What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[Astronuc]

I made pesto hotdogs tonight. It's an interesting change from mustard and pickle relish.

I'll keep experimenting.

 

[Astronuc]

Ok, almond milk is almonds steeped in water. It was used almost exclusively of real milk in the middle ages due to refrigeration issues.

I'm really a fanatic about people like the bogus Food Network Iron Chef Cat Cora steeping almonds in milk and saying it's almond milk.

I have a feeling (from your mention of vanilla) that you actually know what real almond milk is. Please tell me that your almond milk is just almonds and water.

OMG, I'm such a dork.

I think one is more like a perfectionist - one of many charming and endearing attributes.

 

[Evo]

In case anyone's life depends on shucking an oyster, here is the easy way to do it.

I've eaten at Legal Seafood many times.

 

[HeLiXe]

*consults PF food wizards*
I am going to be making lasagna tomorrow >_> Which means I am buying groceries today. I plan on buying the pasta, but I might make the sauce from scratch. Does anyone have any good *non secret* recipes for lasagna? I try some of the stuff you guys recommend and I think we may have similar tastes in some things which is why I am asking here instead of just taking one off the internets!

 

[Redbelly98]

I just got back from the grocery store, where I bought pineapple jalapeno salsa from the deli. It's awesome! Eating the first few bites went something like this: "Mmmm, the pineapple is cool and sweet and, uh ... yaaaaagh!"

 

[turbo]

*consults PF food wizards*
I am going to be making lasagna tomorrow >_> Which means I am buying groceries today. I plan on buying the pasta, but I might make the sauce from scratch. Does anyone have any good *non secret* recipes for lasagna? I try some of the stuff you guys recommend and I think we may have similar tastes in some things which is why I am asking here instead of just taking one off the internets!

I'd like to help, but I make all my sauces from scratch AND pretty free-form. I don't have a recipe. Even my treasured "recipe" for a BBQ shrimp marinade/baste is just a list of ingredients on a piece of paper with no quantities given. I made a list so I wouldn't forget a key ingredient and leave it out.

Edit: You could do like my father does, and buy a jar of sauce then doctor it up with oregano, basil, garlic, onion powder, cayenne, if you want quick-and dirty. He actually likes Prego, as long as he can tweak it first.

 

[turbo]

Fathers Day was a food-fest that lasted for over four hours! It started with a large iced tray with bowls of cut-up watermelon, cantaloupe and carrots with a Greek-dressing dip for the carrots. That went very well with the boiled and chilled jumbo shrimp, served with cocktail sauce. Then my wife seared (browned) 2# of fresh sea-scallops in butter. That is the ONLY way to cook them, IMO. Scallops are already mild and sweet, but the Maillard reaction combined with the sweet salted butter sends the flavor over the top. The scallops were served with a garden-fresh tossed salad, and my brother's (very good!) broccoli slaw. Next, it was my turn, and I fired up the grill's side-burner and boiled and shucked two 3-1/2# lobsters. My brother helped me dismember the lobsters, but we had to resort to a large cleaver driven by a hammer to get the claws opened. After a well-deserved break, I re-heated the lobster broth and when it was boiling, my brother took over and cooked up 4# of steamed clams. It was seafood heaven! I have never wrapped myself around so much wonderful fresh seafood in my life. My little niece mostly confined herself to fruits and vegetables, so we four adults had a feast. There is a little bit of lobster meat and tamale left, so I'm thinking lobster rolls for supper...a little mayo, a bit of lemon juice, a bit of salt and pepper, and that's it.

 

[physics girl phd]

Wow. I want to be adopted by turbo.

But we did pretty good here for just the 3.25 of us (M is away for the summer)... Corn on the cob, cedar-planked sockeye salmon (presumably from water sources not included in the endangered species act), and slices of chocolate orange mousse cake from EarthFare. The kids and I went to EarthFare to get it for him Friday... he positively swooned when we had it at a small dinner party previously. While he rejects the "consumerism" of Father's day and such holidays, boy did he light up when I told him about the dessert hidden in the back of the fridge behind E's whole milk!

 

[shelovesmath]

I've officially started my canning season. I've made pickles and apricot chutney so far.

 

[WatermelonPig]

Just had an Angus Deluxe from McDonalds . . . for the 10th time this month of course haha!

 

[turbo]

My wife made a new appetizer for a light supper tonight. Chunks of pig's liver topped with water chestnuts, wrapped in bacon, pinned with toothpicks, and broiled. Very, very good. She made a few with dates instead of water chestnuts, but I found them too sweet, overpowering the flavor of the liver.

