@nique jim: That program is impressive! I wish we would have had that in high school!
My experience: Like many others have commented, I had Home Ec in 7th grade, but it was just food based. The main thing I remember is Bisquick. If I remember correctly, everything we made somehow incorporated Bisquick!!??? The stand-out recipe was the Pineapple Upside Down Cake. We also had an end-of-year cooking contest that was held afterschool, which was nice.
What did I learn? I learned to use a recipe. Being from a Southern family, neither my grandmother nor my mother used recipes on a regular basis (though my aunt, the Dessert Queen, did) so I never saw recipes as a way to explore cooking. This class made me use recipes, hence I started to explore dishes I didn't know how to cook, especially candy. To this day, I love reading cookbooks. :)
The Bay Area and NYC are great, also Los Angeles isn't bad. There's vegetarian food for every kind of cuisine. For instance, if you want Ethiopian, there's Little Ethiopia...same with Indian food. There are also tons of vegetarian restaurants all around the city and most restaurants have a fair amount of vegetarian dishes. I can even get vegetarian food at Cuban restaurants! :)
My favorites:
Follow Your Heart
Real Food Daily
Leonor's Mexican
Simply Wholesome
any of the Ethiopian restaurants on Fairfax Ave.
Also see http://www.happycow.net/cityguide_los_angeles.html
Good eating to you!
Having not watched U.S. cooking shows in 4 years (moved out of the U.S.), I'm unfamiliar with many of the new TV cooks/chefs. However, having grown up watching cooking shows, and I believed I watched just about ALL of the old ones, there are some who really influenced my love of cooking and motivate me in my quest for the balance of technique and flavour.
Julia (of course) - made me want to entertain before I was 10
Graham Kerr - just for the sheer joy of getting in the kitchen
Great Chefs, Great Cities (Thank you to whoever mentioned this! This was definitely THE BEST!!) - made me a restaurant addict and perfectionist in the kitchen
Jacques Torres - who doesn't love chocolate
Marcel Desaulniers - even before Jacques Torres
Mario Batali (early days)
Justin Wilson - I'm a southern girl
Madhur Jaffrey - her Indian food was easy to make yet tasty
Gale Gand - great desserts
America's Test Kitchen
Jean-Christophe Novelli - the 1st "new" cooking show I've seen in a long time where I actually LEARNED something about technique that I could immediately apply
I love cooking shows, so even as FN started downhill, I still watched a ton of it. Now that I don't have access to it, I rely on cookbooks mainly based on restaurants in which I've dined.
Thank you for the question! It's been great reliving those old memories with you all.
Hello Ohandrea,
Yes I have heard of savory macarons. Some recipe ideas that I've seen are fig or apple jam & foie gras, goat cheese & chive, mushrooms & crème fraiche, Saint-Marcelin cheese & black cherry preserves, salmon & bitter orange jam, smoked salmon & lime-scented crème fraiche, tapenade, cream cheese & chives, tomato & basil.... It seems like you can use your imagination. For all of the recipes I saw, the cookie part still used the same amount of powdered sugar as almond powder, but one did say that the amount of sugar could be reduced a little.
It's so motivating to hear what you all pack for lunch. I've recently made a commitment to myself to take my lunch to work instead of eating out as I want to buy a home hence saving money is my primary concern right now. As a foodie (who's also a vegetarian), I need to have something GOOD that can be easily transported since I take public transportation. Sandwiches and leftovers can be gourmet, in my opinion. For example, a nice eggplant parmesan sandwich on homemade bread and for dessert a giant toffee cookie are just fine for lunch. My leftover malai kofta and chana masala were pretty good, too. I also need a snack which would consist of some sort of finger food, such as samosas, papusas, etc. I would love to pack a salad, but that doesn't happen that often because lettuce doesn't last that long after shopping. This is new for me, so it is great to read your posts and get new ideas and inspiration. Thank you!
I love the skins nice and crispy. I like them topped with chili & cheese (cheddar, jack) with just a little bit of shredded cabbage...yummy! But everything mentioned above sounds wonderful too!
What about a wrap? Here's one from DeMuth's, a wonderful vegetarian restaurant in Bath, England. This recipe serves 4, but obviously, you can make them into miniatures if you want.
