1. Who are your role models - food related or otherwise?
My mother, Suzanne is an adventurous cook. When I was a child she experimented all the time. A ferocious reader, she is always exploring artful cook books. Regardless of whether she was underway on our 31' sailboat cooking while healed on an angle or on the fly to a dozen hungry skiers my mother is unflappable, gracious and innovative.
I love Anthony Bourdain's adventuresome tour du force and enjoyed his book. And OF COURSE, Julia!
2. What is your drink of choice?
Beer on Tap: Bass
Beer in Bottle: Budweiser & Longtrail
Summer Cocktail apres Sail: Dark n' Stormy w/ Goslings
Winter Cocktail apres Ski: Bailey's & hot chocolate
AM: Orange Juice
PM: Lemonade
Tea: Rooibos
Coffee: Hazelnut
On the Go: Vitamin Water & Snapple Peach Iced Tea
3. What is your favorite cookbook or other food related book?
Love "The Joy of Cooking" and also love "New England Table"
4. What was your most memorable meal and why?
It's hard to say the most anticipated meal is my mother's Thanksgiving feast!
5. What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool?
Popover tin & Blender
6. If you had to make dinner with ingredients at your home right now, what would you make?
Popovers with maple butter. Spinach salad with strawberries, pine nuts, pecan crusted goat cheese, craisins, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, with Balsamic Vinegar
7. What kind of music do you like to listen to while you cook?
My ipod- which varied. But I will say if I had a choice: Billie Holiday
8. What is your philosophy on cooking and eating?
Make enough for everyone especially an unexpected guest. Presentation goes a long way.
9. Are there any foods you can not stand to eat?
Canned veggies- mostly mushrooms and olives. Not a fan of fennel.
10. If you could use any super power in the kitchen, what would it be and why?
Make time stop or at least slow down so my life doesn't interfere with my cooking. I love cooking and wish I had more time to spend at the supermarket, shopping, enjoying food instead of rushing, shovelling food in and trying to fit everything in!
Pie crusts- I get the timing off all the time. I have sadly given up and (gasp) do store bought.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Fabulously Fierce Friends, Jiya
1. Who are your role models - food related or otherwise?
My grandma--she could whip up delicious meals with just tofu and not much else. and she makes her own kimchi. And she does all these with so much grace.
2. What is your drink of choice?
gerwurtztraminer, riesling, and any italian wines.
3. What is your favorite cookbook or other food related book?
"Like Water For Chocolate" because everything seems to revolve around kitchen in the book. it is a little saccharine but was so cute when i read it years ago...
4. What was your most memorable meal and why?
this is a triple tie.
(1)Meals at greg's, of course!
wonderful food and fabulous host/chef.
(2)meals my ex-roomate rahna used to cook.
Shrimp toufee(?)
she just makes everything better.
(3) I once got invited to a vip event at some tiny restaurant where they only served the meat from the cow they killed that very morning.they only kill three cows per week...the waiting list was months long)...anyway, quoting from the guy sitting across from me that day:"I never saw a girl take in so much meat."(no pun intended...?)
5. What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool?
electric kettle to boil tea and make coffee. i only come alive after my morning cofee...and then i put on my face.
6. If you had to make dinner with ingredients at your home right now, what would you make?
umm..ok...kimchi fried rice with mozarella topping.
7. What kind of music do you like to listen to while you cook?
bossa nova. anything with fast rhythm....
8. What is your philosophy on cooking and eating?
anything in excess is poison.
except wine.(?!)
actually, a great company can make even fermented squirrel shit taste better(the squirrel being that squirrel you use to make that "special-organic(?)" coffee!!--you know where you feed the rodent some coffee beans and it poops the beans and you make coffee with the pellets..)
9. Are there any foods you can not stand to eat?
yes! please hammer don't hurt them pets!
In other words,
no dogs and heads and feet of any animal.(you know, despite the prejudice and stereotype, only few..very few Koreans actually eat dogs!!!)
anything which i can actually retrace the original form of
the meat i am eating, i do not want to eat!!
also...i hate lobsters. they look like roaches from the sea.
10. If you could use any super power in the kitchen, what would it be and why?
cleaning up after wards. sometimes i cook like an amazon going to war.
My grandma--she could whip up delicious meals with just tofu and not much else. and she makes her own kimchi. And she does all these with so much grace.
2. What is your drink of choice?
gerwurtztraminer, riesling, and any italian wines.
