Something Delicious

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by Sun

I found that anything that I eat on an Island or at the beach always tastes better than the alternative.

ahk mentioned Portland as a great food city. I agree.

Have not been to Maui yet but look forward to visiting.

If you ever make plans to go hit me up for the best stays places. There are tons of BnB's as well as some that are gay friendly.

[Sun]

Originally Posted by Corkey

If you ever make plans to go hit me up for the best stays places. There are tons of BnB's as well as some that are gay friendly.

I would like to visit next fall. I will keep you posted, thank you.

[lusciouskiwi]

I finally made Rendang last Friday. Lotsssss of cutting up of lemon grass, fresh tumeric, red onions and other things I don't know how to spell. Mustn't forget the toasted coconut and the fresh coconut milk... shrimp paste, ground dried chillies ...

My ex's mum washed the chicken with water and salt and then, later on without consulting with me first, added salt to the Rendang. When we sat down to eat it, it was so salty!

My ex thinks that her mum didn't rinse the chicken properly to get rid of the salt from washing it. Ex added some water to it, but how to get rid of excess saltiness? I was quite disappointed.

Will come back later with a proper list of ingredients. This is the Nyonya style of Rendang, the traditional Malay style is a bit different. Darker, drier and salty.

[Dante]

Originally Posted by Sun

Helloooooooooooooooo Delicious people!


How is everyone doing today?

So..I was having coffee with a friend this morning and we got to talking about places that we would travel to just for food. We are in the serious foodie zone here. I recall on a trip trip to San Francisco some years before I moved to CA, I had the revelation that I would come back just to sample more of the phenomenal food scene. While one part of my brain ruled out the concept as frivolous, another part of my brain was totally down for the adventure.

Over the years I have had similar thoughts about different cities and towns along the way. So while my buddy and I were chatting about great food cities this morning, it occurred to me that I have in fact planned trips around a great food scene. I've also been really fortunate to have quick access to one of my favorite food regions, California wine country. Napa and Sonoma Valley's are host to some of the most amazing examples of good food that I have ever experienced.

So I am now inclined to ask all of you a few questions about your foodie adventures:

#1 Is there a city or town that stands out for you as having a great food scene?

#2. What makes a location a great food scene for you?

#3. Where would you like to travel to, to experience the local foods?

#4. What dish or meal stands out as something that you would travel for again?

I hope that you all are having a fabulous Saturday.

San Francisco for sure. Love it there, including Chinatown. Vegas has some of my favorite restaurants. In fact, the best place voted for by the locals, is The Steak House at, of all places, Circus Circus. The Bellagio has some 5 star restaurants and Gordon Ramsey just opened his steakhouse there. I would love to go to Paris, France and check out the some of the sidewalk cafes. And...sample bread, wine, cheese. New Orleans would be a great place to try. I grew up in Montebello, which is in So CA, right next to East LA, and, you have a choice of just about any restaurant for yummy Mexican food. I mean, they are all good! Chicago for pizza. Philadelphia , and last but not least, New York. Oh, and I want to go see Paula Deen at The Lady & Son's in Savannah, GA.
FYI.....did you know that Cat Cora and Anne Burrell from the Food Network are both gay?

[ahk]

So I think I know Dante learned his cooking on Food Network--

Where did YOU learn how to cook? Family? Friends? School? Food Network?

I learned a little from my grandma, but I mainly just learned by cooking for myself and trying new foods and I really eat with my eyes. I always loved to read books and magazines about food and recipes, and then internet came along and it was over-- I love food blogs.

Then I found my honey and she loves to cook and we have very similar tastes but very different at the same time. She has taught me to like foods by texture and colour.

Every year that I get older, the better I get with cooking. I also, love to watch food network and the cooking channel-- yay tv.

[Ursy]

Originally Posted by ahk

Where did YOU learn how to cook? Family? Friends? School? Food Network?

