Culinaria: recipes, memories ...

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

Just the bouillon. Haven't started it yet. The little woman does not get home until 6PM tonight. We'll probably just have it as a meal. We're both watching our weight. Of course there is a half gallon of rum raisin ice cream in the freezer. It will take a considerable amount of self control to keep from having that with our coffee.

[Darb]

The bouillon is the fish broth I'm asking about.

What's your version of making it ?

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

You buy these little cubes at the store and mix them in water. They're like compressed powder. I guess you could dress that up a bit but I wouldn't know where to start.

[Darb]

I generally tend to avoid dehydrated concentrates entirely (the sole exception being the occasional jar of demi-glace, and even then only if it's high quality), rather than looking for ways to dress them up. They're just clutter in one's cupboard.

Making a little fish broth in a separate pot (or the night before while doing other things), takes very little hands-on time, and doesnt add any appreciable cost. If anything, fish you buy on-the-bone/on-the-skin is usually cheaper, and it's a good excuse to clean out one's veggie drawer ... and there will be plenty of leftover broth available for other uses, or for reduction & freezing). The extra few chopping motions, a quick strain, and a quick wash of the strainer (and the extra pot), is worth the big difference in flavor ... expecially if you're working with luxurious ingredients like monk fish, cream and fresh herbs. The extra few hand motions to do those things justice are worth it.

After a while, it becomes second nature.

[Darb]

Speaking of broths and stocks, here's a related article I wrote about 8-10 years ago, for an old culinary & wine club I used to be in:

[quote]TANSTAAFL Debunked (aka “Miserly Cooking Tipsâ€

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

My mom makes crab soup like that. She uses stock made from a ham bone and some vegetables. I can't stand when she does that because, to me at least, the ham and vegetables drown out the taste of the crab. "If that's what you want," I tell her, "then why spend $12.00 a pound for claw meat?"

[Darb]

She made crab soup with a ham bone ?

The proper base for crab soups & bisques is shellfish broth. If you really need to cut corners, you can stretch that with up to 50% chicken broth, but that's pushing the edge.

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

Never heard of that? It's common in Ecuador but then again they eat hamster there.

[ChoChiyo]

*giggle*

Imagining a hamster drumstick.

Hee hee hee.

Three croutons and the little bugger's stuffed!

Oh...the picture that is in my mind....Baked hamster with a cranberry in his mouth....Hee hee hee




Oh, dear.

I have to go lie down now....

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

Actually the correct term for the animal here in the U.S. would be guinea pig. In Ecuador the dish is called cuy. I've never had it myself, and since there's more Georgian American in me now than Ecuadorian (came here when I was five years old), I probably never will.

[Kvetch]

no idea which one you mean to talk about, but guinea pigs and hamsters are definately different (at least over here)

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

Brad, check this one out.

THE EXOTIC KITCHENS OF PERU: The Land of the Inca
Copeland Marks. IM. Evans, $27.50 (320p) ISBN 0-87131-880-6

[Darb]

Aw, come on. Blindly fobbing off unexplained referrals to recipes or books is a tad lazy, and tends to be of little interest to people.

This is a discussion forum, so if you want to stoke discussion then you should be prepared to SELL whatever you want to recommend by waxing poetic about and discussing it from whatever level of experience you've had with it.

So, what did you like or dislike about the book ? What have you prepared from it ?

TALK.

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

I just stumbled across it in book shop. I didn't buy it but thought it was interesting. I thought you might too.

I get the feeling you don't like me very much. Since I started making entries, in all the topics, I've been getting the same treatment a new kid at school gets, who make the fopah of sitting at the wrong lunch table. What gives? You people are very stand offish and unfriendly to new comers.

[Darb]

Not true at all.

I'm TRYING to draw you into conversation about the recipes and books you've been referring so far. I've been trying to encourage you to talk at greater length about your likes and dislikes, the sort of recipe/books you tend to gravitate towards or avoid, the techniques you use, where your skill levels are at and what (if anything) you might be interested in learning or improving upon.

I love cooking, I love recipes, I love books, I collect same, I review same, and I love to discuss all such things at length, in a give & take fashion, with other people who enjoy such things (amateurs and pros alike) ... at whatever level they feel comfortable.

You list cooking in your profile, yet you seem strangely reluctant to discuss anything you've posted to the tap room in any meaningful depth.

A good discussion is like a good handshake - it requires equal participation on both sides ... not laying a dead fish in some's hand and expecting them to do all the pumping for you.

Perhaps you're just new to discussion forums in general ?

[Kvetch]

Not to detract from the seriousness of what you have been saying, I wish you hadn't put that image in my head brad.

[Darb]

The fish analogy seemed apt, since we were initially describing monk fish.