3. What is your favorite cookbook or other food related book?
"Like Water For Chocolate" because everything seems to revolve around kitchen in the book. it is a little saccharine but was so cute when i read it years ago...
4. What was your most memorable meal and why?
this is a triple tie.
(1)Meals at greg's, of course!
wonderful food and fabulous host/chef.
(2)meals my ex-roomate rahna used to cook.
Shrimp toufee(?)
she just makes everything better.
(3) I once got invited to a vip event at some tiny restaurant where they only served the meat from the cow they killed that very morning.they only kill three cows per week...the waiting list was months long)...anyway, quoting from the guy sitting across from me that day:"I never saw a girl take in so much meat."(no pun intended...?)
5. What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool?
electric kettle to boil tea and make coffee. i only come alive after my morning cofee...and then i put on my face.
6. If you had to make dinner with ingredients at your home right now, what would you make?
umm..ok...kimchi fried rice with mozarella topping.
7. What kind of music do you like to listen to while you cook?
bossa nova. anything with fast rhythm....
8. What is your philosophy on cooking and eating?
anything in excess is poison.
except wine.(?!)
actually, a great company can make even fermented squirrel shit taste better(the squirrel being that squirrel you use to make that "special-organic(?)" coffee!!--you know where you feed the rodent some coffee beans and it poops the beans and you make coffee with the pellets..)
9. Are there any foods you can not stand to eat?
yes! please hammer don't hurt them pets!
In other words,
no dogs and heads and feet of any animal.(you know, despite the prejudice and stereotype, only few..very few Koreans actually eat dogs!!!)
anything which i can actually retrace the original form of
the meat i am eating, i do not want to eat!!
also...i hate lobsters. they look like roaches from the sea.
10. If you could use any super power in the kitchen, what would it be and why?
cleaning up after wards. sometimes i cook like an amazon going to war.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Fabulously Fierce Friends, Rosalind
Rosalind writes: Uncle Wayne and I celebrated 50 yrs of marriage in 2008, and I find that I am cooking more "sugar and carb" free as can be foods. I am also doing what I swore I would never do when I saw my Mom catering to my Dad and his food tastes. Now I get it. The enjoyment of preparing a nice meal and presenting it in the prettiest plating I can manage and being happy and proud to prepare it for "my guy". It took a lot of years to get here. My kitchen is large and we added) granite cabinet tops just so I could prepare food in a large and roomy area. I will be looking at a magazine (my favorite is the "Cooks Illustrated" with the trials and perfections of recipes) and just get up and make a recipe in the magazine whether it is mealtime or not. If I need ingredients, I'll run to the supermarket (our wholefoods) and get the best and freshest ingredients. Some of my most memorable meals began in this fashion. I absolutely love to cook and plate and serve.
1. my favorite things to cook are from my childhood, shrimp gumbo, shrimp etoufee, you get the idea.
2. My favorite cookbook is River Road which was give to me by your Mom about 30 yrs ago. It is well loved and used.
3. My favorite cookbook author is Julia Childs (even before the movie) I fell in love with french food when Wayne and I went to Paris yrs ago.My favorite contemporary chef is Bobby Flay.
4.I have two most memorable meals. The first was in Paris. We were wandering the streets along Champs delysee and found this quaint house that advertised local cooking. It turned out to be the people's home and they cooked and fileted a fish that was an artistic treat to our eyes. The meal was so wonderful, they served it with a wine from the family, a white, sauted vegetables and for desert creme brulee, that I have not been able to duplicate anywhere. the second most memorable meal was when Brenda and I went to New York and after a Broadway show, went to the Italian restaurant area and I ordered filet of sole. It was served with a shrimp sauce that was unforgettable. I have ordered filet of sole many times since but they do not come anywhere near the flavor and tenderness of this meal I had in New York. Because of my radiation, I can only eat a little and swallow a little, but I ate every bit of that food. I think of it often.
My favorite kitchen tool are my scissors, I use them to open things, cut meat, cut fat off meat pieces, cut pizza, I use them all day.
If you came to see me today, I would make a rich shrimp, crab gumbo, served with a green salad, crackers and a white wine (of your choice) I would serve bread pudding made from challah bread with pecans and a crispy crust
My philosophy of cooking is use fresh ingredients, don'' overcook vegetables, use lots of salads, don't use sugar and watch the carbs. I use lots of butter and watch portions.
The super power in my kitchen would be a robot that would clean up after all my cooking especially my experiments. I hope this helps with your column.
