Category: San Luis Obispo

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talking about food is great diet therapy

I want to prepare a leg of lamb as though I am preparing a Kokarri Lamb Shank! Will it work?

Recently, I blogged about how the Kokarri Restaurant published a cookbook recently and included one of my favorite of their many fine culinary marvels… the Lamb Shank! I think I like it so much because it is prepared in a similar way to how I prepare my ribs… ‘simmered’ ( read ‘boiled’) in some sort of version of ‘pickling spices’ (various pepper seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon, dill, ginger among other things… I’d add Juniper berries!). The simmering ‘tenderizes the meat while adding the wonderful flavors of so many interesting herbs and spices.

I am checking which pot I want to use when I ‘simmer’ the shank…. this one looks just right!

BTW, I have lost over 30 lbs now… and all of this has been great therapy to losing weight. Psychologists have said that talking about food is actually beneficial to keeping you on tract… so planning out the holiday ‘feast’ monthes in advance is not bad… therapy!

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How to Prepare Grape Leaves

Once you learn how to prepare grape leaves for the many dishes utilizing this relatively obscure ingredient, you will never go back to buying the bottled kind found in most stores! …. That is to say, IF you have your own grape vines.

There are many ways to prepare but they all involve soaking them in some sort of brine solution first… but if you don’t have your own vines, this may convince you to plant some!

How to prepare Grape leaves   for Dolmades and other great dishes.

How to Make DOLMADES!

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around the world with Jenny Craig

What will we do without "Complete Start" Cereal??

One of the things we do when we travel is to take a little of ‘Jenny Craig’s Cuisine” with us… so our search for great cultural dining experiences doesn’t hurt our scale to much. One by one , our favorite Jenny Craig items have been or are being discontinued. Hopefully, Jenny Craig won’t look too much like Weight Watchers when it is all done.

Nestle’ bought Jenny Craig some time ago, and they have certain expectations which is fine. But, I tend to think that what made Jenny Craig’s success was the food. Frankly, it’s just better than the other diet food out there. So, when we heard that ‘Complete Start’ cereal was being discontinued, we went in to buy cases and order more… but we also are looking at making our own based on the original formulation.

I wrote about deconstructing Complete Start some time ago.

deconstructing or reverse engineering Jenny Craig

Sometimes in acquisition, the parent companies forget what made another company memorable. In the meantime, we are studying what we like to use for ‘maintenance.’

 

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Kokkari Greek Cookbook is a gift from the gods

When we are in San Francisco, our favorite place to savor the flavor of the city a a wonderful Greek Restaurant. If you are not familiar with Greek food it is a lot more than Baklava, Grape leaves and Ouzo. The Greek cuisine is all about lamb and pork and some of the delicious wines made from ancient grapes.

The most interesting aspect of this beautiful culinary experience is they have come out with a new cookbook! I have already ordered it and anxiously await to see how they do this and that… because when I was there the last time, they were very tight lipped about their ‘secrets.’ One meal I most enjoyed was a lamb shank where the meat was moist, flavorful and melted off the bone! This is the way to do lamb!

Here’s the book… take a look at a few pages and see what I mean!

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Pastitsio is the food of the gods!

Pastitsio (Pah-stoo-chio)   is a popular Greek dish designed to feed an entire village! However, this s not to distract from the fact that it is a culinary delight! Using the traditional Greek noodles and cheese (Kefalotiri), you are transferred back in time.

Pastitsio
CLICK on the picture above to discover the recipe for our Pastitsio!

There are some Greek Pastitsio that you will find drowned in a tomato sauce, but in deference to the meat eating Spartans and men everywhere, I make mine with a lot more meat… a lot more meat!

HERE’S the recipe!

“Malon Labe!” or ‘Come and get them!