"Irish Nachos" (From Texas?); John Rosenthal fills in for Safire

[bapopik at AOL.COM]

JOHN ROSENTHAL FILLS IN FOR SAFIRE
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John Rosenthal fills in for William Safire today. It's a horrible column. Some time after a nuclear disaster destroys most of the world, I'll have my chance.
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OT: OVER 5000 WESBITE HITS
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My website got over 5,000 hits yesterday. It seems that it was mentioned on some popular website called "World Wide Words" by Michael Quinion.
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http://www.worldwidewords.org/index.htm
 The story behind the old slang term Simoleon for a dollar probably involves British slang and a French gold coin.  We review the seventh edition of the Collins English Dictionary.  We help an American subscriber who is puzzled by a BBC reference to Spatchcock.  An American researcher may have solved the mystery of where the phrase the whole nine yards comes from.
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From: Susan M. Popik <spopik at chapop.com>
To: bapopik at aol.com
Sent: Sat, 2 Jul 2005 12:00:23 -0700
Subject: Glad to meet another Popik


Was searching the web for a recipe for Nanaimo bars, when I landed at your site.  Glad to know there's another food-obsessed lawyer who shares my last name.
Regards,
Sue Popik
Susan M. Popik
Chapman, Popik & White
650 California Street, 19th Floor
San Francisco, CA  94108
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IRISH NACHO
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IRISH NACHOS--1,040 Google hits, 27 Google Groups hits
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I discussed "Irish Nachos" briefly in 2002. I was petitioning for Republicans in upper Manhattan (one woman was a librarian who had actually heard of me; one more week to go or I'm off the ballot), and we stopped for lunch at Piper's Kilt. It offered Irish Nachos (French Fries, Cheese and Bacon).
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Did the dish originate from Irish bars in Texas, as the Factiva hits seem to suggest?
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(GOOGLE)
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Irish Nacho
Irish Nacho's. 3-4 large potatoes (baking). 2oz jalapeno's. 2 oz shredded lettuce.
2 oz diced onions. 2oz diced tomato. 5 oz shredded monteray jack cheese ...
www.mewstavern.com/cookingwithgas/irishnacho.htm - 5k - Cached - Similar pages
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Menu
Irish Nacho Dip $5.95 Refried beans, jack cheese, sour- cream, black olives,
tomatoes, chili, and cheddar cheese, served with thin ...
quigleyspub.tripod.com/menu1.htm - 10k - Cached - Similar pages
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Capone's Menu
... 4.75. Mozzarella Sticks, 6 served with Marinara Sauce, 4.25. Irish Nacho's,
Bacon, Nacho Sauce, Green Onion and Sour Cream, 3.25. Rocky ...
www.willoh.com/capones/menu.htm - 12k - Supplemental Result - Cached - Similar pages
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Shenanigan's Party & Banquet Center
Irish Nacho?s: Crispy waffle fries topped with 3 cheeses, bacon and scallions.
Sour cream upon request. $4.95. Buffalo Chicken Pizza: Wing sauce topped with ...
www.shenanigansinfo.com/menu1.html - 62k - Cached - Similar pages
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Hennessey's Taverns - Appetizers
IRISH NACHOS Potato planks topped with cheese, bacon bits, green onions and ...
Top our original Irish nachos with chopped tomatoes and diced chicken or ...
www.hennesseystavern.com/Menu%20Page/Appetizers.html - 4k - Cached - Similar pages
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McGee'sTavern.com | Food & Beverage
McGee?s Famous Irish Nachos Waffle fries smothered with homemade chili and cheddar
cheese and topped with jalapenos, chives, olives, diced tomatoes, ...
www.mcgeestavern.com/mcgees1/food.shtml - 43k - Jul 2, 2005 - Cached - Similar pages
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(FACTIVA)
FOOD

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day at home or away

ANN CRISWELL, Houston Chronicle Food Editor
Staff
335 words
16 March 1988
Houston Chronicle
2 STAR
9
English
(Copyright 1988)

