A Foodie's Pet Peeve Part Folie a` Deux

Folie à deux (literally, "a madness shared by two") is a rare psychiatric syndrome in which a symptom of psychosis (particularly a paranoid or delusional belief) is transmitted from one individual to another.

I am absolutely positive that SOMEONE out there, yoohoo, over here, shares this same Pet Peeve with me. Here is goes:

INDIVIDUALS THAT LIKE SALMON, BUT WON'T EAT ANY OTHER SEAFOOD!!!!

This post is dedicated to my husband and also to Danielle (you know who you are). I knew that this underlying psychosis was rampant in my house but did not know it extended beyond the borders of our front door. Apparently so, you know you are, Danielle. I am sure there are others too.

My husband refuses to eat seafood, won't even try it. BUT BUT BUT, he will eat grilled salmon. Now the reason I find this absolutely ludicrous is...............that salmon is one of the FISHIEST tasting fishes (I know it is not a word) out there. How can you not like tilapia or halibut but you can eat salmon????? Tilapia is TASTELESS, salmon tastes like you would imagine fish tastes like. How can you not like a buttery sweet scallop BUT you can eat salmon??? This is a MAJOR pet peeve of mine. How can you not have a deep fried haddock dinner but eat SALMON???? Someone had to shed some light on this madness and unfortunately it has to be me.

A Foodie's Pet Peeve

*Pet peeves involve complaints about specific behaviors, rather than general dissatisfaction.

hmmm I am not even totally sure how to start this one. One thing that really annoys me is when someone says they don't like a certain food. Particularly when this someone, has either NEVER tried this particular item of food or has only tried it once one way. Does this make sense???

example: I don't like bananas. I loathe them. The consistency reminds me of wallpaper paste. I don't like bananas per say but I like banana things. I like banana pudding, banana cream pie, I LOVE banana bread, I will even make a bananas foster but I will not peel a banana and eat it unless that banana and I were the last thing on an island and I had to eat one or I would starve to death.

Okay, so that proves a point......you can NOT like something one way but you could possibly like it prepared another way. Just because you don't like it one way doesn't mean you might not like it another.

I have a mean trick that I constantly play on our good friends. It stems way back. She says in a conversation.......oh, I don't like to cook with red wine. I hate red wine in sauces or soups. I hate red wine. hmmmmmm........so I make my Italian Sausage and Bean soup and she sits down to eat it and says "Oh my gosh, this is so fricking good"....... I say "Oh really, because there is 1/2 bottle of red wine in it". My friend states she hates coconut. I make cowboy cookies and put ground up shredded coconut in them. Friend says "These are the best cookies we have ever had, can we order 2 dozen from you"........I say "Oh really, because there is coconut in them, I thought you hated coconut." Friend says "I hate pumpkin......pumpkin pie disgusts me, I hate all the spices". I fix a Pumpkin cheesecake and cover it in caramel. Friend sits down to eat it and I tell her she has to try it......if she doesn't like it that is fine, I won't be offended. Friends says "OH MY GOSH, I LIKE PUMPKIN". She proceeds to eat the whole piece meanwhile saying the whole time........who knew, I like pumpkin. Tomorrow night this same friend is coming for BLT Pizza which is her favorite. I use 1/2 applewood smoked bacon and 1/2 neuske's turkey bacon. This same friend has said in the past that she hates turkey bacon. I can't wait for her to sit down and gobble her pizza down. I am them going to say "Hey, have you tried that turkey bacon from Fresh Market yet?" She will then proceed to reiterate that she HATES turkey bacon and then I will say.........."Oh really, because your pizza was just covered in it." This turkey bacon is so meaty and good you can't tell it is not the real deal....it is actually better than the real deal.

A Foodie's Pet Peeve Part Deux Tomorrow............Stay Tuned

Barefoot Stacey

Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Chicken and Croutons, French Made Easy Update:

This dish turned out pretty good.....the croutons turn into kind of a rustic stuffing once all the juices are poured over them. I used an herb focaccia bread to make the croutons. For our side of veggies I cut up a rutabaga, red pepper, fennel bulb, cipollini onions, baby carrots and cauliflower tossed in olive oil, thyme and rosemary, salt & pepper and roasted it off. I don't know that I am ready to call myself Barefoot Stacey but I did a pretty good job. The chicken was roasted to perfection...it literally fell apart. I have made a number of her desserts but this is the first major meal of hers that I have prepared.

