eG Foodblog Tag Team IV: Marlene, Dave, snowangel - Cold Turkey, Three Ways

[avocado]

Add my encouragement to the pile. Way to go!

Awesome food, too. Even with the sluggish brains you all are talking about, it looks like your culinary skills haven't suffered.

So, one question, Marlene: What does a Yorkshire pudding taste like? It looks delicious, but is it chewy? Crispy? Bread-y? I'm having trouble tasting it in my mind.

[MarketStEl]

Which TJ's do you use, mizducky? Hillcrest, La Jolla Village Square, or Pacific Beach (Garnet Ave)? LJVS store is in a pretty new bldg, might have friendlier floors.

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The PB TJ's (boy, does that ever sound like geek code! ).

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Speak for yourself, Ellen.

It sounds like a sandwich to me.

[JAZ]

So, one question, Marlene: What does a Yorkshire pudding taste like? It looks delicious, but is it chewy? Crispy? Bread-y? I'm having trouble tasting it in my mind.

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It's very similar to a popover -- eggy and moist in the middle, and crisp on the outside. Very light if you make them right, which Marlene obviously did. They look perfect.

[maggiethecat]

Marlene, Susan and Dave:

If I weren't still so full from quail salad, tournedos, and berry tart at the Ranch House in magical Ojai, CA, (it was Shangri-La in "Lost Horizon) I would lick the screen. My friends, you have done some beautiful, serious cooking.

Haven't had a cigarette. Yet.

[snowangel]

Haven't had a cigarette. Yet.

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Don't rub it in.

Am I the only one who can't sleep? If I hadn't had a martini or two, I'd be hitting the vicodan. I need a good night's sleep.

[zilla369]

They went into this ridiculously large saucepan, which, because it's big and round and sort of good for a lot of things but not particularly great at anything, my daughter calls "Mr. Shaw."

By the way, great jobs all around you guys - even the backsliders. I've been considering quitting smoking. I'm not sure what I'm waiting for, but it's definitely not what I received in the mail from my dad yesterday: Leroy Jenkins Miracle Water.

Daddy is desperate for me to quit smoking, so the other day he called and asked me if I'd drink something if he sent it to me - something that was guaranteed to make me quit immediately.

Follow the link. I reckon getting a nice infusion of eColi might just do the trick, but I think I'll pass.

[Marlene]

I'm still so full from dinner, I'm not sure I want to contemplate breakfast. Besides, I still need to clean the kitchen up.

Don's gone to the gym and of course Ry is still asleep, so I don't have to do anything about breakfast yet. I had thought about Eggs Benedict, but that seems to require more energy than I currently have at the moment, so maybe omelettes. And bacon. Oops. I'd better go take the bacon out. And mimosas. I love mimosas and only ever seem to have them on vacation, but I figure I deserve one this morning.

Dave, I'm impressed your improvising on that roast. Apart from the mushroom thing, it looked awesome.

Susan, Russell's recipe for honey garlic wings is pretty much how I make mine (although I've never thought about using sherry, but it makes sense to me) I'd still make the Asian wings though.

[snowangel]

Good morning! Although up late, when I finally fell asleep, I got the first good night's sleep this week. So, I slept in. I deserve it.

Eggs Benedict coming. Wish me luck poaching eggs!

[Angela Alaimo]

Susan, how about making some hummus? Or is that too adventurous for the kids?

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Hummus is very popular with my kids, and I even have some frozen mashed chickpeas in the freezer.

Thanks, Rachel, for the suggestions!

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Susan, just as a reminder, my name is Russell, not Rachel. I understand ...

You can call me whatever you want, but don't call me late for dinner. I wouldn't mind trying some of that venison.

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Russell, I'm not quite that fuzzy. What I should have said was "and Rachel, thanks for all of the suggestions you made"!

But, I need more help for tomorrow. Diana has declared that she wants two kinds of wings. Buffalo and honey garlic.

So, for the former, I think I need to just bake the wings (in deference to my dad) and then toss them with some Frank's hot sauce (mixed with butter????). For the honey garlic, do I just mix together some honey and garlic? Add some soy? Bake them ahead of time and use the stuff as a glaze? Marinade them in something? Add some soy? Time for a tag team recipe!

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This is supposed to be the Authentic! Buffalo Wing sauce. I don't know about that, but it is good. When I made it, I roasted the wings in the oven, rather than frying them, and they were great. You cook the wings first, and then dump them into a bowl containing your preferred amounts of the following ingredients:

Frank's Hot Sauce

Heinz Chili Sauce

Ketchup

Lea & Perrins Wooster (if I tried to spell it out properly I'd have to go to the fridge)

Dijon mustard

Melted Butter

Mix the wings in the sauce and serve. Mine were pretty hot but I like them that way. Obviously you can tone it down somewhat via more ketchup and butter.

