Food Thread - Those that eat

[Keyrock]

And here's the dish that I guess I'll just call Moroccan Style Beef:

Not much to look at but any ras el hanout heavy recipe is going to wind up brown. It is what it is.

It's quite tasty, very similar flavor to the mrouzia with the same balance of sweet, savory, and spicy, but with a more complex sweet flavor because of the larger variety of fruit. The potatoes were also a good call, this desperately needed a starch. It probably would work well on top of rice also, if you prefer that to potatoes as your complex carb source. I'm less enthusiastic about putting this on top of if noodles, but who knows?

I'm going to try out some more meat & fruit dishes. Sweet & savory is a really good flavor combination.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Keyrock

[ShadySands]

1 hour ago, Keyrock said:

I'm going to try out some more meat & fruit dishes. Sweet & savory is a really good flavor combination.

I'm a big fan of chicken marbella

Chicken, prunes, olives, capers, and love... and maybe a few other things

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, Keyrock said:

I'm going to try out some more meat & fruit dishes. Sweet & savory is a really good flavor combination.

White pizza (olive oil, not cream sauce) with prosciutto and figs. Thank me later.

[Keyrock]

15 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

I'm a big fan of chicken marbella

Chicken, prunes, olives, capers, and love... and maybe a few other things

Given my black, shriveled up heart, I'll have to skip the love ingredient.

[bugarup]

On 8/15/2023 at 8:34 PM, Gromnir said:

on the downside, am no longer able to identify our lonesome as the only person we know who adds prunes when braising meat.

Quite a bit of people I knew habitually added prunes to beef stew things or stuffed chicken with them before frying. Like, whole mum's branch of family used to do so; I remember that well because from where I stand fruits belong to jams, juices, raw desserts, well anywhere but NOT in my meats. 

[Gromnir]

9 hours ago, bugarup said:

I remember that well because from where I stand fruits belong to jams, juices, raw desserts, well anywhere but NOT in my meats. 

is precise why we don't tell guests we put prunes in the dish until after they have eaten and informed us how much they enjoyed our stew/roast/whatever. some folks know dried fruit don't belong in a braised meat dish. some are certain they don't like prunes even if they can't recall the last time they had a prune. am finding it is best to give diners a chance to taste and enjoy free o' whatever preconceptions they may have brought to our table. 

'course if their preconceptions is the result o' a food allergy...

HA! Good Fun!

[Keyrock]

I wonder if there are any meat & plantain dishes, that sounds like something that would be made in Mexico or Central America. Wait a minute, the internet exists...

...

So many recipes, a lot with ground beef, it seems. I might have to give one of these a go, plantain + meat just seems like it should work well in my head.

[ShadySands]

Fufu is where it's at ...or mofongo if you want something a little prettier. It's hard for me to get green plantains where I'm at so I don't make them hardly ever.

[Amentep]

Old thread:

 

[Gorth]

I can eat pineapple with almost anything

 

[Gromnir]

2 hours ago, Gorth said:

I can eat pineapple with almost anything

 

one hopes pizza is excluded. tar and feathers remains the prescribed punishment for putting ketchup on a hot dog w/i the city limits o' chicago, but pineapple on a pizza or lettuce/tomato on a taco will likely result in at best a condescending sneer.  

...

am also admitting a full nerd moment as literal the first thing we thought 'bout 'pon reading your post were that you share malcom reed's favorite food from enterprise... silent enemy episode? something obvious wrong with our brain.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[majestic]

5 hours ago, Gromnir said:

am also admitting a full nerd moment as literal the first thing we thought 'bout 'pon reading your post were that you share malcom reed's favorite food from enterprise... silent enemy episode? something obvious wrong with our brain.

HA! Good Fun!

I wonder if @Gorth is allergic to pineapple too.

[Keyrock]

Wisconsin came up in a different thread recently and, by coincidence, a Culver's just opened 5 minutes from where I live. I don't know if it's the first Culver's in Cackalacky or not, but I don't recall seeing another one here and I drive all over the state for a living. This is my first visit to a Culver's in several years, since the days I used to drive up to Wisconsin somewhat regularly. Anyway, I got a deluxe double and cheese curds. It's definitely an above average fast food burger, but the cheese curds are the real draw.

We should have a fast food exchange. Since there are now Culver's down here, they should bring Cook Out or Bojangles up to the frozen north. While we're at it, bring Tim Horton's down here.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Keyrock

[Gfted1]

3 hours ago, Keyrock said:

...but the cheese curds are the real draw.

A poor mans mozzarella stick. There, I said it. 

[Gromnir]

gonna admit we always thought the cheese curd hype from wisconsin folks were more imagination than real. tested our theory by making poutine for acquaintances from midwest/wisconsin. showed 'em the packaging from the sooper expensive cheese curds we got shipped from wisconsin-- two varieties. served our guests two kinda poutine, but one option were not cheese curds but rather a Gromnir house substitute involving provolone and mozzarella.

when we asked our guests/guinea pigs which slight melty and covered with gravy "cheese curds" were better/more authentic, three outta four preferred our knockoff mozzarella and provolone substitute, and nobody recognized the mozz + porvolone as fraudulent.

we didn't spoil the meal by informing our guests they had been used to test a pet theory. everybody left satisfied, especial Gromnir.

HA! Good Fun!

ps guests also preferred restaurant quality deep fried frozen fries as 'posed to made-from-scratch fries... though am admitting we did not have access to kennebec potatoes which is the variety o' tater am believing makes the best french fries. we didn't do any sorta switcheroo on the fries. not doing deceptive with fries were intentional sleight o' hand on our part as our guests were focused more on looking to determine which fries were genuine so they overlooked the possibility we had done something sneaky with the cheese. 

