Food

[I'llhavethat1]

[kbobam]

Definitely a fine looking burger, and far more deserving

of the phrase "I'm Lovin' It" than you know where.

Along with any other food people want to post, I'd be

interested in seeing some regional stuff. Maybe along

the lines of "Around here we have the best ____!"

I'm from Maryland, so here's a crabcake. ( :

[Steph]

Wisconsin is famous for brats .... which I recently learned I dislike. I wouldn't care if I never ate another brat for the rest of my life. (as opposed to, say, corn dogs, which I need to eat at least once every two years )

I miss southern food. Like fried okra. mmmmmmm

[I'llhavethat1]

Were the 'braaats' soaked in beer overnight? They are pretty good when boiled in beer then grilled. (personal taste I guess)

I was down south this past week and did have some fried okra. And lots of other fried stuff.

[Steph]

No beer. I didn't think of that. A friend who works at Johnsonville gave us an assortment of different styles. I tried about three kinds and gave up.

But maybe we just didn't fix them correctly.

[kbobam]

I'm still looking forward to trying the boiled peanuts you mentioned way back when.

Please let me know if there's a preferred Southern state for this.

Also on the bucket list is going to Rhode Island to check out clam-cakes. ( :

[Steph]

Boiled peanuts are at least from Alabama. That's where I got my first taste of them.

(Had a canned version in Oklahoma I think which wouldn't not be a good way to learn about them. I think I mentioned that also.)

[ausman]

New England......

[ann]

Boiled peanuts are at least from Alabama. That's where I got my first taste of them.

I had my first boiled peanuts in northern Florida. And I'd give -- well -- a lot to have a dripping double handfull right now . . .

[kbobam]

Oh man. The lobster and clams look too good.

When I was a kid, my folks would cook one or the other of

these on a semi-regular basis. Of course I thought they were

yucky and would content myself with a grilled-cheese sandwich.

I feel like a total idiot now.

Ann, someone once told me that northern Florida is the actual

edge of the real 'South', and that the rest of the state is kind of

a thing unto itself. Is that accurate? ( :

[ann]

Ann, someone once told me that northern Florida is the actual

edge of the real 'South', and that the rest of the state is kind of

a thing unto itself. Is that accurate? ( :

Well, I think it is! I've lived in both north and south Florida, so I can talk. (Tallahassee, Jacksonville Beach, Delray Beach, and Islamorada . . .)

Wait. Then what the hell am I doing in Chicago? Something's wrong with this picture.

[kbobam]

Ha! I only just noticed the 'fine print' at the bottom!

So how about another 'regional' question?

Was also told at one point that 'deep-dish pizza' is

not universally loved by Chicago people, and that

many of them never go out for it unless they have

people from out of state visiting.

As a sort of flip-side to this, as a born and bred

New Yorker I'm fiercely loyal to our pizza, but don't

think the hot dogs are that great. They're not bad,

and we eat a lot of them, but I saw a show recently

that described the Chicago hot dog in detail.

They look amazing, and the super-green relish

makes me smile every time I think of it. ( :

[ann]

Um, I hope I don't get into trouble for this, but Chicago deep-dish pizza is not, as you've heard, universally loved here. But if you were born here I don't think you can say that. I was only conceived here, long ago, so I may get a pass. I happen to like it, but anything that multiplies cheese & pepperoni & onions & green peppers & mushrooms and stuff is usually OK by me. Heck, you can do away with the crust entirely and just give me a bowl fuli of toppings and I'd be happy . . .

Chicago hot dogs freak me out. I've lived here for 13 years and have never managed to actually taste one. It's not the neon-green relish, though -- it's the TOMATOES and celery seeds. Shudder. Who puts TOMATOES on hot dogs?? These are the same people who make regurgitating sounds if you talk about ketchup on hot dogs. I just don't understand it. But I acknowledge that Chicago hot dogs are very photogenic . . .

[Steph]

Anyone know what you get if you order a hot tamale in my part of Wisconsin?

When I first moved here I was getting impatient with all the bland food and got kinda excited when I saw hot tamales on the menu.

And then I saw that "hot tamale" meant sloppy joe.

