Peter the eater

Yes, I really really do( it might be a texture thing). I love cooked tomato sauce though and I dont mind the odd piece of tomato in a stew. I also love tomato soup. ← I can't stand raw tomatoes either - it's the texture. My oldest son is the same way. ← You guys should try a hydroponic Tiny Tim tomato from my inlaws' farm -- they have the sweet flavor and texture that might convert a non-believer.

One pot stews are a nice and easy idea but not all ingredients behave the same under long times at low temps. The mutton was delicious once browned but still pink on the inside. After 10 minutes in the pot, it became well done and quite chewy. An hour later it was back to being very palatable and soft. Same goes for beef and pork -- basic stew theory. If I'm at a cocktail party enjoying Viking style nibbles, I don't really care how many pots were used -- only how good it tastes. You're right to keep the players apart so they can all reach their flavor-texture zenith as they are go in the mouth.

I prefer ripe and over-ripe fruits most of the time, but occasionally the younger fruit is better. There's really nothing to lose since they're on your counter already -- why not experiment? Simmer some chunks in a fortified wine like a Ruby Port. Add sugar, molasses, nutmeg, whatever. Send it through a food mill and you'll have a nice condiment even if you can't taste the pears. Firm fruit can be very nice off the gas grill or barbecue. Make a soup . . . with crumbled blue cheese!

What a spread! I never think to make spatzle for a get together, never mind with those embellishments -- bacon, cheese and leek is like a Holy Trinity for me. No smoking for me this weekend, I went with the eGullet Recipe Cook-Off XVII -- Sausages.

That one rolled around in the simmering water for 8 or 10 minutes. The casing was intact but it obviously took on water, it was very turgid and squirted when cut. The fried ones split but I could have avoided this if were more attentive, lower temp, etc.

Today was sausage day. I defrosted a giant pork shoulder in the sink and assembled lots of flavorful ingredients: I've ground plenty of meats before but this was the first time for stuffing collagen casings. I found a company (in Texas) online that sends free samples (from New Jersey): So the plan was to stuff some basic pork sausages and to get comfortable with the casings and the new Kitchen Aid stuffer attachment. The tips on process posted here were very helpful, thank you Chris A, Chris H and the rest of you sauSAGES. I was careful to keep things chilly and not to rush it. The hardest part for me was controlling the air as the tube filled up. I eventually got the hang of it after some big bubbles and ruptures. It's easier with an assistant. I used dry sage, kosher salt, cracked black pepper and the pork as the base mixture. I took a couple pounds of this and added garlic and honey. Another couple pounds received chopped onion and another got chopped hot finger peppers. It was very useful to cook a small patty before stuffing: Mmmmmmmm: From left to right poached, steamed and pan fried: All three tasted fine, but fried was best with that golden crunchy exterior. Given the work involved I think I'll go for a bigger diameter next time -- more meat per metre. And if I'm going to cook the links with water they're going to need better colour -- I'm thinking paprika, turmeric or soy sauce. Maybe beets, they stain everything.

Sad but true, and even sadder still considering it's not true for many people around the world. Slow cooking is what separates us from the animals. Think about it, one end of the spectrum involves sinking your incisors into a living creature, ripping off a chunk, chewing and swallowing. The other is a slowly bubbling cauldron with spices, enzymes, acidity and heat -- like an external stomach.

Good idea -- back to the Bulk Barn where I can buy as little or as much as I want. Very handy for grain experiments.

That's a great question. I don't know the answer, but here's what I think: Food that's eaten raw for nutritional reasons has pretty much lost its advantage by the time it hits the small intestine for absorption. Meat that's slow-cooked all day has surely lost nutrients but what remains falling off the bone is still delicious protein. Meat cooked sous vide has at least retained the volatile components within the bag.

Curry Theory sounds like a course I would enjoy. There are infinite flavour variations and so many cultural and geographic connections. That's what I like about curries -- impossible to screw up. Having said that, the go-to constellation in my wheel is: turmeric, fenugreek, ginger and garlic. You need spicy heat and yogurt on the side. Sweet sultanas, coconut and bananas just make it better. Rice and warm beer. Lamb.

I hear you. I think I like seeing my handsome pickled eggs in the fridge more than I like eating them. You don't really hate raw tomatoes, do you? BTW your strawberry jam lasted three days in my house.

