Speaking of food, ...
"Happy Thanksgiving" to everyone.
For those who do not know, this is a celebration of giving thanks for the harvest in Plymouth settlement of the North American Continent in 1621.
I've got a turkey breast, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas & onions, Sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie and Ice Tea about ready to go on the table.
I wish you all a happy harvest celebration.
"Happy Thanksgiving" to everyone.
For those who do not know, this is a celebration of giving thanks for the harvest in Plymouth settlement of the North American Continent in 1621.
I've got a turkey breast, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas & onions, Sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie and Ice Tea about ready to go on the table.
I wish you all a happy harvest celebration.
I've had it, it's delicious, a friend's ex was an American and she made them a couple of times for us-though it is the vessel for all-spice, cinnamon and nutmeg along with some double cream and eggs for some richness to it.
Butternut squash is readily available all year round and makes a lovely soup (again nutmeg is good, I like to add some chilli flakes for some heat) or roasts well to go with chicken or other roast dishes-I like to toss it with some mediterranean veg and herbs, some garlic and olive oil and roast until it starts to caramelise. If you roast it before making the soup it is even better.
Well, I won't comment on British food.
Our food is often maligned, but the two worst places I have eaten were the USA and Portugal:
In the USA I was in Vegas and dined in some pretty flash restaurants-the food looked great but to me was bland and tasteless, even the "junk food" which I had really looked forward to didn't hit the mark-no great flavours, just cheese, grease and carbs. I did miss breakfast every day and was told by my colleagues that it was the best meal they had.
Portugal was just weird, the region we went to is famous for Piri-Piri chicken, so I had high hopes-the best I ate was at and English/German owned restaurant, the rest was underspiced and overcooked. Other things I tried were a local dish of "secret pork"-I think the secret was what cut of meat was used as I'd never seen it before-with bread soup. The bread soup was stale bread cooked in water, oil and garlic and resembled a suggy loaf. Pork was tough and bland, "bread soup" just weird and stodgy. We spent most of our holiday driving up and down the Algarve trying to find somewhere to eat, we never got one meal where both my partner and I enjoyed it
Our food has been heavily influenced by the food/peoples of our empire, so the pumpkin pie you enjoy would not taste the same without Britain's influence-cinnamon, all-spice and nutmeg were all brought back during our reign and were used with great gusto by the chefs in our kitchens. The poor of old certainly would have had a bland meal while the rich revelled in the extravagance of showing off their new flavours. Now we all can eat whatever we like, the influences from around the world are now part of our daily diet-HP Brown Sauce, Lea and Perrins Worcester Sauce have their rooutes abroad!
I'd agree- the "name" places in Vegas are pretty lousy. But pick any hole in the wall in New York or San Francisco or New Orleans and... wow.
Next, please defend British dentistry and automotive electrical systems.
New York seems to offer my kind of food, I do occasionally watch "man vs food" and have a good drool at the sandwiches and burgers
New Orleans also looks like a hot spot for me, cajun gets little rep over here but I'm keen to eat more.Now, our dentists are fine! The reason you'll see "bad teeth" in movies is because America has to try and compensate for the fact that we're better at everything
You'll also have noticed that all the baddies in movies are now British rather than German or Commie as they used to be, again because you feel you have to put us downWith regards to our car wiring-what cars are you talking of? It's only small number cars we make anymore, any "UK" cars you are likely to see Stateside are owned by someone else! While on the subject of defending cars-why are American cars so crap? Honestly, I wouldn't drive anything American made after the 70s!
Honda, Toyota, and Mercedes are all US-made. Lucas is British through and through.
FWIW, we drive Hyundai.
Re food, what the US is particularly good at is regional cuisines- speaking of "American food" is like speaking of "European food," it's incredibly different place to place. Tex Mex, California, Creole, Cajun, CalMex, New England, Southern are all very different cuisines, as different as French vs Provencal vs Spanish vs Catalan vs Piemontese vs Sicilian... all excellent and distinctive.
FWIW, we drive Hyundai.
Re food, what the US is particularly good at is regional cuisines- speaking of "American food" is like speaking of "European food," it's incredibly different place to place. Tex Mex, California, Creole, Cajun, CalMex, New England, Southern are all very different cuisines, as different as French vs Provencal vs Spanish vs Catalan vs Piemontese vs Sicilian... all excellent and distinctive.