PS: I smoke, but not too much. Since a little over a year ago I got an indoor, office job where there is no smoking. If I keep busy, I don't feel the urge to smoke for 8-9 (!!) hours, save after lunch. I have cut down on # of cigarettes smoked considerably because of this. OTOH, every time anyone mentions a cigarette in this blog, I want one! Definitely a head game.

You all keep up the good work and the incredible effort and I will keep trying to not want to smoke more.

A

[Dave the Cook]

Haven't had a cigarette. Yet.

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Don't rub it in.

Am I the only one who can't sleep? If I hadn't had a martini or two, I'd be hitting the vicodan. I need a good night's sleep.

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I've had no trouble falling asleep at the drop of a hat -- in fact, most of the time, I've felt drained, but I think part of that is lack of nicotine, and part is the virus that's working its way through the system. What's been trouble has been staying asleep. Finally I used the excuse of this cold to drop a few Benadryl (all we had in the house), and got a straight six, anyway.

[Dave the Cook]

. . . . I've been considering quitting smoking.  I'm not sure what I'm waiting for, but it's definitely not what I received in the mail from my dad yesterday:  Leroy Jenkins Miracle Water.

Daddy is desperate for me to quit smoking, so the other day he called and asked me if I'd drink something if he sent it to me - something that was guaranteed to make me quit immediately.

Follow the link.  I reckon getting a nice infusion of eColi might just do the trick, but I think I'll pass. 

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Don't count on it, Marsha. A dedicated smoker will rationalize anything, even puffing through intestinal meltdown.

One thing this blog has confirmed is my suspicion that the Society has a disproportionately large proportion of smokers compared to the population at large. The connection between food and smoking is pretty strong, especially among professionals. I actually picked up the habit in a restaurant kitchen, where everyone -- chef, line cooks, dishwashers -- smoked. Two weeks and I was hooked.

[Marlene]

Apparently, it's going to be Don's day to cook. He came home from the gym and made up bacon and eggs for all of us.

I like my eggs over easy, Don likes his sunny side up and Ryan likes his over easy in a sandwhich. This is President's Choice bacon which is actually pretty good. We all like our bacon crisp.

Don is going to favour his with his marvellous stir fry tonight, so I'm off to the market to get a few things.

[MarketStEl]

This has been a fascinating exercise the three of you have shared with us.

My question now is: Does the food you eat taste any different now? Are you hungry for more of it already, or has there not been enough time for your metabolism to slow down?

I see that Frank's now has a ready-to-use Buffalo wing sauce. I didn't check the ingredients label to see if it's just Red Hot and butter or not, but as my local supermarket was all out of regular Red Hot when I went to lay in my Supe supplies on Friday, I wasn't going to stand on authenticity. And I don't feel like going into the kitchen right now to check the label, either.

Angela: I see you get creative with your Buffalo wing sauce. I will probably coat some of mine with my homemade Gates' Barbecue Sauce in addition to the Buffalo treatment.

(As I type this, the ESPN commentators are poring over Donovan McNabb's latest comments on the whole Terrell Owens affair and picking apart poor Donovan for not stepping up to the plate and yanking T.O. back in line after he made those remarks about how well the Iggles would have done with Brett Favre at the helm. I hope his mom has plenty of Campbell's Chunky Soup for him tonight.)

Hope you all enjoy the game too, those of you watching for the game, and to everyone else, let's get together later to critique the commercials.

Oh, one more thing: W-o-r-c-e-s-t-e-r-s-h-i-r-e. You can stick the spelling bee gold star on this sheet of paper over here. Anyone else notice how enamored the Brits are of superfluous letters in their words?

--Sandy "Melvil Dewey had the right idea" Smith

[Marlene]

Because I've fallen off the wagon a few times, I'm not sure my taste buds have had a chance to adjust. Certainly though, my sense of smell is sharper. (I can smell a smoker 100 paces away )

I've always liked salty things but these last few days, my taste for them has really increased.

I don't think I'm eating anymore, but that's a concious decision on my part. Now if only I had the energy to go to the gym. But, I'd rather sleep.

[Dave the Cook]

. . . . I'm going to have to think leftovers!

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Is this a Marlene-blog first?

[Marlene]

. . . . I'm going to have to think leftovers!

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Is this a Marlene-blog first?

