chefmurray57's Profile
Your mom's weird cooking ... and other stories? (recipes encouraged)
The spaghetti dinner nights of your childhood sound sooo much better and tastier than they were at my house, waaahhh!! My mother's mother was an amazing cook, but my mother did not get that gene. My mother's idea of spaghetti dinner was overcooked, unsalted spaghetti noodles topped with a greasy, orange-colored, over-onioned burnt-tasting meat sauce (she didn't seem to grasp the concept of draining the ground beef prior to adding it to the sauce, blech!) We had the Wonder/garlic toast that wasn't too bad, but my tummy was ALWAYS upset after those dinners. And then I had to help clean up all of that orange grease...
Oh, and then there was the "Chinese" chicken chow-mein (La Choy?) over dried noodles, gag!
And how about the "dump cake"? Anyone's mother pull that one on them?
I think, however, that the combination of my wonderful maternal grandmother's cooking along with my mother's gross take on what should come from a kitchen is the reason that I have such a love for food and the creation of special dishes. I try to create a work of art with each meal that I prepare. And speaking of simple, anyone tried the Thomas Keller version of salmon over celery and brioche? Now there is an example of divine simplicity. I don't use real brioche, usually, but instead buy the store bakery version of unsliced hamburger rolls and slice them in half. Works great. And if I cannot get truffles it doesn't matter--the truffle oil flavors the sauce beautifully. Here is a link to that salmon recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Salmon-Chops-with-Celery-and-Black-Truffles-105861 And also, MUST have book: Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home. Fantastic resource for every preparation method.
Wow! La Pita in Dearborn, MI! Good stuff!
Sorry, but we visited La Pita a while back in their newer location, anticipating that it would be over-the-top delicious the way that the old La Pita used to be, but we were very disappointed. There were three of us dining and we all ordered different entrees, and not one of us enjoyed any of the food. And what's with the decor?? Way too confused. And the prices were ridiculous for lunch. I'm not cheap, but I expect a fair price. This was mediocre, at best.
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La Pita
5056 Cass Ave, Detroit, MI 48202
Farm Fresh Eggs on the counter or in the fridge?
I live in Costa Rica and most folks don't refrigerate their eggs here, as in most of the world outside of North America. BUT--a visiting chef friend told me that eggs are refrigerated to keep them from losing moisture. Makes sense to me if you are not going to use them up quickly.
Hope that helps.
how long can flour keep?
For those of us who live in very humid areas (I live in Costa Rica), the only solution is to freeze flour. I keep my flour and my pasta in the freezer at all times. If I did not do this, it would quickly be infested with "weevils". Works like a charm for me and the products keep indefinitely.
That reminds me---does anyone have comments on freezing mascarpone?
yucca help!
I live in Costa Rica and we eat yuca all of the time here. It is much better than potatoes when deep-fried. I simply boil, cool, peel, cut into french fry shapes, and deep fry it. Yum!
Your favorite out-of-ordinary cheese?
Dang, Sharuf! You and I must be the same person. My dad and I used to pig out on the same stuff, but I must admit that some of the things I ate with him I only did in order to see the look on my mom's face.
And just so you can all feel extremely envious--I am now going down to my kitchen to try the fresh goat cheese with basil that I made last evening using unpasteurized goat's milk that I purchased from my neighbor yesterday. Nanner-nanner, boo, boo! I live in Costa Rica, so it's easy to get unpasteurized milk...
Amusing menu gaffes - what's yours? [moved from Boston board]
I live in Costa Rica and nearly every menu I encounter offers Chicken Gordon Blue and one even offered a Hamburger with a slice of Fried Hand on top. I love the comment about the Italian restaurant describing the Risotto served with arborio rice. Here, the Costa Ricans often do serve a side of fries with a side of rice on the same plate...pura vida..
Cooking under the Arctic Circle
I live in the mountains of Costa Rica and am a complete foodie, so it has been a challenge to find substitutions and ideas for cooking. Some that I have found are: Substitute celery leaves for parsley, use red onions in place of shallots, cook with lots of dried beans, lentils, etc., and try your hand at making your own pasta. There are lots of delicious recipes for this. And another idea is to use tinned calamari and octopus to make rice with calamari/octopus. Whenever I travel stateside, I always leave enough room in my luggage to bring back my staples that I cannot find here. And visitors are always glad to bring me things when the come to Costa Rica.
Islamorada Restaurants
TypeA, I would like to hear about your experience in March. Hubby and I just returned from Islamorada today and, as usual, the only good meal we had were the ones that I cooked myself. This trip, we tried Bentley's (walked out without even looking at the menu), Marker 88 (too gross for words and the service was pretty bad), Pierre's (always a good bet, but nothing to spectacular), Islamorada Fish Company (rude staff, overpriced), and the Island Grill (good for lunch on the beach). The only bright spot this trip was the Ahi Tuna Poke appetizer that we enjoyed at Zane Grey's lounge upstairs at the World Wide Sportsman. It was deee-lish! I am lucky to have a kitchen when we visit Islamorada because I, too, am a total foodie and we live in the mountains of Costa Rica where I cannot get most of the ingredients that people in more developed countries take for granted. So cooking with all of the great stuff I can buy stateside is a real pleasure for me. Oh, and don't tell Costa Rica Customs about the dried chanterelles, Drunken Goat cheese, leeks, and rice wrappers that I smuggled back to Costa Rica in my luggage today....
