Monthly Archives: February 2009

I remember my high school and college days, being given a writing assignment by word count. Now I’m showing my age as there was nothing more than my eyes and finger to count the words. Interestingly, I was given one of the first portable Smith-Corona electric typewriters for my high school graduation, by my Aunt Lorna, God bless her. She bought it and used it to go to college in the early sixties.

In that low-tech age I wrote my paper then had a typewriter lending list as long as my arm. I tended to wait for pressure before starting, editing and finishing the paper. All done in longhand, of course, to save on essay paper and ribbons.

OK, in high school my sister and I traded homework. In French class we had assignments to write a personal story in French. My sister was better at tenses than I and didn’t know what to write, so I wrote the stories and she translated. Now my sister is a great writer and poet!

My point is that after years of fear of blogging, I’m doing it. And thank goodness you like my writing. I got up the other night at three, scared for us and the economy and am much better now. Getting up in the middle of the night and putting oneself to use by writing 500 words in a half-hour or so for personal enrichment and enjoyment is something I wouldn’t have imagined in my youth.

My 20-page thesis in high school was a daunting endeavor. My teacher and mother tried to break it down into steps. This was Mom’s shining moment in my life, when she coaxed the writer and researcher out of me. She never gave me an idea or wrote a word, and was only concerned that I place my bullet points on index cards, organize them and write headings, then write the title of the piece.

I chose Title IX, equality of women in sports. I was involved in sports and the boys had a wood floor and we had linoleum squares over concrete. When the boys’ gym was being resurfaced they took our entire gym (folding door down the middle would have worked) and made us sit in portable classrooms for six weeks but then the poor guys would have had to walk 200 feet to their locker room, boo hoo. This was in Virginia where real classes were dumbed down so much I was penalized moving back to the northeast to repeat French II.

So here I am at a high-achieving HS in upstate NY and doing the research, I found my niche, organized my cards, named my headings and called it Horses Sweat, Men Perspire, and Women Glow.” A feminist theme in a male-dominated culture. Perhaps my rebelliousness was seeded way back then. It only took 20 years for it to flourish. I wish I had a copy of that paper today. If I go through my aunt’s attic I may actually find it.

It frustrates me that in my haste to complete dinner, I’m unable to attribute that quote but say many have quoted it. Total copout. Mom would not be pleased. So after I put on the pasta I’ll try again and get back to you. Cheers! Dee

My ham and Fontina quiche leaked so some of the ham pieces atop dried out and turned a bit leathery. I ate it for breakfast at room temp but made Jim his usual two eggs over medium, piece of toast with peach jam and two slices of bacon.

I’d planned on quiche for lunch but I’ll try heating some up for me for breakfast tomorrow and see how that goes. Leakage caused a rubbery crust and a rubbery filling. Live and learn.

Never intimidated by my mistakes, I prepped two meals tonight. Forget French cooking I learned in school. I cook simple food from the best ingredients. Jim loves meat loaf. His favorite meal, however, is spaghetti and meatballs. So I made both. I mixed ground beef with chopped sweet onion (a Nazcas from Peru), Peruvian garlic from the same social entrepreneurship and Italian flat leaf parsley. I added one mixed egg, splash of Worcestershire, salt and pepper and Parmigiano Reggiano and used half for meatballs, the rest for meat loaf.

We had meat loaf, garlic mashed potatoes and remaining corn salad and slaw. I made the rest of the mixture into meatballs and baked them in tomato sauce alongside the meat loaf.

Remember my favorite cooking tools? The ricer is great for peeled cooked potatoes. And my cookbooks. I researched for weeks the best cookbooks to offer to you and no-one looks at them! Many are out of print and I even gave an instant link to Amazon to get one. Otherwise you could peruse used bookstores or flea markets for years and never find that title, so check out my cookbook references.

I’ve never made one penny on this site and know that many of these prized books that I’ve whittled down for my library are available for less than $10 but are a distillation of 30 years of my cooking expertise and reading cookbooks as one would read the latest spy novel.

Look at me, Cooking With Dee, About Dee. Yes, I graduated from cooking school, but this is life. One adapts to its parameters. I always love a challenge. Does anyone know what to do with 5# of off-the-bone pork shoulder “ribs?” I’ve looked up all kinds of recipes for stews but would like to know if there’s a special one you’d like to share.

Thanks and have a great evening. Cheers! Dee

Last night was a mess. Usually I cook one thing for Jim and me for dinner. Yesterday for lunch I cut up leftover sirloin steak and grated some Fontina for a quesadilla for Jim while simultaneously preparing a grilled sharp cheddar cheese sandwich for me.

