Weird Combos That Work(ed) Out Just Right

[Beebs]

Christmas fruit cake + sharp cheddar cheese.

What's in a fruit cake because is cheese and fruit really that weird?

Honestly, I don't think it's all that weird, really. Salty cheese & dried fruit & nuts are always great together. I'll even eat supermarket fruit cake with cheese. I think it's eating the cake itself that some folk find weird - "You eat what?!?! Ewwww...fruit cake is so gross/weird/disgusting! It's only good for catapulting!" (says the DH, every single year....).

[lesliec]

"You eat what?!?! Ewwww...fruit cake is so gross/weird/disgusting! It's only good for catapulting!" (says the DH, every single year....).

DH needs a good talking to, I think. Not liking fruit cake? What's wrong with the man?? Must be something in his raisin'. Maybe he was swept up in a currant as a child. Now he just can't see the appeel. Sorry; I'll stop now ...

Fruit cake + cheese is a long-established tradition in Yorkshire and probably other parts of the UK. There's a particular very soggy, tea-flavoured cake called Yorkshire Brack that's eaten with Wensleydale cheese. Cracking, Gromit.

[dml]

Oyster mushrooms cooked in lamb fat, with fish sauce.

[liuzhou]

Fruit cake + cheese is a long-established tradition in Yorkshire and probably other parts of the UK.

It is certainly common in parts of Scotland. My father ate it all the time. But he also ate cheese and chocolate sandwiches.

Jamaican bun (a spicy fruit cake, really) and cheese is also popular.

[annachan]

Coffee + instant maple oats - not a bad breakfast and caffeine in one

A local place had this beef carpaccio dish with strawberries, dried olives and cheese (parm?). Sounded weird on the menu but the combination turned out fantastic.

[judiu]

"You eat what?!?! Ewwww...fruit cake is so gross/weird/disgusting! It's only good for catapulting!" (says the DH, every single year....).

DH needs a good talking to, I think. Not liking fruit cake? What's wrong with the man?? Must be something in his raisin'. Maybe he was swept up in a currant as a child. Now he just can't see the appeel. Sorry; I'll stop now ...

Fruit cake + cheese is a long-established tradition in Yorkshire and probably other parts of the UK. There's a particular very soggy, tea-flavoured cake called Yorkshire Brack that's eaten with Wensleydale cheese. Cracking, Gromit.

And as James Herriott pointed out, the traditional drink to wash this down is good whisk(e)y... Who knew?

[lesliec]

"You eat what?!?! Ewwww...fruit cake is so gross/weird/disgusting! It's only good for catapulting!" (says the DH, every single year....).

DH needs a good talking to, I think. Not liking fruit cake? What's wrong with the man?? Must be something in his raisin'. Maybe he was swept up in a currant as a child. Now he just can't see the appeel. Sorry; I'll stop now ...

Fruit cake + cheese is a long-established tradition in Yorkshire and probably other parts of the UK. There's a particular very soggy, tea-flavoured cake called Yorkshire Brack that's eaten with Wensleydale cheese. Cracking, Gromit.

And as James Herriott pointed out, the traditional drink to wash this down is good whisk(e)y... Who knew?

Since you mention it, the Yorkshire Brack recipe I have suggests soaking the fruit in whisk(e)y or rum instead of tea.

[teapot]

Some unplanned co-mingling on my plate tonight surprised my tastebuds with this winning combo:

Chanterelle mushrooms + bbq sauce

[Smithy]

Some unplanned co-mingling on my plate tonight surprised my tastebuds with this winning combo:

Chanterelle mushrooms + bbq sauce

Wow! Who knew?!

[bikerkayaker]

For some reason I originally read this as 'smokey cheese' instead of scotch, and it sounded wonderful. I'm not a drinker, but I bet the right cheese would get along quite well with FN.

Any cheese suggestions?

Scamorza affumicata

[huiray]

Many years ago my husband suggested a raspberry-lime combination for a sauce, and I thought it sounded quite weird (they just wouldn't go together as flavors in my head) but I tried it anyway and it turned out to be exceptionally tasty. Somehow the lime makes the raspberry flavor richer and gives a buttery edge to the flavor. I don't know if that's so much a surprising flavor combination as it was just surprising to me, but it definitely reminded me of the value of experimenting outside your personal comfort zone.

(My husband was disabled so he couldn't cook himself, but he had quite a good head for the creative elements of cooking.)