In the US, in the UK we get British made Honda and Toyota and German made Mercedes-except, IIRC, for the early ML which was American or Mexican made-and pretty shoddy!
Lucas is from Birmingham, I used to live opposite the Lucas brothers' house-lovely piece of arts and craft movement design. Don't see much of their stuff anymore, the 70's near killed them off and they merged with some American company in the 90s if memory serves.
I look forward to trying some more of it-any donations for flights and accomodation much appreciated
Lucas is from Birmingham, I used to live opposite the Lucas brothers' house-lovely piece of arts and craft movement design. Don't see much of their stuff anymore, the 70's near killed them off and they merged with some American company in the 90s if memory serves.
I look forward to trying some more of it-any donations for flights and accomodation much appreciated
3 of the favorite American food groups! The other 2 are sugar and pork.
Cars? BMW also make cars in the USA - South Carolina.
Back to food, we had roasted Brussels sprouts (choux de Bruxelles) yesterday. Yummy! And they reheat well, too. Highly recommended.
lol, I recall the ads-"pork, America's other white meat"
Aye, but to German standards
Sprouts (as known over here) are without any doubt one of my least favoured foods-a staple at Christmas but rarely eaten by most people otherwise. I do enjoy them raw-used to beat at shoots and have a nibble on the way round. Mrs Beaton probably signed their death warrant over here- I know she recommended cabbage be boiled for an hour and most probaly did the same with their smaller relative, soggy sprouts are vile, al dente still don't do it for me-but I was probably put off for life after being forced to eat soggy ones at school.
I had to attend a meeting last night so I had to cut back a bit, but as usual, in honour of our brothers and sisters to the south, we did turkey as well.
Drumsticks - no breast here
Stuffed pastry shells - instead of potatoes
Fried cabbage - instead of Brussels sprouts
Gravy with a wee too much turmeric.
Drumsticks - no breast here
Stuffed pastry shells - instead of potatoes
Fried cabbage - instead of Brussels sprouts
Gravy with a wee too much turmeric.
Attachments
Right, cured and smoked pig leg!
There are two kinds of, "paletilla" and "jamon", which are respectively the front and the back legs of the animal. Jamon are quite bigger, from 7 to 9 kilos. A paletilla goes from 4 to 6 kilos, aprox. Mine is a 5,75Kg paletilla.
Another difference between them is that paletillas use to have a bigger amount of fat, which is delicious if it is a good paletilla, better than meat imho
I detested Brussels sprouts as a child. Yes, the bitter, mushy, overcooked little horrors.
But cooked properly they are a delight. Roasting was new to me, I like it!
Agree on the German standards. The BMW plant is quite spectacular. I also work from time to time in the Honda Jet factory here. Amazing. It's all so white and shiny and clean. Nothing like most American factories I've seen.
But cooked properly they are a delight. Roasting was new to me, I like it!
Agree on the German standards. The BMW plant is quite spectacular. I also work from time to time in the Honda Jet factory here. Amazing. It's all so white and shiny and clean. Nothing like most American factories I've seen.
Right, cured and smoked pig leg!
There are two kinds of, "paletilla" and "jamon", which are respectively the front and the back legs of the animal. Jamon are quite bigger, from 7 to 9 kilos. A paletilla goes from 4 to 6 kilos, aprox. Mine is a 5,75Kg paletilla.
Another difference between them is that paletillas use to have a bigger amount of fat, which is delicious if it is a good paletilla, better than meat imho
Hmmmmmm, now jamon I could eat forever, and yes the fat is where it's at! When ever I visit Spain it's the jamon and suckling pig that I go for, oh and the jamon croquettes. The really good stuff costs ridiculous amounts, a 3-year hung leg can go for £1800.00! (though watching Rick Stein's Spain I'm sure I saw more expensive!)
The jamon I had was around 168€ a piece, and it is one of the best out there, really a delicatessen. The same paletilla in back leg version goes for around 410€, and the difference in weight is just 6kg versus 7Kg. So it really need to be as expensive to be as delicious. Ask for delivery quote, it should be pretty high and really worth the wait
yes Cal, the picture color is "quite" accurate, of you refer to the grassy and brilliant look, the pale colour of the meat... mmmm I am gonna cute some slices right now!