 

[dlgoff]

turbo,

I know you're the bread man, so I thought you would be the best person to ask or inquire about. You know how much I like Wheat Beer, but I also really like Wheat Bread.

Since it's so hot out this evening, I've been doing a little wheat beer drinking and since being a little hungry, I had some slices a "honey wheat" bread along with it. OMG Have I been so out of touch that I missed this in my life?

 

[turbo]

turbo,

I know you're the bread man, so I thought you would be the best person to ask or inquire about. You know how much I like Wheat Beer, but I also really like Wheat Bread.

Since it's so hot out this evening, I've been doing a little wheat beer drinking and since being a little hungry, I had some slices a "honey wheat" bread along with it. OMG Have I been so out of touch that I missed this in my life?

My father's favorite commercial bread is a split-top honey wheat. The top of each loaf has a a v-shaped recess that has been drizzled with butter (or a substitute) before baking. Local commercial bakeries tend to have some version of that around here. It's a bit too sweet for my taste, but my father likes it for his morning garlic-toast.

 

[dlgoff]

My father's favorite commercial bread is a split-top honey wheat. The top of each loaf has a a v-shaped recess that has been drizzled with butter (or a substitute) before baking. Local commercial bakeries tend to have some version of that around here. It's a bit too sweet for my taste, but my father likes it for his morning garlic-toast.

But have you ever had wheat bread along with wheat beer? Or any kind of beer and wheat bread since the hops flavor seems to really go along with it? Not just Honey/sweet bread.

 

[turbo]

But have you ever had wheat bread along with wheat beer? Or any kind of beer and wheat bread since the hops flavor seems to really go along with it? Not just Honey/sweet bread.

Never had the two together...

 

[dlgoff]

Never had the two together...

Now I want to try your home-made favorites with beer and do a little experimenting.

 

[Evo]

My wife made a new appetizer for a light supper tonight. Chunks of pig's liver topped with water chestnuts, wrapped in bacon, pinned with toothpicks, and broiled. Very, very good. She made a few with dates instead of water chestnuts, but I found them too sweet, overpowering the flavor of the liver.

Those are all called rumaki. Although I use chicken liver.

 

[turbo]

Those are all called rumaki. Although I use chicken liver.

I didn't know there was a name for them. We often make something similar with sea-scallops instead of liver, but my wife had them made with liver at a friend's house and she gave them a test-run tonight.

 

[Evo]

I didn't know there was a name for them. We often make something similar with sea-scallops instead of liver, but my wife had them made with liver at a friend's house and she gave them a test-run tonight.

I love them. Sea scallops are good for making them.

There is another similar recipe using prunes called "devils on horseback" and if you bacon wrap oysters, they're call "angels on horseback".

 

[turbo]

I love them. Sea scallops are good for making them.

There is another similar recipe using prunes called "devils on horseback" and if you bacon wrap oysters, they're call "angels on horseback".

Can you even get sea scallops in KS? They are horrendously expensive here in ME, but at least they are fresh and sweet. Short trip from the coast. Some restaurants persist in selling "bay scallops" which are just stamped-out pieces of skates and rays. That should be verboten in Maine.

 

[Evo]

Can you even get sea scallops in KS? They are horrendously expensive here in ME, but at least they are fresh and sweet. Short trip from the coast. Some restaurants persist in selling "bay scallops" which are just stamped-out pieces of skates and rays. That should be verboten in Maine.

We can get sea scallops flown in, but they're expensive.

Bay scallops are far superior to sea scallops, but there was a blight years ago that almost wiped them out, so restaurants started using the more common, but inferior sea scallops.

If your fishmonger was trying to sell fake bay scallops, you should have reported them to the authorities. Bay scallops have just recently been coming back to the market.

Long Island bay scallops have been scarce since an algae bloom (brown tide) severely damaged the population in 1985. Several blooms since have further damaged recovering populations.

Presently, the scallop harvest is erratic at best with good years and bad years. But even the good years are not as good as they used to be.

Before 1985 you could pluck literally hundreds of scallops off the beach after a good storm. Not anymore…

http://www.loving-long-island.com/bay-scallops.html

Bay scallops and sea scallops are closely related members of the same family of shellfish. Both make extremely good eating. Gourmets particularly prize bay scallops, which are much smaller than sea scallops, for their tenderness and the sweetness of their flavor. Because they are smaller, bay scallops require considerably shorter cooking times and benefit from gentler methods, while sea scallops stand up to fiercer heat. In both cases, overcooking renders them tough.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5410054_sea-scallops-vs-bay-scallops.html

 

[turbo]

We can get sea scallops flown in, but they're expensive.

