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Pet Peeve: it's "ballotine," not "balantine".
TV cooks who pronounce paprika with the extra "a" in there; i.e.,
pap-a-rika (you know who you are Paula Deen, et al!)
Serious Heat: What's Your Secret Chili Ingredient?
Meat is meatloaf mixture (beef, pork and veal); canned pinto beans and a "Three Alarm Chili" kit. And some beer, if I have any handy.
Comes out perfect every time!
Win a Free Organic D'Artagnan Turkey
Mark Bittman's Potato Gratin. What could be better? Well, maybe a little bacon!
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Restaurants/Drinking Establishments in Asheboro, NC
Posted by duncan1205, June 8, 2009 at 12:01 AM
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French in a Flash: Sea Shells with Creamy Basil-Tarragon Pistou, Crab, and Sweet Peas
Posted by Kerry Saretsky, February 26, 2009 at 6:00 PM
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Recent Comments | Response to Comments
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
Making the stuffed celery was usually my job; cream cheese, chopped walnuts mixed and stuffed into the celery stalks. Paprika dusted over the top.
Relish trays aren't just a French-Canadian tradition. I grew up in suburban Philly and we always had the pickle/olive/stuffed celery/carrot sticks at major holiday meals. I also remember most "nice" restaurants always served a relish tray before dinner.
Pet Peeve: it's "ballotine," not "balantine".
TV cooks who pronounce paprika with the extra "a" in there; i.e.,
pap-a-rika (you know who you are Paula Deen, et al!)
Serious Heat: What's Your Secret Chili Ingredient?
Meat is meatloaf mixture (beef, pork and veal); canned pinto beans and a "Three Alarm Chili" kit. And some beer, if I have any handy.
Comes out perfect every time!
Win a Free Organic D'Artagnan Turkey
Mark Bittman's Potato Gratin. What could be better? Well, maybe a little bacon!
Homemade "Pepperidge Farm Stuffing"?
Sweat diced onions, celery (including leaves), parsley and seasonings in melted butter before adding to dried bread cubes (see @salpico above). Seasonings usually include s&p, sage, thyme, poultry seasoning. Moisten with chicken stock, mix, check seasonings again and put into buttered baking dish and bake. Baste with turkey drippings every once in a while. Delicious.
Funniest Thanksgiving
Do you mean like the year I made gravy stock from the turkey neck, wing tips, onions, celery, etc.? Really tasted and smelled great ~ until I very carefully poured it all down the kitchen sink while draining it for making the gravy.
Favorite Pizza Condiment??
Frank's Louisana Hot Sauce, sometimes.
Hot Dog Of The Week: Texas Tommy
When I was in college, I waited tables at a fairly small restaurant in Jenkintown called "Peter Pan" and we had a fabulous Texas Tommy. Partially split and filled with american cheese, wrapped in bacon and deep fried! It was THE best and I tried to eat that or their cheeseburger every day for lunch. Luckily, in those days I could eat like that and not regret it.
I haven't seen one like that since the restaurant went out of business many, many years ago. Alas! Sister restaurant in Abington, called "Amy Joy", made fresh donuts every morning and delivered them to us. Oh, the memory of warm custard filled donuts......
Thanksgiving Talk with Food52's Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs
While watching Alton stuffing the bird the other day -- FN said that the stuffing became known as "dressing" during Victorian times, because the Victorians thought stuffing sounded too risque! They really did have dirty little minds!!
We always called it stuffing and our southern relatives called it dressing..... Different strokes, etc.
Cranberry side dishes
I've been doing this one for a couple of years:
2 Bosc Pears, peeled, cored and quartered
1 Cup strong brewed coffee
1 Bag fresh (or frozen) cranberries
1/3 Cup sugar (or to taste)
1 Cup water
Pinch of kosher salt
Poach pears in brewed (or instant) coffee for about 45 minutes. Drain and cut in desired sized pieces.
Cook cranberries according to general package instructions. After cranberries have started to pop, set aside and add chopped pears.
