100 Foods to eat before you die

This list rolls around every now a then.  It's a decent list for your average person who has not adventured much.  Between living overseas, scuba diving (and hence going to places filled with fish), and being a foodie, the list is not that impressive.  I've tried almost 3/4 of the list.

The general post rolling around claim: "The initial prediction says that of the 100 foods on this list, most people would have only tried about 20 (or less) of them."  I have never met anyone who doesn't have at least 20.  Most people I know have had between 25 and 40

1.    Abalone

2.    Absinthe  (even with real wormwood)

3.    Alligator

4.    Baba  Ghanoush

5.    Bagel and lox

6.    Baklava

7.    Barbecue ribs

8.    Bellini  ( I love peaches)

9.    Bird’s Nest Soup

10.  Biscuits and gravy  (Homemade biscuits and gravy are the only way)

11.  Black Pudding (I cannot recall if I had it or not.)

12.  Black Truffle

13.  Borscht

14.  Calamari

15.  Carp

16.  Caviar (It goes great on deviled quail eggs.)

17.  Cheese fondue

18.  Chicken and waffles (Another one I cannot be certain I have tried.)

19.  Chicken Tikka Masala

20.  Chile Relleno

21.  Chitterlings/Chitlins (I suppose I should give them a try.)

22.  Churros

23.  Clam Chowder

24.  Cognac

25.  Crabcake

26.  Crickets

27.  Currywurst

28.  Dandelion wine

29.  Dulce de leche

30.  Durian

31.  Eel

32.  Eggs benedict

33.  Fish Tacos

34.  Foie Gras

35.  Fresh Spring Rolls

36.  Fried Catfish

37.  Fried Green Tomatoes

38.  Fried Plaintain

39.  Frito Pie

40.  Frog’s Legs

41.  Fugu (I have only found one certified chef, but he had none on hand that day.)

42.  Funnel Cake

43.  Gazpacho

44.  Goat

45.  Goat’s milk

46.  Goulash

47.  Gumbo

48.  Haggis

49.  Head Cheese

50.  Heirloom Tomatoes  (Weezie grew a couple varieties last year.)

51.  Honeycomb

52.  Hostess Fruit Pie

53.  Huevos Rancheros

54.  Jerk Chicken

55.  Kangaroo

56.  Key Lime Pie

57.  Kobe Beef

58.  Lassi (I've had duggh, a persain equivalent)

59.  Lobster

60.  Mimosa

61.  MoonPie

62.  Morel Mushrooms

63.  Nettle Tea

64.  Octopus

65.  Oxtail Soup

66.  Paella

67.  Paneer

68.  Pastrami on Rye

69.  Pavlova (I need to make this some day)

70.  Phaal 

71.  Philly Cheesesteak

72.  Pho

73.  Pineapple and cottage cheese

74.  Pistachio Ice Cream

75.  Po’ boy

76.  Pocky

77.  Polenta

78.  Prickly Pear (I think I have tried this.  I just cannot recall any exact details)

79.  Rabbit Stew

80.  Raw Oysters

81.  Root Beer Float

82.  S’mores  (I like making my own graham crackers and marshmallows)

83.  Sauerkraut

84.  Sea Urchin

85.  Shark (I cannot recall if I have had thrasher.  I think so.)

86.  Snail

87.  Snake

88.  Soft Shell Crab

89.  Som Tam

90.  Spaetzle

91.  Spam

92.  Squirrel

93.  Steak Tartare

94.  Sweet Potato Fries

95.  Sweetbreads

96.  Tom Yum

97.  Umeboshi  (I love this as part of rice ball)

98.  Venison

99.  Wasabi Peas

100.Zucchini Flowers

So that's the list.  I think I want to go try a few of them which I haven't tried yet.

Some of the items are not that impressive to me.  Things like Hostess fruit pies and such.  On the other hand, the list is missing things I would recommend:  thick green tea (matcha), Basmati rice, Ostrich, fresh baked bread.

Brazillian Cheese Bread (Pão de Queijo)

A good friend of mine (who loves Grand Prix) was unable to watch the Brazilian Grand Prix when it was raced.  We finally were able to watch it last Saturday with him.  As it was the Brazilian Grand Prix, dinner that night was food from Brazil.  One of my other friends offered to make the main course and asked me to bring some bread to go with the food.

