Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Serious Green: Freeze It Now, Eat It Later

My husband keeps threatening to get me a chest freezer but we've no room for one. Unfortunately the ice maker and raw frozen medallions of dog food take up most of our freezer but you've inspired me to take on the challenge. I'll get to the farmers' market late rather than early and see what I can find as winter is already on its way! Thanks, cookingwithdee.net

tdl1501 at 7:18AM on 09/15/09

Grilling: Mexican Roadside Chicken with Green Onions

Wow, I cooked great ribeyes for my husband and his parents who flew in for the first time today. This looks better and I can practically taste it. That goes on the menu this week! Thanks so much for sharing it. dee@cookingwithdee.net

tdl1501 at 12:06AM on 09/03/09

How Do You Define a Grilled Cheese Sandwich?

No Wonder Bread or Velveeta for me. A nice rye, extra sharp Canadian cheddar, butter. Toasty on the outside, weeping on the inside. Yum.

I'm a cooking school grad and hubby can't cook a thing. One day, years ago before we married, I was making grilled cheese for lunch and he walked in and said "so that's how you do it!" I've a photo from his mom of him making toast at age 4. Nearly 33 years later he hasn't progressed to a grilled cheese sandwich.

I remember the Campbells Tomato Soup as well, but it would go so much better with a mid-summer pappa al pomodoro.

tdl1501 at 5:30PM on 07/27/09

Cookout Etiquette

I beg to differ with myself. "Waifs" are a special case. These are folks who've been laid off, newly divorced, family lives overseas. These are the people who grace our homes year after year on holidays and impromptu brunches/dinners. We have one friend for Christmas for years and she always brings bones and used tennis balls for our dog, as well as wine and other goodies.

tdl1501 at 5:19PM on 07/14/09

Cookout Etiquette

We're in a fully-furnished townhome on a short-term basis and left 99% of our stuff in storage 1,500 miles away. If we have a few neighbors over to get to know them better, I've no problem asking them to bring chairs. Normally, I might ask a few close friends for chairs/tables but I prefer small gatherings.

I also prefer to plan the menu and do the prep, cooking and cleanup myself. If there's a great dessert cook coming who wants to bring something, whatever it is will certainly trump my vanilla ice cream with fresh fruit. If I don't know someone well and they offer, I might ask them to bring a salad. Most people show up with something, flowers or a bottle of wine.

One thing I believe is rude is to require each guest to bring their entire meal. Then it truly is a bunch of strangers getting together to use a grill. Where's MY chicken? I need to cook MY veggie burger before any meat is placed on the grill! Ask if your guests have any food allergies. If you've vegeterians add a main or make sure your veggie sides are substantial.

Anyone under two years of age should ask his/her parents to bring the perfect meal for the little darling. As for college and just post-grad, I don't see the harm in budgeting for burgers, dogs, buns and sides, throw in a keg and pay for some of it but perhaps ask guests for $5 per person or so to cut down on the damage. They'll be happy for the party!

That said these are guests entering into a "social contract." If I make a four-course Tuscan meal for eight guests and no-one reciprocates by inviting my husband and I over/out to dinner in six months, those folks aren't on another guest list, period. I don't care if they brought a bottle of Chianti.

tdl1501 at 5:09PM on 07/14/09

'Top Chef Masters,' Episode 2: The 'Lost' Dinner

I tried to watch this episode but in Mountain time it comes on at 11:00 on a weeknight and living in a furnished place on a temp basis, I've no way of taping it. Why does it come on so late?

tdl1501 at 12:16AM on 06/23/09

French in a Flash: Parmesan and Gruyère Gougères with Jambon de Bayonne, Arugula, and Dijon-Chive Butter

Sounds wonderful. Though I could cheat, if a picnic was imminent, with a store-bought croissant/brie or ciabatta/Bel Paese. Arugula is a constant. Thanks for your passion! I do get bored from time to time and look for inspiration - you provided it today. Thank you. Dee

tdl1501 at 12:27AM on 05/07/09

Meat Cards: Business Cards Made of Beef Jerky

My husband will love this - his father is a cattle rancher, too! And forget "dog attacks," you'll have dogs sitting at your feet awaiting a bite. Of jerky, that is.

