My first take on US Grub.

[Beth]

Okay I am late to this discussion-blame it on daughter one with countless videos and pictures of her cats.

Forgive me for slowing down the discussion as I go back and add my 2 bits.

[Beth]

Jun 20, 2020 16:30:37 GMT quincannon said:

Tom: I would not eat grits with your mouth. No one, including Joan, meets my standards for bacon either.

Ian: A good hamburger is a work of art. Many try to be Rembrandt, but very few succeed. 

I love good grits but not being raised with them I don't have a clue how to cook them.  However we had hominy and corn meal mush a lot growing up and I think it fills the grits niche.  I like hominy but can live without the mush.

I agree a good hamburger is a work of art.   I also believe what you put on it makes a great deal of difference.  Personally I like a good spicy mustard, lettuce, tomato and a slice of sweet onion if available.  I know in the US people praise Vidalia onion but I will say that the 1015 onion there is none better.

Steve grilled burgers last night and other than the lack of sweet onion, they were pretty darn good.  Tonight will be steak.

[Beth]

Jun 20, 2020 19:18:58 GMT yanmacca said:

Americans would have the luxury of having all the different types of sausages which Europe are famous for. Immigrants from all the European nations would take their own brand across the Atlantic.

Our sausages are usually fried, but you can grill them and even bake them. What I do with my ‘bangers’ or Snags to Mac, is to quickly brown the outside in a frying pan and then cook them through in the oven.

A lot of northern European countries like to poach theirs in a similar way to how you have your hot dogs, the Germans would have brought this style to the states with their Frankfurters. The southern Europeans eat a lot of cured sausages.

Beth mention about Yorkshire puddings and there is a winter favourite we eat over here called ‘Toad in the Hole’. You just get an oven dish and line it with pork sausages, then just pour over the same batter mix you use for Yorkshires, then bang the whole lot into a screaming hot oven till dark brown. Serve it with good onion gravy and any steamed vegetables of your choice.

What I call toad in the hole is totally different.  It's grilled buttered bread with a cut out in the center which you put an egg.  I know they have different names around the country but it's pretty tasty.

[Beth]

Jun 20, 2020 21:01:16 GMT deadwoodgultch said:

You two are a mess. I still cook my bacon in the oven on a sheet pan, fat by lean, use only thick sliced bacon. No need to clean stove top for spit grease. I never cooked bacon in the oven prior to the military. That eggs any style to include omelets, pancakes, French toast, sausage, and biscuits or toast. Often did that for 600 plus. Nobody bitched about the bacon, not even Lt, Colonels.

Ian, you need to try a Bacon Bleu Cheeseburger, a Mushroom Swiss Burger, a Jalapeno Cheddar Burger, add lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, onion ig desired. Obviously flame cooked on an outdoor grill is the best prep.

I mentioned last post a wee bit of my foodservice history might be slipped in. In the Military, I trained with the Army, many of the Air Force foodies that followed trained at a school in Colorado(Air Force training). In all of my time in the service I heard from Army troops and Marines that Air force food was always better. I will tell you this that nobody that was trained at Colorado Springs could carry a candle to those trained at Ft Lee VA. The air Force woke up after and began sending their foodservice personnel. The only thing I can tell you is we did for the most part have better facilities. I won't look this up but the Army Culinary team has an outstanding in competition record, and in later years with Chefs with the top ACF certifications and consultant Chefs that could not hold a candle to the Army team members. Chuck, if you ever venture to the local post, I would wager you will find some very fine culinary certified there, Many will cater outside parties. This ain't sucking up to the Army, I spent 24 years teaching field foodservice operations USAF types that I learned in 1969.

Regards,
Tom

First I have to mention my dad was a military cook as well--in the Marines, he trained and Pendleton where he finished very high in his class.  If you were high enough you got to select where you were stationed.  Dad liked Pendleton so he decided to stay there for the rest of his enlistment.  That said through the years I have come to realize my dad wasn't a very good cook.  He might have been able to feed a boot camp full of hungry Marines but at home he adapted his cooking to what he and mom preferred which was meat WAAY overcooked.  Neither would eat meat if there was the slightest sign of pink which meant a lot of dry, dry roasts and hams growing up.  Dad did excel at Thanksgiving at least when it came to the dressing.  I wish I could duplicate it but I am afraid he never worked from a recipe.  I have come close a few times but have never quite got it right.

Ironically I know that my dad knew how to cook meat right.  When he decided to leave the family business (a hatchery) he went to Cleveland to a school that specialized in teaching meat cutting.  Explaining to customers how to cook meat was part of the schooling and I personally tell someone how to cook a roast to medium rare for the best results.

BTW Once you start baking your bacon, you will never go back to frying it.  You get much better results.  Also if you line the pan with foil, the clean up is much easier.   I used silcone baking sheets though.  Love them.

[Beth]

Jun 21, 2020 18:32:55 GMT yanmacca said:

Don't you think that oven cooking bacon can dry it out and make it a bit like cardboard?

You have to be careful when buying bacon, dry cured smoked bacon is the best but is expensive. If you just get a standard pack of bacon and stick it in the fry pan, then the amount of liquid crap that come out of it is awful.

I passed Tom my next door neighbour, some Rocket [or as you call it cilantro] plants over the fence this morning, I grew the Rocket from seed and he will have to thin them out before planting, as I split the pack between four plant pots and each one has a couple of dozen little seedlings.

