Food, Glorious Food

[Scepticalscribe]

Over the years on this forum, we have had a delightful "What's For Dinner" thread, a lovely "Cheese" thread, a long-running "Bacon" thread, a wonderful "coffee" thread (actually, an espresso thread that managed to morph, or transform, or adapt into a more general discussion of coffee thread), an interesting "recipes" thread, and indeed, a charming "how do you take your tea" thread among many others.

Food has featured in the excellent "What's On Your Mind" thread, but, as @arkitect - to whom I am indebted for suggesting this - so thoughtfully remarked in that particular thread, "The What's for Dinner? thread doesn't cover all bases… First breakfast, second breakfast, snacks, lunches, brunches, afternoon snacks, tea time, dinner, supper, bedtime, fridge raiding… etcetera."

So, with that in mind, I would like to launch - or merely start - a thread dedicated to, and devoted to, everything to do with the topic of food and invite any and all who would like to participate in such a discussion or chat to join with me in exploring the wonderful world of food, its history, preparation, consumption, and the pure , simple, greedy joy of tucking in to something you love.

 

[arkitect]

Thanks! Excellent introduction. Long may it thrive…

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I have written elsewhere about my mum: She passed away close to midnight on the night of the winter solstice, December 21 just past, pneumonia the immediate cause of death, but had been claimed by dementia, and then, advanced dementia for the best part of a decade prior to that.

One of the symptoms of dementia is a passionate greed for sweet things, and, my mother - who, all through my childhood and later, used to love fruit, disdained dessert, adored tart apples (and made wonderful apple tarts, and rhubarb tarts, and cherry tarts - and apple crumble - when we were children) and tore into plates and platters and bowls of gooseberries, - latterly developed a passion for dessert, cakes, buns, tarts, and other such sweet delights.

There is a wonderful French bakery (French owned, French run) in the centre of the city where I live, and they became used to my visits, where I used to purchase French bread for myself, and cakes, or croissants (almond and chocolate for preference) for my mother. The wonderful Filipina carer, (who lived with us for six years, caring for my mother) likewise, always bought cakes or croissants or tarts for mum whenever she visited the bakery, and my brother found an excellent bakery near his place of work and used to load up with cakes and buns and tarts for my mother whenever he visited home.

Recent visits to the French bakery (since my mum's demise) to buy French bread prompted concerned questions from the staff, "What, no cakes? No cakes today? But, you always buy cakes". I had stopped purchasing cakes after my mother's death, partly because they reminded me of her, partly because she was the person who ate (nay, devoured) most of them with undisguised greedy delight, the uninhibited cheerful greed of a satisfied and indulged child, and partly because, in general, my own culinary preferences run to savoury, rather than sweet.

Now, I did indulge in an occasional pain au raisin.

However, and but: Yesterday, I treated myself to an apple tart, something akin to a tarte tatin in the French bakery; served with coffee, it is sublime. And that was breakfast this morning.

Freshly squeezed fruit juice (made from blood oranges which I adore, and which are in season at the moment), Ethiopian coffee and French apple tart.

Cakes and Tarts tend to be a week-end treat, a Sunday morning indulgence and all the more appreciated and savoured for that.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

The thread is a very good idea.

My first contribution: yesterday I had a Hunter's stew. It is a traditional Central European food. It's a delicious slow-cooked, rib-sticking stew that is often served with bread dumplings.



Ingredients:

1 kg veal schnitzel
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 carrots, thickly sliced
1 parsnip, thickly sliced
1 large red onion, sliced
2 bay leaves
125 ml (½ cup) red wine
1 tbsp mustard
1 lemon, juiced
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
200 g sour cream

Preparation:

Season veal with salt. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Cook veal, in batches if necessary, for 1 minute each side or until browned. Transfer to a plate.

Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, parsnip, onion and bay leaves, and cook for 4 minutes or until softened. Add veal and any juices, wine and enough water to just cover veal. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and cook for 2 hours or until veal is tender. Remove from heat.

Using tongs, transfer veal to a plate, taking care not to let it break. Remove bay leaves and stir mustard, lemon juice, vinegar and sugar into cooking liquid. Using a handheld blender, process cooking liquid until smooth. Stir in sour cream, season with salt and pepper, and return veal to the pan over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes or until heated through. Serve immediately.

