Monte the chief

"MH" wrote in message
...

"Montgomery Hounchell" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 19:29:02 GMT, "MH"
wrote:


Salsa is my favorite condiment/sauce. It can accompany nearly every
type
of
meat and veggies.

Yes.. I love Salsa. and I use it often... I can have it for my baked
potatoe.. my salad, my vegetables.. it is low in calories and has a
wonderful flavor.. I usually make my own, but I find the store one
just as good.. I like to keep the hot sauce out of it, until I go to
eat, I sometimes want it spicey... other times not..

Monte

Yep! Very lowcal and very high in flavor. Plus, I'm a nut for chiles. Hot,
hot, hot!!! : ) I do try to make my own, like tonight. I made grilled
ahi
tuna with salsa and mixed sauteed veggies (collard greens, broccoli,
mushrooms) on the side. Yumm!!

And, as you said, sometimes I buy the canned. I like Herdoz brand. Theirs
is
pretty close to mine.

Martha

Another great thing about salsa is how creative you can be with it. I like
to add fruit to it once in a while or make an outright fruit salsa - an
excellent accompaniment to fish BTW. Chipoltes and mango go together quite
well.

Jenn

"Jennifer Austin" wrote in message
...

"Julianne" wrote in message
news:d_Bdb.4465$k74.3919@lakeread05...

Don't stop with NOLA's for heaven's sake! If you want to spend real
money
Commander's Palace is wonderful. I believe it is the restaurant that
Emeril
started with. I could be wrong. All the Brennan's places are good but
my
favorite is Mr. B's Bistro on Royal street across from the Royal Sonesta
hotel. They only set aside 1/3rd of their tables for reservations so
you
can almost always get a table even if you have to wait. (Hint: if the
wait
is very long, put your name on the list and go across the street to the
Carosel bar in the Royal Sonesta for a quick drink).

The best pizza in the world is sold at Mona Lisa pizza and the very best
po-boys are at Cafe Masparo (sp??). Cafe DuMonde has wonderful cafe
au
lait and beignet's. I live too close to New Orleans to enjoy that treat
every time I am there but it is nice treat once in a blue moon.

There is a Del Monico's if you like steak and the street food is always
fun
as well. Copeland's used to have a great reputation but I find they use
too
much something (MSG?) in their food that weighs you down or puffs you
up!

Wherever you go, do not feel obligated to eat everything on your plate.
The
locals are known for over the top servings! I always visualize about
half
of my dinner and stop there for a few minutes. If your hotel has a
fridge
and microwave, you can get breakfast off your dinner plate.

Oh, and plan on having lots of coffee shipped back to your home. Once
you
drink our coffee, you find everything else anemic.

j

Thanks for the tips. I'll be in touch before next June for updates. Even
though New Orleans is a fantastic food town, the tentative plan is not to
eat our way through the city like we've done on trips in the past, but
instead to moderate and stick to our WOE the majority of the time. We
planned to go to NOLA for years now as our pilgrimage to Emeril, just like
the next summer when we go to Philly (I have an annual conference that is
in
a different city every summer) we will make the pilgrimage to Morimoto's
if
it's still in business.

We went to Seattle this summer and shipped back a lot of coffee.

Jenn

Actually, the coffee in Scandinavia is a lot stronger than coffee in the US.
Must be those cold winter nights...

Martha

"MH" wrote in message
...

Actually, the coffee in Scandinavia is a lot stronger than coffee in the
US.
Must be those cold winter nights...

Martha

I had a friend from Finland who used to joke about being able to eat his
coffee with a fork. He said I was the only American who knew how to brew a
decent pot of coffee - I used to make it very strong. I still make it too
strong for DH's taste.

Jenn

"Jennifer Austin" wrote in message
...

"MH" wrote in message
...

"Montgomery Hounchell" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 19:29:02 GMT, "MH"
wrote:


Salsa is my favorite condiment/sauce. It can accompany nearly every
type
of
meat and veggies.

Yes.. I love Salsa. and I use it often... I can have it for my baked
potatoe.. my salad, my vegetables.. it is low in calories and has a
wonderful flavor.. I usually make my own, but I find the store one
just as good.. I like to keep the hot sauce out of it, until I go to
eat, I sometimes want it spicey... other times not..

