ElsieDee's Profile
A Trader Joe's Care Package
I've a dear friend who is a great cook in her own right and is an adventurous (though vegetarian) eater. She is located far, far away in a land where there are no Trader Joe's to be found. I'd like to send her a care package of shelf-stable favorites from TJ's and am curious as to what you'd include in the box.
So far, my shopping list includes:
* Triple Ginger Gingersnaps
* Speculoos
* Dark Chocolate Covered Blueberries
* Peanut-butter Filled Pretzels
Please help me fill out this "must send" list with your recommendations.
favorite pasta salads
It's the time of year when my cravings turn to main dish salads, with a strong preference for pasta salads. I've read through this thread - and others - for inspiration and have been making lots of notes.
But I want more (isn't that a common human desire)! More ideas, more recipes, more pasta and veggie options!
Please share your favorite pasta salad.
Tater Salad: How Do You Take It?
It's addictive - tried it on a whim and now it's a regular staple around here, especially during the summer months. I have been thinking about using a curry paste instead of the generic curry powder to see what that does to the flavors.
Do try it - it's good!
Tater Salad: How Do You Take It?
My all-time favorite potato salad is very non-traditional: it's a curried peanut potato salad. Wonderfully different flavor profile and very addictive.
The salad consists of red potatoes, sliced green onions, diced celery, Spanish peanuts, and a dressing made from a mixture of mayonnaise, peanut putter, curry powder, and a little white wine vinegar. Combine, chill, allow to warm a bit before serving - and pass around additional Spanish peanuts to sprinkle over the top.
I think that the original recipe also included raisins and crisp bacon (crumbled), but I don't add 'em.
Are You Snacking on Anything Right Now?
Handful of roasted / salted almonds, washed down with a swig of Gatorade, followed by a spoonful of Speculoos.
Two New Boards: Vegetarian & Vegan and Special Diets
What's the policy for threads on the Home Cooking board that are relevant to the Vegan / Vegetarian board?
For example, this thread about making vegetarian gravy might be of interest: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/744678
Faux Meat - Recommendations
For some reason, I never really thought about purchasing the fake meat products - the kinds that are supposed to mimic meat texture and taste) - until last fall. Since then I have made a very good pasta sauce using Morningstar Crumbles (added lots of fennel seeds when sauteing the onions and garlic), a decent set of Italian "sausage" sandwiches using some off-brand tofu sausages, and Amy's frozen veggie patties for burgers.
But now's the time to branch out. A friend has recommended the "chicken" tenders at Trader Joe's, so they're on the list. What other brands / types of fake meat should I be looking for? I'm fine with doctoring-up to increase flavor profiles as needed.
Many thanks!
Vegetarian Comfort Foods
You all have no idea how excited I am about being able to make so many wonderful meals - thank you for sharing your ideas and please keep the recommendations coming!
Vegetarian and Vegan Cookbooks
Thank you all for the recommendations; my Amazon wish list is growing exponentially and I am looking forward to expanding our meal repertoire.
Thank you, CH!
Just want to add my appreciating for this new board, Chowhound Team - it's wonderful!
Homemade Stock
I just save veggie "scraps" in the freezer, so every batch of stock tastes a bit different, but always add in carrots (unpeeled), celery, and onions (unpeeled, quartered). Other veggies usually include leek trimmings and mushroom stems.
When I have enough veg accumulated, I roast the trimmings in a bit of olive oil until well caramelized, then deglaze the roasting pan with either wine or water, scraping-up the browned bits, dump it all in a stock pot, add water to cover, and allow it to simmer (very slowly - almost more of a steeping than a simmer) for a few hours. Strain, cool, and freeze. (Er, don't forget, as I did last week, to put a pan / large bowl under the strainer, else you'll be watching your lovely stock go down the drain!)
I really don't have a ratio for ingredients, but I do try to leave skins / peels on the vegetables, roast until they smell rich, and then proceed.
