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Food Thread: I Have Fried Food On The Brain...And I'm Okay With That!

Am I the only one who prefers chicken fried steak for breakfast rather than lunch or dinner? Because as American breakfasts go, it is an easy top-10 meal! Especially if it comes with good gravy and a biscuit soaked in butter.

Whenever I travel that is the first thing I look for on a breakfast menu, and I absolutely love going out for breakfast in America. Not communist NJ...but the real America. I think breakfast joints are the best way to get to know a town...whether it is a bump in the road or a large city...it still shows you who lives there. And if there is chicken fried steak on the menu the odds are that they are good folk.

I have some thin-sliced sirloin that is earmarked for CFS (that's what we aficionados call it), and my biscuit work has been exemplary lately, so all indications are good. Gravy is straightforward, so the only issue is the batter. Too thick and it will be a gloppy mess, and too thin will be another dish entirely.

Anyone make this at home? Inquiring minds want to know!

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I guess the supermarkets where the government does its price surveys are different than where I shop, because I have observed another ratcheting up of a fair number of basics in the last few weeks. Bags of onions are up 15%, butter is up...again, ground beef seems to have sneaked another dollar/pound, and olive oil is still moving higher, even after the ridiculous 30% move of last year.

I just wish I could shop where the D.C. elites send their chefs...I would be able to save a ton of money!

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I bought a bunch of that last year because we had dinner guests, one of whom did not drink. For some reason he likes that stuff...so.

I made chili recently and needed some beer, because plain water is an abomination and does not belong in chili! So I used that "malt beverage", and because there was some left over in the bottle I tried it.

That was some nasty sh*t! I have been trying to remember the last beer I had that was as bad, and I am having a difficult time. Maybe Genesee Cream Ale...in high school? Hell, I remember where I was and what I was trying to do, so to be fair the Genny Cream was better!

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Commenter "Diogenes" obviously has no taste, but to proclaim it publicly takes a certain amount of fortitude. Or maybe he is using the maple syrup to mask the flavor of some horrendously bad food he made? Is that moldy bread he used for the French Toast? Maybe he's hard up for cash and is having a tough time affording groceries, so he has to use everything he can, including dumpster-diving for staples.

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That's my first attempt at full-sized fried chicken tenders. The paler ones are just flour, without the thick batter that I thought would get nice and crispy.

Sadly, they look better than they tasted, although the paler ones were pretty good. The chicken was cooked perfectly, but the batter just didn't get crisp, and there was a thin layer of it on the inside that was barely cooked.

I soaked the chicken in buttermilk for a day. That worked wonders on the chicken, which was moist and tender and quite tasty! But...the batter was bland and probably too thick, or maybe I didn't cook at high enough heat.

But no snot-nosed little punk of a chicken tender is going to beat me, so I will return soon with tales of my triumph!

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I like spicy food, and Joshua Weissman is one of my favorite internet chefs, because he really does know what he is doing. But this video is just clickbait.

I Made The Spiciest Burger Ever

Funny, but still clickbait. Why anyone would eat a dish made entirely of contrived foods is beyond me. At a certain level of heat it is simply painful. There are no complexities of flavor or texture or aroma...it's just agony.

Sort of like being a Republican!

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Flap Meat...whatever the hell that is...just send it, Broccolini that isn't $6/bunch, garlic...lots of garlic! (and basil! My basil did not do well this year!), well-marbled hanger steaks and elk chops 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: so why don't you put maple syrup on your steaks and chops and chicken?

But the real culprits are those poor deluded souls who shake their Manhattans. These are are the same people who drink fine bourbon with coke, and probably shake red wine with ice too.

However, I will give dispensation to those who use maple syrup on Brussels Sprouts! I tried that last week and it worked nicely. I still prefer Agave, but still...

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.