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eG Foodblog: Prepcook and Susan in FL


Susan in FL

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Enjoyed your postings in the Rehoboth Beach threads in delmarva,so im sure i will enjoy your blog-looking forward to it,btw what the hell do ya do in lowerslower in the winter??lol

Dave s

"Food is our common ground,a universal experience"

James Beard

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I like hearing about others' enjoyment of games or racing or whatever on TV, sometimes while eating! Somehow it seems as though liking TV became something one is supposed to be ashamed of, especially with meals when people should be bonding and talking and such. It is possible to talk while watching. :biggrin:

We do sometimes listen to music during dinner, or have no sound in the background. Interestingly, however, sometimes I get more lost in music than I do in TV.

...btw what the hell do ya do in lowerslower in the winter??

Freeze your ass off, and dream of moving to Florida! (...Sorry, I know not everybody has an aversion to cold weather like I did for 50 years.) In Slower Lower Delawhere there was very little to do in the dead of winter. After the excitement of the holidays, and up until about April, I use to wish I could be like a hibernating bear and sleep all winter. One good thing about the colder months in Delmarva however is that "Oysters R in Season". I like oysters from up there better than most of what are served here. Usually. So, I guess you can stay in and eat oysters during the winter in Slower Lower!

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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About lunch today, I did make a brief stop at home, and took a very quick peak at this topic, but I resisted even sitting down in the chair while I did so because I knew it would be hard to pull myself away. I had to look, though, thinking oh my... what if noboby replies on our blog thread? It would be like throwing a party and nobody showing up. I was happy to see that there were a few posts, and for the rest of the work day, I looked forward to getting home.

I ate an avocado, with S&P and some lemon juice, spooning it out of the skin. I love this.

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Russ posted about his vegetable chips, and at first we had some trouble loading that photo, but now here it is.

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Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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Dinner was good. We love uncooked pasta sauces, and this is probably our favorite. I originally found the recipe in a 1989 issue of Food & Wine, and have since adapted and modified, and still we change it, depending on our mood (and our appetite for garlic :smile: ). It's a good after-work recipe, especially if you get an earlier start than I did tonight.

Here is my current write-up of the recipe, for four servings:

2 pounds plum tomatoes, seeded and diced

6 fillets of anchovies, chopped [i usually use more]

1/2 cup Kalamata olives [or oil cured black olives]

3 tablespoons drained small capers

1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 large garlic cloves, minced, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound cavatappi or fusilli

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, as accompaniment

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, anchovies, olives, capers, parsley, garlic, hot pepper, salt, and olive oil. Stir gently to combine. Cover with a towel and let the sauce marinate at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes so that the flavors will marry.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm, about 10 minutes. Quickly drain and toss with the sauce in the bowl. Serve at once, with the cheese on the side.

We use Kalamata olives unless we have real good, high quality oil cured olives. Fortunately, we have found a source for great oil cured olives, Cosmos Imports in South Daytona. If I make a trip to that store this week, I'll take a picture. I've been going there for lots of canned and jarred products, since discovering the place. What I like about both their Kalamata olives and their oil cured is that they are of such high quality and come pitted.

Here is where I got the tomatoes for the dish tonight. It's not the greatest looking place inside or out, but the tomatoes are the best I've found, year-round. They didn't have plum tomatoes -- first time that's happened -- and so I got the regular ones.

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The seeding of the tomatoes in progress:

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And after they are seeded and diced:

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Then all the ingredients went into the same pottery bowl we've been using for years for this recipe, and here it is sitting on our counter, covered and marinating. This photo shows what a slob I am when I'm in the process of cooking. The marinating time gives me a chance to clean up before cooking the pasta and serving.

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The plate:

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The table:

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I like to have Montepulciano D'Abruzzo with this, and tonight's was Casa Girelli 2001 Canaletto Montepulciano D'Abruzzo. If was soft and fresh tasting, and mildly fruity. Though medium-bodied, it stood up to the intense flavors of this food.