Bay scallops are far superior to sea scallops, but their was a blight years ago that almost wiped them out, so restaurants started using the more common, but inferior sea scallops.

If you fishmonger was trying to sell fake bay scallops, you shopuld have reported them to the authorities. Bay scallpo9s have just recently been coming back to the market.

What? You're pulling my leg, right? Sea scallops are brought up from the bottom in large drags and are shucked at sea The scallop is the muscle that holds the bivalve together. "Bay scallops" are just cookie-cutter stampings of skates and rays, and are rubbery and not sweet or flakey like the real thing. They are nasty. Misbranding of scallops is taken very seriously here, but the "bay scallop" alias for skates and rays is tolerated in the restaurant trade, since real sea scallops are so expensive.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Can you even get sea scallops in KS? They are horrendously expensive here in ME, but at least they are fresh and sweet. Short trip from the coast. Some restaurants persist in selling "bay scallops" which are just stamped-out pieces of skates and rays. That should be verboten in Maine.

What is the price of basic lobster dinner in a coastal restaurant these days?

 

[Evo]

What? You're pulling my leg, right? Sea scallops are brought up from the bottom in large drags and are shucked at sea The scallop is the muscle that holds the bivalve together. "Bay scallops" are just cookie-cutter stampings of skates and rays, and are rubbery and not sweet or flakey like the real thing. They are nasty. Misbranding of scallops is taken very seriously here, but the "bay scallop" alias for skates and rays is tolerated in the restaurant trade, since real sea scallops are so expensive.

Uhm, no, read my links, or check google. Someone's told you some tall tales.

You really didn't know? I'm suprised.

It's also the larger sea scallops that are faked because bay scallops are too sweet and tender for people to be fooled.

Sea scallops grow in the ocean; bay scallops grow in bays (for instance, the bays of Long Island) and are consequently smaller.

Both types do exist. However, sometimes other fish (usually shark) are cut up to look like sea scallops and sold as such (see "bay scallops" at this site. You need to trust your fish market or restaurant.

It happens less often with bay scallops, but they are in much shorter supply. Further, the taste of bay scallops is different -- sweeter mostly -- and it would be much more noticeable if someone did a substitution.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=2747572&postcount=2

 

[turbo]

What is the price of basic lobster dinner in a coastal restaurant these days?

It depends heavily on the time of year. Hard-shell lobsters always command higher prices than the soft-shell lobsters that are caught after the molt. In the spring and early summer, the lobsters are hard-shelled and their shells are quite full of meat. After the molt, the shells have a lot of "room" in them for the lobsters to grow, so you get a lot less meat per pound of live weight.

At DiMillo's, expect to pay around $35 for minimum-legal-sized twin lobsters or $25 for a single lobster. You can find lobster shacks away from the cities that will cook and serve them cheaper, but then you're not at a sit-down restaurant with a wine cellar, etc.

 

[turbo]

Uhm, no, read my links, or check google. Someone's told you some tall tales.

You really didn't know? I'm suprised.

Bay scallops labeled that way in Maine restaurants are stamped out of wings of skates and rays. You can't get a large plate of scallops at a cheap restaurant for under $10. Ain't going to happen. And no, I didn't buy into any "tall tales" or misinformation. I have friends and acquaintances who fish, including some that drag for scallops (a very dangerous job!).

If you go to a cheap restaurant and order bay scallops, you will get a plate of very rubbery cookie-cutter groundfish parts. There are ACTUAL bay scallops, but the designation of "bay scallop" in a chain restaurant will earn you a plate of rubbery junk, not a delicacy.

 

[Evo]

Bay scallops labeled that way in Maine restaurants are stamped out of wings of skates and rays. You can't get a large plate of scallops at a cheap restaurant for under $10. Ain't going to happen. And no, I didn't buy into any "tall tales" or misinformation. I have friends and acquaintances who fish, including some that drag for scallops (a very dangerous job!).

If you go to a cheap restaurant and order bay scallops, you will get a plate of very rubbery cookie-cutter groundfish parts. There are ACTUAL bay scallops, but the designation of "bay scallop" in a chain restaurant will earn you a plate of rubbery junk, not a delicacy.

Then you should report those places and have them closed, that's fraud.

Fine restaurants serve real bay scallops. I hope you get to try some. Sea scallops are ok if you can't get bay scallops, but there is a definite difference.

 

[turbo]

Then you should report those places and have them closed, that's fraud.

Fine restaurants serve real bay scallops. I hope you get to try some. Sea scallops are ok if you can't get bay scallops, but there is a definite difference.

