Food Thread - Obsidian Gormand's Edition

[Gfted1]

Huh, I just had a Reuben last night for the first time in YEARS. It was delicious.

[Keyrock]

Polish double smoked kielbasa:

So delicious.

I love heavily smoked meats and this is most certainly heavily smoked.

Edited August 29, 2022 by Keyrock

[ShadySands]

22 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

Huh, I just had a Reuben last night for the first time in YEARS. It was delicious.

I don't know that I've ever had one

[Keyrock]

17 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

I don't know that I've ever had one

You haven't lived until you've had a Reuben.

[Gfted1]

1 hour ago, ShadySands said:

I don't know that I've ever had one

As Im sure youve deduced, two of the main ingredients of a Reuben are corned beef and sauerkraut, and your post reminded me of the coincidence of having just eaten one. If you ever cross paths with one I highly recommend it.

[ShadySands]

The thing is, I love corned beef and sauerkraut, but the thing that always stops me is the rye bread and Russian or Thousand Island dressing. I suppose I should just suck it up and let myself experience culinary bliss.

[majestic]

So you have no issue eating the grey goo that is the gravy in biscuits and gravy (which probably doubles as the prison slop people eat in movies to show how badly prisoners are treated), but you draw the line at rye bread?

[ShadySands]

I make my own sausage gravy, it's quick and easy. I've never cared much for rye.

[Gfted1]

My wife makes sausage gravy too; ground sausage, flour and milk, iirc. Salt and pepper to taste.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Lemon butter salmon with rice and roasted vegetables. Very nice and healthy.

3 hours ago, Keyrock said:

Polish double smoked kielbasa:

So delicious.

I love heavily smoked meats and this is most certainly heavily smoked.

Dios mio. I too love the smoke, but I'm trying to eat less pork and sausage.

54 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

The thing is, I love corned beef and sauerkraut, but the thing that always stops me is the rye bread and Russian or Thousand Island dressing. I suppose I should just suck it up and let myself experience culinary bliss.

If the rye bread is the thing turning you off it works as a wrap (nb4 I get called a monster) but you absolutely need the dressing.

[Gromnir]

41 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

I make my own sausage gravy, it's quick and easy. I've never cared much for rye.

sausage gravy is easy, and am thinking homemade biscuits are also easier than most people realize. we ordinarily use heavy cream for the biscuits, which means we don't need to cut butter into flour careful and slow add buttermilk or some other labor intensive exercise. as such we almost invariably use cream for the gravy. prep for the biscuits requires five ingredients and a bowl. takes five minutes, tops? another fifteen minutes bake time... maybe add one extra ingredient as am likely to brush the biscuits with melted butter to help give the biscuits a nice golden brown color. 

our most common hurdle for the rueben is not the bread but is the russian dressing, which we ordinarily find abhorrent when purchasing store brands. at the moment, 'cause o' the chili pepper shortages, is difficult to find huy fong chili garlic sauce, so making our own russian is improbable. our dressing requires mayo, the aforementioned chili garlic sauce, paprika, a bit o' lemon and worcestershire, horseradish, minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste. curious, we typical have sauerkraut on hand, at least from fall months through spring. find good deli corned beef is not always ez but we manage 'cause am gonna admit we maybe once per year corn our own beef. but again, sriracha, chili garlic sauce and anything which includes the necessary chili peppers is gonna be hit and miss on availability. even when such is available we rare think is worth making russian dressing to have a rueben. is not difficult to find perfect good alternatives to the rueben when am in possession o' quality corned beef. nevertheless, is an admirable and relative unique sandwich, so we make 'em when the spirit moves us.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[LadyCrimson]

3 hours ago, ShadySands said:

The thing is, I love corned beef and sauerkraut, but the thing that always stops me is the rye bread and Russian or Thousand Island dressing. I suppose I should just suck it up and let myself experience culinary bliss.

I've never liked most rye either. Occasionally there's some version (usually homemade) that's "tolerable" mixed with other bread flavors (braided bread), but that flavor is not my fave thing for sandwiches at all. So I always used toasted sourdough bread or ciabatta instead and just mayo/mustard or whatever else you like. It's what I've always done. Even at restaurants, I ask for sliced sourdough instead of rye. They always do it.

I'm not sure what sauce they use on reubens here - it's never thousand island where I've been, which is good, because I dislike that too. Not saying nowhere here uses it, I just haven't personally encountered it, shrug.  And a lot of the time it's pastrami - either chunky sliced or thinner, but good/fresh, not that crap packaged pastrami sort) instead of corned beef. Also, no coleslaw. Just a lot of that white cheese.  It'll usually be rye, sauerkraut, pastrami (or corned beef), mustard/mayo or buttered/toasted bread/no mayo, the cheese, and ... that's about it. Pickle on the side. If ya get fancy you put bacon on it.

Edited August 30, 2022 by LadyCrimson

[Keyrock]

I already think you're a blasphemer if you use thousand island instead of Russian dressing, so I'm just going to turn a blind eye to all these proposed modifications for my own sanity's sake. 

[LadyCrimson]

Food purism is weird (me included) ... it's all about what you grew up with/first enjoyed, much of the time. That flavor you remember and covet.

