Food Thread - Those that eat

[Bartimaeus]

Trying to catch up with the food thread while being subjected to conspiracy theories and culture wars all because of a brief mention of poppy seeds. Hope you're pleased with yourself, @Gfted1, .

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

12 hours ago, Keyrock said:

@PK htiw klaw eriF was arrested and executed for spreading malicious lies.

[Gromnir]

14 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Trying to catch up with the food thread while being subjected to conspiracy theories and culture wars all because of a brief mention of poppy seeds. Hope you're pleased with yourself, @Gfted1, .

gotta admit we weren't expecting to go down a poppy seed rabbit hole. 

that said, the everything bagel with lox schmear we had this morning did taste better than usual in spite o' the US military's propaganda machinery attempting to discourage us from consuming poppyseeds... for reasons which as yet remain a smidge foggy. 

HA! Good Fun!

[majestic]

Fun anecdote: in ye olden days poppy seeds were cooked in milk and then wrapped in cloth for babies to suck on. The practice was discontinued after it was suspected to be one of the causes of sudden infant death syndrome. No conclusive evidence that I would know of, but it certainly sounds plausible enough, overdosing on opiates would be much easier for babies. On the other hand, it apparently worked really well to keep the little buggers quiet for the night. Win some, lose some, ey?

 

[Keyrock]

The makowiec was a big hit over Christmas. So far, the ATF has not kicked down my door and pointed M16s in my face, but maybe they're just waiting for the holiday traffic to die down to apprehend me then throw me in a musty cellar somewhere and anally rape me with a broomstick (I assume this is what the ATF does).

[ShadySands]

Trying to think of the last time I saw the ATF in the news... Waco or Ruby Ridge. Judging by that I'm going to assume they just shoot you and possibly your wife, kid, and dog.

I made tamales but haven't eaten anything in almost 2 days now. Crazy thing is that I'm not even hungry.

Edited December 26, 2023 by ShadySands

[Gromnir]

7 hours ago, ShadySands said:

Trying to think of the last time I saw the ATF in the news... Waco or Ruby Ridge. Judging by that I'm going to assume they just shoot you and possibly your wife, kid, and dog.

now all you need is to find four more people who haven't seen the atf in the news for a long time at which you will be able to say that all the evidence supports your kill all the witnesses theory o' atf procedure.

as to tamales, we got a friend who makes the best tamales-- combines pork and ground turkey. am not sure what we do wrong, but am never able to get pork and turkey quite right, so we ordinarily stick with just pork. unfortunate, many o' our guests have pork prejudices, so we gotta make a few tamales with chicken tamales.

this year am not making much o' anything which cannot be prepared via a microwave. we did teach a couple o' our younger cousins how to make fudge, but they took all the fruits o' their labor with them when they left casa de Gromnir... thank goodness. 

HA! Good Fun!

[Keyrock]

Placki ziemniaczane

Simple Polish comfort food, essentially the best possible version of hash browns. You can top them one of two ways: Sweet, typically with powdered sugar, occasionally apple sauce, or what I do, sour cream and chives.

[Keyrock]

I got a pasta maker for Xmas and I put it to use for the first time yesterday. You can, of course, make fresh pasta without a machine, but it's quite tedious. The machine makes it significantly less tedious, which means I'll actually do it. Anyway, I just made spaghetti, nothing special. Still, fresh pasta tastes so much better than dried, it's a night and day difference.

[Gfted1]

I bought myself an Instant Pot 9-in-1 air fryer to replace my oil fryer and toaster, and 7 other things apparently. So far Ive only cooked wings and fries but both turned out great, especially the wings. I was pretty impressed with the fact that I could throw in frozen flats and drums and pull out perfectly cooked and with crispy skin. Somehow 4lb were consumed by three people in one sitting.

