Unlikely serving sizes.

On Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:11:37 -0400, Goomba38 <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

sf said:

I premix my spaghetti just like I premix my salads. I will serve
extra sauce on the side for those who like that blob on top, but I'm
fine with the sauce that sticks to my spaghetti.

Yes, same here. I toss the macaroni with a bit of sauce to keep from
sticking, then additional sauce is served as desired. Any meats in the
sauce (meatballs, braciole, sausage, porkchops, etc) are removed from
the sauce pot and served in a bowl or platter after the macaroni as
another course or just as people desire on the side in a casual family
meal.

I have been fixing pasta the way I see Lidia do it.

She puts it (the pasta) in the sauce in the pan and finishes it off
that way for the last few minutes of cooking. If Parmesan is to be
added, she takes it off the heat and adds the Parmesan. Her reasoning
is that it absorbs the sauce better that way.

Christine

notbob said:

Have you ever considered taking the wild mad chance of actually
tossing the salad yourself? I know it's risky, but trust me. I have
it on good authority your salad will neither explode nor will your
lips fall off.

Not always easy to do in a restaurant setting where the salads are
portioned out in tiny bowls or plates.

Personally, I just wish they'd ask me if I want my salad before or
*after* my entree. I prefer after.

Goomba38 wrote on Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:46:44 -0400:

??>> Have you ever considered taking the wild mad chance of
??>> actually tossing the salad yourself? I know it's risky,
??>> but trust me. I have it on good authority your salad will
??>> neither explode nor will your lips fall off.

G> Not always easy to do in a restaurant setting where the
G> salads are portioned out in tiny bowls or plates.
G> Personally, I just wish they'd ask me if I want my salad
before or
G> *after* my entree. I prefer after.

Perhaps you should extend your range to the better French
restaurants in the US which *do* ask. Of course, in France there
is only one point to serve salad and you wouldn't usually be
asked :-)

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

James Silverton said:

Perhaps you should extend your range to the better French restaurants in
the US which *do* ask. Of course, in France there is only one point to
serve salad and you wouldn't usually be asked :-)

Well, I want to be asked in ALL types of restaurants, not just by going
to French ones.

"Goomba38" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

James Silverton said:

Perhaps you should extend your range to the better French
restaurants in the US which *do* ask. Of course, in France
there is only one point to serve salad and you wouldn't
usually be asked :-)

Well, I want to be asked in ALL types of restaurants, not just
by going to French ones.

I agree with your sentiments but have you ever been to France?

--
Jim Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

notbob said:

In short,
what the heck are you talking about, sf!? 😉

It's the same idea as premixing salad. You don't need as much sauce.
I'm a minimalist in that sense.

--
See return address to reply by email

On Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:36:34 -0400, Goomba38 <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

notbob wrote:
It's not like folks plop a blob of sauce on top of the

Quoted message said:

spagetts, then carefully pull strands of bare pasta out from under the
blob, then dip the pasta into the blob like a potato chip. In short,
what the heck are you talking about, sf!? 😉

Not sf, but I'll jump in and explain how I do it. After I drain the
cooked macaroni or pasta (which we never called "pasta" at home, it was
always "macaroni" if not a long stranded pasta and that we would call by
its own name. "Drain the linguine" for example.
Once drained, it was either placed in a warm platter bowl or back into
the hot pot and a ladle of sauce put in and tossed with it to coat
everything very lightly and keep it from sticking.
If I'm making a fast sauce in a wide pan, I could just add the cooked
pasta directly to that pan to finish off too, if desired?
We never served "nekkid" macaroni with a serving of the sauce on top. It
looks so... wrong to me?

Ditto what you said and as I said before, it has all the appeal of a
pile of greens with a blob of dressing on top for me. Thanks, but no
thanks.

