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I forgot all about this thread due to the fact that I've been kind of busy with other things. So, since it's my thread, I'm resurrecting it.


Culinary term of the day: Soave From the Larousse Gastronomique

AOC dry white wine produced in the Veneto region using 70-90% Garganega, the remainder being Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc or Trebbiano. It can be one of Italy's best wines.

As a chef, if you were to ask me what food is, I would tell you that food is sex. I'm not saying that it takes the place of or that you should find yourself an Apple pie, I'm saying that food can bring about a pleasure of the senses that nothing else can. Flavor pairing is probably the best way to do this.

An apple by itself can be sweet or sour, depending on the brand or the ripeness of the apple. But pair an apple with some Asiago cheese, and you've stepped into something even better. It's sweet yet "sharp" at the same time. But cooking, or even pairing food items can bring about an erotic experience almost as good as, well, sex.

Cooking as described by the Larousse Gastronomique:

Cooking: The process of heating food so as to render it safe and palatable.

I don't know about you, but I want the meal, no matter what it is or when I eat it, to be enjoyable and memorable. Sure, I want it to be palatable and safe, but the experience and sensation derived from a wonderfully paired dish will make me come back for more.

Further down in the Larousse definition of cooking it says:

As the food changes it may absorbflavours of of other ingredients.....

Close to flavor pairing, but not quite there. It is said that chocolate can release endorphins in the body. Oysters eaten raw can also have an effect on the body in a certain way. Chocolate covered strawberries accompanied with Champagne can be very romantic and pleasing to the senses. As can a grilled pear with balsamic syrup drizzled over it.

But food doesn't have to be as exquisite or even as "erotic", but simple, easy, even quick. Taking time and putting something together as a couple, or mixing bread dough with your hands, together in the same bowl, can be a wonderful experience. A few candles on the table with the lights dimmed and the perfect wine to accompany your dish, can make the night memorable. Even exquisite.

Quote from Nektu

Taking time and putting something together as a couple, or mixing bread dough with your hands, together in the same bowl, can be a wonderful experience. A few candles on the table with the lights dimmed and the perfect wine to accompany your dish, can make the night memorable. Even exquisite.

Couldn't agree with this more. Doesn't have to be fancy or expensive to be memorable, if it's done together even making relish, to put on hotdogs, together can be wonderful.

So... when can we expect to see more Daily Culinary Terms?

Today's Culinary term from the Larousse Gastronomique is for Lt. Venom since I know how much he likes sea food.


Roach:
Small fish of the Cyprinidae family, which usually lives in fresh water with weeds. It can reach a length of 30 cm (12 in.), and has a greenish brown back and silvery belly. It is most often served fried, and its taste is similar to that of the gudgeon.

I had that fish, it's ok but I prefer trout better.

I think this thread is gonna go down the drain sometime soon, along with the crap that was crusted to the breakfast bowl this morning.

So my dad brought home some steaks today, and I decided to go crazy..the end result was ... well... crazy (in a good way).

I don't know if this has been tried before, but I'll share regardless. Here is what you need.

- 2 large steaks
- Chili peppers (green) (1 is more than enough)
- 1 onion
- 2 table spoons of chopped mushrooms (they're canned here)
- A pinch of cinnamon
- A pinch of ground sumac
- 2 ground cloves of garlic (less or more, depends on how you like it)
- Chopped up thyme (I usually chop up like, 4 or 5 small leaves, a tiny amount that gives just the right taste)
- 2 tea spoons of mustard
- A pinch of salt
- Butter
- 1 lemon

I always found cooking meat/chicken in butter way more taste-friendly than oil is.

You put the steaks aside, and the butter aside. You chop up about half a chili pepper into small circles (upon frying, I didn't find this making the steak spicy, just gave it a nice taste), chop the onions into circles, squeeze in the lemon, and add in everything else as is, and just mix them up with a spoon.

Start frying the steak in the butter. Wait about 1 minute on each side of the steak (frying) then add the mixture on top. Leave it for about 3-4 minutes, then flip the steaks over. You should wait until the steaks become somewhat scorched/crispy, which coincides with the mixture turning to a darker color. Serve the steaks, and collect the mixture from the frying pan, and put it besides the steak. I eat the steak, and with it I eat a bit of the mixture, which has plenty of taste, and what damn good taste it is. Someone should try this and give me an honest opinion.

