ISO: reasons why I should keep "The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine"

[KValley]

I bought Jeff Smith's The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine a couple of years ago at a garage sale and have yet to make anything from it. If anyone has this, do you have any favorite recipes? It's very meat-heavy, which means I'll probably never get much use out of it, but if there are some outstanding dishes I can make for special occasions, then it's worth keeping.

I am in my New Year cleaning-out mode and books are coming down from the shelves. We're making a trek this weekend to our favorite bookstore in Seattle, to turn in used books for store credit. I'm just debating whether or not I should add this to the pile.

[BlueMoose]

Toss it! I never realized how many other people get the urge to clean, sort, organize and throw things out at this time of the year!

[KValley]

It feels so good, Chrisi! This is my favorite time of year to clean out-I love starting the New Year fresh and uncluttered. I've already gone through the CDs (15 in the discard (trade-in) pile; clothes- 2 big trash bags for Goodwill; magazines- a stack with articles torn out and organized, magazines recycled; and loads of books ( including 2 other cookbooks besides the one in question).

So far, your vote wins!

[Deanna]

I bought it when it first came out (probably ten years ago!) and have not made one single recipe from it!

It's just not the kind of cooking I do any more. Besides, the print is really small and there are such lengthy directions!

Mine will be donated to our upcoming charity booksale!

[Jewel]

I thought Jeff Smith cooked with little boys, not wine! :eek:

[Wendy w]

Originally posted by Jewel
I thought Jeff Smith cooked with little boys, not wine! :eek:

Me too! Baaad girl!!;)

Back in his more "dignified" days, my Mom referred to him as the "Cheap Gourmet". After the scandal, I have referred to him as the "Cheap Pedophile."

I have this book too and although there are quite a few good recipes in it, I don't use it much.

[KValley]

Originally posted by Jewel
I thought Jeff Smith cooked with little boys, not wine! :eek:

WHAAAAATTT?? What did I miss? Should I toss this in the discard pile and immediately wash my hands?

No need to relive the gory details on this chaste board, I think I get the picture. :eek:

You're OUTTA here, Jeff!

[goldilocks]

KValley - Just in case you haven't pitched it yet, I think that's the book with a very good Paella recipe in it. I haven't tried it, but it was highly recommended by a friend. You could just photocopy that recipe and trash the book.

[Jewel]

Originally posted by KValley
WHAAAAATTT?? What did I miss? Should I toss this in the discard pile and immediately wash my hands?

Wash 'em Baby...and wash 'em good! ;) Remember 'ol Mr. Smith is from Tacoma? Scandal a couple of years back that he was caught basically teaching little boys a better way to cook all meat weiners! :eek: Wash your hands again Julie!! ;)

[claire797]

I always enjoyed The Frugal Gourmet then the whole scandal broke and now thinking about him turns my stomach. I would definitely throw your book away. I can't even look at a copy in the library without getting disgusted.

[KValley]

Okay, I am so creeped out!!! Jeff Smith looks exactly like the father of a good friend of mine, who was also one of my college advisors. I'll never be able to look at him without giggling about Jeff Smith. Where was I when this happened? Illinois... missed this story completely, it seems!

So I may sneak a peek at the paella recipe (thanks goldilocks), but the book is going into the trade-in stack. Someone else can deal with it...

Julie: exits stage right to wash her hands.

[claire797]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/frugal1.shtml

[JHolcomb]

OMG, I've been thinking about responding on this all day. Actually, with pretty much the exact same response Jewel gave. Yeah, he creeps me out, but a lot of men with white beards do (think Kenny Rodgers. Shudder). Of course, I still like PeeWee Herman, so what does that tell ya? I always thought Jeff Smith's food on tv looked gross, too, so there's two reasons to toss it! Now if someone could just get DH to toss out the stuff he doesn't use. He won't throw ANYTHING away. His obsolete computer books are taking up all the space on our bookshelves, yet he won't let me give them away because either A)It cost $50 or B)It was a gift. Double whammy if it was both. Argh! I am the anti-pack rat, too. Drives me nuts!

