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eG Foodblog: Suzanne F - at the risk of shattering my image


Suzanne F

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While I was fortunate enough to host the first officially sanctioned blog on eG, I don't think I ever documented what I ate on a day to day basis.

Now that I've said this I feel the need to bare my soul on one topic. I almost always picked up two Krispy Kreme donuts when I went by the supermarket to buy the WashPost and NY Times before school on Wednesday mornings. I'd eat one of them as I drove to the beltway; I'd polish the second off while perusing the food section headlines from the school parking lot. Healthy!

I think NeroW deserves the real credit for this one, with her bio thread. She has to eat way more nasty-ass crap at school than I ever did. (Baking powder and cream of tartar, anyone? Makes caul fat sound appetizing!)

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I'm ba-ack! even though I haven't had anything but water since I last posted.

oh wow.  you still have stuff from the potluck!??!?

that was over a month ago... :unsure:

Soba

Sure: that's why god invented freezers. And there was a LOT of food left! Lessee, I've still got the Italian sausage you left; about half of the terrine I made; 8 portions of FG's brisket, with 2 cups each of the jus, horseradish cream, and DtheC's sauce*; about 1 cup of Belmont3's brandade; one of the Balthazar baguettes (at this point, I really hope I wrapped it well enough :shock: ); about a dozen small pieces of jhlurie's (bought) baklava; some of MegC's tapenade (not frozen); and a little more than a full box of crackers that everyone rightfully ignored in favor of Elyse's cheese thingies. Oh, and most of the coffee liqueur and all of the anise liqueur that anil brought.

Actually there may be a few other items, but in now-unrecognizable forms, so they don't count.

Which reminds me: I still never posted HWOE's reaction to the wine he traded with Belmont3. Here it is now (Andre = Belmont3, obviously):

Please let Andre know that we enjoyed his 2001 Louis Michel & Fils Chablis very much with your perfectly-marked grilled swordfish & herb butter.  I’d been used to a range of American and New Zealand Chardonnays for so long.  But as soon as I tasted Andre’s wine my taste memory clicked in and I instantly recognized what the “real thing” should taste like.  It was mildly earthy—not too much—and nicely crisp.  The crisp earthiness cut through the richness of the swordfish and herb butter.  As I always say, “There’s no such thing as a nice piece of fresh fish.”  BUT, there is something better: A nice piece of fresh fish with a nicely matched yummy wine.

Please ask Andre to let us know how he liked the Paumonok Barrel Fermented Chardonnay from the North Fork of Long Island that we traded for his Chablis.

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Okay: dinner, Tuesday, August 26

2 and a half, well, maybe 3 glasses of La Gitana -- which, by the way, is a manzanilla (I was wrong before)

From the freezer: 1/3 of the last 2 wedges of snowangel's eGRA corn bread, split, covered with homemade beef chili. Sprinkled with grated pepper jack and Cabot's Hunter's Cheddar (the best supermarket cheddar, for my $$$). Baked until hot and bubbly. Topped at the table with yogurt (had to toss the Mexican-style sour cream: fuzzy :sad: ), Old El Paso Chunky medium salsa and homemade salsa verde. The everpresent salad, tonight with balsamic vinegar and olive oil (HWOE :wub: ). Red Hook IPA.

And for once in a very long while, a tablespoonful of Haagen Dazs Café Mocha Frappé -- actually just chocolate and coffee in the same container, what a scam.

Now, more water as I type and wait for my laundry to dry.

Edited by Suzanne F (log)
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Yeah, only one. It's not willpower. As I said, I'm not that big on desserts. But in the original mention, I did correct "tablespoonspoonful." :shock:

Now, steak, prime rib, or lamb chops -- I could never have just one bite of THOSE. Or grilled fish (sorry, Elyse :sad: ). Or oysters, whatever the month. Give me savory or give me dearth.

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Good afternoon, all. Just back from lunch out (nothing before other than water) at The Little Bigger Place, a post-9/11 Cinderella story.*

Split Pea soup -- which I don't make at home because HWOE doesn't like it (one of his very few failings :sad: ); it came with a roll in the form of croutons -- sliced and grilled.

A "blintz" which is really a filled crepe, with ham, fresh raw tomato, and swiss cheese.