🙂

--
See return address to reply by email

James Silverton said:

"Goomba38" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

James Silverton said:

Perhaps you should extend your range to the better French
restaurants in the US which *do* ask. Of course, in France
there is only one point to serve salad and you wouldn't
usually be asked :-)

Well, I want to be asked in ALL types of restaurants, not just
by going to French ones.

I agree with your sentiments but have you ever been to France?

You seem to be very preoccupied with France (and European beaches). Not
everyone wants to hang out in Europe 🙂

James Silverton said:

sf wrote on Wed, 13 Jun 2007 08:36:13 -0700:

s> Dipping each forkful into dressing on the side is just as
s> disgusuting and unsatisfying as getting salad with a blob of
s> dressing on top. If they won't premix, I don't order salad.

What's disgusting about dipping? The essence of dressing on the
side is that you can just touch the salad to the dressing to get
a small amount of flavor. Don't you ever order foods with
dipping sauces like potstickers or satay?

There is a world of difference between them, plus when it comes to
potsticers and satay, I'm a dunker not a dipper. So, if they came
already coated.... especially satay (lose that stick too), I wouldn't
object.

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James Silverton said:

I had thought that the era of the unlikely serving size had
ended a year or two ago when the Giant Stores were rightly
ridiculed for selling "non-fat" salad dressing (based on a
serving size of 1/2 teaspoon.) However the practice seems to be
creeping back as witness today's (6/13/07) Food Section, page
F10, with Avocado Ranch Dressing that contains 1g of fat based
on a serving size of 1 tablespoon. Be honest, who uses only one
tablespoon of salad dressing?

We have a AYCE Salad Bar restaurant here called "Souper Salad"
that is boasting a 100% trans-fat free menu*

(*) Per serving

They're allowed to claim that something is trans-fat free if a
serving contains less than .5g of trans-fat. But in reality, you
could walk out of there eating 10-12 grams of trans-fat.

I don't think they should be able to call it "100% trans-fat free"
unless *all* their food had exactly _zero_ trans-fats , not the
legal limit of .4g or under per serving.

I hate the marketing dweebs. And the USDA doesn't help any.

-sw

sf sf said:

Ditto what you said and as I said before, it has all the appeal of a
pile of greens with a blob of dressing on top for me. Thanks, but no
thanks.

Well, DUH!! Before the chef mixes it, it's a blob of dressing on top of a
pile of greens. What? It's beneath you people to mix/toss the
salad/pasta yourself? Well! ...excuuuuuzze me! I had no idea I was
amongst such a highbrow crowd. Besides, I thought this group was
about cooking. What do you do at home? Put the dressing and greens
next to each other and wait for them to mate? [eye roll]

nb ...pinkies up!

notbob said:

Well, DUH!! Before the chef mixes it, it's a blob of dressing on top of a
pile of greens.

Not necessarily. Some folks make the dressing before hand, and put it
in the bottom of the bowl, then put the greens on top. They then mix
it at time of service.

Others toss the salad with oil first, then add vinegar or lemon juice
in small increments, tossing after each addition.

All sorts of ways to dress a salad. 😉

Christine

Christine Dabney said:

All sorts of ways to dress a salad. 😉

....including just mixing the two together. Top, bottom, one
ingredient at a time? Bah! Now I know ya'll are just jerking my
chain. :P

nb

Dave Smith said...

Quoted message said:

Andy said:

It ain't France but Paris is only a 5 hour bullet train away from 'Dam.

Does it take that long? It is about a 5 hour drive, roughly 300 miles.
The high speed train does about 100 mph. I was on one from from
Marseilles to Paris, and it flew. I was trying to figure out where we
were and as we approached stations I tried to read the signs, but we
zipped by so fast they were just blurs.

I took a train from Central station at about 7am. We stopped in Brussels,
Belgium where they added the bullet locomotive. Then it screamed at 350
km/h into North Paris station. I had about 6 hours in Paris and then
trained back and got to Central station after the sun had set. What a day
trip!

The neatest thing about the bullet train is it's rock steady at such high
speed!!!

