Thoughts on Eating Out

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Post by sgt.null »

Peter - well we have a place here, our treat
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Post by Fist and Faith »

Menolly wrote:Peter, I think it's an across the pond translation thing. When y'all say "pudding," it's more a steamed thing, nu? Whereas us colonials think of pudding as a creamy, cold but not frozen custard.
Warm pudding is excellent! Especially butterscotch, especially when you put butterscotch chips in just before you eat it. Works for choclate, too. But they're all good warm. Lemon!
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Post by peter »

sgt.null wrote:Peter - well we have a place here, our treat
Oh yes!!!! On my way!!! ;)

:lol:
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Post by sgt.null »

peter wrote:
sgt.null wrote:Peter - well we have a place here, our treat
Oh yes!!!! On my way!!! ;)

:lol:
Unfortunately our favorite England 🇬🇧 style pub in Houston (the Black Dog 🐕) shut down this year.
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Post by Menolly »

Fist and Faith wrote:
Menolly wrote:Peter, I think it's an across the pond translation thing. When y'all say "pudding," it's more a steamed thing, nu? Whereas us colonials think of pudding as a creamy, cold but not frozen custard.
Warm pudding is excellent! Especially butterscotch, especially when you put butterscotch chips in just before you eat it. Works for choclate, too. But they're all good warm. Lemon!
Oh, agreed!

I was trying to figure out if translation issues in what Brits and colonials call pudding was the issue in peter not enjoying rice pudding, but that obviously isn't it.

peter, do you enjoy tapioca pudding? IMO it is slightly different in texture, but very similar in flavor to rice pudding.
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Post by peter »

:hairs: My response to that Menolly! In fact there are almost no 'milk' puddings that don't make me experience a queasy feeling even just by thinking about them. Sago, semolina, blancmange, custard [except in very rare cases], tapioca, rice pudding - all are total no-no's for me.

The rare exceptions are panna cotta [unless it veers into being too thick when it becomes essentially creme caramel] and creme brulee. And ice-cream......I love ice-cream which is essentially cold custard. Mmmm.......nowt so queer as folk! ;)
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Post by Damelon »

You might be interested in indian pudding, peter. It does have milk in it but it is a custard with molasses and cornmeal. It's good, though rare by me as it's more of a New England dish, but Sarge might add more on it.
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Post by sgt.null »

My grandmother made, I've made it. Julie has made it. It's a favorite.

Indian Pudding Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes


INGREDIENTS

6 cups of milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup molasses
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 cup golden raisins (optional)
Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

1 Scald the milk and butter: Scald the milk and butter in a large double boiler. Or heat the milk and butter for 5 or 6 minutes on high heat in the microwave, until it is boiling, then transfer it to a pot on the stove. Keep hot on medium heat.

2 Preheat oven to 250°F.

3 Make cornmeal milk base: In a separate bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, and salt; stir in molasses. Thin the mixture with about 1/2 cup of scalded milk, a few tablespoons at a time, then gradually add the mixture back to the large pot of scalded milk. Cook, stirring until thickened.

4 Temper the eggs, combine with milk cornmeal mixture: Temper the eggs by slowly adding a half cup of the hot milk cornmeal mixture to the beaten eggs, whisking constantly. Add the egg mixture back in with the hot milk cornmeal mixture, stir to combine.

5 Add sugar, spices, raisins if using: Stir in the sugar and spices, until smooth. At this point, if the mixture is clumpy, you can run it through a blender to smooth it out. Stir in the raisins (optional).

6 Bake: Pour into a 2 1/2 quart shallow casserole dish. Bake for 2 hours at 250°F.

7 Cool for an hour: Allow the pudding to cool about an hour to be at its best. It should be reheated to warm temperature if it has been chilled.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
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Post by peter »

Excellent instructions Sarge!

I've never heard of it, but as I've mentioned above, I have a really sweet tooth and this might work for it. I'll look into it and see if Mrs P might give it a go (I am the savory cook where she excels at deserts).

Thanks again.

:)
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Post by sgt.null »

Let me know how it comes out. I never use the raisins.
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Post by Fist and Faith »

I do love Indian pudding! It's been awhile since I made it.
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Post by Avatar »

I hate rice pudding. And Sago and tapioca and all that stripe of thing. :D

Sarge, what the hell happened to those pork chops? They look seared to within an inch of their life...