Monte

Yep! Very lowcal and very high in flavor. Plus, I'm a nut for chiles.
Hot,
hot, hot!!! : ) I do try to make my own, like tonight. I made grilled
ahi
tuna with salsa and mixed sauteed veggies (collard greens, broccoli,
mushrooms) on the side. Yumm!!

And, as you said, sometimes I buy the canned. I like Herdoz brand.
Theirs
is
pretty close to mine.

Martha

Another great thing about salsa is how creative you can be with it. I
like
to add fruit to it once in a while or make an outright fruit salsa - an
excellent accompaniment to fish BTW. Chipoltes and mango go together
quite
well.

Jenn

Yummm, I love mango salsa! And chipoltes.....I've already had dinner, but
this is making me think ahead....

Martha

"Jennifer Austin" wrote in message
...

"MH" wrote in message
...

Actually, the coffee in Scandinavia is a lot stronger than coffee in the
US.
Must be those cold winter nights...

Martha

I had a friend from Finland who used to joke about being able to eat his
coffee with a fork. He said I was the only American who knew how to brew
a
decent pot of coffee - I used to make it very strong. I still make it too
strong for DH's taste.

Jenn

Yep. In Nordic countries like Finland the coffee is much stronger than in
the US. The difference between San Franciscan coffee and Nordic coffee is
here in SF, we usually use darker roasted beans which give the coffee a sort
of *burnt* taste. If made right, it's wonderful. But, medium roasted coffee
has more caffeine, which is what is used in Nordic countries. The longer
coffee beans roast, the more caffeine they lose, it just tastes like they
have more when the beans are dark.

I'm a coffee snob. I buy my beans from Peet's, a local roaster and coffee
company here. I keep them in the freezer and grind them fresh daily. Life is
too short for crappy coffee. : )

Martha

"Montgomery Hounchell" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 22:40:59 -0400, "roxan"
wrote:

Thanks Monte for all the great ideas. I will give them a try. I use wine
in
my cooking for sauces but sometimes don't know whether to use a white
wine
or red one. I did a cream sauce the other day with a little white wine
and
couple table spoons of half and half over chicken that wasn't too bad
once
it was reduced a little. Again thanks for responding to my request.

Don't mention it Roxan.. I enjoy cooking and recipes. I often sit and
just read cook books recipes.. I look at the things in it and imagine
what they might be like. I often take a recipe and take it a part in
my mind and put it back together in the way I would like it.

I find there are seasonings I like and ones I don't care for and if I
find a recipe I think is interesting. I look at the list of things in
it.
I do not look at the amount suggested.. I season myself for the taste
I want to create.

If I don't like some item suggested I omit it and might add one or two
of my own.

Once you realize the point that any recipe is merely a suggestion then
you can go into them with a better mind to create an item you might
really like.

I find the Asians seem to have some endless recipes which I can
convert into a healthy entree or side item. They are rich in making
vegetables their main stable of food. Use them and some brown rice you
can come up with many ideas..

I found one a few months ago. I really liked.. you take yellow and
green squash and carrots you slice it sideways on one of those hand
held shredders or mandolins..
Only you slice them long ways instead of across. It makes these
wonderfully length ling thin slices. You then steam those veggies a
few minutes.
Then add some small diced red peppers for some added color.
and you fix a simple white sauce and season it with what you like..
Mix the sauce and veggies together.. not too thick so that you hide
the colors of the veggies.. but just enough to kick up the taste..

You take some brown rice or whole wheat pasta... Put that on the plate
and then pile the veggie/sauce on top..
It is a wonderful light entree and it is pretty to look at..

In school they keep pushing "presentation" and it really makes a great
difference.. The looks of a food really matters. I look for colors to
add when I can.

I took fifty left over backed chicken breast last week at the college
and heated them in the oven... I took some low fat slices of spiced
white cheese and cut them in half, laid one on each piece of chicken
breast..I then took a few green and red bell peppers.. I diced those
peppers up into the smallest squares I could with my knife. I then
sprinkled those red and green pieces of sweet peppers on top of the
cheese and put them back into a low oven until the cheese melted some.
They looked like a christmas treat. smile.. very pretty.

