Foodapalooza - the longest food draft of all time - The beef finally arrives in rounds 51 & 52 (1 Viewer)

[General Malaise]

Right after I posted that, I texted my mom about peanut butter falling off the truck during her working days.  She instantly responded, “boy, it wasn’t just peanut butter…” and spent several minutes recapping her food sales rep black market highlight reel.  “It’s safe to tell you all this now…” 

Glad I didn’t know the depth of it then, happy to know it now.  I’ll admit it.  I was impressed.  

That's awesome!  My mom loved figs.  I never understood it, but she thought they were fruit gold.  When she and my dad looked for a house in the Portland area, she required (and found) a house with a mature and fruitful fig tree.

When we were kids, we didn't have one in our Dallas home BUT we would take evening "track walks" (our entertainment consisted of my parents getting a quart of beer with a bag, giving us a Slurpee and walking us a mile or two on the train tracks and back, flattening coins when trains came, throwing rocks off train trestles into the murky water below, etc).  There was a home along the tracks with a row of fig trees in the back near where we parked.  I vividly remember my mom sprinting over there and plucking a few figs before sprinting back to us in the waiting car.  My dad drove away like they had robbed a bank.  Ahhhh, memories.

 

[Eephus]

15 - Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

The tartness of the rhubarb balances the sweetness of the strawberries.  Rhubarb produces a lot of fluid so it's crucial to get the right amount of starch to thicken the filling.

My family used to have some rhubarb plants next to the garbage cans behind the garage. Rhubarb is a very hardy perennial that was able to survive Wisconsin winters. i don't remember the plants being covered in the wintertime and even if they were, the ground was frozen.  My mom would make pies and can the rest in a sauce that was great on ice cream.  Unfortunately, rhubarb is hard to find on the West Coast and even when available, it's more expensive than the berries. Apparently rhubarb doesn't work as a perennial in warm climates because of root rot so it has to be replanted every year.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

 My go-to “J” on PBJ these days is Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves

Ours, too.  We also love the blackberry, but they are all good.

 

[Eephus]

My go-to “J” on PBJ these days is Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves

Ours, too.  We also love the blackberry, but they are all good.

Better than Smuckers®

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Perfect afternoon (it's in there)

Perfect evening

Happy Halloween

Rebuttal to some horrible eat off video someone else posted

I don't even remember this but the title is something about tensor tympani

Backup vocals to a Nipsey Karaoke night

No idea what this is

Someone made fun of my action figures

thanks for this - needs a lot more love.  

 

[Binky The Doormat]

So with a lot of money saved stocking peanut butter at the house, we usually had a variety of jellies, jams, preserves.  My go-to “J” on PBJ these days is Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves

I still go with PB&J - dress it up with nice bread (sourdough or those nut/grain breads), bacon bits - and sprinkling some red pepper flakes on it - and throwing some potato chips in it.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Round 15  -  Ricotta Pie

A ways back, we went to Boston for Mr R's job.  One of the food recommendations was for Modern Pastry.  The nice young lady behind the counter said, "I'll-a cut-ta you some."  It was like something out of a movie.  How we got out of there without rolling on the floor laughing I do not know.  But that was some of the best food we've ever had.  Orgasmically good.  Alas, it is available for local pick up only, or we've be shipping it in on the regular.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

RD 14:  LUNCH/SANDWICH - CLUB SANDWICH

delicious. - the epitome of "fancy" when I was a teenager

can't believe this classic masterpiece almost got by me ...and hasn't been mentioned yet

the classic club is a perfect sandwich - lightly toasted bread, mayo, turkey, ham, bacon, lettuce, ripe tomato ...

it must be cut into quarters and must have toothpicks (prefer frilly ends) holding these bastards together

I'll take a classic version any time and enjoy the hell out of it - but my preferred additions are

sourdough bread, avocado, alfalfa sprouts instead of lettuce

 

[Drunken knight]

Round 14 Sandwich: Peanut Butter & Jelly

  My go-to “J” on PBJ these days is Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves, and I really hope Bonne Maman doesn’t fun terrorist groups or back exclusionary politics because I’ve never bothered to give them a proper vetting even after decades of consumption.  

Ours, too.  We also love the blackberry, but they are all good.

i have enjoyed them for some time.  used  them for room service jellies and preserves.  I like their dark fruit berry mix, red fruit mix, blackberry, currant

 

[General Malaise]

15 - Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

The tartness of the rhubarb balances the sweetness of the strawberries.  Rhubarb produces a lot of fluid so it's crucial to get the right amount of starch to thicken the filling.