Needless to say, on went the research cap, and behold! Pão de Queijo!  There seems to be a few variations on how to make it and some were on the sequence.  A few sites did not mention boiling the milk mixture.  Most of the variations were to account for the ability to acquire the proper cheese.  I combined a few of the more common directions and came up with what I felt was the basic, traditional method.

I used 2 cups of Cotija as the main cheese and 1/2 cup of aged cheddar.  A couple of us broke into one of them the moment it came out of the oven.  Not only was it too hot, it was extremely gooey.  I was a little disappointed.  Fortunately, the group understands that many of the things we try don't work out.

A half hour later, my wife wanders into the kitchen, sees the bread and tries one.  She then informs us how nice the bread is, as she munches away on one.  It turns out that the bread improves when its given a few moments to cool.  Before the night was over, the bread was gone.  But, before it was gone, it had acquired several new names: cheesy crack, and cheesy poofs.

The group of us got together the next night (Sunday) and I was requested to make them again (which I gladly did).  The Monday night, my wife and I went to the San Francisco Broadway production of Bring It On.  We looked for a restaurant near the theater and found a Brazilian restaurant a few blocks away.  Yes, we ordered the cheese bread so we could compare ours to theirs.  While talking to the owner about about their bread, he mentioned to me how the traditional bread is a little more airy than what he serves, but due to the process of mass production, he has difficulties doing so.  My bread is a little more airy than his, so I ended being very pleased with the results of my creations.

The following night (Tuesday) was the first Tuesday of the month.  The first Tuesday is the regular gathering of many of our friends.  I decided to make the bread one more time.  However, this time, I was going to vary it a bit . . .

I took some of the butter, browned it and then added a large amount of garlic that I crushed into a paste (with salt).  Once it started to smell, I added the rest of the butter, all the milk and oil.  From there, I replaced the Cotija cheese with parmigian regiano.  The end result had a strong garlic flavor and a noticeable parmigian.  Overall, I found it to be a tasty alternative.

http://keeprecipes.com/recipe/howtocook/brazillian-cheese-bread-p%C3%A3o-de-queijo

Three Chocolate Drinks

I thought today would be a great day for a cup of hot chocolate.  Being lazy, I decided I would drink one of my “canned” chocolate drinks instead of making it from scratch.  So, opening the cupboard, I found I had, not one, but three different hot chocolate drink mixes.  I may be lazy, but I can never pass up an opportunity to taste test comparable items.

In my cupboard are: Godiva’s Hot Cocoa (dark chocolate), TCHO’s Hot and Cold Drinking Chocolate, and Ghirardelli’s Drinking Chocolate.  Because I love THCO’s professional melting chocolate so much, I figured it would probably be my favorite.  As such, I decided to make it the last one, so I would enjoy it staying on my tongue after the tasting was completed.

For this tasting, I heated three ounces of non-fat milk in a glass mug and added four tablespoons of chocolate after the milk was heated.  I whisked the chocolate with my Aerolatte milk frother for thirty seconds.

First up: Ghirardelli.  This comes in very miniature kisses.  When I poured the chocolate into the cup, the kisses fell straight to the bottom of the mug.  In when the Aerolatte and moments later, the milk turned a dark chocolaty brown.  The drink has a nice rich chocolaty flavor which lingers nicely in the mouth after swallowing.  The expected sugary spike never appeared.  I find Ghirardelli chocolate, in general, to have a telltale sweet spike moments after biting into their chocolate bars.  All in all, it seems to be a decent drink.  The one noticeable downside was the whisking.  Even after thirty seconds of frothing with an Aerolatte, all the chocolate did not dissolve.  There was some stuck to the sides near the bottom of the mug.

Godiva was next on the tasting list.  This powdered drink mix incorporated easily and quickly.  Unlike Ghirardelli, there was nothing stuck to the glass.  As for taste, yet another deliciously dark chocolate drink.  Godiva’s flavor lingered even longer than the Ghirardelli.  The texture has a noticeable dusty texture to it: a feature I do not particularly like.

Finally, my favorite chocolate company: TCHO.  While it is the smallest can, my expectations were large.  The chocolate mix is a collection of coarse granules, and unlike the other two brands in this taste test, listed chocolate as its main ingredient.  The other brands listed sugar as their number one ingredient.  TCHO is the only one to suggest it would mix well as a cold drink.  When mixed, the chocolate dissolved completely.  The taste was on par with the other two, if not slightly better.  Unlike Godiva, there was no dusty mouth feel.  Unlike both Ghirardelli and Godiva, TCHO’s chocolate flavor did not linger anywhere near as long.  I found this disappointing.  I also noticed the intensity of the chocolate was less than I am used to.  Normally, I mix this chocolate with hot water instead of milk. With a water preparation, the chocolate flavor is markedly intense.

