Text 22030, 162 rader
Skriven 2007-10-30 18:12:24 av Carol Shenkenberger (1:261/1466.0)
     Kommentar till en text av Daniel Prather
Ärende: Rice 329
================
 -=> Quoting Daniel Prather to Carol Shenkenberger <=-

 > Mom used the occasional packets you get at the grocery store.  She grew up
 > on not very spicy foods.  I recall rare times when she'd make 'fancy' with
 > nutmeg or cinnimon but mostly we kids prayed for TV dinners <g>.

 DP> Well, we didn't pray for TV dinners. :)  My mom made a lot of good
 DP> stuff, but was just really light on the seasoning.  On my father's side

Mom was so bland, we liked school lunches <g>.  Naw, thats not fair.  She was
a decent but very *plain* cook with a small budget and a smaller recipe list.

The only time we went hungry, was when we just didnt want to eat it or the one
time she fixed me liver and then insisted I eat it.  I threw up at the table.  
Yes, I hate liver taste that bad.  If you even look at liver then look at me, 
I start gagging.  (Chicken liver is the only exception and even then, I hate 
almost every version I've ever had).

 DP> of the family, though, they were all from Alabama and such, and they
 DP> really, really know how to cook.  But it was all good, I just learned
 DP> to expand my horizons (and my waist) once I moved out. :)
 
 > Same here, but I still liked the fancy stuff my friends had.  Michelle
 > Groger, lived next door.  Her family was Jewish and they had some of the
 > best food!

 DP> Yep, I remember eating at some friends' houses, and it was always so
 DP> different than what we had.  Though, my mom also didn't allow sodas and
 DP> such in the house, but my friends always had them.

I recall lots of soda types.  I got past those as I grew older.  I do stock
a 12pack of soda every 2 months for me. Don, he likes his pepsi (1-2 a day).

 > I got a rude awakening the day I moved out from home and my new roomates
 > relegated me to bottle washer for the remainder of our time <g>.  They were
 > fancy cooks and showed me quite a bit at that start time.

 DP> Yeah, that'd be a little disheartening, but at least they 
 DP> taught you new stuff!

True!  I needed much toodling at that stage.  I made just that first meal and
they didnt let me cook again.  Then one day I borrowed a crockpot from one of
them and made a really simple beanpot with hamhock.  It had lookedso simple, I
thought even i couldnt mess that one up and i didnt <g>.  Genesis of the 
crockpot cooker of this echo.

 > By the time I met Don, 7 years later, I was able to catch his attention on
 > our first date by making him a home cooked meal with nothing but a Navy
 > barracks microwave and a single cassarole dish.  I made him a curried
 > Jamacian style adobo, braised green beans with butter and mushrooms, and
 > some sliced fruit.  I think that was what I made anyways <g>.  I made him
 > dinner several times.

 DP> Wow.  I'd imagine that takes some skill and talent. :)

Simpicity has it's good parts.  Yu'll see my adobo recipe here and there.  Add
curry powder and just let it do it's thing.  You end up with a very usable
broth
for soup.  I flipped the lid of the cassarole over and while the adobo cooled,
cooked the beans on that.  Fished out the adobo-curry chicken to a plate and 
added the beans and fruit and we were eating high!

 
 > Same here.  I have never been able to equal her annual beef stew pot and
 > it's not just memory.  It really is that good.  I've even helped her make
 > it but cant
 > seem to get it that 'perfect way' on my own.  One of the important parts
 > though was it had to be a big batch in the stew pot (practically a
 > lobsterpot but not quite).  She said it never worked right in smaller
 > amounts.  She'd freeze up tons of it and we'd have it all the rest of the
 > year.

 DP> One thing my mom seems to make better than anyone else is corn bread. 
 DP> Even my southern grandmother, who is an *excellent* cook, doesn't 
 DP> quite make corn bread
 DP> the same way.
 
I learned one way that works but it's not heart healthy.  You drop the dough in
a cast iron pan with 1/4-1/3 cup bacon grease (melted) then put it in the oven
to bake.
  
 > Giggles, we all have our failures.  Don was worried I wouldnt like the
 > first meal he made me (first night after I moved out of the barracks).  He
 > made me rice, sauteed mushrooms, and sashimi (Ahi tuna) with a 50/50
 > soy/worstershire dipping sauce.  I fell in love with that meal.  Invited
 > him to move in that night <g>.

 DP> Hahaha!  Well that sounds good!  Simple, but very appetizing.  Your
 DP> posts and this echo are making me want to be a bit more adventurous
 DP> hehe. 

Hey, try something and tell us what you find?  Need not be 'wierd eats' like
the
TV show, but just something new.

If you can get really _fresh_ fish (was swimming the day before) and it's a
type
that leads to raw eating (salmon, tuna, sea bass, many others) try slivering
just a little off and tasting it.  Now, pour about 1TB brown lea and perrins
worstershire then about the same of soy sauce in a dish then take a sliver of
fish and let that marinade about 30 seconds and eat it.

You have just discovered sashimi.  The cuts do not have to be perfect.  You can
use a fork if you like.

 > Whats a 'pluot'?  Starfruit make wonderful soup garnishes BTW.  Very
 > pretty.

 DP> A pluot is kinda like a combination between a plum and an apricot. 
 DP> They're usually a sort of mottled color (like red/pink/orange,
 DP> blue/purple/white), and sometimes are also called "dinosaur eggs".  To
 DP> me, they almost taste like a pear and an apple put together.  It's a
 DP> really strange fruit, but is pretty good. :)


Ok.  I know many fruits but that is a new one.  Dragon-fruits are cool looking.
 
 > I did get a little tired of 'new' though at times in Sasebo, because so
 > *much* was new.  Of course, I learned favorites from those things too <g>.

 DP> Sometimes a good, old fashion standby is all that's needed.  I'll
 DP> always be a fan of some good, homemade macaroni and cheese.

Me too.  But cheese types were very minimal there.
 
 > Oh, if you arent sodium restricted and get olives, peel some garlic and add
 > that to the jar before you put it in the fridge.   Makes the cheap
 > manzanillas much better.  Also save the brine.  It's very useful in
 > cooking.

 DP> That's a really interesting idea.  I'd never thought of anything like
 DP> that before.

Don thought of it but later I saw upscale olive jars with garlic instead of 
pimento. It's super easy to just peel a few cloves, open the jar, add them,
then
put the jar in the fridge.
 
 DP> Eggplant is a bit of a weird one.  Sometimes I like it, sometimes I
 DP> don't, and sometimes anything I make from it just comes out horrible. 

I finally adapted a really simple way with asian eggplant which isnt bitter
and you do not have to peel it.  I slice longways then oil it with olive oil
then put a few bacos and parmesan cheese on and bake it.  

 DP> My wife and I experimented with spaghetti squash a while back, didn't
 DP> prepare it right, and hated it.  But then on a whim, we decided to try
 DP> it again, cooked it properly, and made some really awesome pasta-like
 DP> dishes with it.  I'm not a squash person myself, but this stuff was
 DP> good. :) 

I got a butternut squash again.  I'm looking at uses for the pumpkin flesh 
though besides pies and such.  We make the seeds up in the oven as lightly
salted snacks.
                xxcarol


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