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Post by braided-rug on Nov 6, 2007 16:14:50 GMT 10
Happyathome or skybluu? Would you like a turn?
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Post by braided-rug on Nov 7, 2007 9:00:40 GMT 10
Happyathome is to be Chef of the Week starting Friday or Friday evening up to Sat. morning downundertime for questions. Thanks happyathome, I hope you enjoy it. ;D I know you have lots of interesting things to say about food! If anyone else volunteers I will slot you in after happyathome. Thanks.
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Post by violet on Nov 9, 2007 16:20:55 GMT 10
Happyathome, can you please tell me whether you do a menu plan each week or just wing it depending on what you feel like having or what's on hand?
Do you have a favorite style, or type, of meal you enjoy?
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Post by braided-rug on Nov 9, 2007 17:12:07 GMT 10
My question is: Name three of your most favourite Italian foods.
Is there an uncommon Italian food we may not have heard about that you enjoy?
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Post by happyathome on Nov 9, 2007 23:13:12 GMT 10
OK. Here we go ;D Please remember that I am Italian and I talk lots, fast and yes, my hands are moving as well! ;D SOMETIMES I have a menu...take tonight: DH just left to go crabbing on the coast and HOPEFULLY will come home with 10 crab. He may go out tomorrow as well, so I know we will be eating crab cakes, crab sandwiches, fresh crab, crab primevera and any other crab thing we think of until we are sick of it! Since the cost of fuel is so high, these trips won't be as frequent as they have been in past years. Knowing all of this, I will check pantry for items I will need to make the above. When the kids were home, I planned more so that they always had a good rounded meal and that always hinged on what was fresh and available at the time. The freezer was always full of venison or pig, and quail is plentiful, turkey season is twice a year, DH would procure a few pheasants, plus there were always tons of canned goods from the garden. I just took things from there. OTHERWISE, since it is now mainly just DH and myself, we discuss what we'd like to do for dinner and then I check the pantry for ingredients. Last night we decided to have pizza, so I needed to get the dough started at after lunchtime. DH is famous for deciding at the last minute he'd like to make something different, but since he's the chef, I just laugh and go with it. I like serving foods buffet style...everything on our big wooden cutting board in the kitchen and you fend for yourself. When the kids were home, EVERYONE sat down at the dinner table 98% of the time..the kids fondly talk about that now! We put out everything "family style" everybody help themselves...very Italian. I think my favorite meals have been the ones we ate on our back patio this year, with lovely Spanish music on the stereo, lots of Tapas, olives, vino and BREAD (which would account partially for my 8 pound weight gain since last year!) These meals remind me of my Sunday meals at home (mom and I lived with my grandparents and aunt) and since my Papa died this past spring, it was a nice way to remember him. ONLY 3 FAVORITES?? Oh boy....our homemade Italian sausage, homemade raviolis with lamb, veal, pork and spinach stuffing, and our homemade Bolognese sauce. Mind you, my grandma NEVER made anything from scratch EXCEPT ONCE because she felt the store could do it better! The one time she made Ravioli's from scratch was when Papa's sister and husband came from New York for a visit when we were stationed in Virginia (Papa was in the Navy) and what a to do that was....they were my first Ravioli's and they were good! Uncommon food? Hmmm.....I don't know of any....my Gram made (OK, she did make two things from scratch!) a cranberry sauce every Thanksgiving that I have never seen anywhere elase...tastes NOTHING like that stuff in a can (EEEWWW) I will find the recipe and post it soon. And, yes, I can talk the ears off a field of corn!
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Post by braided-rug on Nov 10, 2007 8:42:29 GMT 10
I think it is lovely to be able to articulate what you want to say, I start out then it sort of fades away.
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Post by happyathome on Nov 10, 2007 9:31:13 GMT 10
Well, the crab pots weren't in the greatest area, so Dh is coming home with 3. They reset the pots further up the coast and will return tomorrow Tonight we will have fresh crab with our cocktail sauce. Here is that recipe: 1 cup ketchup 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 tsp. white pepper couple of good shots of tabasco sauce 2-3 shakes of worcestershire sauce 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon of prepared horseradish (not the cream-style) mix it all up in a bowl and let sit for an hour...lasts for a few days, depending on the amount of crab we are inhaling ;D
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Post by violet on Nov 10, 2007 13:43:04 GMT 10
Yum. The food sounds good at your place, happyathome. Are you prepared to share your bolognase recipe with us? I'm always on the look out for pasta recipes. But I do understand that sometimes they're family secrets and not for sharing.
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Post by braided-rug on Nov 10, 2007 17:33:28 GMT 10
Can you tell us more about the crabs? We are curious here at our place.
