Got this from Annie, and just in time because I was stuck for a blog entry!
Food and Cooking Meme
What is your go-to ingredient?
Oh my goodness, it's hard to choose just one. Probably pasta, which can be used for everything from "there's nothing in the house but spaghetti oil and garlic" to a fancy dinner party with homemade fettuccini with lemon and lobster.
What nationality of food do you like the best?
Again, too hard to choose just one! I love to cook Italian and Mexican; and always want to eat out at Japanese and French restaurants. I have a strong interest in Sephardic Jewish cooking, and adore those great old family recipes from Morocco I get from my cousins and Israeli friends.
What’s your favorite meal of the day to prepare?
Dinner, when you can relax around the table and drink a glass of wine.
What is/are your signature dish? (What dish are you ‘known’ for?)
Lasagne with homemade pasta; cool salmon with herb vinaigrette; Whole Snapper Stuffed with Stuffed Dates; Brisket with Sundried Tomatoes (my veggie friends eat meat once a year when I make this for Rosh Hashanah) ; Moroccan artichokes stuffed with lamb meatballs; cheesecakes.
What is your favorite comfort food?
Anything creamy. Pasta, risotto, oatmeal, pudding.
What cooking shows do you watch?
Good Eats with Alton Brown, Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsey, reruns of Lydia's Kitchen on PBS. Not too many pure cooking shows left on FoodTV, sadly.
Your top three favorite cookbooks are:
You know. I'll really have to think about that. So many of my recipes come from online sources, friends, or are just one stellar recipe from a cookbook where I've ignored everything else.
Your must-have kitchen accessory is:
An old plastic spoon with a flat top. It's shaped perfectly for skillet or stirring, and I love it.
Do you ever eat fast food? If so, what?
Not a traditional Fast Food, but something which I can get in 20 seconds for $3 in my neighborhood. My very favorite cheap, fast lunch. Vietnamese banh mi, which is a crusty french roll stuffed with lemony grilled chicken, and lots of fresh cilantro, basil, and fiery hot sauce.
I also have a fondness for McDonald's french fries. Shhh.
Most memorable meal you’ve had while on vacation: A long, lovely lunch at an outdoor patio at a fancy restaurant in Piemonte two summers ago. Bliss and Brunello. We started with a roasted vegetable plate of onion stuffed with fontina and summer truffle; and peppers stuffed with fresh tuna and herbs. Then on to tiny, delicate veal agnolotti; and then perfectly cooked, rosy lamb. Peach mousse with lemon sauce for dessert. With a killer view, the most expensive bottle of wine I've ever ordered, and my husband.
What restaurant do you want to eat at that you haven’t yet?
I really want to eat sushi in Japan.
What’s your favorite dessert?
Anything in Paris.
What scent in the kitchen do you love?
Slow-cooking garlic; baking challah; roasting meat
What ingredient(s) do you avoid/dislike?
I'm not a big fan of ground beef, as in meatloaf, burgers, meatballs or chili. If I'm using ground meat, I much prefer the flavor of lamb, which works so well with fresh herbs. I'm also not thrilled by the texture of okra.
What’s your secret splurge at the grocery store?
Good fresh fish.
What’s the most decadent dish you’ve ever had?
Homemade pasta with fresh truffles
What’s your favorite midnight snack?
Cold Szechuan chinese food, eaten from the container.
Comments (10)
Great responses, Amy. Mine (when I get around to this meme) will be very similar.
Posted by jgk | February 24, 2009 7:37 PM
Posted on February 24, 2009 19:37
Wow! Everyone of your answers and photos a knock-out! Your boys are really lucky!
Posted by Barb Cabot | February 24, 2009 10:39 PM
Posted on February 24, 2009 22:39
Yay! Glad someone did this meme; I haven't done it yet but plan to next time I'm stuck. Loved reading your answers and wow, the photos are wonderful. That is pretty cool that your veggie friends eat your brisket!
Posted by Annie | February 24, 2009 10:54 PM
Posted on February 24, 2009 22:54
Pasta is my go to dish to. I love the looks of your food, I can smell that salmon dish, yummy!
Posted by candi | February 24, 2009 11:46 PM
Posted on February 24, 2009 23:46
This was fun to read. I love all your signature dishes. Watch out, I might end up at your doorstep ready to eat one day :). I have friends that have told me that sushi in Japan is incredible.
Posted by girasoli | February 25, 2009 2:03 AM
Posted on February 25, 2009 02:03
Me again. There's an interview with Anthony Bourdain in my local paper this morning and they asked him about greatest meal - here's his rec:
"Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo: the greatest sushi meal I ever had."
Posted by Annie | February 25, 2009 9:29 AM
Posted on February 25, 2009 09:29
This was really a wonderful post, but I should remember not to read these before my lunch break - those pictures are putting me over the proverbial edge right now. Maybe we should have a brisket cook-off? I bet many of us have a recipe that people say they "die" for. And I bet they're all different.
Posted by Marcia | February 25, 2009 3:49 PM
Posted on February 25, 2009 15:49
I love food posts and your accompanying pictures made this post amazing. Thank you!
Posted by Eden | February 25, 2009 7:10 PM
Posted on February 25, 2009 19:10
Very cool post, Amy. I loved all the pictures. Pasta is my go-to ingredient as well.
Posted by Deborah | February 26, 2009 12:36 AM
Posted on February 26, 2009 00:36
What a great meme post! And the photos were wonderful!
Marcia, a brisket cookoff sounds good. Not that I would have an entry, but I would be happy to be an impartial judge.
Posted by nancyhol | February 26, 2009 10:24 PM
Posted on February 26, 2009 22:24