Oh, and one more photo Russ request that I take... It shows what we elected to watch on TV tonight.

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Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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I ate an avocado, with S&P and some lemon juice, spooning it out of the skin.  I love this.

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This is sooooo beautiful. Avocado this way is one of my favorite treats also.

I've enjoyed reading your posts on the Dinner thread and am really looking forward to this blog. Thanks for sharing with us!

Jan

Jan

Seattle, WA

"But there's tacos, Randy. You know how I feel about tacos. It's the only food shaped like a smile....A beef smile."

--Earl (Jason Lee), from "My Name is Earl", Episode: South of the Border Part Uno, Season 2

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So far today, I haven't eaten anything, but it's a beautiful morning and we enjoyed coffee on the porch.

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Since it's so pretty outside, I thought it would be a good time to continue showing you our eating places.

The table on our porch which is probably familiar-looking, but here it is unadorned by a dinner (and I bought a tablecloth, hoping it would cut back on glare and reflections in our photos):

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That's some of our rosemary outside in the background.

Here is the other end of the porch, with the bar where we sometimes eat appetizers and often have a drink before dinner:

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Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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We have that bar! And those chairs! (Check Lowe's, the one here was having a clearance on that style, so we also got a small side table & two low chairs for 1/2 price).

I love entertaining on them. Our bar sits next to the grill & smoker on the deck, and we have 4 chairs (one behind the bar, 3 in front); the tall height is so great--feels casual, but not picnic-table casual, it's just such a wonderful set.

Diana

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We have that bar!  And those chairs!  (Check Lowe's, the one here was having a clearance on that style, so we also got a small side table & two low chairs for 1/2 price).

I love entertaining on them.  Our bar sits next to the grill & smoker on the deck, and we have 4 chairs (one behind the bar, 3 in front); the tall height is so great--feels casual, but not picnic-table casual, it's just such a wonderful set.

Diana

How cool is that! It's a great set. The round table and chairs are the same, and so is "my" chaise, which I really, really enjoy. Well actually, everything on the porch is that set... except the TV stand!

As for eating places, last, and least used these days, is the dining room table. One thing that's good and bad about eating elsewhere most of the time is that stuff collects on this table. It's the first thing we come to, to unload whatever, as we come in the front door. Needless to say, I took some time to clear it before taking this picture, and actually put stuff away. :smile:

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I wasn't hungry at my usual brunch time, so I'm having lunch soon. This afternoon I want to roast some red peppers, since we're all out of them, and make some chicken stock, possibly for a soup tomorrow night.

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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My goodness, I almost missed this blog! Life keeps getting in the way of important stuff like egullet. So happy to see you and Russ blogging. I will be making the time to check in often.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Thanks, Anna!

I just thought of you and your blog as I was eating lunch and was about to say that in this post. One, I had beer with lunch, and also, my sandwich was open-faced! Not very Scandanavian-like otherwise, though...

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I had a meatball sandwich, putting the meatballs on a roll from which I had cut out a cradle-sort-of hole. This just cried out for beer, so I had a glass of Old Dominion's Spring Brew, a specialty lager. I ate at the kitchen bar, reading a cookbook.

I don't routinely have meatball sandwiches, or meatballs on hand, for that matter. We're still in the process of cleaning out the freezer from when some stuff partially thawed during the hurricanes, and some meatballs with sauce were in there.

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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Chicken stock in progress! Russ is the maker of the best stock in this household, but I'm doing it today. He usually uses bones and leftovers of things we've saved. It is unusual for us to buy something just for the purpose of stock. Actually, I'm not using all these chicken wings for the stock; I did use all the wing tips, and some of the rest, and what's left will be used to make Buffalo wings.

I am not good with knives. I'm sure Russ will attest to that. As you can see, I had three out before I chose the one which worked the best. Russ keeps the knives sharp, so it's not that. It is that I'm just sort of a clutz with them. This part of the job wasn't fun, and I would have asked Russ to cut them up had he not been at work. This and other such skills is the basis for the name Prepcook. :smile:

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I browned them before starting the stock pot.

