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Q). Dear Chef,
I hope it isn't too late to submit my favorite seafood recipe. This is
yummy, simple, and the aroma while they are cooking is heaven! You can
use up to 5 lbs of Prawns without increasing the amount of this "juice".
Kay Cook
Via email
A). I tried this one Kay - not bad! It had to be though, coming
from someone named "Cook". You can also add cayenne pepper, lemon,
garlic, salt, bay leaves and water. Come to think about it, this was so
nice that I'm serving it at my
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next dinner party. Hot spicy shrimp, cold
white wine or beer and the best part, just spread it out on newspaper
and dig in.
Peel 'em and Eat 'em Prawns & Beer Recipe
In a wide pan or stainless skillet combine:
1 quart beer
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
the juice of 1/2 lemon
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Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat, and
add prawns in a single layer. Cook until pink and firm (don't overcook).
Remove to a serving bowl (I use a metal bowl as it hold the heat better)
with a slotted spoon. Repeat with remaining prawns. When all are cooked,
pour the remaining "juice" into the bowl with the prawns. (This keeps
them warm on the table.) To eat, peel off the shell and dip the prawn in
melted butter with a little lemon juice added.
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Folks, just when I was wondering where
long-time friend and world-renowned mushroom expert, David Arora was, in
comes an email I thought I would share with you all. I'm looking forward
to catching up with David this week at the mushroom conference in
Washington State, where I'll be doing some cooking demos. I'll tell you
all about it next week.
Hi John -- I'm in Tlaxcala, a couple hours drive from Mexico City,
surrounded by high volcanoes. I'm staying with a couple that organizes
mushroom tours, and today they took me to a hacienda that I think you'd
really love staying at. It's an old house, very large and beautiful,
with a magnificent tiled kitchen in which they made us fantastic meals. |
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There is a type of ant egg that they keep on
hand that was unbelievably delicious with a hint of chili verde sauce,
and the mole chicken was the best I've ever had, and spiced just
perfectly. They even had not just the regular butter but a special
concoction which they serve wrapped in palm leaves which is
butter impregnated with hints of Worcestershire, Tabasco sauce
and cashews. Wow! It's the kind of thing they don't have to do, since it
doesn't cost any extra for the diners, but they do it because they
really like to experiment with foods as well as serve the traditional
regional cuisine. One of my hosts had the bull's balls, which I tasted
and they were also really good. This place specializes in regional
cuisine, nothing like what you think of as |
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Mexican food, and they also
prepare pre Columbian cuisine on request.
I'm not staying there at night but my hosts say the rooms are very nice,
and the kitchen, old as it is, is to die for. They know a bunch of
other really nice places that they rave about and I think you'd love to
come for a week or so, because the food is fantastic and there's good
mushroom hunting also. So think about it, maybe we can come back
together next year, it's so easy to get here and you may find it
interesting enough to do a show on it. The scenery is wonderful, too. I
hope all is well. I think you are coming to the medicinal mushroom
conference and if so, then I'll see you there.
Cheers, David Arora |
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Q). Hi John, I grew up in Big Sur
during the 1940's to 1970's and at times my father would hike down to the
beach for abalone. He would pound it and mother would dip it in some
kind of egg batter, bread crumbs, fry it and it was incredibly good. I
recently had some very $$$$ expensive abalone (farm-raised) and
it did not
taste the same as those abalone from the Big Sur coast. Is it me, who
maybe lost her taste buds, or does farmed abalone taste different?
Marly
Via email
A). No it's not you, and no, it's not the farmed abalone. In the
old days we cut the abalone real thick (at least 1/2 inch). Also, the
other big factor was the size of the abalone. In those days they were
monsters - 10 or 11 inch shells were not uncommon. One steak would
overlap a plate. I remember working on the wharf at Cerritos |
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and later at Neptune's Table where the chef would order only center-cut
abalone. Big thick pieces dripping in their natural milk. When you fried
them in butter, the natural milk would rise to the top and that meant
you should get it out of the pan. When you would bite into that thick,
juicy steak, a soft smile would cross your face. I know exactly what
you're talking about Marly. However, the farm-raised abalone is actually
a very delicious (and locally grown) product. They are raised in
50-gallon barrels in the ocean and fed their natural food (kelp).
Because of their restricted movements, their muscles don't have much
chance to develop
so they are very tender and you can eat the whole animal. Sure, they
must be handled a bit differently, but let's face it, fried fish is
always good.
Q). I am severely allergic to honey and many of the recipes that
interest me call for it. What can I use in place of honey? Water and |
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sugar combo do not provide the
stickiness of honey, nor the flavor.
Thank you,
Jean Caton
Via email
A). Have you tried corn syrup? Check
them out because the darker the syrup, the more flavor it has. Let me
know how it works out.
What a relief! In case anyone is interested (poor media coverage), last
Friday night's Hurricane Katrina event at the Monterey Bay Aquarium was
very successful. My attempt to cook up 1000 servings fell 150 short, as
I served 850 tastes of my jambalaya. One New Orleans lady told me that
to be good it had to have soul. I replied, "I don't know about soul, but
I put in 25 lbs. of chicken gizzards." Now that's what I'm talking
about! I was told they raised $220,000 - Way to go everyone!
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