jarona's Profile
Do French people drink foreign wines?
We are in the Northeast. He has tried US wines and he gets headaches from them. As for me, two glasses of ANY wine, good or bad, French, Spanish, Italian, US...and I'm asleep.
Do French people drink foreign wines?
My husband is from France. He only drinks French wines.
Around the World in 80 Plates [Split from Top Chef thread]
I saw that and was very happy Avery stepped up to the plate to make herself heard --nobody else would have defended her except herself. To tell you the truth, the Paris episode was the only one I've watched...and I wondered..."hmmmm...if these "chefs" are really professional, then why don't they know how to make a quenelle? I'm a friggin' home cook and I know how to make them for cryin' out loud. Also, these people seem to be lacking in some basic education...like timing of serving...portion control...making sure you have enough fish...There is something "fishy" about these contestants. The show has great possibilities and thankfully isn't as sh*tty as the garbage on The Food Network. 'Cuse me while I go make a salad Lyonaisse style!
CH gloves off! How do you like your Hot dogs?
I'm not much of a hot dog person. However, when I do have a dog it can only be prepared one way. I want a "Dirty Dog"--that is a hot dog that has been soaking in hot water for an incredible amount of time surrounded by damp sauerkraut. I've always called them "Dirty Dogs" and it is the best way to cook them. On a bun, slathered in ...and it has to be French's Mustard--none of this fancy stuff..lots of sauerkraut too.
Why Can't We Just Have a Decent Cooking Show on TV??
I think, though, that entertainment has bumped education out of the equation--well, at least on the "Food Network" it has. Although I'm enjoying the cooking shows on PBS and Create, I am still amazed at how when I channel-surf, the FN always has some phase of cupcake competetion being aired. Enough with the damn cupcakes already.
Slow cookers: What do you think
When my kids were younger, and I was constantly on-the-go between volunteer work and the kids' activities, I used my slow cooker quite often. Always made red beans for the red beans and rice also made a great chicken and lentil dish as well as the great "Prince Pepsi Potroast" recipe. It also came in handy for soup making. Some may shun the slow cooker/crock pot, but I have to say, for those who are extremely busy--especially moms, the end result gives a much better product than going out and buying fast or processed food for a quick dinner.
It's funny, I always thought the kids didn't think much of the meals from the crockpot but one of my sons recently purchased one for his apartment. He and his buddies are at work all day and they have a late schedule....so the slow cooker comes in handy. He also asked me for the recipes he had as a kid and the reviews from his roomies are the dishes are great! (then again, that is coming from three men in their mid-twenties).
Viewer Pet Peeves
Lidia's daughter doesn't bother me that much either. What really bothers me with ANY cooking show is when the host/hostess/chef/pretendchef....takes a bite of the food....and....does the eyeroll thing and makes that face as though they are having an orgasmic experience....and the bite of food is more of an ort than an actual human bite of the food. Oy. Drives me up a wall!
Travel anywhere in the world to eat...where to go?
I'll be in the 7th in June and then again in July after being in Cannes. My fave restaurant in Paris--Frenchie. I've had the best lamb AND the best Chinese food in Sydney, Australia. However, Morocco is the one place I would love to go to so I could enjoy the food!!!
Mo Rocca's New Show
Now THAT is a great and sweet idea for a cooking show. I'm not a fan of Mo Rocca--only because his voice is more annoying than my own--but I can easily overlook that due to this show!
My Aplogies, but I Need to Vent About America's Test Kitchen
Even funnier than his take of Kimball was what was said about Pasmina or whatever-her-name is. I cannot stand that woman--I 've always thought "Who is she anyway that she is judging this?" She is the reason I don't watch Top Chef!
Participants on Food Media and News: Your Input Please
Here's how I feel: Personal bashing against posters--absolutely inexcusable and unacceptable. Everyone who visits the board is entitled to his or her opinion--whether or not one agrees with them is also personal but there is no need for bullying or inappropriate language or ill words toward one another. If a poster continues with that sort of behavior, they should be blocked.
Opinions on media personalities: That is a different issue. These media "chefs", "cooks", "contestants" are well-aware that they are public figures of sorts. If they did not want to draw attention to themselves, they would never put themselves on display. They are fully aware that with public attention comes public opinion--and some of it is just not nice. Many of these personalities (I use that word in a vague sense) are arrogant, unlikeable, and, at times, jerks. As long as racial slurs and cuss words are not used--well then, it's anyone's game and all posters should be able to voice their opinion.
