Cooking is intuitive and experimental until something gets set on fire: FOOD

[FreddyKnuckles]

Went to a satellite party for testicle festival tonight (Google it) 

Ate some fried bull balls.  Yep.

Basically these things sliced, battered, and fried...

(that's not me)  nsfw?
http://blogs.courierpostonline.com/fishhead/files/2009/03/bull_balls.jpg

[clare]

the real star of the dinner was the cauliflower.

Probably the most under-rated vegetable of all time. Curried it has no peer. Yay you, especially getting the boys to eat it too.

Testicles are something I've never eaten, and I'm not particularly keen.

[FreddyKnuckles]

It's a novelty. There's no real culinary benefit to them.   They're like onion rings in that you're basically just in it for the fried beer batter and oh hey look there's something inside of this thing.

[milesofsparks]

I took a head of cauliflower, pulled off the leaves & cut away enough stem so it sat level, buttered the thing, shook curry powder all over it and a little salt, then double wrapped it in foil and put it on the grill just long enough to be tender but still have a little life to it.

how did you tell when it was done?  just poke at it?  unwrap it a bit?

[milesofsparks]

oh also--rocket pop report:

the molds work great--I have to run them under hot water for a sec to release them, but I think that's true of any shape beyond the absolute basic.  the only real annoyance is that the big base makes it almost impossible to eat the last little bit on the bottom of the stick. but it does catch the drips, which is helpful if you're eating it inside (as long as you remember not to tip it).  overall, thumbs up.

the coffee w/milk was good, but I think it would be even better with some fudgsicle to become a mochasicle.  and the juice ones are great, but all of them would be a little better if I started out with more concentrated stuff, since the cold makes things taste less.

[FreddyKnuckles]

from the same event two years ago

(safe for work)

http://dcist.com/2008/07/no_pearl_in_these_oysters.php?gallery0Pic=1#gallery

[Bernard]

It's a novelty. There's no real culinary benefit to them.   They're like onion rings in that you're basically just in it for the fried beer batter and oh hey look there's something inside of this thing.

Did you eat three balls? Or three slices? Those things look pretty big.

[YojimboMonkey]

I took a head of cauliflower, pulled off the leaves & cut away enough stem so it sat level, buttered the thing, shook curry powder all over it and a little salt, then double wrapped it in foil and put it on the grill just long enough to be tender but still have a little life to it.

how did you tell when it was done?  just poke at it?  unwrap it a bit?

Essentially the bolded bit.  Didn't unwrap it, just did a tactile test, to see if there was a little give to the cauliflower that would tell me it had been cooked.

[Antero]

Dinner tonight is a bottle of dry German sparkling wine and roasting all the vegetables in the fridge.

[Bernard]

Dudes, hit me with your very best recipes for country gravy (sausage pan gravy). I used to do so well with gravy and then I don't know what happened! Something in my brain broke and now I have screwed it up three times. I think I need to go back and work from instructions again until I re-get the hang of it.

[FreddyKnuckles]

Alton Brown?

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sawmill-gravy-recipe/index.html

In what manner is it failing? Too thin? You can always cheat with corn starch.

[Bernard]

Somehow it just doesn't cohere, and I don't seem to be able to cook out the taste of flour. Will try that one, thank you!

[YojimboMonkey]

No, that's not a typical thing to put on a Chicago dog. Basically there are 2 styles of the Chicago dog, which are the sort of minimalist "Depression" dog--mustard, onions, relish, possibly sport peppers--and the "dragged through the garden" dog--celery salt, mustard, onions, neon green relish, tomato, kosher dill spear, sport peppers.  Also both styles pretty much require an all-beef Vienna Beef brand natural-casing hot dog, steamed, on a poppyseed bun (though there are plenty of places that use plain buns, or shitty wieners, etc).

But those are just the standard styles, and I'm sure if a place has kraut (like if they serve bratwurst or something where that's a more standard topping around here) you can get kraut on your dog. But they won't put ketchup on it. (Actually plenty of places will but the places that refuse to are more fun. Or sometimes if you ask for ketchup they'll pretend you want it for your fries and give it to you in packets on the side).

For those keeping score, it doesn't look much like Martha Stewart's rendition but I doubt you'll find that surprising.

[Thermofusion]

That looks pretty damn tasty though! Would be better with some chili dumped on top.

[Chet]

Is it true that in the US you don't really get meat flavoured potato chips? Someone told me this once, and I find that to be absolutely outrageous. I am eating flame grilled flavoured Real McCoys right now and they are DELICIOUS. Just like eating a bunch of crunchy steak.

[bethany_m]

Not a lot in the US but there are a TON here in Canada.  Chicken flavor and rib flavor and all kinds of craziness.

[jm]

yeah, I'm sure I could find some meat-flavored potato chips if I looked hard enough around the city, but they're not, like, a regular thing.  At least not in any of the places I've lived.  The typical potato chip flavor assortment looks like this

"plain"
sour cream & onion (or cheddar & sour cream)
BBQ
salt & vinegar

and then occasionally:
cracked pepper
various popular chili peppers (halapeeno/habanero)
ketchup
pickle*

* these are ace

[Ignatius]

I remember when my friend went to Spain in grade school, he brought me back bacon flavored Doritos and it blew my mind. They were, of course, the foulest Doritos I'd eaten to that point, but exotic nonetheless.

[Thermofusion]

Does the UK have Taco Bell yet?

[Chet]

Does the UK have Taco Bell yet?

No but we just got this place that does these things called "burgers" it goes by the name of McDonalds

[Thermofusion]

Never heard of it but it sounds like some kind of Irish joint. They nationalists or unionists?

[Ignatius]

c'mon that is scottish as hell

[Ignatius]

ireland burgers only from bennigans

[Chet]

Never heard of it but it sounds like some kind of Irish joint. They nationalists or unionists?

I hear they are the catering wing of the PIRA

[peacocks]

I am making something with sweet potatoes. I don't really know what I'm doing. Can't see what temperature my oven is set to because the ink on the dial is worn off and it moves around anyway. I guess I'm gonna chop them up and put them on the cookie sheet with some other stuff. Maybe I should leave them whole and then chop them after they are done baking?