Editorial
Front Page - Friday, September 17, 2010
Kay's Cooking Corner
Kay Bona
Have you heard the new word “Foodie” yet? It is a new descriptive for people who are considered food connoisseurs. You know – Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Alton Brown and Bobby Flay. Oh, and I can’t forget “Mr. Bam!” himself, Emeril Lagassie. There are more chefs in TV land to show you how to cook, than there are beans in the pot.
Along with this outcropping of chefs are restaurants that offer any type of dining experience you can imagine. Have you seen the show on Discovery Channel about weird and unusual dining experiences? If you haven’t, please let me enlighten you!
Now-a-days a “themed” restaurant is the place to go to entice your palate. Some of these (most of them to be exact) are downright bizarre, but are the latest trend in dining entertainment. (You see, we not only eat to fill our tummy, we have to be entertained.)
Ok – here’s the first one: Toilet-themed restaurants in China. Customers sit on “toilet seat chairs” and meals are served in miniature ceramic toilets. Instead of napkins, customers wipe their hands and mouths with toilet paper. The restaurant is also decorated with various shaped urinals and toilet seats. I have purposely omitted the description of the food (gag).
Moving on to Singapore, “Aurum” is a newly opened hospital-themed restaurant in Clark Quay. As you enter, the restaurant’s reception resembles a morgue. The lighting is similar to an operating room. Customers sit on golden wheelchairs, and meals are served on operating tables and the cutlery includes syringes and scissors. Just next to Aurum, there is a bar called Clinic, where customers are served by waitresses in nurse outfits, and enjoy alcoholic beverages sipped from IV bags.
Back in the good ole’ US of A, if you are a total dog freak, then don’t miss this one: The Dining Dog Café in Edmonds, Washington. This is a pet-friendly restaurant for dogs and owners. The menu includes doggie cocktails, appetizers, and dessert treats.
“Duvet,” a restaurant in New York City, features customized, designer beds as the “seats”, with tables provided for comfort. Customers are offered customized bedroom slippers when they enter the restaurant.
“Hadaka Sushi,” an X-rated sushi restaurant in Los Angeles, is fine dining in the “Nyotaimori” style, which basically means a female body as the food platter. “Hadaka” is the Japanese word for “naked,” so, put the two together and you have – ta da – naked women. Your “table’s” naked body is covered with banana leaves, with clusters of sushi on them. Diners literally eat the raw stuff off her body. Not surprisingly, most of the patrons are men.
I could go on, but, alas, I have run out of room … maybe that is a good thing! However there was one more I wanted to mention where diners are blindfolded upon entering, and the lights are off. The theory is that by temporarily losing one sense, the other ones are stimulated, thus heightening your dining pleasure. OK- hasn’t this been fun?
Now for my recipe! Nothing weird or strange – just a good one-pan dinner for this time of year. Serving utensils, pets and clothes are at your discretion!
Chicken Vegetable Marinara
1 lb.? boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
3 large?carrots, sliced
3 cups chicken broth
1 jar? (14 oz.) marinara sauce
2 cups rotini pasta, uncooked
2 ? zucchini, quartered lengthwise, then cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Sauté chicken and seasoning in skillet with olive oil; cook and stir 4 min. or until chicken is no longer pink; remove chicken and set aside.
Add carrots to saucepan; cook and stir 2 min. Add broth, marinara sauce and pasta; stir. Bring to boil on high heat; simmer on medium-low heat 12 to 15 min. Stir in zucchini and chicken mixture; simmer 8 to 10 minutes or until pasta and vegetables are tender and chicken is done.
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