Topic: What are you eating?

[toledobass]

Allan - roasted chicken is a fav here (or roasted 'game hens'!) - 

Last night, our little Italian bistro w/ my favorite dish - Veal Piccata w/ a little pasta side dish (wonderful fresh tomato sauce) + a few glasses of Soave - 

Tonight eating @ home - some sauteed scallops (olive oil, garlic, sherry, and other flavorings!) w/ some simple green beans w/ sliced almonds + a few glasses of Rosenblum Viognier - Kathy's Cuvee, '05 vintage - delicious combination - decided to include my CD of the day, i.e. the Haydn Horn Works that I've posted to the listening thread! 

Damn man....that looks great.  All of it.

Peace,
Allan

[uffeviking]

I see a lot of use of olive oil in your cooking and can't help but spoil your fun only a wee bit. I assume none of you have read the investigative report in The New Yorker about Italian olive oil and it's control by the Mafia. The New Yorker is not a scandal sheet, you know that, so I changed my olive oil purchase from Italian to Greek and also Spanish.

In Italy the Mafia controlled producers buy cheap peanut oil from South America and Africa, have it shipped in tankers to Italy where it gets mixed with the local oil. There is only one brand relatively pure because it is supposedly checked by the Italian Government for purity, which doesn't really make me feel save either. I can't recall exactly the name of that one, Calavita or something like that.

Spanish olive oil definitely has a different flavour and the Greek even more. For general cooking I now us the Spanish and for special dishes the Greek. For salads I discovered roasted walnut oil from my neighbouring State, Oregon. Delicious!!

[Lilas Pastia]

I have a connection with greek friends and usually do the groceries at a greek outlet here. Not surprisingly I always use greek olive oil (once a year I get a bottle straight from my friends' orchard).

Lately I've discovered a portuguese brand at a corner portuguese bakery. Extremely pungent and flavourful. And that cheese they have!

[uffeviking]

André, you are very lucky to have the kind of stores as the Greek and Portuguese you mentioned; I miss them here, where the Hispanic population is in the majority. A brave Ukrainian tried it with all kinds of goodies from Europe but he had to give up after less than a year.

BTW.: If you are tempted to try exotic cooking oils, be careful with the White Truffle flavoured oil. It smells like dirty socks when used cold, as in salads; only the heating process eliminates the stink! 

[toledobass]

Hmmm,

I use a lot if olive oil for cooking.  I never thought the oils that I used for cooking had all that much flavor so I never used them for salads etc.  I've got some nicer oils for "raw" use.  Maybe that lack of flavor is because I've been using peanut oil all along.  Oh well.  The thing I hate about trying expensive oils that are supposed to be excellent flavor is that no one buys them so when I get around to buying and trying,  they've been on the store shelf long enough to go rancid.  This even happens to many olive or "olive" oils. 

Allan

[orbital]

In Italy the Mafia controlled producers buy cheap peanut oil from South America and Africa, have it shipped in tankers to Italy where it gets mixed with the local oil. There is only one brand relatively pure because it is supposedly checked by the Italian Government for purity, which doesn't really make me feel save either. I can't recall exactly the name of that one, Calavita or something like that.

Not Colavita is it? A mass produced supermarket brand ?

I generally go for Greek or Turkish brands. Both excellent generally (with my personal preference going to some certain Greek labels). We sell here some unprocessed olive oils that can't be beat for dipping some bread. Very expensive though, about $40 for 300ml.

[маразм1]

Hungry Man pot roast, was pretty damn good.  they even had a brownie that you microwave and it is fershly baked.  genius!

[Lilas Pastia]

I don't know about the places you live in, but here an olive oil tasting counter at the store is very common. They have 3-5 bottles opened and some good fresh-from-the-day-before white bread for dipping. The bread is important: if it's fresh from the day and not of the crusty kind (baguette style for example) the oil's taste will not be experienced at its fullest. And of course, no whole grain bread should be used: it gives the oil a bitter taste (they are best served with butter).

There is range of tastes, colours and textures in olive oil as great as that of green teas. Nutty, bitter, oily, spicy, light and almost flavourless, thick and sirupy, golden, greenish, golden green, greenish gold...

