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Food Thread: You Say Dumplings, I say Kneidlach: Let's Call The Whole Thing Off!

I couldn't resist the photo! There is a joke somewhere about it being the major food groups of the Irish, but I would never stoop so low!

That is a full brisket from Wild Fork Foods, which is a frozen-food purveyor with a robust shipping business and also a bunch of stores across the country. I have been pleased with some of their stuff, although it is obvious how they manage costs...their butchers are not the most impressive trimmers in the industry. But that brisket is sold as trimmed, and they do a good enough job at an excellent price, so all I have to do is trim a bit more fat, and it's off to the races, or into the roasting pan for a quick sear.

Well, actually it takes a fair amount of time, because it's a big piece of meat!

What? No! I am not smoking it, because braised (or roasted) brisket is one of the foods of MY people! Passover starts in a few days, and I have a bunch of people for the Seder. While I would have preferred another main course, I was informed that brisket was on the menu this year. No, I have no free will when it comes to these things...why do you ask?

Come to think of it, smoked brisket would be good! There are Jews in Texas...well, do you make traditional or Texan-style for Passover? It's tradition, not religious law, so I could make collard greens and smoked brisket and a big pot of beans, and nobody could complain.... much.

The only thing that is non-negotiable is Matzoh-Ball Soup. For two reasons. First, that's what my mother made, and second, mine is spectacular! And yes, I use duck fat instead of vegetable oil. Of course my mother once made Matzoh-Ball Soup with bacon bits inside, so you can probably guess that I didn't grow up in a Kosher home!

By the way, if you really want to show off, call them "kneidlach," because that's the Yiddish word!

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I try not to fall into the foodie conceit that the hipper, rarer, and more expensive the ingredients are, the better the end result. Plain old black pepper is good! But damnit! MY MiL gave me some Cambodian black pepper a few years ago and I was infuriated to discover that it was fantastic! Now, it could be because it was fresh (she bought it there), but I have a sneaking suspicion that it is simply better quality than the stuff I buy. And this is a new batch she just gave me, so I will be busily grinding and tasting to see what's what!

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For whatever reason I decided a week or so ago that pizza is low-carb. So I made some dough from a standard NY style pizza recipe. And while the pizza itself was tasty, I think the dough recipe was designed for ease of handling rather than for taste. But that is a problem with lots of bread recipes...handling high-hydration dough can be a challenge!

I'll dig up a better recipe in a month or so and see what happens.

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Oh boypic.twitter.com/6fclhtG1FO

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) March 23, 2026

That's disgusting on so many levels, that I am suspicious. It's either AI, or somebody is trying to drive eyeballs to their site. It's horrible, but maybe it's like a crash on the highway....

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I hate this sort of crap. It is conspicuous consumption of the worst kind, akin to the Potlatch ceremonies of the Northwest Indians. NYC steakhouse rolls out an ultra-decadent hot cocoa cocktail loaded with booze -- for a whopping $1K If you need to validate your social status by pissing away $1,000 on something this stupid, just give me the cash and I will stand next to you for 30 minutes or so and tell you how impressive you are.
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The Dijon mustard that I ate in France is simply better than the same brand that is exported to America. I find that maddening, but my one attempt at making mustard failed miserably, so I either have to find a local source for French domestic Dijon, or fly there regularly to keep my larder stocked.

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Well, the garlic is out in the sunshine, probably soon to be eaten by those vile rodents with bushy tails and a penchant for damaging my home. But if they survive the squirrel apocalypse, and actually grow into something edible, I will be in garlic heaven! In case it doesn't, send all of your excellent home-grown garlic to: cbd dot aoshq at gmail dot com.

Rumor has it that the Bourbon Bubble is bursting. I have seen no evidence of decreasing prices, but maybe the bursting started somewhere else! 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 or fifty years, but it is worth it!