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Margaret Pilgrim

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Posts posted by Margaret Pilgrim

    What Proteins won’t you eat?

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Kerala said:

    I gave up beef 11 years ago for religious reasons. I miss it occasionally, and this choice makes Argentina less attractive as a holiday destination.

    I wouldn't like to eat monkeys.

    I've tried tripe in Florence and andouilette in Paris. The first I couldn't swallow a second fork full. The second I couldn't quite make myself pull off the fork and into my mouth before spitting it out. Looks like a turd, smells like a turd, now I know what a turd tastes like. Are chitlins this bad?

    I totally agree about monkeys.   Tripe can be delightful, i.e., menudo, or various French preps.    Andouillette is, again, a favorite of mine.    Quality varies, as do cooks.    Again, my theory about no bad foods, only bad cooks.

    What Proteins won’t you eat?

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    On 8/26/2019 at 7:12 PM, eugenep said:

    hey. i'm surprised no one said "human." 

     

    It's a dark thought but, as everyone knows, this did happen during war and famine in many cultures. 

     

    There was an article in Vanity Fair where a former war refugee was starving and he found a place where the shop owner had a lot of "sticks of meat." 

     

    He tried it and he immediately recognized the taste and reported it to the police. The police was surprised that the refugee knew right away and found out that the refugee took part in the civl war in the country not too long ago and that he told the police he could recognize the meat as human bc it had a taste (like humans have some kind of unique taste in the way other animals do: pork, chicken, beef etc).

     

    Ummm...if I had to guess..we are a species of monkey so...the taste he sensed out might be monkey meat??? 

     

    I would like to try veal brains. Author James Peterson said it's cooked just like sweat bread and tastes the same but costs less and that it's just cultural prejudice that makes many people not want to buy or try it. But it has to be super fresh though. Never tried but maybe one day. 

    My mother used to cook brains every once in a while.    I never liked the consistency, which as a child I compared to scrambled eggs.     I have not encountered brains as an adult, but adore sweetbreads.    Perhaps support for my premise that there are no bad foods, only bad cooks.

    Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 3)

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    Actually, you nailed it with your quip.    in 20 minutes, DH has heated and eaten lunch.    He self-defines himself as "time intolerant".     As i wrote, i try to keep several "planned overs" on hand for him, and he brings in frozen entrees like enchiladas, tamales, Swedish meatballs, etc. for close to instant, i.e., 5 minute, lunches.    It works for him, which in turn works for me.    

     

    At breakfast, I make "old-fashioned" oatmeal in the microwave.     Put meal in bowl, cover with water, stir with impeccably clean finger and nuke for 5 minutes.     Douse with heavy cream.    Enjoy.    

     

    I still really love your refrigerator magnet.    Please never let my DH see it!    

    • Haha 1

    Favorite cuts of meat

    in Cooking

    Posted

    23 minutes ago, rotuts said:

    I was younger then

     

    loved the intramuscular fat.   I used to dissect out the large hunk of blubber between the cap and the

     

    " eye ' , then tie it all back up together.   the butcher cut the whole hunk right off the bone , and tied it back together

     

    much easier to slice.    and those ribs were ' dessert "

     

    the flavor of the meal lasted for several days.    the next AM it was sluggish getting around.

     

    my arteries seem to have made it through those days.

     

    Word!

    Favorite cuts of meat

    in Cooking

    Posted

    19 minutes ago, rotuts said:

     

    Prime , really Prime Rib , forgot the rib numbers .  haven't had this in a long long time

    You may or may not still find this to your taste.     We used to have a prime grade standing rib for Christmas Eve, but DH and DS decided it was too rich for them to handle, too much internal fat.    So I switched to Choice grade the next year.    Still too rich.    Now I buy a supermarket "butcher" grade, whatever they are featuring for around $5.99 a pound, roast it low and slow, like several hours at 275 and everyone is happy.    Very flavorful and tender but digestible meat..and a ton of Yorkshire.

    • Like 2

    Dinner 2019

    in Cooking

    Posted

    On 9/1/2019 at 7:11 AM, Okanagancook said:

    Lamb chops (these were sirloin so I boned them and skewered them back together then grilled on the stove top...this time 2 min/side and they were a much better shade of pink)

     

    Great idea.   Thanks.   

