blog in my soup’s Profile
Recent Comments
I would advise a beginner cook to _____
Cut yourself a lot of slack. You're a beginner, after all.
To echo what Maureen said... watch cooking shows. The Urban Peasant (aka James Barber) taught me SO much. "It's your dinner!"
What Totally Embarassing Food Products Do You Love?
Oh, the Pop Tart. Such a good call...
What to pair with prosciutto-wrapped seabass?
I'd roast some root veg (parsnips, turnips, carrots) and figs. As for a replacement fish, try arctic char.
See more comments by blog in my soup »
Recent Posts
blog in my soup hasn't written a post yet.
Recent Favorites
blog in my soup hasn't favorited a post yet.
Recent Polls
blog in my soup hasn't answered any polls yet.
Recent Quizzes
blog in my soup hasn't taken any quizzes yet.
Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Best TV Chef? Worst TV Chef?
I mourn the loss of James "The Urban Peasant" Barber. His show taught me so much about the joy of cooking, and was both an inspiration and a revelation. "It's your dinner!"
I would advise a beginner cook to _____
Cut yourself a lot of slack. You're a beginner, after all.
To echo what Maureen said... watch cooking shows. The Urban Peasant (aka James Barber) taught me SO much. "It's your dinner!"
What Totally Embarassing Food Products Do You Love?
Oh, the Pop Tart. Such a good call...
What to pair with prosciutto-wrapped seabass?
I'd roast some root veg (parsnips, turnips, carrots) and figs. As for a replacement fish, try arctic char.
Football Food
BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP
- 2 Cups Cooked Chicken, chopped
- 2 (8 ounce) pkgs Cream Cheese, softened
- 1 Cup Ranch Dressing
- ¾ Cup Franks Red Hot Sauce
- 1 ½ cups of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients well and place the lot into an oven safe dish. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with crackers, celery sticks or your favorite tortilla chips.
Iron Chef and You
Chen Kenichi is still my favorite Iron Chef. I always liked how he'd say, "I'm not very familiar with this ingredient" right before every competition and STILL completely dominate. The Japanese IC was great.
As for US, I'd go against Mario in hopes that I could try his food.
Anyone watching "Jamie at Home" on FN?
Last night's ep was just a sneak peek. The series premiere happens January 12th.
Panini makers - frequent user advice sought
Got the Griddler for Christmas, and I've made panini, blueberry pancakes, grilled salmon, grilled asparagus and grilled chicken, so far. I've been very pleased with the results. As freddy said, the Griddler is very easy to use and clean.
Anyone watching "Jamie at Home" on FN?
Love the show. Love what Jamie's all about. He reminds me of a younger version of James "The Urban Peasant" Barber.
How did I not know about this? (I found an Asian Market nearby)
Coolname said it... wasabi peas! Such a delicious - and addictive - snack.
Best weird taste combinations?
My wife loves French fries with mayo. As for me, I'll echo the deliciousness of Vosgue's Chocolate Bacon Bar.
People just pretend to actually love macaroons, right?
For me, a macaroon should certainly be flavored and airy, but never crisp. I prefer them chewy and dipped in chocolate.
What is a nice cup of tea?
A nice, smoky cup of Lapsang Souchong on a cold day is incredibly satisfying.
Cook the Book: What a Baked Potato
Adam: You're welcome. Had them for the first time last weekend. They were a revelation!
Cook the Book: What a Baked Potato
So I'm not the only one with duck fat and potatoes on the brain. Good to know.
Mario Unclogged: How to Sauce Pasta
Another issue with soupy pasta comes from improper draining technique. Nothing worse than a plate of pasta under oceans of sauce surrounded by a moat of water.
In Mario I Trust.
What's your favorite way to enjoy broccoli?
Sandro - Right on!
Also, I make a ricotta-walnut pasta that benefits greatly from some blanched (right in the pasta water!) broccoli.
Chili beans. An oxymoron?
All I know is that, with or w/o beans, I'd like another bowl, please. And cornbread is definitely a required accompaniment. However, growing up, we always had peanut butter sandwiches with our bowls of chili. Crazy? Maybe, but it works.
