Hugh Hefner's Favorite Recipe: Lamb Chops

[cosmicfolklore]

What a great example. Thank you for sharing. Someone made a statement about not eating at other peoples’ homes - but I have found that sharing a meal with others - is a remarkable way to get to know them and celebrate this thing we call life.

I have a phobia and always have had this. I NEVER eat at someone else's house, nor will I eat at buffets, potlucks, or anywhere people walk around the food. I also don't have others over for dinner. Wine tastings, or a back yard barbeque, sure... I will put it on their plate straight off the grill. That is about as informal as we get.

I have had the luxury of having always lived where and how I can do this. I am really not interested at all in setting at someone else's kitchen. And, we have very strict dining room procedures, passed down from my mother, grandmother, etc... my family comes to the table dressed (not fancy, just respectful), and plates are prepared and placed... no walking and breathing over the food. No food in any other part of the house.
And, it brings my heart joy when I visit with my daughters and see them setting tables and passing on the tradition.

We are not better, nor do we judge. We are just what we are.

 

[BROBS]

Room temperature chili straight from the can is ambrosia, don't you agree? As a Vegan, do you prefer beef, pork or turkey chili?

It’s great! I also sometimes open a can of refried beans and dip chips directly.

I only use vegan human meat substitute in my chili. ?

 

[Laurent]

Soylent Green​

 

[warren]

Without canned food items, restaurants would not be able to provide delicious and yet reasonably affordable meals to the vast lot of people living in America.

Very true. Affordable is an important consideration for many. But, there are also places to dine which only use the freshest, in-season ingredients. Such is reflected in their prices. Expensive? Certainly but, for many, worth every penny. There is a marked difference between at eatery catering to those on a budget and those which cater to a more discerning clientele. Most great dining establishments offer limited seating and only "x" number of rotations. My favorite eatery in Anchorage only seats twice in an evening. Sometimes I'm simply looking for a meal but, when out for "repast" it's my choice.

I may not have the palate to discern different flavors in many smoking blends but, I can taste the difference between fresh and canned in most foods. I can also hear the ringing of a "nuking station" in a restaurant and cancel the order and leave. Smoked dishes are indeed to be smoked, not slow cooked (stewed) then slathered in some sauce.

My expectations as to food vary depending on the eatery. Where you worked? My expectations would for adequate not "starred". Nothing wrong with that. I do not frequent restaurants which tout great food and serve up only decent. At home I readily admit to some shortcuts, stock is not one of them. But, I'm not catering to a paying clientele. People dining in my home, usually smoked something. are not paying and while their expectations might be high, they still leave with with sauce staining their clothes, greasy chins, etc. I'm not starred either.

 

[telescopes]

Well said

Food snobbery or pipe snobbery, for that matter, isn't about the ingredients, it's about the attitude. Put a dog turd on a silver salver and it's still a dog turd, especially if you call it dog turd Francois.

Of course people use shortcuts, and as long as those shortcuts don't reduce the quality of the result, why not?

When I painted in oils I didn't make my paints from scratch I bought the best quality I could find.

The rest is how you use those ingredients. If you're talentless or a hack, tools won't hide that.

BTW, I did teach myself how to make paints from scratch based on formulas used centuries ago. And I always mixed my own painting media from scratch, none of that bottled shit. Know your materials.

And I learned to prepare and use colloidion wet plates for photography. Know your materials.

And I've made my ravioli from scratch, ground my own curry powders and made plenty of other foods from scratch. It's no big deal when you're serving 12, but not an option when you're serving 200 or more a day, day after day.

So while a chef isn't going to churn his own better, it's not such a bad idea that he be able to do it. There's no worse hack than a proud hack.

Well said. I published a cookbook and I am capable and knowledgeable enough to create most aspects of essential sauces, noodles, etc. As a matter of practice, I enjoy throwing large dinner part of around 30 guests. I hire a waiter, bartender, and kitchen help but I do all of the food prep and cooking myself. Food prep in earnest begins three days out in mast cases. The labor for that one meal requires more than a week in planning. The actual night of the meal requires a script several pages long that is precisely timed and orchestrated. This type of cooking is fine for one off events from time to time, but if someone- anyone- were to suggest that some how the dinner wasn’t a made from scratched meal because the green beans were from the freezer section or the crackers that the cheeses were served with came from a box of some type would mean a permanent disinvite for future dinners. i think you hit the nail on the head with your post.