tdl1501 at 1:08PM on 05/04/09

Dinner Tonight: Shrimp and Grits with Bacon

Looks darn tasty! I got this from Serious Eats and will try it not tonight, but soon. Thanks for sharing! dee@cookingwithdee.net

tdl1501 at 6:31PM on 02/11/09

Snapshots from the UK: The English Foodstuff Lexicon

Yes, please do the Scots next. I lived there for three months last year and learned a lot. Fish & chips always come with mushy peas. Don't ever ask for an appetizer at a restaurant, as you'll end up with Appletizer, a carbonated apple beverage. Don't EVER order a burger, as they are the size and texture (and probably taste) of a hockey puck.
In Scotland drink the water, it's from local sources pure as the driven snow. Drink the whisky. Eat Loch Etive mussels (Mussel Inn, Glasgow where you order mussels by weight and choose your sauce).
And if you really want bacon, as my husband did when I cooked breakfast every morning in our flat, try frying up two slices of pancetta from Tesco.
No, I didn't bring myself to try even a veggie haggis. But the pizza over there is fantastic. I won't say it gives Italy a run for its money else I'll not be allowed back to Florence!

tdl1501 at 11:52AM on 12/15/08

Dinner Tonight: Scalloped Potatoes

Simplicity is the key. Peeled and sliced russet potatoes. Half and half. Layer potatoes in appropriate pan. Season first layer with salt and pepper and dot with butter. Second layer, same, third, same (if you get that far). Slowly drizzle in enough light cream (half and half) to nearly cover. Bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until brown on top and bubbly. I use a nonstick tart pan and place it on a cookie sheet for spills. This is my favorite potato dish, sorry Rosti, you're second.

tdl1501 at 11:09AM on 11/17/08

How Far Does Restaurant Loyalty Go?

Oysters, land based restaurant in Utah. Had them twice before and they were great! No alcohol (Utah) and we drove less than 1/8 mile before I had my husband pull over. We were only there a few weeks for work so didn't go back. But we should have told the manager afterwards. I was busy at the time praying to the porcelain god.

In general, we do best eating from our own kitchen because I practice good sanitation that we can't expect in a local eatery.

tdl1501 at 8:21PM on 10/20/08

Top Ten Worst Halloween 'Candies'

I got around the parent inspection trap by spending the night at my girlfriend Debbie's downtown where there were apartment complexes and we could go door-to-door and get a great haul.

I haven't had a trick-or-treater in 13 years. But the day before Halloween I go to the store and buy what's left of the shelves... raisins. Sorry, kids.

tdl1501 at 7:14PM on 10/20/08

What do foodies do?

Left work as NYC real estate lobbyist to spend life savings on cooking school. Loved apprenticeship in Mendocino but not job in SoCal. Broke my finger going from an interview 2nd day working at hotel scraping old cheese off French onion soup bowls so became non-profit consultant!

I teach cooking when I can and cook for my husband and feed my dog but do not cook for her. My mother just died so I'd like to gather her recipes together with photos and stories and write a book.

tdl1501 at 7:03PM on 10/20/08

From Slice

Why Pepperoni Pizza Sucks

Thanks machineman, I'll check out those places next time I fly back to Buffalo. My favorites are thinly sliced potato with rosemary and a sprinkling of parm. That was at a takeout place and we ate it sitting on the main piazza in Siena, Italy.

Spinach, goat cheese and roasted garlic on a thin wheat crust. Thinly sliced roasted butternut squash with Fontina. And the classic Pissaladiere with caramelized onions and anchovies. I love pizza and am still looking to make the perfect crust. I'm almost there...

tdl1501 at 7:17PM on 09/22/08

Mayo vs. Miracle Whip

It is sweet. My aunt used to use it on her otherwise superb potato salad but the sugar ruined it for me. Now I make my own version of her salad but with... Hellman's. And now I live in the South where everything is laced with sugar, from "sweet tea" on down.

tdl1501 at 4:50AM on 09/06/08

Rescue food from the depths of the cupboard!

We have no pantry in our urban space, so have made one in the laundry room with a seven-shelf mounted plastic-coated metal deal from Home Depot. It houses pastas, rices, canned goods, other dried goods, herbs and spices I don't use every day, and on top, dog stuff (heartworm meds et al).