I learned a little from my grandma, but I mainly just learned by cooking for myself and trying new foods and I really eat with my eyes. I always loved to read books and magazines about food and recipes, and then internet came along and it was over-- I love food blogs.

I'm very visual too. Have you seen these sites? They are like visual recipe searches. So inspirational for us visual types. (edited to add: wow, how many times can I say visual in one paragraph?)

http://www.tastespotting.com/
http://www.nibbledish.com/recipes/
http://foodgawker.com/
http://www.yumgoggle.com/gallery/

I learned to cook a little bit from before I left home, and after that it was mostly trial and error, following recipes, and observing others. My dear mum gave me a good basic cookbook to take with me, I consulted that a lot. I think I still have it somewhere!

[JustLovelyJenn]

Originally Posted by ahk

Where did YOU learn how to cook? Family? Friends? School? Food Network?

My family has always cooked. Every family event involved time in the kitchen and I learned a little bit of something different from them all.

My fathers mother was an amazing cook. She could cook anything from scratch and did. She taught me how to measure by sight... taste and adjust my ingredients, and how to use my imagination and improvise.

My grandmother on my mothers side taught me a lot about "almost homemade" cooking and how to use cheap and quick things from the cupboards to make something no one would guess you didn't make from scratch. She was also the canner in my family... and I still love to can some of the things she made every year... like zucchini relish and chili sauce.

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by ahk

So I think I know Dante learned his cooking on Food Network--

Where did YOU learn how to cook? Family? Friends? School? Food Network?

I learned a little from my grandma, but I mainly just learned by cooking for myself and trying new foods and I really eat with my eyes. I always loved to read books and magazines about food and recipes, and then internet came along and it was over-- I love food blogs.

Then I found my honey and she loves to cook and we have very similar tastes but very different at the same time. She has taught me to like foods by texture and colour.

Every year that I get older, the better I get with cooking. I also, love to watch food network and the cooking channel-- yay tv.

I learned long ago back when it was me feeding me. Lets face it I like to eat, and I like food that tastes great. So I paid attention when I did get out to what was in the foods I was eating. I learned to develop my taste buds, try to guess what the chef had used, then make it in my own home. Never moved on until I got the dish right.
Still try to replicate dishes when we go out, and these days with the economy being what it is, I watch food network for inspiration, and do my own take on their dishes. Mom was a good cook and dad was as well, but he was steak (burger) n potatoes kinda guy, and mom cooked irish n german dishes when she had the time to cook. Dad was the main meal provider. So anything other than grilled meats dad wasn't much of a experimenter.

[Bit]

Black beans are our favorite; then black beans and refried pintos combined in the same one-pot dish; then lima beans.

But ahk, I have to say, I do NOT forgive my parents lol--you're so funny!--but Mom never cooked the limas long enough. Wow, what a difference it makes when you cook them till they're actually soft!

I learned to cook in a Greek deli. I was already pretty good at following recipes and I was a good baker, but it was in the deli that I was exposed to enough different foods and techniques to really learn how cooking works. Then it was thirty years of trial and error to teach myself what I like. I have to say, those five years I spent with my mom were a waste as far as cooking; I wasn't welcome in her kitchen and pretty much retreated to very simple foods, sandwiches, burritos, etc. I made up for it in spades the past five years though!

My favorite cooking blog is the King Arthur Flour baking blog. I've learned a lot there because they go step by step with pictures and they also explain all the technical parts, the chemical reactions, the various ingredients. That blog is an education all in itself! http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/

[Ursy]

Hello delicious friends!

I thought I'd post a follow up for my heirloom tomatoes, because they are showing up some pretty patterns now.

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s13/s...4ac34025ffa2a5

They are really keeping me in suspense because I don't know how big they are going to get, or whether they are going to turn red or stay green - but I love the markings on them. Unfortunately the camera didn't do such a good job of capturing it, but hopefully you can see enough to get an idea. (They are darker on top, not sure if it just looks like the lighting or whether you can see that).

[Bit]

They're lovely, Urs!

