Foodie thread

[QUOTE=Undertow]This article is making me think about woks more and more. I made stir fry a lot when I had my apartment in Kansas, and I wanted to buy a wok so bad. I'm going to Chinatown this Sunday, hopefully, to celebrate the Chinese new year with some friends, maybe I'll buy one then. If you want the actual article, go [URL=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/09/dining/09wok.html?8hpib]here[/URL].[/QUOTE]
my sister took her wok with her when she moved out and my fried rice hasn't been the same since, I can't get it to come out right at all in the frying pan. the heat distribution is interesting. I've noticed that a little on one of my friend's stoves whose pans sit higher off the flame that sometimes flavor can be lost maybe because it's not seared in at a high enough temperature, I don't know just a theory.

posting just because i said i would.. but... i have no news. they sent a letter, but it said that nominations are postponed until april 6th. so, i keep mum. oh well.

I have a question....

Where the hell do I find "cream". I see it in recipies and I can't find it in the grocery store. I can find "whipping cream" in the dairy section with half and half and evaporated milk is by the flour but where the hell do I find cream? Are they calling it something different???

[QUOTE=urmynme]I have a question....

Where the hell do I find "cream". I see it in recipies and I can't find it in the grocery store. I can find "whipping cream" in the dairy section with half and half and evaporated milk is by the flour but where the hell do I find cream? Are they calling it something different???[/QUOTE]

Whipping cream is basically 100% cream as opposed to the half and half. So it should work.

not to mention creme... decisions...

p.s. i have a question: my hefeweizen seems to have settled in a funny way. is this common and safe to drink? it's freakin me out.

[QUOTE=vidalia]
p.s. i have a question: my hefeweizen seems to have settled in a funny way. is this common and safe to drink? it's freakin me out.[/QUOTE]

Is this a hefe you made or bought?

Bottled hefeweizens are typically bottle conditioned, which leaves a yeast sediment in the bottom of the bottle. With most bottle conditioned beers, you decant (stop pouring about a 1/2 ounce before you've emptied the body or when you can see yeast in the steam of beer). The tradition with hefeweizens includes swirling the dregs of th bottle and pouring it all int he glass. Some German bars, I understand, even roll the bottle on the bar prior to opening to stir the yeast up.

The yeast won't hurt you, though it can give you the farts if your GI tract isn't used to a lot of extra yeast. It'll start fermenting stuff your body doesn't know what to do with, but that generally only lasts a day or so.

Also, the yeast is rich in B-vitamins, so no worries there, you need those, especially if you're going to make your liver metabolize that alcohol.

For that matter, no known human pathogens can live in beer. If you're homebrewing with really unorthodox equipment you could probably manage to introduce lead or other toxic metals into the picture, but if you're buying beer, you're safe. With the ultra-filtration most major breweries do, the stuff is so clean you could use it to irrigate wounds (no kidding).

If you're homebrewing and get sloppy on sanitation, you can get some funky things happening (various bacterial fermentations & wild yeast strains that produce undesired flavors and aromas), but you still aren't likely to hurt anything except your ego in that case. I've never had a contamination in 150+ batches, and I've been judging in competitions for 10 years and, despite some of the nasty entries I've judged, I've never even heard of anyone getting sick from bad beer.

[QUOTE=Chixulub]For my own part, I was thinking how great the pan seared ostrich fillets (medium rare) were last time I ate at Fedora's...

Anyone else here dig ostrich, the other red meat?[/QUOTE]

i like ostritch. been a while since ive had any though. emu and rea are pretty good too. But stay away from emu sausage, its wretched. I had some in Australia a few months back along with some croc, kangaroo and buffalo. The kangaroo was pretty bad too, but the croc and buffalo were good. Alligators good too. Dont know how i got so far off topic....

[QUOTE=sacredchao23]i like ostritch. been a while since ive had any though. emu and rea are pretty good too. But stay away from emu sausage, its wretched. I had some in Australia a few months back along with some croc, kangaroo and buffalo. The kangaroo was pretty bad too, but the croc and buffalo were good. Alligators good too. Dont know how i got so far off topic....[/QUOTE]

There used to be a bar by the junior college I dropped out of, an Australian theme bar. They had vegemite (which I love, tastes like...well, I might get modded if I said what I really loved about it).