My family used to have some rhubarb plants next to the garbage cans behind the garage. Rhubarb is a very hardy perennial that was able to survive Wisconsin winters. i don't remember the plants being covered in the wintertime and even if they were, the ground was frozen.  My mom would make pies and can the rest in a sauce that was great on ice cream.  Unfortunately, rhubarb is hard to find on the West Coast and even when available, it's more expensive than the berries. Apparently rhubarb doesn't work as a perennial in warm climates because of root rot so it has to be replanted every year.

My parents (just dad now) has a vivacious rhubarb plant in his backyard, but he doesn't eat fruits or veggies so I think it just grows, dies, regrows, dies, etc....it grows quite well in Oregon.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

RD 14:  LUNCH/SANDWICH - CLUB SANDWICH

delicious. - the epitome of "fancy" when I was a teenager

can't believe this classic masterpiece almost got by me ...and hasn't been mentioned yet

the classic club is a perfect sandwich - lightly toasted bread, mayo, turkey, ham, bacon, lettuce, ripe tomato ...

it must be cut into quarters and must have toothpicks (prefer frilly ends) holding these bastards together

I'll take a classic version any time and enjoy the hell out of it - but my preferred additions are

sourdough bread, avocado, alfalfa sprouts instead of lettuce

Don't forget the Ruffles and a dill pickle spear.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

RD 15:  DESSERT/PIE - COCONUT CREAM PIE

I am not much of fruit pie person, but I do love a nice coconut cream pie.  Not much to say about it.  

recipe.

 

[Drunken knight]

RD 15:  DESSERT/PIE - COCONUT CREAM PIE

I am not much of fruit pie person, but I do love a nice coconut cream pie.  Not much to say about it.  

recipe.

I am very selective in how I like coconut.  turn that into pina colada, or coconut/lime and i'm in

 

[Mister CIA]

I am very selective in how I like coconut.  turn that into pina colada, or coconut/lime and i'm in

It's my #1 snow cone flavor.

 

[Drunken knight]

It's my #1 snow cone flavor.

guava or grape for me

 

[Ilov80s]

Rd 15 Pie: Pecan 

sweet, buttery, crunchy, nutty

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Rd 15 Pie: Pecan 

sweet, buttery, crunchy, nutty

 love it - but gotta have some vanilla ice cream or a big glass of milk to cut some of the sweet  

 

[Ilov80s]

 love it - but gotta have some vanilla ice cream or a big glass of milk to cut some of the sweet  

Absolutely but I would say the same about almost any pie except Key Lime (which would have been my 1st choice)

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Rd 15 Pie: Pecan 

sweet, buttery, crunchy, nutty

 love it - but gotta have some vanilla ice cream or a big glass of milk to cut some of the sweet  

Try a chocolate pecan pie made with dark chocolate chips in it.  That makes the whole thing tasty and less overly sweet.

 

[Ilov80s]

Try a chocolate pecan pie made with dark chocolate chips in it.  That makes the whole thing tasty and less overly sweet.

The idea sounds good but man there is something about a slice of pecan pie that just brings me memories. My FIL is from Georgia and he bakes a heck of a pecan pie. Something about the roasty sweetness that I love and I am not a sweets junkie. 

 

[Drunken knight]

Try a chocolate pecan pie made with dark chocolate chips in it.  That makes the whole thing tasty and less overly sweet.

My wife makes a wonderful chocolate pecan pie.

 

[krista4]

Close to the current discussion, the chocolate nut pie where I grew up is:

Round 15 - Derby Pie TM

Walnuts instead of pecans.

 

[Eephus]

Pie - 7

Cobbler - 2

Pastry - 0

 

[krista4]

Round 15:  Blackberry Cobbler (with a side of vanilla ice cream), dessert/pastry

My grandma's blackberry cobbler would have been my pick, ya jerk.  So I had to go with a different childhood favorite.

 

[krista4]

For months, I've been on the waiting list to get into Communion, named the best restaurant in Seattle last year and one of the 12 best new restaurants in the world.  One other time I got an email that a table had become available, but I was too late to grab it.

Email just popped up as I happened to be in there reading another one:  there's a table available tomorrow at 5:30.  With more speed even than I used to grab Paul McCartney presale tickets, I grabbed it!   

Menu

 

[Frostillicus]

For months, I've been on the waiting list to get into Communion, named the best restaurant in Seattle last year and one of the 12 best new restaurants in the world.  One other time I got an email that a table had become available, but I was too late to grab it.

