ave. near the firehouse in South Roanoke. They definitely carry good, local fried pies, I believe Boone's is the name. They are also renowned for their ham biscuits, expensive but served by many South Roanoke hostesses at various social functions. Always a tragedy when you have a function coming up and they are out of ham biscuits. As far as restaurants, my favorites are Angler's Cafe downtown, and Wildflour, on 4th St. in Old Southwest. Both strive for a local touch, and the food is good and inexpensive. If I had to choose, it would probably be for Angler's. Of course, Hot Dog King on the market is a local institution. Sounds like you are too early for fishin season, otherwise you'd have to get some trout along the way. I hope you stop at Mabry Mill on the Parkway, they are another regional institution and many folks will not get their grits from anywhere else. The Brugh Tavern in Explore Park is an interesting attempt at historical dining in an authentic setting. It might be worth checking out. They did not have their act together the last time I went there, but that was like 5 or 6 years ago. This is the time of year to ask about Poke Salet, though you might be too early. Too early for ramps, too, I'm afraid, but might be worth asking about the farther south you get. Have a great time!

If you've been driving to Greensboro for A Taste of Thai, then you will be happy to hear that they have opened a branch in Falls Center on Falls of Neuse, according to the Independent. We ate at the one in Greensboro over the holidays, and it was much better than I had expected. As for the Vietnamese place on Guess Rd., we were not impressed. But we are totally spoiled from living in New Orleans, where authentic Vietnamese cuisine is in great abundance. We used to eat at Pho Tau Bay across from Charity Hospital at least once a week. Boy, if there was a place like that within an hour's drive, I would go all the time! As it stands, I fear the closest really good Vietnamese place is in Richmond.

Thursdays are good for us, but not next week (Mar. 11). Fridays and Saturdays are good, too, but I work evenings the rest of the time. Sounds like two contenders for the first Triangle Chow Club are: Lantern (little bit fancy, I'm afraid) Taqueria Mi Mexico (already familiar to some) Any other suggestions? Let's pin down a date: Friday, March 12 Saturday, March 13 Thursday, March 19 Those are the ones we can make in the near future. Maybe we should start on Thursday 3/19, and keep Thursdays as chow night?

That all sounds great. More my financial speed, too. I haven't even been to Carrburritos yet! Let's come up with a date and the lucky restaurant to win our presence. I'm thinking something Asian or maybe Ethiopian. Two weeks from now (March 12 or so) would be good for us, unless that's too soon. Where are Random Alias and Phlawless? Is anyone else into this idea?