What's something you always see at the grocery store.... - Page 3

[QUOTE=mudbug]Don't be afraid to try new things. Ask around (as you did here). Do google searches, etc on how to select and when to eat.

Kiwano Melon
http://www.google.com/search?client=...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

[QUOTE]

I tried it… I was intently intrigued by the shape, color and who could resist those spikes?
I liked it my husband and son didn't...AT all.
It sort of tasted like kiwi, and melon twisted up. I read somewhere I think (I also googled it) that it can be used for sauces, or jellies. The inside is very odd.... (Gosh I hope I am remembering right) and has lost of little jellied balls. They are intimidating indeed. But the price as mention elsewhere motivated me to press on. I also read they are mostly used for natural vessels, like for ice-cream which I thought would be visually stunning.
Anyway I haven’t tried to make the sauce or anything since my first experience, but this reminds me to try it and see.
Overall, interesting and intriguing would be my assessment.
Frizbee

Many, many years ago, mom served cow's tongue .... brought to the table on a platter, whole. Looking back on it now, all I can think of is John the Baptist's head. Is it any wonder I sat at the table till bedtime because "you're not leaving that table until you eat dinner" Sheesh!

wow....cylindrical grey goo from the dim sum place in SF....you found it Mudbug!!! after 6 years I can finally have a name for it.

would this list change now?
I've been into tripa tacos recently....not tried the overy selection at the Asian grocery, but do occasionally poke them just out of curiosity. Tendon is my fav. meat in Pho...and no I'm not of Asian descent.

hmmph....I'll have to rethink this one, most of the time if I'm curious I'll buy and try something. There are an awful lot of unidentified veg at the asian grocery stores that I have no idea what to do with much less what their names are to even look them up. Good thread fun to reread and remember what was cooking in 2001.

I am quite puzzled by the aversion to tongue? we eat all sorts of strange things and am wondering why people are so against it? i'm sure we are putting worse things in our mouth over our life times? fast food for example!?if tongue is prepared correctly it is a wonderful dish, you wouldn't even know you were eating it!
we slow simmer ours (Usually ox or sometimes lamb if we have slaughtered ourselves) for a few hours, then skin away the tastebuds and finely slice. lay out on a plate and sprinkle with good sea salt fresh sliced garlic (for flavour we don't eat the slices) a good squeeze of lemon juice and some really good olive oil served with some good crusty bread and you have a meal for kings!

Hi Marzoli, I used to have the same thought. Now, I just use the amount that I need for the particular dish i'm doing and the rest I finely chop and freeze it in a large sandwich bag. Sure, it loses a small amount of flavour but it's 100% better than using dried and it's extremely useful to have on hand. Most herbs freeze really well.:chef:

I have the same problem with cilantro as Marzoli has with parsley. I always find these huge bunches and I'll use it once or twice, then it starts turning yellow on me. I bought some a couple of weeks ago and tried putting it in a glass of water to keep longer. That didn't help much at all. I love the flavor but it isn't something I want at every meal. Can it be frozen as well?

Sugar cane was mentioned. As a child, one of our neighbors grew sugar cane on my grandmother's property. He made cane syrup from it. Every now and then my dad would get a stalk and cut it into pieces so we could suck and chew on it. It's like a candy but has a very distinct flavor. If you've tasted cane syrup, then you'll know the flavor I mean. I love cane syrup, particularly for making bbq sauce. That's one of the items, I can't get here in Indiana so always pick some up when I travel to Georgia.

I bought tofu a few weeks ago and other than hot and sour soup, I have no idea what to do with it. I tried it in a stir fry for lunch and it wasn't good at all. lol

There are a lot of items, I haven't tried in the grocery store but I do see them on Food Network often...like fennel. I keep meaning to buy some but have to go to one certain store to get it. For some reason, I always forget about it when I'm there. Two out of four members of my family are hesitant to taste new vegetables so I don't like to spend a lot of money on something that might go to waste.

