Alligator & Kangaroo

Last night I tried both Alligator and Kangaroo, my Stomach on a Mission father got take out from a place in Albany that has both of these on their menu.

I "knew" people ate Alligator but I didn't realize people ate Kangaroo.  They are kind of like deer in Australia, right?  Ha ha ha!  I don't know.

At any rate...to me the Kangaroo tasted very similar to beef.  And the Alligator tasted, well, it was a rather neutral flavor actually.  I guess I could go with the age old "tastes like chicken" line and that would be fairly accurate.

Interesting.  Unique.  Two more to add to the list of interesting/unique things I've eaten!  Thanks Dad!  :)

"Beef Maryland"

Last night I made, yes I'll just say it, an awesome dinner!

It was the first of my "33 Variations Birthday Recipes" that I have made.  My brother, Mike, is the creator of Beef Maryland and I've got to hand it to him, it's an amazing dish!  It is his take on Beef Wellington and uses ground beef rather than a piece of beef ... and here's what it looks like (sans the pate as our local - small town - grocery store did not have it; funnier still, the guy I asked and who works at the store did not even know what pate was...)!

One of the really great parts of this particular recipe is that you get to make individual dishes for who ever's coming to your table!  :)

 Chef Moi, ready to dig in!

 This is what she looks like from within!  

Now I'm no published food critique, and I was the chef, but it's a great dish!  The spices blend well together and are complemented nicely with a dry red wine - I served the same wine I put in the dish with the dish and it was a Chianti. 

It's like a party in your mouth ya'll!  

If my bro ok's it, I'll put the recipe up on here for others .... or perhaps, if we know one another, we should make a dinner date and I'll do the cooking!

Frittata Heaven

Do you like egg's?
Do you like omelette's?
Do you like quiche?
If so then I can guarantee that you will like a frittata.

Eggs, milk, cheese, veggies, bread, potato and meat ... any and all these things in one bite ... YUM!

I am a big breakfast food lover!  9 times out of 10, when I go out for breakfast, I will order an omelette - so I don't think it's a big surprise to find that I love frittata's!

In November I decided to try making my first one, it required some stove top cooking and then a bit of time in the oven (thank goodness my mother had two cast iron frying pans that can do stove top to oven with no problem)!  I'd found the recipe in one of the multitude of cooking store magazines in the house and decided to give it a go.  Deliciousness ensued ... and all who tried said they thoroughly enjoyed!

*Here's a snapshot ... one with peppers and one without (for those who don't like'em)!  I got it from the Williams Sonoma Catalog.

"Lodge Brunch Frittata"

Then last month, February 9th to be exact, I got an awesome Frittata Pan for my Birthday!  Woot woot!  Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

These pans are awesome, they eliminate the need for in the oven time because you can flip them!  What you say?  Check out these pics of my second time making Frittata's and the first time use of my new Frittata Pan!

"Potato, Spinach and Cheddar Cheese Frittata" 

(I found this recipe on line)

 First One ...

 Second one ... 

The prep time - chopping etc. - takes a bit of time, but they are easy and tasty!  You can put anything you want in them - in fact I once had one when staying at a friends, her husband put baby scallops and asparagus that had been lightly sauteed in garlic oil, in it and it was fantastic!  And they are so pretty!  Great "wow" factor me thinks!  

And isn't my new pan pretty!

Give it a go!

"Your" Tunafish Recipe

Today's lunch, tunafish.  Yummy!

I know there are many ways that people like to make tunafish.  Growing up this is how my mother made it, so this is how I make it (and how I prefer it):

Tunafish:

INGREDIENTS:

Tunafish

Carrots

Celery

Onion

Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder

Mayo

In a small mixing bowl combine chopped onion, chopped carrot, chopped celery (as much or as little of all three as you like).  Add a can of tuna, ground pepper (to taste), salt (to taste), garlic powder (to taste) and mayo (as much or as little as you desire).

Serve on bread; toast, toasted english muffin or with crackers.

(*my mom tends to chop the veggies rather finely, I prefer them a tad larger.  and, I like to use a red onion for a slightly sweeter taste and another splash of color.)

Two variations:

The Tuna Melt - after the tuna has been mixed, place a toasted english muffin on a baking sheet, add some tuna and cover with a slice of american cheese (or cheddar if you wish), place under broiler and broil until the cheese has melted and edges become browned.

Tuna - for a sweet tooth - instead or chopped veggies, or perhaps in addition to the chopped onion, add a tablespoon (or so) of relish and mix.

NOW ... how do you make your tunafish???

What do you like to drink?

It might sound silly to say it this way, but I’ve noticed that I tend to have a “male” palate when it comes to the things I like to drink - I’m talking alcohol here.

My #1 Beer = Guinness, which I know many women do drink, but not nearly as many as you’d think.  When I was still a senior in High School and visiting my big bro in college he asked me to taste it, he knew I liked coffee and didn’t hate beer, so he thought I might like it - though I think he was honestly expecting me not to like it.  When I did he had this big grin on his face and called his Frat Bro over saying “watch this...” and asked me to do it again.  I believe his Frat Bro was impressed as well.  I can also recall one of my first times ordering a Guinness at a bar, I was in my college town and the bartender pretty much did a double take and then literally said ‘are you sure’ to which I responded something like ‘I don’t typically order things I don’t like’.  Ha!  It wasn’t as impressive - if you will - when I was over in London, though I still got a fair number of appreciative smiles and nods from folks, an American Girl who actually drinks Guinness - and likes it!  My family and friends are used to it now, but I still seem to inspire shock and awe in some when they see me drinking one - fairly recently I got a “NICE Maggie!” when out to dinner with some friends and my friends brother-in-law saw that I’d ordered a Guinness.  