This past Friday I took my wife out to dinner for her Birthday. I made reservations at a place not too far from us called "Opus". It is somewhat unusual for a place like this to be outside of the Downtown Denver area, and even then most of what you find are chain restaurants like Chili's or Applebee's, which are killing and driving nicer smaller places out of business. It makes me sick to my stomach.

I had made the reservations online 2 weeks before the day, not knowing how busy the place was going to be, and even put in a note saying that it was for my wife's Birthday. I didn't know what to expect as we walked in, 15 minutes before our reservation, but was pleasantly surprised. They had a table for us by the window, and placed on the table was a card for her, which everyone who worked there had signed. It was a nice touch to an evening that was already going well.

The first thing I did notice was that there were no salt or pepper shakers on the table. Which told me that either the Chef was extremely confident in the flavor of his food, or I would have to ask for it when the meal came out. Our waiter, Armond, was very prompt, and rightfully so since it wasn't that busy when we first got there. He started off with wishing my wife a Happy Birthday, and then proceeded to go into his well memorized shpeel of the nights special entrée and wine selection, then opened and handed us our menus.

The very first thing he pointed out was the 6 course option, which would have kept us there for 2 hours, for 2 people. I wasn't about to sit there for 2 hours and neither was my wife. So we passed on that and he left us to make our decisions. The next page over was entitled "Act One". The appetizers. A wonderful selection of starter dishes that were all evenly priced. The next page was entitled, you guessed it, "Act Two". The entrée section. I was blown away by it. By the time Armond had come back, we had made our decisions. Shortly after a bite full of of a ceviche style Halibut over marinated red cabbage came out. One for each of us, as a pallet "preparer". It was good. The bread came with your typical whipped butter and a Kalamata olive tepinade that was superb.

My wife started out with the Sweetbreads. It came with a nice sauce, that at the moment slips my mind. Probably because I didn't try it. I had the Rabbit Rillettes. If you have never tried rabbit before, you should. It came with a few pieces of seared rabbit, a cooked/shredded/cooled and formed pate looking rabbit which had a smoky flavor to it, arctic char that was marinated and a green arctic char and Dijon mustard sauce drizzled on the plate. It was excellent. Our entree's consisted of Lamb with a rosemary mashed, which my wife had, and I had the special, which was the Rib-eye with a shittake/couscous and a Anise drizzle. It was really good. There was also some Arctic char with it, which made me wonder if the Chef had a thing for the stuff. But overall the flavor pairing was perfect.

The wine list was even quite extensive, at 10+ pages. I chose a '97 bottle of Pinot to go with the meal, which ended up going remarkably well with the entire meal. We did not have dessert there because by the time we were finished with our meals, we were stuffed. And the salt and pepper were never asked for, because the Chef's confidence in his own food was rightfully so. Overall it was a great experience for the price we paid, and we are definitely going back again soon.

Sounds like you two had a great time.

I have tried rabbit, didn't like it; I have yet to try out some lamb - though I am curious about it.

I have heard of people eating these cute things.




This is what they look like being prepared as a meal.



If I ever walk into an establishment that serves these, I will walk out immediately and have a very hard time of not torching the place later. If I see somebody preparing, cooking, and/or eating them, I will kill him/her on the spot, I don't care if the person next to them had a high caliber military issue assault rifle, I will still kill them.

Rabbits and other such animals on the other hand, I don't have a problem with. The one squirrel picture kind of threw me off though. I can't find the picture though. It was a woman holding the grilled squirrel by the tail (The thing was straight as a board.) and she had half of the squirrel and was sucking on that half like she would a popsicle. It was so fucking wrong.

I have approved of the preceding post

Tis the season, to grill!

One of my most favorite things to do when I'm off work or after a long day in a hot and sweltering kitchen is start up the grill and throw something on it. And there are many different ways to cook something on the grill. You can do skewers, put it on a spit and cook rotisserie style, smoke it or whatever. And the cool thing is, you can cook anything on a grill.

I'm not much of a gas grill cooker. Sure, I use a gas grill at work, only because I have to. But at home, there is nothing that tastes better than charcoal. In my opinion, and you can take it or leave it, is that gas grilling at home is for people who are impatient and really can't grill to save their lives. Either that, or they can't get charcoal to stay lit.

