33 replies to this topic

[tommy]

i know that technically speaking, corn is a starch and not a vegetable.

but i have to know, how many of you serve it as a veggie, with another starch (like the classic combo of mashed potato)?  i mean, do you ever serve steak with corn and asparagus?  wouldn't you more likely serve a grilled steak with corn (on the cob) and some roasted potatoes?  

mrs. tommy and i have this discussion pretty much any time corn comes up.  when shopping for dinner, she'll ask what we should get, and i'll say "how about corn".  and she'll say "ok, so we won't have potatoes, so what veggie?"  it drives me insane.  

a little help here folks.

[Jason Perlow]

Yeah, Rachel pulls the same thing with me.

Who came up with that idiot rule anyways? Who says you cant have two starches with meat? The starch nazis?

[franklanguage]

Who came up with that idiot rule anyways? Who says you cant have two starches with meat? The starch nazis?

Hey, corn is a starchy vegetable, okay? You can have jellybeans with your steak for all I care; the current line is that it's just better to have many colors on your plate - not just beige and brown. I suppose you don't even have a green salad.

The link I'm adding here is called "Eat A Rainbow Every Day" and is geared to kids; it appears the Food Rainbow is replacing the Basic 4 Food Groups and even the Food Pyramid. (I always thought it sounded like a pyramid scheme anyway.)

[B Edulis]

And what about beans?

Sure, green beans and wax beans are a veg. Are cannelini?

I can't imagine anyone would call polenta a veg, tho' it's made of the same stuff as fresh corn with the exception that more of the sugars have turned to starch.

And speaking of starch and starch, aren't there some Italian recipes for pasta with potatoes? How about American and Mexican native dishes of corn with dried beans?

We are definitely entering a very grey and unexplored area here.

[Jinmyo]

It might be grey in terms of the fading of black and white definitions, but surely it's colourful.

Rice with black beans and corn, onions and poblano.

Roasted potatoes tossed with roasted corn served with grilled lamb chops with a mint pesto, ramp soup.

Corn and rice with pulled shoulder pork roast, asaparagus wrapped in bacon or panchetta and roasted, mache salad with warm chevre.

Polenta with roasted corn, roasted red pepper gaspacho, potato frittata.

Not too grey at all.

[CathyL]

Roasted corn sliced off the cob, tossed with diced tomato, sweet onion, a little oil & vinegar, some basil.

I prefer corn on the cob unbuttered - just salt & pepper.  (Or, sometimes, a squeeze of lime & a sprinkle of ground chipotle.)

[Jinmyo]

Yes, CathyL. But would you have it with another starch?

[CathyL]

I probably wouldn't do corn on the cob and bread or baked potatoes - too solid/stodgy.  But a fresh corn/tomato salad at room temperature, with hot crispy roasted tater chunks, would both be fine accompaniments to grilled lamb.  

Starch is as starch does.  

[Jinmyo]

would both be fine accompaniments to grilled lamb.  

Yes, they would.

[stefanyb]

Now here's another wrinkle-
With respect to the acrylimide issue, would the carbohydrates in corn be adversely affected by grilling and not by boiling or steaming?  And while we're on the subject, what temperature is steam and does steaming produce acrylimide?  I know water never goes above 212 degrees but what temperature is steam?

What IS the carbohydate content of corn.  Does it closely correspond to potatoes or is it closer to, say, greenbeans or peas?

Isn't it interesting that our Tommy is interested in "corn"?

[Sandra Levine]

An ear of corn has fewer carbs than a potato, but who eats only one ear of corn?

Here is a link to carbohydrate counts:



carbohydrate counts

[tommy]

Now here's another wrinkle-
With respect to the acrylimide issue, would the carbohydrates in corn be adversely affected by grilling and not by boiling or steaming?  And while we're on the subject, what temperature is steam and does steaming produce acrylimide?  I know water never goes above 212 degrees but what temperature is steam?

WTF are you talking about?  

for the record, pure water *does* exist above 212 degrees f, depending on the atmospheric pressure in which you're heating it.  steam looks like smoke sort of.  i'm no expert.  

and i'm much more interested in Korn than corn.

edit: the "WTF are you talking about" comment was directed towards the stuff about acrylimide, since i have no idea what that is.

[Liza]

I'd say, eat whatcha like.

I like corn.

[=Mark]

I consider corn a vegetable, and would have no problems serving it with a starch.  Is it really any more starchy than peas or beans?  As for the carbo thing as a whole, there are plenty.  Carrots, beets and onions are huge sources of starches and sugars.

