Food Thread – 8/02/2026

Well once again, Mr. CBD has left the kitchen unlocked while he goes on vacation, and something has to be served up. I may not be a chef, but even the busboy has to prepare some food at times, so with apologies to those of you who deserve better, here is the weekly Food Thread.

For the Love of Cauliflower

I love cauliflower, be it baked, boiled, or raw. I always have loved it, even before cauliflower became trendy in recent years.

When I was kid and we had roast beef after church on Sundays, I preferred mushy cauliflower to mashed potatoes as a side, especially when the cauliflower was covered in brown gravy made from the roast’s drippings.

My very favorite dish nowadays in my town is a “Japanese Style Cauliflower,” in which the florets are tempura fried with chili flakes then covered in something called gochujang sauce. (That dish is in the header picture above.) I’m going to ask Mr. CBD to cook some up for the Co-blogger Christmas Party this year.

Well, this item below may not have gochujang sauce, but I’ve discovered a simple but tasty form of cauliflower that I can prepare in just minutes on a busy weeknight – cauliflower hash browns!

I just drizzle a little olive oil in a skillet, then fry up a couple of these pucks with a little salt and pepper. I‘m not eating these because I‘m seeking something healthier than fried potatoes, I just like ‘em. But I suppose they might be a little bit healthier than fried spuds, if healthy is your thing.

Speaking of this vegetable, how do you pronounce it? My family, which hails from the Great Plains down to Texas, all pronounce it “call a flower,” or perhaps “KAH-luh-flower.” But here in the South, I hear a lot of people pronounce it “collie flower,” which I just can’t bring myself to say.

And since I’m talking about cauliflower, I’ll launch into my periodic “al dente vegetable” rant, which I’ve probably done before…

There are vegetables that I love, whether they‘re cooked or if they’re served raw, including broccoli and cauliflower. But I’m annoyed when a restaurant (or more likely a banquet hall) serves me warm, raw vegetables. If you’re not going to cook my broccoli, fine, I like it raw. But what is the purpose of warming it to barely above room temperature and then putting it on a plate.

Spice Rack Inflation

This could be one of Mr. CBD’s First World problems, but have you noticed that no matter how many jars you have in your spice rack, whenever you try a new recipe, it requires yet another a new spice?

That picture is the spice rack in my house. Buried in the back are all the infrequently used spices. The most commonly used ones necessarily migrate to the front.

In a few months, the chili spices will be working their way to the front – especially chili powder, cumin, and paprika.

During the next big cupboard clean-out, perhaps my wife and I can pull out all the spices we’ve only used once, and before throwing them out, challenge ourselves to make a dish that uses them.

Guess That Food Game

Speaking of food challenges, my wife and I have a circle of friends who take turns hosting dinner parties in which we play a parlor game of some sort as the evening’s activity.

I’m thinking it might be fun when we next play host to do one of those taste-test games, where the player is blindfolded and then takes a bite of food and must guess what it is.

Or perhaps we could simply narrow it down to common types of cheeses and fruits, and see if people can guess which cheese or fruit they’re tasting.

Have any of y’all ever done this? What foods did you use?

Peak Rosemary

Back to spices, are we past “peak rosemary” yet?

I don’t necessarily dislike rosemary – it can add some nice flavor. But it’s sort of like cilantro in that a little goes a long way, and I’d rather forego it altogether than have it suffocating all the other flavors.

A few years ago at a trendy restaurant with a small menu that changes nightly, I ordered the pork and roast potatoes. The pork was coated in rosemary; the potatoes were covered in rosemary; and even the focaccia bread on the side was sprinkled with rosemary. I did not order dessert, as I reckoned it too was likely to have rosemary in it. As it was, it took a long time for me to get the taste of rosemary out of my mouth.

Since then, I’ve completely avoided any dish that has rosemary. It’s probably time for me to give it another chance, and just tell the chef to please go light on the rosemary if at all possible.

The same goes for bay leaves. One bay leaf max is all that I ever dare put in a stewed dish.

What foods or seasonings do you find to be overbearing if the chef goes a little heavy with them?

”Mom’s on a diet again”

Bachelor Survival Salad

Periodically when Mrs. Throckmorton isn’t looking, I’ll regress to my bachelor ways and have what I call a “bachelor survival salad.” I highly recommend this as an alternative to no salad at all.

Quite simply, I’ll take a head of lettuce (romaine works best), rip off a leaf, wash it, and while standing over the sink, pour some bottled ranch or blue cheese dressing on it and eat it like a lettuce wrap. Three or four leaves make a salad, and there aren’t any dishes to clean up!

Guys: What foods do you eat while standing over the sink?

Ettes: Do any of y’all eat while standing over the sink, or is that just a guy thing?

Thanks for hanging out here today. Your regular host should be back next week to restore some dignity and decorum to this place.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 04:00 PM

| Access Comments