 

[arkitect]

Today's lunch was a simple 3 egg cheese and herb omelette, with a glass of South African Shiraz.

Nice and easy.

[doublepost=1552226842][/doublepost]

One of the symptoms of dementia is a passionate greed for sweet things, and, my mother - who, all through my childhood and later, used to love fruit, disdained dessert, adored tart apples (and made wonderful apple tarts, and rhubarb tarts, and cherry tarts - and apple crumble - when we were children) and tore into plates and platters and bowls of gooseberries, - latterly developed a passion for dessert, cakes, buns, tarts, and other such sweet delights.
Cakes and Tarts tend to be a week-end treat, a Sunday morning indulgence and all the more appreciated and savoured for that.

I do have an enormous sweet tooth. I need to keep it under control, as once that tiger is out of the cage, then I tend to go overboard… *sigh*
Hmmm… interesting about the dementia link to sweetness.
[doublepost=1552226928][/doublepost]

The thread is a very good idea.

My first contribution: yesterday I had a Hunter's stew. It is a traditional Central European food. It's a delicious slow-cooked, rib-sticking stew that is often served with bread dumplings.

Reminds me of Sundays at my Grandmother's house… She was German and this is just the kind of thing we'd have.

 

[AustinIllini]

We don't eat out much (maybe once a month), but when we do we try new and fun stuff.

Last weekend we went to an east Austin restaurant called Launderette. Their pastry chef is a James Beard award winner and best in Austin.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Today's lunch was a simple 3 egg cheese and herb omelette, with a glass of South African Shiraz.

Nice and easy.

View attachment 825699

Delicious - I love omelettes runny, the way they serve them in France. With good quality eggs, all you need are a few herbs.

I do have an enormous sweet tooth. I need to keep it under control, as once that tiger is out of the cage, then I tend to go overboard… *sigh*
Hmmm… interesting about the dementia link to sweetness.

Actually, it was rather curious, the way it transpired.

My mother had had a series of falls in 2011 and 2012, a few of which necessitated visits to hospital and stitches - and she was lucky, whenever she had one of her falls, one of us was always in the house with her (despite the fact that I was sometimes away for weeks, or months at a time).

Initially, she was misdiagnosed; they thought she suffered from vertigo, or Meniere's Disease, and that is what she was treated for - they even sent her off to "falls classes" (which she disdained utterly and blithely and cheerfully disregarded, reasoning, correctly, that someone would always be around for her whenever she toppled over).

Eventually, they twigged that the falls were a consequence of dementia - vascular dementia.

The day she was formally diagnosed, in autumn 2102, with vascular dementia (along with an element of classical Alzheimer's), to my surprise, I was asked whether she had a pronounced sweet tooth, as this was sometimes considered a symptom of the condition.

At that time, she didn't, as it happened, and I answered in the negative - Mother herself was sitting beside me, with that benign, but blank expression she cultivated when confronted by authority figures she preferred not to have to answer to.

However, within a matter of a few short months, the sweet tooth that had been assumed and predicted, kicked in with a vengeance. Then, it rapidly progressed - or regressed - to a stage when the carer would have to hide desert while dinner was being consumed, as, otherwise, my mother would not touch her dinner if she caught sight of dessert.

Eventually, we simply decided - stratospheric cholesterol levels, stents, pace-makers, et all notwithstanding - to give her what she wanted to eat. Hence, regular visits to the French bakery. Normally, a function of that condition is a severe loss of appetite. Mother, bless her, was tucking happily into cake and croissants until the day she died last December.

The thread is a very good idea.

My first contribution: yesterday I had a Hunter's stew. It is a traditional Central European food. It's a delicious slow-cooked, rib-sticking stew that is often served with bread dumplings.

Yum.

I love that sort of dish, pure, rib-sticking comfort food, (I always loved the classic goulash soup, warming and soothing), and thanks for sharing that lovely recipe with us. That Hunter's stew looks absolutely delicious.

 

[44267547]

Every day to start my bodybuilding meals, I start with a full bowl of oatmeal, [I don’t actually cook the oats in the microwave/or on the stove stop, I eat them raw] with milk, a full banana, shaved almonds and dark chocolate fudge chips with a small serving of brown sugar.