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Probably. Like green vegetables. You will note that I've had three green vegetables so far. And snow peas will be in the stir fry tonight.

I'm thinking we'll be doing hot roast beef sandwhiches today or tomorrow for lunch. Or Maybe dinner tomorrow. And I love left over prime rib for munching on.

[Susan in FL]

So, for the former, I think I need to just bake the wings (in deference to my dad) and then toss them with some Frank's hot sauce (mixed with butter????).....

Yes Susan, butter and just don't forget some really good vinegar, and you have Buffalo-style wings. I won't start an argument in this peaceful foodblog of what the authentic Anchor Inn recipe is. However, except for not deep-frying your wings (which I understand for your dad ), with the hot sauce, butter, and vinegar yours will be pretty damn close!

[Angela Alaimo]

Sandy, you are the spelling bee of food winner! Thank you.

And we aren't too fancy (that word again) here, but one dinner my son Eli and I wanted some barbecue sauce for something, didn't have any, whipped out the CIA school book (6th edition) and made our own. Turned out to be really good. Well, what do you know. Rest of the time we use Sweet Baby Ray's Original.

A

[Dave the Cook]

I love wings, but I have to say that most recipes are failures in that they don't leverage the best feature of a well-cooked wing, and that's its great crisp-to-meat- to-fat (or is it gelatin?) ratio. In fact, those recipes that call for cooking the wings and tossing them in a bowl with a bunch of liquid are downright disrespectful. You might as well boil them.

But this technique is a feature of the majority of recipes. What am I not getting?

[Dave the Cook]

This has been a fascinating exercise the three of you have shared with us.

My question now is:  Does the food you eat taste any different now?  Are you hungry for more of it already, or has there not been enough time for your metabolism to slow down?

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Because I've fallen off the wagon a few times, I'm not sure my taste buds have had a chance to adjust.  Certainly though, my sense of smell is sharper.  (I can smell a smoker 100 paces away )

I've always liked salty things but these last few days, my taste for them has really increased.

I don't think I'm eating anymore, but that's a concious decision on my part.  Now if only I had the energy to go to the gym.  But, I'd rather sleep.

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I'm with Marlene -- I'm not eating any more, and there hasn't been a marked difference in the taste of things, but my sense of smell has picked up considerably. And yes, salt and crunch have taken center stage.

[fifi]

That prime rib has me wanting to learn how to do that. Oddly enough, I haven't attempted such a baronial hunk of cow in years.

All of you bacon freaks (yes, I am one) . . . Do you do your bacon in the oven? I like my bacon very crispy, so that it shatters. I have the heavy aluminum half sheet pans that I got at the restaurant supply. I also have racks that fit the pans. The restaurant supply that I shop at quit carrying the racks. But, Amazon finally started carrying the same racks that I have. I do line the bottom of the pan with foil just to make clean-up easier. I can do a whole pound of bacon per sheet at a time. And I find that having the rack allows for even crisper bacon because the fat drains away as it cooks. I store the cooked bacon in zipper bags in the fridge for adding to salads, sandwiches or baked potatoes. Waddayu mean? Of course I save the bacon fat.

Oh, yeah, oven temperature. I most often use 375 F but if I suspect or know that the bacon has a lot of sugar, I will back off to 350 F. My local HEB has a store brand (some of their store brands are very good), I think it is called Black Forest or something, that has maple syrup as part of the cure. It is one of my favorites and I do have to back down the temp on that one. Oddly enough, that store brand of bacon from a rather local Texas chain is made in Canada.

[annecros]

. . . . I've been considering quitting smoking.  I'm not sure what I'm waiting for, but it's definitely not what I received in the mail from my dad yesterday:  Leroy Jenkins Miracle Water.

Daddy is desperate for me to quit smoking, so the other day he called and asked me if I'd drink something if he sent it to me - something that was guaranteed to make me quit immediately.

Follow the link.  I reckon getting a nice infusion of eColi might just do the trick, but I think I'll pass. 

←

Don't count on it, Marsha. A dedicated smoker will rationalize anything, even puffing through intestinal meltdown.

One thing this blog has confirmed is my suspicion that the Society has a disproportionately large proportion of smokers compared to the population at large. The connection between food and smoking is pretty strong, especially among professionals. I actually picked up the habit in a restaurant kitchen, where everyone -- chef, line cooks, dishwashers -- smoked. Two weeks and I was hooked.

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Oral gratification. That hand to mouth get a goodie thing. It's downright emotional, over and above the physical misery.

