The Food and Beverage Thread

[Stumbleweed]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

Yeah I'm just gonna do it indoors. I have a massive paella pan, but it's a non-stick one and I don't want to put it out on the grill really. You can get some nice soccarat just by kicking up the heat for the last 5 minutes until you smell the rice toasting a bit... not the most authentic preparation, but it'll work in a pinch. I do want to get a regular-sized normal paella pan though -- this one's essentially a giant shallow skillet with small handles on each side. We'll just be using two burners and rotating it continuously to keep the heat even. This is what my pan looks like:



I have some nice coupe-grade Spanish saffron that I've been dying to use, so this should turn out pretty good despite the non-stick pan and lack of open flame. I'll do an outdoor paella on a fire one of these days though -- everyone swears by the wood smoke (like with most things). Gonna make a seafood broth by steaming the clams/mussels and then use that to add to the rice... excited to see how it turns out.

[ezekiel55]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

Sounds good. Looks like you're well on your way to some good paella.

[gopadres]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

BL Lime goes great with a burger.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

Ordered a bunch of cool stuff for baking from Amazon that should be here this weekend. Got a Vic Firth (yeah, the drumstick company ha) French rolling pin, a set of wire cooling racks (great for draining fried foods, letting cookies rest, etc.), a set of springform pans (cheesecakes, tiered cakes here I come), a set of 6-oz. ramekins (souflees, creme brulee, individual apps), and a Silpat (silicon baking mat... NOTHING can stick to it.. so awesome).

So yeah, I'll hopefully be making some creme brulees this weekend. Thinking of picking up some orange extract for the first batch just to give it something extra. But otherwise, I really want to try a "flower" flavored one with rose and/or lavender extract... think that'd be crazy to go with some fresh fruit.

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

Hey Stumble, not sure if you saw my post asking (more like BEGGING) for zucchini ideas, but I'm wondering what you can offer up.

My wife is netting at least three or four a week now and we are running low on ways to use them.

[funky_chicken]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

I had a nice thin crust meat lovers from a local pizza place and washed it down with some Mug rootbeer.

[sportznut02]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

Stumble or anyone, point me to a good cast iron skillet. During my trip to NYC last weekend my wifes uncle cooked us some blackened steaks that were amazing.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

Just go with the classic Lodge, those have been the best for a while now IMO: http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Kitchen-...F8&node=297572

As far as zucchini goes, have you made soups with it? Stuffed zucchini? Pickled zucchini for salads? Another good suggestion for a side dish that uses a lot of zucchini is calabasitas, which is a Mexican dish with corn, zucchini, yellow squash (you could skip that and just use a crapload of zucchini ha), jalapenos, and lime juice.

Zucchini and ricotta tart would be bomb... just buy some puff pastry, cut it into rounds (whatever size you want), prick it so it won't rise too much, and top it with mostly-cooked zucchini seasoned with whatever really, spread the top with ricotta (or goat cheese, just something nice and creamy), and top with herbs when it comes out. Puff pastry rules for making random vegetables taste great. you could also spread the cheese on the bottom and then arrange the zucchini on top -- that'd be more attractive for the final product, but brown cheese is the best, so I'd go with the first way.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

Learned how to make pupusas, and I'll never go back. Such an awesome little snack and pretty easy to make... all you need is some masa and some filling (meat, beans, and/or cheese normally). The technique is kinda difficult I guess, but even if you mess it up a little bit, they're still delicious (they just have ingredients leaking out onto the pan, sometimes those taste better because of the burnt cheese.. mmm). Pics to come, but here's a generic example:



They're basically a stuffed corn tortilla/corn cake, and they're completely delicious.

Plan for this weekend: taco bar (with vegetarian options), massive batch of sangria,and 3 home made ice creams/sorbets for a party I'm hosting. Bust my *** to make people happy, but it's worth it.

[bjf1377]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

Man, Stumbleweed, I wish you were like my roommate or something. It'd be awesome to taste some of this stuff you're making. I've never heard of pupusas, but now I want one

[Stumbleweed]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

Standing offer to OS people who pass through Denver -- PM me and you'll probably get a meal out of your trip haha. Either somewhere good locally or something I make.

I ain't scared of you weirdos.

Oh, and here's the paella I made (had shrimp, chorizo, and mussels as the main ingredients).. we ended up doing it outside on the grill and it worked out great:



A ridiculous picture of the gazpacho I brought... the lady that took this has a bad-*** camera and the edible flowers were not my idea, but they made it look amazing:

[bjf1377]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

So is gazpacho as good of a summer dish as I've always figured it was?

[Stumbleweed]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

Yeah, especially when it has a nice homegrown cucumber in it -- that really made this one fresh. But yeah, cold soup with nothing but fresh veggies, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, and seasoning is always a good thing, but especially in the summer on a hot day.

Doing my first attempt at sweet corn tamales tonight. Put a little roasted green chile and cheese in them... it was fairly easy, but I'm always nervous about a first attempt at anything.

[J.R. Locke]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

I have hot sauce addiction. Frank's, Pete's Popeye chicken. I have eaten something with hot sauce everyday for the past three weeks.

My right hand keeps going numb, I wonder if it is related.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: The Food and Beverage Thread

LOL if your left arm starts going numb, it might be!

EDIT: Here's the plan for this weekend for the dinner party on Sunday... I'm gonna be a busy busy man tonight, tomorrow, and early Sunday:

Peach Ice Cream
Fresh Mint Stracciatella
Melon Sorbet (recipe from Jacques Pepin, made without my ice cream machine)
Leftover strawberry/Balsamic Gelato
Tostones (fried, smashed, then fried again plantains)
Calabasitas (corn/zucchini/squash/chile/onion)
Cheese and black bean Pupusas
Possibly some sweet corn tamales (if I don't eat them all by Sunday)
Slow-cooked spice-rubbed pork shoulder (For tacos)
Marinated citrus chicken (for tacos)
Ground beef (for tacos)
Homemade corn and flour tortillas (probably at least 20 each)
Guacamole
2 salsas/pico de gallos

And a big-*** batch of Sangria loaded with booze-soaked fruit.

Should be a good party!