Things I Didn't Know About Food

[TheIrishman]

I don't cook lasagna noodles at all. I put them in the sauce hard, right from the box.

I'm lucky to have a few places around here where you can buy fresh pasta. It doesn't really keep well, but for large dinners and such they can't be beat. That said, I do buy mannicotti in the box as they're easier to stuff when rigid.

[rightisright]

I'm one of the lucky ones. I didn't realize how good my mom was w. food until I [strike]left[/strike] got kicked out of my house at 18.

[MarkD]

I've had that cheese, I think - does it look like caramel, and is very strong?

As for pickled herring, no, it is not good.

Yes, it's caramel colored and has a very rich flavor, not much smell. I can only eat a little at a time.

I've never had "real" home-made pickled herring, only the jarred stuff in the supermarket, but I still like it. Like I said, it does gross my wife out, watching me eat little hunks of fish, and that's even before I burp.

[Aglifter]

If we're talking about the same stuff, its not technically a cheese, as its made from whey.

Very, very funky - I like it myself. Would be interesting to pair w. some good chocolate - sadly, aside from a tiny handful of people, whom I only seem to encounter in commercial chocolate settings when they're allowed to show off - it means I'd have to make my own to go w. it...

(There are some staggeringly brilliant men working at the major chocolate processors... Of course, some of that could be the manner of resources they have access to. The "show off" stuff just blows away everything else that I've seen. Admittedly, I haven't tried Marcolini, yet, but I'm beginning to think that mere competence is the best which can be hoped for.)

[MarkD]

Actually, the idea of gjetost and good chocolate sounds REAL good to me. I have to give that a try some time.

[Aglifter]

If you're near Brooklyn, the Bedford Cheese Shop has a really tasty exemplar.

[oilcrash]

1) Toasting rice before adding water.
2) Steel cut oats (always had rolled oats before my wife)
3) Roasting Vegetables (couldn't get me to eat Brussels Sprouts otherwise)
4) Yorkshire Pudding
5) Demi-Glace
6) Pan Sauces (little liquor to help lift the brown, then cream)
7) Sear Steak then cook in a 500 degree oven (I can't grill at my apartment)
8) Chimney Starters (for when I grill someplace other than my apartment)
9) Cuban Style Pig Roasting (less work, no burying, easier to control)
10) Cooking Bacon in a little water before browning (helps remove excess fat and get crispier bacon)
11) Salt is an important Flavor enhancer.

[Cybrludite]

Risotto was a new one on me. Prior to finding out about that, rice was the white starchy stuff you put real food on top of.

And, tfbncc, Navy food was a step *up*?

[Darrell]

Risotto was a new one on me. Prior to finding out about that, rice was the white starchy stuff you put real food on top of.

For a bit more substance, just toss in come black or red beans (preferably simmered in flavorful liquid), maybe a bit of crushed up crispy bacon or crisped chopped ham, or some browned loose beef, pork,chicken or sausage. Or some combination thereof.

It's not red beans and rice, but it's close enough; and it takes maybe ten minutes of prep, and 20-30 minutes of total cook time.

My sister sometimes makes what she calls 'dirty rice', which is rather like that. I've experimented with similiar dishes as well, trying to make a sort of rice n' beans. Rice n' beans also makes for complete protein, doesn't it, or is it corn and beans?

[tfbncc]

And, tfbncc, Navy food was a step *up*?

Maybe not so much Navy food, but getting away from my family's cooking, Imagine a diet with little to no salt in any of the food. I didn't know any better, because that's just the way my mother and grandmother prepared things. Then leaving home and the first area I get sent to for school and eventually my first squadron is the South. BBQ and steaks, southern fried chicken, the works. Then within the first year in Florida, I got a roommate from Louisiana. We used to drive from Jacksonville over to New Orleans on the weekends. His dad was pure cajun. Owned his own shrimp boat. His mother was japanese. Between their cooking I tasted things I've never even dreamed of in my life. My first deployment was to Iceland. During the 6 months flying patrols there I got to make trips to England, Scotland, Norway, Amsterdam, and Spain. Being a crewmember on P-3C patrol aircraft, if we got sent anywhere, it usually meant getting to stay in a hotel. Some really nice hotels. With excellent kitchens.

Yeah, it was a step up, at least as far as flavor was concerned.