I don't even know what "Russian dressing" is.     From Google it's pretty similar to Thousand Island so I could see why some might think it tastes similar/the same even if it has some minor spice differences (if we are talking a mayo-based version vs. Google mentioning a clear Russian dressing), but I don't think I've personally had it specifically/seen it mentioned in food menus.

Reuben's where I ate were always what I described (that isn't me making the modifications, outside of the sourdough bread) and that's just what I've always known them to be. They've never been very "saucy" at all, usually fairly dry outside of the sauerkraut and cheese.  I think there is also a "California reuben" which is often served/made with turkey or something else I think, but never had one of those either.

[Gromnir]

wouldn't ever say russian dressing and thousand island are tasting similar, but they do have a similar appearance. thousand island has pickle relish, ketchup and no horseradish, chili or garlic. sure, both dressings is mayo-based and has paprika and lemon juice, but read ingredient list and imagine they taste sameish is challenging our creativity.

the clear versions o' russian is using oil instead o' mayo. kinda vile in our estimation, but recognizing the mayo in most bottled varieties is at best inoffensive, am suspecting clear v. opaque makes little difference.  

that said, if you like a sauerkraut and corned beef sandwhich with honey mustard instead o' russian, am not gonna criticize. you got a sandwhich you enjoy? call it a win and it don't matter what is the name o' the meal... save to note you ain't eating a rueben if is on sourdough with thousand island dressing and pastrami. could be delicious, but why call it a rueben? 

'course we got same issues with folks purposeful mistaking italian gravy or red sauce for bolognese. is some weird cachet which attaches to bolognese which makes folks mislabel? 

HA! Good Fun!

[LadyCrimson]

1 hour ago, Gromnir said:

honey mustard

Who said honey mustard? I didn't. That stuff is vile. So is dijon (Grey Poupon or any other brand, which my mother loved, ick). We just like simple yellow mustard, like French's or Heinz yellow or anything similar that restaurants may use.

1 hour ago, Gromnir said:

is some weird cachet which attaches to bolognese which makes folks mislabel? 

That's what I meant by purism tho - purism is either fairly local or personalized. I'm sure there are some folks who would not call majority of US pizza real pizza, or think that only this ingredient list is real gumbo, figgy pudding, or all kinds of other examples.  I've had so many variations of "Chinese Chicken Salad" that tasted nothing alike (some that I loved, some that I hated), it's hilarious. But recipes for "this dish" tend not to be static everywhere forever.

Different counties/states (re: the US) also can have very different traditions re: what constitutes a named-food. Then you have restaurants that make some new version of a dish (keeping the "name") that becomes popular for a while and occasionally maybe changes how some people/eateries label and think of that named food.

People keep trying to improve or alter the foods to suit local tastes/demand (most "Chinese" food/dishes US folks are familiar with in restaurants isn't, really), social times, health-news/trends. Cooks changes things up all the time, whether at a personal home or a 5 Michelin star place. Keeping the name because it's still overall similar enough and/or for menu name recognition doesn't seem surprising.

Edited August 31, 2022 by LadyCrimson

[LadyCrimson]

Open front door, find plastic bag on steps, full of ... grapes. No note. I guess neighbor noticed us picking the few ones in our yard once, and when they took down the ones in their yard, decided we would like them? They're tiny grapes, and pic FoV makes it not as impressive, but it was large lot for someone who can't eat lots o' sugars. We did eat most of them over a few days tho. Tasty.

[Keyrock]

Ground beef taco with monterey jack cheese, lettuce, red onion, avocado, tomatillo, and cilantro lime salsa. Corn on the cob and merlot to accompany it.

[Gromnir]

35 minutes ago, Keyrock said:

 

Ground beef taco with monterey jack cheese, lettuce, red onion, avocado, tomatillo, and cilantro lime salsa. Corn on the cob and merlot to accompany it.

am gonna admit the absence o' a small pool o' melted butter around the corn makes it look alien to us. 

HA! Good Fun!

[ShadySands]

Made some short rib small bites. Made some crostinis that I topped with bone marrow mashed potatoes and topped with some chopped short rib and a sherry and honey sauce. 

[Keyrock]

7 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

Made some short rib small bites. Made some crostinis that I topped with bone marrow mashed potatoes and topped with some chopped short rib and a sherry and honey sauce. 

Bone marrow crostinis sound amazing.

[Keyrock]

Pickled herring and vodka

[ShadySands]

That's one I still can't handle, pickled herring.

[Keyrock]

15 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

That's one I still can't handle, pickled herring.

The secret is to take shots of Polish vodka while you're eating it. It has to be Polish vodka, though, none of that inferior vodka from other parts of the world.

[BruceVC]

I went with my Cpt family to an amazing restaurant last night at a prestigious hotel called Cellars-Honenort

https://www.thecellars-hohenorthotel.com/restaurants-bars/the-conservatory/

The restaurant we ate at is built over a forest in the hotel grounds, I tried to capture how scenic it was in the photos.I had 

• Starter : AGED BOLAND CHEESE SOUFFLÉ – gin cheese sauce, parmesan 
• Main meal : SEARED OUTENIQUA SPRINGBOK LOIN , Honey glazed parsnip, XO chutney, charred onions, rocket pesto, red wine jus 

The cheese  souffle was the best I have ever had