I've been dreaming over the pages of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog this past week. Sneaky people, mailing that catalog out while people are in the holiday spending mood, lol.... Sun, here are your non-GMO seeds, including corn and soybeans. They test every batch; I'm telling you, pretty soon we're going to have to start growing corn in greenhouses to keep it GMO free. But in the meantime, we can still buy some pure seedstocks. http://rareseeds.com/ This year they have more than 1400 varieties of seeds, veggies, herbs, gourds, flowers, cover crops, etc. This is one of the small companies that's leading the fight for every one of us to have the right to non-GMO foods, AND their seeds are really vigorous with high germination rates. I would buy from them even if I weren't a gardener, just to support them in the fight for pure foods.

[Gráinne]

Originally Posted by Sun

Helloooooooooooooooo Delicious people!


How is everyone doing today?

So..I was having coffee with a friend this morning and we got to talking about places that we would travel to just for food. We are in the serious foodie zone here. I recall on a trip trip to San Francisco some years before I moved to CA, I had the revelation that I would come back just to sample more of the phenomenal food scene. While one part of my brain ruled out the concept as frivolous, another part of my brain was totally down for the adventure.

Over the years I have had similar thoughts about different cities and towns along the way. So while my buddy and I were chatting about great food cities this morning, it occurred to me that I have in fact planned trips around a great food scene. I've also been really fortunate to have quick access to one of my favorite food regions, California wine country. Napa and Sonoma Valley's are host to some of the most amazing examples of good food that I have ever experienced.

So I am now inclined to ask all of you a few questions about your foodie adventures:

#1 Is there a city or town that stands out for you as having a great food scene?

#2. What makes a location a great food scene for you?

#3. Where would you like to travel to, to experience the local foods?

#4. What dish or meal stands out as something that you would travel for again?

I hope that you all are having a fabulous Saturday.

#1-New Orleans; Beijing, China; Toronto, Canada.

#2-Good people, good conversation, dancing, music

#3-Mongolia. I mean, real Mongolia, not this Genghis Grill stuff. Hot pot surrounded by steppe and sleeping in a yurt. Had this in Beijing, but nothing beats authenticity.

#4-Beignets and a muffaletta sandwich, French Quarter.

[Ursy]

Originally Posted by Sun

[SIZE="4"][FONT="Arial"]

#1 Is there a city or town that stands out for you as having a great food scene?

#2. What makes a location a great food scene for you?

#3. Where would you like to travel to, to experience the local foods?

#4. What dish or meal stands out as something that you would travel for again?

#1. Singapore. When visiting relatives in Singapore, amazing food is ALWAYS involved.

#2. It has to engage *all* the senses.

#3. We briefly visited the Mediterranean on a cruise that my mother in law took us on a few years ago. I would love to visit there again and spend more time in Italy and Greece especially.

#4. Oh too many to list! Probably many of the things I had on the trip I mentioned in #3!

I just had some Thai green curry and coconut chicken sausages from my local butcher. Mmmmm, very very good!

I'd like to get into sausage making one of these days

[lusciouskiwi]

#1 Is there a city or town that stands out for you as having a great food scene?
I think most places have somewhere great to eat. My ex and I used to go to a divine French restaurant in Hillcrest, San Diego but it's closed now. Bobby Chin's in Hanoi is fabulous. In fact, Hanoi has some great restaurants.

#2. What makes a location a great food scene for you?
I think I'll have to go with Guihong and Ursy - the company, the location, the occasion, and of course, the food.

#3. Where would you like to travel to, to experience the local foods? Would love to go back to Vietnam. Austria for cake and coffee. Spain, Portugal, Italy, and there is so much I haven't eaten in Malaysia yet! But where WOULDN'T I go to eat is probably an easier question to answer.

