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mepolo's Profile

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Location: Angola, NY (near Buffalo)

About: Cubicle dweller who is obsessed with food.....married to a man who could care less about food, but loves & tolerates me anyway. Luckily I trained my daughter right! ;-)

Favorite foods: See my last bite on earth.... :-)

Last bite on earth: Delmonico steak - grilled rare with just a touch of salt & pepper. Garlic roasted russet potatoes - nice & crispy on the outside, soft & creamy on the inside! The best vanilla ice cream in the world to finish.

The Ten Most Recent Posts By mepolo

From Talk

We're having a pie baking contest!

With summer coming, and all the seasonal fruits coming soon...it's becoming pie baking time. Let's have a pie baking contest! What kind of pie are you bringing to the table? Do you use a traditional recipe, or do you put your own spin on it? Where did your recipe come from? Are you willing to share the recipe? Please do!
I'm not a big pie baker...guess I've always been intimidated by pie crust ever since I watched my sister try to make it when I was a kid, and she spent the entire time cursing at the dough because it kept falling apart on her. Flash forward 30 years or so...and I still don't make pie crust....I often rely on Pillsbury....or ask someone else to bring the pies!
For the contest though, I'll be making the traditional dutch apple pie with a crumb crust....my husband's favorite. I will splurge & make homemade vanilla bean ice cream to go with it though.
What about you?

From Talk

Top Chef or Hell's Kitchen.....

Which do you prefer?
I'm a Top Chef fan myself...although I do watch Hell's Kitchen too. I like the food porn in Top Chef better! It's great to get inspiration from the chefs on the show.

From Talk

Help for my bbq brisket!

Good morning all!
On Sunday I smoked a brisket using my gas grill....it was a small one, about 2 1/2lbs, and I had some issues during the process (ran out of propane - grill got too hot at one point). I did cook it using indirect heat for about 3 hrs, and kept the grill about 250 degrees...although at one point it did get up to 400 degrees (right after changing the propane tank).
As I was cutting the brisket Sunday I noticed it was a bit tougher than it should be. The flavor is great though....nice & smokey...with a good crust.
I'm serving it tonight, and was thinking of reheating it in a covered pan in the oven w/some beef broth. Do you think this will slow cook it longer to achieve the tenderness I desire?
I should have known better not to cook a brisket when I couldn't tend to it better...I got busy in the yard and neglected it too much I think!
Thanks!

From Talk

Summer cocktails and jello shots

The introduction post that turned into a party got me thinking about upcoming summer parties, and the drinks that accompany them.
I host an annual chicken bbq on July 3rd....and one of the enduring favorites are jello shots. (So much so that I have to make non-alcohalic jello shots for the non drinkers...they were beginning to feel left out!)
Some of my favorite combinations are:
lime jello & tequila - Margarita jello shot
pineapple jello & rum
strawberry jello & rum - Strawberry Daquiri jello shot
I usually do a berry jello w/vodka too, but found the Pina Colada jello that came out last summer just didn't taste right w/rum as a shot...maybe it was me....
What I am lacking in though, is a really good cocktail that is fruity, but not too sweet. I'm not a fan of cranberry though.
What are your favorite summer time cocktails? Let's get ready for our parties......and happy hour!

From Talk

What is your cooking level?

An exchange between Perky & I got me to thinking about one bit of information that is sometimes easy to share here, and sometimes difficult. What is your "cooking level"? Are you an advanced cook....a beginner? Do you cook mainly at home or is it your profession as well?
Personally I am a home cook, and consider myself somewhat advanced....
I am willing to try new recipes & ingredients, and usually make something new a couple times a week. I still have some techniques I'd like to try....but I do try to absorb everything my brain comes across. I did cook 'professionally' for about 11 years...starting as a short order cook when I was 14, culminating in a year of restaurant management when I was 25. I'm 43 now...and have spent the past 18 years as a cube dweller!
What about you?

From Talk

Need help w/sodium in recipe

Good morning everyone!
I need alittle assistance lowering the sodium in one of my favorite recipes passed down from my Nana.
The basic recipe calls for thinly sliced potatoes, onion soup mix, & butter....layering potato, soup mix, then butter into a 2 qt dish until full...then baking. When I make the dish now, I also add some grated cheddar cheese to add some extra gooey,yumminess (yes...I swear yuminess is a word! lol)
I began making the dish Sat. night & discovered I was out of soup mix, so I improvised using beef base in a small amount of water, and dehydrated onions. (I use dehydrated because the flavor is stronger in some dishes).
I thought by using the beef base it would bring down the sodium....but it was still salty.
Any thoughts on how to get that great beefy flavor into my potato dish without all the salt?