Email just popped up as I happened to be in there reading another one:  there's a table available tomorrow at 5:30.  With more speed even than I used to grab Paul McCartney presale tickets, I grabbed it!   

Menu

Yes I will come with you.

 

[wikkidpissah]

For months, I've been on the waiting list to get into Communion, named the best restaurant in Seattle last year and one of the 12 best new restaurants in the world.  One other time I got an email that a table had become available, but I was too late to grab it.

Email just popped up as I happened to be in there reading another one:  there's a table available tomorrow at 5:30.  With more speed even than I used to grab Paul McCartney presale tickets, I grabbed it!   

Menu

i see they've embraced Ethiopa's bigass secret - two dishes using their national spice. enjoy! 

 

[krista4]

Yes I will come with you.

Flights are pretty easy from MSP to SEA!

i see they've embraced Ethiopa's bigass secret - two dishes using their national spice. enjoy! 

That berbere chicken might be calling my name.  There will be four of us, so we should be able to have a good portion of the menu.  

 

[Coach Beard]

Ours, too.  We also love the blackberry, but they are all good.

So much this.  Will grab a blackberry or raspberry to mix it up.  Love the blackberry on a toasted bagel.  

 

[Drunken knight]

So much this.  Will grab a blackberry or raspberry to mix it up.  Love the blackberry on a toasted bagel.  

My favorite application is stuffed French toast with mascarpone 

 

[Mister CIA]

My favorite application is stuffed French toast with mascarpone 

This gives me an idea for grilled cheese.

 

[Drunken knight]

This gives me an idea for grilled cheese.

… or monte cristo 

 

[Coach Beard]

With French Silk Pie off the board, I guess I’ll go pastry.

Round 15 pastry - Cinnamon Rolls

Oh baby do I love cinnamon rolls.  The raised dough, the sugar cinnamon layer, the variety of options to smother them across the top, unravel them bite by bite or take a fork to them.  It’s so versatile and delicious.  If I’m at a bakery for the first time, I always check if they make cinnamon rolls because that is how I shall judge them.  The culinary arts program at a nearby community college has a pop-up bakery once a week where the students in the pastry program sell their best classwork, and their cinnamon rolls are usually dynamite.  

My big contribution to holiday breakfast/brunch is a batch of Alton’s Overnight Cinnamon Rolls.  The dough prep is a calming therapeutic exercise late in the evening when the house has gotten a little quieter, either rolling out the dough solo or hanging with the other night owls, fun to have a sous chef brush some melted butter and sprinkle the brown sugar cinnamon mixture over the dough before I roll it up.  (We prefer a straight sweet frosting my wife makes instead the cream cheese based one Alton recommends in the linked recipe, but either gets the job done)  

But frosting isn’t the only way to make it work.  A good caramel topped cinnamon roll is devine.  Like the ones at Tobie’s, a famous roadside spot about halfway on the drive from the Twin Cities up to the Lake Superior area.  I don’t need pecans across the top of my cinnamon roll, but I’m happy it’s an option for those who like a little nuttiness across the top.  

Cinnamon rolls make me so happy.

 

[Mister CIA]

Cinnamon rolls

https://youtu.be/hBOuugZxx4Q

 

[krista4]

I didn't look at the categories and saw pies so just took a pie.  If I'd known pastries were in the mix, cinnamon rolls would have been the selection.  Inspired pick. 

 

[Mister CIA]

If I’m at a bakery for the first time, I always check if they make cinnamon rolls because that is how I shall judge them.

Likewise, I order enchiladas the first time I check out local tex-mex.

 

[Coach Beard]

Cinnamon rolls

https://youtu.be/hBOuugZxx4Q

Oh wow.  I’m impressed that got rolled up.  Next time I’m in San Antonio, I’m there.  

 

[Coach Beard]

Likewise, I order enchiladas the first time I check out local tex-mex.

Good call.  You can learn a lot about an entire Tex-Mex menu from the enchiladas.  And a good enchilada is so tasty.  

 

[Mister CIA]

Good call.  You can learn a lot about an entire Tex-Mex menu from the enchiladas.  And a good enchilada is so tasty.  

Semi-Pro Tip: have a fresh basket of tortilla chips served up with your enchiladas, and have a serrano stashed in your shirt pocket.

 

[Drunken knight]

Are we beyond soups… not sure if one of my favorites was mentioned…. Tom kha?

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Pie - 7

Cobbler - 2

Pastry - 0

Wait for it, dude.

Mmmm...  cinnamon rolls.

 

[Mister CIA]

Are we beyond soups… not sure if one of my favorites was mentioned…. Tom kha?