Real bay scallops are tiny and very expensive. Restaurants in this state are allowed to sell "bay scallops" that are fake. You can go to the Weathervane Restaurant in Waterville and buy a meal of "bay scallops" for $10. Actual sea scallops (even if they are artificially plumped up and preserved "wet" scallops") will run you $15 for a single serving. If you could actually get real bay scallops in that place, it would be $20+ per serving easy - real bay scallops are small and labor-intensive to prepare. Misbranding is allowed here, even in a state that thrives on natural fisheries. This corruption has been going on for decades, and it's not going away soon.

 

[Evo]

Real bay scallops are tiny and very expensive. Restaurants in this state are allowed to sell "bay scallops" that are fake. You can go to the Weathervane Restaurant in Waterville and buy a meal of "bay scallops" for $10. Actual sea scallops (even if they are artificially plumped up and preserved "wet" scallops") will run you $15 for a single serving. If you could actually get real bay scallops in that place, it would be $20+ per serving easy - real bay scallops are small and labor-intensive to prepare. Misbranding is allowed here, even in a state that thrives on natural fisheries. This corruption has been going on for decades, and it's not going away soon.

That's terrible. At least you know the difference. Nimnalls like Rachel Ray and Gordon Ramsay have no clue.

 

[turbo]

That's terrible. At least you know the difference. Nimnalls like Rachel Ray and Gordon Ramsay have no clue.

I know, and it is sad. Why has the quality and reliability of our food supply been allowed to degrade so? My wife has to judge "dry" sea scallops, smell them, and evaluate them for freshness before paying the huge price for them. My father, my brother, and I all love fresh sea scallops seared in butter - it's our favorite seafood of all. Still, it's a waste of money to get cheated with previously-frozen scallops or ones that have been "preserved" or "water added". That's just not right, and you have to watch the supermarkets like a hawk, because they will cheat if they can.

 

[Evo]

I used to eat a lot of seafood, but today's grocery flyer advertised hallibut on sale for $20.00 a pound, $5 off the regular price. It's outrageous. Even what was once dirt cheap trash fish is $10 a pound.

 

[turbo]

I used to eat a lot of seafood, but today's grocery flyer advertised hallibut on sale for $20.00 a pound, $5 off the regular price. It's outrageous. Even what was once dirt cheap trash fish is $10 a pound.

That's so bad! Even here with the coast so near, it is hard to get affordable fresh fish. I love preparing haddock or pollack, but it's hard to pretend that we can eat fresh-caught regularly.

 

[Evo]

That's so bad! Even here with the coast so near, it is hard to get affordable fresh fish. I love preparing haddock or pollack, but it's hard to pretend that we can eat fresh-caught regularly.

I grew up in Houston, we used to go to Kemah, and actually go on the boats when they came in and buy our seafood off the boat. I was raised on the freshest seafood imaginable.

 

[turbo]

Want to make a perfect dry rub for chicken thighs, legs, etc? Here it is. I got it off a website a year or so ago and used it for its intended purpose (coating pork for pulled pork) and was very unhappy. I still had some in a canning jar in the cupboard, and used it on chicken dark-meat recently. My wife insisted that I make up another batch, and she keeps it on the counter in one of those very large shakers that pizza-joints use for crushed red pepper.

3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika (I use hot smoked paprika)
1/4 cup Kosher salt
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tbs ground black pepper
2 tbs ginger powder
2 tbs onion powder
2 tsp rosemary powder

This is killer stuff on chicken legs/thighs. Just bake in a foil-covered pan, as usual, and about 15-20 minutes before the meat is done, remove the foil to crisp the skin a bit.

 

[turbo]

Periodically, the local VFW grills half-chickens and accompanies those with salads, rolls, etc, as a fund-raiser. The grilled chicken is VERY popular, so I asked my neighbor (head of the VFW) what they put on them. It's very simple, and my wife and I want to try it, so when she goes grocery shopping tonight, she'll pick up a spray bottle.

1 gallon of water
1 gallon of cider vinegar
1 cup of vegetable oil (I'll probably use peanut oil)
2-3 tbs of dry mustard.

That's it. I'll scale it back so I can experiment some, and probably will stay to the high-end with the mustard. We have lots of charcoal, and a grill that allows you to raise or lower the charcoal-tray with respect to the grilling surface, so there is plenty of flexibility WRT heat. My understanding is that you should turn the chicken-halves regularly, and spray all of them before flipping them. If anybody wants to experiment with this spray, I'd be interested in hearing what you did, and how it worked out.

I'm thinking that dusting the chicken with hot smoked paprika might perk things up a bit.