« First-World Problems... | Main | Gun Thread: January 12th Edition! »

Food Thread: Nuts, Pork, And Bourbon...

What to do with extra nuts? I used to buy raw almonds and then roast them, mostly because they tasted a lot better than the roasted ones from the market. I could control the salt and the fat, and of course that meant more salt and more fat!

But I got bored with roasted almonds, and still had a bag of the raw version. Actually, they are steamed, not raw, because raw almonds will often contain some unpleasant compounds like cyanide!

So I poked around and found some recipes for spicy almonds, and damn! They were tasty! Of course that is a rabbit hole, and there are thousands of variations, and most that I have seen are actually spicy/sweet, which makes them even more delicious and difficult to resist.

I even tried them with pecans, of which I had tons for pecan pie. They were good too, although a friend recently gave me some excellent pecans from Texas, and trust me, they are a lot better than the commodity ones I bought at Costco.

I tuned up a recipe that Bluebell sent me, and that's the one I use. I posted it a long time ago, and have made it many times, but recently I have been cutting back on the cumin.

And peeling the almonds helps a lot, or is a time-consuming affectation that you should probably ignore.

Not sure which, but try them both ways and report back!

******
This article comes from a website run by a law firm that specializes in food safety cases! What a surprise that they are critical.

But...I think that they are correct.

Has FSIS been asleep at the switch since 2022? How could they let Boars Head operate like this?

Ten people died needlessly another 51 were hospitalized with a severe Listeria infection. Not to take anything away from Boar's Head and its responsibility, but what about the USDA/FSIS's responsibility to consumers?

Our government's ability to screw things up is unmatched in history. We spend $30 billion a year on the USDA's non-mandatory programs, and they can't manage to hold a major company's massive production facility to a minimum standard even after dozens of inspections and warnings and policy papers and process improvement initiatives and....?

The Boars Head factory in Virginia was disgusting. Real Upton Sinclair fodder. They won't be getting any of my money for a very long time. But still, how tough is it for an inspector to walk into a food production facility, look up at the ceiling and see dripping liquid hitting the food, and shut them down? That's sort of the point of inspections!

******

The prep for this sort of stuff is the real pain in the *ss. Making the rice, seasoning the fish, slicing it and whatever other stuff you want to put into the rolls...that takes a lot of time.

But slicing the fish is an art, and while I am getting better at it, especially with salmon (it's the easy one), tuna is still a crapshoot with me.

******
This sounds mighty tasty, even if the recipe calls for prepared stuff like bouillon base and some brand of spice mix I have never heard of. But the concept is a good one, so just read through it and replace the dumb stuff with good stuff!

Sausage and Cabbage Soup
******

This has been sitting on my desk for awhile. No, not the food... the recipe. I may have posted it here recently, but I gave it a shot last week, and while it was good, it wasn't exciting. I think the big mistake was using the called-for Piquillo peppers. They were too sweet. Next time I will use a spicy pepper that will provide more flavor than just "sweet."

******
Oh hell. This sounds disgusting. Cheeseburger Casserole. And I'll bet it's actually delicious, and I might make this if we have a Super Bowl viewing gathering. It will undoubtedly be more tasteful than the halftime entertainment!
******

How do you maniacs feel about a semi-regular bourbon tasting section?

I bought that bottle last week, mostly because I like wheated bourbons and it was from Indiana, so definitely a bit different.

It was good, and at 108 100 proof (Thank you Mikeski for catching my mistake) the alcohol was in balance, which makes me think the distillery knows what it is doing. But there were some dusty flavors that I did not enjoy, and it was a bit simple for the price ($40+). I'm not disappointed, but I'm not thrilled, and I probably won't buy another bottle once this one is gone.

******
What the hell happened to all the vegetables? And send me garlic that isn't grown in heavy metals and human waste in China, well-marbled hanger steaks and elk chops to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.

Who are those poor deluded souls We know who shake their Manhattans! These are the same people who drink fine bourbon with coke, and probably shake red wine with ice too.

$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.

The problem...or the solution...is to buy lots of bourbon, take tasting notes, and eventually arrive at your favorites! It should take forty of fifty years, but it is worth it!