Mario Unclogged: How to Sauce Pasta
@Tommasino: if American pasta can't be called pasta because we put too much sauce on it, then our pizza can't be called pizza, either. Our pizza in no way looks like what is served in Italy. Much different than how our pasta compares.
Mario Unclogged: How to Sauce Pasta
Sigh.....Am I the only human in the world who thinks Mario is nothing but a completely self absorbed buffoon overcompensating for something in his life? He is absolutely my least favorite chef. He's a boring pompous, yes I'll say it again...BORE. And your little orange clogs complete the picture. In honor of you Mario tonight I think I'll make a spaghetti CASSEROLE! Mario, Mario, why are you clutching your chest? Are you okay? You've lost a clog!....
Best TV Chef? Worst TV Chef?
I miss "Microwave Master" with Donovan Jon Fandre, "Capril's Kitchen" with Caprile Pence, "Cooking Monday Through Friday" with Michelle Urvater and "Sunshine Cuisine" with Jean-Pierre Brehier.
As far as the worst, I would rather watch the chef on "The Muppet Show" than Alton Brown. David Rosengarten was so much more professional and didn't rely on forced humor.
Chili beans. An oxymoron?
Chili must have beans for me to love it, but it also needs a lot of meat, and a lot of heat.
My new favorite chili recipe is one I created a few months ago: Chili con Carne with Rancho Gordo Pinquitos. It has one small bag of lush, delicious beans, and 5 lbs of roast beef (chuck or tip, ideally).
Cheers,
~ Paula
Chili beans. An oxymoron?
I will give the ABSOLUTE greatest crock pot chili recipe EVER!!!!!
Ingredients:
-3 lbs. Lean Groud Beef---
-2(28 oz.) cans of Chunky Crushed Tomatoes---
-1(28 oz.) can Peeled Tomatoes----
-2 (12 oz., give or take) cans Red Kidney Beans
-3 Green Bell Pepers (abaout 2 lbs.)---
-1 Red Bell Pepers (about 3/4 of a lb.)---
-1 large Onion---
-2 Jalapeno Peppers (about 1 1/4 lbs.)---
-2 cups Rice(any style)
-2 large Tomatoes--
-8 table spns. Chili powder--
-3 table spns. Flour--
-3 table spns. Salt--
-5 table spns. Crushed Red Peppers--
-2 table spns. Pepper--
-3 table spns. Basil--
-3 table spns. Oregeno--
-1 table spns. Sugar--
- 5 table spns. Extra Virgin Olive Oil---
-8 table spns. of finely Chopped Garlic(sorry i don't know how many cloves exactly, but $1 worth of garlic is plenty---
COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
-1. Fist put the two cans Crushed Tomatoes and 1 can Peeled in the crock pot on HIGH. Just let it cook.
-2. Cook the Ground Beef on a medium high flame until browned, add 2 table spns. of Chil Powder to the meat as it cooks. When ground beef is fully cooked DRAIN it and add it to the crock pot that already has the cans of Crushed + can of Peeled Tomatoes already cooking.
-3. Cook the Onion(Chopped), Green Bell Peppers(chopped), Red Bell Pepper(chopped), 8 chopped tblspns. chopped Garlic, Jalapeno Peppers, and 5 table spns. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Cook until ALL ingredients are glazed/tender/slightly browned.-------and add it to the crock pot that already has the cans of Crushed + can of Peeled Tomatoes, and ground beef already cooking
-4. mix 6 tblspns. Chili Powder with 3 tblspns. Flour with *about* 5 tblspns. water. thouroghly mix the Chili Powder + Flour + water ( it should be a little thinner than a tooth past consistancy) ADD that mixture(RUE) to the crock pot.
--5. Add Basil, Crushed Red Pepper, Oregenp, Salt, Pepper, Sugar, to the Crock Pot.
--6. Chop the 2 Tomatoes into fairly large pieces. Add the chopped Tomatoes to the Crock Pot.