In conclusion, none of the three are bad.  Aside from the fact that no chocolate is bad chocolate, each of these provides a very pleasant experience.  I will probably stick to TCHO or Ghirardelli since I don’t care for the dusty mouth feel.  Should I run out of either of them, I will not turn down the Godiva.

What I use

I posted earlier about my choice in chocolate.  Yes, I love chocolate.  I have a passion for selecting ingredients that work well and taste best.  As a result, I have become rather picky in my choices.

I like unsalted butter.  I figure if a recipe needs salt, I can add it myself.  Land O Lakes is my usual go-to brand.  I never keep more than a pound in the freezer because I like fresh butter better.  The same goes for eggs.  Never more than a dozen grade AA large eggs in the refrigerator.  Fresh finishes first for me.  I usually buy cage-free organic eggs, but freshness is more important to me.

Even with milk, fresh means more to me than available.  On a typical week, I go through between a quart and a half gallon.  I would rather walk to the store (a couple blocks away) twice a week then use milk over a week old.

Baking powder:  For this, I look for aluminum-free.  Rumford if I can find it; Argo if I cannot.  Arm & Hammer is my baking soda of choice.

Flour, you ask?  Nothing but the best will do for me.  King Arthur brand, unbleached flours are my only choice.  They work well and are consistent from bag to bag.  Remember to measure flour by weight and never by volume.

Spices?  The smaller the container, the better for most spices.  Whole is better than ground, whenever available.  I can grind my own, and the flavor is stronger when freshly ground.  I used to use Morton's kosher salt, but have switched over to Diamond brand.  There is a difference.  Make something which requires more than a pinch of salt and you will see the level of saltiness yourself.  I switched only because converting recipes to Diamond brand is easier, not because it is better.  I still use Morton's for scouring my cast iron pans.  For scouring, Morton is clearly better.  It has to do with the shape of the crystals.

Sugar?  I haven't found a reason to prefer one brand over another yet.  I buy C&H brand because it is convenient.

Beef?  Yes, I love meat.  Grass-fed organic beef is my first choice.  If it has to have any grain-fed, then I will settle for grain-finished.  Given a choice between purely grain-fed and non-organic beef, I choose lamb.  Okay, lamb is my first choice before any beef, followed by ostrich.  Beef is third on my list, followed closely by pork and chicken/turkey.  When it comes to poultry, I hate the stuff that comes prepackaged in a solution.

I like my rice to have flavor.  Consequently, I love basmati rice.  Jasmine and Arborio are good too.  I avoid any "instant" or quick cooking rices as they tend to lack flavor.  Sorry Uncle Ben's and Mahatma: you don't make the cut for me.

As you can see, my trend is towards fresh and flavorful with as few added chemicals/ingredients as possible.  I want to add my own salt and chemicals.

Kitchen . . . check!

Last April, I began looking for a new oven.  Little did I realize, I would be replacing almost all of my appliances.  The cooktop was unable to simmer well, and it only had three working burners.  The refrigerator could not handle sheet pans.  The oven, as mentioned before, needed to go.  Its thermostat was extremely off and had very uneven heating.  Moreover, the cycle between on and off to maintain the temperature was more than tolerable.

First, the refrigerator was replaced with a beautiful double-door, freezer on the bottom, refrigerator.  This baby can hold sheet pans with ease.  My only complaint would be the undersized ice maker.  I use large bowls of ice for ice baths and this refrigerator cannot keep up with my needs.  I have resorted to buying large bags of ice and storing it in my chest freezer.  Perhaps a small ice maker is in my future . . .

Next to go was the under-powered microwave that didn't even have a rotating tray.  We really didn't need to replace it, but found a nice deal on one.  It has a stainless steel face which matched our new refrigerator.

We then replaced our cooktop with a five burner.  We now have a very low simmer and a very hot burner, plus choices in between.  You guessed it, stainless as well.

I know I was starting to have my heart set on the DCS oven.  It is a beautiful system.  I decided to "settle" on a Wolf instead.  I'm not upset at all.  Weezie tested it out on some souffles which came out perfectly.