The grill I have at home is nothing special. It's a nice round grill that I use both for grilling and for direct smoking. What is "direct smoking" you ask? Well, simply that. Let me explain.

There are a few different ways to smoke something. There is direct smoking, where whatever it is you have on is right above the smoke chips and charcoal, or just the wood. And there is in-direct smoking. Where the charcoal/wood and smoke chips are in a side "compartment" and the heat that goes from that compartment to the cooking area of the grill is and slowly cooks it for hours. Almost like an oven set at a low temperature. This latter type of smoking is great for briskets, big sides of beef or even pork.

When I'm cooking something like chicken thighs, I start by getting the coals nice and hot. Soak your wood chips in warm water for about 20 minutes. Drain the water and put directly on the hot ready to use coals. They'll sound as if they are putting the fire out, but don't worry. They aren't. Place the lid back on and let your grill get back up to temp. You don't want it that hot. Start with the meatiest side down first. Turn it a quarter of a circle 15-20 minutes after you placed them on. Remember to keep putting the lid back on or you'll lose to much heat and your chicken thighs will take forever! When you finally flip them over to cook the other side, put your favorite BBQ sauce on the meaty side you just cooked. Repeat the cooking steps and turning steps. Temp the thighs where the leg meets the rest of the thigh. It should be 185 degrees F. If you've done this right, the chicken should be nice and juicy but not under cooked. I usually eat mine with some corn on the cob and a baked potato. But, you can eat it with whatever the hell you want.

Don't have a grill but only a fire pit in your back yard? No worries. You can always make a steak. Cowboy style.

I'll post a few more before the end of this wonderful season.

So, when I'm sitting in my back yard with a nice cold Guinness Stout and some beef ribs slowly cooking away on my grill, I'll give a toast to you and wish you could be here to enjoy the meal. Remember, food is an adventure. Enjoy the ride.

Hey, any tips for topping a Salmon Burger? Mainly things that can be readily found around the kitchen? I've had Cheese and mustard salmon burger and I've had a Cheese and Mayo with a little salt and pepper salmon burger. Both were delicious but I would like to eat something with a bit more flavor.

Toss a little arctic char with a vinaigrette and add some finely chopped shallots and put that under the salmon. To top it I would try maybe a caper mayo with a touch of lemon juice in it. But if you do the mayo, don't put the char on it. The flavors will clash and not be that good.

What about stuff that is commonly found in the kitchen?

Also, here is a great link that all dog lovers/owners should read.

http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/slideshow-foods-your-dog-should-never-eat#

Quote from Don_guillotine

Figured I could contribute as well.


Perhaps the World's best tomato soup

You'll need

• about 800 grams of crushed tomatoes
• (a packet of) bacon
• a big onion
• (garlic according to your taste)
• a stock cube (or the equivalent you prefer yourself)
• Some white pepper
• salt
• (teaspoonful of sugar)
• 2 deciliters of cream

Put the crushed tomatoes into a pot. Chop bacon, onion and garlic into small pieces and brown them. Add them into the pot with the tomatoes.

Add the stock cube, white pepper, and if necessary - some salt. I also prefer to add about a teaspoonful of sugar.

Let it bubble slowly for at least two hours (do not burn it!). The time is the key ingredient for this, any less than two hours will diminish the taste.

Add the cream, boil it up quickly, and you're done.


Should serve for two.


Pretty easy to make, but it's absolutely delicious.

This is amazing. Thanks for the post! Vouch this recipe!

Quote from Lt. Venom

What about stuff that is commonly found in the kitchen?

Also, here is a great link that all dog lovers/owners should read.

http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/slideshow-foods-your-dog-should-never-eat#

Those are things commonly found in, well, my kitchen. Especially the char when it is in season. But, other things would be just a nice pinch of seafood seasoning sprinkled on during grilling and a nice balsamic vinegar syrup drizzles over it.

Hey Nektu! Awesome to see you decided to make a thread like this. When I move into my house in Ottawa for University, I'll probably have to learn how to cook some stuff (because I can't stand eating a lot of Kraft Dinner). So one major thing I absoltely love to eat is good, delicious bread. I just wanted to know if you had any recipies for white bread? Anything like buttermilk, banana (ok, that isn't white bread, but its an exception) and maybe something a bit more out-there that may taste really good, although I warn you - I am a picky eater. D:

What about Zucchini Bread? It's AWESOME!!!