I still overbuy. But this summer brought on a financing drought with an unexpected loss of income and we started eating our way through the pantry. My goodness, did I overbuy! Now I need to perform total inventory and stock up on what we're missing. Thanks for the inspiration!

tdl1501 at 4:43AM on 09/06/08

Classic Cookbooks: Elizabeth David's Ratatouille

I was taught in cooking school that the French like their ratatouille fully cooked, bien cuit. So I don't understand the preference for cooking everything separately a la Julia. I don't go by amounts except by personal bias in having summer tomatoes, eggplants and zucchini. I just start some onions and garlic, add peppers and the rest and stew for at least 1/2 hour, concentrating the juices.

Sorry but I'm having a little mental trouble imagining caraway seeds in there. I serve mine warm the first time, then refrigerate overnight and try to serve at room temperature in following days. It is one of my favorite dishes and my husband will eat it if he can take out the eggplant.

tdl1501 at 4:33AM on 09/06/08

Newspaper Food Sections Cutting Jobs; What Can Be Done?

As the food section goes, so goes the newspaper, especially if the Times is restructuring as I've read here. I read The Times, Houston Chronicle and Slate and Washington Post online nearly everyday. Chronicle is for hurricane and weather coverage.

My question is not where I'll find information on food and trends and recipes, it's what the local paper will become when the bluebloods can't find photos of themselves on the society pages at the art fundraiser, or photos of precious Constance at the debutante ball? Wait, that blog can make some money! But I'm more interested in food.

tdl1501 at 3:29AM on 09/06/08

How far off-menu should a restaurant be expected to go?

It only took one stone-cold look from me to my boyfriend, now husband, to stop him from putting steak sauce on a NYstrip I lovingly prepared. You can do that at at a diner with steak and eggs but not in my kitchen!

Years ago in Florence, I only had a day or two left on this visit and had yet to get my "fix" of a classic dish, bistecca alla fiorentina, which is rare chianina beef usually served for two.

It was a top-notch restaurant and I found a fellow guest with which to share the steak. Yea! Then I was mortified when he demanded it well-well-done. The water was afraid he'd be fired if he asked the chef to accommodate that request. I believe that request was not only an insult to the chef and restaurant, but to Tuscan cuisine not to mention the cow. And me, who wanted it in the traditional fashion.

I immediately suggested that we each order separate non-steak entrees and thus far, am still welcome in Tuscany.

tdl1501 at 7:13AM on 09/03/08

Food Network... Let's give them a hand!

RIP Food Network. It's now called PBS, Fine Living and Travel Channel, with a bit of Bravo thrown in just for Tom Colicchio, Eric Ripert, Tony Bourdain and my favorite, Ted Allen.

I hear what FN did is demand a cut of everyone's restaurants, including those who built up the network in the first place (Mario, Emeril). After hearing that from a reputable source, I view any new "talent" chosen by the bean-counters with suspicion. No wonder they need contests to determine the next "personality" and use home cooks with no experience whatsoever. Like Sandra Lee, whose only expertise seems to be "tablescapes," color-coordinating Kitchenaid and kitchen window coverings, and cocktails.

What started as a novel concept is now mainly drivel because most of the people who can cook moved to other networks. Those who can cook (you know who you are) must have good agents/publicists to have sweetheart deals with FN that don't allow them to keep their hand in your pocket for part of your restaurant's gross profits.

tdl1501 at 6:28AM on 09/03/08

Anthony Bourdain, I AM NOT SOUTHERN

Fresh figs, no stuffing. Apples, peaches, strawberries and figs with goat cheese and water crackers. Perhaps some Soppressata. Wine= Cetamura from Badia al Coltibuono.

Cocktail party tomorrow for six. Bourdain has introduced me to several new cuisines. The club room above the "Bo" room in Kitchen Confidential is hilarious, and a reason I don't work in restaurants any more.

It's interesting that I grew up in the North and the Civil War was something we'd spent 1/2 hour on in History each year. Down here it's the War of Northern Aggression and is catalogued every day.

tdl1501 at 12:39PM on 08/25/08