James Barber Passes Away

[filkertom]

Sadness. James Barber, the TV chef known as "The Urban Peasant", has passed away at the age of 84. He was a lot of fun to watch, had great recipes, and looooooooooooved garlic and fresh-ground pepper (which made food "wonderful").

In his honor, what's your favorite food -- or recipe! -- with garlic? I love garlic in damn near anything. Fresh minced garlic on a pizza. Roasted whole cloves of garlic in pretty much any Italian sauce. (When I go to Macaroni Grill for Pollo Marsala and ask for "extra garlic", they throw in nearly a dozen roasted cloves. Mmmmmmmm.) Sliced garlic crisps as a garnish on soup. Garlic mashed potatoes. Bruschetta and garlic bread in nearly any form. Garlic bagels.

Thanks to matociquala for the heads-up.

Comments

[madrona.livejournal.com]

A head of raw garlic added right at the end of making spaghetti sauce.
Mmmmmm...bitey!

Pizza Fries

[argonel.livejournal.com]

It probably has a fancy name to confound people. However my favorite incartation is to go to Papa Murphys and oder a double cheese pizza with no sauce. When I get it home I sprinkle a bunch of garlic salt over the top, but I bet minced garlic would be even better. Bake until golden brown, then cut into thin strips and eat plain or dipped in marinara sauce.

[ginevra007.livejournal.com]

I love garlic roasted so soft you can spread it like butter on bread..... YUMMMMM! Garlic smashed potatoes. Pickled garlic. Gosh i just like garlic. (grin)

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

Bagna Calda, which I loved long before it was on Babylon 5.

Next time you play at a con out here, we need to shanghai you to THE STINKING ROSE restaurant, not too far from LAX as the crow flies.

[jss]

Seconded, though I suspect TSR may be living off its reputation; the one in SF had gone a bit downhill in quality (good but not great) when I was last there in, um, oh dear, 2000 or so.

[mythdude.livejournal.com]

I want to try Bagna Calda someday. *_*

[pandoradeloeste.livejournal.com]

Ooh, there's a Stinking Rose here?! I thought the only one was in San Francisco. Sweeeet. I know where I'm bringing the boyfriend for our anniversary next week.

(Just when I was convinced LA was a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Now at least it's a slightly better-smelling wretched hive of scum and villainy.)

[ericcoleman]

There was a place in Rogers Park called Billy's Pizza, and if I remember correctly that was the place that had this ferocious stuffed spinach pizza that had garlic ... yummy.

[pandoradeloeste.livejournal.com]

Oh God. Is that anywhere near Chicago? (Must be, if it has stuffed pizza.) I must make a special trip this holiday.

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

My garlic bread...take a loaf of bread that was baked with garlic spread on the outer crust, then slice the loaf into pieces of desired thickness, lay it face up, melt butter and chopped garlic (with other spices to taste), then drizzle that over the bread, then add a layer of mozzerella cheese. Throw back into the oven for another few minutes.

Ahhhh...bliss...

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

Wowsers, this belongs in the food_porn topic!

Mojo Marinade/Sauce

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

This is what I whip up when in the mood for garlic.

Mojo Marinade/Sauce

6-7 cloves garlic
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cumin, ground
1 tsp oregano, dried
1/2 tsp black pepper, ground
1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup orange juice

Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth. Add chicken/fish/pork for 2-6 hours (thinner cuts = less time). Cook meat however you want, but put marinade into pan and simmer over medium heat for ten minutes to cook it through and thicken. Serve as dipping sauce or brush on bread before grilling

Good variations:
Add 1/4 cup coconut milk (the thick creamy stuff that forms in the top of the can if possible)
Use 1/2 cup grapefruit juice instead of lime juice
Add 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves after taking sauce off heat
Add ancho chiles for heat and a bit of smoke

[jss]

Roasted garlic. Don't bother me with bread to spread it on, just give me the roasted head or three of garlic and a fork.

<Adds "whole garlic" to the shopping list>.