[Gromnir]

6 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

I bought myself an Instant Pot 9-in-1 air fryer to replace my oil fryer and toaster, and 7 other things apparently.

we got an oven which cost as much as a nice car, but we use our air fryer(s) all the time and especial during the warmest summer months when oven cooking is an almost criminal endeavor. have become an air fryer convert. however, "air fryer" is such a fundamental misleading term. so doesn't replace oil frying. air fry feature is convection cooking. nobody should think you could make fried chicken in your convection oven, but 'cause o' wacky nomenclature people keep trying to make fried chicken and the like in an air fryer.  the naming nomenclature leads to unfair expectations. 

non breaded chicken wings is ideal for air fryer. (aside: am highly recommending having your uncooked wings dry overnight in the refrigerator... sprinkle with baking soda will promote crispy/browning. water is the enemy o' crispy wings, so drying is gonna improve your finished dish.)  a variety o' roasted veggies is also fantastic. nowadays we only cook our baked potatoes in the air fryer. falafel and salmon are great in an air fryer... but we don't cook salmon in the air fryer in spite o' the ease 'cause whatever we cook immediate after the salmon in the air fryer absorbs the fishy smell... and 'cause pan seared is also just so damned ez and good. is a bunch o' other stuff, including a variety o' french fries recipes which work great in the air fryer, 'cause those recipes also work in a convection oven. however, am not gonna try and make deep fried cat fish with an air fryer, 'cause that would be stoopid. air fryer is not a replacement for deep fry but is a (better) replacement for convection cooking in a standard oven.

 aside, your insta pot pressure cooking feature is also great for carnitas, butter chicken, oatmeal and a whole bunch o' bean recipes for which am able to skip the overnight soak step. admitted, nowadays am typical making oatmeal in our rice cooker 'cause our cheepy rice cooker is so ez to clean.

regardless, am thinking the air fryer name is misleading and results in some folks being disappointed. can we make breaded chicken tenders in the air fryer instead o' deep frying? sure, but that is no surprise 'cause we can make breaded chicken tenders in a convection oven.  air fryer is so not a replacement for genuine deep oil fry, but it is an alternative for a convection oven... the air fryer is often a better alternative simple 'cause the size o' the air fryer is smaller so is easier to circulate air and also 'cause an air fryer is gonna get up to temp much faster than a large oven would. also, the air fryer is more cost efficient to run than your oven and it won't add a large volume o' super heated air to your home during hot summer months just by opening and removing cooked victuals.

edit: home fries is also a frequent addition to Gromnir menus, particular for breakfast, and we use the air fryer and the microwave to get perfect crispy potatoes. we do not par boil potatoes, 'cause is time consuming and unnecessary when a few minutes in the microwave will achieve the same result.  is another recipe we use baking soda btw. after fake parboiling in the microwave, we let the taters dry on a rack for just a couple minutes... and we sprinkle the drying cubes/planks/whatever with a little baking soda to promote crispy. pop the dryish and seasoned potatoes in the air fryer and then cook at 390 or 400 for howsoever long it takes your air fryer to get 'em crispy. sooper ez... though am admitting we typical simultaneous cook bacon and a few veggies (onion and jalapeno is common) in a pan on the stove, so  is not as if am complete avoiding mess. if am feeling particular decadent, am gonna grate a bit o' cheddar and top the combined ingredients. yeah, pan fry the potatoes in duck fat in a cast iron skillet is ideal, but the air fryer is much easier, less messy and involves us needing no additional oil.

HA! Good Fun!

ps am not a tofu guy, but the air fryer makes so ez to get crispy tofu cubes that am finding ways to include the stuff in recipes as an alternative protein source.

Edited January 6 by Gromnir

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

On 1/5/2024 at 4:08 PM, Keyrock said:

I got a pasta maker for Xmas and I put it to use for the first time yesterday. You can, of course, make fresh pasta without a machine, but it's quite tedious. The machine makes it significantly less tedious, which means I'll actually do it. Anyway, I just made spaghetti, nothing special. Still, fresh pasta tastes so much better than dried, it's a night and day difference.

imo it depends on the recipe and I view them as different ingredients rather than equivalent substitutes. Fresh pasta is an absolute must for lasagna but I wouldn't want to use it with any of the Roman pastas (a Zozzona with fresh pasta is la bombe tier) or anything you need or want a good al dente for.

