Subj : Real Deal [1]
To : Dave Drum
From : Ruth Haffly
Date : Sat Apr 20 2024 15:25:07
Hi Dave,
RH> Most everybody does, but I know of some that stick to the recipe as
RH> written, every time, no exceptions. I did that when I first started
RH> cooking as my dad insisted on the basics. As time went on, I tinkered
RH> more and more with them, still somewhat trying to cater to his tastes
RH> but seeing what I could "get away with". Some years back, before he
RH> went into the nursing home, we were up visiting and he asked me to make
RH> a meat loaf for supper. I did, putting in some sauteed onion, which I
RH> do when making it at home. He ate--and enjoyed--it; I never did tell
RH> him about the onion because he had declared a few days earlier that he
RH> didn't like onions. I'd put them in other things that I made when we
RH> visited or he came to visit us; he ate them without complaint.
DD> My house-mate also claims he can't eat onions because they give him a
DD> "heartburn". But he scarfs down my chuck roast which is made with both
DD> sliced onion and a packet of onion soup mix. And once, just for a
DD> giggle I made calves liver w/bacon and onions and smothered it in a
DD> nice gravy. He always claimed that he "hated" liver sonce his Navy
DD> days. But he did second helpings on this. Bv)=
Neither of our daughters are fans of liver; I served it a fair amount
when they were growing up. My favorite way to fix it was to slice it
into strips or chunk, fry it, cut up onions, bell peppers and mushrooms
together, then add a marinara-ish sauce, cook it down and serve it over
brown rice. Haven't done that in a while but maybe I'll check out the
liver next time I go shopping--don't see it as much as I used to. My mom
would fry up bacon (one slice per person), then cook beef liver that had
been dredged in flour in it--always tough. After all the kids left home,
she discovered baby beef liver was much more tender than regular beef
(probably from an older cow or steer) liver.
RH> But for most people, O.G. is the Italian taste they grew up with. Those
RH> that were raised with parents that didn't do much cooking--frozen
RH> entrees or take out, O.G. would be the best Italian cooking they know.
DD> If they grew up with Italian food at all. Chef Boyardee
DD> notwithstanding.
RH> I didn't grow up with Chef Boyardee Italian, just my mom's poor version
RH> of it. There was one local-ish Italian place my folks took us to
RH> occaisionally, I remember one time we all ordered lasagne. It came out,
RH> looking nothing like what my mom made but tasted good. Years later,
RH> after meeting Steve, I found out that was the more authentic Italian
RH> lasagne. I've made it myself over the years--taught my mom how to do it
RH> but don't know if she ever did before the dememtia set in.
DD> In his defense, Chef Hector Boiardi (before the advertising people
DD> revised the spelling of his name) had a very nice restaurant in
DD> Cleveland, Ohio. And he began selling his pasta sauce in washed milk
DD> bottles. That grew into a full-fledged manufacturing deal which was
DD> later sold to American Home Foods and was later gobbled up by ConAgra.
It was his selling out that made him popular, especially as a canned,
easy to fix (especially with a microwave) meal. If he'd been able to
keep it as a regional product, he wouldn't have made as much money but
his name on canned Italian food wouldn't have been a L.C.D. product.
DD> O. G. does have some decent dishes - but most of their stuff is on
DD> the profitable path of "Hey Diddle Diddle, Straight Up The
Middle".
I'm less and less enamored of it, the more I eat there. Best things on
the menu are the tossed salad, breadsticks and chocolate lasagne, IMO.
DD> I find that most times that you ask an Italian "Where's the best
DD> Italian food in this town/area?" you'll get an answer very close to
DD> "My mother's kitchen!" Bv)=
RH> I'd probably have answered "my mother in law's kitchen" followed by "my
RH> kitchen", then depends on where we were living. We've encountered some
DD> But, you're not an Italian. Bv)=
No, but when I cooked Italian for Steve's folks about 9 months after we
were married, his mom said that I cook "like a good little dago". (G)
Knocked her socks off one time a few years later with a lasagne (her
recipe) but with home made noodles.
---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28
... There cannot be a crisis today; my schedule is already full.
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