--7. *DRAIN* the 2 cans Red Kidney Beans
What to pair with prosciutto-wrapped seabass?
Ina Garten's latest cookbook has a beautiful recipe for this dish accompanied by roasted root vegetables (as someone above suggested). It's April and I'm tired of winter vegetables but want to serve the sea bass (or halibut) with prosciutto. The dish needs a bit of sauce to go with the fish (which Garten's recipe provided). By going to another vegetable I need to work that in. Perhaps grilled or roasted asparagus with browned lemon butter would do the trick. The bok choy or spinach suggestions are just right for the season as well - just need to solve that sauce problem. I have another version of the dish with tomato coulis/fresh basil but that doesn't appeal to me at this time of year either. I'll come up with something for sure. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.
Mario Unclogged: How to Sauce Pasta
Yes, my nonna always sauced pasta to prevent its stickiness and bring out the flavors, but we never lacked for sauce, or cheese. Also, there's a difference between using a lot of sauce on pasta (totally justifiable if it's great, thick, homemade sauce, I say,) and drowning it into soup. And I have never had CRUNCHY pasta, in America or anywhere in Italy, whether in a restaurant in Firenze or my family's house in Messina.
Mario Unclogged: How to Sauce Pasta
This video is a perfect example of over-exaggeration by an over-zealous, tempermental chef that has obviously been out of the American culinary habits loop. Perhaps, he feels the 0.1% who don't over sauce their pastas are the ones who visit his establishments? Nevertheless, the pompous critique of Italians on the use of "condiments" is and always will be considered arrogant. Wasn't it the Chinese that invented pasta? And, ironically, have never read or heard similar commentary. I love his shows but leave the attitude at home.
Mario Unclogged: How to Sauce Pasta
Mmm. That looks so delicious!! I completely agree with Mario, but Krit has it right ^^ To each, his own! ...or till they realize that he's right haha
Best TV Chef? Worst TV Chef?
Does anybody remember Yan Can Cook...
8->
Best TV Chef? Worst TV Chef?
I so wish Shirley Corriher had a show of her own. The lady is brilliant and absolutely ebuliant. She is just so cute on Alton Brown and if you have Cookwise or Bakewise, you know how much you could actually "learn " about the cooking process and food science in half an hour with her.
Best TV Chef? Worst TV Chef?
...those who say Alton Brown is not a chef. he may not be technically a chef cause he has no restaurant, BUT he has helped redo and open enough ...
I don't consider Alton a "chef," I do consider him an expert educator. His subject matter, area of expertise if you will, happens to be cooking and the culinary arts. Same thing with David Rosengarten, not technically a chef but an expert educator.
I also love Shirley O. Corriher for this very same reason. She also looks cherubic...LOL.
Best TV Chef? Worst TV Chef?
Wow talk about only garnering information from single sources!
Here's some very bad ones for your consideration.
Then Hippy gourmet:
http://www.hippygourmet.com/
Beyond annoying yet the stuff he makes probably isn't terrible. I'm sure his brownies are winners though;-))
Wendy Brodie and her *Art of food*:
http://www.wendybrodie.com/
Quite possibly the single worst voice for broadcast ever and her lush of a husband and thier disgusting little dog! The hieght of worthless snobbishness. I actually like it because it's so bad.
Rick Bayless, a very weird guy but everything he makes I think looks really tasty:
http://www.rickbayless.com/tv/season5/
Oh and don't forget how truly terrible Maryann Esposito andf her *Ciao Italia* is! "Today we will make Pasta e Fungi* roughly translated as noodles and mushrooms.
And then L. Bastianich must we watch that zaftig wench stuff her face with yet another stew and tell us how great it is while her whole family proceed to bore us?
*Everyday food* is also beyond annoying. Could we possibly find a more white bread group of condesending SSRI junkies?
How about the chunky vegitarian (Christina cooks) lady that tells us how horrible we eat yet every subsequent season looks worse herself then the season before?
And then all the lowcarb/lowfat cooking shows out there. Trust me compared to PBS the food channel looks very good at times.
It's really simple there are far more nad shows out there in TV land then there are good ones.