That chicken sounds good, I think I will try that one. I also read cookbooks
the way you do by only reading the ingredient and don't pay much attention
for the amounts. I must have 300 cook books, my newest ones are Tuscany the
beautiful cookbook, Italy the beautiful cookbook, and Thiland the beautiful
cookbook. I love ethnic cooking. If you get a chance to see them they are
really great. Since I was in Italy last year I have been trying to recreate
some of the great food I had there.
Roxan



Monte..

"Julianne" wrote in message
news:EdBdb.4453$k74.1543@lakeread05...

"Montgomery Hounchell" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 22:16:49 -0500, "Julianne"
wrote:
Hi, Julianne,

In the south we make a roux for everthing - a one beer roux, two beer,
etc.
A three beer roux is really dark

Now this is something interesting. I use a beer based batter for a
nice beading for fish, chicken, vegetables etc. but to make a roux
from it. Very interesting. I shall have to try this one out. You bake
the flour to get it dark for dark sauce. yes?

No, silly. We measure how long we cook the roux by how many beers you
drink.
It is an exercise in patience as everyone tends to want to turn up the
heat
and speed things up. You cannot speed a good roux.


Boy, am I glad you cleared that up. I was going to add beer to the roux. LOL
Roxan


with broth or water or wine. Oh, and I find salt to be needed for
either
of
these recipes but I am not very sensitive to salt.

Yes. I do too. But in most resturants they don't allow us to cook with
salt, because of people who might have high blood pressure and others
who are allergic etc. But where I work now, in the college they allow
it. Not too many 18 to 22 year old students have too much trouble with
their salt intake. Smile.

I love Emeril, as well. We have several of his resturaunts here in
Louisiana - NOLA's, Emeril's etc. His recipes are a tad complicated at
times but he is most entertaining.

Louisiana? YES.. I love it there. I love the people and the FOOD.
A few years ago I was in and cooked for 450 worker/performers of The
Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey circus.
I traveled around this country to many times. And when we played New
Oreleans we all would go down to the French Quarter on Bourbon street
and "party".. smile. There was four or five us cooks and we would go
out to eat. We would ask the waiter to tell the chefs there that we
would like to talk some with them and they would come out and sit with
us and if the time was right and the business slow we would go into
the kitchen and discuss recipes. Good God what food we had, and what
music. It was one of the four places I found in these United States
where I said I could move to and feel at home.

The chef's in Louisiana are very proud and very comptetive. They love to
show off! I imagine chefs are like that everywhere but since there isn't
a
shy bone in our entire state, it is easy to appreciate this in chef's.
You
can eat at a different restaurant every day in New Orleans and never run
out
of good places to eat.

Of course I am a southerner lived most of my life in the Hills of
Kentucky and there is that southeren feeling there but the New Orleans
people certainly live up to our wonderful southeren hospitality we are
famous for. There are some might fine people there and I carry around
many wonderful memories and recipes from the many chef's I was able to
meet and learn from when we were there.

I actually was taken outside at one place and the chef let me
"blacken" some fish. It was something else. that cast iron dutch oven
was red with hit on the bottom and it was a real experience frying
that fish. Smile.

Ah, we love blackened anything here! Also, with Thanksgiving coming, all
the men will be frying Turkeys. It is hard to mess up a fried turkey and
the women can concentrate on sweet potato casseroles, etc. while the men
fry
turkeys. It is heavenly. At my BF's camp, we have a host of cast iron
cookware and his neighbor up there seasons it regularly for us. If you
are
good, you never immerse them in water. I am not that good, being
conscious
of germs and all.

You certainly shouldn't have any trouble finding wonderful recipes in
that area. Smile.

Too good, I'm afraid but there are some wonderful cajun cookbooks that
have
addressed health can calories. Holly Clegg wrote one and Vernon Roget's
is
to die for. For truly wonderful recipes, the River Road cookbooks are
wonderful. They are compilations of everyone's favorite recipes put
together for charity. Again, in the comptetitive spirit, only the best
recipes are included. No one really cares about fat and calories so each
recipe has to be considered carefully. I find one can almost always cut
the
butter at least in half and buy leaner cuts of meat than are called for.