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

A little pizza joint near me makes great garlic rolls from their pizza bread. Superb. And if you go to Sam Seltzer's steakhouse, you can smell the garlic going in.

But while I'm here, there's a reason I was bugging YOU, Tom, about your cooking habits and stuff in an earlier post. I worry about you. I worry about EVERYBODY in Dementia. That's why I keep trying to take someone from the Dementia track at Dragon*Con out to a real meal with real food. I know you guys eat terrible at cons, and I just want to keep you alive. I had no trouble taking Carla Ulbrich that burrito; I was willing to take her to Steak 'n' Ale for a meal and a respite from the con.

And I worry about everybody. F'rinstance, Luke is starting to make noise about getting a regular job and eating real meals for a change. I'm debating whether (when I get paid later this week) I should get him a Crock Pot. If he's out working, anything he cooks for himself will probably be fried and not very good. If he's willing and able to use a slow cooker, he can have a hot, much more healthy meal ready when he gets home...IF he is willing to eat what a Crock Pot produces. I have no trouble, but I eat a flexible diet. Would he? Would I just be better off sending him a George Foreman grill and hoping he doesn't drink the fat it drains off?

If I didn't worry about stuff like this...I might have to worry about myself, and I don't deserve it.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Tom, I'm gonna say this once, as politely as I can manage, which I fear may not be very.

I appreciate the sentiment... but you are expressing it in a way which really, really bugs me.

I am sick to the teeth of having people tell me about my diet. I don't take it well when my mother nags me about my diet.

I know what I'm eating. Contrary to whatever you've got in your head from seeing me at a few cons a year (where, I might add, we're frequently captive audiences for the few restaurants in the immediate vicinity, certainly at Dragon*Con), I actually do eat "real" food. But sometimes I just (gasp) want that Taco Bell. Or Pizza Hut. Or whatever. I'm not alone. Lots of times, people just don't feel like cooking. That's why we've got fifty fucking gazillion restaurants in this country. You may have noticed them.

Get Luke the Crock Pot because you want to get Luke a thoughtful, inexpensive, useful gift. Not because of your idea of what other people must eat to be "healthy", or how food must be prepared to be "healthy".

Unless it's blatantly dangerous, e.g., poisonous or acidic or something like that, it's none of your business what or how I or anyone else eats. I know why you're doing this, or at least I think I do, and, again, I appreciate the thought... but you ain't my mama, and I don't take it even from her anyway.

Please. Leave it alone.

[kilbia.livejournal.com]

Bruschetta. Tomatoes, garlic, cheese, balsamic vinaigrette and a little basil...*gurgle*

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Forty garlic chicken, although I don't think I've ever made it with fewer than 80 cloves.

And eating garlic straight off the bulb. No roasting, or anything.

If the garlic oil isn't seeping through your pores two days later, it wasn't enough garlic.

[huskiebear.livejournal.com]

I miss James. He taught me a lot about cooking "freestyle" and not stressing about recipes. Makes the kitchen a lot more fun. I wish I could find any of his stuff on video - he was just so gosh darned *pleasant* to watch!

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

In my house garlic is a basic ingredient to any dinner type meal. Even if it wasn't in the original recipe, I frequently find a way to add it. I have a Very Happy Hubby with that attitude. :)
I liked that James Barber enjoyed what he was doing. That is always a must for a Great tv chef.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Aiee. I've got a couple of friends who are allergic to tomatoes and tomato products, and I have immense pity for them. Same for you, right now.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

I make a Drunken Chicken recipe that's extremely loosely based off an original James Beard idea. Bite-sized chunks of chicken breast, sauteed with butter, white wine, portabello mushroom chunks, scallions, and lots of garlic and rosemary.

[singlemaltsilk.livejournal.com]

I make sticky chicken wings with garlic, honey, soy and chili. One of my most requested finger foods for parties!