Edited August 21, 2023 by Gromnir

[Keyrock]

@Gfted1Fake news. 

[Keyrock]

First fake sugar then fake meat and now counterfeit cheese curds. Is this what the world has come to?

Edited August 21, 2023 by Keyrock

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

On 8/18/2023 at 9:32 PM, Gorth said:

I can eat pineapple with almost anything

 

One time I cooked pineapple in butter and amaretto. Absolutely recommended that with some ice cream or brioche.

On 8/20/2023 at 12:29 PM, Keyrock said:

While we're at it, bring Tim Horton's down here.

They got one around here and it's not bad, but Voodoo has better donuts and Dutch Bros has better coffee. Maybe we just don't have the full Tims.

I hate to admit it, but Shake Shack probably is the best overall fast food. It's also goddamn expensive, clocking in at 2x the price of other places.

[Gromnir]

is not bad to slavish follow a recipe. the first time we prepare a dish, we near always follow recipes as written or described. if you like how the dish came together, then is no reason to make changes to instructions provided in the recipe. 

the thing is, am finding we frequent make changes to recipes based on personal taste as well as our accumulated cooking knowledge. is often ways to achieve improved results by changing a described process or ingredients, but one should understand both the impact o' process and the qualities o' ingredients when making such changes. 

 understanding process and ingredients is also helpful when ingredients is not readily available. try and find decent tasso at a market in the sacramento valley. good luck. making tasso requires minimum three days; our recipe calls for seven days. when we make red beans and rice, chances are we skip the tasso, but am recognizing what the tasso brings to the dish, so am able to fake the smoke and tang from the pickled meat. 

it don't take much imagination to add cheese curds to an online or cookbook recipe calling for cheese curds. as 'posed to slavish following an established recipe you took no personal part in creating, am suspecting gordon ramsey would be a bit more impressed if you convinced a group o' self-appointed wisconsin cheese pundits that the meal they just enjoyed contained cheese curds without using cheese curds. just sayin.

unrelated, we had an ez cassoulet for dinner... multi-beans (royal corona, tarbais and great northern,) couple handfuls o' torn bread pieces (small pieces) from a two-day-old baguette, tomatoes (roma and cherry,) summer squash, corn and bacon were the main ingredients. we used a fair amount o' garlic and finished with fresh basil and grated parmesan. 

we use our insta pot to pre-cook the beans which is so much easier than an overnight soak followed by cooking. the beans require a bit less than an hour in the insta pot and is complete hands-off during cooking.

the summer squash and corn cassoulet recipe we have calls for mint but we used basil. guess what? the meal were delicious even w/o mint. go figure. 

HA! Good Fun!

[Keyrock]

Beef and broccoli with mushrooms. Quick and easy in the pressure cooker. I used a little bit too much brown sugar so the sauce is slightly sweeter than what I intended (that's what I get for just eyeballing everything rather than carefully measuring) but it's still quite good.

[Keyrock]

Pasta Alla Zozzona:

I went all out for this one. I freshly grated romano cheese and I didn't settle for bacon or pancetta, I got the good stuff.

Delicious dish, but not something to eat regularly, on account of how decadent it is.

[BruceVC]

On 9/2/2023 at 3:25 AM, Keyrock said:

Pasta Alla Zozzona:

I went all out for this one. I freshly grated romano cheese and I didn't settle for bacon or pancetta, I got the good stuff.

Delicious dish, but not something to eat regularly, on account of how decadent it is.

Sometimes nothing beats the right ingredients, even if they  imported and expensive 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

On 9/1/2023 at 8:25 PM, Keyrock said:

Pasta Alla Zozzona:

I went all out for this one. I freshly grated romano cheese and I didn't settle for bacon or pancetta, I got the good stuff.

Delicious dish, but not something to eat regularly, on account of how decadent it is.

Where did you get the cheek? I usually settle for pancetta because I can find it easily, the only options for guanciale are ordering and it's prohibitively expensive.

[Keyrock]

36 minutes ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

Where did you get the cheek? I usually settle for pancetta because I can find it easily, the only options for guanciale are ordering and it's prohibitively expensive.

Italian deli and yes it's extremely expensive. Plus, I can feel my cholesterol rising just looking at the package. I can find pancetta in most supermarkets in my area but I have to go to a specialty store to get guanciale, or, as you wrote, order it online.

Pancetta is a good substitute, it's easy to find and way cheaper than guanciale. If I were to make Pasta Alla Zozzona on a regular basis, well, first of all I'd weigh 400 lbs in no time, but also I'd likely use pancetta. However, this is a dish I plan to make once, maybe twice a year for a special get together and I can afford to go all out once or twice a year, both in terms of the financial and the state of my arteries.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Keyrock

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

31 minutes ago, Keyrock said:

Italian deli and yes it's extremely expensive. Plus, I can feel my cholesterol rising just looking at the package. I can find pancetta in most supermarkets in my area but I have to go to a specialty store to get guanciale, or, as you wrote, order it online.

Pancetta is a good substitute, it's easy to find and way cheaper than guanciale. If I were to make Pasta Alla Zozzona on a regular basis, well, first of all I'd weigh 400 lbs in no time, but also I'd likely use pancetta. However, this is a dish I plan to make once, maybe twice a year for a special get together and I can afford to go all out once or twice a year, both in terms of the financial and the state of my arteries.

Yeah, I think I'm going to stick with the pancetta out of financial needs.

The zozzona looks very good, it's like a hybrid of carbonora and all'amatricana right?