You can also add dry roasted, chopped nuts at this point.
Place in fridge to set until serving.
What do turnips go with?
Turnips, roasted with carrots, onions, potatoes, etc. are delicious ~ I use good olive oil, salt and pepper and fresh, smashed garlic cloves and a 350 degree oven, for about an hour. They're also great thrown around a roast and picking up all those meat juices.
Parsnips are a delicious winter veg. When roasted, they're sweet and nutty. Julia's recipe for parsnips is fabulous. First pre-cooked in salted water until tender, drained and then mashed in same pan, with the addition of butter, heavy cream, S&P and a little fresh nutmeg and cooked over low heat. Even my parsnip-hating sister loves them this way.
Oh, Julia also used the twice cooked parsnips to fill zucchini boats. Fabulous!
Do You Put Ranch Dressing on Pizza?
I don't put ranch on anything! Gross tasting stuff.
Video: Tabasco Singing Pepperoni Pizza Commercial
Sometimes ~ either Tabasco or Frank's or pepper flakes. Depends on how spicy the pepperoni is.
Give some lovin' to your oven! Dinner Thursday 10/8?
Chuck roast in a slow oven with onions, carrots and mushrooms. And some good Italian bread from the farmer's market.
What is corked wine?
To me, "Corked" wine has a nasty, musty smell like a moldy basement. It's a very identifiable smell and you really don't want to even taste this wine. Send it back or save and take back to wine shop.
To tell or not to tell...
Recently a friend and I had lunch at a pretty nice restaurant in Kennett Square (mushroom country) Pennsylvania; I had ordered the crab cake that came on an English muffin. I wasn't really interested in eating the muffin, but when I saw a tinge of blue/green and turned over half of it - moldy! I VERY politely told our waitress, they replated the rest of my lunch, which I enjoyed. They then comped me for my sandwich and offered us a free dessert. I didn't think a free dessert was necessary, but nice of them. Everything was handled in a civilized manner by all. However, if I ever go back there, I will check the underside of any bread for mold!
Trader Joes Petition - Middletown NJ/Monmouth County NJ
You do know that the Trader Joe's in Princeton is now open? It's right on Rt. 1 Northbound, sort of across from Whole Foods. I'll have to drive over from Bucks Cty, but that's easier than going to Jenkintown!
Sunday Brunch: Potatoes Macaire
@sticky ~ this is how we often used up leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. My mom would lightly flour the cakes after forming so that they would get even crustier.
Nowadays, I often cook minced carrots and garlic with my potatoes for mashing, so that the cakes are even more flavorful.
Need Recipes for Beets
I like them roasted ~ see @bareneed above ~ and then sliced, cold, in a salad with good greens, nuts, blue or feta cheese and a good oil and vinegar dressing.
Pickled beets with hard boiled eggs were a spring/Easter tradition in my family. Still make this today...
The Perfect Fried Egg Sandwich
Favorite (when living in NYC) from greasy-spoon downstairs from work: Fried egg (slightly runny yolk) on toasted kaiser roll with butter, mustard and sometimes melted american cheese. And good strong black coffee. So good! Think I'll have one, on Italian bread, for lunch today.
What's cookin,' good lookin'? Dinner Saturday night 10/3
Small piece of Marcella Hazen's lasagne with bechamela sauce and a small green salad ~ really hit the spot after two+ weeks in the hospital!
Meeting Adam Richman (Man v. Food)!
Adam is on The Travel Channel, not Foot Network. Enjoy his show, but am sometimes grosssed out by the sheer amount of food.
What bread or cracker do YOU eat with goat cheese?
I try not to eat soft goat cheese any time, any where! It's a texture thing. Like firm goat cheese on water biscuits or almost any kind of plain cracker.
Fish & Red Wine????
Once I almost ruined a lovely crab au gratin dish by persisting with a very dry white wine. Did not taste good together. Gave up and had a glass of pinot noir and they were delicious.