Tavola di Tosa in Indy (Tony Hanslits' place then; closed now for almost 10 years, alas) served a salad at the end of meals (yes, at the end, Italian-style) dressed with a raspberry vinaigrette. It was stunningly scrumptious. I begged them to make that dressing for sale subsequently when they (years later) went on to make and sell fresh pastas at Farmers' Markets and then in their store. (They did)

[huiray]

... I decided to slice a few stalks on the diagonal (and save the leaves) while a bit of olive oil and a clove of garlic were heating up in a frying pan. In went the celery, salt and pepper and about a minute before I turned off the heat, I threw in a handful of frozen peas and the celery leaves.

I have to say that stir-fried celery and peas is something that I find to be not a surprise, especially when it is part of fried rice. ;-) I've done the equivalent for years. :-)

ETA: It might be an idea to try it with Chinese celery - versus Western celery - or celery leaves, Western type, i.e. basically bushy leaves on relatively narrow stalks, Western type, which one of the vendors at my local Farmers' Market grows...

Edited September 18, 2013 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

The dining hall at my mother's residence offers citrus fish with an avocado-strawberry salsa. Citrus on fish I like, but I'd never thought of pairing avocado with strawberries, much less atop a mild-flavored fish. Once I tried it, I was hooked.

Fish. Hooked.

Dunno - I usually dislike fruit (like strawberries) with meat or fish... One combination I do like, however, is seared foie gras slices with fresh peach slices, plus some simply barely blanched baby veggie. :-)

Edited September 18, 2013 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

I've recently started to add a bit of finely chopped celery to my pizzas; it adds a really interesting crunch without detracting from the other flavours that are going on there.

Interesting. This provoked a memory of a chili cook-off I entered about 30 years ago, in the Detroit area. The winning entry, like your pizza, had some chopped celery. Heresy, so it seemed, but the judges said they really liked the texture contrast.

Hmm. Why do you think of this as heresy? Just curious. Although I've not actually had this (I rarely eat pizza) the combination seems fine to me, at least conceptually...

[huiray]

"You eat what?!?! Ewwww...fruit cake is so gross/weird/disgusting! It's only good for catapulting!" (says the DH, every single year....).

DH needs a good talking to, I think. Not liking fruit cake? What's wrong with the man?? Must be something in his raisin'. Maybe he was swept up in a currant as a child. Now he just can't see the appeel. Sorry; I'll stop now ...

Fruit cake + cheese is a long-established tradition in Yorkshire and probably other parts of the UK. There's a particular very soggy, tea-flavoured cake called Yorkshire Brack that's eaten with Wensleydale cheese. Cracking, Gromit.

He must have had the proverbial "fruit cake" that was originally made by one's Maiden Aunt and that had been passed around/re-gifted for several generations? ;-)

Freshly-made fruit cake is nice - I enjoy it when I do have it, which is not frequently, admittedly.

[huiray]

I don't know if this counts, since I've been making this for years and years (and like it quite a bit since the first time) and didn't know it was not something that one was supposed to do - but how about spaghetti/pasta meat sauce (in the manner of "Bolognese-inspired", let's say) with sautéed chopped onions, ground beef (maybe plus ground pork or sausage meat), TOMATO KETCHUP, tomatoes, water/stock (as needed), LOTS of rice vinegar, and CINNAMON STICK & WHOLE CLOVES as the spicing agents. No oregano or thyme or any other "Italian" spices/herbs.

(Mind you, cinnamon with meats was once not atypical especially in olden times in parts of southern Italy especially Sicily - where there was a significant Grecian/North African influence)

p.s. Yes, I do make "more traditional" type sauces with oregano/thyme (and no cinnamon or cloves) as well. :-)

[Beebs]

I don't know if this counts, since I've been making this for years and years (and like it quite a bit since the first time) and didn't know it was not something that one was supposed to do - but how about spaghetti/pasta meat sauce (in the manner of "Bolognese-inspired", let's say) with sautéed chopped onions, ground beef (maybe plus ground pork or sausage meat), TOMATO KETCHUP, tomatoes, water/stock (as needed), LOTS of rice vinegar, and CINNAMON STICK & WHOLE CLOVES as the spicing agents. No oregano or thyme or any other "Italian" spices/herbs.

(Mind you, cinnamon with meats was once not atypical especially in olden times in parts of southern Italy especially Sicily - where there was a significant Grecian/North African influence)

p.s. Yes, I do make "more traditional" type sauces with oregano/thyme (and no cinnamon or cloves) as well. :-)

+1 for the cinnamon & bolognese.

Haven't tried it with the cloves, but a dash of cinnamon usually works its way into my meat sauce. Gives the sauce a little something-something. Actually, a number of Greek restaurants round here add cinnamon to their meat/tomato sauce. One place puts in orange zest also.

[Dave Hatfield]

Freshly-made fruit cake is nice - I enjoy it when I do have it, which is not frequently, admittedly.

