Dragon

coho, for the dandelion greens do you just go out and pick them or do you have to get them soemwhere to get really nice ones? Just curious, my fella once got ridiculously drunk on dandelion wine but we've never used them for salads or anything.

belladonnis

Here in the south we call polenta "grits" and we mainly eat them for breakfast. My mom would somtimes crack an egg and cook it in with the boiling grits and add cheese:)

Baldur

Dragon, you can pick them anywhere but obviously be careful in urban areas where dogs might have peed on them or where they might grow in contaminated soil.
They will always be somewhat bitter (Balkdur like bitter foods) but the flavor is gentler if you get younger leaves from before the dandelion sends up it's flowers.
An easy way to cook them is to chop them in short lengths and saute' them quickly in olive oil with a small amount of peeled and pummeled garlic.
As a salad with some balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil they are also wonderful

Baldur

-k =Baldur

Qsilv

Qsilv's astonishingly fond of the flavor of corn and all things corn-meal-y with just some butter enhancing it. (Ok, the butter needs to be salted, or if it's sweet then I add salt to the polenta/porridge.)

I travel a good bit and enjoy (close your eyes here, Balkdur dear) stopping at various Mickey D's (McDonalds). They're reliably clean, and they often provide a glimpse into the core of comfort food for the local population.

So in England the ketchup is startlingly sweet, in Canada there's vinegar on offer for your fries, and in the American South the menu includes -- GRITS!

(nodnoding happily --and now daydreaming of a little bowlful, with a golden puddle of butter, and wait.. what's that? a small swirl of something darker... hmm, must be either maple or Karo corn syrup... Time to go see what's in my pantry)

;>

Dragon

I'm surprised to hear vinegar on fries is a Canadian thing, I though that was common everywhere. I've never used vinegar with mine, as a teen I very much enjoyed mayo with my fries but now I look at a pile of fries and mayo and all I think is 'I can feel my arteries hardening just looking at that'
I still very much enjoy fries but I prefer to keep it simple with salt and pepper (or if possible with Montreal Steak Spice, which I think goes with almost anything!).

As for the polenta, I'm sure I would enjoy it, it sounds yummy. Qsilv, you would have enjoyed a former roommate's bread I think. She worked as a cook and would often bring home leftover bread from the restaraunt. There was foccacia (which I like but found this stuff had too much full Rosemary) but my fav was the spicy blue corn bread. I don't know what exactly was in it (aside from blue corn) but it had a nice hot spice and was moist and crumbled in your mouth like the best cornbread does. Just thinking of it makes my mouth water, oh how I miss Vancouver sometimes!

polenta

Why does it happen that when people get together and speak, they often end up speaking about food?
It's like the weather, it's usually an ice-breaker in Uruguay.
Well, food is much better than the weather... but imagine a country where it's always sunny and there is not even a breeze and the temperature IS always the same. HOW ON EARTH CAN PEOPLE BEGIN TALKING??????
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baldur

In Rhode Island anywhere french fries are sold you will be provided with vinegar also. Just over the border in Massachusetts or Connecticut however they will look at you funny if you request it.

Corn bread is one of the best foods on Earth, Baldur loves it.

Qsilv

To my cornbread I add creamed corn and diced anaheim chilis.

These come canned, which in this case is A Good Thing, being soupier that way, and then I add extra eggs to help bind it all. As I tend to cook on whim, sometimes I get lucky and really over do 'em and it winds up with almost a souffle' quality.

In any case I have this idea that crumbly is fine but dry is not... cornbread should be moist.

European markets were utterly devoid of Anaheim chilis and never seemed to have heard of "creamed" corn (they all thought it must have milk in it), but having a home there tended to attract a LOT of American visitors, so I used to make mine mule over as many cans of that stuff as they could in their luggage.

Then of course I foisted my culinary creations off on all my local friends. I noticed there were seldom any leftovers, tho a few of them whined a bit about the heat of the chilis.

Folks who are used to spicy food don't find any heat at all in Anaheims, just flavor.

Normal

Re the french fries discussion: Brits use vinegar on their "chips," which I love. Germans serve from little street kiosks with inevitable mayo. (Urk!
I didn't know they did that anywhere else.) Dutch, thanks to Indonesian colonial influence, will offer Peanut Sauce. Never had it, but it sounds intriguing. Next time you're in the Amsterdam RR sta you can try some on your way to score some pot.

Dragon

Peanut sauce actually does sound good with fries. I'm not sure if eating them with mayo is common here but as kids we quite enjoyed it. Now that I have my adult palette I find it too cloying and fattening. I still love mayo, just on sandwiches and whatnot, not on deep fried things.

Dragon

Qsilv, I'm absolutly with you - cornbread should be moist, not dry. If I end up with dry cornbread I have to slather it with margarine to make it edible (my sister calls it bread lubrification)

coho

Another tip on dandelion greens, they are best when picked very young. They are more bitter as they age but very very good for you. You can also dig the root and roast it in the oven then grind it for a coffee sustitute. I actually cultivate a french variety that is less bitter and can be eaten at any stage. If i was stranded on a desert island and could choose 2 plants I'd choose coconut and dandelion.

indigo

Talking about fries...if ever you visit the provence of Quebec, Canada
you must try what the Quebecers call "POUTINE". It's french fries,
cheese curds and gravy. You can also have Chicken Poutine or Italian
Poutine, that's with meat sauce instead of gravy. Once in a while I guess
it's ok, but talk about artery sludge!!

Dragon

My boyfriend loves poutine (we have it here in Alberta too.) I can barely stand to be at the same table with it though. I think it's the curds, they just gross me out. He also puts ketchup on it, I am very anti-ketchup. You'll all think I'm weird but I just can't stand the stuff.

inked_gemini

I'm with you dragon; I cannot stand ketchup, and I refuse to let it touch anything that I eat. There is one exception however. The first time my husband took me to Puerto Rico, he insisted that we get a hotdog. I balked at the idea, telling him that I did not come to PR to eat something that I could get anywhere in the states. But in Puerto Rico, the best hotdog stands heat the ketchup to boiling and cook the onions in it, fusing the onion and tomato flavors together. Heavens it was good. Now when we go, the hotdog vendors are the first places we hit.

maddyjean08

My father is Native American and my mother is German so I guess I'm half and half, with no accent. I mostly look German, though. I thought a looked American but once when I was 9 years I was in the library and I pulled a book from a shelf and it was a book about Germany. There was a German girl on the cover that looked like I did. Pale skin, light brown hair, calic, many freckles, nice straight teeth, and her two top front teeth were just as big as mine and looked the exact same. Like my two top front teeth have three ridges at the ends. But I am excellant at the pow wows. I am real good at the traditional dance of the Nakota Native American.

polenta

I'm hungry folks.

polenta

What pastry of sweet cakes or pies do you consider THE BEST in the world? I have my own ideas but would like to compare.

belladonnis

My favorite pie is KEY LIME!!! I love it! Im not a cake person at all really, I like pie the best, but I do have to say I love my grandma's Coconut Cake! It was always so moist and yummy! I also loved her chocolate turnover pastries! Now Im hungry!!!