Dinner 2021

[scubadoo97]

November 24th 2002 was my join date.  Back when Anthony Bourdain, Shawn Brock, Wylie Dufresne and many other chefs were active  members 

[gfweb]

2006, but I lurked before I joined.

Not quite cutting edge anymore, but eG is still the best place for food and equipment knowledge.

[RWood]

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

@RWood 

 

I haven't had a burger in so long

 

I ( almost ) don't remember what they are loike

 

Id take an Impossible now and

 

( probably ) ejyou it

Impossible burgers are actually pretty good if they are cooked right, plus with everything on it, can't really tell the difference. I think they are better than beyond burger. 

My mom isn't a big meat eater, so stocked up on them.

[rotuts]

@weinoo 

 

I agree .  Abalone ( fresh ) is the ultimate gift from the sea.

 

in the mid - later '50s

 

my family would go up to Bodega Bay

 

there was a small restaurant there that served pan sautéed whole

 

abalone. 6 - 8 "  in diameter.

 

pounded until tender w the edge of a plate.

 

lighty crumb'd and sautéed in butter

 

fork tender

 

nothing like .  The Flavor of the Sea , right there on your plate.

Edited March 6, 2021 by rotuts (log)

[scubadoo97]

@rotuts last time we were in Bodega Bay several years ago, no Abalone but wolfed down a bunch of oysters that were super fresh  and delicious 

[liamsaunt]

Sweet potato, bean and quinoa burger with cheddar cheese, topped with onion rings and a fried egg on a homemade pretzel bun.  We all liked the buns, the burgers, and the onion rings, but none of us thought the flavors worked together, and we agreed that the egg was superfluous.  That's what I get for making a recipe I found on some random blog!

 

 

 

[Anna N]

1 minute ago, liamsaunt said:

That's what I get for making a recipe I found on some random blog!

Many of us have done that! Given your record for fabulous meals I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. 

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, RWood said:

Impossible burgers are actually pretty good if they are cooked right, plus with everything on it, can't really tell the difference. I think they are better than beyond burger. 

My mom isn't a big meat eater, so stocked up on them.

We found we favored Beyond over Impossible, though that may simply be because Beyond has been available much longer in my neck of the woods and our taste buds have acclimated. Both are better than the LightLife, to our palate, though we tend to use the LightLife faux-ground more often for non-burger applications (go figure).

 

No ethical/vegetarian motives at play, just that my GF can't eat red meat because she's on an anti-inflammatory diet for medical reasons. She misses beef more, I miss pork more (I can still eat it, but it hardly seems fair to have the smell of it in the air when she can't partake...).

 

[weinoo]

@Shelby !!!

 

What the fuck?!

 

 

 

[RWood]

1 hour ago, chromedome said:

We found we favored Beyond over Impossible, though that may simply be because Beyond has been available much longer in my neck of the woods and our taste buds have acclimated. Both are better than the LightLife, to our palate, though we tend to use the LightLife faux-ground more often for non-burger applications (go figure).

 

No ethical/vegetarian motives at play, just that my GF can't eat red meat because she's on an anti-inflammatory diet for medical reasons. She misses beef more, I miss pork more (I can still eat it, but it hardly seems fair to have the smell of it in the air when she can't partake...).

 

 

I read that a better way to cook these burgers is in a hot skillet with a little oil (which I think the package doesn't say use it), flip, then season with salt & pepper. Don't season before since the salt would draw out moisture and you wouldn't get a good sear. Apparently contact all over instead of like a grill is better 🤷‍♀️. 

Since I've cooked them this way, we have liked them better. Maybe Beyond would be better the same way. 

 

 

[chromedome]

I routinely season them after the initial sear, and (now that I've had them all plain for comparison/evaluation purposes) usually give them a lick of soy and Worcestershire sauce as well, for added umami.

 

Same thing I did/do with beef burgers, as far as that goes.

 

If I'm working with the loose faux-ground to make my patties, I incorporate those into the "meat" before shaping my patties.

[RWood]

8 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Anyway, he and his dive buddies would bring the abalone back, and we'd prep and cook it. Pried out of its shell, sliced thinly, and then got the shit pounded out of it, often with the side of a wine bottle!  Sautéed ever so briefly in butter and/or olive oil, it was heaven on a plate. Nothing from the sea tastes like that. Saline, sweet, tender - oh man. The stuff available in cans - nah. And as has happened to so many other sea creatures, over-harvesting led to even more regs, etc. etc. And now they farm abalone, and it's harvested much younger as it reaches market age more quickly, etc. etc. Sad decline of a delicious species. All this talk of seafood...

 

Back when we first moved to northern California way back, being from Georgia, didn't know anything about abalone except for seeing jewelry made of the shell.

My mom's husband's went diving for it, and we sliced and pounded forever it seemed. Grilled it, was different but good. I think the work kept us from doing it again 😁.

When I worked at the Monterey Aquarium, my friend that was the chef there made an appetizer with baby abalone that he had me make a lemon olive oil sorbet for. Can't remember what else he put with it.

