Mayonnaise on My Mind
So last night, hubby and I got into an hour long discussion about mayonnaise. Seems hard to believe, I know, but when you are a household of two food obsessed people, it is fairly easy. We once waxed poetic about roasted garlic for two days. It all started as I was fixing a snack in the kitchen and hubby was leaning over the counter to watch, as he always does. Just as an aside, hubby is a bit of a vicarious eater. My snack was slices of Swiss cheese on good Jewish rye with heirloom tomato slices and, you guessed it, mayonnaise. As I was making my snack, hubby came around the counter and started dipping celery stalks into the mayonnaise jar. That was when I said, “I REALLY love mayonnaise!” He answered, “Hmm. Garble. Garble.”, while nodding his head (his mouth was full of mayonnaise covered celery at the time). I then upped the mayonnaise ante by getting some leftover roasted red bliss potatoes I had made the night before. I roasted them with olive oil, thyme, garlic, salt & pepper. They were very good. I then took the roasted potato quarters and slathered them with mayonnaise. Let me stop here and just tell you if you ever get a chance to try this, do. It is completely decadent and is akin to an over the top potato salad. We oohed and aahed as we ate the potatoes. And again I said, “Mayonnaise is so good!” We then went on to discuss store-bought brands, home-made aiolis and even Miracle Whip. We also talked about how some people (gasp!) don’t like mayonnaise?! This got me thinking about my long love affair with mayonnaise…
It all started when I was a child. I grew up in a mayonnaise home. I say that because many of my friends had Miracle Whip, which at the time made me jealous because they could eat it and I couldn’t. Why? My Mother looked down on Miracle whip. She saw it as mayonnaise’s red-haired step child. And if I asked for it while we were shopping, she would say, with a very haughty tone, “We don’t eat THAT.” End of discussion. So mayonnaise it was. And it was on EVERYTHING. I now think it was my Mother’s little helper. She put it in vegetables, casseroles, we topped our salads with it (I didn’t even know there was such a thing as salad dressing until I was seven & my Mom brought home Good Seasons Italian with the shaker cruet), put it on ALL sandwiches and even put it on our pizza. Yes, pizza. I didn’t know other people didn’t do this until I went to a pizza party and asked for the mayonnaise. The cries of “gross” and “weird” from my friends kept me from ever making that mistake again! But I still do like mayonnaise on my pizza when in the privacy of my own home. So, as a child I was raised on mayonnaise.
As a teen I started dieting and deemed mayonnaise off-limits. Which of course, only made me want it more. I tried to substitute those awful fat-free and light mayos, but lets face it, they don’t cut it. The fat-free is simply awful. It is more science experiment than food. And the low-fat, while slightly better has to me an odd aftertaste. The irony? I discovered Miracle Whip has less fat than mayonnaise and started eating that! Though the slightly sweet flavor, like it had sweet pickle relish juice added to it, always disturbed me. But at the time, it was better than the alternatives.
After years of avoiding ‘real” mayonnaise at all costs, I finally came back. I was in my twenties and working at a fine dining restaurant. One day the Chef came out with the nights special. It had this wonderful magical sauce with it. Creamy, garlic flavored and absolutely fabulous. So I ran to him and asked, “What is that sauce?” “Garlic aioli,” he replied. Remember, I was just starting my culinary education at this point and waited to get home to look up aioli. Much to my surprise, it was mayonnaise! That did it. I went the next day and bought a jar of real mayonnaise and have had one in my fridge ever since. The crazy part, to me at least, was I didn’t balloon up to 300 pounds as I had imagined. My weight didn’t change one bit. But my meals sure did improve! No longer was potato salad, deviled eggs and cole slaw off-limits! I could once again get mayonnaise on my sandwiches. And if a dish mentioned aioli on a menu, I ordered it.
Now, here I am, older and still my love affair with mayonnaise continues. I can’t imagine a life without mayonnaise, garlic aioli, creamy mayonnaise based salad dressings, etc. Sounds dramatic, I know. But, as they say (whoever “they” are) it is the little things in life. I also know that if my husband weren’t as passionate about mayonnaise as I am, we would have an issue. I mean really, how do you trust a man who doesn’t love mayonnaise?
I will leave you with a couple of things… About ten years ago, my sister’s boyfriend at the time, hated mayonnaise. I, of course, started arguing with him about all the wondrous things mayonnaise could do.. He then told me about a late night infomercial he saw for a hand-held mixer. They made mayonnaise and it was four cups of oil and an egg. That’s it. After recounting this he asked, “So now what do you think about mayonnaise?” I smiled and told him, “It is the oil that makes it good!” I did think to myself at the time, that they could have really improved the flavor with just a little lemon. Or even made a garlic aioli by adding some garlic. But I didn’t tell him. What was the point? He obviously didn’t understand mayonnaise!