[stefanyb]

edit: the "WTF are you talking about" comment was directed towards the stuff about acrylimide, since i have no idea what that is.

Don't worry T. I'm honored to be addressed thusly by you.  I'm sure its a sign of endearment (if not don't tell  me).  This is beginning to sound like Sally Field's Oscar acceptance speech.

The acrylimide reference has to do with ( I think it was Sandra Levine's post, correction it was Helena Sarin's post)the business of cancer-causing chemicals (acrylimide)  produced when starches are heated to high temperatures, such as french fries and even in bread, as it is baked to at least 350 degrees.  I was just wondering  what temperature  something that is steamed  is cooked at and whether corn that is grilled would have the same problem as french fries.

Actually, I'm still wondering.

[Sandra Levine]

No, no, it wasn't me!.  I responded to that post that I had heard that living causes dying.  I think it was Helena Sarin's post, maybe in General?

[Adam_Balic]

i know that technically speaking, corn is a starch and not a vegetable.

I have never heard of this "Starch" concept until looking at the hotel menu for this USA conference I am going to next week. In that they say that "all meals will be served with appropriate starches". Sounds very strange to me, a bit like "all meals will be served with appropriate Solant Green", very clinical.

Corn is a veggie. Most of the time. Except when it is a starch.

[Liza]

What does that make huitlacoche = corn smut? A smutty vegetable or smutty starch?  

[Priscilla]

and i'm much more interested in Korn than corn.

Korn the band, or Korn the superhip Japanese musician/sometime Iron Chef judge, Tommy?

Priscilla

[tommy]

Korn the band, or Korn the superhip Japanese musician/sometime Iron Chef judge, Tommy?

Priscilla

hehehe.  both, now that you mention it!  

[Priscilla]

Sounds very strange to me, a bit like "all meals will be served with appropriate Solant Green[...]

Please.  It is SOYLENT green.

Behooves one to keep one's Charlton Heston references straight.  You'll find some Yanks are a bit tetchy (today's OED WotD) on that account.

Priscilla

[Adam_Balic]

Charlton Who? Oh, the guy the 1920's dance is named after right?

[Liza]

Do you think Korn every takes off those enormous superhip shades?

[tommy]

this is my thread so i'm allowed to change the topic:

mrs. tommy insists that the "fortune teller" lady and the "food critic" lady are one in the same.  i say that they just happen to be older, um, middle-aged women with dark hair.  which is it?  i mean, they *are* real people, right?

also, am i the only one who is completely impressed with the dubbing into english?  the conversation is extremely natural, the characters are extremely developed.  i'm just blown away.  i am still not convinced that they aren't speaking in english right then and there (although i know they're not).  does anyone have any insight as to how they were to consistent with the dubbing?

[Jason Perlow]

They are not the same person. The fortune teller lady is much more forgiving of a culinary snafu whereas the the food reviewer lady is a total BITCH. I'd use a stronger word than that but Rachel would hit me.

"Ohmygod! You can't say that word!"

[Priscilla]

Do you think Korn ever takes off those enormous superhip shades?

I hope, IhopeIhopeIhope, that Korn NEVER EVER removes his shades.  Such commitment, I submit, is very nearly the quintessence of superhiposity.

Priscilla

[Priscilla]

...am i the only one who is completely impressed with the dubbing into english?  the conversation is extremely natural, the characters are extremely developed.

You are correct, Tommy, the overdub performances are absolutely brilliant.  Kitchen Stadium-preferred pronounciations, e.g. the ubiquitously invoked FWAgra, have polluted my personal lexicon.  Impressively consistent and respectful work by the actors, I think, and they're obviously working from an excellent, sensitive translation.

Priscilla

[tommy]

thanks priscilla.  also curious is the use of what i would consider very american euphemisms and turns of phrase (although i can't think of any for examples).  i can't imagine that this stuff is literal from japanese.  and still, they weave it together seamlessly and naturally.  

and yes, i definitely put a lot more emphasis on the first syllable of foie gras these days, more as a playful nod to IC rather than thinking it makes me sound sophisticated...or japanese for that matter.    

[Ron Johnson]

I thought that potatoes were vegetables too.
Korn:  first there is the loud part, then there is the quiet part, then they play the loud part again.  Brilliant, really.

[Liza]

Apparently, and this is seemingly serious, the translators are trying to get at the 'tone' of the speakers, and are really trying to be accurate AND sensitive.
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