#4. What dish or meal stands out as something that you would travel for again?
Vegetarian bibimbap, Ulsan, South Korea. Their gochujang was home-made and fantastic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gochujang

[Nadeest]

Wow, I just saw some beef and chicken base at one of the larger H.E.B. stores, here in the Houston area! I am definitely going to be picking up some of that, very soon. Mind you, I'd drather make my own stock, but this makes for a quick substitute when I don't have any stored away in the freezer. Besides, I have very limited freezer space, and can never store enough stock for my tastes. I don't really like the boxes of stock and broth that are available, either.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Sun

[SIZE="4"][FONT="Arial"]
#1 Is there a city or town that stands out for you as having a great food scene?

#2. What makes a location a great food scene for you?

#4. What dish or meal stands out as something that you would travel for again?

I hope that you all are having a fabulous Saturday.

I've loved seafood all my life, but the seafood is muuuuch different in FL than in WA. I liked salmon some of the time in FL but it wasn't until I had it in Seattle that I truly fell in love with it. You have NOT had good salmon until you've had PNW salmon.

I've been fortunate to live in areas where there is excellent cuisine, of one type or another. I was born in the deep South...the dirty South if you will...so I have a love of soul food from there.

I spent more than two decades in FL, so I developed a love of seafood and for lighter dishes there.

When I moved to WA, I basically discovered more levels of flavor in some of the same dishes I've always had, but more intense and vibrant. Love PNW seafood....can't say enough about it.

Anthony's in Seattle. Made the BEST burnt creme (toasted creme brulee) and Bourbon glazed salmon I've ever had. I'd like to go back there at least once. It's higher end, but totally worth it. The view was spectacular. We were on the upper floor and it was dark so the lights of the Sound sparkled like diamonds on the water.

[ahk]

Originally Posted by Ursy

I'm very visual too. Have you seen these sites? They are like visual recipe searches. So inspirational for us visual types. (edited to add: wow, how many times can I say visual in one paragraph?)

http://www.tastespotting.com/
http://www.nibbledish.com/recipes/
http://foodgawker.com/
http://www.yumgoggle.com/gallery/

I learned to cook a little bit from before I left home, and after that it was mostly trial and error, following recipes, and observing others. My dear mum gave me a good basic cookbook to take with me, I consulted that a lot. I think I still have it somewhere!

Thank you for all your websites, I loved it!! I look at foodgawker often but thank you for the other links.

and

I enjoyed hearing about where you all learned to cook-- what amazing stories and memories.

So tonight my folks are coming over for dinner and I'm making Honey Mustard Thyme Chicken breasts, roasted sweet potatoes w/ garlic/thyme, green beans. (and polenta with carrots/spinach for my mom).

Gotta get a move on-- start to dust and other things. Enjoy your resting day --

[Sun]

Happy Sunday & Happy Birthday to C-girl!

There seems to be quite a big keg party going on for her birthday so be sure to stop by everyone

[Sun]

Originally Posted by Ursy

Hello delicious friends!

I thought I'd post a follow up for my heirloom tomatoes, because they are showing up some pretty patterns now.

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s13/s...4ac34025ffa2a5

They are really keeping me in suspense because I don't know how big they are going to get, or whether they are going to turn red or stay green - but I love the markings on them. Unfortunately the camera didn't do such a good job of capturing it, but hopefully you can see enough to get an idea. (They are darker on top, not sure if it just looks like the lighting or whether you can see that).

Your tomatoes look great Ursy! I hope that you get some green zebra's. They are so good. Thanks for posting the pics!

[Sun]

Originally Posted by Nadeest

Wow, I just saw some beef and chicken base at one of the larger H.E.B. stores, here in the Houston area! I am definitely going to be picking up some of that, very soon. Mind you, I'd drather make my own stock, but this makes for a quick substitute when I don't have any stored away in the freezer. Besides, I have very limited freezer space, and can never store enough stock for my tastes. I don't really like the boxes of stock and broth that are available, either.

This is a challenge for me as well. When I do not have stock on hand and have to improvise I can never find a stock that I really "love" and if I do not love it I do not want to use it. I have had some good luck with Pacific brand organic boxed stock that I then enrich with onions, carrots, celery. Never found a base that I really like.