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.
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.’
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!
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.
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!
The trouble with so many recipes today is : 1) the limited number of ingredients utilized and 2) the emphasis is rapid preparation.Frankly, I really don’t care how many ingredients something takes or how long it takes to prepare IF the final product is worth all the time, energy and expense.
There are any ways to prepare BBQ’d ribs and there are many ways to cook them. Some folks like to take ribs, slap some sauce on them, and throw them into a brick oven; however, when eating these, one has to assume you still have all your teeth as it can be a bit chewy. In defense of this method, you can feed a lot of people quickly and easily. A second common way to prepare ribs is to boil them first and this has a number of proponents as the meat easily peals from the bone; unfortunately, most of the flavor is lost in the boiling process and all you end up tasting is the sauce.
Now, if you want to be more adventurous and you would like to make the meat more flavorful, all you have to do is throw your favorite seasonings into the pot while boiling the ribs and the rest is magic.
There is one more thing you can do and that is to soak your ribs in your favorite cure. When the ribs are ready to be boiled I throw the entire mixture into the pot and boil away, replacing whatever extra liquid might be necessary. The liquid the ribs have been soaking in for a couple of months is…. beer.
Your Barbecue sauce should be something special and there are many fine recipes on line… look for those that use ample brown sugar and are more than just a tomato base. You’ve worked this hard on the meat, you might as well find a great sauce for it. You might be interested to know that a lot of folks have come up with their own ‘sauce’… like Teddy Roosevelt. You might like to try one of these.
That is the way of good ribs… lots of preparation and gone in a second!
You can tell it is the fall here in this part of California, the insect life is coming alive! In a couple more months we'll enjoy our ribs!
My wife said,"oooU, I want to paint your tongue blue!' After a day or so it still hasn't gone away and all she can say is,"oh, I haven't seen that happen before?"
My bride is a Psychologist and for more than 40 years I have been her ‘lab rat.’ She has determined that I am a ‘supertaster’ and felt that I would love to volunteer, have my tongue painted so she could photograph it! Well, whatever turns you on, I always say.
In any event, being a supertaster (25 % of Americans are) is not always a wonderful thing. We ‘taste’ something very intensely and many of us avoid things that are very strong tastes such as chili peppers. I do enjoy chili peppers, but I do admit they send me to the moon.
So, would I allow her to paint my tongue blue again? Probably… but the next time around it will be something different.
