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Dogboa, I wish you could send some my way! I love sucking head and so does my husband (relax folks Dogboa knows what I mean - it is a New Orleans term for sucking the crawfish heads). Enjoy!
Lol!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Humble and Kind
Hate poster here!
We usually do a crawfish boil every year. We get ours from LA crawfish co. I already have seasoning ready for two sacks.
With work and covid it's going to delay us till probably the middle of June. I hope we can do it then.
Honestly, the best part is sucking the head, has all the flavor. Sounds nasty, but for those who have had it you'll love it.
Do you use a boil boss cooling ring or ice? I haven't used either, usually just cool the pot with garden hose spraying down the outside of pot.
I'll be eating vicariously through your pictures. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Take care!
I have a question. I know you guys aren't talking about shrimp, but someone once told me that they were eating shrimp, heads and tails intact, and that, except for the tail, they ate the whole thing, head included. They said it was very bitter and everyone else laughed because you're not supposed to eat the heads. Does it just depend on what you're eating, or is it just that sucking the juice is much different than actually eating the head? Just curious. I'm pretty sure I won't be doing either.
I have a question. I know you guys aren't talking about shrimp, but someone once told me that they were eating shrimp, heads and tails intact, and that, except for the tail, they ate the whole thing, head included. They said it was very bitter and everyone else laughed because you're not supposed to eat the heads. Does it just depend on what you're eating, or is it just that sucking the juice is much different than actually eating the head? Just curious. I'm pretty sure I won't be doing either.
Shrimp are usually flash frozen, unless you know someone that catches them for personal use. They are already dead when you cook them. When I can get them with the head on, they are usually Georgia Freshies or Key West pinks. The heads are used to make stock, mainly for "BBQed" shrimp. If they are flash frozen with the heads on, the fat in the head can go rancid pretty quickly, resulting in the heads turning black. I've never tried sucking shrimp heads. Crawfish on the other hand are live when cooked, no chance for the fat to go rancid.
I have a question. I know you guys aren't talking about shrimp, but someone once told me that they were eating shrimp, heads and tails intact, and that, except for the tail, they ate the whole thing, head included. They said it was very bitter and everyone else laughed because you're not supposed to eat the heads. Does it just depend on what you're eating, or is it just that sucking the juice is much different than actually eating the head? Just curious. I'm pretty sure I won't be doing either.
Every Asian restaurant that I have visited generally serves them head-on unless otherwise requested. I eat the head most of the time, depending on the preparation.
Anything you like to cook where using simple, prepared, or even junk-foodish ingredients work best?
Obviously taste is subjective here, but to give an example: I went on this phase years ago trying to make gourmet mac & cheese. There are all kinds of recipes with many different combinations of (often very expensive) cheese, but in the end I ended up liking the version made with good ole' unnaturally orange brick of Velveeta. It melts well, can stay on the shelf for 415 years without any loss in quality, and something about mac & cheese lends itself to a pre-processed base.
Again, subjective. I'm sure there are folks who like their triple artisan cheese and truffle oil mac & cheese seared on top with a blowtorch, to each their own.
Don't get me started on Gordon Ramsey's ridiculously pretentious scrambled eggs routine...
Anything you like to cook where using simple, prepared, or even junk-foodish ingredients work best?
Obviously taste is subjective here, but to give an example: I went on this phase years ago trying to make gourmet mac & cheese. There are all kinds of recipes with many different combinations of (often very expensive) cheese, but in the end I ended up liking the version made with good ole' unnaturally orange brick of Velveeta. It melts well, can stay on the shelf for 415 years without any loss in quality, and something about mac & cheese lends itself to a pre-processed base.
.
Wednesday night, I lost an hour of my life watching eight food writers from a major magazine preparing their tasty version of grilled cheese. Two things struck me. Five of the final sandwiches looked anything like a grilled cheese sandwich. Second, it took these folks 15-35 minutes to assemble the sandwich
I am not so much interested in making the most gourmet macaroni and cheese out there. However, I am interested in making the best tasting macaroni and cheese out there. Velveeta is the EASIEST way of making macaroni and cheese as the sauce will not break. However, it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of taste and honestly, is more expensive than most of the cheeses that I cook with. I am a little lucky as I found a 5# bag of gorgonzola cheese at a dollar store last year and that combines with a good sharp cheddar cheese at $2.50/lb makes a pretty good cheese sauce.
There was a thread earlier this week on three ingredient dishes. I am not interested. Sure teh quick and easy approach works fine but why not take five minutes and add additional depth to the dish. I am not talking about going to the level of Emeril or any of the TV chefs where you have three page recipes.
In college I had a roommate of Italian heritage who made the most amazing pasta dish I have never been able to replicate. Perhaps it needs to be eaten within the context of the starving grad. student years...
It was simply: spaghetti, EVOO, black pepper, and onions. (Maybe garlic, but not in noticeable amounts.) That’s it.
No fancy cheeses, no fresh basil, no anchovies- all of which I’ve add years later to that amazing base, but never reaching that eye-opening deliciousness on first tasting her pasta.
Mac n cheese I agree is not the same fancified. No truffle oil, no artisan cheese, no herb infusion please. Just simple Velveeta and elbow macaroni, otherwise it’s simply not mac ‘n cheese. Maaaybe a crust of crushed Ritz crackers if you really want to get fancy..
I’ve binge watched some videos on YouTube where the expert guesses which food or drink is the expensive one. Almost always they know the expensive one through its arrogant, pompous flavors. About half the time they seem to recommend just sticking with the inexpensive product because it’s what most people are going to like anyway. Turns out that aging food and drinks costs a lot more, and delivers peculiar flavors, yet it’s debatable whether it actually tastes better or not.
Context is also a big influence. At a family vacation 5 years ago, everyone was raving about a particular wine, going on and on about how great it was. After flying back home, my wife said she wished I could somehow find the wine we were drinking. Turns out that it wasn’t that hard to find. I was kind of proud of myself for finding it actually. My wife took a sip and then claimed it was not the same wine at all. 5 years later and I’ve still haven’t been able to convince her it’s the same wine we had on that vacation.
Good quality ingredients need very little fancy prep. A good potato with butter and salt, heaven. My spouse made potato salad last night, potato, Dukes mayo, salt, celery, dry mustard. I love simple plate of pasta with olive oil or butter, salt and small bits of fresh tomato. And of course basil pesto on pasta.
Of course cooking shows can't show simple dishes, their job is to do things we ordinary folk cannot do with ingredients a sponsor is paying for placement. Alton Brown demystifies a lot of cookery and tells us WHY to do things a certain way but he also goes too far sometimes. Great episode of he and his late mother making biscuits, simplest kind of recipe but technique does play a part.
Velveeta is not my thing. But for me store-brand swiss cheese is just fine for 95% of dishes.
Spouse does have strong preferences on some brands of food so they get bought.
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Sometimes simple is better