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It always looks so pretty in the beginning!

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And so it begins to cook...

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Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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Roasted red peppers in progress! Most of the time, we don't roast peppers whole. We will if we need them whole for a presentation or a particular preparation, but usually we want them in pieces anyway. Cutting them before roasting seems a lot easier and they taste just as good to us.

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Sorry about the following photo, I couldn't get it as vivid as I had hoped. I think I'm tired of being indoors and want to get out, or at least that's the excuse I'm offering.

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So I'm heading out... I conveniently forgot my workout and run/walk this morning, so that and a trip to the seafood market are up next.

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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What a revelation. Now I feel like a dolt for roasting the damn things whole the past 20 years! No fuss, no muss... I'm in.

Susan, In the jar you have something on top of your peppers to keep them from floating above the oil? I can't seem to get mine to keep for very long, or is a week about normal?

"I took the habit of asking Pierre to bring me whatever looks good today and he would bring out the most wonderful things," - bleudauvergne

foodblogs: Dining Downeast I - Dining Downeast II

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YAY!

susan (& prepcook!) i'm so excited that you're blogging. i am always so flattered that you take so much time to share your meals with us...plus your northeasterners (me too) living in FL (like my mom) so i feel connected! the layout of your house looks so much like her last one it's eerie.

pasta putanesca is one of our favorites too. mmm anchovy.

from overheard in new york:

Kid #1: Paper beats rock. BAM! Your rock is blowed up!

Kid #2: "Bam" doesn't blow up, "bam" makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY ROCK! You can't defeat that!

--6 Train

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Susan, In the jar you have something on top of your peppers to keep them from floating above the oil? I can't seem to get mine to keep for very long, or is a week about normal?

I wondered the same thing when I saw the picture. Then I went to the fridge and checked. Turns out it's a basil leaf and a clove of garlic. Also turns out that the peppers stay down only if you frequently push them back down with one or more fingers. :smile:

And I think they taste even better when they are cut up first because they char more evenly and are more meaty.

Russ

Edited by Prepcook (log)
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I just saw the pictures from coffee on the porch this morning. It was indeed, a beautiful day. Moments like that make going to work so much easier.

No lunch today. I think that's not a healthy thing, but my mental health required me to get as much accomplished as possible, so I skipped.

Tonight was a typical dinner. As Susan mentioned I love being the prepcook. I love to cut things up and chop things and get them ready. One of my favorite long time jobs is to peel the shrimp. Almost always I do this chore with a glass of white house wine, here sometimes referred to as "medication". :rolleyes: Tonight the shrimp were fresh and local and peeled easily. When we cook together, like tonight, things work best when Susan takes the lead and I help with whatever she needs. Sometimes there is a lot to do and sometimes I just sit and drink my wine and watch. It's fun both ways. And almost always I learn something, which of course is never wasted. :smile:

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Russ, you description of how you work in the kitchen is making me look forward to being an empty-nester in a decade or so. On the odd occasion that Paul and I do not have kids (like about once a decade), we so enjoy working in the kitchen together. With the kids around, it's one of us helping with homework, breaking up a fight, etc. I'm looking forward to food porn of tonight's meal at your house.

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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...plus your northeasterners (me too) living in FL (like my mom) so i feel connected! the layout of your house looks so much like her last one it's eerie.

All right! There is a connection with Northeasterners who are snowbirds or who moved here. One of the good things about being a snowbird or moving to Florida is that you feel welcomed immediately, and very quickly are at home here. Almost everybody is from somewhere. It's not like you move to Small Town American in other parts, where everybody knows everybody and you're not really a part of the town because you weren't born and raised there. If you've lived in Florida for just a week, you are not a native, but you're a Floridian.