Cipollini Onions
Pronounced chip-oh-LEE-nee this is a smaller, flat, pale onion. The flesh is a slight yellowish color and the skins are thin and papery. The color of the skin ranges from pale yellow to the light brown color of Spanish onions. These are sweeter onions, having more residual sugar than garden-variety white or yellow onions, but not as much as shallots.
The advantage to cipollinis is that they are small and flat and the shape lends them well to roasting. This combined with their sweetness makes for a lovely addition to recipes where you might want to use whole caramelized onions.

Barefoot Contessa's French Made Easy

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_30341,00.html

IF I can get to Fresh Market this afternoon, I will make this tonight for supper. Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Chicken with Croutons. I have seen this show air a couple of times in the past and have always been intrigued by it. I think w/a side of french beans and some roasted squash in place of the shallots. I love shallots......my husband not so much. I think I may also roast off a head of garlic to go with it also.

Steel Cut Oat Update: 15 month old really likes the steel cut oats mixed with unsweetened applesauce and cinnamon. SCORE! They also hold up beautifully in the fridge for the next day. They retained complete texture and were just as yummy as yesterday after being warmed slightly in the microwave and topped with cinnamon and maple syrup. I am convinced and hooked and will be eating this at least 1/2 of the week for breakfast. Nothing Nothing Nothing like regular oatmeal.

We are hopefully having friends over Saturday night for BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato, avacado) Pizza's on the BGE. I use this Neimans Ranch bacon in the meat case from Fresh Market....it is very meaty and thick...I take kitchen scissors and cut all the fat away and just use the meat portion of the bacon. It still renders a tiny bit of fat but not much but you get all the great flavor and crispiness to sprinkle over the pizzas. This trick works wonders to cut out a lot of the fat. They also make a turkey bacon that is out of this world.....it is thick and really meaty and tastes NOTHING like that stuff in the case that is prepackaged.....you know which one I am talking aobut. It is worth the extra money to buy the organic neiman's ranch. A little bit of mozzarella, asiago and parm, roma tomatoes and romaine tossed w/some mayonnaise, and diced avacado, on a honey wheat crust. This is our friends favorite pizza when we have them over.

I also placed a RIDICULOUSLY large order with KAF. I figured I might as well just order everything and pay one shipping instead of constantly deciding to make something....needing to order and paying $7 shipping everytime. I also paid for 2 day shipping which I am TOTALLY against forking money out for but I had a problem with my last order sitting at the post office in Little Rock for 5 days.........I finally called the post office directly and bitched and it was delivered the next day. They let it sit on a pallet in the back for 5 days because it wasn't a priority.....maybe not to them......but it was FOR ME.

CHOCOLATE SPRINKLES 6 OZ

1LB
CALLEBAUT SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS

WHITE CHOCOLATE JIMMIES 4OZ

APPLE PIE SPICE 4 OZ

CRANBERRY-SUNFLOWER GRANOLA BAR MIX 200Z

FRENCH KISS COOKIE MIX

KAF ORGANIC HIGH GLUTEN FLOUR 3LB

WHITE RYE FLOUR 3#

MEDIUM RYE FLOUR 3#

ITLHRB
BISCUIT MIX

SRCM
BISCUIT MIX

VTCHED
BISCUIT MIX

BISCUIT CUTTERS SET/4

PARCHMENT HALF SHEETS

SAF RED INSTANT YEAST 1#

NON DIASTATIC MALT POWDER 1#

DELI RYE FLAVOR 4 OZ

NATURAL BANANA FLAVOR 2 OZ

SWEET CHOCOLATE FLAKES 4OZ.

BAKER'S SPECIAL DRY MILK 1#

POTATO FLOUR 1#

HEIDELBERG RYE SOUR 4 OZ

Well, I am off to exercise this blog off hahahahaha.

Loca Luna

DINNER WITH FRIENDS

www.localuna.com
Reviews:
"Featured on Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels"
One of the "Best Neighborhood Restaurants in America."Bon Appetit Magazine
"Abernathy has a passion for creative southwest cooking."Gourmet Magazine
"A rising star."Southern Living
FUN - Delicious - Creative - Casual Cool - Reasonably Priced
NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED, AWARD WINNING GEM

What I ate: LOCA LUNA CHEESE DIP "The Best on the Planet !" This is a white vegetarian cheese dip and it is OUTRAGEOUSLY DELICIOUS.
Loca Luna Grilled Salmon with Spicy Tequila-Cranberry Basting Sauce. A dynamite sauce over Super-Fresh Filet over Sweet Corn and Sun dried Cranberries. Sauteed Vegetables and Saffron Rice. Iced Tea and a Chocolate Bavarian Torte. Oooooh la-la.

This is a great little restaurant. We have eaten here quite a few times and it has become one of our favorites. We were excited to share it with our newly relocated friends. They loved it.