From Talk

What kind of kick are you on?

NuJoi's comment to my transitional cooking question, mentioning a soup & sandwich kick, got me thinking about my own recent ice cream kick...I've been firing up the ice cream maker & making at least a batch a week for the past month...including vanilla bean, chocolate w/reeses chunks, and some killer maple ice cream using some great local grade b syrup. What kind of kick have you been on lately?

From Talk

Seasonally transitional cooking

Now that spring is just around the corner, I'm losing interest in cooking heavy winter dishes, but it's just alittle too early for spring peas & asparagus in WNY....what are you cooking during this transitional time of year?
btw...tonight for me it's Shepard's Pie...nice warm winter dish...huh? We just had a nice wintery ice storm here...today it's necessary! lol

From Talk

Melting Pot

I'm not a chain restaurant fan, but my sister wants to go to The Melting Pot this week-end for her b'day.
Has anyone been there, and what are your thoughts?
I tried looking online for reviews, and all I found were newspaper reviews (which I tend not to always trust)....and badly written reviews from people who seem to enjoy the chains.
I just want to know what I'm in for when I get there! lol

From Talk

I finally got it....the Cook's Illustrated Recipe to test!

Just checked my e-mail, and I finally got my recipe to test from Cook's Illustrated.....it's for No Roll Pizza Bianca. Of course it comes before a week-end I'm going camping....and they want the review by Monday. Guess I'll conquer this tonight....guess what I'm having for dinner! lol
I know some others got their recipe to test....how did it turn out?

The Ten Most Recent Comments By mepolo

From Talk

Berries or citrus - which would you choose?

From Talk

My favorite way to eat an egg is ____

I like them every way....I can't pick just one! I can tell you the only way I don't like eggs is plain old hard boiled...if it's hard boiled it has to either be turned into deviled eggs, egg salad or chopped over tossed salad. Not particularly fond of the dry egg yolk part.

Last Sunday I took some leftover hobo potatoes from Sat. dinner & fried them up w/bacon & extra onions - then topped them with some cheddar cheese & a couple of fried eggs....it was wonderful when the yolks covered everything in their yummy yellow goodness after I broke them.

From Talk

We're having a pie baking contest!

@sadiepix - thanks for the recipe....I'll have to try that!
@bobcatsteph3 - thank you for your link as well....I am bound & determined to make a good pie crust this summer.
@rosezilla - those cherry bombs sound yummy! I have puff pastry in the freezer...those are definitely doable!
@NanaJoie- just in time for rhubarb season....great recipe!
@Hillary - glad to know I'm not the only one...don't give up either!
My sister is heading down to Amish country tomorrow on an errand....I've put in a request for one of their pies...they are always the best! ;-)

From Required Eating

McDonald's Says Eat More Chicken For Breakfast

You can get the chicken sandwich free til 7pm tonight too...but I'm sure you have to buy a drink for that too.
I got the biscuit sandwich this morning.....I thought it was better than mcnuggets myself.....

From Talk

Mason Jar Butter

I did it last night while watching Top Chef....what a cool thing....it was so neat to see the butter go from whipped cream to a glob of butter w/the buttermilk separate. I don't know how cost effective it would be to make your own butter all the time unless you had a good source of inexpensive cream....but it's definitely fun to try! And yes...it does taste yummy!
thanks for the tips everyone!

From Talk

Cause and Effect

1. Tops is my closest market, but I also shop at Wegmans as well because it isn't too far out of the way on my ride home from work. In the summer I have my own produce, and shop at farmer's markets & farm stands...there are several close by.
2. I purchase both organic & inorganic....my supermarket does offer a decent organic selection, and often the price is comparable to conventional....I often do decide based on price.
3. n/a
4. I don't think the increase in price has effected my purchases as much as it has effected my use of the veggies I buy, and the waste factor. I'm much more aware of what is in my fridge, and I'm noticing alot less getting pushed to the back of the veggie drawer & becoming compost.
5. no
6. NY - upstate