American Test Kitchen & Cooks Country Do Not Care About Canadians.
Listen--it is a blessing in disguise that you are not able to sign up for the trial. You will be innundated with spam and they will nickel and dime you for every cent--you'll end up hating ATK and Cook's Country. Do yourself a favor--just watch the shows on TV. I am too fond of Canadians to allow them to be placed into a state of frustration and anger over Mr. Kimball's seedy empire.
My Aplogies, but I Need to Vent About America's Test Kitchen
Ohhh...very good point. I do have a question, though, and please don't think I'm a dummy by asking this--isn't Public TV paid for with those telepthons? Well--isn't a good deal paid by the private sector who donate? That said do OUR tax dollars still go to public TV? If that is the case, we should have a say in what shows are programmed:)
I happened to catch an ATK show during the week--Kimball is really annoying. He is beginning to look creepy and seedy to me.
Was your mom a timid cook?
Thanks hill food and lyden. I still sigh thinking about that moment.
Duck eggs?
My grandfather was an immigrant from Ireland, as was my grandmother, but my grandfather would go on and on and on about how duck eggs were so much better than hen eggs. That being said, every Sunday, after early-morning Mass, we would stop at this one place, pick up his duck eggs while we went to the bakery for rolls and buns. He would have his Sunday morning breakfast of fried duck eggs--sunny side up!
original Valentine gift for my girlfriend?
I'm on that same train of thought...thinking you want to gift her with something to do with food.
Can you enroll her in some sort of class--like a baking class, or another specified cooking class?
Busy parent Meals
Now that I'm an empty-nester (Well, my youngest did move back home after college to save $$$ while she is working, but that doesn't count), I can look back on the activities I had with my three kids. Baseball. Soccer. Lacrosse. Field Hockey. Irish Dancing. I was out and about every evening. My crockpot was my saviour. There are so many easy dishes for the crockpot and what is great is that as the kids get older (high school), they can serve themselves on their schedules.
On Mondays, it was red beans and andouille made in the crockpot, I would just make a pot of rice earlier and keep it on the stove until they needed to eat. I've literally thrown in a bag of lentils, chicken cut up into quarters, salt, pepper, thyme and a bay leaf, covered it all with water and ended up with a great dish. Pot roast with potatoes and carrots is another easy one. You can make just about anything, and I'll tell you it is much better than processed food that you zap in the microwave.
Was your mom a timid cook?
Yeah...another vote for this younger baby boomer being extremely surprised!
Got the Frenchie Reso for June!
So happy. Husband just made the reservation today as he is in Paris seeing his mom, who is ailing. Can't wait till June. Cannot wait to get back to that restaurant. Little things make me so happy!
Was your mom a timid cook?
Sandylc. You know...you are so right about the successful family meal being of life-and-death importance and the repression. I never thought of that. My own family is very open to suggestion because I've always experimented when they were young. The rule of the house had always been 'I'm making this new and unusual dish. Try it. If you do not like it, make yourself a PPJ." Back when I was a kid, we did not have that option. We ate what was put in front of us--I'm sure it was the same with my parents--hence the "safe" repression.
Good call on that!
Was your mom a timid cook?
My mother passed away last week just a couple of weeks shy of 80. Alzheimers. Your post is giving me cause for a bittersweet reply. My mom was, I guess, a timid cook. Her spice cabinet literally consisted of: Salt. Pepper. Garlic Salt. Accent. Bay Leaves. Every once in a while celery salt and onion flakes would pop up. She had a very limited menu as my dad was strictly meat and potatoes (we were a typical Irish/Catholic family). However, nobody, and I mean NOBODY on the face of this earth could cook a roast the way my mother could. She had a gift. I'm telling you, I cannot make a roast beef the way she did. She would slice onions and place them on top of the beef...when the beef came out of the oven it was nice and rare and the onions were nice and crispy. She made "fresh" ham a lot and leg of lamb a lot and they were always cooked to perfection. Her roast chicken could put any french chef to shame. However, in our house, jarred spaghetti sauce (Ragu) prevalied. Her meatballs were never browned first. She just mixed chopped meat with salt, pepper and egg and threw them into the pot with the sauce to simmer. On Friday's we always had fish sticks and spaghetti. LeSeur canned peas were exotic. She did make a great bechamel sauce for the frozen cauliflower though. Due to her Irish immigrant parents influence, we did have kidneys and eggs for breakfast quite often...and because of economic circumstances we did have various offal like tongue--but it wasn't exotic for us. It just was normal. One thing that sticks out in my mind to this day is the time she DID manage to go a bit out of the box. She made a shrimp curry. Now, remember, there were five kids and my dad just lived for red meat and spuds. Anyway, she made this curry which I thought was pretty decent. The flavor of the curry was very intriguing to me at a young age, I was around 9 or 10. So she serves this with a ton of shrimp, I might add. Nobody would eat it but me. I felt so sorry for her. My sibs went off the wall with the choking motions and the "EWWWW'' drama. I found it so disrespectful to her. Even my dad didn't compliment her on it. He just ate it silently. She felt so bad--I swear my mother was on the verge of crying. After that she never ever made an attempt at anything remotely exciting or different. I still feel bad as I write this.
