Rao’s Marinara Sauce is amongst the best there is.  Simple as simple can be, the perfect meal for me, alone at home on New Year’s Eve.  Imported pasta, and fresh grated Parmesan is all it takes.  Well, yes, there is a glass of wine in the background, too.  Happy 2013!

My friend Liz had the homemade corned beef hash and gave it very high marks!

And my favorite, the ‘Ragin ‘Cajun…. one their inimitable varieties of Eggs Benedict….

Palace Diner is an honest Maine hidden gem, located on Franklin Street, just one short block off Main Street in downtown Biddeford, Maine.

Here’s a thought… just an idea..

We often hear about, and perhaps are guilty of, “pre-shopping” for something, let’s say a piece of kitchen ware…. in our local boutique store…only then to go home and place an on-line order for the same item from a large on-line source.

Is this wrong?  Is this unethical?  No to both.  However, consider an alternative:

How about pre-shopping using the mail-order company’s catalog,  you know, the one that you were sent without asking for it…. and then GOING TO YOUR LOCAL STORE to actually purchase the item?

“But it was $20 more!” you may say.

Well, that $20 bought you:
– the chance to see and touch the item… would you really want a fine kitchen knife without knowing how it feels in your hand?
– the chance to realize the one you may have thought you wanted isn’t as good of a value as the other similar item that the knowledgeable clerk at the store showed you.
– the pleasure of taking it home with you, then and there
– the assurance of knowing that you have local service for exchanges or returns, without the hassle of postage, being home to sign for packages, etc.

And, that $20 helps the local shop owner to spend their money back in their local community, pay their staff, who just happen to be your neighbors, pay their merchants associations, the people that put up those pretty holiday lights; and pay for their daughter’s girl scout uniform.

You get the idea. BUY LOCAL. All year long.

Just “food for thought”.

Saw this at one of my stops today.  Just had to grab a photo; after all, how often does a usually-summertime-realted pasta salad display itself with Christmaslike color?

It’s made of the expected proportions of these ingredients:

Tricolor rotini pastaCherry tomato halves
Sliced olives
Broccoli and cauliflower florets
Green pepper, optional
Salt, pepper
Sunflower seeds
Poppy seed dressing

This is my Christmas present, from my kids, via my ex-wife.  They listen nicely.

It’s a Staub, made in France, and it is one of those rare, rare products that simply exudes quality that makes its price of entry feel so worth every penny.

Background
I am relegated to cooking indoors, my 5th floor loft apartment has a chef’s kitchen but no private outdoor space for a grill.  So, I look for ways to cook things like sirloin strip and burgers that can at least partially compete with my old favorite cooking method when I lived n a home on my own land.  First spotted as a Le Creuset brand item in a mail-order chef’s catalog, I began my research.

In a fit of good timing, the October/November issue of Cook’s Country magazine had a comprehensive review of grill pans, including the one I had my eye on at the time, the Le Creuset.  The magazine found, however, that the Staub, available at Williams-Sonoma and local kitchen store  (please check your local kitchen store too!— Remember I love the Buy Local committment!) was found to be a better value and had a much larger capacity, at 110 square inches of cooking surface.  The Le Creuset, otherwise equally-rated, is a rather small, in comparison, 64 sq inches.

All of these grill pans offer an optional (sometimes bundled) panini press to add even more versatility to the investment.

This pan weighs in at 10+ pounds!  The enameled exterior is simply gorgeous, and the cobalt blue I asked for is reportedly the most popular choice.  I think the Le Creuset gets the nod, though, for more color choices, if this parameter is more important to you.

I just love the depth and smoothness of the enameled finish.

Now, as detailed in the Cook’s Country review, what sets this grill pan aside is the height of the ridges.  The Staub’s were the highest, and this means the fat from the meat falls through the ridges and the meat is cooked from the pan’s, rather than the rendered fat’s, heat.  The makes deep, pronounced grill marks, which is really what a grill pan is all about.

I will look forward to sharing with you the results of my first foray into cooking with this wonderful addition to my kitchen!

Freshly-made guacamole and salsa, seasoned ground beef, with jalapenos and black olives, and three cheese blend atop tortilla chips.  “Super nachos”, I call them.

Here’s what the guacamole looked like after seasoning but before blending together.

Salsa, ready to be mixed together…

I like to mix the al dente-cooked pasta with sauce and a variety of cheeses, then bake at 350°; 30 minutes covered with foil and then another 15 minutes with the foil removed until the cheese and pasta tips start to brown.  Sprinkle with oregano and red pepper flakes.