kitchen ramble

[pennie_dreadful]

Since my parents are out of the house I have control of the kitchen. Of course since they are not aspiring chefs the pantry is not filled with all the things I could want. Is it asking so much for fresh garlic instead of garlic powder? Anyway. I am working with a limited set of ingredients. We shall see what comes out of it tommorow.

Comments

[madhowan.livejournal.com]

Shiny, have fun! Let's hope your experiments turn out better than mine :S

[kat-nic.livejournal.com]

At this point I know it will be some sort of chicken dish. It has been marinating since last night. I have no idea what to serve with it, other than canned peas and sweet corn. Perhaps I can convince my dad to grill it and we can break in the new patio furniture they hauled off.

I need to look up the brownie recipe that aurillia gave me a while back. Perfect time to try it out. Although I have never made brownies from scratch successfully.

[aurillia.livejournal.com]

Garlic powder yuck yuck yuck. Has its moments of usefulness but seems to sum up the 1950s kitchenette doesn't it?

I've always found canned peas to taste revolting, whereas frozen peas hold their flavour better. We always had bags of frozen peas that we'd picked ourselves (before the harvesters came and cleaned out the paddock) and they tasted good.

When you say "grill" you mean a kind of barbeque, I'm guessing - otherwise you'd do it yourself, right? When we say "grill" we mean broil - that shelf in the oven, or maybe just an oven setting. I hate the word "broil". It gets stuck in my mouth and sounds all wrong.

[kat-nic.livejournal.com]

I think we've had a similar discussion before...barbeque to us means a completely different thing, where as grilling to us is barbequeing to you. And broiling is broiling. I've never thought much about the word "broil". It seems perfectly harmless to me. But then, you should hear someone with a Deep South accent say it, I am sure it would make you feel better about your pronunciation problem. i.e. you couldn't possibly mangle it any worse.

I need to get over my fear of the charcoal grill. I am scared of fire. For the longest time I was afraid to even light a match. But I am okay with using a gas range, oddly enough.

[madhowan.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to work out the barbeque/ grill differences and it's hurting! So you call a barbeque a grill, and a grill for us is the bit under the stove. What does barbeque mean in America?

Sorry, am a little bit fascinated with the language differences at the moment - my brother is in America and will send emails saying the newest thing he's said to earn a funny look. (Do you call a torch a flashlight?)
He told his workmates there to chuck something in the boot the other day and no-one knew what he meant.

[kat-nic.livejournal.com]

Language barriers can be so annoying and yet amusing at the same time. And now I get to put on my chef's hat and edjumacate you.

Barbeque is both a noun and a verb. The act of barbequeing is the application both of heat and smoke. You cannot barbeque (as we know it) over gas or charcoal. Hickory wood chips are commonly used, but any variety of fragrant wood, usually apple, or even peach in some states, is good too. Also it must be noted that barbequeing requires a special device, a simple Weber or a Charbroil will not do. Usually said device, known as a "pit", is constructed of cinder blocks and sheet metal.

Also barbequeing is never rushed, "low and slow" are the watchwords. It should be never be done at a temperature exceeding 200F, and usually takes ten to twelve hours to cook.

The actual barbeque, itself, is a topic of much debate in the Southern states. In the Southeast (where I am from), the barbeque meat of choice is pork shoulder, although for some odd reason it is actually called a pork butt or Boston butt. In the Southwest beef brisket is the favored cut. Both cuts of meat are tough and therefore considered inferior quality, and relatively inexpensive.

Whether pork or beef, all barbeque starts with a dry rub. Everyone has their own recipe for rub; my family has always used garlic salt, onion salt, paprika, black pepper, and a few other ingredients that I am not at liberty to share. Once the meat if prepared, into the barbeque pit it goes, to be basted with sauce throughout the cooking process. As far as sacue goes, there are mustard based sauces, tomato based sauces, and vinegar based sauces. I am a fan of vinegar myself.

I could also start in on ribs, and argue which cuts are the best, and dry ribs vs. wet ribs, but we'll save that lesson for another day.

Needless to say, we take our 'que very seriously.

[kat-nic.livejournal.com]

And yes we call them flashlights. Because torches are made with fire. :p

[madhowan.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes more sense, thank you. It sounds very serious indeed :D And not at all like an Aussie BBQ. Throw it on, let it burn, lovely :P

So it's something like
US BBQ = something that takes far too much patience for Aussies ;)
US Grill = Aussie BBQ
US Broil = Aussie grill.

Sorry, just have to try and work it out to its simplest form to make sure I understand. XD

[madhowan.livejournal.com]

I love all the language stuff - it's fascinating!

[kat-nic.livejournal.com]

Funny how it's evolved in different directions, hasn't it?

[kat-nic.livejournal.com]

That's fine. As long as you get it strait. I remember my grandfather would throw some butts on the pit if we were having a get-together, and getting up intermittently to check on it throughout the night. He was a master, used to have his own restaurant and everything. Sometimes my uncles would come over and help, and they'd stay up all night and drink beer and have their own little get-together.

[madhowan.livejournal.com]

You've made me hungry now. *grins*

Sounds like awesome fun : )