I thawed one chicken breast and 2/3 lb of ground round from the freezer for dinner. First I blind-baked a crust for a quiche for this morning, with pie weights (an old bag of navy beans, on parchment) then without. I added diced ham and grated Fontina, placed the removable-bottom pan on a cookie sheet in the oven and gingerly poured in the custard. In the first five minutes, custard leaked all over and I had to wait until it started setting to change out cookie sheets and soak the one with the browned custard layer.

I made Jim two large burgers and all the toppings and took out two rolls from the freezer to thaw. That done, I prepared one chicken saltimbocca with thawed proscuitto and grated Fontina and popped it in the oven after the quiche came out. After the chicken came out of the oven I turned up the temp and made Jim some frozen fries while sauteeing his burgers and using up several small cooked red potatoes for me, with scallions, as home fries. I added some corn salad and 1/2 tomato for me.

Luckily the day started early with simple bacon, eggs and toast for both of us and luckily, dry food for the dog with homemade chicken stock. I don’t think I’ll be working in a restaurant kitchen any time soon, especially coming up with dishes seat-of-the-pants style while trying to empty the frig and freezer in case we move at any moment! It would be easier with a planned menu, however.

We enjoyed the 81st Academy Awards last night and thought ABC did a good job of re-vamping the proceedings. I never knew Hugh Jackman had a song-and-dance man in him, only thinking of his performances in Kate and Leopold and as Wolverine. Bravo! Usually Jim doesn’t watch at all and I have a couple of gals over and we immediately become catty high schoolers dissing the fashion. At every commercial break I offered to go into the other room so Jim could watch Patton in its glorious entirety, but he was a great sport.

Today I think I’ll stick to simple meals. Look at it this way, I’m up two hours before I have to be, and took the already made quiche out of the frig to get to room temperature for breakfast so that’s one meal down, just add juice and tea! Let’s hope it’s a good week. Cheers, Dee

I thought our Italian stallion would make it to the final and that Stefan should have lost not only for his mistakes but his arrogance and unwillingness to work with others.

Sorry our Florentine friend had to go. He did infuse the mix with charm and wit, broken finger and all. Congratulations to Carla this evening for her win. She started slow and strange and is coming down to a strong finish. I think it all comes down to what next week’s challenge is.

It was good to see Gail again, refreshed from wedding, honeymoon and probably months of taxing preparations (that’s why we did ours in five days and called our folks afterward).

I don’t think one can have a chef judging in New Orleans without Chef Emeril Lagasse. I believe he knows when a roux is cooked to perfection.

To friend L.S. let me know your thoughts on this episode – y’all as well, of course! Keep on cooking, Dee.

A favorite grocery store is a very personal thing. First off, it depends upon whether one cooks or not, because priorities are different. When I lived on the “left coast” I had the luxury of a farm stand, Trader Joe’s and a major grocery chain a few feet away from each other. I’d start at the farm stand, move on to TJ’s and then the grocery chain store if needed.

I loved Trader Joe’s and miss them for the past five years we’ve been in Texas. Chowhound recently had a TJ’s forum and I didn’t write in. I must confess to taking 15 minutes at TJ’s while Mom was in hospice to buy French flat sponges, plastic dish scrubbies and a hunk of parmesan cheese. I didn’t really need the cheese but the others are staples in my kitchen.

At home, Central Market is a culinary mecca. I don’t get there often, perhaps six times per year. That’s where I go for exotic vegetables, any meat my heart desires, breads and cheeses. Also they sharpen 1-2 of my knives I can’t sharpen myself, the 10″ chef and 7″ Granton edge Santoku as the first is too big for me to use a stone and the second requires a specific and different angle.

Spec’s is a wonder in that it is a deli, specialty foods store and liquor and wine depot like no other. They also have esoteric beverages for Jim like original Dr. Pepper with Imperial sugar, or strange brands of root beer. This is where I buy many of our cheeses, pasta and vino. Over the holidays they sell fresh lebkuchen and it is marvelous, especially that no-one around me likes it so I get it all to myself.

A serious nod goes to Randall’s Midtown, my grocery store. The people are friendly, prices are lower than elsewhere and their produce and butchery people are fantastic. If I’m stuck in an aisle someone comes up and asks if I’m finding everything I’m looking for, when I’m having a “senior moment” and can’t remember the last item on my mental grocery list. The checkers are great and tell me that with my club card I’m entitled to 36 eggs for the price of 18 and I run back to get another. The manager deserves kudos for hiring and maintaining such a qualified team, and I haven’t yet gotten to the security guards! Or the florist. Kudos to all.

Wherever we end up in the next few weeks we would like to thank the people who put food on our table every day. Sometimes I mess it up. Rarely. I like to take good ingredients and treat them well with little muss or fuss. If this is our Texas farewell, we’d like to take all of you with us! Cheers, Dee