Thread: just wanted to share tonight's dinner with you guys..

Originally Posted by Dieseld

Maybe by covering it with some fine sausage gravy!?!?!?!

That's just flour, shortening, milk, water, and a little bit of salt/pepper...but I thought we were talking about the biscuits!

I suppose if we're being technical, when I say shortening I mean lard or bacon fat. But that stuff isn't as bad for you as Crisco would like you to think. I cooked everything in bacon fat for a year and lost 50 lbs. Started gaining it all back when I rediscovered the junk food vending machine at work.

Originally Posted by Marshal

That's just flour, shortening, milk, water, and a little bit of salt/pepper...but I thought we were talking about the biscuits!

I suppose if we're being technical, when I say shortening I mean lard or bacon fat. But that stuff isn't as bad for you as Crisco would like you to think. I cooked everything in bacon fat for a year and lost 50 lbs. Started gaining it all back when I rediscovered the junk food vending machine at work.

Big difference there. I will admit to being a snob but I refuse to use shortening/Crisco. From a flavor perspective, it brings nothing to the table. While it brings texture qualities there are other ways to achieve that. As a chef I learned from once proposed, I'll give you a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of shortening. Lets see which you will eat.

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

Big difference there. I will admit to being a snob but I refuse to use shortening/Crisco. From a flavor perspective, it brings nothing to the table. While it brings texture qualities there are other ways to achieve that. As a chef I learned from once proposed, I'll give you a teaspoon of butter and a teaspoon of shortening. Lets see which you will eat.

Agreed, there's a reason I made the switch myself. That reason being that I've come to the same conclusion - if I wouldn't eat an ingredient by itself, it probably doesn't belong in my meal. Same theory as teaspoon of shortening vs. teaspoon of butter.

But I figure regardless of what it's called folks are going to substitute with their ingredient of choice. Part of the fun of cooking, tailoring your meals to your flavor profile. Unfortunately lard and become fat still have that negative connotation, so when I say shortening it's more a generic term than specific ingredient.

Now if I were rattling off a recipe I'd be more specific. And you'd probably also never see me mention shortening.

Originally Posted by Dieseld

Maybe by covering it with some fine sausage gravy!?!?!?!

While I love sausage and gravy on my buttermilk biscuits, I would imagine that our Friend in London would enjoy them with some butter and Lyles.

It may come as a surprise to some of you but I really don't like restaurants very much. There are those that I do like. But there are more that I don't than do. This is why. They have become silly places where silly food is served in silly little portions that require fifty plates to complete a meal....or not.

Masterchef winner Anton Piotrowski's new Plymouth restaurant serves food directly onto diners' hands | London Evening Standard

Pretentious piffle, indeed!

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

Pretentious piffle, indeed!

When I was in culinary school I was taught that a well set table communicated to the guest that they were welcome and that the restaurant was professional with high standards. What does it communicate when you don't even get a dinner plate? Restaurants and chefs have become too self-important. And the customers/guests have become complacent rubes if this is what they settle for.

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

When I was in culinary school I was taught that a well set table communicated to the guest that they were welcome and that the restaurant was professional with high standards. What does it communicate when you don't even get a dinner plate? Restaurants and chefs have become too self-important. And the customers/guests have become complacent rubes if this is what they settle for.

Like I used to say in Art school..........."There's a fine line between clever and bull***t."

Good food doesn't need tricks and gimmicks. It's a restaurant not an amusement park. I guess I don't understand art.

Art is in the eye of the beholder