 

[telescopes]

Very true. Affordable is an important consideration for many. But, there are also places to dine which only use the freshest, in-season ingredients. Such is reflected in their prices. Expensive? Certainly but, for many, worth every penny. There is a marked difference between at eatery catering to those on a budget and those which cater to a more discerning clientele. Most great dining establishments offer limited seating and only "x" number of rotations. My favorite eatery in Anchorage only seats twice in an evening. Sometimes I'm simply looking for a meal but, when out for "repast" it's my choice.

I may not have the palate to discern different flavors in many smoking blends but, I can taste the difference between fresh and canned in most foods. I can also hear the ringing of a "nuking station" in a restaurant and cancel the order and leave. Smoked dishes are indeed to be smoked, not slow cooked (stewed) then slathered in some sauce.

My expectations as to food vary depending on the eatery. Where you worked? My expectations would for adequate not "starred". Nothing wrong with that. I do not frequent restaurants which tout great food and serve up only decent. At home I readily admit to some shortcuts, stock is not one of them. But, I'm not catering to a paying clientele. People dining in my home, usually smoked something. are not paying and while their expectations might be high, they still leave with with sauce staining their clothes, greasy chins, etc. I'm not starred either.

I have to laugh a little at something your posts reminded me of. I have catered dinners for years and anytime we have served mashed potatoes discerning guests pester my wife for her recipe. True, she has a few tricks she does with the potatoes in terms of preparation, and people always always ask for a second helping- but …. The gist is that they begin their way to the table in a box marked Idahoan. In 30 years of catering , no one - and I mean no one - has guessed this.

 

[telescopes]

As someone who cooks, I am obsessed with my knives and cookware. I use cast iron pots and pans from the last century and stainless with copper cores. My knives are made from Japanese steel and are hand sharpened on stones. My spices are hand ground and toasted on an iron skillet. But none of this means much. A chef can do as much or more with far less. Nor does it matter that my China- at least one of the four sets - is the set used on Downton Abbey- although it matters to my wife. Nor does it matter that the table we use for formal dinning was purchased by us in Xian and took the craftsman over a year to make and lacquer using only hand tools. It changes the taste of the food none at all.

 

[PeterPipersPizza]

You guys may have mansions, butlers, expensive cookware, families to dine with or maybe a hot 20 something year old girlfriend/s -both? I got my Dunhill and it makes my tobacco smoke sweeter than yours ?.

Now if I can just focus enough to make these lamb chops..

 

[cosmicfolklore]

As someone who cooks, I am obsessed with my knives and cookware. I use cast iron pots and pans from the last century and stainless with copper cores. My knives are made from Japanese steel and are hand sharpened on stones. My spices are hand ground and toasted on an iron skillet. But none of this means much. A chef can do as much or more with far less. Nor does it matter that my China- at least one of the four sets - is the set used on Downton Abbey- although it matters to my wife. Nor does it matter that the table we use for formal dinning was purchased by us in Xian and took the craftsman over a year to make and lacquer using only hand tools. It changes the taste of the food none at all.

It sounds like you're more of a snob than me, yet you still don't grasp that great cooking does not have to be "from scratch" but that's ok, since you don't grasp what "from scratch" means.

My cookware is a hodge podge of what I liked or needed at the time. None of my stuff was used by royalty on a TV show. But, that's great.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

You guys may have mansions, butlers, expensive cookware, families to dine with or maybe a hot 20 something year old girlfriend/s -both?

If you say so... I didn't

 

[telescopes]

It sounds like you're more of a snob than me, yet you still don't grasp that great cooking does not have to be "from scratch" but that's ok, since you don't grasp what "from scratch" means.

My cookware is a hodge podge of what I liked or needed at the time. None of my stuff was used by royalty on a TV show. But, that's great.

I am confused why you continue to respond to my posts.

 

[warren]

In 30 years of catering , no one - and I mean no one - has guessed this.

Or, are they simply too polite to mention it? I'm guessing you don't interrogate them. If your wife doesn't tout them as from a box why would guest make such an impolite observation?

I'm not sure how much the tools contribute to a final result. Obviously some. But, some of the best trout I've ever eaten was skewered on a sharpened stick and held over an Alder fire next to the lake/creek.

I thought we were discussing the use of commercial soups and such and whether the use of commercially made ingredients was something a chef would use or, more likely, a cook. We've strayed mightily but, I am being amused so . . . I'm grateful for the distraction on an otherwise boring day.

 

[edger]

I have a small game license and make rabbit stew. I've had more bunnies than Hef!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I am confused why you continue to respond to my posts.

I appologize, just bored at the moment and felt we had a report. I’ll leave you be. I don’t mean to annoy.

 

[telescopes]

Or, are they simply too polite to mention it? I'm guessing you don't interrogate them. If your wife doesn't tout them as from a box why would guest make such an impolite observation?