It sounds very authentic, though, for Viking c.700. Was that what you were trying to do? ← I was trying to create a simple hearty hot dish that could be served to people at a party. I was envisioning stew shooters (stewters?) in shot glasses that could be belted back with one hand while standing up talking with guests. The meaty bits need to be appropriately smaller and there must be greater visual appeal, to say the least. I need flecks of color and a sharper taste, the "one pot prep" is not nearly as important as the "happy eaters". In retrospect, I was kinda lazy and half expected something magical to happen when I arranged the ingredients in a primal circle. It's important to do a test run.

Oooooo, that pork and poultry look nice. Your photo inspired me to pull a neglected 25lb pork shoulder out of the freezer. Guess I better make a decision what to do next. Can you describe the juniper flavoring process? My experience with juniper stops at a gin and tonic.

Whatever it's called it's headed straight to the famous Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard in Waterbury, Vermont for burial alongside "Bovinity Divinity", "Miz Jelena's Sweet Potato Pie" and "Peanut Butter & Jelly".

I can't quite visualize a squirrel farm without smirking. Are farmed squirrels more docile, less gamey and fatter?

Racheld, I'd not heard of sand-pears so thanks. Here in a zone 6A I'm pretty much done harvesting stuff -- a few zucchinis and some mint maybe still in the garden. I had to scrape the car windshield this morning, but outside hit room temperature by 10 am. Now I've learned we're preparing for Tropical Storm Kyle this weekend so that should be the end of getting things from our garden. Farms around here still have some excellent corn and those strawberries that just keep going. Over the next few weeks I think we'll make applesauce and pear chutney.

There's a bad 1990 Jeff Goldblum movie called Mister Frost in which he plays the evil title character who has the strange habit of preparing complex gourmet food, takes a Polaroid, then scrapes the plate into the trash without a taste. While replying to Rover's popcorn popper thread it occurred to me that I prefer making popcorn on the stove with the handcrank aluminum pot than I do actually eating it. What are some dishes you'd rather make than eat?

I bought one a few months ago from Loblaws for around $20 and I love it. Popcorn is something I wish I liked more than I actually do -- I like the making more than the eating. My new machine was used exactly twice for corn and now it's a dedicated coffee bean roaster -- which by the way it does very well. It doesn't have a proper brand name on it, just a stylized letter D and the words "Joint Shine, made in China" on the underside.

I've been tinkering with some Vikingesque ingredients: Starting at 12 o'clock: blackberries, honeycomb, mutton, beef marrow bones, onions, spelt with sea salt and dill seeds in the centre. Note the geographically appropriate use of Ikea bowls. I'd never worked with mutton before, but as a hardcore lover of lamb our union was inevitable. This sample was from a 3 year old ewe and let me tell you it was lovely -- nothing like what I'd heard and expected. My theory is that that the yucky mutton taste comes from peripheral fat and not from the meat or it's marbling -- just a theory. I figured I should make a one pot stove top stew with only the stuff in the picture. I did, and was not very good. It was gray and gooey and lacked pizazz. Porridge + meat = stew I saved the berries or honey for desert.

Thanks Busboy for the thread, I'm enjoying the responses -- how can you NOT have an opinion? I recall Dr. Ruth (Westheimer, famous sex therapist) saying that sex is 99% brain and 1% other stuff. Same goes for food. Mario Batali could serve me larvae ravioli with floor sweepings and human cream sauce and I'd probably enjoy it if the presentation was good and the bogus description made me pine for Lombardy. I met a lactation consultant when my kids were born. She cited anthropology studies that described how children have continued to nurse into their teenage years if it was necessary for survival. It's ironic how the ultimate food is so taboo.

Grapes of Wrath was the first thing I thought of -- I read it in grade ten and still haven't fully recovered from that last page. I wouldn't go to Hooters for a slice of Mama's Cheesecake. Besides, human breast milk is a gateway food to cannibalism.

I spoke to a butcher today who had done something similar with a veal calf's leg. He brought the limb to a Veterinary College for a lab where the students simply took the whole thing apart from hip to hoof to study the gross anatomy. Nobody ate their homework but we figured it would be one way to isolate pure red meat without the connective tissue and gristly bits.

That makes sense. I agree the iodine taste can well be described as metallic, but I say this having drank water that was purified using those little iodine tablets from the trekking store -- not something I've detected from table salt. This discussion reminds me how hard it can be to translate flavour into words accurately and articulately. Kinda like the Eskimos and their fifty different words for snow . . . not really, urban myth . . . but you get the point.

That's a lovely thought Rona, but you appear to be twelve time zones ahead so don't worry. I would like someone to characterize for me: 1. a great pork pie and 2. a great sausage roll.

Really? What about chili and lasagna? Beef and tomatoes need to overnight in the fridge together before they really get it on.