ALL YOU once-a-year Irish folk, get ready - it's time for the wearin' and the eatin' of the green. Although St. Patrick's Day is observed in Ireland as a solemn religious occasion, in the States it translates into ``party.''
All sorts of fun and mischief are planned at the Irish pubs and restaurants around town in addition to what's billed as ``the world's largest and most fun St. Patrick's Day party'' at the Wyndham Greenspoint hotel near Intercontinental Airport.
There you'll encounter one of Houston's ``professional'' Irishmen, Tom Horan, and you can do an Irish jig to the Jameson Irish Whiskey Bagpipe Band which is being flown in from Ireland for the occasion.
The St. Patrick's Day parade downtown last Saturday whetted the appetite for Irish fare and brew at stops like Grif's, Houlihan's, Birraporetti's, Charley T's (where resident Irishman Noel Hennebery will be overseeing the Guinness stout, green beer, corned beef and cabbage and Irish trifle), Airship Pub, Bennigan's, Brennan's, Fitzgerald's, The Black Labrador, Kenneally's, Molly Maguire's and Mama Hattie's Hamburgers in the 1960 area.
Mama Hattie's will feature Irish nachos (round French fries topped with nacho fixings such as cheese and jalapenos) and live Irish music by Michael Davitt, this year's parade chairman.
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(FACTIVA)
LIFESTYLE
Microwave

Gourmet dishes can be nutritious and time-saving too

Charlyne Varkonyi
Baltimore Sun
822 words
23 February 1989
Austin American-Statesman
FINAL
E13
English
(Copyright 1989)

Many of us see the lines between health food and gourmet food as uncrossable. It is either healthy and tastes horrible or it is gourmet and horrible for your health.
Now along comes award-winning author Judith Benn Hurley with a book that promises a "fresh, healthful approach to microwaving through delicious, imaginative recipes." Put away those cans of mushroom soup from the old home ec classes and get out the champagne vinegar, wonton skins, lemongrass and jalapeno.
Hurley is an experienced cook, and it shows in her blending of common and exotic ingredients to bring flavor to food without the evils of fat, salt and sugar.
"Many cooks still regard microwave cooking as artless and unrefined," writes Hurley, food columnist for Prevention magazine, in her book, Healthy Microwave Cooking, (Rodale; $21.95). "To them, microwaving means only reheating institutional and convenience foods. Blame it on the many microwave cookbooks that contain recipes and concepts that could heave the gastronomic revolution back three decades. They are dull, pursue pre-packaged ingredients and are often just plain tacky."
Hurley's offerings are the antithesis of tacky. Puree of winter squash with rosemary. Louisiana broil with Cajun hot sauce. Ragout of wild mushrooms. Tournedos of beef with garlic-jalapeno puree.
Yet they are all low in fat and salt, high in fiber. And they fit the nutritional goals that everyone from U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to the American Heart Association and American Cancer Society has been recommending to reduce chances of life-threatening disease.
How can this kind of haute food be healthy too?
Easy, she says:
The speed of the microwave retains the vitamins and minerals lost in conventional cooking. The shorter the cooking time and the less liquid used, the more healthful the result.
Lean fish and poultry remain moist and flavorful in the microwave, and you don't need the butter and fattening sauces that broiling cries out for. All you need is a splash of olive oil and some crushed fresh herbs.
Each recipe gives the number of calories per serving, but leaves out the information many potential buyers want, like cholesterol, saturated fat and sodium content per serving. "I didn't want them (the readers) to think nutrition," she says. "I wanted them to think delicious.
Some of her recipes are fairly quick, but others are time-consuming and contain exotic ingredients not easily found author also assumes that readers will have a certain amount of cooking skill and that novices will have to consult basic cookbooks to perform some of the preparation. Marinated Stuffed Beef
2/3- to 1-pound lean top round 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 2 cloves garlic, mashed 2 tablespoons beef stock 1 small carrot, cut into fine julienne 1 small zucchini, cut into fine julienne 1 sweet red pepper, cut into fine julienne 1/2 teaspoon oregano 1/2 teaspoon thyme
Have the butcher slice the beef into very thin sheets, no thicker than 1/4 inch. Ideally, you will have four sheets (9 by 5 inches). Arrange sheets in a large baking pan and add the Worcestershire, garlic and stock, rubbing them into the meat with your hands. Let the sheets marinate for about 30 minutes.
To assemble the recipe, lay a sheet of beef out in front of you horizontally. Arrange one fourth of the carrot, zucchini and pepper strips in a tiny pile clear across half the sheet that is closest to you. Sprinkle on a pinch of oregano and thyme. Roll up jelly roll style and tie in two places with string. Repeat with the remaining sheets. Then roll each in the remaining marinade.
Set the rolls on the edges of a large dinner plate, cover with vented plastic wrap and microwave on full power until cooked through, about 5 minutes. If you like, run them under the broiler briefly to glaze them with color. Slice into disks and serve, discarding string. 141 calories per serving.
Irish Nachos
3/4 pound waxy-type potatoes,thinly sliced 2 tomatoes, chopped 2 scallions, minced 2 large, mild green chili pepper, chopped 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced 1/2 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon oregano 2/3 cup grated mild white cheese
Arrange the potatoes in a 9-inch glass pie dish and sprinkle with a splash of water. Cover with vented plastic wrap and microwave on full power until tender, 5 to 6 minutes, rotating the dish midway. Let stand 4 minutes. If necessary, drain the potatoes. Sprinkle the tomatoes on top of them. Next sprinkle on the scallions, chilies, jalapeno, chili powder, oregano and cheese and cover with vented plastic wrap. Microwave on medium power until the cheese has melted, about 3 minutes. Then run them under the broiler until just brown. Serve hot. 155 calories per serving. Makes 4 servings.
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(FACTIVA)
GUIDE
MINI-REVIEWS

