Subj : Moussaka was: Fajitas
To   : Dave Drum
From : Ruth Haffly
Date : Sat Nov 05 2022 12:07:36

Hi Dave,

 DD> I've tried Olive Garden a couple times. Not been impressed either

 RH> It was ok when there was no other Italian in the area. Carraba's is
 RH> better, but my home made Italian is even better. (G)

 DD> There is generally enough of a selection of ethnic cuisines that one
 DD> can switch up from merely "OK" McItalian to a different (and well
 DD> done) genre. We don't have a Carraba's here nor have I even visited

Depends on where you live. Some places where we've lived the only
Italian available was a chain, others had no chains but mom and pop
places. We have both locally, usually go to the mom and pop place.

 DD> one whilst travelling. My favourite non-authentic Italian is a
 DD> quick-serve (ala
 DD> Panera or Steak & Shake but with Iralian favourites). The nearest one
 DD> to me is a couple hours away in St. Louis. I make a point of stopping
 DD> there if I'm in the area at lunch or ssupper time.

We have a Panera locally but we've only been there once, to use a gift
card. Got a soup and half sandwich combo, both of us went with the
French onion soup. Ended up being ok, not great, but warm and filling on
a rainy-ish day. There was a S&S in Raleigh when we first moved to the
area, not sure if it is still going as we've not been in that part of
town for a while.

 DD>      8<----- EDIT ----->B

 DD> The first time I had cacciatore it was served by Sammy (Salvatore)
 DD> Zito, a retired coal miner who lived in a downtown rooming house run
 DD> by my friend's mother. It was pigeon cacciatore made with birds from
 DD> the roof of the building.  And cooked on a one coil hot plate. Bv)=

 RH> That was some creative cooking! The place I mentioned above makes a
 RH> really good chicken cacciatore; it's my usual order when we go there.
 RH> It's filling enough, that, with a salad as appetiser, I usually end up
 RH> taking half (or more) of it home for another meal.

 DD> Just using what was available (and inexpensive).

And a creative way to do so!

 DD>       Title: "Onofrio's" Chicken Cacciatore
 DD>  Categories: Poultry, Vegetables, Mushrooms, Pasta
 DD>       Yield: 5 Servings

 RH> Easy enough to make sauce from scratch but jarred will work if you've
 RH> not got a lot of time. Just make sure it's a quality sauce to start
 RH> with.

 DD> Which is why I pay the bit extra for Onofrio's. I don't have to "tart
 DD> it up" like I do with Bertolli or Ragu.

We found a pretty good one at Hanniford's this past summer. Steve had to
shop/cook for our mission team in VT; I was "out of it" (bronchitis, got
antibiotics, etc earlier in the day but was in no shape to cook). Our
traditional first night meal for the team is spaghetti with a home made
meat sauce. He ended up getting a jar of Hanniford's (IIRC, it was the
traditional) sauce, added some browned ground beef and had a good meal.
Later that week I needed some sauce for baked ziti so we went to
Hanniford's and got the same one. I don't recall if Steve added any more
spicing/garlic to it or not but I'd buy that one again.

 DD>       Title: Fazoli's Seafood Stuffed Shells
 DD>  Categories: Pasta, Seafood, Cheese, Sauces
 DD>       Yield: 4 Servings

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, something to think about. Maybe use some of the shrimp
we have in the freezer, chopped up a bit.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


.... OH NO!  Not ANOTHER learning experience!

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)

.