Let's talk about food

Schrafnator:I must admit, I was a bit intrigued and excited when I realized that you were going to discuss olive oils. And while I did find the post informative, it left me wanting for more. I know very little about olive oil, but my wife uses it quite a bit. She does a vast majority of the cooking in our house hold...not because she’s the women and should be feeding her man, but rather because she absolutely loves to cookand I am the happy and very grateful recipient of that love.Having said that, let me get back to my desire for more info regarding good olive oils. Can you list specific companies or brands of olive oil that you would recommend trying? You see, my wife also spends her summers at a biological station doing her research which means two things for me. First, for about 3-4 months I do NOT get to enjoy her cooking, and second, for about 3-4 months I am on my own when it comes to preparing food (there are, of course, other things as wellbut let’s not go thereok? ). I would love to surprise her (when she comes home for a brief stay while she attends a conference in Ann Arbor) with a bottle of really nice olive oil. Of course my intentions are two-foldand I’ll let you use your imagination as to what those two things might be (good food being only one of them). I have been told, for example, that Portuguese olive oil is really good. Of course, I was told this by a friend of ours from Portugal, so who really knows?Anyway, any additional info you willing to give up, would certainly be appreciated by me and, by the sounds of things, crashfrog as well.Thanks,
FliesOnly

Ummm....me being a pervert and all, and based on some of the things I said in my original post...I'm not sure what you mean by "lubricating properties" . None-the-less, I'll assume you meant nothing but "good" things and answer accordingly. I guess I would like two or three answers. What is the best type to cook with in a saute pan or frying pan or whatever the hell one uses to lightly brown or saute foods (vegetables, mushrooms, meats, etc.). What would be the best type for sauces (cooked or uncooked) and what would be best for just pouring over something and eating it. Make sense?Flies Only

Schrafinator:Hello again. Ok...where do I begin? We live in a small town named Edmore. If you take US-127 North out of Lansing, after about 30ish miles or so you will come to Alma at the M-46 exit. Takes that 22 miles westand Bob’s your Unclewelcome to Edmore!Soare you associated with the deli you mentionedZingerman’s? I looked at the web site and became over-whelmed. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to stop in there later this week while we are in A A (for the IAGLR meetings). I asked my wife what kind she would want (based on your earlier response to crashfrog), and she’s not sure. I guess talking to someone like you would be best.Let me sneak in this one other question before we show up at the deli. What do you mean by expensive? I would hate to show up and go through sticker shock when pricing olive oils. Twenty dollars$40.$60what can I expect to pay for a container of liquid that has been squeezed out of an unripe drupe? Spending 60 bucks is not that badif I’m psychologically prepared for it (hey, dropping a 100 bucks or so on a bottle of single malt is something I enjoy doing from time to time). But I do have my limitations.Thanks Again,
FliesOnly

Schrafinator: Cool...I'm looing forward to it. We have already discussed having lunch at the deli with a couple friends of ours that know it well (one of them spent 8 years in AA and use to eat at the deli all the time...go figure...small World sometimes). Our plan is to be there somewhere around the noonish hour. Probably a very busy time...but that's when there are breaks between sessions. The prices really don't seem that bad to me...if it is for quality stuff.So....I guess....hmmmm...I'll just walk in and start screaming "Hey...Schrafinator!", until I get a response .

Schrafinator:Holy Crap...talk about a bunch of oils! Thanks so much for your help. Crashfrog, you should visit schrafinator at the deli if ya get a chance...she definitely knows her stuff. Of course, one of the oils she had us try seemed to "burn" the back of my throat...must have been rancid .
I ended up leaving with an oil that actually has a bit of a banana flavor to it, but there was an almost endless supply of other "varieties. Oh, and the sandwich I had for lunch was great as well.

schrafinator:Hello again. Sorry it took a while to reply, but as with many of you out there...I was away for the weekend. I went up to Beaver Island with my wife, and with the exception of one incident, had a very enjoyable 4 days. Unfortunately, now that my wife is once again on the Island and I am home, my "dinners" will be sorely lacking in taste and nutritional value. yes, indeed, we went home with a bottle of Trianna. Price had nothing to do with it (for those of you reading this...it was the least expensive of the four she had us taste), but rather it being a more "mild" oil, we figured it'd be the "best all around" oil to have if all we could have was one. Nanc (my wife) really enjoyed the "grassy" one (Pasolive?) and next pay day...I might order it, if that's possible.As for the "incident" I mentioned above...I almost want to start a new thread to "discuss" similar events...but I think it would serve no purpose other than to let people "vent" their anger. You see, our lovely, friendly, fun-loving, great pooch was attack by a pit-bull (and another pit-bull, boxer mix...two fucking useless piece of shit dogs ganging up on our Brittany) while we were on a walk up on Beaver. I'm getting pissed just writing about it now. Who fucking wants a pit-bull? Anyway, that's a discussion for another thread, which as I hope everyone would agree, would only serve as a thread for people to scream about how utterly fucking useless pit-bulls (and related dogs) are...so why bother? Our dog was, out of serendipity, not severely injured (at least physically), I might add.

