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eG Foodblog: SobaAddict70 - Of Professional Hobbits and Food


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They didn't have any cheese blintzes and I didn't feel like scarfing down any egg whites, so I opted for a yogurt, granola and fruit cup. For the uninitiated, imagine a clear plastic shake cup filled with unsweetened yogurt mixed with a little honey, topped with granola, and then topped with sliced strawberries and bananas.

Off to get lunch in a few.

I'll get to your comments in a couple of minutes.

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My favorite way with Brussels Sprouts is a warm sweet and sour salad, beautiful on a buffet or served with stuffed pork chops.  No exact recipe, just add vinegar and sugar to a bit of cooking water, pour over barely done sprouts.  Add a drained can of Mandarin oranges and some toasted walnuts.  Toss lightly lest the oranges disintegrate.  Some grated orange zest wouldn't go amiss in the dressing, either.  Re-warm leftovers slightly to serve.  Walnuts will probably get soggy if left over, so I usually add them to each serving when I am cooking for myself.

Hmmm...was the reference to the "dark side" in your signature line referring to the inspiration for this peculiar (to me) diet?  I've always thought of weight gaining diets in terms of milk shakes and Hollandaise.  Guess the difference is wanting to bulk up muscle, not fat, huh?

Thanks for the brussels sprouts idea. I'll post what I had for dinner after I get lunch. It was one of my earliest eG-inspired creations...the brussel sprouts, not the boneless chicken breasts. :wink:

As for the "dark side", that's a line from the third Star Wars movie. You know, for the geek in all of us. :raz:

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I make a tasty quick preparation of brussel sprouts courtesy of Alice Waters. Slice the sprouts very thinly and sautee in some butter for several minutes. Add some chicken stock to barely cover and simmer until cooked. Add a little more stock if needed; in the end you want them to be a little saucy. Finish up wtih some salt and pepper, fresh thyme and lemon juice. Nice and fresh.

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Stash, you use Mrs. Dash a lot. Have you tried substituting some other spices for that? For example, some of the time, you could roast your chicken breasts with cumin and ghee or butter instead of broiling them with olive oil and Mrs. Dash. And you could have your cottage cheese with some good Hungarian paprika. But perhaps you do change things from time to time.

hehhe, Pan.

If I'm cooking for myself, all aesthetic considerations go flying out the window. I'm perfectly serious. That means that I'm just as likely to use Mrs. Dash with my cottage cheese as using Vidalia onion marmalade.

It really depends on what's in the fridge. Convenience, not aesthetics is key here. At the end of the day, the only person I need to satisfy is myself. I can see how that might not be unsuitable for some people, but hey, it is what it is. I'm unapologetic as far as my habits are concerned and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

However...

If I were cooking for someone else OR if I'm dining out, then I make sure I have my foodie card in my back pocket. :wink:

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How often do you eat a steak? And what type of cut? Cook it at home or eat out? If you eat out to have a steak, which places & which ones are the best to you?

In a perfect world, I would eat red meat at least twice a day, every day.

Since it's not...

1. At least once a week.

2. Shell steak, t-bone steak, porterhouse steak, it really doesn't make a difference to me. Steak is steak (in my view) regardless of whether it was procured at Peter Luger's, Sparks, Strip House or my local C-Town supermarket. What matters to me is "does it taste good?" and "am I enjoying myself?". Of course, I can doff my aesthetic hat when I want to. Most of the time I don't. Not sure if that makes any sense.

3. Both. I'm just as likely to cook it at home as I would order it in either a restaurant or a diner.

4. Not to contradict myself with #2 above, :wink: but if we're talking about aesthetic dfferences, then Peter Luger's by far. Wolfgang's Steakhouse comes a close second, in my opinion. Chef Vongerichten has many, many talents, but V Steakhouse -- in my opinion -- is not one of them. These opinions apply only to New York City, and then only those establishments that I've visited within the five boroughs. I haven't tried every single steakhouse in New York, just keep that in mind. Outside of New York, well, I'll defer to those more knowledgeable than I.

But if we're talking about pure pleasure, well then, each offers a great experience in its own way.