Here is my P.S. A great recipe using mayonnaise that is perfect for entertaining. They are called onion puffs and trust me, they are to die for…
Finely grate one medium sweet or white onion
Add to the onion, 2 cups of mayonnaise and 1 cup of Parmesan cheese
Place mixture in fridge covered
Using a small (about 1 inch diameter) biscuit cutter, cut rounds from a loaf of cheap white bread. Just no crusts.
Toast the rounds on a baking sheet until lightly browned on both sides.
Using a small spoon or a pastry bag, top toasted rounds with a mound of the mixture. This can be done a head of time and kept in the fridge.
IMMMEDIATELY before serving, place topped rounds under broiler. Mixture will puff up and get slightly tan. Remove and serve right away.
These are so good with champagne and trust me, your guests will never guess the magic ingredient mayonnaise!
The Price of Healthy Eating
I just got back from the grocery store and I am angry. Why? Why must anything that is healthy and/or good for me cost an arm and a leg? And furthermore, why is it that if it is unhealthy, I can get it for a song? Jamie Oliver and Michelle Obama can preach healthy food choices all they want, but until the actual cost of food is addressed, they will not go very far. Trust me, I agree with both Michelle and Jamie, but I also live in the “real” world, where I am on a budget and don’t have $300 a week to spend on “healthy” food. That being said, I do feel lucky that I can shop and eat healthfully, but wonder every time I am at check-out, how struggling families have been “priced” out of the choice.
See, it is just me, my husband and four spoiled cats. No kids. Yet, our grocery bill, as of late, has become astronomical and it brings to mind how difficult it must be for parents. Now, to set the record straight, I am not buying $50 bottles of wine, aged balsamic and ripe triple cream brie. Although, I must admit, just writing that made my stomach rumble! I am buying fresh fruit and vegetables, fish and whole grain breads. What we are “told” by countless talking heads to eat, correct? Well, this healthy diet becomes increasingly expensive with every trip to the store. Two dollars for one avocado and it is in season! Really? Five dollars for a loaf of multi-grain bread! Huh? Thirteen dollars a pound for salmon? Thud (that was me fainting and hitting the floor)!
Now, the other side of all of this is just how INEXPENSIVE “junk” food has become. If I wanted to live on boxed macaroni and cheese (Yes. It IS good, in moderation), ramen, white bread and sodium, preservative laden cheap frozen dinners, I would save a fortune. In dollars at least, but I have a sneaking suspicion that eating that way would cause me to spend much more on health care, medication, etc. Isn’t that the crux of it? If we can make healthy food affordable, we ALL save! We end up with a healthier country and lower health care costs.
But this also applies to fast food. Why, if I were a working Mother, would I spend ten times the money and my time to create a healthy dinner for my family when I could simply pick up two large pizzas for ten dollars? Or why even shop at all? With the low, low price of fast food these days, it would probably be cheaper, at least monetarily, to consume ALL meals out. Start wit a dollar sausage biscuit at McDonalds, for lunch get two dollar beef burritos at Taco Bell, then pick up a five dollar large pizza at Little Caesar’s for dinner. Grand total? Eight dollars for the entire day!
So, until we can get our food costs under control, I don’t see America solving its obesity problem. Eating healthfully should not be reserved for the wealthy. It saddens me that in the land of “plenty” there are so many that are going without nutritional foods. Okay, I am finished ranting. All this anger has made me hungry. I think I will go and eat a three dollar orange.
When Food Kills
Looking at the title, I suddenly had visions of huge mutant spears of broccoli running at defenseless humans with machetes! But, no, although I do like that visual, I am talking about, of course, fatty foods and overeating and what it REALLY does to one’s body. As any regular reader of my blog knows, I am a HUGE proponent of moderate eating and I know food is more than just fuel. We are emotionally linked to food and to try to discount that link, to me at least, is silly. But recently, I had somebody very close to me go through a triple-bypass. And honestly, it has changed the way I look at all things food.
Let me get out of the way, that I have my cholesterol, triglycerides and blood sugar checked regularly. My numbers are all great. Also, I do exercise regularly and try to incorporate all the “should” eat foods regularly into my diet. But all that aside, having a loved one be so close to a major heart attack or death due to three blocked arteries, has left it’s mark on me.
Now when I watch Man Vs. Food, I think about Adam Richman’s poor arteries… And wish he would take better care of himself. The same goes for every overweight Chef on the Food Network and the Cooking Channel (you know who you are). Especially because they all seem to be preparing fattening food. Almost as if to say to the home audience, with a wink and a nudge, we know this is bad for us, but, come on, you know you want to eat it… And of course we do! Macaroni and cheese is GOOD (actually saw a chef label this as healthy because she used whole wheat pasta, along with two sticks of butter and about a pound of cheese)! Fried foods are FABULOUS! But nothing, absolutely nothing, is worth jeopardizing your health. By the way, is it me or do we as a nation seem to have given up on healthy eating? Five dollar pizzas, heart attack burgers, bacon fests, potatoes fried in lard… It is as if we are saying, the economy is bad, I lost my retirement, prospects are few, so I will be damned if I don’t eat what I want. Even the food these networks profile are fat-laden and artery clogging… Over the top donut shops, quadruple cheeseburgers with foie gras and bacon and my favorite, the 50 pound pizza topped with half of the butcher shop.
