Soooooo Whatcha Eating?

You are right, Sully. Dining in England has gotten a lot better over the years.

Have you found a good fish and chips shop? Yeah, it is cliche, but I always have to have it once when I am there.

CD

 

Everything looks pretty good Sully. Financial district huh? That explains the emphasis on the presentation I reckon. The avocado breakfast looks interesting, but it looks like the cook/chef had a grudge against that sunny side up egg.
I love Fish and Chips. To me it’s like a hamburger steak for gauging the quality of food at a restaurant. If they can do a good job on those dishes you can generally trust the rest of their menu.
I was stationed in LA in the early 70’s when I discovered H. Salt Esquire fish and chips. I don’t even know if they exist anymore, but they had some good food for a quasi fast food franchise.
One of the things I loved about traveling so much in the military was the chance to try so many different cuisines. Before enlisting my menu was limited to locally grown, caught or hunted foods. The most traveling I did before turning 18 was to the away basketball games when I was on the team.

 

It seems like Indian is the official food style of England -- the Brits seem to love them some Curry. Not a favorite of mine.

CD

 

I went rogue tonight, and cooked without a net. No recipe, just tossed together stuff I had in the house.

I sautéed some peppers from my garden, and some garlic in a mix of olive oil and butter. I added some shrimps, and casarecce pasta, which I had never heard of, but got it for a good price at COSTCO. At the end, I added fresh basil and oregano from my garden.

Wow! I actually hit a home run tonight. I loved it. I wish I could do that every time.



CD

 

Poutine - Gravy, fries, and cheese. Why is this not an American common thing? Where have we gone wrong?

 

I have never eaten poutine. I want to try it, but cheese curds are something I would have to make from scratch, because I can't buy them. That's a lot of work for one dish that I may, or may not like.

CD

 

Do you have a local farmer’s market you could get the curds from? That’s our source. The fries gotta be crispy too, double fried. And use your best gravy.

 

I always double-fry my fries. I'm thinking this is a dish you need to assemble, and eat right away. Otherwise, the fries are going to go soggy.

CD

 

Pretty much, but trust me once you start in, they’ll be gone soon. The gravy should be thick. I didn’t have a problem with anything going soggy.

 

I used to order this stuff at an Irish Pub that my old Corvette Club had our meetings at. The owner recommended it and I thought he was nuts. After a couple drafts I reconsidered and didn’t regret it. Now the Pub’s closed and no one else in the area has it on the menu. Cheese curds aren’t easy to find around here.

 

For fish and chips lovers, I can give 2 recommendations... one east and one west in the US.

1. Pacifica, CA (Near San Francisco) - Camelot Fish and Chips - Its about 1 block from Route 1, maybe 10 miles north of the Devil's Slide tunnels and some gorgeous beach-side driving for the hour south of there. http://www.camelotfishandchips.com/

2. Charlotte, NC - Big Ben Pub - This place does pub food right. Bangers and mash. Bubble n Squeek. Fish and chips, starting w/ a whole fish fillet and hand battering in the kitchen. Large steak fries and the bottle of malt vinegar magically appears... you don't have to ask for it (though you do have to ask for Catsup if you want it, but why?)

 

Garden Peppers, what did you grow, we are having issues with ours this year, to much shade, thus late maturity and small in size, going to put up a new 4x4 raised just for peppers for 2019. This dish looks great, not sure would add the basil and oregano, but to each their own. ....

Don

 

I grew jalapeños and cayenne peppers this year. I'm not getting a lot of peppers yet, due to the heat this summer. The plants blossom, but don't set fruit if it is too hot. I expect a good harvest in September/October -- like last year. My late season peppers are also the hottest and have the best flavor.

The fresh basil and oregano add some nice "brightness" to the buttery pasta and shrimp.

CD

 

We picked a few peppers today and tomatoes, the late August harvest is upon us. The Jalapenos are doing the best, very few of the bigger pepper but 3 more are finally growing.

Hope this basket full shows.

 

I never like raw tomatoes, but that's a beautiful basket of veg. Nice work.

 

Nobody eating anymore?

I made a delicious Italian fish stew, although the fish were American. Shrimp and cod, in a soupy sauce of San Marzano plum tomatoes, blended with fresh basil and oregano, garlic green onions and red pepper flakes sautéed in olive oil (Italian). A little fish stock made from the shrimp shells to thin the sauce into more of a soup/stew hybrid. Herbs came from my backyard.

 

I made this yesterday. Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with dressing and sweet corn. Today I made pork sandwiches with lots of mayo, salt, and pepper, and finished off the dressing.

 

Man, I wish we could put together a group of MINI owners who love to cook and drive for a weekend of cooking and driving. Cook, eat, drive... cook, eat, drive... cook, eat, chill... sleep... repeat. LOL

CD

 

My wife made killer chicken marsala last night. No pictures because it did not sit on the plate that long.