This is not to say that I don’t like other beers, lordy that would be a lie.  I do like the darker beers better, and am also a big fan of hoppy brews like IPA’s or a Kolsch to a nice summertime Wheat Beer!  If I tried to list all the beer’s I’ve tried ... we’d be here a while! 

Like my father and my brother, I LOVE trying Microbrews, especially when on vacation somewhere.  Find the local Microbrew, eat a meal and try their sampler ... etc.

And then there is the fact that my father, my brother and my Aunt Kris all Home Brew!  Oh yeah ... 

My #1 Drink - Liquor - well this one is a bit more difficult ...

Scotch - Laphroaig - Neat.  On the rocks.  With a little water.  Or even over my Whisky Stones.  The peaty’er the better!  Though I am willing to give them all a go, and have tried a fair few to date.  I started out trying, and liking, Jameson (which I know is Irish and a Whisky) and then when in Edinburgh in the summer of ’08 (at the Fringe Festival with Conflict Relief) my friend Adam and I took the “Scotch Whisky Experience” and I found Laphroaig.  On first smell the nose seemed too strong for me, something I would never really like ... but I tried it none the less, and LOVED IT!  Brought a bottle all the way back to the States to introduce it to my Dad and my Brother!

How’s this for a funny story: my brother had just defended his Thesis and been officially made a Doctor, PhD., and we were all out to a fancy schmancy dinner in Georgetown, Washington D.C.  The name of the restaurant is 1796 (or a year close to that) and while waiting for our table we ordered some drinks at the bar.  I ordered Laphroaig on the rocks and an older gentleman at the bar (with a date) eyeballed me and started a conversation, again with the tone that “most women don’t order such a drink, AND like it”...funny...but I digress, where’s the single man - my age - who appreciates these things in me???  Blah blah blah...

Then there’s ...

Tequila - straight, no salt and no lemon!  I’ve got this great photo of two friends and I - after my first module in my masters had ended - at a bar in Cockfosters, London, doing a tequila shot.  I’m the only one not making a “ewe this is gross/too strong” style face - AND I didn’t use salt or a lemon, and they both did!  :)

But I digress, I do also love Tequila in my name sakes drink, a good old Margarita!  Most often, and for the traditional style, on the rocks with salt.  Yet I do also appreciate a nice fruit/frozen Margarita from time to time as well - had a Pomegranate one in St. Marks Place in NYC once.  Mmmmm....

I’m also a big fan of Gin and Tonic’s, and had a fair few in pubs around London.  Martini’s - Dirty Martini’s being my favorite.  Manhattan’s which my Dad drinks and apparently my Granddad liked a lot as well, in fact, there’s a small glass pitcher in my folks house that is the “Manhattan Pitcher” that used to be my Granddad’s.  Vodka and Cranberry - and here’s a little hint, if you like this drink and have never tried it with Vanilla Vodka, well then DO IT!  (Ok that one’s pretty girly.)  Ouzo - I don’t know that this one is girly or not, it is potent and tasty!

Wine - the dryer the better, like licking the oak barrel ... well, you get my point!  Which is not to say that I don’t like sweet or desert wines, because I do!  And I LOVE Port!  And Meade.  I love meade, and have actually brewed one (with my Dad)!

These are not the only things I like to drink ... but they are some of the front runners!  :)

Anyhoo, this blog post evolved from my drinking a glass of Ardbeg Scotch right now, thinking I tend to drink things my Dad and Brother like....while perusing “The Single Malt Whisky Companion” by Helen Arthur book that my bro and sister - in - law gave me for Christmas two years ago, and thinking it might be fun to list all the Scotch’s, Beers etc...that I’ve had...the beer list will be much harder (and longer) to do...but I digress (I think I’ve said that more than once in this here post)...for now I shall make a Scotch one since that is what I am currently partaking of!

What do you like to drink?  

Perhaps there is something out there I’ve never tried...and you can suggest?

Foreign Food ... Foreign Country

So I was just sitting here thinking about a recipe I found in a cooking magazine over the weekend, it's for Scotch Eggs.  You might be saying, what are Scotch Eggs?  That is the question I would be asking if I had not lived in the UK for a while where I discovered them.

Hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage and coated with (according to this recipe) crushed cornflakes and then lightly fried.

The recipe had me reminiscing about my time in London ... sigh, I miss it, a lot!  And then, as is fascinating with the human brain, one thought did that hop skip and a jump (in about a mila-second) and I was thinking of the "American Foods" that I craved while I was living abroad.

When I would come home to the States for Christmas or Summer Holiday, there were a few things I wanted "RIGHT AWAY"!  These three things pop into my mind immediately:

#1. American Pizza - specifically NY Style Pizza!
#2. A Hamburger - juicy, greasy, cheesy awesome hamburger, think diner or sports bar style burger.
#3. A Steak - a nice juicy, American Beef Steak!

For some reason beef here and beef in the UK tastes different, though this has nothing to do with the burger crave - or only partly - they just don't make burgers the way we American's do!

But I digress...now I miss Lady Grey tea, all those English & Irish cheddar cheeses, McVities Digestive Biscuits, and Scotch Eggs ... to name a few things ... which brings me back to the joy at finding a recipe for Scotch Eggs!  Awesome!  I just might have to try making them this weekend.

A few things I've cooked!

A Pineapple Meringue for a "1950's Dinner"

A Birthday Cake for my Mom

 Spanikopita

 Boeuf Bourguignon (from, you guessed it, Julia Child's Cookbook)

 Pre-Cooked Greek Tsoureki (or Easter) Bread

 My first Souffle EVER ... Chocolate for my Folks Anniversary

Yum yum yum!!!