:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Wednesday, August 17, 2005 ::

:: And this Week's Secret Iron Chef Ingredient is... ::

CHEESE! (Cue overly dramatic, blatant Wagner rip-off music.) Our 8th quarter class has a nice little potluck get-together a week ago and yes, the there actually was an Iron chef theme. Everyone who attended was required to bring something containing cheese. There was the usualy cheese dish (brie, cheddar, mozarrella), nacho cheese dip, grilled cheese sandwiches, and a baked ziti dish.

I made my tomato, basil, and mozzarella bruschetta and it went over quite well. I made quite a bit (the recipe called for 16 servings and there's only eight of us) and I just finished the rest off for dinner tonight and for some reason, I started to think about the stuff I make for potlucks. There's clearly a pattern, it's either Mexican (I make awesome salsa, killer ceviche, great fish tacos, and no one on east of the Mississippi makes better guacamole) or Italian (sausages and peppers, my own marinara sauce, and the aforementioned bruschetta, etc.).

And THAT reminded me of a conversation I had with some friends back in L.A. We were discussing food and the topic turned to the favorite dish our mom makes for us. Everyone has at least one. There was a pretty good assortment of dishes. It finally got to me and knowing my background, I think there was a certain expectation of what my answer might be.

So when I said that the favorite dish my mom makes is her homemade spaghetti sauce, everyone looked at me like I was an alien (I've become used to it). I'm being totally serious. I don't know where she got the recipe but she makes this sauce completely from scratch and it's excellent: rich, garlicky, and flavorful.

Apparently it's just me since everyone else in my family prefers her more traditional dishes so I wish I could say that where I got my cooking tastes. It's merely a product of growing up in an ethincally diverse city and having a lot of Mexican friends is gonna leave an impression. And apparently, my ceviche is good enough that I was deemed an honorary Mexican, something I'm quite proud of. I can't explain the Italian thing as easily other than I went through an Italian phase and I discovered I was quite good at it. Then again Italian cooking isn't exactly the hardest thing out there.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 12:46 AM [+] :: | 0 comments
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