Mine did too, both smoked and fresh. It was my job to peel it and return it to the pot for its final cooking. Tongue is my favorite deli meat. :lips: I don't think my husband would eat tongue or I'd cook it for him. It's not the healthiest of meats (it's high in cholesterol) but it's delicious when cooked properly.

Tongue makes an amazing taco. Walmart sells it pretty cheaply and it's the easiest place for me to find many specialty meats...

Anyway, back to the tongue tacos. The kids were chowing it down and liking it. My daughter asks what it is exactly. I say, 'Beef' and stop. My wife finishes with, 'tongue' and no more was eaten by the kids.

That's why I stopped at Beef.

Phil

that's my M.O. too......man I really hate it when someone asks in the middle of dinner what their eating......
I've gotten over my mental issues with tongue. AS a teen I ordered a tongue sandwich, got a bite in my mouth and could not swallow it.....now I've NEVER been a whimpy eater but for some reason it just did not go down.

My sister in law is the WORST offender, she is a modest eater from Utah.....once she asked when a live oyster dies, or if the soft shell crabs had eyes etc... or what you were actually consuming when you suck a crawfish head......she's the one who will ask at a full dinner table what's in a dish. Point blank. Same scenerio happens with her kids, it's just a real bummer.

Yes, cilantro(or as we call it, Coriander) freezes well. I always have some in the freezer for my weekly curry fix!:)

Fennel

Have sliced it thinly for salads, havent done much else with it.

Screaming kids with parents who do nothing about it. :( They should be boiled in oil. Oh ok just kidding but they drive me bonkers - both the kids and the parents for letting them carry on.

I feel so tempted to say something but you never know what reaction you'll get...

Thus providing another dish which benefits nicely from either a parsley or cilantro garnish! Squeeze of lemon juice...

Probably best to bread them lightly first...

hehehe :crazy: ....would probably need to tenderise them with meat hammer first.....that would be job satisfaction

mud bug,I finally bought rudebega,peeled it.cubed it,boiled it however the best thing to do with it was trash it...lol...good cookin...cookie

Prickly pear. Tasteless, somewhat expensive, and overall boring fruit. Looks cool though. But that's about it. Oh, and I have a hard time using tripe and tilapia. Tripe is gross and tilapia is virtually tasteless.

I love ruttabaga! I peel and cube them, then cook in water with a little bacon or salt pork and add just a bit of white sugar to bring out the sweetness. Drain and mash with a potato masher and it's good eats! My daughter loves them so much she asked for them as part of her special menu on her 13th birthday. The liquid you drain off, "pot likker" in the south is good, too. lol

Or peel cube and roast with olive oil and salt.....really good.

ruttabegas not kids....though I do have bits and pieces of kids in my freezer....(goat).

We hada really neat idea of cubing rutabega, parsnips, turnips, carrots and other root vegetables, parcooking them, then flaming individual orders with irish whiskey. We served them with just about everything from pork to chicken to beef.

Jicama is another confusing item to me. Other then dipping it in chili powder and using it for garnishes/salads, my mind goes blank.

Cillantro

When used in salsa's and garnish's,

Gives them a richer earthy taste,

Some people say makes things taste like dirt!

Me I can take it, but given a choice I will leave it. except for in Menuedo

Tribe,
cooked down with hominy and pigs or cows feet, makes a great soup, garnished with green onions and cillantro, with or without some lemon juice is great by me.

Mapalotas(?) young/new prickly pair pads, the ones I have had are a lemon/citrus flavor that takes a little getting used to

I look at a lot of things in a neighborhood Chinese Market, if I only new what to make using would be pretty enteresting, and I don't have a clue.

Jicama is often suggested as a substitute for water chestnut in stir-frys. Same neutral taste - soaks up flavors of your sauce - and crunchy texture.

Nice julienned in salads. Same thing- crunchy and carries flavors of the dressing.

Mike :lips: