Rediscovering Common Foods

[Peter the eater]

On the landscape that is my diet, I tend to focus on the monuments which rise up against the fabric of everyday food. I dream about the next perfectly poached lobster tail or blue beef tenderloin, how I'll eventually splurge again on something rare or expensive. But what about all the good stuff in between those fancy meals?

The other day I steamed some young carrots and sprinkled them with freshly cracked black peppercorns. It was truly delicious. A far cry from those ubiquitous bags of pre-peeled and pre-shaped "baby carrots" and an even farther cry from the gray pepper dust that comes out of small paper packets.

I think carrots deserve their prime spot in the crisper. Everybody eats them but I don't think people always remember how great they can be when done right. And sometimes I get a perfectly pungent hit of the master spice and think WOW it really does belong beside salt on the table.

Do you ever have those moments where something really common is really, really good?

Edited January 7, 2008 by Peter the eater (log)

[annecros]

Toast. I really, really appreciate toast.

And, a runny egg yolk.

Then there is a tomato right off the vine in the yard out of hand.

[shellfishfiend]

Perfectly steamed broccoli, hit with just a squeeze of lemon juice can be terrific. Same for fresh asparagus, although I add fresh ground pepper. It tastes of spring.

I love a great cucumber, crunchy and fresh tasting when dressed with rice wine vinegar.

Tomato, fresh off the vine, warmed by the sun, and sprinkled with sea salt. Summer in a bite.

[adegiulio]

toast...

[heidih]

Plain old cabbage. Move it around in a pan with a small amount of any tasty fat (olive oil, butter, bacon, duck..) and some type of onion, maybe garlic. If you want it for a main dish toss in some leftover meat, and you have a sweet feast. A little fresh ginger or Dijon mustard gilds the lily. It also keeps well so I try to have some in my fridge at all times as a back-up vegetable.

[OliverN]

I know its been talked about so much that it goes without saying, but can I mention Cauliflower Cocaine?

[docsconz]

...a crisp-fried egg prepared in duck fat - perfect!

[hummingbirdkiss]

a HUGE bowl of perfectly cooked (sauce thick and brown..almost caramel color...and the beans still intact) this years crop (insert current year)

pinto beans ...with nothing in them but salt

or toast

Edited January 12, 2008 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[CaliPoutine]

A couple summer's ago we got some fresh peas and carrots from the Amish farmers. They were so fresh and clean tasting!!

The wonderful Ontario peaches, berries and strawberries each summer. It pains me to even look at the imported ( tasteless) crap ass produce our local grocery store gets each winter.

Oh and man oh man did we have some fabulous bagels in S. Florida over xmas. How anyone can consider those inspid grocery store rolls with holes a bagel is beyond me.

[maggiethecat]

The wonderful Ontario peaches, berries and strawberries each summer. 

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Amen, Randi!

I live near a great food city, frequent great produce stores, and the peaches, whatever the provenance, are nothing compared to Ontario's, for flavor or for price. Niagara peaches in August...

I nominate leftover salmon with a slice of buttered baguette and a smear of mayo.

[scubadoo97]

Plain old cabbage.  Move it around in a pan with a small amount of any tasty fat (olive oil, butter, bacon, duck..) and some type of onion, maybe garlic. If you want it for a main dish toss in some leftover meat, and you have a sweet feast. A little fresh ginger or Dijon mustard gilds the lily. It also keeps well so I try to have some in my fridge at all times as a back-up vegetable.

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I really love thin sliced cabbage and carrots sauted in butter.

[JimH]

Just picked sweet corn, steamed till it's just heated through. No salt, no butter, just sweet corn.

ETC: spelling

Edited January 12, 2008 by JimH (log)

[Lilija]

A delicious, chewy, homey, comforting, bowl of homemade egg noodles, with butter and maybe garlic. Or in a rich chicken broth.

[CKatCook]

Nothing beats just plain roasted chicken, nothing fancy,just salt, pepper, rosemary, butter on the skin, straight from the oven.

I can eat a whole one myself...

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Just picked sweet corn, steamed till it's just heated through.  No salt, no butter, just sweet corn.

ETC: spelling

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Yum! Not far from where I live, grows some of the best sweet corn I've ever tasted. When corn is in season, I make frequent trips to the farmers market to buy it.

My husband and second born son have been known to shuck it, rinse it, and eat it raw.

[snowangel]

Just picked sweet corn, steamed till it's just heated through.  No salt, no butter, just sweet corn.

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Be still my beating heart. The very thought of a fresh picked ear of sweet corn, first of the season sets my knees to quivering.

Just once did the husband drive by a stand, not stop, and remark, upon arrival at home that "there's fresh sweet corn." He had a nice long drive back to The Place, and has never committed such a crime since.

Oh, my, fresh and just picked sweet corn. Add that first tomato from the garden, and I think we've got Eden.

[Alchemist]

1.) Mushrooms sauteed in sweet butter with salt, and fresh cracked pepper.

2.) Sourdough bread toasted with butter or rubbed with a garlic clove.

3.) Celery with peanut butter.

4.) Warm corn tortilla, heated on flame, so there are little blackened parts.

5.) Fresh, cold whole milk. Preferably not from a carton but from glass.

[Jamie Lee]

An Idaho potato - peeled - boiled until tender - "riced", tossed with a touch of butter, plenty of salt and pepper, OMG - heaven.

[MarketStEl]

One thick slice of a gloriously misshapen, deep red Jersey tomato.

A shake of salt.

Nirvana in two simple steps.

[HungryC]

My vote goes to a freshly dug new potato, so fresh that the skin flakes off. Boil until tender, press w/the back of a spoon, and toss in some salted butter & cracked pepper. A handful of finely chopped fresh parsley puts it over the top.

[Lora]

A hot-from-the-oven, made from scratch, old-fashioned American soft dinner roll. Excessive butter optional. I rediscovered these this year and now I make them several times a month, and there's always homemade "brown-and-serve" rolls in my freezer.

[divalasvegas]

Old fashioned USA style custard. Not flan, not creme brulee--I really like those too--but just regular custard perfectly baked and served chilled. Funny thing is that I remember from when I was a kid that just about every restaurant/diner had custard as a dessert option. Same thing for tapioca or puddings. I used to make those desserts a lot as a teenager.

Ditto for what Sandy or anyone else here says about a perfectly ripe tomato in season served simply, although I don't think I've ever had a Jersey tomato.

[ermintrude]

Broad (fava) beans boiled and served with crispy fried bacon, the bacon fat from the pan used to dress the broad beans.

[Ndy]

bacon...no wait, I eat that all the time.

[BarbaraY]

Freshly churned sweet butter spread on saltines.