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Post by sgt.null »

and yet the 🐖 chops were still tender and juicy. We use a plastic knife 🔪 to cut them
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Post by Avatar »

Amazing. Reverse sear maybe?

--A
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Post by sgt.null »

Avatar wrote:Amazing. Reverse sear maybe?

--A
They ain't telling. Lol. The betters are amazing and we haven't figured out what they're doing there.

We are going to have them do our Thanksgiving this year. Julie's sister usually has the family over, but 2020 took that out of the equation.
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Post by peter »

Went out for a meal on Wednesday night and it was a salutary experience.

Started well, with a charcuterie of home cured fish and meats, small in size as a sort of amouse bouche, and then proceeded onwards to a series of small 'taster' courses that were truly top of the range.

The chef was clearly working at the top of his game and would have stood up against any Michelin star chef I have ever eaten with.

So far so good, but then we came to the main course, which in tasting menus tends to be kept at a size commensurate with having ten or so courses - ie of a small and 'doable' quantity. Alas, here our chef fell down. He presented two dishes (one to each of us, my wife and myself) that would have stood happily in an ordinary three course menu - and such was their quality that, like fools, we ate them. I had a venison dish with beetroot and root vegetables while my wife had a brill dish that was to die for.

And we nearly did.

Stuffed to the gills, we had three more courses to endure - not to big a word I assure you - that were the restaurant equivalent of that Chinese torture where they fill your stomach with grain and then pour water down your neck so that it swells up.

And they were truly beautiful courses that you couldn't leave - but could not enjoy either. It was a mark of the chef's inexperience that he did not understand the concept that sometimes, with food as with other things in life, less is more.

Now you may be tempted into saying that it was our fault for eating to beyond our ability to comfortably consume, and yes, I will accept a measure of blame. But I've had enough meals to know that the size balance here was all wrong and it should not have happened. A well designed menu will see you eat everything put in front of you and leave the restaurant sated but never stuffed. It's just part of how it is done and such is the nature of the human stomach that (extreme cases aside) most people will be able to eat a meal, properly judged, from start to finish, topping up with bread and additional courses - say an optional cheese course - where necessary. Certainly my wife and I are not the eaters we were ten years ago, but are still both capable of reaching the end of a balanced menu, if one is put in front of us. The decision to 'leave space' for the next course is not one that the consumer should be faced with in a menu of properly sized dishes.

As it was, we tottered from the dining room into the lounge to take coffee (and a much needed digestif - grappa in my case) and lick our wounds. Today (forty eight hours later) I'm thinking that I might eat again - at some point in my life that is!

But for all this griping (very apt word, that) I'm not sorry. This guy is a true talent and one day will be known as a great chef. Damn, I mean damn, he knows how to cook!

:throwup:
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....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

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Post by Menolly »

If I ever have the opportunity bro enjoy such a meal, hopefully I'll go on forewarned. Sounds awesome, if uncomfortable.
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Post by peter »

The advantage of an ala carte menu Menolly, is that you don't choose your dessert, cheese course, whatever, until you've had your main. That way you tailor the quantity you eat (in terms of number of courses) to your ability to eat them.

The same holds true that you should be able to go through the card without being stuffed to the seams, but at least you have some control in the matter.

:)
The truth is a Lion and does not need protection. Once free it will look after itself.

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard
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Post by Avatar »

I cannot say I would be too upset about a full-sized main in the middle of a tasting menu. :D

That said, I'm too fussy ever to order a tasting menu, since there are likely to be too many dishes I would not be interested in eating.

--A
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Post by peter »

It's become a bit of a thing with chefs these days Av, and I'm not a great fan of it really, but in fairness it does allow them to showcase their talents with a range of small and precision made dishes.

I hadn't intended to go for this particular menu, but changed my mind upon reading the variety of dishes it offered.

And they were good. I have to give it that. This fellow has a flair that, if he can iron out the bumps, will take him on to much bigger things.
The truth is a Lion and does not need protection. Once free it will look after itself.

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard
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