I bought an expensive brand  as a present for my olive oil freak american sister-in-law: "First cold pressing with Arabica coffee beans  from Guatemala and Arbequina olives from Catalonia (*). Use suggestions: raw with tuna, salmon, sea food, avocado, salads, endive with nuts and for desserts in general. As topping on ice cream . Made with extra virgin olive oil and extra virgin coffee oil".

As you can see, the best oils are normally savoured raw. "First cold pressing extra virgin oil" will add nothing to your cooking, only to your grocery bill 

(*)Not to be confused with Spain, oy!

[Lady Chatterley]

It's Cabbage Roll time again,bought the biggest cabbage ever!made 3 casserole dishes full.Serve with Russian beet and potato salad.

[karlhenning]

Yum!

[karlhenning]

Right now, some of Mamochka's fresh-baked apply turnovers!

[Lady Chatterley]

Yum!

You know it Karl!
 I wish my mother in law would cook for me(Greek)!

[Lady Chatterley]

I'm going to serve the cabbage  rolls on family dinner night,that's Thursday round 8:00,tonight,poppyseed chicken,tadziki,Greek salad,cheese and chive rice bread.

[toledobass]

WOOOOOT!!!! Muriel in da house!!!!

Great to see you,

Allan

[Lady Chatterley]

WOOOOOT!!!! Muriel in da house!!!!

Great to see you,

Allan

Right back to you Allan,way to eat.I don't suppose you have a nice celtic or bluegrass version of To be a Pilgrim in your collection ,someone had to record this hymn somewhere ,sometime?On the old Folkways albums maybe?

[orbital]

IAs topping on ice cream

One of Mario Batali's restaurant's in NYC (Otto) features olive oil ice cream for a choice of desert, and it is quite delicious

[SonicMan46]

WOOOOOT!!!! Muriel in da house!!!!

Muriel & Allan - good evening & nice to see Lady C. back in action!   

Tonight, eating in again & great surprise - another great dinner from the LOML (she recently had a shopping spree @ Whole Foods - George's place!):

Duck breast sauteed w/ fresh mushrooms (Shitake & Oyster), garlic, shallots, olive oil, & flavorings + fresh sauteed spinach w/ garlic; wine, an Oyster Bay Pinot Noir from New Zealand! 

Music for dinner - Field Nocturnes w/ O'Connor (from Mark's thread today - had to have a re-listen!) 

Plus, a special treat - purchased a new set of Laguiole steak knives on our recent trip to Quebec City  - set of 6 in a nice case, shown below - Rosewood handles - cut the duck breast like butter!   

[toledobass]

Dammit,

Sarge hipped me to those knives and now you've got them too!?!?!?!  I've gotta bump them up on the 'stuff to get for the kitchen' list.

Dinner looks great too. 

I made 2 batches of brownies tonight using Mark Bittman's recipe.  The first I mistaked 8 ounces of butter for 8 tbs so ended with a wierd brownie confit type of thing.  I thought that 8 oz was too much butter but I powered along.  I just laughed when I opened the oven door to see all that chocolate and flour being poached in butter.  I shoulda taken a picture.  The second corrected batch came out very well.  I'm draining the first batch in cheesecloth right now and will try to use it in in an ice cream batch sometime this week....we'll see what happens.



Allan

[George]

Dammit,

Sarge hipped me to those knives and now you've got them too!?!?!?!  I've gotta bump them up on the 'stuff to get for the kitchen' list.

If you act now, you'll get the cheese grater and the potato peeler for no extra charge. 

[SonicMan46]

Dammit,

Sarge hipped me to those knives and now you've got them too!?!?!?!  I've gotta bump them up on the 'stuff to get for the kitchen' list.

Allan - LOL!    I've had a Laguiole corkscrew for years - like the ones below, but mine has a 'horned' handle - can't even guess how many corks it has pulled over the years!  But, looks new & still works fine - not cheap, but a life long companion! The new knives are just gorgeous (pic does not do them justice) - fit your hand beautifully (like an extension of your fingers), and cut w/ ease - the blades have a 'fine' serration, and the recommendation for cleaning is just hand wiping (the sales person in Quebec City stated that they never need sharpening?  True?  Not sure, but we'll do some research) - not cheap but should last forever - but be aware of 'fakes' on the market w/ the same name - Dave