I quit both times I was pregnant. I quit when we were concerned about my husband's heart. Stayed quit for a year all three times, but gosh, I have a hard time quitting for my own benefit. And, I get fat. The caloric intake increases some, but not enough to justify the weight gain I have personally experienced. The docs will be happy, though. Until the weight gain and cholesterol increase gets them fussing at me again.

Ice water helps, a lot.

We plan on quitting within the week, together. We set the quit date. I dread it. I dread the skin crawling thing more than anything, the jumpiness and the anxiety I can talk myself down from. Should be a fun time down at my household...not.

But we can do it.

When I have quit in the past, the smell of cigarette smoke, especially in the open air, would actually make me "hungry" for a cigarette. A very real hunger sensation. Weird.

[Susan in FL]

But this technique is a feature of the majority of recipes. What am I not getting?

Don't know, Dave, but I would venture to say that whatever you do, they're perfect. This blog surely is showing why you are Dave THE COOK. Maybe it's tossing them in "a bunch" of liquid that disses the wings. When we have deep-fried them perfectly, tossing them in the amount of hot sauce, butter, and vinegar that we use doesn't like make them as though they simmered in it. We do toss them at the last minute, and they don't cook any further after that.

Well, here... these are the ratios... For every 2 1/2 pound of trimmed and separated wings, deep-fried, we use 1/4 cup of butter, 3 or 4 tablespoons of hot sauce (last time we used Sriraja!), and one tablespoon of a wine vinegar. I'm a vinegar fanatic, so what variety we use just depends on what seems right at the time. I think it was Zinfandel vinegar last time. Or was it Champagne, because we were drinking bubbly? I can't remember.

How do you make wings, Dave?

[Marlene]

Sandy, you are the spelling bee of food winner!  Thank you.

And we aren't too fancy (that word again) here, but one dinner my son Eli and I wanted some barbecue sauce for something, didn't have any, whipped out the CIA school book (6th edition) and made our own.  Turned out to be really good.  Well, what do you know.  Rest of the time we use Sweet Baby Ray's Original.

A

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I've taken to making my own BBQ sauce. I use a recipe from the Food tv network website and we really like it. My brother loves it too, so now I always make some for him at the same time.

I love wings, but I have to say that most recipes are failures in that they don't leverage the best feature of a well-cooked wing, and that's its great crisp-to-meat- to-fat (or is it gelatin?) ratio. In fact, those recipes that call for cooking the wings and tossing them in a bowl with a bunch of liquid are downright disrespectful. You might as well boil them.

But this technique is a feature of the majority of recipes. What am I not getting?

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The only saucy wings I like are the Asian ones from the Frog Commissary cookbook. But then, once they are baked, they aren't really gooey saucy if you know what I mean. The other thing I don't get is breaded wings.

That prime rib has me wanting to learn how to do that. Oddly enough, I haven't attempted such a baronial hunk of cow in years.

All of you bacon freaks (yes, I am one) . . . Do you do your bacon in the oven?

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I adore large hunks of beef. I do my bacon in the skillet on top of the stove, and then we usually fry our eggs in the bacon grease. I always save my bacon grease as well.

[annecros]

That prime rib has me wanting to learn how to do that. Oddly enough, I haven't attempted such a baronial hunk of cow in years.

All of you bacon freaks (yes, I am one) . . . Do you do your bacon in the oven? I like my bacon very crispy, so that it shatters. I have the heavy aluminum half sheet pans that I got at the restaurant supply. I also have racks that fit the pans. The restaurant supply that I shop at quit carrying the racks. But, Amazon finally started carrying the same racks that I have. I do line the bottom of the pan with foil just to make clean-up easier. I can do a whole pound of bacon per sheet at a time. And I find that having the rack allows for even crisper bacon because the fat drains away as it cooks. I store the cooked bacon in zipper bags in the fridge for adding to salads, sandwiches or baked potatoes. Waddayu mean? Of course I save the bacon fat. 

Oh, yeah, oven temperature. I most often use 375 F but if I suspect or know that the bacon has a lot of sugar, I will back off to 350 F. My local HEB has a store brand (some of their store brands are very good), I think it is called Black Forest or something, that has maple syrup as part of the cure. It is one of my favorites and I do have to back down the temp on that one. Oddly enough, that store brand of bacon from a rather local Texas chain is made in Canada.

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I do my bacon in a skillet, but drain off the fat as it is cooking, and cook it on a relatively low heat.

I like mine crisp as well, but do like a little bit of flexibility in the strip when I take it up. Once it cools for a minute, it gets lovely and crunchy.

Now, time for a BLT for lunch, I think.