Text 4971, 122 rader
Skriven 2013-09-22 20:40:24 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
   Kommentar till text 4921 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: noncreativity 196
=========================
Hi Michael,

 RH> We're sparing in our use of thyme, except when we make thyme tea to
 RH> help the bronchial issues clear up. OTOH, we'll use a lot of oregano,
 RH> or used to when I cooked more pasta.

 ML> Somewhere along the line I started to substitute thyme for
 ML> much of the oregano in tomato-based sauces and have not
 ML> turned back thirty-forty-fifty years after the fact. When
 ML> I go out with friends and have a slice of a heavily
 ML> oreganated pizza or a similar dish, I am sometimes
 ML> pleasantly surprised by the taste and by the memories
 ML> that it brings back.

With Steve being half Italian, I've got to keep oregano in the house.
It's one of the 3 green herbs I use in a lot of Italian type cooking,
along with basil and parsley. I'm also using a bit of mint from time to
time, thanks to Janis. OTOH, I've had to buy oregano and basil when I
wanted to make spaghetti or other pasta for my folks, same with garlic.
Several years ago when we went up for their 60th anniversary
celebration, my dad and I each made a pot of meat sauce for the dozen or
so folks that were eating supper at the house one night. My sauce
basically disappeared, Dad's was taken by some folks who wanted to be
diplomatic and have a bit of each.

 RH> wasn't a fan of rosemary until I started using the fresh--I don't use a
 RH> lot of it now but do like the fresh much better than the dried, if it's
 RH> not overdone.

 ML> If. There was a while when I dreaded going to fashionable
 ML> new restaurants, because they would put rosemary in everything
 ML> up to and including using it as a garnish.

Overkill on top of the overkill.


 ML> Yeah, the Michelin trademark ... used to look more like a bunch
 ML> of balloons (supposed to be tires, I think), but the newer
 RH> OK, I know the Michelin man but never thought of him as a bunch of
 RH> ballons, just tires.

 ML> He's as much balloon as tire to me.

Sorta like the Pillsbury Doughboy of the tire world.



 ML> I could live on two burgers a day every day and actually did
 ML> spend an extended time as a beefatarian, weeks or perhaps a
 ML> month, I forget, but it was reported on in one of the cooking
 ML> echoes. A burger or a slab of beef for every meal; I allowed
 ML> myself onions, garlic, salt, pepper, and maybe soy sauce and
 ML> sherry. I recall it as a relatively glorious time. And I
 ML> didn't find it boring, but what's that saying about me.
 RH> That's a whole different ball game than semi lumpy mashed potatoes
 RH> with overcooked vegetable and well done meat. No seasoning other than
 RH> salt for the potatoes (sometimes greasy gravy), salt and pepper for the
 RH> meat, butter (margerine) and salt for the vegetable.

 ML> Okay, I can see your point, but one can enjoy even such meals.
 ML> I admit that a familiar with the lily family helps a lot.


For sure! I usually go thru several pounds of onions a month, less of
garlic (because it's smaller--G--).


 ML> Brisket: the next generation
 ML> cat: beef, main, revisionist
 RH> That looks pretty good, and much tastier than the chuck roasts my mom
 RH> did.

 ML> Here in my dotage I probably would do fine with food such
 ML> as your mother made, but that may be partially because
 ML> during my stay on the planet I have had a substantially
 ML> more adventurous time of it than most people.

And I'm trying to get away from the foods my mother made, or at least
the way she made them. We splurged Friday night on our anniversary and
went to a 4 star German/Polish place. The menu was very limited but
jaegerschnitzel with locally grown shitakes was one of the specials. We
both ordered that; it came with red cabbage (not as ubersweet as found
in a lot of German restaurants) and spaezle. That had been fried a bit
in butter after boiling so it wasn't a glu-ey mass. The schnitzels had a
nice crunchy crust, a bit on the salty side tho. For appetisers Steve
had a chopped salad with avocado dressing; I had the avocado/shrimp
salad with citrus dressing. They were both good. We split my dessert
(peach streusel on yellow cake--on the dry side--with brown sugar-maple
ice cream--subbed for pistachio) and took Steve's home to split
yesterday. He had a walnut cake in a pie crust with sour cherries on the
side. Overall, probably about 3.25 stars for the food. The menu was very
limited but there was an extensive beer/wine listing that we ignored.



 ML> Fried egg-meat patty (KHANUM BUDU)
 ML> cat: Armenian, main, basic
 ML> servings: 4

 ML> 1/2 c rice (long-grained)
 ML> 2 c water
 ML> 3 eggs
 ML> 1 lb ground lamb or beef
 ML> 1 ts parsley, minced
 ML> salt, pepper to taste
 ML> shortening

 ML> M's note: a small onion or a clove or two of garlic would
 ML> do wonders for this dish.

It needs something to punch up the flavor; I think I'd go with onion.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Are you sure you really want to know that?

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