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Post by happyathome on Nov 11, 2007 2:49:54 GMT 10
Yes, I will share the bolognese sauce , not a secret, just one my hubby makes after lots of trial and error. The amount of veggies we use depends on the amount of tomatoes we are using. We use canned because they are easy to find year around..they can be chopped, diced or pureed. I haven't made it with fresh this year, but in years past I made it without meat, canned it and then added meat if I had it when I was ready to make dinner. Bolognese Sauce:Let's start with (2) 14 oz canned chopped tomatoes Finely dice 1 each carrot, celery, onion Mince 3 garlic cloves (although there is no such thing as too much garlic, so you can add more if you want to) Take these ingredients and saute them in some olive oil...enough to coat the bottom of your pot, maybe a bit more if you see it needs it....DH doesn't cook by measure, but by "feel" so I have to guess and by golly with his measurements! Feel blessed this calls for 1 each of the veggies and not "some" veggies!! Okay, now that the veggies are sauteed until the onions are transparent, add a good pinch of salt, and taste: any good? maybe more salt? Put all of this in a bowl and add a little more olive oil to the pot. DON'T RINSE OUT THE POT BEFORE YOU DO THIS! You want the fond (sticky stuff) on the bottom of the pan for flavor. Add "some" meat HAHAHA! yup, this is a bit hard to measure. We take about a cup of pork chunks (this is usually off a large shoulder we had bought for sausage...we can buy them in our stores called stew meat), about one cup of venison, and if I have been to the store specifically for ingredients, I buy a cupful of veal. So whatever meat you want to add is fine, although chicken isn't something I would recommend, but that is personal....I do have a duck in the freeze? ANYWAYS...(see? I told you..I can TALK ) I put this meat in my food processor and mince it fine. If you do it buy hand, your knife must be sharp and just mince it well. Now take this minced "meat" and fry it in the pot with the olive oil. Add a goodly amount of dried Italian Herbs .... we add extra dried thyme and oregano...purely a matter of taste and some salt...cook until well done, just be careful not to burn it. Taste. The seasoning will adjust with cooking, but do you think it needs more seasoning or salt... a bit of pepper? Now take a bottle of red wine, Chianti or Burgundy would be best, down yerself a swig like Julia Child, and then douse the frying meat with a good cupful. Down yerself another swig and put the bottle away. (I LOVE to cook!) Bring the meat/wine to a simmerish, about 2-3 minutes, add your sauteed veggie mix back to the pot and pour in you canned tomatoes, juice and all. Stir and place on low (or the wood stove) and stir occasionally. DO NOT BURN IT OR YOU CAN THROW IT AWAY! Been there, done that! We stack the pot of sauce on two cooking stove grates so it is more like a warming tray and place it on the back simmer burner in the kitchen or use a trivet on the wood stove. We let it simmer all day...refridge at night and it's better each day thereafter! We put it on fried polenta, spaghetti, you name it! Always taste your food while cooking, adjusting the seasonings as you like. We have added mushrooms to the mince when we have them and sometimes a spoonful of tomato paste...just depends on what flavor we are wanting that day! My Gram always said you can add more seasoning, but you can't take it out, so err on the side of a little seasoning and then while you cook, you can always add more. Enjoy!
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Post by happyathome on Nov 11, 2007 3:15:49 GMT 10
Crabs: The crabs we get off the Pacific coast are Dungness Crabs. The ones last night were about two pounds each. DH cooks them there as they are best if cooked right after you get to shore. He brings his propane frying stand with him and a large pot and boils them in the parking lot by the marina. Then he puts them on ice and brings them home. We cracked one last night and made crabmelts...add some mayo to the crab meat, salt and pepper top with cheese (last night we used provolone) and fried them. We used Pugliese (Pooh-le-AY-say) bread, but any bread will do. DH added a spoonful of our homemade cocktail sauce to one of the sandwiches and this gave it a good flavor, so I may try that this afternoon for lunch. There was a freighter ship that scraped the piling of the Golden Gate Bridge this week and left over 40,000 gallons of oil in it's wake. The bridge wasn't damaged, but I heard on the news this morning that the commercial season for crabs which opens next week (they open two weeks after the sportfisherman...that's what they call the everyday fisherman here) may be delayed or cancelled...the commercial crabbers aren't too pleased with that at all..that would mean no fresh crab on the market for Thanksgiving. But I think that would mean that we "sporties" would get more crabs this season....but seeing as so far the pots haven't been full, maybe not. It has simply been to warm here (up until yesterday we had been in the upper 70's to 80!) for anything, man, beast or vegetation to be acting normally! But the crab WAS good last night!
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Post by braided-rug on Nov 11, 2007 10:58:54 GMT 10
It is colder than usual here, so it stands to reason, I think. Seems to happen like that. Sorry to hear about the bridge, will tell my dh. I like the sound of the polenta with sauce over. We have been doing that with small sausage links and vegetables so it sounds like your vegie meat sauce would be delicious. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeness_crabMy dh loves to watch Hugh on River Cottage when he goes fishing. He makes sausages and things. I hope you catch him sometime on TV happyathome, though sometimes he is embarassing. Now, a new question.
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Post by braided-rug on Nov 12, 2007 12:45:51 GMT 10
If you do or have ever bought magazines, that have recipes in them, or other magazines that happen to have recipes in them, which magazine did you find the most useful or enjoyable?
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Post by violet on Nov 13, 2007 14:47:49 GMT 10
Happyathome, your dh cooks like I do - some of this, a bit more of that! I agree about the garlic too; can't have too much!
Thanks for sharing - I suppose the wine gives the sauce a good, rich flavor. Yum!
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Post by happyathome on Nov 14, 2007 1:20:27 GMT 10
OK..confession time: I could spend ALOT of money on magazines AND I HAVE!) until I got smart ( I am slow, not stupid ) and now I get them at the library!! Once in awhile, I will go there and check out a "seasons' worth of mags and spend a few days going through them and write down the recipe if I think I might like it. Then I can adapt it if I have a better idea! Bon Appetit, Saveur, Food and Wine, Gourmet are good ones and not hard to find. If I am in a technical mood, I will get Cooks Illustrated. If I decide to BUY a mag, I will get Cucina Italiana. The thing is, recipes had there beginnings in other recipes and so on down the line...there really isn't too much new under the sun, so if you have a good basic cookbook for something you like, say Italian or Chinese, you can play with it and make it into a recipe that is "yours". Yes, some people are better at this than others, like my DH, but I get to eat it, so I am fine with that!!!
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