Part of a slice of chocolate cake with white frosting (yeah, yeah I know I said . . . but it came with the rest of the meal. :raz: ).

2 cups of coffee with milk, a large pink lemonade, and water (not in that order).

*the story about The Little Bigger Place: Owned by a couple of cooks from Pueblo (where else? :wink: ) It used to be The Little Place, a tiny, 8-seat restaurant a couple of blocks from the WTC. Not damaged 9/11, but they were shut for over a month and a half. Reopened 11/1. A short time later, they were able to move to the vacant space on the corner as The Little Bigger Place, and do a thriving breakfast and lunch business. American and a lot of simple Mexican stuff, all very fresh and good. The kind of place you really want to do well, very warm and welcoming, clearly know how to make the most of their humble ingredients. There were 2 pieces about the people and the place on "The Next Big Thing" on NPR, 10/20-21/01 and 11/3-4/01, because an NPR producer was a regular there. It helps to have influential friends. :raz: (In case you want a nice, cheap place to eat in Lower Manhattan, it's at the corner of West Broadway and Warren, diagonally across from Kitchenette.)

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Next installment: Dinner, Wednesday, August 27th:

Again, only one glass of La Gitana (good girl!)

A cuvée of tomato sauces from the freezer: some with red kidney beans and tuna, some with cabbage (but without any of the chunks of sausage from the original), warmed together with a large dollop of MegC's tapenade and a sprinkling of Spanish smoked paprika.

This was served mixed with squid-ink penne.

The constant-but-freshly-made salad, with olive oil, white balsamic and white wine vinegars.

1/2 bottle of Wagner (Finger Lakes) Reserve Pinot Nooir, 1999 -- a wine mentioned yesterday in the NY Times as Good (and Good for You). :raz:

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Thursday, August 28:

Vitamin pills plus water.

The peach half I didn't eat yesterday. Not as good from the fridge, as at room temperature.

Yeah, I know a blog is supposed to be one-way, but Hey, I'm getting lonely here! Doesn't anybody want to say anything? Pretty please?? :unsure:

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Eat something, Suzanne.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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Tommy, you are so full of it. :biggrin:

pattimw: NYS pinot is pretty damn good. Not yet up there with Oregon, but at least as good as, if not better than, California.

And for Jinmyo:

I did a massive grocery shopping trip (end of the month; use up the coupons) having eaten only the half a peach. So on the way home I tore open the package of Stringsters (1-ounce portions of string cheese) and ate a couple as I walked down the promenade along the East River, pushing my filled-to-the-top shopping cart. Fortunately, the tide had not gone out completely yet. :hmmm::sad::raz: This store is the big Pathmark just north of the Manhattan Bridge. It serves a clientele from Chinatown, Little Italy, Loisaida and the Lower East Side, including various public housing projects. So the diversity of products is quite a bit greater than at my white-bread Food Emporium.

Once home, I had to check out the package of LU Le Fondant ("Fine Chocolate Filled Wafers") to make sure they had survived the trip home. :wink: This was washed down with a spritzer of white grape and peach juice with seltzer.

While putting away the groceries, had the last of the cornbread/chili/cheese casserole from the other night, heated in the nuker. Followed by a spoonful of crunchy peanut butter. (I was disappointed at the grocery: I wanted to get Skippy Creamy in the tube -- with a coupon, of course -- but they didn't have any today.)

That's it for eating so far today. Wanna hear what I prepped with the stuff I bought?

  • cut up 6 whole chicken legs; 2 of the thighs will be dinner tonight; the rest into the freezer
  • quartered two packages of (reduced price) button mushrooms; sauteed and packed them for the freezer;
  • ditto two packages of (reduced price) sliced mushrooms. This supermarket always has some cheap produce that will be fine if cooked.
  • sliced and pickled a nice big white onion, with salt, sugar, white vinegar, Mexican oregano, and coriander seeds
  • separated and put to roast 2-1/2 heads of garlic, which I'm smelling even now
  • and the best: put a bone-in pork shoulder to marinate in anticipation of making pernil over the weekend.