America's test kitchen is probabaly the most educational yet the formula is pretty simple. Make simple recipies complex, and complex ones simple.
Best TV Chef? Worst TV Chef?
I retract that statement I made about Nigela being "huge".
I certainly didn't mean it in that way.
Chili beans. An oxymoron?
As a Houstonian, no beans was started by CASI and is for competition so that judges don't fill up on fillers. Any hearty, home-cooked, "just like mom made" chili has beans and the pretentious cook-off crowd can get over it.
Mario Unclogged: How to Sauce Pasta
My guess is that American addiction to so much sauce is based on the relative abundance of food that Italian immigrants found when they arrived here. Throughout most of history, Italy has been very poor so they natural favored the cheap and prevalent ingredients. When they arrived in America, with exponentially more food available, they indulged on the foods they couldn't get back home. This also is a factor in why American Italian food uses herbs and spices in greater quantities than traditional old world recipes.
A ciascuno, suo proprio.
Best weird taste combinations?
My dad used to make me cheddar cheese & strawberry jelly omelettes with toast. It sounds gross, but I promise it is really yummy. It's just like if you had scambled eggs with cheese and ate that along with toast with jelly. Also, a restaurant I worked at had me make a sandwich that consisted of 9-grain bread, avocado, muenster cheese, tomato, alfalfa sprouts, sun-dried tomato pesto aioli & mango chutney...God, that is a fabulous sandwich!
I would advise a beginner cook to _____
Sounds like everything else has been covered, so I will just add...
Don't fry bacon naked.
Congrats JEP.
Anyone watching "Jamie at Home" on FN?
I love Jamie Oliver and I'm so glad to see him back on FN! They need more 'real chefs' on there....
What to pair with prosciutto-wrapped seabass?
I'm going to try that pilaf, ktmc24.
I went with sauteed spinach and garlic and boiled then sauteed red potatoes (Citarella didn't have any new potatoes).
Thanks everyone!
I would advise a beginner cook to _____
Do not buy "recipe" cookbooks (those with a of of recipes). Do buy book ON food and on cooking. Look for books iwth more narrative than recipes.
You will learn more about how foods go together how to cook than how to follow a possible mediocre recipe.
I would advise a beginner cook to _____
Eat slowly and taste. Try to identify layers and flavors. Don't be shy about discussing what you taste.
I would advise a beginner cook to _____
Ha! If I called my mother about tomato sauce, her advice would go along these lines:
"Do you have a can opener?"
"Yes."
"So why are you calling me again?"
She did teach me how to make pie crust, though.
I would advise a beginner cook to _____
smallblondemom---excellent suggestion...call Mom! In AG's book he was on the phone with Lauren giving her support while she made a Basic Tomato Sauce.
Good insight..."absorbing" as a way of learning!
I would advise a beginner cook to _____
Call Mom!
Seriously don't be afraid to try something out and don't be afraid to ask questions. I always follow the recipe exactly the first time and then adjust it as needed if it is worth making again.
And if you can help someone cook you will learn a lot. (Actually I don't remember "learning" to cook. I think I absorbed it growing up!)
Recent Posts
blog in my soup hasn't written a post yet.
Recent Favorites
blog in my soup hasn't favorited a post yet.
Polls
blog in my soup hasn't answered any polls yet.
Quizzes
blog in my soup hasn't taken any quizzes yet.
About blog in my soup
Website: http://thegazz.com/gblogs/bloginmysoup
Location: Charleston, West Virginia
About: I'm an adventurous, equal-opportunity consumer with no known food allergies who enjoys both dining out and cooking in. I also write a food blog for The Charleston Gazette's arts & entertainment website, which is known in these parts as The Gazz.com.
Favorite foods: Cheeseburgers, Pad Thai, Indian Curries, Pizza, Kibbi, Tamales
Last bite on earth: NY-Style Cheesecake with Blueberry Sauce

I mourn the loss of James "The Urban Peasant" Barber. His show taught me so much about the joy of cooking, and was both an inspiration and a revelation. "It's your dinner!"