Andy

Steve Wertz said:

James Silverton said:

I had thought that the era of the unlikely serving size had
ended a year or two ago when the Giant Stores were rightly
ridiculed for selling "non-fat" salad dressing (based on a
serving size of 1/2 teaspoon.) However the practice seems to be
creeping back as witness today's (6/13/07) Food Section, page
F10, with Avocado Ranch Dressing that contains 1g of fat based
on a serving size of 1 tablespoon. Be honest, who uses only one
tablespoon of salad dressing?

We have a AYCE Salad Bar restaurant here called "Souper Salad"
that is boasting a 100% trans-fat free menu*

(*) Per serving

They're allowed to claim that something is trans-fat free if a
serving contains less than .5g of trans-fat. But in reality, you
could walk out of there eating 10-12 grams of trans-fat.

I don't think they should be able to call it "100% trans-fat free"
unless *all* their food had exactly _zero_ trans-fats , not the
legal limit of .4g or under per serving.

I hate the marketing dweebs. And the USDA doesn't help any.

Exactly. We have the same problem here in Canada; food manufacturers
apparently don't want to have to admit what's really in their products,
and for some reason governments are willing to let them get away with
only telling part of the story.

How can we sit here and discuss whether a salad needs a teaspoon of dressing
or a half cup when we don't know how MUCH salad?

A teaspoon might do for a stingy portion of greens but not for a humongous
plate full.

Me, I like a generous dollop, well distributed. Otherwise it's rabbit food.

Felice

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

James Silverton said:

"Goomba38" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

James Silverton wrote:

> Perhaps you should extend your range to the better French
> restaurants in the US which *do* ask. Of course, in France
> there is only one point to serve salad and you wouldn't
> usually be asked :-)

Well, I want to be asked in ALL types of restaurants, not
just
by going to French ones.

I agree with your sentiments but have you ever been to
France?

You seem to be very preoccupied with France (and European
beaches). Not
everyone wants to hang out in Europe 🙂

Sounds like sour grapes to me! "Preoccupied" is not the same as
liking and knowing a lttle :-)

--
Jim Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

James Silverton said:

"jmcquown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

James Silverton said:

"Goomba38" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> James Silverton wrote:
>
>> Perhaps you should extend your range to the better French
>> restaurants in the US which *do* ask. Of course, in France
>> there is only one point to serve salad and you wouldn't
>> usually be asked :-)
>
> Well, I want to be asked in ALL types of restaurants, not
> just
> by going to French ones.

I agree with your sentiments but have you ever been to
France?

You seem to be very preoccupied with France (and European
beaches). Not
everyone wants to hang out in Europe 🙂

Sounds like sour grapes to me! "Preoccupied" is not the same as
liking and knowing a lttle :-)

Sour grapes my ass! I don't care about France; I don't care to hang out on
beaches (nude or otherwise) there or anywhere else. You bring it up quite
often. While it may be you were stationed over there; you seem to love the
question, "Have you ever been to France?" It's silly. Just my opinion, of
course. But then again, you Maryland is about as far away from France as
you can get unless you move to Australia. So why don't you live there if
it's so great?

Jill

Felice Friese said:

How can we sit here and discuss whether a salad needs a teaspoon of dressing
or a half cup when we don't know how MUCH salad?

A teaspoon might do for a stingy portion of greens but not for a humongous
plate full.

Me, I like a generous dollop, well distributed. Otherwise it's rabbit food.

I don't use much dressing, and I don't eat much rabbit food, but even for
the little bit of salad I eat and the little dressing I have on it, 1 tsp..
is not very much.

James Silverton said:

"Goomba38" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

James Silverton said:

Perhaps you should extend your range to the better French restaurants
in the US which *do* ask. Of course, in France there is only one
point to serve salad and you wouldn't usually be asked :-)

Well, I want to be asked in ALL types of restaurants, not just by
going to French ones.

I agree with your sentiments but have you ever been to France?

Yes 🙂