wolit@rabbit.UUCP (Jan Wolitzky) (05/16/84)
My mother and, reportedly, Richard Nixon both like cottage cheese and ketchup. I've tried it and am pleased to report that, as in most things, I disagree with both of them. Jan Wolitzky, AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ
trb@masscomp.UUCP (05/17/84)
When I was in high school, I had a friend whose brother used to like peanut butter, balogna, pickles, and marshmallow fluff sandwiches. I used to be somewhat picky about food, nowadays I'll eat anything. A Chinese restaurant in NYC (Hsin Yu (?) around 47th & 2nd, around the corner from the UN and the United Eng Building where the NYC UNIX group holds their meetings) has several dishes on the menu with sea slugs. I've never ordered them, but I eat snails in Chinese restaurants and they can't be too much different. I find that the rules about mixing foods tend to be pretty ridiculous. I guess some religious groups and some health groups suggest that certain foods not be mixed for one reason or another, but if you don't maintain those beliefs, you might want to try mixing it up: I often buy boneless chicken breasts (lazy boy) and try to figure out how I can contort them. I hack them into bite sized hunks with a knife (easiest when they have been sitting in the freezer for about an hour to firm up) and I whomp them into a greased skillet with any combination of the following (for example): onions, bok choy, leeks, orange juice, apple cider, wine, tabasco sauce, horseradish, sour cream, whipping cream, cream cheese, peanut butter, taco sauce, tabasco sauce, apples, pears, ginger, lemon, flour, tomatoes, peppers, squash, olive oil, pepperoni, cinnamon, nutmeg, curry, oregano, basil,... It's a good idea to buy high quality prepared foods to throw in too: relishes, jams, chutneys, sauces, etc. These things are made to be tasty, use them. Some combinations make sense, many do not. The ones that don't are the ones I usually try. Last night I had (uhm, what was in it?) chicken with onions, peppers, bok choy, mushrooms, horseradish mayonaisse sauce, sour cream, orange juice, basil, oregano. I think that covers it, give or take. Not too outlandish, but when was the last time you made orange juice horseradish sour cream sauce with your dinner? The usual idea is: oil the pan, stir fry the veg's and chicken halfway, add wet stuff like juice, cover for a minute or two, add fragile stuff like cream and horseradish, stir, let sit for a minute, and remove from heat. If you want thicker sauce, mix a bit of flour into the liquid. Don't worry about whether it will taste good, pay more attention to color and contrast. (Last night was pretty bland looking, but my previous escapade was tomatoey, so I felt light.) How bad can it taste? With the trb school of cooking, you never have to clean more than the skillet and the dinner plates and utensils, and since they all get licked off after use to get that last bit of sauce, clean-up's a snap. My most recent source of cooking inspiration was the Blue Strawbery [sic] Cookbook, which some netter recommended some time ago. The author (I don't have the book here) basically tells you what kind of stuff he throws together and to have no fear. Not much in the way of amounts and algorithms. I found the book in a random bookstore, it shouldn't be hard to find. The guy has a restaurant in New Hampshire, I'll have to check it out sometime. Oh, you'll be able to come over for dinner? Hope you like cats! Andy Tannenbaum Masscomp Inc Westford MA (617) 692-6200 x274
andyb@dartvax.UUCP (05/25/84)
>> My mother and, reportedly, Richard Nixon both like cottage cheese and >> ketchup. I've tried it and am pleased to report that, as in most >> things, I disagree with both of them. In Nixon's defense, I should point out that he didn't really like cottage cheese with ketchup. In fact, he didn't like cottage cheese at all. The only reason he ate it was because he was trying to diet. He put the ketchup on it to make it more palatable. (I hope I've made that perfectly clear). Andy Behrens P.O. Box 24, East Thetford, Vermont UUCP: {decvax,linus,cornell,dalcs}!dartvax!andyb CSNET: andyb@dartmouth ARPA: andyb%dartmouth@csnet-relay