The Official Food & Beer Thread*

**TenTigers** · 01-18-2009, 11:15 PM

ahhh...so I am sitting here drinking some more of this LeTourment Vert absinthe.
I prefer it neat rather than with an absinthe dripper over sugar cubes.
But...it kinda taste like Green Chartreuse mixed with Absinthe, and a hint of Scope.
Like I said, intersting, but not a true Absinthe.
It does have a high degree of thujone content, so it is pretty heady...

**jow yeroc** · 01-21-2009, 11:44 AM

You friggin' hop-head.

I keed, i keed.

I haven't indulged in the absinthe yet. Not really high on the list of priorities. I wish i still lived in NY for the selection of spirits. Here in Va, liquor is sold at state owned/regulated stores. ABC (alcoholoic bevereage commies..i mean commision).
So readily available selection is pretty lame usually.

For anyone interested, check scotchhunter.com and go to the links page. There are some good links to different scotch outlets and sites.

Foodwise, my family and i are enjoying some great organic vegetables grown
locally on my dad's farm. He grows 4 varieties of sweet potatoes, white potatoes, corn, beets, butter beans, string beans, collards and kale.
I cooked a feast on Sunday of local food, broiled sea bass from the bay, baked Hayman sweet potatoes, steamed cherrystone clams from the eastern shore, some fried toadfish as appetizer, and made a peach pie with local peaches that i froze in August.
And we drank Crown Royal XO that my friend brought over. Very smooth, i was quite impressed with it.

**TenTigers** · 01-21-2009, 02:31 PM

toadfish-are those the monster looking creatures that can bite through you hooks? I pulled up this scary looking thing that had a big gaping mouth that actually tried to bite the pliers when I disgorged the hook. Scary thing. It's kinda round and brown/olive colored, with what look like leg things like a frog, I think its genetic research gone wrong by aliens. You can eat those things?

**jow yeroc** · 01-21-2009, 04:20 PM

Ha! Yeah, you're talking about oyster toad aka shellcrackers. They are actually edible too. But no, i'm referring to the Northern Puffer aka swell toad. Absolutley delicious.

**TenTigers** · 01-21-2009, 05:41 PM

puffers-around here they call them chicken of the sea!
because when you batter and fry the tails, they taste like chicken.

**jow yeroc** · 01-21-2009, 11:02 PM

Exactly! Chicken of the sea!! Do you fancy 'em?

**TenTigers** · 01-21-2009, 11:15 PM

I think I had'em when I was a kid. We used to go fishing off my Dad's boat and off the dock when we went for flounder, and we used to bring up alot of them. When they blow up, you can play catch with them!
We also got alot of sea robins=ugly suckers. Like part fish, part bat, with a boney body. Nobody could eat them, not even the Latino dudes who practically ate everything they caught. These entire families would come down to the docks and catch crabs. One time they gave us some in exchange for some flounder we caught. Added in some fresh picked corn from the farm nearby, and we all went home happy.

**Oso** · 01-22-2009, 06:28 AM

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

**jow yeroc** · 01-22-2009, 08:06 AM

Originally Posted by TenTigers

I think I had'em when I was a kid. We used to go fishing off my Dad's boat and off the dock when we went for flounder, and we used to bring up alot of them. When they blow up, you can play catch with them!
We also got alot of sea robins=ugly suckers. Like part fish, part bat, with a boney body. Nobody could eat them, not even the Latino dudes who practically ate everything they caught. These entire families would come down to the docks and catch crabs. One time they gave us some in exchange for some flounder we caught. Added in some fresh picked corn from the farm nearby, and we all went home happy.

]
Aww man, you gotta try 'em again!! Light season, dust with flour or corn meal or use beer batter, fry in canola. Very delicate taste, firm meat, kinda tastes like chicken thus the moniker. Most people don't know they are delicious much less edible. they just like the novelty of making the thing puff up. The are actually a delicassy and a little pricey i guess due in part to their seasonal presence.
I was fishing one day for drum and croaker and i hooked a skate(sea bat). I couldn't get the hook out and admittedly was a little scared of the thing so i cut the line and was about to punt him when some old Filipino guy yelled "NO, NO! i'll take it" Apparently the wings taste just like scallops so unknowing consumers should know those scallpos you're eating could be sea bat wing meat plugs. bon appetit.

**TenTigers** · 01-22-2009, 08:19 AM

yeah, they use cookie cutter things to cut out disks and sell them as scallops.
I love scallops...or skate.

**Oso** · 01-22-2009, 06:44 PM

anyone happen to have an old family recipe they want to share?

there are tons of them on the net and I've tried several but it would be cool to try something special.

It seems to me that most recipes are something like:

2 parts red wine
1 part fruit juice
some sugar
spices to taste ranging from cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to whatever.

i made some off the cuff tonight and used a bit of allspice because I didn't have any cloves as well as cinnamon, nutmeg and a dash or two of vanilla extract (immitation)

i just used Ocean Spray's 'no sugar added' pink grapefruit juice as the juice as that was what was in the fridge...oh, and I don't add any sugar

definitely bring it up to temp slow like...no boiling of the vino

**David Jamieson** · 01-22-2009, 07:18 PM

"white clutter"

that is f-ing funny.
I am going to use it!
Only for evil though, I promise.

**taai gihk yahn** · 01-25-2009, 05:30 PM

Originally Posted by Oso

the El Jimador Reposado and it's very nice, has a honey aftertaste, nice for sipping but also makes a helluva margarita.

so, we tried both the El Jimador and Casadores Reposado and the El J. is, hands down, the winner (although the Casa didn't suck)- very smooth, complex nose (cognac, tart, reminds of the essence of the juice from a succulent-type plant) and taste (honey; and the wif came up with "terpkij" - Russian for, approximately "bitter, the smell of leather in summertime" - best trans. she could come up with) and also packs a real gentle wallop;