Food Thread: Filet Mignon With Ramen? Sure...Why Not?

[Of course I wanted to embed a song by "Korn," but they are awful!]

New Jersey corn is pretty good, mostly because the supply chain is short and it arrives within a day or so of harvest. But supermarkets add a day or two to the mix, so it is difficult to get really fresh corn without driving to good farm stands.

But...damn! It's worth it. A few weeks ago we picked up a few ears of freshly picked corn and ate it that day. I shucked them, popped them into 185 degree water, and simmered for 10 minutes.

That's it. No salt. No butter! They were incredibly sweet and tender and absolutely delicious.

So why not go back to the well? And we did, but the later season corn...just two weeks later...wasn't as good. Still solid, and a pleasure to eat, but not incredible.

There are a few dishes that come to mind when I think of foods that are best with complex sauces or lots of spiciness or in the case of snails...butter and garlic and parsley. Chicken breast is a perfect food for a cook to let his freak fly, because no matter what he does, he isn't masking the flavor of the breast, because there isn't much there to begin with. And I know some of you are put off by the idea of snails, but they really don't taste like much; they are a vehicle for those three delicious ingredients!

But you know what another one is? Filet Mignon, or tenderloin, or whatever you want to call it. Beef (or pork) tenderloin is very mildly flavored, and lends itself to great buttery, creamy pan sauces, or an au Poivre sauce. Filet on its own is nice, but nothing special.

I went to Costco recently, which is often an unimaginable pain in the ass, but I went very early, before the proles showed up, and the place was actually tolerable. I bought one of their $4.99 roasted chickens, because I wanted to experiment and make chicken stock out of it.

But...it looked so good that I tasted it, and yup! It was mighty tasty for a mass-market chicken that is a loss-leader. Sure, it was salty, and had some other spices that I couldn't figure out, but for a quick meal while standing over the sink, it delivered!

But for f*ck's sake! Stop with the "boneless-skinless" nonsense. Chicken thighs are great with the bone in and the skin intact. Is it some lunatic diet thing? Skin does have a bit of fat, and of course it does! Because it tastes good, and fat is flavor.

Here is something that won't win any awards, but sounds like it is mighty tasty. Brisket macaroni and cheese! And she adds pickled jalapeñoslices on the side because why the hell not?

In my youth I was quite inventive with a pack of ramen noodles and some vegetables and maybe some tofu, or even ground pork if I was flush!

I haven't had homemade in a very long time...just the fancy (and delicious) stuff at Ramen restaurants. But I am intrigued about trying it again, so the next time I go to my sort-of-local Japanese market I am going to pick up some and see what I can do with it! It'll be fun, and it might even be tasty!

About the Bourbon Bubble...I think it has burst, but the category is also suffering from the inflation that affected everything else (Thanks Biden!). I think the sweet spot is still $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!

posted by CBD at 03:57 PM

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