Food Thread!

[Walsingham]

I'm planning on making my own barbecue sauce and thought something along these line:

 

1 tube tomato paste

2 table spoons molasses (called dark treacle here for some reason)

Black pepper

cayenne pepper

sea salt

ground coriander (always good with meat)

 

 

Th eproblem is that won't taste very barbecue-y. I'm therefore thinking maybe some fresh toasted ground nuts, like hazelnuts?

 

 

Something which works very VERY well with ribs is to mix up mpeanut butter and pre-chopped chillis with some soy sauce or fish sauce. Takes about 20 seconds to make, and you have instant satay.

[theslug]

I'm planning on making my own barbecue sauce and thought something along these line:

 

1 tube tomato paste

2 table spoons molasses (called dark treacle here for some reason)

Black pepper

cayenne pepper

sea salt

ground coriander (always good with meat)

 

 

Th eproblem is that won't taste very barbecue-y. I'm therefore thinking maybe some fresh toasted ground nuts, like hazelnuts?

 

 

Something which works very VERY well with ribs is to mix up mpeanut butter and pre-chopped chillis with some soy sauce or fish sauce. Takes about 20 seconds to make, and you have instant satay.

I believe most barbacue sauces have vinegar in them. I vaguely remember making my own barbecue sauce for this one crappy recipe from an even crappier book involving pork chops. It sure as hell tasted very similar to most kinds but it was made with ketchup, worcestershire, vinegar, pepper, etc.

 

I like yours though. The molasses is a nice touch instead of honey and cayenne is pretty win. Should be nice.

[Enoch]

Yeah, most barbecue sauces I've seen usually have a balance of hot, sweet, acid, and smoke flavors, plus some sort of substantive base/thickener (i.e., tomato paste). The tomatoes provide some acid, but it is pretty common to see a vinegar added (often a cider vinegar). For the smoke, I usually use a chipotle chile powder instead of cayenne. You can also buy a bottle of "liquid smoke." It's made by doing a slow burn of some flavorful damp wood chips, running the smoke past a chilled surface, and collecting what condenses on it.

[Guard Dog]

I'm curious, what kind of coffee do you guys drink at home? I bought a grinder/coffee maker combo and I'm liking 8 O'Clock Bean French Roast. It comes whole bean and smells so good when brewing. Any other favorites out there?

[Tigranes]

Heh, I realised I never read the first page of this thread. "I heard Koreans eat rotten cabbage."

 

It is quite very interesting, about food - food is one of the areas where a lot of cultural misunderstandings and discriminations come to the fore (not saying anyone is guilty, just general comment). I'm going to be shot for this (and posting right after Guard Dog, too!) but for example, some Koreans do eat dog food - I don't, mainly because it's not much nicer than normal meat, smells quite a bit more, and is overpriced. Anyway, yeah, it's interesting to see how many Westerners go "eww eating dogs, disgusting/cruel". It's just as 'disgusting' as eating chicken and just as 'cruel', especially if you consider the kind of living conditions some American cattle had/have, as we recently found out. It's just that we've been socially trained to think of some animals as nothing but walking sacks of meat, and others as, well, endowed with human qualities somewhat. It's quite interesting, though, because this is so hard to resist - when some Chinese restaurants serve pig ear I can't help but grimace.

 

Sushi is an interesting subject as well. I know lot of Koreans used to feel quite buggered about this, since as far as I know Korean sushi (or Kimbob) is actually contemporaneous with sushi, or even predates it - certainly not coming along later. They are pretty similar, though, for example, salmon/sashimi are much more likely to come up in Japanese sushi, Korean ones don't really have anything raw. But the Japanese were smart (and faster to industrialise, remember) and marketed Sushi as the Asian miniature sandwich all around the world, so that Koreans now have no choice but to sell their stuff as, well, Korean sushi. Smart of them.

 

Anyway, I buy some pre-crushed beans and just use brown sugar and milk. It would be nice to get real beans and actually make the coffee, but we don't have the equipment and I'm a poor student, so that's really a luxury. I want to move to North America to do my masters next year, so I don't even buy clothes, right now.

 

Wellington has really, really good coffee though, I think Gorth can back me up (or prove me wrong) here. Obviously we've got very, very good quality milk, and I think it shows. Most cafes you can walk into and order a coffee, and at least some of their selection will be worth coming back for.

[Laozi]

a vidalia onion vinegarette salad dressing is a pretty good base to start your bar-b-que sauce. From there the usual tomato, worcestershire, and brown sugar also unfortunately alot of butter 2-3 sticks for a medium sauce pan, is essential. You then sort of season to taste, another essential could be dried sweet red peppers

[WITHTEETH]

Heh, I realised I never read the first page of this thread. "I heard Koreans eat rotten cabbage."

 

It is quite very interesting, about food - food is one of the areas where a lot of cultural misunderstandings and discriminations come to the fore (not saying anyone is guilty, just general comment). I'm going to be shot for this (and posting right after Guard Dog, too!) but for example, some Koreans do eat dog food - I don't, mainly because it's not much nicer than normal meat, smells quite a bit more, and is overpriced. Anyway, yeah, it's interesting to see how many Westerners go "eww eating dogs, disgusting/cruel". It's just as 'disgusting' as eating chicken and just as 'cruel', especially if you consider the kind of living conditions some American cattle had/have, as we recently found out. It's just that we've been socially trained to think of some animals as nothing but walking sacks of meat, and others as, well, endowed with human qualities somewhat. It's quite interesting, though, because this is so hard to resist - when some Chinese restaurants serve pig ear I can't help but grimace.