This is easily my favorite meal to start my day off, seven days a week.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I cooked 2 banana loaves earlier this afternoon as we had a bowl full of black bananas so had to be used or chucked.

Came out looking like a couple of house bricks mind you. Taste nice though so that’s the main thing.

 

[chown33]

It's obvious we needed this thread. It's really the most likely way to get @Scepticalscribe to increase her post rate even more.

In the Jan 2019 statistics, she had an average rate of one post every 44.9 minutes. If there's anything that can lead her into temptation to an even higher rate, it's food. Well, not just food, but Glorious food.

Let's see if she can break the 40-minute barrier. I'll be taking side bets in the Gambling and Other Vices forum.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I cooked 2 banana loaves earlier this afternoon as we had a bowl full of black bananas so had to be used or chucked.

Came out looking like a couple of house bricks mind you. Taste nice though so that’s the main thing.

Actually, I am rather partial to banana bread - the carer used to prepare it for my mother, - especially if we had bananas that needed to be used up - who loved it.

That looks delicious.

 

[millerj123]

It's obvious we needed this thread. It's really the most likely way to get @Scepticalscribe to increase her post rate even more.

In the Jan 2019 statistics, she had an average rate of one post every 44.9 minutes. If there's anything that can lead her into temptation to an even higher rate, it's food. Well, not just food, but Glorious food.

Let's see if she can break the 40-minute barrier. I'll be taking side bets in the Gambling and Other Vices forum.

Now you are just causing problems.

Costco carries this. I can eat it by the @$%*&-full.

 

[Clix Pix]

Ah, I didn't realize at the time I wrote my little rant on another thread that indeed this new thread had just been newly created today and obviously is already flourishing! Excellent! Bon Appetit, All!

 

[mobilehaathi]

Had some pani puris earlier today. Good god I could eat them endlessly.

 

[0388631]

I'm going to regret it later, but I had a mid-morning snack during the matches of crackers dipped in sambal sauce.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I'm going to regret it later, but I had a mid-morning snack during the matches of crackers dipped in sambal sauce.

Utterly addictive, I would imagine. I love sambal sauce.

 

[decafjava]

Utterly addictive, I would imagine. I love sambal sauce.

I do as well, and I can see understand regret coming - in particular if one eats the sauce almost plain. There is a reason that dairy based drinks and sauces are popular in the Middle East and South Asia, thinking of ayran for example. A good way to calm the burn.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

The old classic...
Had a traditional Greek salade with German black bread for lunch.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Breakfast was oozing Gorgonzola Cremosa slathered onto French dark rye bread. With kefir, freshly squeezed citrus juice, and Ethiopian coffee.

 

[44267547]

One of the personal favorites I make homemade- Turkey meatballs.

100% Ground turkey, Portabella mushrooms, spinach, and breadcrumbs, dashed with peppercorn and garlic sea-salt. Pairs really nice with fresh broccoli florets. Lean, protein packed and healthy.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Breakfast was oozing Gorgonzola Cremosa slathered onto French dark rye bread. With kefir, freshly squeezed citrus juice, and Ethiopian coffee.

I went for manchego, idiazabal, and garroxta with tomato, bread, and a few mugs of coffee with milk.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I went for manchego, idiazabal, and garroxta with tomato, bread, and a few mugs of coffee with milk.

Two Spanish (or, I suspect perhaps Basque) cheeses (namely idiazabal and garroxta) that I have never encountered.

What are they like?

Breakfast today was (again) cheese - mostly blues - Gorgonzola Cremosa, aged Cashel Blue, and Bleu d'Auvergne on rye bread. With freshly squeezed blood orange juice and Ethiopian coffee.

 

[Huntn]

We don't eat out much (maybe once a month), but when we do we try new and fun stuff.

Last weekend we went to an east Austin restaurant called Launderette. Their pastry chef is a James Beard award winner and best in Austin.

What am I looking at?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The old classic...
Had a traditional Greek salade with German black bread for lunch.

View attachment 825830

I love a traditional Greek salad in summer. That looks absolutely delicious.

 

[arkitect]

A bit of lacto-fermenting today!

Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower.
Some very well aged Sauerkraut lurks in the background.