Godwinkr's Profile

I love hexagons! I've been overwhelmingly obsessed for oh, 8 months. My kitchen is slowly becoming a beehive.

yep, have those. Got them when I moved out from my parents (new set). Just like theirs.

A good signature dish where most everything is made in-house & shows the restaurants ethos. Doesn't have to be fancy, in fact, comfort foods are great signatures. House lasagna with scratch pasta and sauces at my fav Italian restaurant, but even side dishes at some of my other favorite restaurants I would consider a "signature dish" because they are first, *really good,* and second, speak to the style of the restaurant. Agree with other posters, none of us digital people can pick it for you. Appetizers can be signatures--something that people love, would still order if it wasn't on the menu, and fit with the rest of the menu (same italian place, they have a appetizer dish of melty cambazola, coupla heads of roasted garlic, and grilled bread. Always on the menu, very popular/delicious, and fits with the italian menu). Sometimes something a little showy can be memorable & still feel like a "signature." I'd stay away from something too seasonal actually, since you literally can't provide it all year and how do you have a personal signature only part of the year? Do you just not sign your credit card 10 months out of the year? But still, having a dish something that you can say your restaurant is involved in from start to finish is a great way start. Some restaurants have signature wines/beers that are bottled exclusively for them. Say you get a star ingredient locally (like a non-seasonal meat), get it from someone you can build a connection with for the restaurant and have that be a selling/bragging point for the dish.

I wonder what the straight beer syrup would taste like... extra alcoholic malt? And wouldn't it have some awesome culinary applications (you seriously wouldn't probably want to DRINK it, syrup or beer "soda"), like for a rockin' steak/grill sauce base?

Sangria! add more booze like triple sec, a little sugar, some fruit (citrus for both, berries are great for reds, stone fruit great for whites), herbs/spices, and it keeps for quite a few days in the fridge. Just gets more flavorful the longer it sits. The fruit is awesome too for breakfast (just a couple of pieces), or for dessert.

Also, I invest in box wine. Seriously, there are some GREAT boxed wines out there (not the Franzia of yore), and with the vacuum seal, they keep for a long time. One I've fallen in love with as my "house wine," is the Portuguese Casa Santos Lima, and they make a Terra de Malta red and white. Each is around $30-$35, and 5 liters. That's a lot of wine for one or two people to drink, but it's pretty economical at <$6 a bottle. I had one of the white boxes in my fridge for about a month earlier this summer, and I would get one or two glasses every couple of days, and the flavor stayed very consistent. Use a tablespoon or two in recipes to de-glaze pans for gravy, add to veggies or rice, or just offer an inexpensive glass to friends when they stop by. Fully recommend it.

Rice freezes pretty well, maybe make a more interesting whole-grain wild rice pilaf? Some mild onions, nuts or ground meat for protein, mushrooms, add some peas and diced carrots for a little more nutrition. Asian-style fried rice too, I bet would work well. Once prepared, one can lay it out on a cookie sheet, and once frozen, can be put in chunks into a freezer bag, and dragged & reheated out as needed. Add a little sprinkle of water when reheating so it stays moister.

I'd also recommend some hearty stews, lots of soft veggies (green beans, corn, stewed tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, pea, etc.) with a rich broth, either beef or veggie, and some sort of protein. My parents would do ground beef for an economic meal (and used canned or frozen veggies for ease of preparation), and make some corn muffins for the side. I bet the muffins could freeze well too. Put the stew into smaller one-bowl containers, and it's a pretty good one to re-heat.

Pot pies could also work, either mini or family sized, maybe do them un-baked, so they can have a "fresh" meal. Just don't use cream in the filling/gravy, and cornstarch works better as a thickener (or even condensed soup for a quicker substitution). You can put just about anything in a pot pie, and it'll probably taste great.

Maybe even some baked potatoes could freeze okay as another plain food? Maybe make them twice-baked style with some protein in the fillings.

http://goodcheapeats.com/2010/12/freezing-potatoes/

good luck!

I work in a bakery and we've been doing quite a few reveal cakes lately (colored cake or filling), some of which were pre-ordered by a relative who got the low-down on the sex of the baby from the doctors ahead of the parents. The parents intentionally did not want to hear the sex until the shower and all the family and friends were assembled: a surprise for everybody!

Got strand bamboo flooring 6 months ago, and still looking good. Way harder than oak, the strand style of bamboo is the recycled bits of bamboo from other applications that is compressed together (doesn't have the visible "joints" of typical whole-reed bamboo). I have a thin washable rubber mat where the sink is, and I'm thinking of getting one to go in front of the stove. There are a few very tiny scratches probably from grit that was under a hard shoe, but we have a stain pen we got at the hardware store and the scratches completely disappear. I don't think dirt is too much more visible than the "stone" vinyl of our old place, plus if it's visible, I'm more inclined to clean more often (in my case this is a good thing). It was very easy to install and no gaps any where.

-- bake some wrapped in pastry, add a layer of your favorite tart-ish jam or some duxelles on top of the cheese, below the pastry.

-- awesome sliced thin on pizza with some green apples/pear and/or onion & bacon, use other shredded mozz. too as the base (use a non-tomato sauce, maybe just olive oil & garlic)

-- layer in panini with sauteed mushrooms, pickled veggies, salami, mozzarella, etc.

--deep fry it (do a panko coating), and serve with apples & bread. divine.

-- I like this cheese a lot, but not as much as the creme de bourgogne, which is creamier (!) and slightly milder/smoother tasting. I'll eat either no problem.

I love my Poach Pods! I put cheese, ham, herbs, or other little goodies in the bottom, and they get baked into the poached egg! Soft, melty cheese, gooey egg, and everything else I'd want on my toast in one hot package. Delicious. Easier to clean than my eggy pots (egg proteins are tough!)