From Talk

Wedding Eats

I too had a wedding where my family participated by preparing the food....actually we did everything within the family & friends, right down to the music & flowers. Since I hold a big chicken bbq on July 3rd anyway...my husband & I decided to combine that w/the wedding & get married on July 3rd...taking advantage of the fireworks at the beach as entertainment for our guests.
I had nuts, olives, breadsticks & flatbreads out, along with some finger sandwiches that my in-laws made for guests to snack on when they arrived.
My brother & uncle did their usual chicken bbq, and my uncle prepared pork loin to go with it. My mom makes the best baked beans...so she made her usual baked beans, only for 150 people instead of 50 people. My aunt makes the best tossed salad....including fresh herbs w/all the veggies...so she made that, and my dad made his famous German potato salad. I believe we had a fruit salad somewhere in there too. My sister came up to NY from TN....and in the early July heat spent 4 hours in my kitchen on my wedding day making 4 different kinds of rolls from scratch....they were the hit of the dinner! All the people who are used to bringing a dish to my annual bbq, and insisted on bringing something were asked to bring cookies or a dessert...so we had a wonderful dessert table to go with the beautiful red, white & blue cake a local baker made for us.
We had decided in advance to keep things as simple as possible, so everyone could relax & enjoy the day....it worked out perfectly!
The best part....we get to celebrate our anniversary with all our family & friends every July 3rd when they come to our new house for our annual bbq!

From Ed Levine Eats

Josh Ozersky in 'Edible Brooklyn'

That sounds like a reasonable salt collection to me too. I have fine sea salt for table use, coarse sea salt & kosher salt for cooking, and alder smoked sea salt for finishing. The rosemary & hibiscus salts sound very interesting!

From Talk

Take to work lunches!

Everyone has such great ideas!
I too usually bring leftovers of some sort for lunch....today it's leftover pulled bbq chicken & spring pea soup - interesting combo...huh? It's what I had in the fridge this morning. I also bring hummus or some type of dip w/pita chips to snack on during the day...last week it was tzatziki. I bring fresh fruit & yogurt to eat for breakfast at my desk. I have an insulated cooler bag w/a flat frozen gel pack I put in the bottom & pile my goodies on top....everything stays cool throughout the day, and I don't have to work about refridgeration.
We are lucky enough to have an ice machine here, so I usually brew myself tea & ice it during the day to drink so I stay away from the sodas!

From Required Eating

Cook the Book: Cowgirl Cuisine

fried leftover spaghetti for lunch...it was the best!

Responses to Comments by mepolo

From Talk

My favorite way to eat an egg is ____

Eggs Benedict for bruch out and soft scrambled with hash browns for a fast dinner - green salad on the side.

From Talk

My favorite way to eat an egg is ____

Hilary, You've got me pegged. I had my favorite all-time breakfast just before I sat down to catch up on "talk". You got it, hashbrowns with a sunny side up perched on top. Take a fork and masticate the egg and enjoy every mouthful as the yolk oozes through everything! The toast is optional; today I skipped it...

From Talk

Berries or citrus - which would you choose?

I'm going with the citrus. They are a greater part of my "flavoring" repetoire, are available in reasonably good quality throughout the year and have a longer shelf life than most berries. Everyone within 50 miles of me knows that I can be prostituted for a bowl of blueberries, but the ways I choose to eat them would get me into big trouble if that's all I had...!

From Talk

Berries or citrus - which would you choose?

This question actually hits home in a weird way right now. I've been taking antibiotics since Monday, and they have this funny effect on me - they make me more ill than whatever it is I have to take them for. So this entire week I've been very nauseous, dizzy and miserable, and all I've been able to eat all week are oranges and strawberries. Seriously. Perhaps if I were to answer this question some other time, I'd be able to make a coherent choice, but right now, I don't think I can:-).

From Talk

Cause and Effect

Not to interrupt this very good post but, what and where is Whole Foods? Also, just out of curiosity blankplate, please share with me how you feed 3 people for a week for $60, I live in Philadelphia, not too far from you, and I must be doing something wrong.

From Talk

Berries or citrus - which would you choose?

Citrus. No question about it.

(A blueberry pie isn't complete without a touch of lemon zest....)

From Talk

My favorite way to eat an egg is ____

Hard boiled egg whites. Don't eat the yellows!

From Talk

Berries or citrus - which would you choose?

what a cruel thought... i'd have to keep the citrus. i have a constant supply of lemons and limes in my fridge, i don't know how i would live without them!

From Talk

My favorite way to eat an egg is ____

over medium between two slices of heavily buttered cinnamon raisin bread and a couple of strips of crisply cooked bacon. lots of hot sweet milky coffee to wash it down.

or shirred in salsa with a heavy gooey blanket of melted swiss cheese on top.

but i never, ever eat them that way anymore... now it's hard boiled, or scrambled in a tiny bit of olive oil and garlic with dry toast. accompanied by unsweetened tea with low fat milk.

dang.

sigh...

From Talk

My favorite way to eat an egg is ____

I like eggs in omelets, scrambles, and souffles, and hard-boiled.

About 4 times a year I'll really want poached eggs, but the rest of the time the liquid yolk tastes too eggy (haha, no kidding!). It's just the usual sulfurous, metallic egg-taste that lets me know I'm eating something full of iron and vitamin A, but it's too strong if the yolk isn't set.