Hello: I think I have to agree here. However, as someone who works on a College Campus, I will also add that the vast majority of vegetarians/vegans I know personally are of the ilk more closely related to what Schraf and Crash have mentioned (and even yourself...with the PETA reference).Most of them will not even allow me to cook their vege kaboob on the same grill where I am currently preparing (or have any time in the past) a wonderful venison steak. Something about their food being associated with animal flesh in any way...a bit ridiculous if you ask me.Myself, I have no problem with vegitarians until they do start spouting off about the small impact they have on the ecosystem when compared to what I...a typical meat eater...have. I usually point out that my wife and I rarely (as in almost never) purchase meat from a store and we grow most of our own vegetables, and therefore probably have far less of an impact on the environment than they do. That usually shuts em up.

Hello Again Schrafinator:First off, this response is not so much to this post, as it is a chance for me to ask another question about olive oil...I only responded here cuz it's a relatively recent post.We purchased the Traianna oil and I am thinking about a crab meat spaghetti "sauce" that I actually like and am capable of making (or at least not screwing it up too badly). It's a cold sauce composed of crab meat, olive oil, asst spices, some tomato and onions. It's all mixed together, refrigerated for a couple hours or so, and then mixed warm spaghetti (like it were any other warm/cooked pasta sauce). I am wondering if you think that the Trianna would be good for this, or would I be better off with some other kind (that I have yet to purchase) of oil? Also, which oil did you recommend for lightly brushing onto a nice steak before grilling, do you remembercuz I forgot (was it the grassy one?) but I would like to get that one too.Lastly, in regards to pit-bullsI’m surprised that you find any value in thembut then againmaybe you haven’t yet seen them in action. I would start a new topic, but I don’t think it would draw too many people.Later,FliesOnly

Schrafinator:Thanks, I'm gonna try it (the crab meat stuff) later this week. I'll let ya kno how it went.Also, I did start a thread about pit bulls, but I'm not sure if I did it correctly. I guess we'll know I did if we see it show up in the "Coffee House" soon.

Hey, I love pop tarts! They're a great energy boost at about mile 50 or so of a century ride.

Almost all of the meat my wife and I consume is the result of something we "gathered" ourselves. As a matter of fact...my wife is at this very moment standing up a tree with a bow in her hand hoping to "gather" us a bit more. A majority of the remaining meat we consume comes from a pig we butcher ourselves. A fraction of any other meats we do happen to buy come from either an organic farm or, on very rare occasions, a deli down state (Detroit). We buy our poultry from either the Amish or an organic farm near the Amish. Our eggs come from a friend that has "free range chickens" (eggs purchased from a store come nowhere near the quality and taste these eggs). We also have a garden and grow quite a few of our own vegetables.Still, though...I friggen love pop tarts. And I do admit to enjoying eating out at a nice restaurant on occasion.