Vegetarian Comfort Foods
My dear partner is a committed vegetarian. As the primary cook in the household, I get to make meals for him (which I love doing - this is not a complaint) but I need some ideas about meal options. His favorite foods are what I describe as being "comfort food" and that he describes as being "goulashy." Basically, he craves things like ratatouille, casseroles, pot pies, etc. - anything that comes down to being a one or two pot meal, with the ingredients combined. (I, on the other hand, prefer less cooked dishes. Go figure.)
Any ideas on vegetarian one-pot meals would be much appreciated, as would recipes if you care to share. Oh, and we live in the Los Angeles area, so we have access to lots of fresh fruits and veggies as well as more exotic ingredients.
Vegetarian and Vegan Cookbooks
I'm always looking to expand my cookbook collection, especially when it comes to vegetarian and vegan cookbooks. My current favorites (the ones I turn to most often) are:
* How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, by Mark Bittman
* Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison
* The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook, by Robin Robertson
* Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian: More Than 650 Meatless Recipes from Around the World, by Madhur Jaffrey
* Mediterranean Harvest: Vegetarian Recipes from the World's Healthiest Cuisine, by Martha Rose Shulman
* A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen: Easy Seasonal Dishes for Family and Friends, by Jack Bishop
What are your favorite vegetarian or vegan cookbooks?
Lost Recipe: Smoked Salmon and Corn Pasta
I seem to have lost an old, favorite recipe - last made about 10 years ago - during a move. The recipe came from a college friend who was from Cypress, but his family was in the diplomatic corps and he lived all over the world, so I've not a clue about the origins. I'm fairly certain that I have some of the ingredients down, but am uncertain about quantities. Any ideas are welcome.
INGREDIENTS
Smoked salmon, cut into ribbons
Tomato paste, from a tube
Heavy cream or whipping cream or 1/2 and 1/2
Olive oil
Dried herb (parsley? Oregano? Italian seasoning?)
Frozen white shoepeg corn, cooked
Cooked pasta (penne? Rigatoni? Fettuccine?)
DIRECTIONS
Saute some tomato paste in olive oil. Add green herb(s). Add cream and reduce? Stir in cooked corn. Stir in smoked salmon. Toss with cooked pasta.
It seems odd that I'm not remembering any onions or garlic - would those be included? Any idea how much of each ingredient I should use? Many thanks!
Can You Recall A Taste?
Had an interesting conversation with my SO the other day and I've been pondering something ever since. He basically said that he doesn't have a memory for "taste". He can remember what something looked like, what it felt like in his mouth, and whether or not he enjoyed it, but he cannot recall the actual taste.
I am at the other end of the spectrum: I can recall flavors from childhood - from individual dishes - and I can also recall when and where and who cooked the food and the event and so forth. I actually salivate and can almost "feel" the food in my mouth.
I had never really thought, though, about whether or not this was normal.
After giving it some thought, I can definitely see why he and I approach food so differently. He tends to ask me to look at a menu item and tell him how it might taste - I can usually, based on the description, get a strong sensation of the flavors (though not the textures) and how they might meld. He also asks me to choose for him when we go to an "assemble your food to order" type place - he has no idea what tastes might go with others. I can usually make a very fast order in such a place because I can just "taste" what the flavors will become together and this has to be because I can recall prior tastes and combinations and then can imagine how they'd come together in a different concoction.
I'm also wondering if this ability to taste from memory is why I like food so much? It is because food is tangible to me that I tend to obsess over the next meal? Because I can - almost literally - "taste" it?
How to reduce sugar in a baking recipe without wrecking the entire dish? Or, a savoury banana bread recipe?
I don't have a recipe or idea as to how much of the sugar to eliminate in the recipe (and that seems to have been adequately discussed up-thread), but this thread's title immediately made me wonder about making a banana bread that was somehow laced with peanut butter and crispy bits of real bacon.
Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix - Baking as Cornbread
I have several boxes of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix and want to make some cornbread to accompany tonight's dinner. But I have no idea how many boxes to use to make a 9X13 pan of cornbread.