But they also had deep fried alligator tail, I guess the closest thing they could get in America to crocodile (I don't know, do they have alligators in Australia). That old cliche of it tastes just like chicken? Well, sure, if you bread it and fry it, I guess it was kind of like incredibly tough, chewy chicken.

Buffalo is great. I have to wonder if we went back to longhorn breeds of cattle, range matured and driven on the hoof to market, whether beef would be more similar (a good flavor and less cholesterol).

I like venison too, which is pretty common in my area. What's harder to come by that I'd like to try are the game meats you don't find until you get up in Wyoming, Montanna, etc. Elk, moose, bear, that sort of thing. I'll try it at least once, ya know?

I went to this restuarant in Zimbabwe called Boma: Place Of Eating and tried crocodile, ostrich, kudu, warthog, gazelle, impala, all finished off with a mopani worm.

Kudu, I must say, is absolutely delicious.

Mopani worm, I must say, is a little less impressive.

[QUOTE=Chixulub]There used to be a bar by the junior college I dropped out of, an Australian theme bar. They had vegemite (which I love, tastes like...well, I might get modded if I said what I really loved about it).

But they also had deep fried alligator tail, I guess the closest thing they could get in America to crocodile (I don't know, do they have alligators in Australia). That old cliche of it tastes just like chicken? Well, sure, if you bread it and fry it, I guess it was kind of like incredibly tough, chewy chicken.

Buffalo is great. I have to wonder if we went back to longhorn breeds of cattle, range matured and driven on the hoof to market, whether beef would be more similar (a good flavor and less cholesterol).

I like venison too, which is pretty common in my area. What's harder to come by that I'd like to try are the game meats you don't find until you get up in Wyoming, Montanna, etc. Elk, moose, bear, that sort of thing. I'll try it at least once, ya know?[/QUOTE]

i didnt try vegimite while i was there. it was scary and this swedish guy told me it tastes like motor oil. People their also eat baked beans on french toast, pancakes, etc. its kinda weird. THey also have better catsup then we do. my parents bought me some for christmas off the internet.
Alligator, i think, tastes like frog legs + chicken. (frog legs taste like chicken + fish)
i think you're right about the cattle breeds and stuff. no more steroids and forced cannibalism and we'd probably have better meat.
venison is good. I once cooked some at 2 am totally fuckin stoned and nearly cut off my thumb. Elk is good. not sure about moose. Bear bacon is awful awful awful. dont know about the rest of the bear though. The bacon tastes like rancid fish except in meat form.
i like trying new foods too, but i dont think i could ever eat an insect, brain, or any other internal organs for that matter.

caveat: dont read that last post while eating cold flank steak...

Cold flank steak goes great with a warm can of Moon Mist Shasta. That's the kinda meal you need to eat on the roof of a shed to properly apreciate the depth of flavors involved.

mirkah and i would like to have you over for CHOKE: THE CULT FOODIE GROUP

we are making multiple threads of stimulating culinary discussion. wimps with peanut allergies are not invited. just kidding. come talk about red meat with me.

still taking applications for weeknight and weekend shifts in the cult foodie group!

woooo yeah til tuesday. cross yr fingers

join Choke, the cult foodie group. it's useful and delicious. no calories, low fat

word, i'm a long islander so i eat mad bagels, they're my fave

all of these of course should be made with good ny bagels

- bagel with cream cheese and lox

- bagel with creem cheese and olives (if you can't find olives, pickles)

- bagel with cream cheese and sea salt

- bagel with cream cheese and tomato (and some sea salt)

- bagel with cream cheese, bacon, and tomato (tomato optional)

- raisin bagel with salmon cream cheese (my own recipe, mad good)

and some wierd-ass non-bagel combos of my own:

- peanut butter and canned sardines sandwich (i'm a creative camper)

- nutella and mint jelly sandwich (a twist on the classic pb&j)

dayumn i love food.  and as i always say, don't knock it 'til you try it!