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Archives for Mar 2008

Hungry Man ... and Woman

Apparently it's National Frozen Food month and in conjunction with a very funny (at least in my opinion) Hungry Man commercial that I saw last night, I decided to reflect upon the many boxed meals that I've passed as I pushed my cart down the super market aisle.

I thought the recent Hungry Man TV spot was very funny and is something that many women, including myself, have been guilty of. The commercial is a parody of how women usually go in pairs to the bathroom for no apparent reason or just to keep each other company. I wanted to look the video up to accompany this post and naturally gravitated towards YouTube to look for it (even though I now realize that it's also on their official site). The title that the publisher decided to give it was "Hungry Man Sexist TV Commercial." I could not find it with tags like "hungry", "man", "commercial", and "bathroom." I understand the reasoning behind this but I mean, with a product name like Hungry Man, what can you expect?  I won't stray further away from the topic on hand.

The spot got me wondering if a Hungry Man would really fill a hungry man or woman up. I rarely pop one of these bad boys in the microwave but when I do, I find them to be more sauce than actual food. Not filling at all. I'd rather spend the 3 bucks on a cup of soup. I'm not taking anything else (like nutrition, or lack of) into account here. I know it's the convenience that is a big point to these meals but there are other more convenient options, no? What's your take on frozen/TV dinners? Do you have them on hand for those really hectic days? Do you find them satisfying? I'd also like to know if anyone has tried any of Rocco DiSpirito's frozen meals so please do share if you have.

 

Posted Mar 24, 2008 by SuDoughName | 2 Comments | Share It

Filed under: frozen dinners

Celeb Approved Dishes (or not)

I was watching Conan O'Brien last night and he decided to share his favorite St. Patrick's Irish Lamb Stew recipe with us... sort of. Good Housekeeping magazine recently published an article for their "Celeb Dishes" section where for obvious reasons, they featured a favorite traditional Irish dish for the month that Conan O'Brien is known to make. But not really.

Conan was very surprised to see his name and face attached to the dish and jokingly said he felt "exploited" since he has actually never made or even tasted that dish before. Being a good sport that he is, Conan had the editor in chief come on the show and serve up "his" stew. Conan was not mad and even put his own little Irish twist to the stew by adding more ingredients to it, such as, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Guinness, and Lucky Charms. Oh, silly Conan. The segment left me wondering about all the Celebrity made dishes. I mean, Conan said himself that he doesn't cook and has never made that dish in his life. I guess it just all depends on the source. The segment also got me wondering what other dishes could be paired up with celebrities whether they approve it or not. To keep this going, I could see another publication saying "Jackie Chan fights off hunger with Kung Pao Chicken" or... maybe "Eliot Spitzer Shows Us His Matzo Balls Soup." That one might be a little too ballsy to say. But then again, he did make a pretty ballsy move.

Posted Mar 21, 2008 by SuDoughName | 1 Comment | Share It

Filed under: celebrity dishes Irish stew

One Client #9 Coming Right Up

I was waiting for this one. The talk of the week is invading everything including the foodie world. I love it. By now I'm sure you've heard about the scandalous situation Governor Eliot Spitzer has gotten himself into. Well, himself, his wife, his three daughters, New York State, the rest of the country, and now the suddenly infamous "Kristen". So how are foodies getting in on this? Naming "classics" and drink specials after client #9, of course!

 

 

Where can you get your own Spitzer Spritzer? Stop by Brooklyn's Teddy's and you can see what a Hypocrite's Delight tastes like:

And what exactly is in a Sandwich #9? Would you expect anything less than some hot tongue on rye? For a taste of this tongue sandwich, you can stop by Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop:

 

This will eventually die down but for now the sandwiches are still fresh as are the many foodie puns that can come out of this. What do you think of this? Would you name a food special after this incident to ride on the scandal train?

Posted Mar 14, 2008 by SuDoughName | 4 Comments | Share It

Filed under: Eliot Spitzer

Grateful for Potato Au Gratin

I always talk about how much I love potatoes. In fact, I recently told my brother that if I had to choose one food to keep on earth, it would be the potato. He was kind of surprised that I didn’t say rice since that has been a staple food in my diet since forever. I pretty much went into my Bubba voice and went on a rant about all the things you could do with potatoes. You know, instead of, “Shrimp gumbo, shrimp stew, shrimp-kabobs…” I just replaced everything with potato because really, you pretty much can.

So in light of St. Patty’s day coming up, instead of seeing what kind of bars and pubs will be running amuck with festivities, even though Proposition 3-17 from Guinness is pretty amusing, I’ve decided to look into more dishes that really take the potato to a whole new level. As I was reading into some of these ideas, I thought about the recent potato dishes that I had tasted. Potato au gratin is a classic traditional potato dish but is definitely a once in a while indulgence for me. The creamy hearty cheese sauce is so rich if you make it the right way. In my search, I stumbled upon an all au gratin recipe site – wonderful! One that I’d really love to try one day is the Gratin of Potatoes and Porcini Mushrooms:

Ingredients

- 1/2 ounces Dried Porcini Mushrooms, rinsed
- 1/2 cup Hot Water
- 2 medium Shallots
- 2 pounds Baking Potatoes (preferably Idaho), peeled, halved lengthwise
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2/3 cup Whipping Cream
- 2/3 cup Milk
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- Freshly Ground Pepper
- 3 tablespoons Whipping Cream  

Preparation

Soak porcini in hot water 1-1/2 hours. Strain through paper towels; reserve liquid. Rinse porcini; squeeze dry. Discard any hard stems. Cut into strips.

Preheat oven to 325 F. Generously butter 2-quart gratin dish.

Mince shallots. Slice potatoes thinly.

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add porcini and saute 1 minute. Add reserved porcini liquid, 2/3 cup cream, milk, salt and pepper and bring to simmer. Add potatoes, stirring gently to separate slices. Cook until potatoes begin to soften, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer to prepared dish.

Spoon remaining 3 tablespoons cream over top of potatoes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Refrigerate.)

Bake until potatoes are tender, about 1 hour. Preheat broiler. Broil until top is browned, about 3 minutes.

 

That would be a great dish to indulge on for St. Patrick's day and even more so if washed down with a pint of Guinness. Anyone else have St. Patrick's Day celebrations or perhaps sign the proposition? I would love to hear your favorite potato dishes so please share if you have them!

Posted Mar 13, 2008 by SuDoughName | Add a comment | Share It

Filed under: potatoes