Roger's View of the World, Love and Seafood Gumbo!
Seize the Day! Put no trust in the morrow! — Horace
If I have any culinary weakness , it is for that wonderful invention of that great German dish…. ‘quiche!’ Okay, you think it is so French, but it is not. Read the first link below for it’s great story:
Quiche Karla Loraine and recipe
Yar, the world is full of quiches and various sea creatures, but if it be some strong drink to settle your innards, Capt’n Rog Crab Quiche be what yar lookin for.
that be Crab Quiche ahead, maties!
Now, I must be about my business of fixing the quiche!
Back in the days when I had one wooden spoon and one knife, my grandmother pulled me aside to show me some of her secrets. Probably one of the most fun was leaning some of the tricks of the trade that folks got away with in the days gone by: chicken stock as a base for virtually all soups and the golden goodness of butter and pork. She would use a small amount of pork fat into almost everything she did… and I will confess to always having some around and using it frequently… sometimes in combination with butter.
To be frank, I don’t eat out that often, but when I do, I like to see what the chef recommends… that is to say… what the chef does best. Pork consumption is an increasing trend, first of all because it is delicious. One article made the following statement:
As for me, I cannot think of anything more enjoyable than including lamb with pig as in tat great South African dish called Bobotie!
Okay, sometimes I do cheat a little and I don’t use everything from scratch… but I thought that these were so enjoyable that they deservd to be combined together! Obviously, I buy raw shrimp, boil until pink and sautee in gralic butter before adding the sauce from South Africa. The organic wheat noodles from Japan are gaining popularinty in this county and offer a distinctly different taste and texture to the meal.
My grandmother gave me some great advice as a young person. She said — do what we all do ( chef’s) when caught with a time constraint find a nice mix that gets you close to where you want the recipe to be…. then amend it. Ah, the secret of quick cooking!
The best part? I still have some left for today!
Pies are very simple desserts, but enormously satisfying to make from scratch. If you use your own apples , you may find that they really do taste better; afterall, if you care for your orchard or one tree, the apples will always be more flavorful!
I have had far too many pies filled with raw apples and no more seasonings except one : cinnamon. If you make it yourself, you can make it your way…. and your way is usually best! 😉 BTW, the topping requires 1/2 cup of butter which I didn’t list…. funny, my grandmother did that a lot ,to!
Years ago, Laura and I would drive over to South Pasadena to a place called ‘House Of Pies.’ They carried a wide variety and my favorite of their fruit pies was cherry. For years I tried to duplicate their simple sweet and deliciously thick filling. Mine reminds me so much of theirs.
These two go into the freezer until Sunday.
My daughter Karen told me that a friend from Puerto Rico loves this common and delicious snack of salted ‘twice-fried’ Plantains. They are called “Tostones.” I thought I’d try it myself and I am glad I did.
Slicing Plantains can be a little tricky for those who expect to be pealing a version of a banana. The fact is that Plantains are often referred to as a vegetable and prepared in much a similar fashion. Plantains are roughly 97% carbohydrate, 2% protein and 1 % fat.
The ‘twice fried” Tostones is a simple process: 1) peal the plantain, 2) slice the plantain 3) fry the slices 4) remove the slices and mash them 5) fry again and 6) remove, place on a paper towel and salt!
Enjoy!
Roger