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

I never listed cooking in my profile. I told you straight up that all I do is flip burgers and pull fries from a deep fryer, putting them under a heat lamp. I'm a novice as far as the culinary arts go. I make dinner half the week. I follow recipes to the letter. I don't experiment. I like to eat and find exotic recipes interesting. I guess I brought up the book and thought you may have some interesting anecdotes about South American recipes. Coming from Ecuador, I ate a lot of that stuff. I never gave my mother's work in the kitchen much attention. I just sat at the table and wolfed it down. Sorry if I jumped to conclusions. Maybe I should stick to other topics. This is a bit advanced for me.

[Kvetch]

Take my word for it - it's too advanced for most of us.

Don't worry about it.

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

Brad's post are worth reading. He reminds me of Russel Crowe in Master and Commander.

[ChoChiyo]

I get the feeling you don't like me very much. Since I started making entries, in all the topics, I've been getting the same treatment a new kid at school gets, who make the fopah of sitting at the wrong lunch table. What gives? You people are very stand offish and unfriendly to new comers.

First comment: "faux pas" eez zee correct spellleeeng.

Hee hee.

(No offense, trying to save you a malleting from the local spelling mistress. Having felt the weight of the mallet upon my cranium numerous times myself, I thought it was the appropriate thing to do. )

Next comment: "I get the feeling you don't like me very much." Nah--there is no dislike for you. I tease everyone. Hope I didn't offend you with my hamster drumstick comment. It just came to my mind, and I felt the urge to share it.

I can cook, but I'm lazy. I don't even do a burger. I eat cereal and toaster waffles a lot. But I like to read the thread and drool over Brad's culinary descriptions...sigh...fish broth...mmmmmmmm.

Since I have nothing productive to add in the culinary thread, I chirp in with an obnoxious comment every now and then. Though, one of these days, I'm posting my dad's favorite buttermilk pancake recipe. It's nothing fancy, but boy are they good! Especially when smeared with honey and lemon juice ala Kvetch.

Final Comment: I'm not trying to be stand-offish--I've just been busy with other things and have only popped in to read and throw an off-the-cuff comment now and then--new quarter at school, working on my novel, annoying people, thinking up new and bizarre genres for the Volleyball thread, creating curriculum for my never-before-taught (by me) classes of Graphic Lit and Theatre Arts and Independent Reading, trying to get OUT of the double digits in the data entry area--all these things keep me hopping.

Since neither of the two young ladies in the "Stranded" poll appeal to me in any sense, I had to add some smart remarks to avoid feeling left out. I read your political posts in the soap box, but I'm still recovering from my last bout in there, and am not quite willing to leap into the fray again.



So, keep on posting. As Brad said, we're always spoiling for a discussion around here. So, expand upon your commentary. Discussions will warm up eventually.

Then, it'll be too hot, maybe. Hah hah.

Hope you feel a little better!

You can sit at my table if you want to. We're having toaster waffles. Again.

[KiltanneN]

side note - while we do have guinea pigs in NZ - Hamsters are on a restricted list and can't be imported!

Now that you have said Brad's posts remind you of Master & Commander, I may just have to look into that movie. So far I had been teetering on the edge.

I am sorry if you got the impression that we or any individual here doesn't like you. Absolutely not what we want to put across.

We certainly are happy to have you come here and participate. Perhaps we sometimes get a little over-enthusiastic in our asking about new denizens likes and dislikes - But we do love to discuss things in great depth. That's the risk you take when posting on a literary based forum. We ALL have hobby horses we ride - and we like to find others who share those. I sometimes think that's at least partly so we can feel more normal.

kilt

[Darb]

I'm posting my dad's favorite buttermilk pancake recipe

Go for it, Cho ... family recipes are ALWAYS welcome, because the culinary experience is intimate, nostalgic, and equally involves the diner, the cook, and the process/tradition of the recipe at hand. Home cooking lies at the very heart of culinaria, regardless of race, class, experience level, country of orgin, etc.

On the other hand, I find that recipes lifted straight out of a book, without passion, experience, or even an honest attempt to discuss/learn, are boring. Anyone who wants that sort of thing can just as easily cruise any number of online databases for days, without ever having to discuss/socialize with a single soul. Where's the fun in that ? Feh. Not interested, not worth the time and effort.

So ... pancakes ?

[Corporal Cheeseburger]

Please excuse my misinterpretation of the database's atmosphere. I'm not very bright. While Brad may be Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, I am only a lowly cabin boy. But when I return, I shall be a cabin man!

[Darb]

KILT: I found "Master and Commander" to be not nearly as good as CS Forester's "Horatio Hornblower" series, which I reviewed here. Highly recommended, albeit a bit off topic here in the tap room. However, I'm game, so lead on to the review thread if you want more feedback.

CC: The false self deprecation is unnecessary, and off topic.