And, this house is so Florida. This is probably the typical floor plan of the majority of the new houses -- new meaning built within the last 15 or 20 years.. open, and divided between big master bedroom and bath on one side, and other bedrooms and baths on the other side. Our house is small, but has lots of space. What is different about ours is that we have 1 1/2 acres. In a neighborhood, that is pretty unusual. I love it. (Can you tell??!) Short of being wealthy and having my fantasy house, this is my dream house.

Where does your mom live?

pasta putanesca is one of our favorites too. mmm anchovy.

Glad to hear that... It's not for everybody. That's for sure.

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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A bit of a different format... the picture of the finished product first.

Dinner was fresh local shrimp over top of black beans, with a mango salsa, and 2003 Brancott Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

We both cooked tonight. It was something I made up, after getting an idea of the presentation from a cookbook. I see Russ has told you that when we have shrimp, he always has the job of cleaning them and drinking white wine. I often sip on a glass of wine or "medication" :smile: when I cook, but tonight I had a Cosmopolitan-like drink while I was cooking, which the recipe called a Floridian. It consisted of orange vodka, Cointreau [we like that more than Grand Marnier], sour mix, and cranberry juice.

We sauteed the shrimp in just a little bit of olive oil, with garlic, ginger, parsley, and lemon zest for a very short period of time, then turned the heat off and swirled in a little piece of Lurpak butter. The beans were just plain Goya beans, and we garnished it with some chopped scallions. The salsa was mango, cucumber, onion, cilantro and mint, fresh OJ and lime juice, EVOO, a little jalepeno and red bell pepper minced ever so finely, and S&P.

I really like Sauvignon Blanc, and have been trying some from New Zealand recently. The tropical fruit flavors go well with something like this. When we have Sauvignon Blanc, and Russ first tastes it, he typically says it tastes grassy. We have red wine with dinner way more often than white.

I went to our favorite seafood market, Hull's in Ormond Beach, for the shrimp. It is wonderful. Everything is so, so fresh. I couldn't get all three display cabinets in one picture:

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Here the shrimp were before cooking.

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And here is my cooking in progress being a slob picture from tonight.

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Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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Russ always makes popcorn. The only time I do is if it's microwave, but that is not often.

Suzilightning..... I had butter and Johnnybird's toast dope on mine!

I drank the rest of the beer from my lunch with it. I capped the bottle and put it in the fridge. It stayed fizzy!

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I have to work tomorrow and Friday. :sad: I hope to get the chance to stop at home during the day and post, but if not, I'll catch up mornings and evenings.

Edited by Susan in FL (log)

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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thank you susan- though i don't think i would have ever thought of toast dope on popcornn :huh:

i love the "medication"that you and russ share. many times i'll have johnnybird open a bottle of wine for me and pour me a glass while i'm prepping.

the shrimps and black beans look wonderful... since we are both working tomorrow night late it is leftovers :angry: . gotta figure out something for friday - hmmmmmm shrimp again :rolleyes:

am working on a new cocktail with ginger liqueur and toast dope......

edited to say johnnybird also caps his beer... usually with one of my wine or champagne capping devices :wink:

Edited by suzilightning (log)

Nothing is better than frying in lard.

Nothing.  Do not quote me on this.

 

Linda Ellerbee

Take Big Bites

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I have what seems to me to be a very silly question about broiling your peppers. Do you leave the oven door open a crack when you broil?

I never broil anything but I seem to remember my mum leaving the door on the oven open a crack when she broiled. Or maybe it was something completely different and I'm full of it!

Last week, my farmer's market had some great Anaheim peppers which I used to make some New Mexico green chile. They were roasted on the Weber. I'd like to roast and chop some peppers for the freezer this weekend but using the broiler is much nicer (especially if it rains like it did today!).

Hence my silly question...

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Susan- this looks GREAT! and I can sooo relate to the livin' on the porch culture. shouldn't it be called the "florida room"? LOL I think if I lived in that climate I'd grill ALL the time...

Born Free, Now Expensive

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