Idle Tongues (food before your mind goes elsewhere)

[toblix]

That's not good beer, average at best.

Hey now, that's no way to discuss something as subjective as the taste of beer.

I almost never cook – much respectz to those of you who have the patience and skill to create edible, delicious meals. I can cook (what I think is) a delicious bowl of spaghetti or a delicious pizza, but those are simple dishes and hard to really botch. Also, I find cooking such a hassle I usually just make a sandwich or something.

[TheLastBaron]

So I had real ramen from a real Japanese restaurant last week, and I was kind of surprised to find that it was pretty much identical to the normal dried kind. I don't know what I expected, but I was kind of disappointed that it didn't change my life.

[TheLastBaron]

I don't know if this is the right place to put this, I may end up putting it in the Movies/TV thread at some point if I have more to say, but I've started watching Iron Chef again for the first time is probably close to 10 years and it's awesome. I also didn't realize how old it was (first season was '92 so 20 years ago). In the past two days I've watched maybe 10-12 episodes, which now that I think about it is a lot given that they're an hour (of television time) long. I found a site with divx player videos of a large amount of the episodes and I'll just scroll through the episode list looking at the ingredients and find one that looks cool, like mochi for example, and watch it. It's pretty addicting, I'll finish an episode and then see some other ingredient and wonder what they're going to make with it and have to watch another.

[nakedsushi]

So I had real ramen from a real Japanese restaurant last week, and I was kind of surprised to find that it was pretty much identical to the normal dried kind. I don't know what I expected, but I was kind of disappointed that it didn't change my life.

Whaat? Was it a ramen restaurant -- as in a restaurant that specializes in ramen? In my experience, unless the restaurant is a ramen restaurant, they're probably not gonna make you the broth from scratch. From the ramen I've had at ramen restaurants, there's definitely a difference. The texture of the noodles is more chewy and less wrinkled, the broth is richer and less salty, and the slices of meat just melt in my mouth.

[dibs]

Is that the American version Baron? Gosh I dislike it. I dislike most competitive cooking shows however (apart from the great british bake off, the flans are burning).

Also, i'm surprised too about the ramen! The noodles might not be much different in texture etc. but the broth from a good restaurant should be good homemade stock.

[TheLastBaron]

Is that the American version Baron? Gosh I dislike it. I dislike most competitive cooking shows however (apart from the great british bake off, the flans are burning).

Also, i'm surprised too about the ramen! The noodles might not be much different in texture etc. but the broth from a good restaurant should be good homemade stock.

It's the Japanese version, as in it is NOT Iron Chef America, I hate that show and will never watch it. The episodes were the dubbed ones though, as opposed to the ones with subtitles. I don't ever watch competative cooking shows, but I've always loved Iron Chef. I just watch an episode where the ingredient was swallow's nest, it was cool and at the same time weird, because the ingredient was swallow's nest. They used a lot of it, I think they said it was $24k worth of swallow's nest, and then on top of the the commentator pointed out that those were wholesale prices and that at a resturaunt it would be closer to $100k to order dishes with that much swallow's nest.

Yeah about the ramen, I'm pretty sure the resturaunt just wasn't very good. At some point I'm going to try and track down a good place.

[Colourful Stuff]

TGBBO is the best show on TV! Sue Perkins can turn anything into a cock gag, which I appreciate. Dibs, did you watch this week's pies episode? Things have started to get a lot more technical.

[dibs]

I missed the first episode and watched the second (plaits ahoy) in my brothers house. The rest have been recording on my sky plus box. I just have to break it to my housemate that we will be watching a baking show for a few hours next week...

[Colourful Stuff]

Get back to me when you are up to date. There has been some confectionery DRAMA!

[brkl]

Does 'swallow's nest' mean something else in this context? Or just crap held together with bird spit?

[TheLastBaron]

It's the bird spit, which is what the nests are made of. When they add it to water it turns into jelly, kind of.

[dibs]

I really want to watch the original now!

On the bus to a hog roast as I type. My friends new housemate is a pig farmer and they borrowed the family spit. Whoot. I made quinoa and roast veg salad and rocky road (the secret ingredient is butter).

