Subj : Re: Gardens
To : Ruth Haffly
From : Dave Drum
Date : Sat Aug 09 2025 06:11 am
-=> Ruth Haffly wrote to Dave Drum <=-
DD> They each seemed to have a "special" dish that they clunng to. But
DD> ther rest of their diets were the usual mish-mash.
RH> As long as they have something of the old country to bring back
RH> memories and introduce the first (and subsequent) generation to the old
RH> world food, they will do well. Those that move to any new area and try
RH> to hold on to all of their past do not assimilate as easily. That's
RH> partly why we tried new foods wherever we moved--and some became fast
RH> favorites.
DD> And thus is born "fusion" cuisine. Some of which is very nice. But
DD> some dishes should be "left as found". I have things in every cuisine
DD> I have sampled over a long and checkered culinary journey that I
DD> prefer in the original rather than fusion. Moussaka is one of those.
RH> I think most things are better in their original than in a fusion.
RH> Fusion doesn't always take the best of all contributions and make
RH> something better; sometimes it ends up much worse than any of its
RH> components.
As I said above "Some of which is very nice." And, of course, there are
some dishes which could gag a maggot out of a garbage can.
DD> 8<----- ||||| ----->8
DD> I grew up in the Able Bake Charlie era. Not the Alpha Bravo Charlie
DD> that came later.
RH> My dad was in the former era also so when one of our cats had kittens,
RH> he designated them Able, Baker, Charlie and Dog, figuring they'd all
RH> find homes and new names. First 3 did find home, took mama over for
RH> spaying and she died on the operating table (genetic heart defect, we
RH> found out others in the same line had died young). We needed a cat for
RH> the mousekeeping chores so kept Dog and kept her name.
DD> I'll bet that got some raised eyebrows. I got adopted by a cat that
DD> had been mutilated (de-clawed) who lowwlowed me around like a dog. So
RH> It sure did! And then she had kittens. (G) They were born the day the
RH> Apollo 11 astronauts took off so we designated them Neil, Buzz, Michael
RH> and Diana (Roman goddess of the moon--I was taking Latin in high
RH> school). They all found homes so we kept Dog for some time longer.
DD> And King Chuck's first wife (Ms.Spencer) was not yet Princess Dianna.
DD> Bv)=
RH> Yes, but this Diana was born when the future princess was only 8 years
RH> old and hardly anybody knew her. Besides, the kitten was cuter. (G)
I thought Ms. Spencer was quite attractive despite her blonde hair.
DD> I named hor "Spot" not knowing, since I never watched Star Dreck thar
DD> one of the characters in the space opera had a cat named Spot. After
RH> IIRC, that was Data, a robot in "ST; The Next Generation". Steve
RH> enjoyed that show and since the tv was in the living room, I heard it.
An "android". Robots are all electromechanical. Androids have meat on their
framework.
DD> several years she devloped some sort of kitty AIDS and I had to have
DD> her euthanised. I buried her behing the garage and had Krumsieck
DD> Monument inscribe a hunk of granite with "SPOT - A pretty good cat"
DD> Only pet I ever put a stone up to commemorate.
RH> Sounds like she was worth it. Dad buried our pets on the back hill but
RH> none of them ever got a headstone.
DD> Spot is the cat who slurped the sauce off of the pasta and meat,
DD> leaving iton the saucer when I shared my supper with her one evening.
DD> She was a might hunter - used to bring me bunnies ad birds she had
DD> nailed - and her with no claws on her front end.
RH> Our cats brought home mice, shrews, and the occaisional bird, even
RH> fewer rabbits. More often than not, we would see a few remains and know
RH> that the hunter had found prey.
We had a shop cat at the satellite store. Callie was brought in when one of
the installers got her, barely weaned, from a clinet. Her mother cat hadn't
had time to teach her to hunt and eat her prey. She would nab a mouse and
play with it until its little heart gave out. Then ignore the thing. Once
I put one of her victims in her food dish hoping she'd get the idea that it
was food. Ms. Calico scooped the mouse onto the floor and started crunching
her kibble.
DD> 8<----- CUT ----->8
DD> Except when the screener get it wrong. Mine had Dennis' son down as a
DD> "generic robo-caller" until I went in a straightened it out. Bv)=
RH> Sounds like a programming glitch.
