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Food Thread: Food Thread?

A simple green salad is a wonderful palate cleanser, delicious on its own (good fresh dressing is a must), and it sure looks good on the table! As much as I dislike any distractions from the proteins and fats on my gustatory journey, I really enjoy salad as a counterpoint to rich foods. And the variety of greens is pretty amazing. Remember when Iceberg Lettuce was pretty much the only thing you could find in the supermarket?

A quick search reveals more than a dozen greens that at least someone thinks is appropriate in salads! Some are a bit of a stretch...for instance, kale takes a lot of work to make it palatable. And some greens are bitter, and work best in combination with others.

I try to keep my salads simple; some grape tomatoes, maybe some pickled red onion (awesome stuff, and easy to make), and sometimes some shaved Parmesan or even crumbled goat cheese.

And fresh dressing. That is mandatory! Okay...you can make enough for a few days, but a pint of dressing is going to be a pale reflection of its origins by the time it is finished.

Classic French dressing is simply 3:1 oil:vinegar, and Dijon mustard to taste. I also crack some fresh black pepper into it, and a bit of salt never hurt anybody. In fact, that pepper and salt can go on the salad after you toss it with the dressing!

But the real question is: When do you eat your salad...to begin the meal or to end it?

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Arancini! What a wonderful dish...it is absolutely perfect as an appetizer, although I guess you could make it a main course. Rice and cheese, fried into a ball? What's not to love. But they are sort of messy to make, and the classic recipe calls for risotto, which takes a bit more work than plain rice. But it's worth the trouble!

Here is Arancini di Riso from Giada de Laurentiis, and she uses Gorgonzola in the middle, which is lovely, but if you don't like the pungency of a blue cheese, you can always use Mozzarella.

But here is a recipe from "The Spruce" that claims it is "Classic Sicilian Arancini," and it is stuffed with ragu and peas! Yeah...that sounds good too!

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Hah! "Big Ice" is now my b*tch!

I have agonized for many years about the clarity of the ice I use in cocktails. Sure, I have tried all of the conventional wisdom tricks...and none of them works. Boiling the water...using distilled water...filtering the water...it all ends up with cloudy ice.

There are two things happening: modern freezers are extremely cold, and the ice begins to form on all sides of the vessel, not just the top (because ice is less dense than water) whether that is an automatic icemaker or a fancy silicone form for large craft cubes. As the water freezes it pushes out the dissolved gasses and whatever impurities there are, so the first ice to form is perfectly clear. But then those gasses and other crap have nowhere to go, so they eventually end up frozen in the cube. That's the cloudiness.

So the trick is to freeze the water slowly so it forms only from the top down, and then provide an escape route for the gasses and impurities. The easiest way to do that is to put a hole in the bottom of each cube form*, and then provide some room underneath so the cloudy crap has somewhere to go other than into the cube. But keeping the ice from forming on all sides is another issue, and the way to do that is to put a rack into a small insulated cooler, then put the ice forms on top of it, then fill it with water just to the edge of the forms. And then put your freezer on its warmest setting, which is still damned cold!

[That's an extra ice form, without holes. And I can get two of them into the cooler.]

Put the cooler on something solid...not directly onto a freezer shelf. They are usually wire racks, and protecting the cooler from the cold air helps a bit.

Anyway, after about 36-48 hours you have perfectly clear ice cubes. They are embedded in the rest of the ice, so it takes a bit of work to get the trays out, but if you are careful you can also harvest some of the clear ice on the sides.

What's that? Dildo's a loon? Yup! But it's fun, doesn't take too long, and there are actual advantages other than esthetics. The ice is denser than cloudy ice, and it stays solid longer.

*I used a paper punch...the hole doesn't have to be big. 1/4" is plenty.

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There has been some loose talk...irresponsible talk...about the inadvisability of putting jalapeños into Margaritas.

Stop that at once! Tequila and spice go very well together, and fresh sliced jalapeños are delicous in a well-made Margarita. In fact, you can make a paste from a slice and some sugar, and use that to coat the rim of the glass (do it in advance so it dries). That is loads of fun, because the pepper and the sugar contrast nicely, and the little zing from the capsaicin on your lips adds a nice note to the drink.

And yes, it was commenter "Blaster" who ratted you people out!

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I had to give Chef John the opportunity to redeem himself after the silliness of last week's pizza toast. And here he is! Garlic & Citrus Mojo Pork is a classic dish, and Chef John comports himself well. His marinade is simple and good, and his cooking technique is about as easy as it gets. I have made something similar, but I am going to give his technique a try.

One thing that is stupid...he is pandering a bit to some of his fans, who complained to him about using a resealable bag to marinate in. Duh! It's the easiest and best way to do it, because the marinade is in perfect contact with all of the meat. But throwing away a plastic bag is apparently beyond the pale and will cause irreparable damage to the environment, so he uses a large plastic container that doesn't do as good a job.

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I am less than enamored of New Jersey, but some of the local seafood is incredible, especially sea scallops. The ones in the photo were spectacular! Sweet, rich, incredibly flavorful...as good as they get. They are also "dry," which means that they aren't treated with a solution of water and sodium tripolyphosphate. That stuff keeps them moist and plumps them up, but it is water weight (and I think it imparts a flavor to the scallops, and it definitely changes the texture).

Dry scallops have a shorter shelf life, but they are worth seeking out. Treat them gently, and don't tart them up! Salt them an hour before cooking, then sautéthem in a pan on medium heat with lots of butter. That's it!

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The oyster imperative remains in effect, especially now that we are entering the summer months. Yup, I'm not afraid of oysters in the summer! (Except that my usual source was sold out, so I am an oysterless Dildo, and you know how bad that is!) And send pork rib roasts from the front end of the pig where all the good and fatty meat lives, carrots that don't taste like stalky chalk, garlic...lots of garlic! (but no basil!), well-marbled NY strip steaks and elk backstrap to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.

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

And yes, I used to demand fancy bourbon, but let's face it, $1,200 for a bottle of bourbon is just stupid, insulting, and a ghastly affront to most people's palates and wallets. I think the sweet spot is $40-$60 for excellent and interesting bottles, and bumping that to $100 gets you an incremental improvement in quality, but nothing mind-blowing. More than that and I think you are paying for hype and rarity, which may look good in your liquor cabinet, but doesn't translate to more quality in the bottle.