Friday 5: Aroma

I’ll get into details later.  Still cleaning up the mess on other WordPress sites I take care of, but I now have this one cleaned up and ready to repopulate.  Gonna spend a couple of days next week refamiliarizing myself with MySQL to see if I can find a quick(ish) way to import my old content or to scan for wherever the nasty stuff is.  Yay.

  1. What’s something you enjoy that contains garlic?
    I used to make this thing called 29 clove garlic soup.  It was thickened with bread, which was kind of neat, and it tasted garlicky not but super garlicky.  It was an Emeril Lagasse recipe.  I should dig that up and make it again.
  2. What’s something you enjoy that contains ginger?
    I’m half Japanese, so I care very deeply and passionately about ginger.  Of the (too many) unitaskers I keep in my kitchen, one of my favorites is the ceramic ginger grater (which actually works nicely with garlic too, so maybe it’s a duotasker).  Still, the ginger-containing thing I like best is something I’ve never made in my kitchen: gingerbread.  Holy cow.  Is there a better smell in the world than fresh-baked gingerbread?
  3. What’s something you enjoy that contains cloves?
    When I used to teach Romeo and Juliet to ninth-graders, we would end the unit with Renaissance Day, a day with recitations, dancing, games, and food.  I would sometimes bring a mulled cider that I rather liked.  Lots of cloves and cardamom.
  4. What’s something you enjoy that contains cinnamon?
    Cinnamon is good in everything, right?  I found a pretty good recipe online for slow-cooker Cincinnati chili, and it’s delicious.  One of my favorite things to make, really.  I’ve tweaked it enough over the years that it might not pass for the real deal anymore, but I love it.  Lots of cocoa and cinnamon.
  5. What’s something you enjoy that contains celery?
    So, I’ve hated celery for most of my life and still don’t like it much, but there are a few things I’ve learned to actually kind of like it in, if it’s chopped in pieces small enough.  Something about the mayo in tuna salad makes chopped celery kind of okay now, so I’m going to say that, although I do use it in (and remove it from) most of the soups and stews I make, too.  Celery flavor without the celery grossness.

5 Replies to “Friday 5: Aroma”

  1. Glad you are well! I was worried. Hoping the chalkdust and octopus site is okay. The film reviews alone are wonderful. Good luck!

    1. What’s something you enjoy that contains garlic?

    Spaghetti alla puttanesca.

    2. What’s something you enjoy that contains ginger?

    Gari (pickled ginger accompanying sushi).

    3. What’s something you enjoy that contains cloves?

    I had forgotten all about this. During my high school years I made a batch of Chestnut Tree Café Victory Gin as described in
    「 1984」by George Orwell. Nasty. My first mistake may have been using Beefeaters London dry gin instead of a neutral alcohol such as vodka or rice liquor. Being an inexperienced drinker I enjoyed it in spite of the clashing juniper berries and clove.

    4. What’s something you enjoy that contains cinnamon?

    Leftover cooked rice with sugar and cinnamon to make a dessert pudding.

    5. What’s something you enjoy that contains celery?

    a. I think most people are familiar with Seven Layer Salad. I make a seventeen layer salad with Green Goddess or bleu cheese dressing.
    b. Crudités. My contribution to tailgate parties and summer cookouts. Use a potato peeler to remove the strings from the ribs. If I am feeling fancy schmancy I combine an antipasto with the crudités.
    c. Dr Brown’s Cel-Ray soda water. A savory soda water. Excellent with a Reuben sandwich.
    d. Chicago-style hot dogs. Poppy seed bun, kosher hot dog, yellow mustard, chopped white onions, neon green pickle relish, dill pickle spear, tomato wedges, sport peppers and a dash of celery salt. Hot dogs are something you can’t make at home so every Saturday afternoon (except during Lent and Advent) you’ll find me at Sammy’s. Nom nom nom.

  2. Whoopsy daisy. I entirely forgot I am making vegetable curry for supper which contains all of the aforementioned.

  3. I use macaroni frequently, especially the medium large shell-shaped macaroni during very hot weather. My favorite combinations include iceberg lettuce, spinach, peas, onions, celery, tomatoes, avocado, pimento-stuffed green or pitted black olives, hard-boiled eggs, radishes, celery (I run the stalks lengthwise on the very shallow blade of the mandolin before slicing to remove the fibrous ‘strings’), cucumber, bell pepper, blanched asparagus tips. Raw root vegetables such as carrot and jicama, too, if julienned finely.
    Sometimes I will include a meat, such as smoked salmon, shrimp, turkey or tunafish. One time I tried cooked hamburger with the taco seasoning. Maybe even KFC!
    Everyone thinks I am so sweet and charming and everything but there is a perverse streak in me if the salad is with the Green Goddess dressing. At neighborhood parties after everyone has gone through the buffet and is eating, I get the conversation turned to disliked foods and the moment someone mentions anchovies, I pounce! “You are eating anchovies right now!”
    When making a layered salad, you must remember to alternate the ‘porous’ (bell pepper slices), ‘non-porous’ (lettuce, cucumber slices) and slimy (macaroni). I use a large footed clear glass compote-type bowl because it really is a beautiful presentation. But you kind of have to stand guard over the buffet table because some people don’t understand how a layered salad works and skim horizontally rather than mining vertically.

    1. Waaaooo. I am becoming forgetful.

      Cheese. I usually have a cheese layer. If the cheese is not of the “crumble” variety, I shred it on a grater so the salad is easier to serve and eat. I do not recommend soft or slimy cheeses such as mozzarella. A good idea is to match the cheese with the salad dressing or use a cheese with mild flavor (young cheddar, provolone, muenster, etc.).

      A themed salad is nice too. For example, combine vegetables with pepperoni, peperoncini, mushrooms, anchovies, artichoke hearts for an antipasto salad.

      There aren’t really any rules.

      Itadakimasu!

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