Thanks, a little of both I guess.

 

We never had one, but I shared a meal at a Chi Chi's in Detroit with Astroboy & Rock Dog once. It was the worst food I had ever eaten, and the record stands to this day.

 

I told my wife I would learn how to cook when I become the housewife in London..... What the fuck was I thinking.....

 

I was about to nod my head to this... and then I was reminded of Chi Chi's.

 

It did suck, but notable around here because it was the first chain mexican resturant......I didn't know what fried iced cream was before that.

 

Ms. Whiskers got herslef her very own Naked Chef

 

There goes the neighborhood.....

 

I always liked Jamie Oliver..

 

Love his show, don't know if I'd cook a fucking thing he makes though.

2 of his cookbooks and I can't recall drawing inspiration from a one.

Damn English.

 

We English have a very "unique" culinary style. Half of Jamie Oliver's book probably involves boiling the shit out of some bad cut of meat. Actually, I dig Jamie's work, but when it comes to TV chefs I like Giada De Laurentiis. She can put together a simple meal, a feast for all your friends, or throw quite the ball. I have a copy of Everyday Italian in the collection, and it's a good one. I have to say that The Gourmet Cookbook is the best book one can have in their cookbook arsenal. Did I forget to mention that she's

 

I've got her books, not bad. I definately like what it offers, but damn near everything is either missing something, has too much of something, or is simply the wrong way of going about something.

I used to like her TV show, but something about the way she finger fucks all her food made me sick... i mean... the first time it was hot... the second time too maybe... but eventually you just realize she's a giant cock tease.

I'm not quite sure what my favorite cooking reference is, I guess I tend to like the Asian style references simply because it's the one style of cuisine I have the most trouble preparing without inspiration/instruction.

So far as cooking books go, I have to say Alton Brown's first book is a must-read. Not so far as recipes go (he's not a "chef", y'know) but so far as intimate and necessary knowledge about food and the science of cooking goes... it'd be tough to beat.

There's a similar, probably equally informative, book I have by someone else whose name escapes me... I'll have to find that later.

 

* Also, I think Mario Batali gave the foreword for Giada's first book just to get in her pants.

His books are badass, btw.

 

I had a plate of zaru soba (chilled buckwheat noodles a la tsuyu sauce. Works great esp. with the heatwave we're going through here...


Also had a nice plate of mixed greens with miso dressing (made from scratch)...

 

Giadas married no?......though that changes absolutely nothing.....is it me or is her head totally out of proportion with her body.......thats kinda creeped me out!

 

yes & yes. she's very bobble-head-esque.

 

post your miso dressing recipe

 

Giada is .

I agree her head is kinda big,.......hahaha.

 

This is enough for a couple of meals...so, just be warned. Otherwise, half each of the ingredients if you are making for 2.

2 to 2.5 tablespoons of miso paste
1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce (light)
1/2 cup olive oil extra virgin (you can use canola too, I use the former for healthy reasons)
1 teaspoon seasame oil
salt to taste

Fast and easy.

 

just had fettucine alfredo with broccoli, mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes with some garlic bread and tiramisu for desert =D

 

mmmm, ^^^ that sounds great.

Made dinner tonight,

-grilled garlic and lemon pepper chicken
-roasted red potatoes that were then mashed and mixed with a little fresh roasted garlic ( skins on of course)
-stir fry vegetables ( zucchini , summer squash, baby carrots, snap peas, and broccoli )
-fresh baked yeast rolls

overall, very good. Impressed the hell outta the girl i had over for dinner too!

She said "wow, you through a lot of trouble just to make me dinner"

me"no, actually i cook like this often, it's pretty simple to make" which it really is too.

later, i got dessert

 

sesame oil... regular or toasted? (light or dark?)

 

I use dark. But, it's also worked with regular...

 

Just curious cuz toasted, obviously, is ALOT more powerful/flavorful then raw. Figured that's what it was calling for with such a sparse amount.

Just didn't wanna overpower it if it was only raw, or underpower it, y'know...

 

Enjoy!




And if you're really into experimenting, toss in a teaspoon or so of the Vietnamese chili (it has the rooster on the front--name escapes me at the moment but there was a thread awhile back about chili-sauce and it was talked about in it).

It really kicks it up a notch.

 

That stuff rules. I call it "Cock Sauce." I mean, it does have a big cock on the front of the bottle.

 

BBQ'd a nice medium rare ribeye steak. It took me way too long to get the charcoal lit so I didn't have time to prepare anything else. I paired the steak up with a can of cream of corn. Not too bad of a combo.

 

<img src="http://static.flickr.com/73/200014658_8505da362e.jpg" style="border:2px solid #562a38;" />

Asian marinated Yellowfin Tuna topped with fried Chinese Eggplant "Noodles" on a bed of Jasmine Rice

 

Looks awesome.

 

^ Holy fark...! Very nicely presented too!



Dinner was some chicken breast stir-fried with shitake and enoki mushrooms. Brown rice too. Nothing as fancy looking as soopa's...

 

had a good ol' fashion bbq tonight...bbq chicken, ballpark franks, and some pre-made burgers(which sucked and tasted like burger king burgers)....

chicken was nice!

 

Sounds good. I wish Asian cooking were so casual to me, I have to put alot of energy into it to get a decent result.

 

Whenever I see this thread bumped and soopa posted I prepare myself to know that my dinner looked like dog crap compared to what he ate

I had grilled cheese, pasta salad and broccoli salad and a tall glass of milk.

 

The plate needs some sort of garnish or decorative use of sauce.

 

i had a bowl of special K

 

Hater.

But yeah, I agree, a sauce wouldn't hurt... and was considered. However this was a casual meal for me and my dog... and he didn't want no stankin' sauce

What I mean is, this wasn't made (nor has any meal I've ever photographed) to impress anybody (except maybe you fools).

When we have dinner parties, I don't take photos. Those are usually the most "decorative" meals.

 

I did a toasted cumin seed encrusted sea bass (pan seared, then baked to the correct consistency) with grilled asparagus. Simple prep. Presentation not nearly as fancy as soopa.

Toasting the cumin seeds before grinding them up produces a nice flavour.

 

Yum!

Love sea bass, love cumin.

 

LOL. You'll laugh at my sauce mixture. It's just some sesame oil, soya sauce, Maggi seasoning, pepper...stirfry in wok. Poof.

As a condiment, I used some Sambal Oelek.

 

Damnit! Again.....No Soup For Me! Dinnerless again! Still working and working and working and working.....Soopa....at least I can live cullinarilly(is that actually a word?) through hearing about your meals!

 

For a casual dinner...?