Cook the Book: 'Dishing Up Vermont'
Pennsylvania ~ ice cream (Bassetts and PSU Creamery); all kinds of veggies; scrapple; my FM's Amish double-smoked, center cut bacon; good Italian hoagies and cheesesteaks; soft pretzels (with mustard); raw milk ~ and lots more, that I just can't think of now.
Pet Peeve: it's "ballotine," not "balantine".
Restauranteur for restaurateur
Vinegarette for vinegrette
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
Not sure if I would call it weird.. but we would always have tomato aspic with a little onion, green olive and shrimp peering out from the shimmering, and shivering, mold. Sliced and served with a dollop of homemade lemon mayonnaise.
Sounds gross.. but it's pretty awesome.
Pet Peeve: it's "ballotine," not "balantine".
For some reason, I cannot stop myself from saying "cottas cheese."
Pet Peeve: it's "ballotine," not "balantine".
And voila! My peeve is people who pronounce it with a w in the front. And people on the weather channel who think we need to clean off our rooves in the winter.
@dmcavanagh. I don't think a peeve is a worry.
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
My boyfriends mom puts out pitted dates, stuffed with either cream cheese or peanut butter, rolled in sugar. The ones with the cream cheese are mmmm.
She also puts out the olives/pickles. So weird!
Pet Peeve: it's "ballotine," not "balantine".
Why worry about all this $#!+?
Pet Peeve: it's "ballotine," not "balantine".
"Whip cream" drives me INSANE.
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
@foodie,foodie! - I don't know that I would call deviled eggs a weird food. And seeing as how they get made for every family get together in my family, hardly Thanksgiving food :P. Also they're usually the first things to disappear from the table ...
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
@KarynMC - that sounds marginally better than a bowl full of eye of frog. ;)
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
Have got to mention the "deviled eggs!"
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
@wellred - It's pretty much a weird name for ambrosia. Canned pineapple juice reduced into a sauce and mixed into acini de pepi, mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks and mini marshmallows (unless I am eating it). At the end, you fold in cool whip (unless I am eating it).
Funniest Thanksgiving
Late to the party on this one, but here goes... about six years ago, my mom's new boyfriend came to our family Thanksgiving for the first time with his nine-year-old son. My family is fairly uptight, so this guy had everyone's eyebrows raised with his motorcycle-ridin', rock'n'rollin' ways. We're at the feast, the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins are tolerating him, and our quietly formal Thanksgiving meal is proceeding, when all of a sudden during a lull in conversation the nine-year-old goes "Hey, Daddy, remember when I found cocaine on your dresser?" Completely out of the blue. Ensue awkward silence. The boyfriend finally musters a halfhearted, "I don't know what you're talking about, son," to which the kid responds, "Yes, you do! It was in a little baggie and you said it was Uncle Dave's." The boyfriend was speechless. The entire table cracked up, and someone changed the subject, but it was never forgotten.
That was not the last Thanksgiving we had with them, but unfortunately, nobody ever told any more drug stories.
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
My mother always made pimento cheese to eat on soft, white bread while Thanksgiving dinner cooked. She made it with an old fashioned meat grinder attached to the kitchen table. I wouldn't touch the stuff back then, but last thanksgiving, i made a batch according to her recipe and it was a big hit!! No meat grinder though.
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
@KarynMC - What is frog eye salad??
Our food is on the tame side, but the names for it aren't. Mashed potatoes have been Mashed Steven since I was about twelve (Steven is a family friend), the turkey is always Turkus Maximus, etc.
We did discover one year at Canadian Thanksgiving that my mom's pumpkin bread goes really well with adobo (chicken/pork cooked in soy sauce, vinegar and garlic). Delicious!
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
I discovered potato salad with turkey dinners when I was working in a large metropolitan hospital and found that my African-American co-workers would bring it as part of a potluck turkey meal. And despite what Mom always said about Thanksgiving meals too much about "starch", i.e., carbohydrates, I thought it was a great addition to the meal. It's cool, the texture a good contrast to the other items, and if I'm doing a really big turkey dinner, as opposed a pared-down one, I've kept it on the family menu.
