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Food Thread: < Insert Title Here > [CBD]

I use grated cheese, and when the conditions warrant it, I will grate it fresh. But I use the stuff that is grated by the store...not the stuff on the shelves next to the boxes of pasta. Yes; cheese has already spoiled, so I guess it should have a reasonable shelf life, but the stuff in the cardboard containers is just disgusting.

Grating cheese is a pain in the ass. As a garnish for pasta I can tolerate doing it by hand, but when I make Mac & Cheese it's into the food processor with whatever I can find. There is no way I am hand-grating a pound of anything, much less hard cheese that is even harder because I forgot it in the back of the cheese bin. I am confident that the food Gods will forgive my trespass.

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What's that? another salvo in the salt war? Why yes...yes it is, and a mighty fine one too! But be warned, this is a for-profit medical journal and has to be seen in that context. The authors pay to publish, although the article is well-documented and doesn't make too many outrageous claims.

The wrong white crystals: not salt but sugar as aetiological in hypertension and cardiometabolic disease makes the interesting charge that sugar is more responsible than salt for hypertension. But...this is one paper, and before we make any sweeping changes (or any changes at all), we need hundreds of studies published in peer-reviewed journals.

The physiology of humans is rather complicated, even ignoring the pesky fact that we are all different. It is tempting to latch onto some insufficiently proven theory because we want to believe it, or it works for us. But that isn't science.

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That is Y-not's lunch, or dinner, or something. But it looks good, even though it really does taste like chicken. But marinated in beer, garlic and Old Bay? My guess is that it was a very nice dish.

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Crab Louis is an old standard in San Francisco, and it really is a gloriously fun dish. But The West coast used to be able to get fantastic Dungeness crab for not very much money. Nowadays it's pricey, and almost impossible to get anywhere other than California, Oregon or Washington. So I replaced the crab with American shrimp, and there was much rejoicing in the Dildo House that night! Give it a try...it's easy, and with a good crusty loaf of bread is a good meal.
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Lemon bars are one of those sweets that are difficult to categorize. Are they a cookie...a tart....a thin cake? Who knows, and who cares. I like them, and this recipe is intriguing, not for the chamomile, which is stupid and I will ignore, but for the cornmeal in the crust. That will give it a different texture that might be fun.
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Benedictine is one of those liquors that many people have sitting around, but have no idea why, or what to do with it.

Well, make this drink and you will have justified Benedictine's existence.

Derby
• 2 oz Maker's Mark Bourbon
• 1/4 oz Benedictine
• dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
• stir with ice
• strain into a cocktail glass
• garnish with lemon twist