     

    I guess Ann_T already has dibs on your potatoes.    Rats!

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1

    Favorite cuts of meat

    in Cooking

    Posted

    2 hours ago, chromedome said:

    Pork... Right now I'm buying a lot of chunked-up breast bones from one of my local supermarkets, where they trim the ribs to make them nice and neat. Cooks like ribs, tastes like ribs, costs 1/3 to 1/4 as much (depending whether ribs are on sale that week).

     

    Nice.    An impecunious French friend served us veal rib bones that he grilled.    Divine, and according to him, almost free.    i asked my local butcher, albeit not the boss, and was told that they would sell me those but priced it out at the same cost/pound as the whole veal rib roast.     Errr...no thanks.

    Favorite cuts of meat

    in Cooking

    Posted · Edited by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

    Beef short ribs; ox tail.    Or better yet, short ribs AND ox-tail braised together.   

    Calf's liver, cut thick, seared and cooked medium rare.     Served over creamed spinach = a plus.

    1 1/2" thick ground sirloin, hard sear, very rare inside.

    Sweetbreads, crispy seared, custardy inside.

    Rib cap, cooked medium.

     

     

    • Like 2

    'Customers looked right through me'

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted · Edited by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

    I can only say that we usually experience excellent service.    We have an inside joke about going into a new restaurant and meeting the waiter from hell, supercilious, condescending, with that "you are SO lucky to have gotten in here!" attitude.    By the time we have placed our order, he is slightly more accommodating.    After seeing our responses to a course or two, he is close to amenable.   By the end of the meal, he is positively jovial.    As we walk out the door, husband will say, "Well, we broke him down."      And a good time will have been had by all.      But acquaintances,  having had a same waiter at a same restaurant, have told us of the miserable time they had, mostly because of this person whom they felt was antagonistic and pushed his own agenda,      They never made the attempt to get him on their side.

    • Like 2

    Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 3)

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted · Edited by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

    2 hours ago, KennethT said:

      I got it now ... primarily to test out the various things that we'd typically use a microwave for - to make sure we don't need to actually get a microwave.... w

     

    I'm not sure that our CSO will do much of any of the things we daily use a microwave for.    As in heating leftovers in 3-4 minutes; melting butter; heating milk or for that matter reheating a cup of coffee;  nuking a "TV" meal for lunch.   My frustration with the CSO, and it is probably due to my inexperience, is its 10 minute pre-heat function and time loss.    It will be great for "cooking" but I don't find it great for fast reheats.

    'Customers looked right through me'

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted · Edited by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

    20 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

     

    Obviously the guest must have discussed food and beverage at some point.  I'd take it as a compliment on the service if things like re-setting silverware between courses and filling glasses are as unobtrusive as possible.

     

     

    No, his point was not that service was so seamless but that waiters were merely food runners, perhaps an American idea but certainly not the French model.

     

    He mentioned that he noticed that an adjacent table received a different plate than he although they were each having the same tasting menu.    The waioter explained that the chef sent out the plates he had calibrated each table would enjoy, some getting veal, some getting woodcock etc.   

     

    My point, exactly.

    • Like 1

    'Customers looked right through me'

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    At a small dinner in Paris, the subject of waiters came up.   One guest had regaled us with descriptions of his twice a day Michelin starred meals over the past week.    He dropped a comment that he never noticed his waiter.    WHAAAAAT?     Your waiter is not only your server but your only conduit to the kitchen, the chef.    How does the kitchen know that you like, even care about the food?    Even in a diner, the cook likes to hear someone say something nice about their work.    I can't imagine ignoring the waiter, essentially your partner for the duration of your visit.

    • Like 3

    Do I need a....

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    Seriously, I have found the comments, remarks, experiences related on this thread enormously interesting and helpful.    Not the least valuable is the self-realization that I've gained by relating to others' usage and opinions of these various appliances.    We, no, YOU are a bonanza of experience and ingenuity.   

    • Like 2
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