[ShadySands]

Our air fryer is easily the most used kitchen gadget in the house. Highly recommend for anyone who ever cooks.

[Sarex]

Got the gold coin this year from the Christmas bread (Česnica)

[Gfted1]

Thats pretty cool! Does your family perform the tradition as described in Wiki?: Česnica - Wikipedia

[Keyrock]

I vaguely remember doing the gold coin baked into bread thing when I was a wee lad in Poland. It's not a tradition in Poland so we must have been with someone who was Serbian; this was many decades ago, I have no recollection of who. I didn't get the coin, I remember that much.

Edited January 7 by Keyrock

[Sarex]

1 hour ago, Gfted1 said:

Thats pretty cool! Does your family perform the tradition as described in Wiki?: Česnica - Wikipedia

Yep. As I found out recently they used to put corn and honey along side with the coin. So there was more than one "winner". Maybe they even still do it in some regions/families, but we just put in a gold coin. The funniest thing is the careful chewing until someone finds it, then it's full steam ahead demolishing it.

19 minutes ago, Keyrock said:

I vaguely remember doing the gold coin baked into bread thing when I was a wee lad in Poland. It's not a tradition in Poland so we must have been with someone who was Serbian; this was many decades ago, I have no recollection of who. I didn't get the coin, I remember that much.

I don't remember the last time I got it either and we do this every year.

Edited January 7 by Sarex

[Gfted1]

Heh, it sounds like a fun tradition. A couple more questions; will you carry the coin around in your day to day activities (like in your wallet), so as to receive the good luck? Do you return the same coin at the end of the year to be used again in the next cake?

[Sarex]

33 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

Heh, it sounds like a fun tradition. A couple more questions; will you carry the coin around in your day to day activities (like in your wallet), so as to receive the good luck? Do you return the same coin at the end of the year to be used again in the next cake?

Usually the person who finds the coin keeps it, but usually people also use common currency coin (value of 1 cent or 5 cents depending on which coin they put in). In my family we use a gold coin and we keep those for use every year. We just return it as soon as we find it, we don't carry it around as it's valuable, not terribly so in monetary value (although the coins are more than a hundred years old so who knows(around 500 bucks in value)) but simply because they have been in the family for a while. Just found a quarter dollar from 80s among them, go figure.

Edited January 7 by Sarex

[Keyrock]

Hot take: The best french fry dipping condiment is tartar sauce.

[BruceVC]

6 hours ago, Keyrock said:

I vaguely remember doing the gold coin baked into bread thing when I was a wee lad in Poland. It's not a tradition in Poland so we must have been with someone who was Serbian; this was many decades ago, I have no recollection of who. I didn't get the coin, I remember that much.

We put coins in Christmas  pudding, not gold but normal coins and they get boiled for ages

 

Im not sure where we get the tradition from?

[xzar_monty]

5 hours ago, BruceVC said:

We put coins in Christmas  pudding, not gold but normal coins and they get boiled for ages

These traditions are fun. There is one in Finland where you put an almond into the traditional Christmas rice porridge (https://scandicuisine.com/finnish-rice-porridge/) when it's ready to be served. The person who gets the almond is supposed to either get married the next year or just have good luck in general.

[bugarup]

We put buttons in meat fillings in our "zeppelins" (think of a big zep-shaped potato dumpling). Also supposed to bring luck and it's a wonder I never witnessed it bringing odontology expenses instead.  

[xzar_monty]

44 minutes ago, bugarup said:

and it's a wonder I never witnessed it bringing odontology expenses instead.  

My first thought upon reading about putting coins into food!

[Sarex]

9 hours ago, Keyrock said:

Hot take: The best french fry dipping condiment is tartar sauce.

Most Tartar sauce is just mayonnaise. It's so rare I find the genuine stuff.