DD> If so it's not "You Mail" which is a pretty decent voice mail app.It
DD> does voice playback as well as translatio0 to text.
RH> We get some wierd voice mail translations sometimes. (G)
Usually on words not in its lexicon. So, it makes a "best guess". And
things begin to get weird.
DD> Skin and bone the breast halves. Butterfly them if extra
DD> thick. Pound to 1/4" - 1/3" thick (I use a heavy rolling
DD> pin and really lean into it).
RH> We mince a good sized clove of garlic and brown it slightly in oilve
RH> oil as the first step in making the sauce.
DD> Title: Cauliflower Piccata
DD> Categories: Vegetables, Beans, Citrus, Herbs
DD> Yield: 4 servings
RH> I'll stick with the chicken but if I need to do a vegetarian one, I'll
RH> use tofu.
DD> I likes me cauliflower. I have yet to discover a way that I don't
DD> like.
RH> I like it too, but just thinking about what other alternatives to meat
RH> might work. I'd press the tofu to get most of the water out, then treat
RH> it like the chicken cutlets.
Only place i get tofu on purpose is in hot & sour soup.
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
Title: Hot & Sour Soup
Categories: Mushrooms, Pork, Poultry, Vegetables, Chilies
Yield: 5 servings
1/2 oz Dried wood ear mushrooms
6 oz Pork tenderloin; in 1/2"
- thick strips
2 tb + 2 ts low-sodium soy sauce
2 ts Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
1/2 c + 1 ts cornstarch
8 c Chicken broth
4 oz Shiitake or baby bella
- mushrooms; stemmed, sliced
- 3/4" thick
8 oz Dry spiced tofu; in 3/4"
- slices; opt
4 oz Firm tofu; in 1/2" cubes
8 oz Can sliced bamboo shoots;
- drained
2 md Scallions; trimmed, thin
- sliced, whites & greens
- separated
1/2 c Rice vinegar; to taste
2 tb Dark soy sauce
2 ts Granulated sugar
1 1/2 ts Crushed red pepper; more to
- taste
1/2 ts Ground white pepper; to
- taste
1 lg Egg; beaten
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a kettle or small
pot. In a 4-cup heat-proof measuring cup or medium bowl,
add the wood ear mushrooms, then pour the boiling water
directly over them. Let sit until hydrated and doubled
in size, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in another medium bowl, add the pork and 2
teaspoons of regular (low-sodium) soy sauce, Shaoxing
wine and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. Toss until well
combined and marinate for 5 minutes.
In a large, wide pot, bring 7 cups of the broth to a
boil over high. Reduce heat to medium, then add the
marinated pork, shiitake mushrooms, spiced tofu, firm
tofu, bamboo shoots, scallion whites, vinegar, remaining
2 tablespoons regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar,
crushed red pepper and white pepper. Simmer until
mushrooms have softened and flavor has developed, 5 to 7
minutes.
While the soup is simmering, drain the wood ear
mushrooms; discard the liquid and thinly slice into
strips. Trim and discard any hard ends that haven’t
softened. Stir into the soup.
Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup cornstarch with the
remaining 1 cup chicken broth in a small bowl. Slowly
stir into the soup; continue stirring until the soup has
thickened, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Taste the soup and
add more pepper or vinegar, if desired.
Stir the soup in a circular motion and slowly drizzle in
the beaten egg to create ribbons. Simmer for 1 minute.
Divide soup among bowls and top with scallion greens.
Serve immediately.
TIPS: 1: If purchasing a whole tenderloin, remove the 6
ounces needed for this recipe and freeze the remaining
piece, wrapped tightly in plastic. Or, cut the remaining
piece into strips and freeze in a single layer on a
sheet pan, then transfer to a zip-top bag and store it
in the freezer for a quick stir-fry.
2: Dry spiced tofu, sometimes known as five-spice tofu,
is a vacuum-sealed package of firm, braised tofu blocks
that can be found at Asian supermarkets or online. It’s
usually smaller in size compared to traditional silken
and firm tofu packages, but the tofu packs a big punch
of flavor. It can be used in soups and stir-fry. Look
for it in the refrigerated area near the other tofu
packages.
By: Vivian Chan-Tam
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
RECIPE FROM:
https://cooking.nytimes.com
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