Category: as seen on tv

old salty dog

Leave a comment

we stopped in at the old salty dog on the virtue that we saw it on the man v food show on the travel channel…. soooo I can’t gripe too much if the food is less than spectacular.  Decorated in beach shack pub style with a dog dish for the table.  It is sitting on the water in Sarasota, Fl and the view can’t be beat.  We went there to get an oversize deep fried hotdog.  Yikes.  Kind of shameful when I think about it.  Not a corndog, just a beer battered foot long dog with whatever fixins float your boat.  Z had jack cheese and grilled onion and I had bacon and cheddar.  It was crunchy and fun with mustard added on top.  They bring out all the baseline condiments, relish, onion, ketchup and mustard for you to add and the dogs come with fries.  It was about what you’d expect, a greezy dog but t was fun to eat and consider the ridiculousness.  We sat and watched boats on the water and the sunset and then made our way home.

long time no post

Leave a comment

I haven’t had much free time lately and then came down with a terrible cold after Christmas.  While alternately sleeping on the sofa and sleeping in my bed I managed to catch some cooking channel and saw Alexandra Guarnaschelli make Eggplant Parmigiana.  One of my favorites.  I ventured out to the store today for the ingredients and made it for supper.
Z says I like it because eggplant has no taste and could substitute for meat which I sometimes don’t like for the chewy bits and idea of where it comes from.
I cut the amount of tomatoes in half and it was plenty and would easily feed 6 to 8 people.  Click on the link above for her recipe.

potato and asparagus tart

Leave a comment

I don’t know where I come up with this stuff.  Well, actually I do but I wonder what drives me to do complicated dishes on weeknights when I have been out all day.  Ever since the Cooking Channel, self proclaimed edgy child of the Food Network went live, I have unwound briefly in the evening watching my favorite chef, Jamie Oliver.    When I first embarked on the cooking hobby I watched him for various reasons including, but not limited to…

  • he is a drummer in a band
  • he skates, drives a scooter and VW van
  • he had a great accent
  • his perpetual bedhead
  • he brought semi stodgy cookery back to hip with his Naked Chef series.  (He wasn’t naked, just his food was)

He has stood the test of time, evolving and changing.  Now he touts the Food Revolution, home grown veg and lately, flogs jam at Williams Sonoma.  I still have a bit of a crush really.
The other night he was pulling asparagus out of his veg patch and made a potato and asparagus tart.  Basically creamy, eggy mash with cheese and asparagus laid on top all nested in layers of phyllo.  Nice.

cooking channel

Leave a comment

food network has launched the cooking channel, which is advertised as for food people by food people.   Basically, it is a little dirtier with mostly edgier (not American born?) with probably an averagely younger age and probably distinctly more cheffy cooks.  One of the shows is Dolce Vita by David Rocco which is basically like the italian food show that has food you desperately want to cook and eat – so we did.  Saturday afternoon Z made his Bolognese sauce.  Can I tell you how incredible it was (and is, had it for lunch today!)  The vegetables (carrot, onion and celery) had melted into the tomatoes (Pomi strained – totally recommend them!) and perfectly married with the beef and pork.  Incredible.  It also didn’t hurt that the chef totally reminds me of a friend of ours in Rome.  I am sure I will watch an obnoxious amount of the cooking channel – at least until the show’s begin to homogenize and dull down – but I hope that they don’t.
(I tried to get an action shot of cheese dropping on top of the noodles and seriously…I need a lesson.)