 

Sushi is an interesting subject as well. I know lot of Koreans used to feel quite buggered about this, since as far as I know Korean sushi (or Kimbob) is actually contemporaneous with sushi, or even predates it - certainly not coming along later. They are pretty similar, though, for example, salmon/sashimi are much more likely to come up in Japanese sushi, Korean ones don't really have anything raw. But the Japanese were smart (and faster to industrialise, remember) and marketed Sushi as the Asian miniature sandwich all around the world, so that Koreans now have no choice but to sell their stuff as, well, Korean sushi. Smart of them.

 

Anyway, I buy some pre-crushed beans and just use brown sugar and milk. It would be nice to get real beans and actually make the coffee, but we don't have the equipment and I'm a poor student, so that's really a luxury. I want to move to North America to do my masters next year, so I don't even buy clothes, right now.

 

Wellington has really, really good coffee though, I think Gorth can back me up (or prove me wrong) here. Obviously we've got very, very good quality milk, and I think it shows. Most cafes you can walk into and order a coffee, and at least some of their selection will be worth coming back for.

I love Kimchi with noodles or just plain white rice, Its one of the healthiest things to eat I've read.

 

These days im a semi vegetarian. I still eat fish, some turkey and chicken, tonight im eating a veggie brat and mixed greens. I need to get more kimchi, that sounds really good!

 

One thing i have against eating animals are factory farms. One of these days maybe ill kick the meat bucket completely. I don't think i could ever give up my fish though.

Edited May 5, 2008 by WITHTEETH

[Walsingham]

I'm not saying I think eating dog is necessarily evil. But I'm certainly not going to do it if I've got alternatives. Which may be culture bias, but why not?

 

I try to drink fresh ground coffee whenever possible. It is better for you in my imagination. Plus it makes the house smell great.

[Gorth]

Wellington has really, really good coffee though, I think Gorth can back me up (or prove me wrong) here. Obviously we've got very, very good quality milk, and I think it shows. Most cafes you can walk into and order a coffee, and at least some of their selection will be worth coming back for.

I sure can

 

The Aussies still have a thing or two to learn about coffee making from their cousins across the Tasman.

[Walsingham]

On the barbecue front:

 

I cooked the ribs, and they were fantastic. In the end I used commercial sauce to save time, but it still worked. Plumped it out with beer to make certain the ribs were covered in the slow cooker. Threw in an onion for fun.

 

After the barbecue there was a lot of sauce and meat left over. I trimmed all the meat off stuff, and threw it into the cooker with some white beans, pepper, and potato. Left it on low overnight. The result was heaven in the morning.

[LadyCrimson]

I find mixing up your favorite hot/spicy salsa with a can of seasoned stewed tomatoes (including the liquid - cut up the tomato pieces into smaller bits, or buy the pre-diced ones), plus a little ketchup and a little sugar ( to thicken it a bit - not too much of either), makes a good "BBQ" sauce/baster. Or a covering for oven-baked meats. Less sugary sweet, no added vinegar, very flavorful.

 

And kimchee/kimchi rocks.

Edited May 8, 2008 by LadyCrimson

[Gorth]

Got home relatively early from work today (quarter past seven), and was almost tempted to make real food. My aversion to cooking won out though, so it ended up being some chicken balls from the fridge and some vegetables from the freezer, all going for a short visit to the microwave. I think the label on the vegetables said something about "stir fry", but who cares. Cover it up with a bit of black bean sauce and you would never know the difference

[Walsingham]

Too lazy to cook today. Have eaten nothing but teacakes. Something like 30.

[Enoch]

... chicken balls ...

erm... What??!

Edited May 15, 2008 by Enoch

[Musopticon?]

Minced chicken meat made into balls, right Gortho?

[Gorth]

Minced chicken meat made into balls, right Gortho?

Yes. Chicken are female, right??? :ninja10:

[Walsingham]

Mmmm... whale bacon....

[theslug]

I know I'm rezzing this thread but I absolutely have to plug these things.

 

Nonni's Biscottis. They are so freakin delicious I'm having my third today now. They got a good crunch to them, a mild nutty/coffee flavor with a light layer on the bottom of bitter dark chocolate. Trust me, if you see these things in the grocery store snag a box for yourself immediately as a little morning snack or what not. You'll thank me and wonder how you could ever question a young slug such as myself.

[Walsingham]

I know I'm rezzing this thread but I absolutely have to plug these things.

 

Nonni's Biscottis. They are so freakin delicious I'm having my third today now. They got a good crunch to them, a mild nutty/coffee flavor with a light layer on the bottom of bitter dark chocolate. Trust me, if you see these things in the grocery store snag a box for yourself immediately as a little morning snack or what not. You'll thank me and wonder how you could ever question a young slug such as myself.

 

I know if I started questioning slugs, I'd start wondering.

[Pidesco]

I'd trust an actual slug's taste in food before I'd trust an American's taste in food.

[Walsingham]

I'd trust an actual slug's taste in food before I'd trust an American's taste in food.

 

Yeah, because it's not like they gave us pizza, deli sandwiches, popcorn, and most of the art of mixed alcoholic drinks...

[samm]

pizza is as american as sandwiches... that is: not

 

For tonight, some kind of nasi-goreng is planned, without any sort of cabbage however

Edited June 4, 2008 by samm

[Humodour]

The Italians are the true culinary gods. Mmm so many carbs!

[Enoch]

Even if one disputes the American origins of the modern pizza pie, I give you its clearly American offspring: the Pizza Bagel.

 

There's no way to refute that kind of culinary genius.

Edited June 4, 2008 by Enoch

[Gfted1]

The pizza we eat in the States is nothing like the pizza you would get in Italy, which is more akin to hot poop.