We exchange stuff all the while and so far, he has given me six tomato plants, eight lettuces and two cucumber plants, I gave him a batch of strawberry plants I took from cuttings last year.

Dang I wish I lived next door to you.  I hope next year to add some herbs to my back yard area it's just this year is impossible to go get plants.  I love cilantro but unfortunately Steve is one of those people who find it too soapy for his taste.

Baking bacon can make it crisper than pan frying but if you keep an eye on it you can get it to the doneness you want.

[Beth]

Jun 21, 2020 18:34:38 GMT yanmacca said:

Here is one for everybody on this site as we have all done this;

How do you cook your rump steak. Do you prep it first or do you just take the pack out of the fridge and slap it in a hot pan.

Handy dandy Brit to American translation is that your rump steak is our sirloin.  (the names of cuts of meat vary across the country so I often have to look them up)

Don't take a steak out of the fridge and slap it anywhere!  Let it get to room temp, season to taste and put it on a grill! 

[yanmacca]

I think we call our cuts of meat different than you, for instance;

The British and Commonwealth English "rump steak" is commonly called "sirloin" in American English. On the other hand, British "sirloin" is called short loin or "porterhouse" by Americans.

[yanmacca]

I usually marinade our steaks in olive oil, thyme and garlic and leave them in the fridge all afternoon. About an hour before cooking, I take the out of the fridge and bring them up to room temperature for about an hour. I take them out of the marinade and brush off any bits of garlic and Thyme, then put them into a red hot dry pan, as they are already oiled with the marinade and turn the heat down to medium and give them three minutes each side, season when turning.

I like them with chips, garden peas, button mushrooms and battered onion rings.

[yanmacca]

Beth, ask Steve to get you half a dozen plastic plant pots and a couple of bags of compost, then you can place some small stones in the bottom of each pot, fill with compost and add any herbs you want. I bought mine for penny’s basically as our super markets have bunches of fresh herbs for around 50p. These are ready to plant and have good established roots.

Under our dinning room window, which gets good sun, I have thyme, lemon thyme, rosemary, sage, mint and chives, plus basil in the green house. These take no looking after except for watering each evening. The more you cut them, the better the grow.

My neighbour Tom, past me over a large bunch of spring onions over last night, around eight, while we were both watering our gardens, I think you call these scallions in the states. He also gave a pot full of small onions for planting, so this afternoon I will place them in small plant pots and water them and just let them grow in a partly shaded part of the garden.

[mac]

I have to stop reading as I am drooling. And boy am I hungry!

Snags for me tomorrow Ian...and yes those Germans really know how do make, cook and serve snags.

[deadwoodgultch]

Ian, sorry I came off as a steak snob, I am. I consider a Rump steak one step above a Chuck steak. I have a different take on sirloin steaks, there are two main types: Top Sirloin Steak: The best cut for steak and the most tender, often labeled just as Sirloin . Bottom Sirloin: A lesser section of chewier cuts like Tri-Tip that benefit from tenderizing and/or cooking to medium-rare doneness.

Actually the Rump and the Chuck are very flavorful and less fat and for my money make the leanest and most flavorful ground beef you can get. If you want to try another lean, muscular cut see if you can find a Beef Knuckle, it is also quite flavorful. You can cut your own steaks or simply do roasts

Having been a member of and associated with the CIA and the NRA(Culinary Institute of America and National Restaurant Association) for business I have some strong opinions about Foodservice. Their publications and workshops are invaluable. Associate memberships are available.

Lastly, anyone who does not already have one should purchase a publication called " The Food Lovers Companion", it is not a cook book or a recipe book. It is what some call a Foodies Bible, you wont regret the expenditure.

Regards,
Tom

[deadwoodgultch]

You wont't regret an herb garden, Beth. Just two evenings ago I made fresh pesto. The Basil was planted in May. Also if you like Rosemary it will grow as a perennial where you live, plant it in the ground, although more closely related to mint, it looks like a pine.

Regards,
Tom

[yanmacca]

Jun 22, 2020 12:07:42 GMT deadwoodgultch said:

Ian, sorry I came off as a steak snob, I am.

You didn’t sound like a steak snob to me Tom, just a guy who respects the food he cooks.

[azranger]

Ranger Beans

1 can Pinto Beans (with jalapeno )
1 can Black Beans
I can Fire Roasted Tomato
4 oz Cream Cheese
it
Heat and simmer as long as you like. It gets better with time

The ratio remains the same. For our G&F Christmas Party it is 4 times the above.

Regards

Steve

[yanmacca]

I don’t we would be able to buy any of those cans Steve, but I do agree some foods do taste better the day after, especially casseroles, stews and curries.

I did Daniel [who has turned veggie], a quick pasta dish last year. The sauce was rather dry, which suited the end result, most of the ingredients came from our garden, well except the cheese, pasta and olive oil. I just roughly chopped around a dozen cherry tomatoes and squeezed the water out of them, place them in a fry pan with a splash of olive oil. Added basil leaves, grated onion, garlic and black pepper and cooked until softened. When the pasta was done, I simply took it from the water, straight into the frying pan along with some of the cooking water and let it cook for a minute, then served it up with grated cheese, he loved it!