The Sunday Cooking Thread – 01/02/2022

Greetings all. CBD should be back in the saddle kitchen again very soon, so if I don’t accidentally burn it all down today, we’ll be able to hand the cooking thread back to him next Sunday, with little clean-up needed.

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER

Mrs. Throckmorton and I occasionally enjoy breakfast-for-dinner. An omelet or Eggs Benedict, with pancakes or waffles dripping in maple syrup, is just a wonderful splurge. And it has dessert built right into it!

When I was a child my dad would occasionally prepare cornbread for Sunday night’s supper. It was served like waffles – we’d butter it up then pour syrup all over it. Our house brand syrup was Log Cabin – I don’t think we could afford real maple syrup. And as I type this, I have just made my first New Year’s resolution for 2022, I will be having cornbread for supper soon, drenched in real maple syrup.

What do y’all like for breakfast-for-dinner?

DINNER AS THEATER

I believe one of the other Cobs linked this recently, but I wanted to comment too, because my wife and I have had a few comical meals at high-end restaurants that left us feeling like someone had played a joke on us.

Bros., Lecce: We Eat at The Worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever

What followed was a 27-course meal (note that “course” and “meal” and “27” are being used liberally here) which spanned 4.5 hours and made me feel like I was a character in a Dickensian novel. Because – I cannot impart this enough – there was nothing even close to an actual meal served. Some “courses” were slivers of edible paper.

But we got twelve kinds of foam, something that I can only describe as “an oyster loaf that tasted like Newark airport”, and a teaspoon of savory ice cream that was olive flavored.

I do not mind shelling out some extra dough at times for a great dining experience, but a non-negotiable item in “great dining experience” should be some great food. Theatrics and gimmicks are fine, I suppose, but there better be something extraordinary about the food.

We still chuckle about the very expensive “root-vegetable appetizer” we once ordered. It turned out to be two regular red radishes, cut in half, and served raw, with just a sprinkle of some seasoning on them, but without any sauce, dip, or anything else. It was just those two unremarkable radishes on an otherwise empty plate. You don’t need to go to culinary school to learn how to prepare that.

AL DENTE

Speaking of raw vegetables, are we past “peak al dente” yet? I love raw vegetables and I love cooked vegetables, but the al dente fad somehow morphed into “warm raw vegetables.” If you’re going to serve me raw cauliflower or raw broccoli, that’s fine, but don’t pretend to cook it. Raw vegetables, like revenge, are best served cold.

IS MY SALT BOTHERING YOU?

One last peeve – why does me salting my food bother people so much? I often find that I need to add a little salt to foods such as steak, potatoes, or eggs to bring out the flavor.

People’s taste buds are different. It’s generally understood that the reason some people dislike broccoli or cilantro is that their taste buds are picking up a flavor that others of us don’t taste. I presume that salt and its effects on flavor are similar, some people need more, others less, to bring out flavor.

But if I’m dining with a group (it doesn’t matter their politics) and I ask for a salt shaker, it is almost guaranteed that someone will chime in about how I shouldn’t be salting my food.

I would never comment to others on what they put into their bodies, be it alcohol, or nicotine, or botox, or silicone, or ink, etc. I just don’t care – your body, your choice. So leave me alone if I sprinkle a little salt on my steak.

I’ve even noticed that most higher-end restaurants don’t even put salt on the table any more. I suppose adding seasoning to the food is an affront to the chef.

Gordon Ramsay can be an ass, but one thing I appreciate about him is when he scolds chefs for under-seasoning food. He understands that salt is necessary to bring out flavor.

THE SINK KNIFE

Because my wife and I are both clean, organized people who promptly clean up messes and don’t leave dishes out, she has long puzzled about the reason I sometimes leave a knife hanging over the sink. This helps explain it.

SEASONAL FOODS

My grandparents grew most of their food, pickling the excess, and putting “winter squashes” in the root cellar so there’d be some fresh vegetables in winter. Acorn and butternut squash are available year-round, but to me they are still most special in wintertime, the season in which they used to star as one of the few fresh vegetable options.

Grapefruit (from Texas, of course) are best in winter too, so I’ve also been enjoying them recently.

What foods are y’all eating right now that you tend to only enjoy in winter?

Y’all take care.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 04:00 PM

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