The marinade is cilantro, flat leaf parsley, lotsa garlic, a couple of large shallots, Dijon mustard, black pepper, allspice, coriander, cinnamon, a little red pepper flakes, the last of that goddamn bottle of Maggi Seasoning I bought last year after Suvir said how much he loved it :angry: , a little dried rosemary, a lot of dried thyme, plus olive oil and Naranja Agria (sour orange juice). The whole thing is sitting in the fridge, waiting to be massaged and turned over. Not sure when during the weekend I'll cook it; but I figure it can sit at least two days. I'll make tostones (fried green plantain slices), kale, and rice to go with it. I can hardly wait! :raz:

Okay, gotta go make dinner now. :biggrin: And oh look, it's time to have a glass of sherry. Or two. Or . . . :wacko:

edited to add: Damn! I keep forgetting that I left off Fat Guys sour pickles from the list of stuff I still have from the potluck. I'll bring them to the New Jersey pig feast; maybe they'll be the eGullet version of the Xmas fruitcake that gets passed around year after year.

Also forgot to mention the freshly grated Parmigiano and Pecorino Romano on the pasta. Forgive me, Santa Marcella. But I figured it would be all right since there originally had been sausage in some of the sauce. :blink:

Edited by Suzanne F (log)
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Whole lot of freezer action over at Suzanne's place.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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..... the last of that goddamn bottle of Maggi Seasoning I bought last year after Suvir said how much he loved it  :angry:

I love Maggi Seasoning for some things, but haven't been able to find any around here (coast of Maine) for a couple of years now. None of the people in the stores have the slightest idea what i'm talking about.

Oh Suzanne, you probably threw out the bottle that had the maker/distributor's name on it. It's great in Chinese chop suey - or whenever you're making something like it. Basically really tasty MSG. :smile:

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Jinmyo: :sad: well, there are only 2 of us, and when I can get a good deal on stuff, I take advantage of it. But as anyone who's been here can attest, I keep an anally complete inventory of what's in the freezer, and rotate as much as I can.

Nick: the distributor is Nestlé USA, Inc., Foreign Trade Division, Glendale, CA 91203. "For Nutritional Information please write to P.O. Box 29055, Glendale, CA 91209-9055" I don't "throw out" bottles and jars. If I'm going to save them, I wash themand then save; if I won't be saving them, I rinse them and pile them on one end of the pass-through, and when the cleaner comes on Wednesdays, she puts them in the recycling bin. Since today's Thursday, the bottle was still sitting there. :smile:

Torakris: We'd probably be vegetarians if The Food Emporium didn't reduce the price of last-day-of-sale meat! When all the earners are self-employed, there are bound to be some lean times -- one year, between maintenance and mortgage we spent over 60% of our income! So any way to economize is all right by me -- as long as the initial quality was good.

On to dinner, Thursday, August 28th:

2? 2-1/2? :hmmm: glasses of La Gitana, plus a slug or two of Festival Chardonnay later during the cooking.

The actual meal: 1 thigh of Mamster's Pancetta Embossed Chicken -- played with, as is my wont: I too just put the pancetta under the skin. Not as beautiful, but still damn tasty. And I deglazed the pan with the aforementioned Paumanok Festival Chardonnay 2000, their lesser version, and a bit of chicken stock. Mounted with a cube of my herb butter, which has multiple herbs, lemon juice and zest, garlic, and lord knows what else (maybe even a little guacamole dip left from the potluck :wacko: ). Served with roast garlic mashed potatoes -- the garlic I roasted earlier, plus some "Roasted Garlic Cream Cheese" and 1% yogurt. More stir-fried Swiss chard (freshly cooked). HWOE's salad, with lettuces from earlier in the week and brand new tomato and kirby from the Greenmarket :wub: , same dressing as yesterday. Paumanok Barrel-Fermented Chardonnay 2000, their better version. It was a fine, fine dinner, if I say so myself. Anyway, HWOE said so, too. :wub:

PS: the pernil will be for Monday's dinner. I put the plantains in the fridge so they won't ripen any more and I can make tostones, not maduros. Is that okay?

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Jinmyo:  :sad:

Oh no.

Don't do that.

I didn't mean a bad thing.

:sad:

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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In defense of Maggi... Zarela makes a killer vinegarette that has Maggi in it. It is one of my staples. It is in her first book, Food From My Heart.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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