1. my favorite things to cook are from my childhood, shrimp gumbo, shrimp etoufee, you get the idea.
2. My favorite cookbook is River Road which was give to me by your Mom about 30 yrs ago. It is well loved and used.
3. My favorite cookbook author is Julia Childs (even before the movie) I fell in love with french food when Wayne and I went to Paris yrs ago.My favorite contemporary chef is Bobby Flay.
4.I have two most memorable meals. The first was in Paris. We were wandering the streets along Champs delysee and found this quaint house that advertised local cooking. It turned out to be the people's home and they cooked and fileted a fish that was an artistic treat to our eyes. The meal was so wonderful, they served it with a wine from the family, a white, sauted vegetables and for desert creme brulee, that I have not been able to duplicate anywhere. the second most memorable meal was when Brenda and I went to New York and after a Broadway show, went to the Italian restaurant area and I ordered filet of sole. It was served with a shrimp sauce that was unforgettable. I have ordered filet of sole many times since but they do not come anywhere near the flavor and tenderness of this meal I had in New York. Because of my radiation, I can only eat a little and swallow a little, but I ate every bit of that food. I think of it often.
My favorite kitchen tool are my scissors, I use them to open things, cut meat, cut fat off meat pieces, cut pizza, I use them all day.
If you came to see me today, I would make a rich shrimp, crab gumbo, served with a green salad, crackers and a white wine (of your choice) I would serve bread pudding made from challah bread with pecans and a crispy crust
My philosophy of cooking is use fresh ingredients, don'' overcook vegetables, use lots of salads, don't use sugar and watch the carbs. I use lots of butter and watch portions.
The super power in my kitchen would be a robot that would clean up after all my cooking especially my experiments. I hope this helps with your column.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Fabulously Fierce Friends, Erin
1. Who are your role models - food related or otherwise?
Ina Garten aka The Barefoot Contessa is my food related idol. She kicked her boring day job (at the White House no less) to the curb and followed her heart to buy and run a specialty food and catering shop on Long Island. The food she cooks is very simple but really maximizes what the right combination of the right ingredients can create, and you can tell cooking really makes her happy. I am also pretty into Jacques Pepin and my older brother Kevin.
2. What is your drink of choice?
Champagne, please.
3. What is your favorite cookbook or other food related book?
Mastering the art of French Cooking, obviously. The basic skills and detailed instructions can make a chef out of anyone. Mastery of just a handful of the recipes in this collection translates to eating like a king for a lifetime!
4. What was your most memorable meal and why?
It would have to be the birthday dinner I made for my mother’s 40th (approximate) birthday, probably one of the first times I cooked for a crowd. I made a whole beef tenderloin with roasted asparagus and potatoes au gratin; a meal complied of the most classic of dishes but everything came out perfect. Along with my newly found talent for cooking, this meal was the first time I realized that cooking for the people I loved made them feel loved. The satisfaction I felt from this realization was so pleasant that I very quickly morphed into one of those people that love you with food.
5. What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool?
Spoon – mix, stir, and most importantly food to mouth vehicle.
6. If you had to make dinner with ingredients at your home right now, what would you make?
I try to be well stocked at all times, so my response to this might be a bit unfair. I would make Tilapia with tomato sauce – super easy to put together. Pan-sear a couple of tilapia filets in olive oil until they are just about cooked through, remove from pan and set aside. Sauté a whole onion sliced with some olive oil and salt and pepper. Add in one can of stewed tomatoes (or fresh chopped tomatoes with green pepper and celery if you have them on hand). Sauté for a few minutes. Add in about a quarter cup of warm water. Add in a few tablespoons of dried parsley (or a handful of fresh). Gently put fish back in sauté pan and nestle into the sauce. Add in a large handful of chopped kalamata olives, and sauté for a few more minutes. So quick, so satisfying, and so delicious!
7. What kind of music do you like to listen to while you cook?
Anything, as long as it is loud enough to drown out my singing!
8. What is your philosophy on cooking and eating?
Relax, enjoy and eat what you like.
9. Are there any foods you can not stand to eat?
I know what I am about to say may disturb some of your audience, but I just don’t like foie gras. I try and try and hope that someday I will be part of the secret club that can’t get enough of the stuff, but I just don’t enjoy it.
10. If you could use any super power in the kitchen, what would it be and why?
I am never short of amazed when I see someone detect the temperature of meat with just a prod of their finger, so I would ask the super power grantors that my fingers be as talented.