4 wheat tortillas
250 g haloumi, thinly sliced
romano or cos lettuce, shredded
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
8 tomatoes, quartered
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
handful of alfalfa sprouts
8 spring onions, sliced
Deep-fry the haloumi until golden on both sides.
Warm the tortillas under the grill or in a dry frying pan.
Spread tortillas with a sauce or dressing (Yoghurt and Mustard dressing recommended, but you may want to find a sauce more fitting to your tiki theme), cover with shredded lettuce, then avocado, tomatoes, red pepper, alfalfa sprouts and spring onions. Cover with the hot haloumi cheese, roll, cut in half and eat.
Yoghurt and Mustard Dressing
125g plain yoghurt
2 T double cream
1 T Dijon mustard
1 t apple juice concentrate
Just to back up Erinlovestoeat, it is VERY important that you don't clog your digestive system with foods like cheese, bread, etc. Start with salads, fruit and steamed vegetables for the first day. Then ease into the rest, slowly increasing the quantity of cloggy foods as the week moves on. I believe, though I am no expert, that it takes approximately 3 days for your digestive system to get back to what it was. It may seem silly, but you will regret it if you start out the first day with a cheesy pizza.
Hello, Madelyn. Thank you for your feedback. This is just what I was looking for. I agree with the texture issue, which is why I asked your opinions; however, there is starch with the two potato things. For the vegetable tartare (not my name for it, Hillary :) ), the vegetables do not have to be mushy because it is a brunoise not a purée, hence it depends on the veggies used. The one that I ate was crunchy and fresh. Plus, the potato crisp goes with it. But for the main dish, I agree that texture is an issue. I'll look into doing something besides the mashed sweet potatoes. Any ideas...? Just plain rice? The braised vegetables shouldn't be mushy unless I overcook them...yuck! ;(
Regarding my vegetarian guests, it's me the only vegetarian who will be present, so this menu suits me and my guests won't have a problem with the lacto-ovo element.
Thank you very much for your help, Pooch. I will look up raw food recipes in Google & see what I find.
Hi Pavlov! Thank you for your response. They're brunoise. I've seen it made with a homemade mayonnaise type sauce, but other times it's been with a lemon & olive oil type sauce. The sauce is always cold as this is a cold appetizer. I'm trying to substitute it for a salad, since it's still winter here.
Hello renzata. It's raw vegetables that are finely chopped and bound together with some sort of sauce. It's starting to appear in more and more restaurants accompanying a meat or fish dish.
Hello! I've been reading Slice posts and I'm jealous!! I live in the south of France and I would love any recommendations for the best pizza on the Côte d'Azur. Anywhere between Monaco and Cannes (ok, Grasse also, I guess). Thank you for any suggestions...I'm HUNGRY!
Hello! I just found out that a friend is coming over for dinner tomorrow evening. One of the things on my menu is a vegetable tartare, but I can't find a good recipe for it. Yes, I can wing it, but I would like any recipes and/or suggestions you may have or insight into any delicious ones you've ever tasted.
If you have time and would like to take a peek at my vegetarian menu & give me feedback, I would greatly appreciate it as well. :)
1. Puréed Red Lentil Soup (thyme, veggies & garlic) garnished with a dollop of crème fraiche and drizzled with truffle oil & balsamic vinegar
2. Vegetable Tartare with Potato, Celery & Beaufort Crisps (potato pancake style) and an herb salad
3. Braised Baby Vegetables (carrots, onions, corn, etc.) alongside an individual Cheese Soufflé and Mashed Sweet Potatoes (garnet yam)
4. Classic Tiramisu
Thank you so much in advance! Your wisdom is inspiring.
Tconrastas hasn't favorited a post yet.
That's so great that so many of you prepare your own baby food! It inspires me. I understand your reasoning in asking, though. I don't think that you should just "wing it" hence I applaud your concern. Nutrition is important and most Americans, unfortunately, are malnourished (see: http://www.plim.org/SAD.htm). In addition to consuming too much salt and bad fats, we don't eat enough fresh or nicely-cooked vegetables (fabricated vitamins & minerals don't make up for the enzymes and essential oils that we are missing or that get cooked out). Foods that have the best quality are those that are the freshest rather than those that are overly processed. This is not at all meant to be against the cooking process, but rather against a laisser-faire attitude towards nutrition and overconfidence in supplemented foods.