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Puree and make a souffle

or with chestnuts

or with bacon

or stuffed, if you are a high end restaruant with lots of cheap labour

The souffle part intrigues me. I'd like to hear more.

Bacon, or pancetta improves just about anything.

Stuffed brussel sprouts? I guess I'll pass...not that I wouldn't eat them, just that I wouldn't make them.

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I make a tasty quick preparation of brussel sprouts courtesy of Alice Waters.  Slice the sprouts very thinly and sautee in some butter for several minutes.  Add some chicken stock to barely cover and simmer until cooked.  Add a little more stock if needed; in the end you want them to be a little saucy. Finish up wtih some salt and pepper, fresh thyme and lemon juice.  Nice and fresh.

I'll have to try this some time. Maybe with a little fennel too, come to think of it.

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Brussel Sprout souffle:

Cook brussel sprouts, or used leftover cooked ones. Puree. Sieve if you like. You need about a tablepoon of puree per person. Season well.

Prepare ramekins by brushing with melted butter. Optionally dust with grated parmesan, and optionally put a cube of cooked bacon or pancetta in each ramekin.

Pre heat oven to 200C/400F, with a pizza stone or something to give bottom heat.

One egg per person. Seperate the whites and the yolks. Beat the yolks with the sprout puree. Check seasoning - should be well seasoned.

Beat the whites to a soft peak with a pinch of salt

Fold some of the white into the puree, then all of the puree and egg yolks into the white. Pour into the ramekins so they are full. Tap to settle and run your thumb around the top to clear the top lip of the ramekin. Bake for 20 minutes exactly.

Serve straight from the oven. Let your guests wait for the souffle, not the other way round, or they will fall.

A little jus or even cream to pour in the top at table might be good.

You can replace the sprout puree with any other well flavoured puree. Squash or zucchini are good. You can add cheese to the puree, but the taste is then not so clear. That might not be a bad thing if you dislike sprouts

Edited by jackal10 (log)
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Thanks, Jack!

Reading that reminded me of Sam's brussel sprouts four ways, from his Foodblog, Thanksgiving Haute Cuisine:

"Brussels Sprouts Four Ways"

crème brûlée -  gratin - sautéed with guanciale - shredded "slaw"

Vin de Table Gamay "Le P'tit Tannique Coule Bien," Domaine Thierry Puzelat, 2003

The lighter red wine worked wonders against the richness of the crème brûlée, the savoriness of the gruyere in the gratin and the porky fattiness of the guanciale.  Around the plate is a marjoram vinaigrette.  This is the course that really had me smiling.  It was a bit of a risk to design a whole course around Brussels sprouts, and I wasn't sure how it would work.  Well, it worked extremely well.  Each "way" showed a completely different side of the Brussels sprout.  The crème brûlée in particular was a revelation.  Most everyone was a little bit suspicious at the prospect of a Brussels sprout crème brûlée, but everyone smiled, laughed and loved it once they tried it.  The lightly vinegared "slaw" was a nice crunchy contrast to the other preparations, while the gratin played on the whole "cheese sauce" thing on top of the slightly funky flavor of fully cooked Brussels sprouts.  The sautéed Brussels sprouts with guanciale brought out the nutty quality of browned brussels sprouts, and of course guanciale is a killer match with just about anything.

gallery_8505_0_69588.jpg

Here is a shot of the last few bites of crème brûlée:

gallery_8505_0_77302.jpg

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Well, I'm a day late (and a dollar short?) on the brussels sprouts query, but for what it's worth you can find my method for brussels sprouts in a mustard/maple syrup vinaigrette here. If mustard and maple syrup sound like an odd match at first blush, just think of a not-overly-sweet honey mustard, but with a nice dark grade-B maple syrup playing the role of the honey. Really goes well with little mild-flavored brussels sprouts.

As to the water consumption--dang! I have enough trouble remembering to get a half-gallon of water into me daily. I think if I went for a full gallon my back molars would start singing "Anchors Aweigh" (to borrow an expression from an old college acquaintance) ... :wacko::laugh:

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So, anyway, dinner last night:

broiled boneless skinless chicken breasts, smeared with 1 T. EVOO and Mrs. Dash

green mango pickle

brussel sprout pasta (see recipe below)

Lactaid

fruit

First, one container of sprouts is sufficient for three or four people.  If they're hearty eaters, then consider one and a half containers worth.