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
Nut loaf. My parents became vegetarians when I was very young, so turkey did not show up on our table. Instead, there was 'nut loaf', or as my mum called it, 'nut meat'. Whatever. Essentially, it is like a meatloaf... without meat. Never could cope with the texture, leading to ugly brawls between my dad an myself every Thanksgiving.
Weird "Thanksgiving" foods
Every year, either my mom or my grandma makes the "carrot ring." It's basically shredded carrots, lots of cheddar cheese, butter, and some bread crumbs molded into some sort of ring-shaped baking dish and baked. It's actually amazing, but it's funny when we have new people to dinner. They say, "I'll take some more of that orange stuff." :)
Pet Peeve: it's "ballotine," not "balantine".
@Adam
haha - thanks.
I can't believe I mispelled that! ;)
Pet Peeve: it's "ballotine," not "balantine".
@Kenji: Just fixed the title — peave to peeve. You're welcome! ;)
Pet Peeve: it's "ballotine," not "balantine".
@finsbigfan
Hey - just take the MARSCAPONE and spread some of it on your BRUSH-ETTA!
Pet Peeve: it's "ballotine," not "balantine".
I'll just sit here sipping my EXPRESSO and wondering what to do with that container of MARSCAPONE.
"dinner" vs "supper"
I think it depends on what's served. We have "chicken dinner," "lasagna dinner," "steak dinner," "breakfast for dinner," "chili supper," spaghetti supper," "soup and salad supper." "Lasagna supper" just doesn't sound right.
Serious Heat: What's Your Secret Chili Ingredient?
The key is suet. Almost impossible to find in New York these days, but the butchers at Ottomanelli will scoop it out of the porterhouse sides by hand if you ask them nicely. Browning the beef (and pork if you use it) in rendered suet gives an incredible depth of flavor.
Beyond this I use freshly ground anchos, pasillas and especially guajillos, with pequins or birdseyes ground in by hand to taste as the chili cooks. My guide is John Thorne, though I add tomato paste and sometimes beer (to deglaze) or pork belly if I have a taste for it. And... onion powder. So not politically correct all the way. But SUET... if you can find it. Some butchers have openly laughed at me when I asked for it. "We used to feed it to the birds!" said one East Village butcher, otherwise a kingly establishment.
Serious Heat: What's Your Secret Chili Ingredient?
My company had a Halloween chili cook off. I entered a vegetarian chili (my first time making chili). The base of it was kidney beans, tomatoes, and lentils. To up the savory quotient, I added several things including:
-carmelized onions deglazed w/ red wine
-roasted corn
-salted, dry-fried mushrooms
-stock made with seaweed and corn cobs (both a big source of natural umami flavor)
My chili turned out really well and I honestly liked it 1st or 2nd best of all the chilies there (out of 20). I ended up losing the vegetarian competition to a chili that had lots of fresh veggies but tasted like salsa.
"dinner" vs "supper"
I have lived in Missouri (St. Louis) all my life. We always called the second meal of the day "Lunch", and the last meal of the day, "Supper". Although Dinner and Supper could be used interchangeably My husband's family did the same thing.. I notice my older siblings are now calling it "dinner" when they invite us over. I have always used the word Supper unless we are going out to a formal meal, then I will call it Dinner.
We have always used the word soda. My uncle used to call it sodie.
Recent Posts
Restaurants/Drinking Establishments in Asheboro, NC
Posted by duncan1205, June 8, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Recent Favorites
French in a Flash: Sea Shells with Creamy Basil-Tarragon Pistou, Crab, and Sweet Peas
Posted by Kerry Saretsky, February 26, 2009 at 6:00 PM
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Making the stuffed celery was usually my job; cream cheese, chopped walnuts mixed and stuffed into the celery stalks. Paprika dusted over the top.
Relish trays aren't just a French-Canadian tradition. I grew up in suburban Philly and we always had the pickle/olive/stuffed celery/carrot sticks at major holiday meals. I also remember most "nice" restaurants always served a relish tray before dinner.