[heidih]

Yes when the diver emerged like a god of the sea with a net bag of abalone to sell - that was a treat back in the day. Pounded on rocks, grilled briefly surf side with lemon and butter. Sweet sweet sea essence (Catalina Island)  I see the little guy in the tank at Asian market but have not been tempted. One of those intense taste memories you know will disappoint if you try to recreate; if you even could with the regs.. 

[patti]

7 hours ago, TicTac said:

Did you dance in front of the oven and stream it online while you baked the pasta?

 

 

I did not, although the smell emanating from the oven as it baked was dance worthy!

[patti]

Damn. If Shelby got an eye roll and a WTF, I’m afraid to know the reaction some of my posts engender!

[Shelby]

4 minutes ago, patti said:

Damn. If Shelby got an eye roll and a WTF, I’m afraid to know the reaction some of my posts engender!

I think you're safe if you don't make banh mi pizza 🤣

[patti]

2 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I think you're safe if you don't make banh mi pizza 🤣

I was impressed by how evenly you sauced the pizza! I’m always afraid to make a squiggly mess, so I never try it. 😁

[Shelby]

7 minutes ago, patti said:

I was impressed by how evenly you sauced the pizza! I’m always afraid to make a squiggly mess, so I never try it. 😁

I was trying to make it pretty enough to post.  Guess that was a wasted effort 🤣.

 

You just wait until my next Banh Mi creation.....hmmmmmmm Banh Mi lasagna?

[heidih]

3 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I was trying to make it pretty enough to post.  Guess that was a wasted effort 🤣.

 

You just wait until my next Banh Mi creation.....hmmmmmmm Banh Mi lasagna?

Years ago when @nakji lived in Hanoi she showed us Pho rolls. Umm - no broth involved.  What do they say "if it tastes good I'll eat it".  Example  vhttps://www.vietnamenu.com/vietnamese-food-pho-cuon.html

[chromedome]

As it happened, I walked into the living room a little while ago where my GF had left Food Network on TV. The restaurant on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives was serving...banh mi pizza. What're the odds?

[Anna N]

14 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Guess that was a wasted effort 🤣.

Not at all. Look at the amusement you’ve given us. That’s a rare gift in these difficult times. 

[Shelby]

7 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives was serving...banh mi pizza. What're the odds?

SEE????  SEE????  I'm as cool as Guy is.  I knew it.

 

 

🤣

[rotuts]

@Shelby 

 

Sooooooo  Soooooooooooo

 

much cooler.

 

Soooooooooooooooooooo

 

much.

 

[weinoo]

 

1 hour ago, RWood said:

When I worked at the Monterey Aquarium, my friend that was the chef there made an appetizer with baby abalone that he had me make a lemon olive oil sorbet for. Can't remember what else he put with it.

 

That's my favorite aquarium!

 

41 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I think you're safe if you don't make banh mi pizza 🤣

 

Everyone's safe!

 

Lemme be @rotuts here for a minute:

 

Might be fun for you to make the rolls traditionally used for banh mi: (I think banh mi means bread)...

https://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2007/05/vietnamese_bagu.html

 

Then, with your talent, I'm sure a quite traditional banh mi will soon have Ronnie very, very hapyy. (Some of that wild duck or perhaps catfish would go quite nicely on it).

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

10 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

In my (northern) California years, there was a friend who would go up to Mendocino or Humboldt County a few times a year to go abalone "fishing." No - you don't drop a line, you dive. And at that time (I don't know what the current regs are), you had to free dive, and the limit was probably one or two. (You did not want to get caught illegally taking ab). That was not a very safe thing to do; it's a treacherous coast and the water is cold - but then again, the guy jumped out of planes and base jumped; he was one of those.

 

Anyway, he and his dive buddies would bring the abalone back, and we'd prep and cook it. Pried out of its shell, sliced thinly, and then got the shit pounded out of it, often with the side of a wine bottle!  Sautéed ever so briefly in butter and/or olive oil, it was heaven on a plate. Nothing from the sea tastes like that. Saline, sweet, tender - oh man. The stuff available in cans - nah. And as has happened to so many other sea creatures, over-harvesting led to even more regs, etc. etc. And now they farm abalone, and it's harvested much younger as it reaches market age more quickly, etc. etc. Sad decline of a delicious species. All this talk of seafood...

 

Funny, this coming up now.   For two days I have been seriously Jonesing last Century abalone.    2 martini lunches at Bardelli's on O'Farrell: avocado and grapefruit, then abalone steaks.   But, hell, in those days we even served abalone at small dinner parties.  

 

Mise: abalone steaks, egg beaten with splash of seltzer, fresh saltine crumbs mashed to meal, unsalted butter. Beafeaters, Noilly.    Make martini.   Heat butter to bubbling.   Dip steaks in egg, then very lightly in crumbs.     Lay steaks in hot pan.    Throw back half a martini.  Turn steaks.   Toss down remainder of martini.   Plate abalone.    Heaven!

 

Just today I saw that a locsl purveyor is offering fresh abalone STEAKS.   I will check it out soon, and if true, I'm gonna git me some. 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)