Gastrique

I did a post on confit. In the replies, Clare said:

"Seems like everything is confit, remoulade or gastrique."

This topic arose from the Iron Chef show where they misapplied these terms and call them these things, when they are really not. Well, I covered confit, so briefly let me say, I have not seen them use remoulade in a misapplied way, but just so everyone knows what it is, here is the definition.

Remoulade or rémoulade, invented in France, is a popular condiment in many countries. Very much like the tartar sauce of some English-speaking cultures, remoulade is often Aioli- or mayonnaise-based. Although similar to tartar sauce, it is often more yellowish (or reddish in Louisiana), often flavored with curry, and sometimes contains chopped pickles or piccalilli. It can also contain horseradish, paprika, anchovies, capers and a host of other items. While its original purpose was possibly for serving with meats, it is now more often used as an accompaniment to seafood dishes, especially pan-fried breaded fish fillets (primarily sole and plaice).

Basically a gastrique is sugar cooked to caramel stage, then vinegar is added; sometimes wine is also added. If they cook sugar to caramel stage and add vinegar, then they have a true gastrique. They can add other flavors, like fruit flavors for example, and have a fruity gastrique. Gastriques are generally served with fruit, or have fruit with them. Overall, they are a form of sauce and can be served with meat and seafood. I really think people should make a gastrique for dinner, and tell me what they think. Rick b

Kitchen Roulette

I came up with this game a few years ago, and it is a lot of fun. Basically, what you need is a few people and a kitchen. The more people you have, the better. Try for a least 4 people.

What you need to do is find the people that want to play the game, and then write down on pieces of paper: starch, meat, vegetable, fruit, and dessert. If there are more people, you can add a card saying "mystery" and, if needed, double up on any item.

Put all these inside of envelopes and shuffle them, then hand out one envelope per person. Tell everyone that they are not allowed to share what is on their card with anyone.

The thing you need to know to everyone is if anyone is allergic to any type of food. Many people are allergic to seafood. If anyone is allergic to a certain type of food, then avoid it and make it known to everyone.

If there are no food allergies, then lay out the ground rules. Now, if your card says "meat", then you can buy any type of meat you choose: beef, lamb, seafood, chicken, or whatever you like.

If your card says "starch", you can buy pasta, rice, potatoes, etc. Same goes for all other cards. If your card says "dessert", then you can bring anything to make a dessert: chocolate, mint, peanut butter, heavy cream, etc. Do your best to bring things to make a dessert from scratch.

If your card says "mystery", then they can choose the item they want: meat, starch, vegetable, etc., or you can tell them that the mystery item is something really strange. I mean something your not real familiar with like fresh horse radish or star fruit, or you pick it.

Now, you set a time and day everyone is able to meet. Have everyone bring their item to the place and put it on the table. If some people really do not want to cook, then let them hang out some place and talk. Have every one that wants to cook look over everything they have and come up with a dinner.

It really is a lot of fun not knowing what everyone is bringing, and then just throwing together a dinner. The reason I was saying not to let everyone know what they are bringing is that people will start thinking of a menu in advance, and that's no fun.

If anyone does this please let me know what you do for the dinner. I have made it 3 different times, and it was a blast! If you bring something and are really stumped on what to do with it, just go to the web and Google the item and figure it out from there. Enjoy, Rick b

P.E.T.A.

I was sent the link for this by a friend, I find this funny but sad at the same time. I really Believe P.E.T.A Needs to move on.

Unhappy meal

PETA Unhappy Meals Targeting Kids

Posted Aug 7th 2009 1:30PM by Sara Bonisteel (RSS feed)



unhappy meal
The McCruelty Unhappy Meal. Photo: PETA
Kids hoping to grab a Happy Meal from McDonald's might end up with PETA's Unhappy Meal instead.

The animal rights organization lifted its moratorium on the McCruelty Campaign this year and since June has distributed Chicken McCruelty Unhappy Meals to McDonald's customers outside about a dozen restaurants around the country.

"McDonald's markets its food to children by packaging it in brightly colored boxes with toys," Lindsay Rajt, a spokeswoman for PETA, tells Slashfood. "But most kids really love animals, and if they knew that McDonald's suppliers were breaking the wings and legs of gentle animals like chickens, I think that you'd have to drag kids into McDonald's kicking and screaming."

The campaign, though, has parents "hatin' it."

A PETA protest of a McDonald's in Albany, N.Y., upset parents on Thursday, WXXA-TV reports.

"I don't want my son to be around something like this," parent Stephanie Gipson told the station. "This is not fair for a child."

But Rajt says children have seen worse things than PETA's Unhappy Meal, which comes "stained with blood" and containing a bloody rubber chicken, a cutout of a knife-wielding Ronald McDonald, photos of mutilated animals and a Chicken McCruelty T-shirt.

"Kids deserve to be told the truth and we really do need to give them credit," she says. "The bottom line is that they've really seen much worse in movies and videogames, and we all know that kids empathize with animals."

McDonald's told Slashfood that it expects the humane treatment of animals from its suppliers.

Our goal has always been to lead the industry by bringing about improvements in animal welfare including rigorous, ongoing audits of our suppliers' facilities.

"McDonald's works with leading independent animal welfare experts and makes decisions based upon science to promote continuous improvement in animal welfare as part of our broader sustainable supply chain initiatives," Bob Langert, McDonald's vice president of corporate social responsibility, says in a statement to Slashfood.

"McDonald's continues to support our chicken suppliers' use of both controlled atmosphere stunning (CAS) and electrical stunning. There is no conclusive scientific consensus that one practice is better than the other, however, we recognize that in either method, good management practices are critical," he says. "It is also important to note that in the U.S., there are no large-scale chicken producers that currently use the CAS method, therefore demands to purchase chickens from this method to meet McDonald's supply needs are not viable."

PETA says it worked with McDonald's behind the scenes from 2000 to February 2009 before it re-instituted its McCruelty campaign. A PETA protest was expected Friday afternoon at a restaurant in South Burlington, Vt.

Award-Winning Happiness

My last post was about my liquid hot sauce called "Happiness". Well, I made it in dry form and entered it into a contest. It took first place.



Here is the link to the site and award winners. winners

This is where I am -

DRY SPICE

THE HOT PEPPER AWARD - DRY SPICE - Naked Pig BBQ Company - Sow's Fury | www.nakedpigbbq.com

SEASONING/RUB
1st - Naked Pig BBQ Company - Sow's Fury | www.nakedpigbbq.com
2nd - Dave's Smokeshack Foods - Grendeddy Dave's Hawg Rub Seasoning | www.davessmokeshack.com
3rd - Tony Legner's Culinary Productions - Tony Legner's Cat-5 Food Polish | www.tonylegner.com

SEASONING/SPICE
1st - Rick Beaudin - Happiness
2nd - Gulf Island Spice Company/Petit Bois Cafe - Horn Island XXX Blend
3rd - Gulf Island Spice Company/Petit Bois Cafe - Petit Bois Island Blend

Rick b