Thinking Cap is ON

Okay, now this steel oat thing has really got me thinking. Whilst exercising this morning the little hamster in my head jumped on his wheel. Of course I think about FOOD while exercising....doesn't everyone??? The possibilities are ENDLESS....................I am sure I am not the first person to think of these but here are a couple of combinations to keep it switched up a bit so you don't get bored.

1. Mushed up banana, cinnamon, maple syrup, chopped walnuts and some vanilla extract
2. Dried apples, cinnamon, maple syrup, chopped pecans and sweet dough extract
3. Blueberries, honey, almonds and almond extract, perhaps a tablespoon or 2 of milk
4. Dates, Pecans and a sprinkle of toasted coconut and honey
5. Strawberries, honey and a couple of tablespoons of milk or possibly even the fat free 1/2&1/2 I have been using

I am thinking that adding just a smattering of extract could really impart some great flavors into these oats. The sweet dough extract is from KAF (king arthur flour) and this is an extract that most bakeries use in their dough when making pastries or sweet breads and rolls. I am thinking this could give a wonderful sweet buttery undertone to these oats w/out using any of the fat in butter etc. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Instant, Quick, Old Fashioned or Steel Cut, What's Your Pleasure??

I personally have never cared much for Quaker Instant Oatmeal packets. They taste like flavored wallpaper paste to me. Every baking recipe always calls for "quick" oats. I replaced all "quick oats" with "old fashioned"oats....noticing a better texture to cookies, bars, muffins with "old fashioned".....kind of a chewier texture w/some substance. I will never go back to using quick oats. Old fashioned are much better for you also. Now comes the "steel cut" oats or also called "irish oatmeal". These don't even look like the oats we are normally used to. They look like little pellets in the container and you could not use these to bake with. I have heard so much about them lately and what great health benefits they have that I decided to try them this morning. It did take a full 30 minutes to make. It was quite yummy. It consisted of 4 cups of water to a rolling boil, add 1 cup of steel cut oats and once mixture starts to thicken slightly you lower temp to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. I topped it off with 100% maple syrup that I had infused with cinnamon sticks and 1/2 tsp of vietnamese cinnamon. They have a chewy texture. I was pleasantly surprised. I have found a recipe on http://www.recipezaar.com/ for crock pot steel cut oats.......sounds like something I am going to try. http://www.recipezaar.com/101101 It would be great to do this the night before and have it waiting when you wake up. Fresh Market carries container of these wonderful dried chewy apple slices and I think these cut up and put into the crockpot along with the oats would be a great addition. I have also heard replacing some of the water with a 100% apple juice while cooking will give it some needed sweetness. I think topping the appley steel cut oats off with some toasted walnuts and a little maple syrup and cinnamon will be just the trick. Cinnamon has so many powerful health benefits......lowering blood pressure and also helping control Type II diabetes. I try and eat some cinnamon everyday. What a great healthy gift to give your body every morning. I always hate eating breakfast, I am never hungry in the morning but I have literally forced myself for years to eat breakfast, usually a cold bran cereal or granola of some sort. I am glad I finally took the time to try these oats. They are definately going to become a regular in my diet (diet in as what I consume on a daily basis.......not diet as in I am going to cut calories to lose weight).

I May NEED To Order This

I really am feeling compelled to order this from Williams Sonoma. Homemade ice cream is one of my specialties. I have been using http://www.coneguys.com/ cones. They carry them in our fresh market. I like them, but don't love them. I think this waffle cone machine may be the missing piece that makes my life complete.....ok, perhaps that is a little dramatic......I am sure my husband won't buy that excuse either....although he could care less about my spending habits. Chocolate dipped waffle cones........chocolate dipped waffle bowls sprinkled with jimmies. I mean it is cool to give homemade ice cream as a gift but it would be da'bomb to also give homemade cones to eat it out of. Looooooooong Paaauuuuuussssssseeeeeee, okay, I am back.......I ordered it!!!

On a different note, but a similar one, my new ice cream flavor flave is going to be a Mexican Hot Chocolate. I dont' know if anyone has had mexican hot chocolate before but it is quite yummy. Ibarra makes a mexican chocolate, if you can find it, and it is quite convenient because it already has the cinnamon in it. It comes in a chunky round piece, usually 5 to a container. If you can't find mexican chocolate, you can melt down some chocolate and put a little coffee/espresso, some cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne in it. One time I made a mexican hot chocolate fondue and we dipped miniature ice cream balls rolled in nuts in it........OH MY is all I can say. Anyway, I am thinking of making the chocolate ice cream, with the espresso, cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne and then putting a marshmallow swirl through it. Hence the Mexican Hot Chocolate Ice Cream w/Marshmallows. Just like a cup of steaming Mexican Hot Chocolate topped off with mallows.....except cold. Now wouldn't that be AMAZING in a homemade waffle cone or bowl??? That will probably be my husbands Valentines Day Gift.

