Food glorious food - What are you eating

[gogoblender 3,068]

I know we all hated these as kids.. but arent they just so satisfying as adults!

I fried onions, garlic, a tomatoes, and, of course, more garlic...and lotsa lotsa butttah!

 

 

 

gogo

 

 

gogo

[chattius 2,520]

As a kid I refused to eat Rosenkohl (rose cabbage, brussel sprouts) before X-mas. The first frosts made the Brussel sprouts sweet. If you don't harvest the sprouts and the plant survives ít will have nice blossoms the next year. We used the resulting seeds for new plants.

If the Brussel sprouts are sweet my grandma mixed raisins, walnuts, apples, sweet potato wedges, sweet cream and the sprouts for the sweet note in a pan and then garlic, onions and European barberries for the contrast. Are barberries commonly used for anything else than Brussel Sprouts? We have some bushes of them. My main use is for fruit wine, marinating and roasting them with sugar for caramel effect and used in salades.

It was funny I opened the German site for Berberitze , clicked on English for translation and it named it barberry. And the english site had this picture: Brussel Sprouts with barberries ...

 

[chattius 2,520]

15 hours ago, gogoblender said:

...lotsa butttah!

Buttah? Butter?

I grew up with local slang words and I do not know if it is the same for you. I would do your recipe with a pan from cast iron and 'Bratbutter (=butter for sautéing)'.

It is normally named Butterschmalz (clarified butter) because it resists higher heats and has way less lactose than normal butter. It has no water anympre so there are no hot fat drops spraying around. But it is also way more expensive. What is the buttah you are using?

 

Butter (butter)

Butterfett (butterfat) made mechanical cold

Butterschmalz (clarified butter) made with heating

Nussbutter (translates as nut butter)- Similar to making clarified butter but you make it slightly roasted. Can't be stored too long and can't resist much heat. Mainly to give a finer butter/nut taste to meals. Close to Ghee

Ghee (sort of clarifying butter, India/Pakistan)

Nitir qibe (similar to Ghee but spices added, made in Ethopia and other parts in Africa)

...

The list is even longer because my classmate  who has a restaurant and was a former ship cook showed me like 50 types of butter discovered at ship journeys and now used in his kitchen ;)

[Delta! 985]

12 hours ago, chattius said:

Buttah? Butter?

I grew up with local slang words and I do not know if it is the same for you. I would do your recipe with a pan from cast iron and 'Bratbutter (=butter for sautéing)'.

It is normally named Butterschmalz (clarified butter) because it resists higher heats and has way less lactose than normal butter. It has no water anympre so there are no hot fat drops spraying around. But it is also way more expensive. What is the buttah you are using?

 

Butter (butter)

Butterfett (butterfat) made mechanical cold

Butterschmalz (clarified butter) made with heating

Nussbutter (translates as nut butter)- Similar to making clarified butter but you make it slightly roasted. Can't be stored too long and can't resist much heat. Mainly to give a finer butter/nut taste to meals. Close to Ghee

Ghee (sort of clarifying butter, India/Pakistan)

Nitir qibe (similar to Ghee but spices added, made in Ethopia and other parts in Africa)

...

The list is even longer because my classmate  who has a restaurant and was a former ship cook showed me like 50 types of butter discovered at ship journeys and now used in his kitchen ;)

The way he spelled Buttah it just because it is shouted... I can almost guarantee that it is just normal (probably salted) butter, but more BUTTAH!!!!!!! makes everything more tasty. mmmmmhmmmm... butter.

As a Pastry Chef I love butter... you can almost say it is part of my bread and... butter... (awkward dad joke moment)

[Delta! 985]

On 6/4/2020 at 8:03 PM, gogoblender said:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/V9vtsCVtSU7ubhN79

 

 

gogo

 

I have never seen anything with a pesto come in a packet like that... although I am going to be honest... I have not bought any of those packets myself... I just make the things from scratch, it tastes better, and I can control exactly what goes in there. Did the parmesan and pesto come in a separate packet?

[gogoblender 3,068]

@chattius

@Delta!

 

heh, yah butter buttah..i find it just fun saying it the "wrong" lol way... makes it sound more epic... and what actually is more epic than butter? There's just about nothing that it cant make better.. only thing is that its mighty expensive...   but every now and then we make allowances...and today was one of those days! I didnt know this next try out was gonna taste this good...but the zing that the butter added to the aubergine, spanish onions and tomatoes was like a the food just got on a rocket ship  ... I present... well maybe rataouille... or my close aproximation of it? I actually made a butter chicken the other day with bottled sauce...but...im thinking that what i made tonight could have had browned breast tossed into it... my own version of butter chicken with aubergine!