Each box is enough mix for an 8X8 pan - so should I use two or three boxes? (Yeah, math is not my strong point today!)
Many thanks!
Slickers
I cannot recall if I first heard this term, "slickers," from a friend who grew-up in rural Oklahoma or one who grew-up in Baltimore and Tennessee. But I've always loved it.
"Primitive Cooks"?
Thanks for the link to that other thread (and the linked threads therein); I did search for "primitive cooks" before posting and didn't find that thread, else I wouldn't have started a new one.
Fascinating reading, eh?
"Primitive Cooks"?
None too sure how I feel about being called a "primitive cook" in that there advertising that you're using to sell space. That one about "Self Service Ad Buying" where you offer an assessment of the site users as follows:
"CHOW.com: serving sophisticated eaters and primitive cooks."
Isn't that a slap in the face to all of the incredible cooks who contribute so much knowledge and free, relevant, keyword-loaded content for your site?
Pasadena - Tiparos Thai Restaurant
We keep getting door hangers/menus from this Thai restaurant, proclaiming that it's under new ownership. We went there several years ago and waited over an hour for a (called in ahead of time) take-out order. Cannot recall the quality of the food.
Anyone been recently and have any comments on the food (and/or speed of service?
Located on Colorado Blvd., east of Sierra Madre Blvd, west of San Gabriel Blvd.
Pasadena - Toro Sushi Bar and Lounge?
This is a new place, at the north west corner of Colorado and San Gabriel, in the space formerly occupied by "The Vault" and "TaVu" and some other restaurants whose name escapes me at the moment.
Menu doesn't look too enticing http://torosushi.com/index.html for sushi purists but it might work for the non-traditional rolls (to which I am, ahem, somewhat partial).
Anyone been?
Pasadena on or near Colorado street, what are the best places?
Thanks - this has been added to my "must try soon" list!
Pasadena on or near Colorado street, what are the best places?
Any particular menu recommendations for Vol 94, ipsedixit?
Pasadena - Big Daddy's Fire Grill?
Anyone have any information on this place? It's on Foothill, right next to the In 'n Out and across from the Exotic Animal Care Center / Emergency Animal Clinic. The signage advertises hamburgers, sausages, hot dogs, etc.
Dining Along Valley Blvd. in Alhambra - SGV
Thanks, can't talk -
Sahara we love, I'd totally forgotten about Wahib's but that's made it onto my list. And we've not tried Lupita's, either.
Tony's Pizza is on our regular rotation, though I've not tried their pasta dishes - that'll be on for next week. Briganti I'd not thought about - we'll try them once the traffic situation on Fair Oaks improves.
I'd not heard of / made note of Patakan - off to read up on that, now.
Thanks for the feedback and recommendations!
-----
Briganti
1423 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030
Dining Along Valley Blvd. in Alhambra - SGV
Thanks for the suggestions - keep 'em coming, please.
Monday I ended-up at Ba Le and, because I was pressed for time, ended-up getting a ham and cheese croissant and the shrimp summer rolls (for the life of me I cannot recall the proper name). Both were quite tasty, though they were also consumed with undue haste. I will definitely be returning.
Question for y'all: What's good at The Hat? I'm not a pastrami fan (a serious defect in my taste buds, I'm afraid) but they must have other quick sandwichish options that are recommended.
Thanks again! Laura
Dining Along Valley Blvd. in Alhambra - SGV
I drove by and made note of First Choice Noodle House last week - was planning on looking for reviews and recommendations here on CH, but then it slipped my mind. I am now jotting down options in a notebook. (After all, a prepared Hound is a happy Hound!) Thanks for the recommendation.
Dining Along Valley Blvd. in Alhambra - SGV
Actually, the no meat / no fowl is for the take-out in the evenings (my partner is semi-vegetarian). I am, for the most part, happily omnivorous. So Ba Le sounds absolutely perfect for my lunch-time needs. Thank you.