[MrHoatzin]

I posted this on tumblr a while back, it is a side dish popular in the Balkans and the kind of thing I made in college for the whole week when I didn’t feel like cooking. It can be used as a side or as an ingredient. It is awesome as a pizza topping or as a spread on sangwiches. The quantities are vague, aim for about equal parts onions peppers and maters by volume.

BEĆAR PAPRIKAŠ

(pronounced bechar paprikash, with a soft ch like in ciao, rather than hard ch as in punch)

INGREDIENTS

• Onions (two or three)
  
• Peppers (about five or six medium sized ones. I like to get as many different kinds of peppers as possible)
  
• Maters (a vine or two, five or six)
  
• Oregano, Basil, Paprika, whatever else seems like it would work
  
• Olive oil (about 3/4 cups super extra virginal first cold press)
  
• A little bit of vinegar (enough to marinade the maters lightly, I like raspberry blush vinegar)
  

PREPARASHON

Cut the maters into cubes, combine with oregano and basil, let them sit in vinegar.

Wash the peppers and throw them on a cookie sheet under the broiler on low until they’re splotched in black and peeling on all sides (rotate them as needed), but before the meat of the peppers turns into charcoal. When done throw them into an airtight container and forget about them.

Cut up the mountain of onions into ribs and sauté with some salt until golden in a large enough sauce pan for all the ingredients. Start at high heat so that they start to stick to the bottom and burn a just a little, give them a bit of a rustic edge, then lower the heat and let all the onions catch up, stirring occasionally.

While they’re catching up, remember the peppers and go to them. Peel and throw away the sharpest, papery burnt black bits from the peppers and cut the meat up into stripes.

By this point, the onions should be done. Throw a tablespoon of paprika on them, stir for a minute, then stir in the peppers and the maters. Let it simmer until the maters start to get all nice, saucy and desaturated. And you’re done!

Serve hot or cold.

[dibs]

The best I can come up with for Maters is "A redneck word for tomatoes" from Urban Dictionary. Based on that, and assuming you are not cooking people's mothers, sounds good!

Also, I'm all caught up on Great British Bake off now. It is awesome. Such disasters scattered amongst the delicious triumphs.

Also, i had some fresh corn so I made chicken sweetcorn soup for lunch. Nomnomnomnomomnomnom.

[Colourful Stuff]

The glove of blood is a season highlight. Double elimination was unreasonably stressful.

[dibs]

So much blood. I was wondering why they let him continue for so long with such an obviously pumping wound.

I also will miss Sarah Jane, she was full of such wonderful musings on life.

[Colourful Stuff]

Sarah Jane forgot to cook most of her food and always looked like she wasn't quite sure where she was. Ryan will be missed, his Asian-inspired bakes were always a delight (other than pork brioche). I'm always excited to see what Brendan will pull out of his bottomless bag of baking knowledge.

[dibs]

Haha, Sue will pull him up on the awesome 70s theme no matter what! Ryan had some great ideas all right (though I've tried that pork in a bun and really not liked it) but he really did fall down on the actual baking! Sarah Jane was a bit flustered by the whole thing I'd say. At home in your own kitchen is a lot different than baking in that tent i'd say. I can't bloody cook right in my mum's kitchen still!

[Colourful Stuff]

His 70s aesthetic is adorable. I've only ever seen things like that in my mum's old cookbooks. I would immediately explode with fear if I had to do the technical bake. "Make the jam" is not a useful instruction to me.

[berniesbc]

The best I can come up with for Maters is "A redneck word for tomatoes" from Urban Dictionary. Based on that, and assuming you are not cooking people's mothers, sounds good!

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who had no idea what the hell Maters were.

[Kolzig]

There are some really awesome recepies in this thread. I have to mark these down.

As a side note I suck in cooking, I can only do the really simple food stuff that a student would've eaten if has no money.

Also there are too many fucking cooking shows on the Finnish tv channels.

[dibs]

His 70s aesthetic is adorable. I've only ever seen things like that in my mum's old cookbooks. I would immediately explode with fear if I had to do the technical bake. "Make the jam" is not a useful instruction to me.

I can't imagine how many old lady hearts were crushed when they revealed he was a gay Buddhist.

[subbes]

I <3 Sue Perkins, and have ever since Light Lunch.

[dibs]

http://imgur.com/27d18

I made cookies

[Colourful Stuff]

I made a five strand plated loaf and took a picture of it with my bullshit Nexus camera.