J. Gilligan's

Dee Lyons
542 words
25 August 1989
The Dallas Morning News
HOME FINAL
21
English
(Copyright 1989)

Food **1/2 Service **1/2 Atmosphere **1/2
J. Gilligan's is a quaint Irish pub near the University of Texas at Arlington, where stressed-out students not only can avoid the last of the summer heat, but also can take a break from lecture marathons.
The pub is dimly lit but lively enough to be a welcome distraction from the daily routine. The friendly setting is achieved with rustic wood walls, emerald-green indoor-outdoor carpet, photos of bar happenings, neon beer signs and a raised stage where live bands perform in the evenings. Piped-in music plays non-stop during the day, but at a volume that makes conversation permissible.
The sign that welcomes visitors to J. Gilligan's reads "sandwiches, snacks, salads, spirits, entertainment nightly.' And visitors do flock to this sociable pub. The lunch hour found a standing-room-only crowd at the door, waiters and waitresses efficiently scurrying around, and mess-hall-style tables filled with patrons munching on burgers, salads, deli sandwiches and nachos.
One of J. Gilligan's most popular items is a plate of "Original' Irish Nachos ($4.25 for a full order, $3.25 for a half order). Crunchy chips were replaced with natural cut cottage fries, but the spicy, south-of-the-border flavor remained. Cottage fries lined the bottom of a stoneware dish and were topped with Cheddar cheese, bacon bits, chives, onions, tomatoes and jalapenos. A scoop of sour cream arrived on the side. This dish combined the best of both worlds -- potato skins and nachos.
J. Gilligan's House Special ($4.30) is billed as the "best burger in Arlington.' It's a half-pound cheeseburger loaded with shredded lettuce, tomatoes and onions (pickles arrived on the side). The old-fashioned burger, served on a fresh, sesame seed bun, was thick, lean and juicy. The burger was served with a generous amount of crisp onion rings (or fries if you prefer).
Those avoiding red meat might enjoy the marinated chicken breast sandwich ($4.25). (The official name is "Best Chest in the West' for those who don't mind calling out that order.) The lean, but slightly overcooked, chicken was served on a bakery-fresh kaiser roll and topped with lettuce, tomato, bacon and melted Monterey Jack cheese. White-meat aficionados will find this a worthy burger substitute.
J. Gilligan's does not serve dessert, so some customers had an early-afternoon spirit instead. The Irish pub has a sign on the wall warning these patrons that "if you're going to drink and drive tonight, don't forget to kiss your mother goodbye.' The menu also requests that heavy drinkers contact the mananger to arrange transportation.
This pub is a cheery, relaxing place to hide from both temperature and tests. Quiet types can find a smaller table for chatting, and outgoing folks can probably meet new friends at larger tables. 407 E. South Street, Arlington. (817) 274-8561. Monday-Wednesday 11 a.m. to 1 a.m., Thursday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., Sunday 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Grill hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-mdnt. $.