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Food Thread: Wash That Knife! Carve That Leg! Peel That Carrot!

Ah...lamb! Specifically, a boned-out leg of lamb, which I think is the best way to prepare lamb! Why? because the leg is thick in places, thin in places, has wildly different amounts of fat, and cooks very unevenly. But boning it yields a large piece of meat that can be trimmed to one's own preferences, and then tied up so that it cooks perfectly evenly.

That's why!

Now, a slow-cooking leg of lamb on a rotisserie is going to cook very nicely, no matter if it is bone-in or boneless. This isn't an existential crisis. And besides, I sort of like well-done lamb, especially if it is nice and fatty and the fat has crisped and even charred a little.

But for convenience, the boneless is hard to beat, which is why I am gravitating toward one for a birthday dinner I am hosting in a few weeks. Well, that and a roast chicken on a bed of leeks, carrots, and potatoes, because I think I will have a full table, and the guest list has at least three people who would in another age be considered trenchermen!

And because there isn't enough meat on the menu, I think I will make my cauliflower gratin, but this time with lardons, which is a snooty French word for bacon chunks!

And some green stuff...I guess. For a well-balanced meal.

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2,000-year-old Roman bread discovered under construction site

[...]While clearing the grounds of an upcoming residential development about 20 miles northeast of Zurich, specialists at the Aargau Cantonal Archaeology service found what they believe is a chunk of charred, 2000-year-old Roman bread.

The "alleged pastry" described in an online post from the Aargau Cantonal Department of Education is approximately four inches wide and 1.2 inches thick and likely a type of flatbread. Researchers spotted the burnt morsel in August 2025 while combing through a 43,000-square-foot area near the Roman site of Vindonissa. Known for its strategic position along major river routes, Vindonissa began as an outpost for Roman legion soldiers in what was once the empire's northern frontier.

And why do they "believe" that it is bread? Maybe they were digging in a latrine, and discovered something completely different?

I'm not trying to denigrate archaeology, but in the grand scheme of things, discovering the remains of someone's meal isn't the most exciting thing in the world. People have been eating for a very long time...obviously the remains of those meals carpet every archaeological site.

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Sweetbreads! They are marvelous, and I will brook no argument. Sadly, they are no longer inexpensive! I have noticed over the last several years that even in France they have become a bit of a delicacy, with prices to match, so some of you bastards have discovered how delicious they are, and have driven up the price. Please stop that, and tell all of your friends that sweetbreads cause gout (do they?) and flatulence and will turn your hair green!
The Glory of Guts

As steak became more available and prestigious, and eaters have become more removed from, or repulsed by, the reality of food, guts have largely disappeared from cooking. When was the last time you went out and ordered a big calf's liver in vinegar sauce? They, like sweetbreads and tongues, used to be standard fare. Sweetbreads have just barely survived the dulled modern American palate, which has banished guts from its table. One still finds this fine offal on menus in a few fancy places, even in Los Angeles.

I don't know how dulled the modern American palate is, but we have stopped eating things that were common fare just a few generations ago. Whether that is good is a different question, and I'll bet that with the advent of easy transportation and communication, our range of foods has expanded.

In fact, that comment is a throwaway just to sound hip and cool and 0h-so-European, so...

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scampydog's SiL is just showing off with those sourdough crackers! My first thought was that she is a chemist, and that is a benzene ring, but scampydog tells me she is an engineer.

I have a tough enough time getting my sourdough crackers to be the same size, much less cool shapes that absolutely make them taste better!

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Misanthropic Humanitarian thought he would troll me with this recipe, but I will have the last laugh! It doesn't sound awful. Maybe a bit boring, and there are definitely more tasty things to do with carrots than make them into soup.
The Comforting Soup My Family Can't Stop Eating
I think this woman's family is a bit retarded in the food arena...there are lots of foods that I would describe as being unable to stop eating, but carrot soup? Really? Maybe nicely marbled NY Strips, grilled rare, or freshly shucked New England Oysters, or even a loaf of freshly-baked bread with great butter.

Her family needs to get out more.

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That looks delicious! From the kitchens of commenter "Rhode Island Red" and the cooking files of commenter "redmindbluestate!" It was no doubt a result of a discussion on these august pages, so really, I will take credit!

Actually, RIRed's lovely wife cooked it, and you will have to guess who took the photo, but clearly, RIRed is an afterthought in his own kitchen.

On a bed of skins-on mashed potato. Red wine for cooking was a hearty Zin.

Picture by DILIT.

Best Braised Short Ribs
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I guess some people go through that thought process, but I once got myself sick from food poisoning (I know the source; it wasn't a contaminated knife), and I never want to repeat the experience, so why risk it?

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The garlic is busily growing, with pretty impressive green shoots that are pushing a foot tall! I even fertilized them! And if they survive the deer and 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!