Our kitchen appliance needs are now complete.  Perhaps a minor change in the center island: a built in trash compactor or a built in induction burner.  In any case, we are good to cook.

On a side note:  Weezie's "Tonight's Dinner" blog which used to be a Facebook page, is moving over to Blogger. I encourage everyone to check it out.  It has dinner ideas and recipes. You can also take a look at my recipes at KeepRecipes.com.

Equipment Choices

I am of the opinion when it comes to buying something: if you have no idea if you will enjoy it, borrow or rent it.  If you know you will use it, buy the best.  There are some exceptions, but they are unusual.  I follow Alton Brown and have read some of his books.  He advocates the avoidance of "uni-taskers".  I'm not as extreme as that, but I certainly want to know how often I will use it and what will I do with it when I'm not using it.

For example, I have a nice chocolate tempering machine.  It's very nice, but it only tempers chocolate.  I tend to only use it in the winter and when I am not using it, I keep it boxed up in the garage.  It's a uni-tasker I am glad to have.  I hate pulling out the marble and tempering it the old fashion way.

On the other hand, suggested we make our own Greek yogurt.  It's a great idea, I thought.  It's cheaper and I can have exactly what I want (no sugar or chemicals).  So, what does it take to make yogurt?  A yogurt maker!  In my usual due diligence, I began the process of reviewing all the different types and brands as well as other people's reviews.  I wanted to know how they work and what makes a great one.  Moreover, are there any features that the high-end ones offer?  So what model did I end up with, you ask?  What gadget junkie decision did I make?  I ended up using an extremely expensive one, and I'm not simply talking about a hundred dollars or three.  When I bought it, it was several hundred dollars.  To make great Greek yogurt, you need to subject your milk to a controlled temperature (read: water bath) for extended periods of time.  I own a sous vide machine from Polyscience.  It is more precise than any yogurt maker and can make any quantity of yogurt I want, be it large containers or several individual-sized containers.  After one episode of yogurt making, Weezie decided she would just as soon buy the stuff.  I'm so glad I didn't buy a uni-tasking yogurt maker.

I haven't always been this smart.  I can't tell you how many thermometers I went through before finding one that makes me happy.  Actually, I have three . . . sort of.  My main go to thermometer for meat in the oven is the Thermoworks oven thermometer (looks just like a Polder).  For quick reads of things like bread, I reach for my Thermoworks Thermapen.  It can read an accurate temperature in just a few seconds.  However, when I have meat on the grill/pan, I turn to a hyper-sensitive, super-fine, extremely-fast, needle-sharp Thermoworks meat probe.  Otherwise, I turn to my IR sensor for surface checks.  I've thrown away all my old dial and "instant read" (well, if you call instant some period of time between 20 and 50 seconds.)

I'm needing a new oven.  I like electric ovens (but gas stove tops) and want one with better heat control.  I've just begun my research and my tentative choice will be the DCS WOSU30 30" Single Electric Wall Oven.  I like what I little I have read about it.  There's more research to be done, so stay tuned here for more on this and other ovens.

Chocolate

I finally stopped by TCHO last Saturday.  I love chocolate and have had many blind taste tests of various chocolates.  My favorite, for a long time has been Valrhona.  I usually use the 55% Equatorial Noire Feves because it is very close to the Le Noir Gastronomie 61% I enjoy most and comes in easily melted pieces.  I have compared it with Guittard, Hershey, Ghirardelli, El Rey, Callebaut, and any other brand of dark chocolate I can get my hands on.  I like chocolate with a strong snap and crunch on the first bite developing into a long-lasting chocolaty finish.  All that fluffy citrus/floral/nutty tastes fall off in favor of a deep chocolate flavor.

TCHO has a chocolate flavored chocolate.  It's quite good.  I love TCHOPro Baking Drops 68% as it is a combination of their chocolaty and nutty.  Like the Valrhona, it snaps well and has a long-lasting flavor.  Unlike Valrhona, the chocolate takes on a creaminess like a dove chocolate as it melts.  It's very good and I recommend it highly.

So, you ask, what chocolates do I turn to?  You now know my choices for dark couverture chocolate.  My cocoa powder of choice is Callebaut.  It has the richest cocoa I have tried.  I tend to turn to Sharffen Berger for unsweetened and nothing for milk chocolate.  I think I've lost my interest in milk chocolate.  For simple eating pleasure?  I go for a piece of couverture.