So, now I mumble to myself through these programs, “He better be careful” or “I hope she has had her cholesterol checked” even “Really? Do you need to add ANOTHER stick of butter?!” So please, go get your numbers checked, don’t ignore symptoms and eat AND exercise moderately. We Americans tend to be an all or nothing bunch. Exercising five hours a day and eating only raw vegetables OR sitting on the couch eating only fried foods. I am thankful every day that my loved one’s heart issue was dealt with before a major coronary event or death and would not wish the surgery and aftermath on my worst enemy.
By the way, he is doing well, walking daily, drinking plenty of water and has made significant dietary changes. His prognosis is good. Now go eat your broccoli before it tries to eat you! LOL!
My Best Thing I Ever Ate-Fried!
So, of course I regularly watch the Food Network’s Best Thing I Ever Ate… And get hungry. Then lament the fact that I am in a small town and there is NO possible way for me to fulfill my deli craving at 9:00 p.m. Well, the show has me thinking, what are the best things I ever ate and why. So here is my first edition, the deep fried foods.
Best fried vegetables- I have to go with this hole in the wall sushi joint near my house, Masaki. They do a vegetable tempura that is deep fried vegetable perfection. A lot of tempura’s I have had have a slight fishy tatse to the batter. Yes, shared oil! But not here, light, airy batter enrobing perfectly cooked vegetables. They even do the daikon radish & enoki mushroom! But my favorite is the sweet potato. Slightly salty & crispy outside. Sweet & creamy inside. The dipping sauce they serve is also great. A slightly sweet, thin, brown sauce. LOVE these vegetables!
Best French Fry- Now before I call this, I have to say that a lot of this has to do with the memory of my life when I ate them… If you asked me my favorite type of fry, I would immediately say, “Pomme Frites.” But when I searched my taste memory for the BEST fry, I came up with its very opposite, a short, fat, large steak fry. My favorite french fry? The Seasoned fries at Tommy’s restaurant. Oh, the memory of walking back to school at lunch time, clutching that greasy, fragrant paper bag in my hand… They were crisp, creamy and seasoned with a paprika colored salt. Always had extra seasoning on mine. Really, the perfect fry. At a time in my life when fries and red licorice ropes for lunch was perfectly acceptable.
Best Fried Sandwich- The Monte Cristo at Disneyland. Yes, Disneyland! I grew up in California, so a trip to Disneyland, while not every weekend, was pretty commonplace. Hell, I still remember when they had the tickets-A through E. My mother had an entire drawer full of the A tickets in the kitchen. I digress. So, there was a restaurant that was in the Pirates of Carribean ride. You could eat and watch the boats go by… It was VERY dark and seemed very fancy to me as a child. It was here that I had my first and best Monte Cristo sandwich. Made the right way, dipped in egg batter, fried, then topped with powdered sugar and served with raspberry jam for dipping. Biting into that was like going on a trip. The sweet, french toast like first taste, then the salty meat and oozing nutty swiss cheese. Then the next bite adding raspberry jam for a pop of fruit! I still dream about that sandwich…
Best strange Fried Thing- I think of this like a niche market. Not everybody does it, but when you can find it done right… OMG! This has to be the deep fried dill pickle spears at a neighborhood diner. Cornmeal batter, still slightly cool and crunchy dill pickle, ranch for dipping. I don’t think I need to say anything more.
Best Fried Sweet- The apple fritters at the Von’s in Marina Del Rey. Really, the best apple fritter I have ever eaten. And believe me, I have eaten quite a few. These fritters have the perfect proportion of apple chunks to doughy batter. Of crisp edges to fluffy centers. And the absolutely perfect amount of that sticky, really too sweet, icing. Used to go on Saturday at 7:00 a.m. just so I could get my hot little hands on them. Yes, they sold out that fast… Would always buy four and think I would save some for Sunday. But no, I ate them all that day. They were just too good.
Best Fried Egg- yes, as the final best of fried I am including a fried egg. Why? Well, because creating a perfectly cooked fried egg is hard to do and even harder to find. I like mine over easy, so I can dunk my buttered Rye toast into the yolk. The best fried egg I ever ate was at Edie’s Diner in Marina Del Rey (it is closed now). Edie’s was where we went late night and drunk. Or early morning and hungover. Nothing cured my hangover faster than a couple of perfectly cooked over-easy fried eggs, buttered rye toast, breakfast potatoes and LOTS of water at Edie’s.
Well there it is, my first Best Thing I Ever Ate blog. There will be more. But in the meantime, what was the best fried food YOU ever ate? Let me know. I am always looking for new favorites.
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