Ina Garten aka The Barefoot Contessa is my food related idol. She kicked her boring day job (at the White House no less) to the curb and followed her heart to buy and run a specialty food and catering shop on Long Island. The food she cooks is very simple but really maximizes what the right combination of the right ingredients can create, and you can tell cooking really makes her happy. I am also pretty into Jacques Pepin and my older brother Kevin.
2. What is your drink of choice?
Champagne, please.
3. What is your favorite cookbook or other food related book?
Mastering the art of French Cooking, obviously. The basic skills and detailed instructions can make a chef out of anyone. Mastery of just a handful of the recipes in this collection translates to eating like a king for a lifetime!
4. What was your most memorable meal and why?
It would have to be the birthday dinner I made for my mother’s 40th (approximate) birthday, probably one of the first times I cooked for a crowd. I made a whole beef tenderloin with roasted asparagus and potatoes au gratin; a meal complied of the most classic of dishes but everything came out perfect. Along with my newly found talent for cooking, this meal was the first time I realized that cooking for the people I loved made them feel loved. The satisfaction I felt from this realization was so pleasant that I very quickly morphed into one of those people that love you with food.
5. What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool?
Spoon – mix, stir, and most importantly food to mouth vehicle.
6. If you had to make dinner with ingredients at your home right now, what would you make?
I try to be well stocked at all times, so my response to this might be a bit unfair. I would make Tilapia with tomato sauce – super easy to put together. Pan-sear a couple of tilapia filets in olive oil until they are just about cooked through, remove from pan and set aside. Sauté a whole onion sliced with some olive oil and salt and pepper. Add in one can of stewed tomatoes (or fresh chopped tomatoes with green pepper and celery if you have them on hand). Sauté for a few minutes. Add in about a quarter cup of warm water. Add in a few tablespoons of dried parsley (or a handful of fresh). Gently put fish back in sauté pan and nestle into the sauce. Add in a large handful of chopped kalamata olives, and sauté for a few more minutes. So quick, so satisfying, and so delicious!
7. What kind of music do you like to listen to while you cook?
Anything, as long as it is loud enough to drown out my singing!
8. What is your philosophy on cooking and eating?
Relax, enjoy and eat what you like.
9. Are there any foods you can not stand to eat?
I know what I am about to say may disturb some of your audience, but I just don’t like foie gras. I try and try and hope that someday I will be part of the secret club that can’t get enough of the stuff, but I just don’t enjoy it.
10. If you could use any super power in the kitchen, what would it be and why?
I am never short of amazed when I see someone detect the temperature of meat with just a prod of their finger, so I would ask the super power grantors that my fingers be as talented.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Fabulously Fierce Friends, Elizabeth
I don't like to write about myself(first or third person) so this will be odd. I grew up in Utah, land of the family-friendly chain restaurant and pretty much didn't think food came much better than what the Olive Garden served up. My mom always made sure we had dinner together as a family though. More often than not, that dinner included Lawry's seasoning salt, but hey, at least I won a scholarship because of it. (The prompt: What inspired you to enter the foodservice industry? My answer: Lawry's.) I graduated from the CIA's pastry program in 2008 and as a result, I am no longer capable of having a meal without dessert.
1. This list could be long or short depending:
Alton Brown - makes food fun and fascinating
My parents - I want what they have and nothing less will do
My brother - follows his dreams
Anyone who does what they love - they're the most interesting
2. This is completely PG, probably due to my years in a certain state, but it's a tie between fresh lemonade and cream soda. Although if I have to grow up a little, I'll say an Amaretto sour.
3. Any of the CIA's books, particularly Frozen Desserts and Chocolates and Confections. The photography is beautiful (trade secret: the photo studio is located next to the dumpsters of one of the dorms) and it's gotten to the point where I only care for cookbooks that are in weight. Non CIA: On Food and Cooking, The Omnivore's Dilemma, Kitchen Confidential, and best of all, Cake Wrecks because you have to have a sense of humor about what you do.
4. I can't tell you the name of the restaurant or even what I had, but my best meal was the last night my family was in London. It had probably been the most hectic vacation of my life and I think we were running on about 8 hours of sleep between the four of us. It was about 10:00 at night and our flight was leaving early the next morning, but we stopped for dinner and just talked about our trip and what we'd remember.
5. I refuse to bake without a scale, except when it comes to my Grandma B's chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I'm also in love with my Thermapen, and I'm saving up for a refractometer. Other things to be found in my pockets include a calculator, mini offset spatula, box cutter, mini ruler, and paring knife (knife guard on, of course).