 

 

Voila!

gogo

 

[gogoblender 3,068]

3 hours ago, Delta! said:

 

I have never seen anything with a pesto come in a packet like that... although I am going to be honest... I have not bought any of those packets myself... I just make the things from scratch, it tastes better, and I can control exactly what goes in there. Did the parmesan and pesto come in a separate packet?

It actually all came together in a packet... when the water boils, u just pour it all in and slowly stir simmer till the liquid boils away

gogo

[chattius 2,520]

My daughter was used to this while at university pre-corona. She does double studies medicine and robotics and the extra hours resulted in cafeteria at university could be rarely visited. Was done in a single pan:

 

 

My lazy not bought one pan recipes:

big cast iron pan, a bit clarified BUTTAH, meat balls from Bratwurst, carrot stripes, onion rings, leek rings ... roasted

Add just enough water and rice that the rice will be done and slightly roasted when all the water is gone

When adding the rice: tomato, spices, peeled lentils also added.

---

Recipe was mainly done when the kitchen was full with other stuff, like making marmelades by the hundreds...

[gogoblender 3,068]

Been having so much fun with cooking lately... with all the quikie fast food restos near me closed, I guess its really changing my habits.  I'm starting to understand a little more about food textures and how different cuts affect our food senses... lately I've moved a bit away from the mashed potato sheppard's pie and been buying the small mini potatoes on sale... when I cut them up into little slices they cook quicker and work well with sauces... halloooo butter, tomato potatoes with basil! and garlic...hella LOADS of garlic 

 

 

gogo

[gogoblender 3,068]

On 6/9/2020 at 3:20 AM, chattius said:

My daughter was used to this while at university pre-corona. She does double studies medicine and robotics and the extra hours resulted in cafeteria at university could be rarely visited. Was done in a single pan:

 

 

My lazy not bought one pan recipes:

big cast iron pan, a bit clarified BUTTAH, meat balls from Bratwurst, carrot stripes, onion rings, leek rings ... roasted

Add just enough water and rice that the rice will be done and slightly roasted when all the water is gone

When adding the rice: tomato, spices, peeled lentils also added.

---

Recipe was mainly done when the kitchen was full with other stuff, like making marmelades by the hundreds...

lol...cheers to the BUTTAH   ..it does wonders with in room cooking while away at school.  When I was away during that time, we werent allowed officially "cooking" in the rooms..but someone always seemed to bring in a small boiler ... KD always managed to taste more delicious when it wasn't allowed

gogo

[Androdion 875]

Glad to see you finally picking up the chopping habits! 

[chattius 2,520]

21 minutes ago, gogoblender said:

lol...cheers to the BUTTAH   ..it does wonders with in room cooking while away at school.  When I was away during that time, we werent allowed officially "cooking" in the rooms..but someone always seemed to bring in a small boiler ... KD always managed to taste more delicious when it wasn't allowed

gogo

The student home my daughter lived pre-corona was a mixed one. Blocks of 6 students (could be both sexes) per floor, each floor has 6 rooms, 2 baths and 1 kitchen. So cooking is allowed. At weekends the students who are not at home cook for each other Some student homes even had cooking clubs. but with 50% more class hours she couldn't always join the normal lunch, evening meal times.

31 minutes ago, gogoblender said:

Been having so much fun with cooking lately... with all the quikie fast food restos near me closed, I guess its really changing my habits.  I'm starting to understand a little more about food textures and how different cuts affect our food senses... lately I've moved a bit away from the mashed potato sheppard's pie and been buying the small mini potatoes on sale... when I cut them up into little slices they cook quicker and work well with sauces... halloooo butter, tomato potatoes with basil! and garlic...hella LOADS of garlic 

 

 

gogo

There was a big law battle in Germany when the company who owned the rights for the best tasting small salade potato 'Linda' decided to not longer pay the costs to place it on the list of seeds allowed for farmers. After 46 years on the market it is still planted (me too).

Most farmers do potato of a certain size so they can be automatically made into pommes frites, chips and such. And then there are these small potato which can't be worked automatically. They are not round, banana shaped, can't have the skin cut away without loosing too much,..

