Thursday, December 08, 2005

My 10 Favorite Foods

Mae tagged me. So I'm Mad and I'm It, once again. Fun!
But this is really hard to do. Is a favorite food something I turn to often? Can I afford to turn to it often? Does it have a special psychological niche in my life? Or is it just something I grew up with and loved? My tastes have changed since childhood, so what was favorite then may not be now.
Well, I'll address the "now" now. As for affordability, I'm just going to proceed on the assumption that this will be the menu for my last meal, and the governator can darn well pay for it.
So. Ten things I'd really regret not tasting one final time. (Oh, phoo. I was going to write "truffles" 10 times, but that ain't fair.)
Ready, Mr. Letterman?

My Top Ten list of why the California penal system should spring Cookiecrumb from the penitentiary, because her final meal is going to be too expensive.
10. Truffles. White Italian truffles, and too many of them, as Colette would say. Might as well shave them over, oh, say, some soft, moist, scrambled eggs, maybe with a grating of Pecorino.
9. Smoked salmon. This has got to be real outdoorsman, Pacific Northwest style. Marinated in something vaguely sweet and spicy. Smoked over alder wood. Caramelized, actually. Chunks of meat, not sissy, velvety, loxy stuff.
8. An avocado. I could halve it and fill the center with a fiery vinaigrette, kicked up a bit with something sweetish (I've done this before with ketchup, but I'm so over ketchup). A splish of balsamic is probably just the ticket.
7. Oh, well, then — all righty now: Balsamic vinegar. I guess item #8 is already kind of a two-fer, but I'd like just one more taste of a really well-aged balsamico, please, Mr. Warden. Um, I'll say sprinkled over some beef carpaccio. Yeah. And no arugula. I love arugula, but not on carpaccio.
6. Mushroom soup. Made from cremini, a teensy bit of porcini, and one or two shiitake. Some sauteed onion. Semi-salty turkey broth if you got it (we got it, this time of year). Freshly grated nutmeg. And a lovely blurp of cream. Blended.
(How'm I doing, Dave? Oh? Five more to go.)
5. Fish quenelles from Gary Danko. I'm not going to pretend I know how to make them. At the end of a meal there one night, I asked our server if I could have more fish quenelles for my dessert course. She said no!
4. The classic, signature, wood-oven roasted chicken from Zuni Cafe. I know, I'm getting kind of full. So just bring the platter, and I'll work on the arugula, bread, pine nuts and currants salad that sops up the fantastic leaking chicken juices.
3. The world's most perfect strawberries. I don't know where you're going to get them, Ahnold, but the French Fraises des Bois grown at Chino Ranch in Rancho Santa Fe are fantastic. (Hah! And expensive.) Um, could we get a little more of that aged balsamic?
2. Oysters. Hama Hamas from Hood Canal, WA, in the depth of winter. Raw, on the half shell, with a mignonette sauce for dipping (champagne, sherry vinegar, chopped shallots, white pepper). Or, oh, hell... A bottle of Trappey's hot sauce. In that case, Appalachicola oysters will be fine. Saltines, too.
1. My mom's tuna casserole made with Chicken of the Sea, a can of Campbell's mushroom soup, and a *whole* bag of crushed potato chips stirred in.

So, now I must tag. I pick:
b'gina at stalking the waiter
mcauliflower at brownie points
paz at the cooking adventures of chef paz
kathyr (for coming out of lurkhood, even if she's not a food blogger) at everybody knows
mona at mona's apple

I really gotta let these people know right away they've been tagged. These memes spread like avian flu in a Lysol-free chicken coop.

12 comments:

Kalyn Denny said...

Loved reading this.

ZaZa said...

Thanks, Cookiecrumb. I did mine like a good girl. Thanks for blogrolling me. I'm adding you to mine, too.

Rachael Narins said...

Excellent and so well balanced! Delicious choices. Even the things I wouldn't eat sounded good.

Bad news though, according to Schott's Food and Drink, death row inmates can be denied their requests, (though, since most ask for burgers, they arent) so I guess you'll just have to stay outta the hoosgow!

:-)

mae said...

Very good choices of 10 ten here Cookiecrumb. I went out for a meal last night with a few girly friends and one of the items is listed on your favourites! Fish quenelle. If only i read your entries before, i would have chosen this instead of moroccan lamb tagine. I've never tasted it and now wish i had. Ah well, another excuse to go out perhaps?

I see you like oysters too (hmmm champagne with the oysters...). Smoked salmon for me too please.

Great top 10!

Jamie said...

Appalachicola oysters, yes! I have eaten dozens and dozens of them, and they are so divine. Ohhhhhhhh.

Although the best oyster I ever had was a Mersey oyster I got at the Borough Market in London and slurped down on the spot. :-)

Grace Ediza Virlouvet said...

U guys made me think what's my top 10.. quite hard coz i got loads... its fun though... through this meme, i found ur nice blog

cookiecrumb said...

Thanks, one and all! I find these list-type postings really go over well. I'm trying to get Kalyn to start something about fourth-grade lunchbox memories (since she's a fourth-grade teacher).
Jamie, here's an oyster lit ref for you:
Dickens

Anonymous said...

Yeah--let's make Ahnuld pay for ALL our lists!....

Culinarily Obsessed said...

wow, what a list!! All sounds so delicious.

your blog is hilarious..I enjoyed the read =)

Mona said...

ok madeater. i'm attacking this meme today :) thanks for the tag. fun times! and love the snoopdogg last meal pic.

Anonymous said...

OK, OK. Sorry I'm so slow on the uptake. I'll get to it!

Mmmm. Truffles. Glahglahglahg.

Anonymous said...

Your mom sounds like she makes Tuna Casserole just like mine. Now I have a craving. Off to call mom...