6. So I fall into the category of chef who doesn't cook when she gets home. But I could probably scrape together my mom's wicked spaghetti sauce (Lawry's not included) or a mean bowl of cold cereal.
7. I like songs, not genres. Consequently, my playlist is about as diverse as it gets. To give you an idea of how random my tastes are, the next five songs on my shuffle literally are: You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC, G Code by Geto Boys, Crazy in Love by Beyonce, Devil in Disguise by Elvis, and Preludio from Partita No. 3 by Bach.
8. Cook simply, but it cook it well and use the best ingredients you can find. A little innovation is fun though, both in technique and flavor combinations, but when the dish becomes all about the gimmicks, you've lost me because NO ONE has ever gone home thinking "Wow, that freeze-dried shrimp foam really hit the spot".
9. Cilantro. I can taste the smallest bit of that stuff in anything. I don't feel too bad about that though because they just discovered that people who don't like cilantro don't have the receptor to properly taste it. Other things include dill, bell peppers, and raw onions. I'm also not a huge fan of sweet/savory combinations for main course (I love sweet and salty desserts though) like barbecue, which I'm pretty sure means I'm not allowed in the South, at any tailgait, or really any function where hearty men (and lady)folk get together.
10. I would like the power to make the perfect amount of food so there would be no leftovers. (Soup is the sole exemption to this rule.) I have never liked leftovers and thankfully, my dad took on the role of human garbage can with relish as I was growing up. I think the best I can hope for it to marry a guy who likes leftovers.
1. This list could be long or short depending:
Alton Brown - makes food fun and fascinating
My parents - I want what they have and nothing less will do
My brother - follows his dreams
Anyone who does what they love - they're the most interesting
2. This is completely PG, probably due to my years in a certain state, but it's a tie between fresh lemonade and cream soda. Although if I have to grow up a little, I'll say an Amaretto sour.
3. Any of the CIA's books, particularly Frozen Desserts and Chocolates and Confections. The photography is beautiful (trade secret: the photo studio is located next to the dumpsters of one of the dorms) and it's gotten to the point where I only care for cookbooks that are in weight. Non CIA: On Food and Cooking, The Omnivore's Dilemma, Kitchen Confidential, and best of all, Cake Wrecks because you have to have a sense of humor about what you do.
4. I can't tell you the name of the restaurant or even what I had, but my best meal was the last night my family was in London. It had probably been the most hectic vacation of my life and I think we were running on about 8 hours of sleep between the four of us. It was about 10:00 at night and our flight was leaving early the next morning, but we stopped for dinner and just talked about our trip and what we'd remember.
5. I refuse to bake without a scale, except when it comes to my Grandma B's chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I'm also in love with my Thermapen, and I'm saving up for a refractometer. Other things to be found in my pockets include a calculator, mini offset spatula, box cutter, mini ruler, and paring knife (knife guard on, of course).
6. So I fall into the category of chef who doesn't cook when she gets home. But I could probably scrape together my mom's wicked spaghetti sauce (Lawry's not included) or a mean bowl of cold cereal.
7. I like songs, not genres. Consequently, my playlist is about as diverse as it gets. To give you an idea of how random my tastes are, the next five songs on my shuffle literally are: You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC, G Code by Geto Boys, Crazy in Love by Beyonce, Devil in Disguise by Elvis, and Preludio from Partita No. 3 by Bach.
8. Cook simply, but it cook it well and use the best ingredients you can find. A little innovation is fun though, both in technique and flavor combinations, but when the dish becomes all about the gimmicks, you've lost me because NO ONE has ever gone home thinking "Wow, that freeze-dried shrimp foam really hit the spot".
9. Cilantro. I can taste the smallest bit of that stuff in anything. I don't feel too bad about that though because they just discovered that people who don't like cilantro don't have the receptor to properly taste it. Other things include dill, bell peppers, and raw onions. I'm also not a huge fan of sweet/savory combinations for main course (I love sweet and salty desserts though) like barbecue, which I'm pretty sure means I'm not allowed in the South, at any tailgait, or really any function where hearty men (and lady)folk get together.
10. I would like the power to make the perfect amount of food so there would be no leftovers. (Soup is the sole exemption to this rule.) I have never liked leftovers and thankfully, my dad took on the role of human garbage can with relish as I was growing up. I think the best I can hope for it to marry a guy who likes leftovers.
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