But make them with skin, peel them and cut in dices for salade, roasted potato, .. or leave the skin on for wedges or roasted, ... they are a delicatesse. Sadly farmers got clever they sell them as salade potato now and charge more than for the normal ones (Kartoffelknirpse, Kartoffel=potato, Knirps=a young pre-school boy). When we harvesting potato in our bigger garden outside we have 3 baskets: black for big potato which can be stored in cellar for quite some time, red basked for small ones for salade, wedges and such before winter and a green basket for damage or green potato which need cutting and be eaten within a month.

Decades ago they ended fed to pigs, even most of the red basket. Everyone wanted the big ones which could be worked with machines or for private householdes easily stored in the cellar

Next step was vacuum shockfrost peeling and pre-boiling and put in a pack. 5 minutes and they are done

 

[gogoblender 3,068]

1 hour ago, Androdion said:

Glad to see you finally picking up the chopping habits! 

Isnt it additive! I kind of get lulled into a Zen state...the small perfections of the perfect cut is very satisfying

gogo

[Androdion 875]

It is. And then you start getting picky with yourself about how you use different cuts. I used to cut onions in the same way regardless of what I was cooking, but now depending on what I'm doing I apply different cuts to get different results.

I've been having a lousy return to work and I woke up this morning with a horrible vivid nightmare. Well, since it's Sunday I locked myself in the kitchen and prepared a couple of different courses, fish and meat, for the next days. I'll leave the photo of the fish here.

[gogoblender 3,068]

artfully composed

approved!

gogo

 

p.s. and that sucks about the return to work ... i know a lot of my family are having hard time as well... there is a massive 2 k pay out to people who lost jobs PC (Pre-Corona)  and some people are thinking to refuse the call back to work and stay on this govt pay out... which has resulted in our govt now saying they are going to go after folks very harshly who "wrongly" got the pay out ...  

[Androdion 875]

Things are very tense, and by working in retail I tend to notice it even more than the regular Joe. I have regular contact with all types of people with different social-economic backgrounds (poorer, richer, etc.), so I get to feel the heat from several different places. But mainly it seems to me that some people have basically lost their minds either during or after the confinement period. People are always on the edge of breaking apart, so the guy in retail who has to tell them "no" is the one at fault. Now, this has always been the case in my line of work, but right now that sentiment has escalated tenfold, to the point where clients don't even try to be rational and just burst into a fiery ball of anger about the smallest possible thing. It hasn't been an easy return to work, I can tell you that. My scotch reserve is diminishing at a faster pace than usual... 

[chattius 2,520]

1 hour ago, Androdion said:

I

My wife said something about aluminium but I forgot what it was. Something about chemical reactions from aluminium foil in connection with salt and food acids. Was something with the brain, brain wrapped with aluminium foil? Wait that was for preventing Bill Gates mind controlling me. Ah, I found the warning on the package with the alu foil: aluminium may cause Alzheimer. What is Alzheimer? I am sure I once knew....

Salt, citrons, ... should be done after the fish is removed from the foil. But I bet you know that.

What type of fish is that? I am used to local freshwater fish, not sea fish.

 

While my ancestors date back to forest rangers and wood workers the mother side of my wife were potters. So we have a big collection of clay pots.  Be it the classical German Römertopf, or something that looks more like a north african tajine/tagine, name me a type of clay pot and we probably have something similiar So our fish is normally done in a clay pot (if not roasted at a campfire in summer). My side of the family used wooden boxes filled with hay to make fish in the oven.

The next on our to try list would be a clay pot filled with hay to prepare fish, something like this but mixing the two sides of our family into one great(:)) recipe. Birthday of my wife is in some weeks:

 

 

 

 

[Androdion 875]

5 hours ago, chattius said:

My wife said something about aluminium but I forgot what it was. Something about chemical reactions from aluminium foil in connection with salt and food acids. Was something with the brain, brain wrapped with aluminium foil? Wait that was for preventing Bill Gates mind controlling me. Ah, I found the warning on the package with the alu foil: aluminium may cause Alzheimer. What is Alzheimer? I am sure I once knew....

Salt, citrons, ... should be done after the fish is removed from the foil. But I bet you know that.

What type of fish is that? I am used to local freshwater fish, not sea fish.

Yeah, I don't use foil in the oven when I'm cooking. I know it's fairly used to prevent burning on top but I tend to use a lower temperature for a longer period of time, thus eliminating the excess of roast. That fish for instance, it had a good amount of onions, celery, olive oil and butter, but the fish was a bit thin on its tail (the other half with the head is bigger). So I turned the oven to 160 degrees on both top and bottom grilles, then when the fish was golden on top but the boil wasn't exactly strong I raised the temperature to 200 degrees and put it solely on the lower grille. It turned out pretty well as the gravy was left a bit creamy and glazed. So did the carrots which were made with their skin.