How Often Do You Use Recipes?
When it comes to baking desserts and that certain chemistry is needed, I always follow a recipe. After the third time or so, if I'm sure the dessert will be a mainstay, I'll fiddle around with flavors and frostings, but not the ingredient ratios of the actual cakes or crusts or custards.
With dinners, i.e. Pot au Feu, Beouf Bourgonion, tajines, I'll follow recipes and when I'm feeling confident enough, I'll alter it to our personal tastes. With many recipes, other than baking, that is, I'll "read" the recipe rather than "follow" it to a t. One bay leaf? Please--I'll throw in two or three? Same with spices--I like my food spicey, so I'll basically use the ingredients to taste.
One thing that does"irk' me though about some recipes is the timing. I'll notice that some recipes will state that the prep time is something like ten minutes. Honey--not on my time. It always takes longer. Especially with desserts. Especially when it comes to whipping egg whites. You need to whip those egg whites for about seven minutes for a decent macaron.
Said my peace.
How do you do your LOBSTER at home?
I have a big ol' gumbo pot. Huge. I fill it up 3/4 of the way with water. Lots of kosher salt.
When it boils, I throw the live lobster in. Leave them in for exactly 13 minutes. Take 'em out.
Melt some butter with Worstershire sauce. Serve. Yum. It doesn't need to get more complicated than that. Lobster is food of the gods.
Crack Pie recipe is a LIE
We made the compost cookies and they turned out fantastic. You REALLY, REALLY need to mix the dough for a good 10 minutes though. Would I make the crack pie? Nah. The only reason we made the compost cookies was because my daughter saw the recipe on TV--the same show with the Brooklyn Decker chocolate cookies (which we made and are now a staple at home--they were that good). Momofuku is overrated.
Anybody else miss the Subway Anytober 5 dollar footlong commercials?
Five Dollar, Five Dollar Foot Long...Any Anytober.
Thanks. Now I'll be singing this all day. All night. Tomorrow...until Anytober.
Who Are Your Cooking Icons/Idols?
They had a cooking show on PBS together that is now shown on Create TV. He also has his own cooking show. He's great--simple. Not fussy. great recipes and he is a wiz with a knife!
Compost Cookies in the philly area
Google the momofuku compost cookie recipe. You can make them yourself. Really. Honest. Make them and they will turn out fantastic. Daughter made them over Christmas and they turned out spectacular!
New Melissa D'Arabian show-Drop 5 lbs w/Good Housekeeping, on Cooking Channel
I caught a bit of this show--when I say a bit, I mean a bit. After about one minute of D'Arabian, I had to shut it off. It may just be me, but I find her so annoying. This is what she reminds me of--think back to when you were in grade school--ok? Well, you know when you were taking a test and your eyes may have roamed, whether you were thinking about an answer or were thinking about "glancing" at the paper of the kid in front of you? Well, she is the kid in front of you that realized you were "glancing" and thrust her body over her paper then raised her hand, shaking it with a "Sister, Sister...she was trying to cheat". Ugh. She just seems so self-righteous and smug. Did not like her horrific ten dollar meal show and just cannot stomach her on this show either.
Who Are Your Cooking Icons/Idols?
You know...this is really great "food tor thought" because it has nothing--absolutely nothing to do with our favorite tv chefs/personalities or cookbooks. After some serious thought, I would say...
Jacques Pepin
John Folse
Daniele DeLorme (my husband's aunt who lives in Paris--THE best food philosopher I know)!