[Jewel]

Originally posted by claire797
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/frugal1.shtml

OMG Claire!! I had completely forgot about that cover photo they mention on that link! A huge turkey in his lap and flanked by two Boy Scouts... :eek: I'm gonna have nightmares tonight!! :p

[Gail]

Ah to be the dissenter... not to even think about trying to change your mind, rather to express my fondness for Jeff Smith's books. I like 'em (though not necessarily him.. And I would no sooner throw any of my Frugal Gourmet books than I'd shave my head. (Obviously, I'm a long hair gal.) I find his recipes consistently reliable and easy to prepare. As for that book, well gosh, there's the eggplant meatballs; his coq au vin; Green rice; Chicken Marsala; Chicken with Tomatoes, Shallots and Vermouth; Carrots in Vermouth; his version of Muffaletta...

But, really Julie, you know perfectly well that whether or not you chuck the book comes down to being a personal decision. If the Frug's cooking style grosses you out, toss it. Only YOU know what appeals to you. Seems a simple enough...

[KValley]

Gail, always and ever the voice of reason.

This morning, as I perused this cookbook over my oatmeal, I asked myself "Will I really ever make any of this stuff? I could hop on the BB in the morning and ask for a recipe for duck, rabbit, or eggplant cheese rolls and end up with several terrific recipes by dinner!" I think I had an issue with getting rid of it - that a discard was somehow a concession to my commonness as a cook; plus it had WINE in the title- what sort of wino would I be to let this out of my library! These concerns, along with world peace, keep me up at night :rolleyes:

If I had made use of it, I don't think Jeff's extracurricular activities would compel me to get rid of it, either.

But now that I know YOU have it, Gail, I can still clear a space on my shelf AND know that when I am ready to make Muffaletta, you are my woman! :D

(...now I have to look up what Muffaletta is, exactly :o )

[wallycat]

Originally posted by KValley
It feels so good, Chrisi! This is my favorite time of year to clean out-I love starting the New Year fresh and uncluttered...

I admire you soooooo much. My DH is moving everything around to house my cookbooks, and I can't bear to gut anything...how do you do it?? No guilt about tossing stuff??? uuuaghghghghgh I'm dreading the relocation--big move!!!!!
Hat's off to you...maybe if I read these threads often enough it will motivate me!:D

[Deanna]

Hmmmm....is the Muffaletta in "Cooks with Wine" or "Cooks American?"

I love a good muffaletta, have a recipe for making the olive relish; they are just so messy when you use the crusty bread -- everything squishes out!

However...down in the French Quarter, they knew how to make 'em so the insides didn't squish...maybe I need to go back and watch closely....

[Gail]

Yes, it was the "Cooks with Wine" book, though I know it logically seems it should be the other... That's the muff recipe I use and I'm quite happy with the results (though I can't recall offhand if I use exactly the meats he mentions.)

Heck Deanna,

The muffalettas we got at the Central Grocery were drippy and messy all the same (and thoroughly wonderful.) You could try hollowing your bread out a bit where the olive salad goes (this is what the infamous Frug does) if the squishing olive salad bugs you.

[Gail]

Just in case you were curious, I found the muffaletta recipe. (KNEW I'd posted it...)

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=5752&highlight=muffaletta

[lisas3575]

Originally posted by KValley
I've already gone through the CDs (15 in the discard (trade-in) pile;

Hey, Julie! What's in that pile????? Maybe we could work out a deal... :D ;) :p :)

[KValley]

Originally posted by lisas3575


Hey, Julie! What's in that pile????? Maybe we could work out a deal... :D ;) :p :)

:cool:

Hmm- slim pickins':

1 Joni Mitchell (although I'm listening to it now and may keep it)
2 Nina Simone
1 Chris Isaak (LOVE Chris, but not this album)
1 Janis Joplin (it was a phase, okay!)
1 Quincy Jones
1 Wynton Marsalis
1 Dianne Reeves
1 Schumann
1 French sonatas for violin
1 BB King
2 classical greatest hits that MIL thinks we like- 3 minute snippets of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven. Sound-byte classical. OUCH.
1 Don Henley (don't ask)
1 Issac Hayes (how many times can you listen to "Shaft" before it's no longer cool?)

[lisas3575]

LOL!! "Shaft! Cannyadigit?" Tee hee! I have that one on "Pure Funk."

Nothing in your pile that's screaming to come to my house, sorry. :)

[kima]

just wanted to say that yes Jeff Smith creeps me out but to be fair was he ever found guilty of anything? Famous people are often accused of terrible things by people wanted money or attention. And the worse thing one can be accused of is child molestation- his word against your etc. just wondering if anyone knows for sure...