The fish is this one. It's called "corvina" in Portuguese, I'm not sure about the translation.

 

[chattius 2,520]

7 hours ago, Androdion said:

The fish is this one. It's called "corvina" in Portuguese, I'm not sure about the translation.

 

Corvina, that made me think of corvus the latin class name for a raven. Then I remembered a fish we call Seerabe or Meerrabe (sea raven, ocean raven) because it has wing like breast fins (more visible at the young) and a near black colour. The english name is close: corb or brown meagre.

Brother Grimm did language research and they wrote down old fairytales when interrogating old people for certain local words. There is a Grimm's law how words changed with time.

One shift is from b or p to f or v.

german Rabe, english raven

german Weib, english wife

so here we have corb -> corvina

 

That's how I learned languages without having them at school (just latin). I am more a math than a translator. So I learned a lot by applying language laws to words

if this is the fish I can see your problem. I use parchment paper with a thin oil layer as a cover.

 

Thats how my woodworking father's side did BBQ. Making a wooden box, water it for some hours, fill aromatic hay/dry herbs in, lay chicken wings, fish whatever on the hay, and grill more or less indirect with a reflector or using something like a baking house. You can buy wooden bbq boxes, in germany Axtschlag company for example So the video from the last post found in the internet was really a mix from the wooden box with hay I was used with the clay pots my wife grew up with.

Wood boxes can also be used for making small breads. The inner cross is removable so you can use the box for BBQ too.

My grandpa and father were great in making the boxes. I was great too but unused to do it. I would need so much time that buying one would be cheaper. At the time of my grandpa all the machines for woodworking were installed. Now they are stored in the barn near the roof I fear.

 

[Androdion 875]

That reminds me of the Jamie & Jimmy show, where Jamie Oliver did all his usual things and his childhood friend Jimmy showed how to do custom-made barbecues, ovens, etc. He once made one of those boxes and roasted an entire pig with reflection, it looked amazing to be honest.

I've tried getting a decent translation but I'm not getting any luck because there seems to be a lot of fish in the sea.  But the closest I could find in terms of the actual fish is the white seabass (corvinata-branca in latin), the "corvina" is just smaller.

 

[chattius 2,520]

Found a site with portugese fish

https://www.portugalist.com/portuguese-fish/

Quote

Corvina

Meagre or Croaker, mild taste. 

Corvina is usually translated as either croaker or meagre, but don’t let the name fool you.  A corvina is definitely not a meagre fish: it can weigh 45 kilos or more.

Although it often features in stews, corvina fish is usually served in steaks and grilled or baked. It’s a very good fish for beginners as there’s really only one big bone in the centre. This is easy to remove so, if you’re not used to eating fish, you won’t spend your entire meal picking out little bones.

But it says usually translated...

 

[Androdion 875]

I'd say the description is just about right though, it can get pretty big. Anyway, it's the kind of fish that has that strong flavour like a "heavier" tuna steak, so it goes pretty well in stews. I buy smaller ones for putting in the oven.

[gogoblender 3,068]

1 hour ago, Androdion said:

I'd say the description is just about right though, it can get pretty big. Anyway, it's the kind of fish that has that strong flavour like a "heavier" tuna steak, so it goes pretty well in stews. I buy smaller ones for putting in the oven.

What about oily fish? I kinda grew up in a "tin fish" culture   where my parents would often magically put out cans of food from the cupboard that we called the 'store" ... and there would be canned mackerel in these red cans that my mom would fry up with onions, curry powder, more curry powder and tomatoes... such a nostalgia food for me... and the other day I saw that canned fish is a huge premium delicacy coming from Portugal at very premium prices!

 

gogo

[Androdion 875]

Yeah, we were always a big producer for canned tuna and sardines, among others. And nowadays there's this whole premium segment of typical products that are oriented towards tourism, so I'm not surprised that they're also exported. It's a hip thing nowadays, much like Port Wine.

[chattius 2,520]

We have own old fish ponds nearby. So the only 'canned' fish we eat/use is anchovy paste from a tube. The main use is to give a fish taste to fishes like pikes which are quite neutral in taste. My grandgrandma was from Italy, so my grandma had some italian recipes. Garum was hard to get here so the anchovy paste was brought to her by a truck driver who was regulary in Italy. We still do some of the recipes,but main use is aroma to tasteless fish. Since we use it rarely a glass would be too much. If the tube is short before getting bad we use it for noodles