Campbell's Bean with Bacon is on my shopping list.

 

[shuke]

15. McDonald's Fried Apple Pie, circa 1983

You remember these things.  Crunchy and flaky, with a scalding filling that would leave your mouth blistered for days, but you didn't care.  It was that good.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Are we beyond soups… not sure if one of my favorites was mentioned…. Tom kha?

doesn't look like you have RD 14 on the board - that still qualifies for soup!  

I considered Tom Kha ...but no one has picked it!

 

[Binky The Doormat]

15. McDonald's Fried Apple Pie, circa 1983

You remember these things.  Crunchy and flaky, with a scalding filling that would leave your mouth blistered for days, but you didn't care.  It was that good.

the baked ones make me sad.  

 

[Judge Smails]

RD 14:  LUNCH/SANDWICH - CLUB SANDWICH

delicious. - the epitome of "fancy" when I was a teenager

can't believe this classic masterpiece almost got by me ...and hasn't been mentioned yet

the classic club is a perfect sandwich - lightly toasted bread, mayo, turkey, ham, bacon, lettuce, ripe tomato ...

it must be cut into quarters and must have toothpicks (prefer frilly ends) holding these bastards together

I'll take a classic version any time and enjoy the hell out of it - but my preferred additions are

sourdough bread, avocado, alfalfa sprouts instead of lettuce

Sacrilege - but I have to take out the middle bread

 

[Frostillicus]

Good call.  You can learn a lot about an entire Tex-Mex menu from the enchiladas.  And a good enchilada is so tasty.  

I do this with tacos. One ground beef, so I can get an idea of their baseline, and one fancier meat. But I pretty much always like them because I'm a total whore for tex-mex tacos. 

 

[wikkidpissah]

16.xx DaleDale Noodles, main course - pork

I am a huge person - think Vince Wilfork - and, largely speaking, it is body-by-noodle. Ever since me Ma first served her Campbell's Soup hamburger stroganoff, i've been in love with egg noodles. I mean freakishly so - 3-4 dinners a wk for almost 50 yrs. Cooking for myself has largely consisted of making ragus of whatever ground meat was on sale for to top my precious ribbons. Hell, it's only been the last decade have i not insisted on slathering them in butter before dressing my bowl. Now, i even sliver carrots & celery into the water late for a quick blanch, but that's as far as i go. Between that and my love of bread, i am more hopelessly addicted to starches than i ever was to booze, drugs, smokes or ego, and sincerely hope not to make a dietetic Pascal's Wager at the end, rather letting my heart & gut do a Thelma & Louise when the time comes.

Back to the ragus - when ground beef or turkey is on sale, it's usually chiles and my blackbean refritos for Mexican; with Italian sausage, tomatoes & mushrooms. The rarest, and my favorite, though is when it's pork so i can trot out my homemade pepper oil.  I infuse a pot of canola oil with garlic,  bay, toasted & mortared chile de arbol and Szechaun peppercorns. Hell, i'd put it on cereal if i could, but i save it for special occasions. When Market Basket has a coupla packs of freezer-burnt ground pork for $1.98 a pound, it's that, some aromatics, soy, hoisin and pepper oil, get the noodles ready Martha, chop some scallions and grab a handful from my father's ubiquitous chairside can of nuts and toss em in the spice grinder for a topping. Quickfood bliss... 

I've never actually had real DanDan noodles - i came up with this home recipe off the TV just lately - but i'm taking my 95yo auntie into Boston next week for a (last?) tour of our ol' hood and the best DanDan in town will be nearby @ Noah's Kitchen. Maybe she'll let me wheel her in for a Szechuan treat - i'm sure her sainted Irish tastebuds will love it. I'm salivating triglycerides as we speak. Eeyewwww...

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Did somebody say pastry?

16.x - Profiteroles

Choux pastry and custard you say?  Sign me up.  I think I actually prefer them without a chocolate sauce on top, but I won't object.  I'm ecumenical with my cream puffs.  

Because I'm in a sour mood, you're getting Gordon.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

16.xx DaleDale Noodles, main course - pork

I've never actually had real DanDan noodles - i came up with this home recipe off the TV just lately - but i'm taking my 95yo auntie into Boston next week for a (last?) tour of our ol' hood and the best DanDan in town will be nearby @ Noah's Kitchen. Maybe she'll let me wheel her in for a Szechuan treat - i'm sure her sainted Irish tastebuds will love it. I'm salivating triglycerides as we speak. Eeyewwww...

Dan Dan noodles are the absolute best snack to go with Tiki drinks.