February 09, 2005

White (Trash) House Menu Via Rox Populi: I'm sure many monkeys already know about White House chef Walter Scheib III being fired by Laura Bush. I don't think many people are aware of the menu he was forced to make during the inauguration.

Here are some of the tasty recipes.

Coca-Cola brined Pilgrim's Pride turkey with Dunkin Donuts old-fashioned cake doughnut sweet and savory stuffing* Coca-Cola brine 1 1/4 cups salt 1 quart Coca-Cola 2 bay leaves 1 medium onion, peeled and halved 2 cloves 1 10- to 12-pound Pilgrim's Pride Whole Butter Basted Turkey 1. Place salt and Coca-Cola in a large deep pot and whisk until salt crystals dissolve. Whisk in 4 quarts cold water. Pin bay leaves to onion halves with cloves and add them to brine. Let mixture cool to room temperature. 2. Add Pilgrim's Pride turkey, placing a large heavy pot or sealed zip-top bag filled with cold water on top to keep bird submerged in Coca-Cola. Place pot in refrigerator and marinate overnight. Dunkin Donuts old-fashioned cake doughnut sweet and savory stuffing 6 cups Dunkin Donuts old-fashioned cake doughnuts, chopped 2 cups diced onion 1/2 cup butter 2 cups cranberries 2 teaspoons dried rosemary 1/2 tablespoon dried sage 1 cup chicken broth Cook onion in butter or margarine over low heat until soft. Add doughnuts, cranberries, rosemary and sage, chicken broth, salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently but thoroughly.
I don't know about you but that sounds delicious.
  • Sadly - it's a hoax.
  • It's an overused expression, but it really did take me five minutes to realize you weren't kidding. I'm still not entirely sure this is possible. In any case, that's revolting.
  • I didn't know it was a hoax. My bad.
  • I just told Rox. Man, I hate getting punked.
  • The Chicago Times article is limited to registered users. I think I signed up there, some time ago, to check out something posted, and that they required that you answer a survey with questions that assumed you lived in Chicago. I've since forgotten which email address I gave them at the same time that I tried to remind them that the internet isn't really "local." Guess I'll just go google the chef's name. Oh, and, is anyone out there brave enough to try the turkey recipe in the interest of science? I won't ask you to go so far as to do the stuffing.
  • White House chef steamed over exit Items compiled from Tribune news services Published February 6, 2005 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Unlike members of the White House staff who maintain the fiction that resigning was their decision, the executive chef, Walter Scheib III, minced no words on Friday in saying he had been fired. "We have been trying to find a way to satisfy the first lady's stylistic requirements," said Scheib, 50, "and it has been difficult. Basically I was not successful in my attempt." Scheib sensed a change afoot, he said, when Cathy Fenton was succeeded as White House social secretary last month by Lea Berman, the wife of Wayne Berman, a wealthy contributor to the Republican Party. Berman is a well-known Washington hostess who entertains in a 13,000-square-foot mansion. "Clearly, with the new social secretary, there is a new set of eyes and a new vision," said Scheib, whose imminent departure was first reported Friday by The Washington Post. "She is a very hands-on social secretary, very involved with all aspects of food, flowers and decor. She clearly has a mandate." Scheib said he was determined to exit on a positive note, his dignity intact. He also said he was disappointed in himself: "I'm supercompetitive."
  • Unmet 'stylistic requirements'? What the hell does that mean? Makes the fake story seem all the more plausible.
  • I asked a cook friend of mine about that statement. He said that chef speak for bossy bitch.
  • Looks like a nice little list of businesses to boycott in the next several years. Distribute it widely. Make coke look like J.C. Pennys.
  • Little did I know that the Swift Report is satire. Awesome.
  • Ah, a thing of beauty is a joy forever! Whether or no ye knew it to be a hoax doesn't matter, it's still funny, Sully! Thanks.
  • yeah i totally went for it too but it sounds like it may be rooted in fact? I found the same article as above posted on the NYT site. Only it continued . . . "At the same time, there is a limit to how creative a chef can be at the White House. "While it is an honor to serve the first family," he said, "it is the same thing, night in and night out, over an extended period. And it's time for me to be exploring all of my creative abilities and not limiting myself." Even official dinners can be unsatisfying. "These are not Escoffier dinners," Mr. Scheib said in a 1998 interview before a dinner in honor of Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. "You can spin it any way you want, it's still a banquet. How you serve 240 people and have them not think it's another rubber-chicken-circuit dinner, that's the job." Mr. Scheib, who studied at the Culinary Institute of America, was hired away from the exclusive Greenbrier resort in West Virginia 11 years ago by Hillary Rodham Clinton, then the first lady. A search is now under way for a new White House chef, but Mr. Scheib, who was noted for his introduction of American foods and wines and the use of fresh ingredients, expects to remain at least until the end of the month. Since Wednesday, when he was asked to resign, he has been gearing up to find something else. "You are only the ex-chef at the White House for the next six months," he said, "so you need to look at various opportunities: literary, media, product representation or back to the kitchen." But he is not worried. "I'm not going to be running the local pancake house," he said." http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/05/politics/05chef.html?oref=login&oref=login And you know Karl Rove makes a bitchen Mac 'n Cheese
  • To be perfectly honest a more "flavorful" soda like dr. pepper or a good root beer make a better brine.
  • Roxanne sent me this email. eeeecccckkkkk. But, it was so easy to believe. sorry 'bout that. She didn't mean to punk Monkeyfilter and she gracefully apologized. Just so everyone knows.
  • s'okay the truth is he was fired. I think that's interesting. Are the businesses on the made-up menu really close with Bush?