[kbobam]

That could definitely be disappointing, although sloppy joes aren't bad.

I really like the idea of skipping the crust and making 'pizza salad'.

As a variation. Still like the crust too.

Have to confess to being one of those who can't understand ketchup

on hotdogs. And I sort of admire those hotdog joints that won't serve

it to you, but have a single ketchup dispenser all the way in the back

on a shelf near the restrooms if you absolutely have to have it.

Still, to each his own, and while Ann's logic makes perfect sense, and

I'm sure even Dr. Spock would agree with it, I don't think the tomatoes

sound nearly as bad as ketchup.

In other things ketchup can be great. A buddy of mine who once had

a Chinese take-out place told me that ketchup is used in sweet and

sour sauce. I assumed that this was a cheap and efficient way to make

the stuff, but not the right way. Wrong! Wasted a lot of time trying to

make 'gourmet' sweet and sour. Ketchup is the way to go.

The tamales (the real ones) are making me think of fish tacos.

I'm thinking of putting the Baja peninsula on the 'list' as far as a place

to go for these, but haven't done enough research yet. ( :

[stacyw]

I have never been able to find pickled bologna here in New York State. I had it once in Michigan and really liked it.

As for pizza, someone once told me that you can always tell if someone is from NY by watching them eat pizza. NYers fold their pizza when they eat it ( I do, but wasn't aware of it until this person pointed it out). Since then, I have tried to watch people and it does seem to be true.

[kbobam]

Huh! I never thought about it, but definitely 'fold'.

And of course the 'knife and fork' technique is just ridiculous.

Never heard of pickled bologna, but it sounds interesting. ( :

[ann]

Fold it? You mean lengthwise?

Pickled bologna?? I might try that . . .

[kbobam]

Yep. From the point of the triangle to halfway along the width

of the crust. Although in practice the point doesn't really fold,

so your first bite is pretty much the same as if you were holding

the slice flat. With New York pizza, the fold will partially crack

the crust, and a drop of oil will appear there. It isn't dripping,

just that one drop. Know that sounds crazy, but for some

reason it's significant. ( :

[stacyw]

Great description of "our" pizza technique!

What's funny is that we do it, but we don't know we do it until someone points it out.

[kbobam]

Here are a couple of today's 'Dollar-Tree' food finds.

A recent conversation about mac & cheese lead to this.

Mentioned that DT has a box of the 'deluxe' variety, and

that it's pretty good. 'Deluxe' or a similar word in the mac

and cheese business basically means that you're getting

pasta and a pouch of cheese glop, as opposed to the

traditional packet of powder which requires that you add

butter and milk. Personally I love them both. Nothing

intrinsically better about the 'deluxe'. But it usually costs

a lot more, so worth mentioning as a DT bargain.

The original 'food finds' I opened with were something

completely different, but since I've already talked

endlessly about mac, I'll save them for another post. ( :

[kbobam]

Okay! Here's the shot I was going to post yesterday.

I think it's a lot of fun to try unusual things from the Dollar Tree store.

While it may not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, the

fun per penny ratio is surprisingly high. Recently got a little can of

lobster spread which actually tasted like lobster. Was pretty thrilled.

Because of that seafood success, I figured I'd try the scallops you

see below. Didn't work out too well. In the box was a sardine-style

can which was stuffed with what looked like itty-bitty squid parts.

It tasted worse than it looked. Didn't even consider saving it for

my occasional cat visitors, since I sort of like them.

But hey, you take the good you take the bad...

That's what makes it interesting.

Looking forward to seeing what 'Larry' can do for fish. ( :

[Steph]

Put that pic as desktop background ... to see if Jimmy has seen the batter .....

[kbobam]

This is from the back of the box.

It has a message from Larry, which our fishermen friends

here will probably be able to relate to. Personally, I'm

stuck with pre-packaged frozen flounder.

Also shows the wonderfully simple preparation instructions

which were a big selling point to a single slob like me.

Find a can of beer and mix it with the batter. Love it.

[stacyw]

Since I share with my best friend a fondness for both beer and "Larry the Cable Guy", I will be stalking Dollar Tree to find this for his next year's Christmas Stocking. I'm betting that shelf life of this product is long enough to make that feasible!