When prepping the sprouts, half each sprout and slice off a little portion of the base.  You're going to de-leaf each and every sprout so that you'll end up with approximately 2 cups of sprout leaves and finely minced cores per 1 container of brussel sprouts.  By "cores", I mean the pithy center core of each sprout, which you'll mince or chop finely.

Since the mass of sprouts will have been reduced to leaves and bits of core, no blanching or parboiling is needed.  Just brown the onions and garlic, add the red pepper flakes (and anchovy if you like, wait for the anchovy to disintegrate before adding the sprouts); then add the leaves and cores.  Saute over medium-high heat for a few minutes, then cover and turn the heat down to medium-low, cook until the leaves are bright green and the cores are softened slightly.  Trust me, your house won't smell like cabbage when you're through.

Finish with salt and pepper to taste, and a drizzle (or as much as you like) of EVOO.

I don't know what to call it. I used to do a version of this with roasted cauliflower instead of brussel sprouts, but was experimenting one day -- back when I didn't work out. Lo and behold, a dish was born. :raz:

The green mango pickle was the jarred kind. I haven't made any chatni in ages, maybe now that it's fall I should set aside a day or two.

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I'm happy - thanks!  :biggrin:

Me, too, for the moment. Eagerly awaiting the "now", i.e. "after, sortof" photo, except that it will signal the last day of this very interesting and unusual blog. :wink:

I'm so glad you asked about brussels sprouts. I had no idea there were so many good-sounding ways to prepare them. Now I have a lot of different methods to try. This is yet another reason the blogs are so much fun.

ObGeekAlert: I've been enjoying your tag lines - and I got the SWIII reference - but I've been teetering all week on the brink of calling you on the "hobbits/packrats" reference. At last, I fall over the brink: where did you get that? They certainly circulate things - mathoms (a most useful concept)come to mind - but I don't remember Tolkien ever suggesting they were packrats. Is that one of Peter Weir's additions? Sorry if this is too OT...but it's been grinding away...geekiness prevails...

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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ObGeekAlert: I've been enjoying your tag lines - and I got the SWIII reference - but I've been teetering all week on the brink of calling you on the "hobbits/packrats" reference.  At last, I fall over the brink: where did you get that?  They certainly circulate things - mathoms (a most useful concept)come to mind - but I don't remember Tolkien ever suggesting they were packrats.  Is that one of Peter Weir's additions?  Sorry if this is too OT...but it's been grinding away...geekiness prevails...

I'm afraid that's another obscure geek reference. Well not so obscure if you're a fantasy game geek like me, but obscure enough for the rest of the planet.

[off-topic tangent] Hobbits in other fantasy games are called halflings; in the world of Dragonlance, they're called kender. So while a hobbit is not a kender (because kender wear shoes, are fearless and tend to exhibit natural rogue-like tendencies), a kender is indeed a type of hobbit. Kender are also packrats, in the sense that you are never sure exactly what is the answer to that infamous riddle, "What do I have in my pocket?" :biggrin: [/off-topic tangent]

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[...]At the end of the day, the only person I need to satisfy is myself.  I can see how that might not be unsuitable for some people, but hey, it is what it is.  I'm unapologetic as far as my habits are concerned and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.[...]

Pleasing yourself is all that counts when you're eating by yourself, so I agree that there's nothing to apologize for.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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Hobbits would never do weight training, or go on any sort of diet.

They also smoke tobacco in a pipe.

Ah well, can't be perfect all the time. :wink:

'Sokay. You got the frequent and plentiful meals part right. :biggrin:

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Heheh.

Dinner tonight was chicken pad thai (I kind of cheated here a little bit and ordered pad thai from a Thai take out, and mixed it with sliced leftover broiled chicken breasts from last night, with a little sriracha). And some hamachi and saba sashimi.

I also made a fig and preserved lemon salsa that's now sitting in the fridge for later. It's really easy, as follows:

dried figs

chopped preserved lemon rind

Italian parsley or cilantro

chipotle en adobo

cayenne powder

lemon extract

EVOO

Puree all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Stir. Refrigerate to let flavors blend.

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