You have several qualities that would make you an excellent cook book
author.

Oh, thank you and bless you for your kind words. But I don't know
about writing.

Monte

I like to make my own fresh salsa and put it on veggies, fish and love it on
a baked potato.
roxan
"MH" wrote in message
...

"Montgomery Hounchell" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 19:29:02 GMT, "MH"
wrote:


Salsa is my favorite condiment/sauce. It can accompany nearly every
type
of
meat and veggies.

Yes.. I love Salsa. and I use it often... I can have it for my baked
potatoe.. my salad, my vegetables.. it is low in calories and has a
wonderful flavor.. I usually make my own, but I find the store one
just as good.. I like to keep the hot sauce out of it, until I go to
eat, I sometimes want it spicey... other times not..

Monte

Yep! Very lowcal and very high in flavor. Plus, I'm a nut for chiles. Hot,
hot, hot!!! : ) I do try to make my own, like tonight. I made grilled
ahi
tuna with salsa and mixed sauteed veggies (collard greens, broccoli,
mushrooms) on the side. Yumm!!

And, as you said, sometimes I buy the canned. I like Herdoz brand. Theirs
is
pretty close to mine.

Martha

Okay, I buy salsa and sometimes love it and sometimes don't. Who's gonna
post some salsa recipes?
j
"roxan" wrote in message
...
I like to make my own fresh salsa and put it on veggies, fish and love it
on
a baked potato.
roxan
"MH" wrote in message
...

"Montgomery Hounchell" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 19:29:02 GMT, "MH"
wrote:


Salsa is my favorite condiment/sauce. It can accompany nearly every
type
of
meat and veggies.

Yes.. I love Salsa. and I use it often... I can have it for my baked
potatoe.. my salad, my vegetables.. it is low in calories and has a
wonderful flavor.. I usually make my own, but I find the store one
just as good.. I like to keep the hot sauce out of it, until I go to
eat, I sometimes want it spicey... other times not..

Monte

Yep! Very lowcal and very high in flavor. Plus, I'm a nut for chiles.
Hot,
hot, hot!!! : ) I do try to make my own, like tonight. I made grilled
ahi
tuna with salsa and mixed sauteed veggies (collard greens, broccoli,
mushrooms) on the side. Yumm!!

And, as you said, sometimes I buy the canned. I like Herdoz brand.
Theirs
is
pretty close to mine.

Martha

Ok here goes.

TOMATO SALSA

chop plum tomatoes into small pieces
chop the following in small pieces in the amounts you like
green bell peppers
onions
tomatilos (small green like tomato from Mexico available in the grocery
store.)
green chilies or hot chili oil
Olive oil
white balsamic vinegar or rice vinegar
lots of cilantro
fresh ground pepper
kosher salt

Roxan





"Julianne" wrote in message
news:1V5eb.6101$k74.376@lakeread05...
Okay, I buy salsa and sometimes love it and sometimes don't. Who's gonna
post some salsa recipes?
j
"roxan" wrote in message
...
I like to make my own fresh salsa and put it on veggies, fish and love
it
on
a baked potato.
roxan
"MH" wrote in message
...

"Montgomery Hounchell" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 19:29:02 GMT, "MH"
wrote:


Salsa is my favorite condiment/sauce. It can accompany nearly every
type
of
meat and veggies.

Yes.. I love Salsa. and I use it often... I can have it for my baked
potatoe.. my salad, my vegetables.. it is low in calories and has a
wonderful flavor.. I usually make my own, but I find the store one
just as good.. I like to keep the hot sauce out of it, until I go to
eat, I sometimes want it spicey... other times not..

Monte

Yep! Very lowcal and very high in flavor. Plus, I'm a nut for chiles.
Hot,
hot, hot!!! : ) I do try to make my own, like tonight. I made
grilled
ahi
tuna with salsa and mixed sauteed veggies (collard greens, broccoli,
mushrooms) on the side. Yumm!!

And, as you said, sometimes I buy the canned. I like Herdoz brand.
Theirs
is
pretty close to mine.

Martha