Heresy! Proper Yorkshire fruitcake must be aged. Its not that its not nice when fresh but like fine wine or many cheeses it improves with a bit of age.

There'll be many a household in Yorkshire making their fruit cakes for the holiday season about now.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Freshly-made fruit cake is nice - I enjoy it when I do have it, which is not frequently, admittedly.

HERESY! In addition to the Yorkies, proper Scottish and Canadian fruitcakes are aged a minimum of 3 weeks, and and ideal of 3-6 months in alcohol. They're passable when fresh, but as Dave Hatfield points out, improve greatly with age. I've got the first of my (many) Christmas fruitcakes ageing in their muslins as we speak.

[Ttogull]

I have gotten into fermented foods of late. I heated some leftover vegan barley risotto, and put cold raw sauerkraut over it. It was quite different from what I expected. The sauerkraut took on an almost buttery flavor (no butter in the dish), and was quite tasty. I'd do it again.

Also, I sautéed/steamed some broccoli in vegetable broth, added some Red Boat fish sauce, and put that on top of steel cut oatmeal risotto (a la MCAH) finished with 3-year barley miso. THAT was good! Especially since I've seemingly lost a taste for noodles on my near-vegan, high fiber diet.

[Smithy]

Cool, Ttgull. Let me make sure I understand: you put cold sauerkraut on the heated risotto? Do you think the temperature differential contributed to the taste surprise?

[SylviaLovegren]

Coffee + instant maple oats - not a bad breakfast and caffeine in one

My brother-in-law makes chocolate oatmeal every morning for breakfast. His trick is stirring it so much that the oatmeal dissolves pretty much completely and it becomes chocolate pudding. It's actually not bad if you like chocolate pudding for breakfast.

[huiray]

I don't know if this counts, since I've been making this for years and years (and like it quite a bit since the first time) and didn't know it was not something that one was supposed to do - but how about spaghetti/pasta meat sauce (in the manner of "Bolognese-inspired", let's say) with sautéed chopped onions, ground beef (maybe plus ground pork or sausage meat), TOMATO KETCHUP, tomatoes, water/stock (as needed), LOTS of rice vinegar, and CINNAMON STICK & WHOLE CLOVES as the spicing agents. No oregano or thyme or any other "Italian" spices/herbs.

(Mind you, cinnamon with meats was once not atypical especially in olden times in parts of southern Italy especially Sicily - where there was a significant Grecian/North African influence)

p.s. Yes, I do make "more traditional" type sauces with oregano/thyme (and no cinnamon or cloves) as well. :-)

+1 for the cinnamon & bolognese.

Haven't tried it with the cloves, but a dash of cinnamon usually works its way into my meat sauce. Gives the sauce a little something-something. Actually, a number of Greek restaurants round here add cinnamon to their meat/tomato sauce. One place puts in orange zest also.

Skyline chili also has cinnamon in it. YUM. Plus chocolate. Greek-influenced meat sauce for pasta. There are any number of HORRIFIED posts from old-timers here on eG in old threads regarding this stuff, unfortunately. There are 3 outlets here in Indy, I enjoy this from time to time. I usually get the 4-way. (Not too keen on the beans)

[huiray]

Freshly-made fruit cake is nice - I enjoy it when I do have it, which is not frequently, admittedly.

Heresy! Proper Yorkshire fruitcake must be aged. Its not that its not nice when fresh but like fine wine or many cheeses it improves with a bit of age.

There'll be many a household in Yorkshire making their fruit cakes for the holiday season about now.

Panaderia Canadiense, on 18 Sept 2013 - 18:14, said:

Freshly-made fruit cake is nice - I enjoy it when I do have it, which is not frequently, admittedly.

HERESY! In addition to the Yorkies, proper Scottish and Canadian fruitcakes are aged a minimum of 3 weeks, and and ideal of 3-6 months in alcohol. They're passable when fresh, but as Dave Hatfield points out, improve greatly with age. I've got the first of my (many) Christmas fruitcakes ageing in their muslins as we speak.

(((Shrug))) To each his or her own. See my speculation above also about maiden-aunt's fruit cake that had been re-gifted onwards for a few generations. ;-)

[Ashen]

using cinnamon in meat sauce/sugo is actually a pretty traditional thing around Venice/veneto. The use of it in Greek meat sauce dishes can arguably be traced back to Venetian control of parts of what is now Greece, when Venice as a city state controled the mediteranian spice trade. My nona would occasionally slip a small stick of cinnamon into her sugo , she

was from the venteto about 30 kms from venice. This was more common with meat sauce using game meat though.

Edited September 20, 2013 by Ashen (log)