I'm not sure how much the tools contribute to a final result. Obviously some. But, some of the best trout I've ever eaten was skewered on a sharpened stick and held over an Alder fire next to the lake/creek.

I thought we were discussing the use of commercial soups and such and whether the use of commercially made ingredients was something a chef would use or, more likely, a cook. We've strayed mightily but, I am being amused so . . . I'm grateful for the distraction on an otherwise boring day.

Ya, I could see where someone might think that the guests were being polite, but I can assure you, they are dead serious. She does an amazing job with these potatoes and I have had both the real thing and her concoction side by side, and I am embarrassed to say they taste identical, only... hers are better.

This has been an interesting thread. Good tools make it easier to cook and quicker; as to the use of commercially made ingredients, I know that most working chefs have no issues with them. Celebrity chefs - well, in my mind, they are personalities. So, ya, they are going to kick up a storm. But in all of my cooking classes which were run by working chefs, not cooks, fresh was preferred, but canned was something they used when the need or time constraints required it. But, going by the standards some would have used here, even these working chefs would be relegated to cooks. Imagine telling Monet, "Hey, that haystack painting of yours, that's really just hotel art. The same haystack, day in and day out. What's more, you got your paints at John's Earwax and Linseed Outlet. So, get over it. That ain't real art from scratch... that's just a factory assembly line."

Monet.... It ain't like he raised a banana tree from seed and then picked a banana and stuck the peel to a wall. Now, that's some serious art work from scratch. Ha Ha. I couldn't resist.

 

[PeterPipersPizza]

Enough talk about your wife's mashed potatoes! Share the recipe or quit! This is torture LOL.

 

[instymp]

I would call it amateurish. I would never use a store bought can or f'n store bought crackers. Julia Childs started this quaint ideas of using canned soups and stuff to trick people into thinking you made it from scratch. But, if you like to cook that way, and you want to call it what you want, then fine. We do not even buy condiments in our house. Mayo is whipped up when needed.


But... WTF is up with Hef going to restaurants and telling the cook not only what he wants but how to cook it? Why not just bring your cook and get a place with a kitchen if he only eats this one thing. I think that today, he'd get thrown out on his bum, for doing this.
I mean, why not try what the cook is good at, or what he enjoys cooking? What a putz. Hell, he never even showed us the "good stuff" in his rag.

Julias favorite fast food was a quarter pounder from McDonalds.
Always loved her & she is right on this one, to me.

 

[telescopes]

I appologize, just bored at the moment and felt we had a report. I’ll leave you be. I don’t mean to annoy.

The rapport is real. I get you.

There is always a context to any story.​

I deal with a fellow board member on my HOA. He's from the business world and worked as a director of a well known company. He's bright, but he isn't a rocket scientist. But he certainly thinks a lot of himself. Anyway, he looks at me, and sees a teacher. What do I know. If, as president, I ask management a question and they answer, he'll ask the same question, get the same answer, and thank the management while he then proceeds to address the board like he asked the question I asked in the first place, disregarding everything that came before.

The point is this: In life, certain fellows think a lot of themselves, their abilities, and their own perceptions. They do this while disregarding everyone else - they truly walk into a room and the first thing on their mind is themselves.

And they have opinions about everything and they are unwilling to consider that they might be either wrong or limited. And then they proceed to put everyone else straight.

I am not saying you are like that board member.

What I am saying is that I just came out of another meeting with that board member and once again he reminded everyone about how he saw the situations we are dealing with and just how we should prioritize them.

So, I read here that using a can of soup somehow discounts the validity of the statement "we make everything by scratch" and I think, well, maybe from their perspective they do. And I think, why should I create an argument that undermines their statement.

So.... I think, hmmm, Obi-wan, from a certain point of view, they do make the food from scratch.

Really, it is a question worth exploring and I certainly appreciate your point of view. I concede that from a conservative point of view, making something from scratch is as you laid out.

From a more liberal point of view, making something from scratch can be arranging a series of ingredients that are complete in and of themselves and then combining and manipulating them in such a manner as to create something new that didn't exist before.

My board member is unwilling to concede anything other than his point of view. I suppose this explains my exasperation and response.

It's NOT you Cosmo....

It's me.....

 

[instymp]

When I crave an easy fast lazy comfort type dinner, thin pork chops browned in a non non stick (stainless or cast iron) onions & campbells mushroom soup thinned with milk, covered & simmered till done. White rice
Do it from scratch & I am snoring.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Lazy? Canned foods are for lazy people? That’s quite a brush you just painted people.

Ok.

What's your favorite brand of canned paw paw?