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Food Thread: Fry It...You'll Like It!

Those are blowfish tails! Or Sugar Toads in some parts of the south, and delicious no matter where you eat them.

I was at my local and excellent fish store yesterday for some shrimp, and these were front-and-center in the display case, so what's a fellow to do? Of course I bought them, hoping to convince my wife to try them. I figured if I fried the little buggers they would be more accessible, and I was correct!

Buttermilk. then spiced flour, then another trip through, and that's it. Seven minutes in 350 degree oil and right to the table.

I trimmed the tails of the fins and some of the bones and membrane, but they are small, and with seven minutes in the oil I doubt I needed to do that. The spine was thoroughly cooked and I just ate it without much bother.

The flesh is sort of flaky and mild, and they are the perfect size and shape to cook and to eat. The recipe I saw from "Garden & Gun" suggested hot honey, which sounded odd but was pretty good. Next time I will make a spiced mayonnaise, but even Tartar sauce will work well.

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Tales of Spectacular Government Uselessness
[episode 53,904]
Federal officials seize spices and food additive products held under insanitary conditions from a Florida warehouse

The complaint alleges that an inspection of Lyden Spice Corporation that the FDA conducted between June 8 and June 28, 2021, revealed insanitary conditions, including rodent feces too numerous to count on and around pallets with containers of food, evidence of rodent gnawing and urine on food containers, and rodent nesting material between food pallets. The FDA investigators also observed live and dead insects on food packaging, as well as apparent bird droppings in the food storage area.

So far...so good. The hardworking government inspectors actually did their jobs and discovered -- over the course of three weeks -- numerous significant health risks and disgustingly unsanitary ("insanitary? Huh?) conditions at this food warehouse.

But...and it is a very big but indeed...they took more than two months to shut them down! How much filthy food got into the pipeline while this pathetically inept crew took two-hour lunches and six weeks of vacation and punched out at 4:00pm on the dot?

Pathetic, lazy, inept hacks.

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From a lurker who wrote me with her thoughts about ice cream. She claims to be a not-very-skilled cook, although reading her comments makes me think she is being a bit critical!

I cannot recommend highly enough to make your own ice cream instead of using store bought. They have little individual makers now that it is hardly any effort at all in order to make great homemade ice cream. I got one at Williams Sonoma and I use it all the time. The only time I buy out at a store now is if it is the dairy and I just want a cone while I'm out. If you experiment enough, you can come up with some great flavors and excellent add-ons that will make it so you will never look back. (For example, my peach ice cream was a killer on the fresh peach pie my aunt made!) The internet has some interesting recipes although you have to be specific in what you are looking for. (For example, I found a recipe for Mint Chocolate Chip that uses fresh mint.) Also be mindful of the time and effort to make some of them. The internet has a lot to choose from but some of them can be very labor intensive and not really worth the payoff in the end. And with your own maker, you can come up with some of your own concoctions. The simple ice cream recipe with the book is a good basic to start with and expand from there. The key is the milk products used in the creation. The less fat in the milk, the more icy the ice cream will be. So I typically use either 2% or straight up whole milk in order to make it with the milk component. Since I get my milk products straight from a dairy, they are better than what is in a regular grocery store. A friend of mine started experimenting in order to get a smoother batch using corn syrup and condensed milk, but I could not really tell that much of a difference between hers and mine with hers having expended much more effort. But either one is still absolutely better than what you will get in a grocery store. I'm someone who really doesn't know how to cook well, so I'm always looking for simple and delicious and homemade ice cream fits the bill for me.

The ice cream maker she is referring to is the Cuisinart, and while they have a few different models It seems as though all of them work well and are reasonably priced.

I like ice cream but I don't seek it out too often, but the idea of making exactly the one I want in just a few minutes is intriguing.

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Here are some pretty impressively stupid things. I'm not sure which is dumbest, although the first one is certainly the most dangerous.

Frying Ice?

Rubber bands and watermelons don't mix

She has crabs!

There are no words for this stupidity

[Hat Tip: redc1c4]

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This is Misanthropic Humanitarian's usual troll of me, but in this case it looked good, so I swallowed my pride and tried this Epicurious recipe.

It's definitely a keeper, and while the chicken skin was a bit rubbery, the flavors worked very well and it was also quite easy and quick. I will play around with searing the skin side of the thighs before I put the crust on, and I think it will help. But in the meantime this is a good dish that deserves a try.

Panko-Crusted Roast Chicken Thighs With Mustard and Thyme

Oh...the carrots were pretty good too. I didn't expect them to cook that quickly, but it worked nicely.

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It's a bit abbreviated today because the power outage today put a crimp in my writing. Composing the Food Thread on my phone is something I would rather not do...
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Avocados sans thumbprints, beef short ribs that have meat on them (not the stupid little sliver of bone they sneak into the packages), carrots that don't taste like stalky chalk, spare bottles of Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 Year Old Bourbon, an herb garden that actually produces herbs (but no basil!), well-marbled NY strip steaks and elk backstrap to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.

And don't think that you are off the hook with maple syrup and French Toast: I'm watching you...all of you! And I am watching you perverts who shake Manhattans and keeping a list for the Burning Times.