When It Rains It Pours.............

This is the last thing for today, I swear. I either have NOTHING to say or I can't shut up. I guess today is one of those obnoxious internet posting days for me. I made Chicken Caesar Salad Pizzas on the BGE Saturday night..............so I wanted to post a quick pic of that. I used an Italian Flour from KAF (king arthur flour) and the dough was very soft and actually pretty tricky to work with. They turned out great though. Just brushed the dough with a little olive oil and some dried herbs and garlic, sprinkled on some shredded asiago and 2% mozzarella and then baked for 5 minutes on the BGE. When I took it off it was topped with organic romaine hearts, olive oil/lemon/fennel seed chicken breast, shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano , cracked black pepper and caesar dressing.

I also think I need a waffle cone maker for my homemade ice cream. Honey......if you are listening.

You're Gonna Have To Face It You're Addicted To Panini's

Remember that song "You're Gonna Have To Face It You're Addicted to Love"......by Robert Palmer......May He Rest In Peace.

Well, I am going to have to face it.........I am addicted to Panini's. A panini machine is definately one kitchen gadget that is worth its weight in gold. We use ours all the time. It is not the same making them in a pan on the stove or even using a griddle pan and weighting your sammich down. A griddled panini machine cooks it on the top and bottom at the same time making this incredible crunchy outer layer of your sandwhich.......they are just incredible. Tonight I took rosemary and olive oil panne brushed it with olive oil on the outside, brushed the inside w/sundried tomato pesto, layered a small amount of shredded asiago, a couple of diced boar's head pepperoni bits, and some fresh mozzarella then grilled it. I also took some roasted garlic panne and brushed that with olive oil, then put some NY mustard and some american cheese and then some Kansas City Steaks peppercorn and sea salt tournedos that I sliced thin, sauteed red/yellow/green pepper and grilled. Sweet potato fries and baby organic italian salad mix with olive oil and red wine vinegar. Then I ended up making maple pecan squares a recipe from King Arthur Flour.

Is It Christmas Again??????

IT MUST BE CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was a good day......not only did I get super duper reading material from the usps....my King Arthur Flour order reared its head and Crate and Barrel also showed up. NOW THAT IS A GOOD DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like a kid on Christmas Morning, one who still believes in Santa Claus. I absolutely LOVE the fact I can sit in front of my computer and order items without having any human contact, and then receive these items at my doorstep in 7 days. I could hole up here, in my house, like a pig in a poke ordering my wares from the convenience of my laptop with a beautiful agoraphobic glow radiating from my body. Life is good!

Game Day Turkey Chili and Toasted Cheeze Sammiches

Stacey's Organic Game Day Turkey Chili:
1 lb. ground white meat turkey breast
2 links of sweet or hot italian turkey sausage
1 can organic black beans drained
1 can organic pinto beans drained
1 can organic red kidney beans drained
1/4 of each--chopped red, green and yellow pepper
4 chopped celery stalks
2-3 cans low sodium V-8 juice
1 29 oz. can tomato sauce
1 bottle of corona or your favorite beer
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ancho chili pwder
1 tsp chipotle chili pwder
2 tsp regular chili pwder
1 1/2 tsp of garlic pwder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp oregano

Take the turkey sausage out of the casing and crumble up and fry w/the other ground turkey about 7 minutes. Add in chopped veggies and continue to fry another 4 minutes. Add in all the dry seasonings until meat and veggies are coated. Add in bottle of beer and simmer for 4 minutes. Add in beans and then V-8 and tomato sauce. Simmer covered 1 1/2 hours. Dried seasoning is approximate. Everyone's spice level is different.....use whatever amounts more or less you wish. Adjust for taste. Also if you like more soupy chili use more V-8 and if you like thicker chili use less V-8. This is extremely low fat and healthy. I serve this with organic blue tortilla chips and light sr. cream.

Toasted Cheeze Sammies:
Any artisinal bread will do. We usually use an organic roasted garlic panne or rosemary and olive oil panne. Slice bread into your favorite thickness and brush outside of one side of bread pieces with some olive oil. I use a light jarlsberg cheese and a 2% kraft deluxe american single and then sandwhich into a panini press. A toasted cheese on the lighter side.

Disclaimer: One might actually float away after eating this meal it is so low fat......make sure you put weights in your shoes.