[Mamasue]

and you forgot to mention or maybe you didn't know that he was a Minister too! I have all his books and very rarely breeze through them. I do agree with Gail that the Eggplant Meatballs is a good one. :)

[dotglee]

Originally posted by kima
just wanted to say that yes Jeff Smith creeps me out but to be fair was he ever found guilty of anything? Famous people are often accused of terrible things by people wanted money or attention. And the worse thing one can be accused of is child molestation- his word against your etc. just wondering if anyone knows for sure...

The Associated Press (and the Seattle P-I and Portland Oregonian) reported in January 1999 that Jeff Smith and his insurance companies had settled with the seven men who were suing him. Reported amount was $5 million plus. AP said:

"Ed Winskill, Smith's attorney, earlier this week confirmed the settlement, which apparently did not include an apology or admission of wrongdoing, and said Jeff and Patty Smith's personal assets are exempt from collection.

" 'I won't comment on the settlement except to point out to you that the judgment is not enforceable against any of his property,' he told The Oregonian newspaper of Portland, Ore. Insurance companies holding personal liability policies for the Smiths and their parent corporations, The Frugal Gourmet Inc. and Frugal Gourmet Productions Inc., agreed in June to pay $ 4.75 million to halt a July 6 civil trial. Smith was accused of sexually assaulted (sic) seven men while most were teen-age employees of his from 1973 and 1981. He has denied the accusations. "

An eighth man said that Smith had agreed to pay him 1.5 million in 1991 to keep quiet about his allegations, but that he'd not been paid the full amount. He sued, but the judge threw it out because he had violated the agreement and talked about it.

I'd not heard about these allegations before, but when I came to Seattle I heard gay friends complaining about him because he wasn't out of the closet.

[Deanna]

Gail: Yes, it was the Central Grocery where we had ours -- but I don't remember them being as messy as when I made them at home. And I did hollow out the bread just a bit, where the olive stuff goes...oh well...now I've got a good excuse for another visit to the French Quarter!!

Didja happen to pick up any other great recipes from N.O.??

Can't remember which place it was that I just loved their red beans & rice...it was on the corner...I think just across the street from the cathedral...maybe next door to a kite shop (or perhaps I'd had too many Hurricanes...)

It will come to me...RB&R is one of my most favorite dishes!

[Gail]

Hi Deanna,

Just saw your question. Before I went to New Orleans (this was over a decade ago, I'm horrified to say! Gotta go back...) a friend of mine from work asked me to pick up a recipe book for her. Did a lot of searching and recipe-reading, and came home with a skinny little paperback (after scouring untold numbers of hefty hardcover volumes) because I thought the recipes sounded the best. I've got a couple of recipes for red beans and rice which I've made over the years (one of those-- gulp!-- belonging to the Infamous Frug) and I can't remember which I liked the best. I know I've also posted a crawfish etouffée from that same book which I think is awfully good. And, of course, the bread pudding with whiskey sauce Wendy (I think) liked so much.

About the restaurant... Old Nawlins something-or-other was on a corner, but not across from the cathedral. The Gumbo shop was closer, but I don't think it was on a corner... ah well... Like I said, it's been a Long Time...

[laughsandlaughs]

Can someone tell me about these eggplant meatballs?

I found that I have 3 bottles of red wine opened in my cabinet waiting for recipes, but they have to be vegetarian, so these may fit the bill!

Thanks in advance.

[Wendy w]

Originally posted by Gail
And, of course, the bread pudding with whiskey sauce Wendy (I think) liked so much.


Sure did!!:cool:

[Gail]

Originally posted by laughsandlaughs
Can someone tell me about these eggplant meatballs?



Sorry laughsandlaughs,

They're not vegetarian. :( I've been toying with the idea of trying them with TVP, but thusfar have only gotten as far as to try ground turkey instead of the beef.

Here's a link to the recipe in case you want to check it out:

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=11090&highlight=appetizer

Sorry. :(

[Deanna]

Gail: The beans and rice I loved so much were at Pontalba Cafe...just across the Cathedral on Jackson Square. Neat place! I'm still amazed at how OLD everything is in N.O.!

[Adriana]

I have The Frugal Gourmet and The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine. I use the frugal gourmet occasionally for things like Pesto (his recipe is THE best, I think) and hummous and even Pita Bread.

But I haven't used the wine book in years and years - maybe I'll take another good look at it.