[wildcard9.livejournal.com]

My ex-wife made a killer fried(?) spagetti with minced garlic and parmesean cheese. I could never get enough of it. I wish that I knew how to make it myself, all my attempts just fail. Then again, given that too much spagetti is bad for my diabetes, maybe I am better off not know how to make it myself.

[hsifyppah.livejournal.com]

Ohh! So passes a mad food genius. I have his 3 cookbooks where all the recipes are presented as cartoons, and they are all held together with duct tape and covered in butter stains. Time to make some ginger tea in his honour...

[hitchkitty.livejournal.com]

Hmm...favorite garlic recipe...

Blast it, Tom, that's just plain cruel to an alliumphile like myself. I can't pick just one.
Plus there's the fact that we tend to just throw garlic in _everything_. I've put it in popcorn, grilled cheese sandwiches, even batter for chicken fingers.

Okay, fine: Alton Brown's "Chicken and 40 Cloves" is one we've found especially delightful. Of course there's also the roast garlic served at our local Garlic Rose, perfect for smearing on bread. And then there's...

You see my problem?

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

Since some posts have discussed con food, reminds me of another quick garlic dish I came up with.

Fried Garlic Ramen

1 package ramen (throw away the flavor packet)
2-4 cloves garlic, sliced, chopped or minced
Salt and Pepper to taste
1.5 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter

Put everything into a small non-stick pan over medium-high heat. As water boils away stir ramen occasionally so it cooks evenly and garlic gets spread throughout. When water is gone let sit for a minute or two then flip over and let sit again. What you're trying to do is fry the outside so it's crispy, unfortunately there's no solid rules on how long it takes per side, depends a lot on the stove and the pan, but the good news is you can flip it as often as you like with no ill effects (unless you miss the pan on a flip ;-) to get it as fried as you want. The outside is crispy/crunchy while the inside is soft and moist, and it's garlic through and through. This is wide open to variations, put in almost any herb or spice, put some cheese on it, mix in some shredded veggies just before before the water is all gone (daikon works well). This is very flexible. Best variation I like is to beat an egg while it's frying, then when it gets to the point you like it, give it one last flip, pour the egg over it, count to ten so the egg firms up a little, then give it one last flip, remove from the heat and let sit a minute or two. The residual heat in the pan will finish cooking the egg without overdoing it. If you're going to add fresh herbs it's best to sprinkle them on before pouring the egg over it.

As for the con connection, once I was at a con where a friend was doing a lot of gophering (while I was almost constantly panel-hopping) so I dropped by the con suite to see if I could help him in any way. When I entered they were having an enthusiastic gripe-fest about the lousy food the convention site was offering (so bad you could see starving attendees who hadn't eaten in over 24 hours throwing away half-eaten, overpriced hot dogs) and due to convention site rules the only food they could cook in the con suite was ramen. Well, I had ample experience with cooking ramen in ways unknown to most mortal men (ask me about my grilled glazed ginger ramen sticks), and I had a rough idea of how to make use of two small frying pans and large ropes of garlic (generously donated by a woman wearing a nice "Vampire Huntress" hall costume) After a few trial runs I had it down and was whipping those things out fast and furious, fed everybody there to much appreciation and still made it in time to the panel on "Why Quantum Physics Is Stranger Than Science Fiction."

I found out later that shortly after I left the room, the convention site overlords stormed in to say guests were complaining about the garlic smell and had the room stove turned off. Later, a security guard admitted that nobody complained, the real reason was they were offended that the garlic discs tasted better than anything they sold and people were requesting them in the convention restaurant. At the dead dog party they proclaimed me "Iron Chef Ramen," to which I replied "Iron what?" and was quickly spirited away to a nearby home and forced to watch four episodes of Iron Chef while my friend fell asleep in a corner.

[lizard-sf.livejournal.com]

Favorite food with garlic? Wow. That's a hard one, as Eve said to Adam. (Badum-BUM!)

I have this recipe for spiced garlic spare ribs which is pretty damn killer. I tend to like anything with a garlic crust on it.

Things I miss about San Fracisco, Part 6,891: The Stinking Rose.