[Sca-cooks] Re: Storms and Cooking

[Elaine Koogler]

Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:

>
> On Dec 9, 2005, at 9:17 AM, Elise Fleming wrote:
>
>> My side of Cleveland was missed by the storm.  There's maybe an  inch 
>> of new
>> snow in the driveway.  So, yesterday in preparation for "being  
>> snowed in"
>> as we thought, I made scalloped potatoes and ham with some added  
>> cheddar
>> cheese.  It is one of those dishes that my father used to make to  
>> use up
>> leftover bits of ham, sprinkling in slices of ham between layers of
>> potatoes and white sauce.  I ate two plates of it and am anxiously  
>> watching
>> the clock until it's "officially" lunch time when I can have more.   
>> Someone
>> mentioned toasted cheese sandwiches so that's what I had for  breakfast.
>> (Did you know that American process cheese will stay "good" for two  
>> years
>> or more in the refrigerator??!?)
>
>
> Reminds me of Dublin Coddle, the Irish Menudo (well, sort of...  
> regarded as good after a night at the pub) -- a layered construct of  
> potatoes, onions, ham or bacon slices cut in little squares, and  
> chunks of sausage (banger-type?), with salt and pepper, water, stock  
> or milk added to barely cover, then slowly heated on the stove or in  
> a low oven in a casserole with a cover of buttered parchment to keep  
> it from drying out.
>
> This isn't necessarily everyone's idea of cold-weather comfort food,  
> but last night I discovered around 11PM that She Who Must Be Obeyed,  
> who had worked late and assured me she would make arrangements to eat  
> either in or near her workplace, had not in fact eaten anything, and  
> was on her way home in a taxi. Luckily, I had an assortment of odds  
> and ends in the freezer and fridge, and managed to produce a large  
> bowl of wonton noodle soup with yu toy in just about fifteen minutes,  
> which, if not a world record for such a dish, is pretty darned  
> respectable, I think. I had made a couple of hundred little Cantonese- 
> type pork-and-shrimp wontons and frozen them last week for situations  
> like this, and had bags of "fried" (actually they're more oil- 
> blanched) Cantonese egg vermicelli, also in the freezer, so I was  
> able to get about a gallon of salted water boiling pretty quickly (we  
> have very good, and very hot, tap water, so I had a head start),  
> poach the wontons, remove them from the water with a slotted spoon,  
> blanch some yu toy stems and leaves (this is a broccoli variant with  
> long stems, tiny florets, and large leaves that resembles broccoli- 
> rabe, but with no bitterness) in the same pot, remove and reserve  
> them, then finally cook the noodles, again, in the same water.  
> Remember, these were single servings, so the water didn't become  
> unduly funkified. Noodles at the bottom, arranged greenfood on top,  
> then the wontons (about 12-16; these are pretty much bite-sized) on  
> top, then topped off the bowl with hot chicken broth I had heated in  
> the microwave. I was just pouring the broth into the bowl when I  
> heard the key in the front door. Worked out nicely.
>
> Adamantius
>
>
> "S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
> brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
> eat cake!"
>     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
> "Confessions", 1782
>
> "Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
>     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
> Holt, 07/29/04
>
>
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>
You are truly amazing, Master A!!!

Kiri