I'm not sure what you think is "unusual"... ...but this may give me some idea.No, we’re not really following some sort of a moral code. A goodly amount of the justification behind our food gathering life style can be attributed two factors. First, both my wife and I love the out-of-doors. Hunting and fishing, as well as working in the garden are things we truly love to do. Second, the price and quality of many food items nowadays is ridiculous...and many "store bought" items, especially vegetables, taste like ...well they taste like nothing. They have little to no flavor. Store bought tomatoes are a great example. Sure they're big...sure they're red (sometimes), but often times they have no taste. Apples too. Huge, red, perfect apples that taste like cardboard are not a wise purchase in my book.Let’s talk eggs. Have you ever had eggs produced by a handful of chickens that are running loose around a small farm, as opposed to eggs from large poultry farms where thousands of chickens are forced to "sit" in some sort of nest box and pump out egg after egg after egg? Trust me, there is no comparison. NPR actually had a story last week, and it mentioned a study that showed that free range chicken eggs have less than half the cholesterol and significantly more protein than store bought.Now, as for our meats, I do admit to being a carnivore. I love meat. I love a nice big thick juicy steak on occasion but hey, a really good cut of meat can be very expensive, and I have no idea how long it has been on display (I know, I know, there are ways to tell how "fresh" it is...but there are also ways to attempt to get around that too) nor do I know how many hormones, or drugs, or any other sort of "unwanted crap" had been fed to the animal prior to butchering. When we are successful and take some wild game (mostly deer), I am relatively unworried about the meat (some concerns obviously exist). And besides, if you do like meat, it's really hard to beat fresh tenderloin. It's like butter. And my wife also LOVES to cook (I can't thank you enough, Schrafinator, for the olive oils). What a great combo . A) a gorgeous wife that B), loves to hunt (bow hunting is her passion. She can spend hours up a tree, standing on a little stand not much bigger than a cafeteria tray, waiting motionless for a deer to come by), and C) loves to cook. I’m a lucky lucky man.Now, let me explain the "pork". My wife and I purchase a pig each summer, which is then raised (at an undisclosed location, not our home) with three other pigs. They are fed grain and "table scraps" and then at the end of the summer we (usually me, my wife and two or three others) butcher all three. My wife hates pork, if purchased from a typical market. This pork, however, is fantastic. Again, if you like meat, trust me when I tell you that you will definitely be able to tell the difference between pork chops from our pig and the crap you buy in a store. We give away a bit of our pork to some of our close friends . and I kid you not when I say that all of them have told us how much better it is than anything they have ever had before. Most of them will no longer buy their pork, but instead will get it from us.So, no, we do not really follow some moral code. We just prefer venison to store bought beef...fresh pork, with no preservatives (salt) or artificail coloring, or water added, to store bought pork...vegetables that are fresh and flavorful, to old and bland...and eggs that are not only good...but good for you too, to mass produced colorless garbage.And lastly, we get a great amount of joy in "harvesting" these items.

My wife and our pooch love white cheddar cheez-its. Me...I'm not so much a cheese fan. Not an option for us. Where I live, Applebee’s is considered a fine dining establishment, and Taco Bell is about as ethnic as you’re going to get (ignoring, of course, the seven or eight “Chinese” places).Once, while in Edmonton with a friend we ate at a Malaysian restaurant. Our friend, being from Edmonton and hence, familiar with the establishment, suggested some items to order. One of them was some sort of soup/stew. To be perfectly honest, I didn't try it...I couldn't get passed the smell. It was awful (at least to my nose). It reminded me of a situation a few years earlier where I had to "deal" with a dead, 12 ft python that had been stored in a walk-in cooler. The cooler broke down, but since the fan motors where still running, the room heated up to about 100 degrees (F) . and was not noticed for about a week and a half! Needless to say, the snake went bad. Here's the kicker though. I was told that everything was cleaned out and disposed of. Imagine my surprise when four years later I returned to the University, now as an employee, only to discover that that fucking snake was still in there. Can you imagine the smell? It was god awful, and I was the one that had to deal with it. And then, a couple years later, I find myself in a Malaysian restaurant and I get a whiff of something they claim to be food, but to my nose, was a dead, terribly rotten and smelly, 12 foot snake. Sorry, but I could not bring myself to even give it a try. I agree. Please don't rescind your offer to stop by you 66 acres sometime...but I hate curry. Which is sad, cuz my wife loves the stuff. She's bummed that she cannot make curry dishes when I'm home (she's very sweet and will make something we both like). We have cut back on what we will hunt. We pretty much stick with deer and turkeys, but will take a few squirrels occasionally (personally, I think squirrel is the best of the small game meats). And if I never see anther rabbit again, it'll be too soon. I lived on rabbits throughout grad school. I think I had it prepared every figgen way possible and will never eat one again.Carp? Thanks, but no. Oddly enough, I really eat very little fish. I love to fish, but rarely keep any for myself (the avatar fish was for my father-in-law). I don't really care for the taste...it tastes "fishy" to me...go figure.

You may catch some grief from others about "not having the time", but not from me.I agree, our style of obtaining food does indeed take time and effort. However, we are fortunate in that where we live, the time aspect is significantly reduced. My wife literally walks out our garage door, continues for 100 feet or so and climbs up one of the three tree in which she has placed a bow stand. Turkeys walk passed our house almost everyday. I once counted over eighty before giving up and stopping (my guess is that there were over a hundred).So, we do have a definite time advantage over other people we know that often travel for hours just to find a place to hunt. And like I said, the "food" is so much better.

Not in the least. My wife also butchers all of the game we kill (she labels each package with the actual muscle name...in tiny, perfect handwriting..."Deer, Bow, 2005, Gastrocnemius",...it's very cute), does taxidermy, and all the while is a professor actively engaged in teaching and research.And technically, she kills the deer IN our frontyard, not near it. We have no yard (well, very little), it's all woods, with the exceptions of a small opening and a wetland.