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I cook everything organic & from scratch, normally gourmet... however, my ultimate meal is always the same:
Homemade Irish stew, served on top of hot homemade bread
Fresh corn with homemade butter & Celtic sea salt
Red leaf lettuce with oil/fresh lemon/sea salt (I like 1 veggie 'salads')
Pint o' Guinness... room temp, of course... I am civilized, after all
No dessert... I don't like sugar
No appetizers... I never have the room for them
Before or after dinner: 2 glasses Ty Nant Welsh mineral water
If I could only eat 1 meal forever, this would be it.
I had to do a search for the difference between "gourmet" and "regular" food because I really did not know where the defining line was.
So I looked it up and who knew, I've been cooking "gourmet regular food" all these years.
The best meals I ever ate in my life were enjoyed at The Common Plea, a restaurant on Ross Street near the courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh, PA. I read with regret that it closed last year. But I'll never forget a meal of fettuccine with clam sauce. With it, I'd need some tasty Italian bread to sop up the sauce and a side Caesar salad. If I may have an appetizer, make it something with crab meat.
The Common Plea was the first place, as a youngish diner, I ever encountered a cheese and fruit tray served at the end of the meal. I thought that was the definition of swank. Later I went to Europe and found it to be not uncommon there. But still lovely, especially if followed by a good espresso.
Well, if we are doing ultimate, that's different than comfort food, I guess.
Let's see, dig a pit big enough to drop a small Chevy truck into. Put a couple feet of nice blue lava rocks into it, top that with a couple feet of firewood. Pop the first keg and start the fire. Don't forget to alert the fire department first. When it's down to coals, layer in some banana tree trunks, then a layer of banana leaves. While you've been waiting for the coals to get ready, there should have been a pig prepared. Whole cleaned pig, about a hundred pounds plus or minus, rubbed with rock salt, wrapped in banana leaves, then ti leaves then held together with chicken wire that has some handy handles worked into it. Put the pig in the hole on top of the banana stalks and leaves. Since you forgot to call the fire department first and the first keg is still going, you should have a lot of help for getting the pig into the pit. Although fifty or sixty of your family and favorite friends should already be around by now. So, get the pig in the pit, add in however many laulau, prepared turkeys, about a hundred pounds of sweet potatoes up near the top and everything else everyone brought for the imu (that's the official name for the cooking pit). Then layer with more banana leaves, ti leaves, a canvas tarp and a layer of dirt. Hang out, play ukulele, nibble on all the papayas, pineapples, macadamia nuts, and everything else everyone brought. Do that for about four to six hours, then take the pig and everything else out of the pit. By this time, there are several tables set up in the yard loaded with food down the length of them. Carve the pig and let everyone fill plates. More ukulele, more hula, maybe even the second keg, nibble on more stuff, etc. etc. This can last for several days and there will still be loads of food for everyone to take a plate of food home with them.
Somehow, though, we need to work in creme brulee if this is gonna be an ultimate meal.
Mom's stuffed peppers cooked in olive oil, chopped liver and bulgur (cracked wheat) with her red onion salad and pistachio baklava for desert after meal with hot tea.
Well, if we are doing ultimate, that's different than comfort food, I guess.
Let's see, dig a pit big enough to drop a small Chevy truck into. Put a couple feet of nice blue lava rocks into it, top that with a couple feet of firewood. Pop the first keg and start the fire. Don't forget to alert the fire department first. When it's down to coals, layer in some banana tree trunks, then a layer of banana leaves. While you've been waiting for the coals to get ready, there should have been a pig prepared. Whole cleaned pig, about a hundred pounds plus or minus, rubbed with rock salt, wrapped in banana leaves, then ti leaves then held together with chicken wire that has some handy handles worked into it. Put the pig in the hole on top of the banana stalks and leaves. Since you forgot to call the fire department first and the first keg is still going, you should have a lot of help for getting the pig into the pit. Although fifty or sixty of your family and favorite friends should already be around by now. So, get the pig in the pit, add in however many laulau, prepared turkeys, about a hundred pounds of sweet potatoes up near the top and everything else everyone brought for the imu (that's the official name for the cooking pit). Then layer with more banana leaves, ti leaves, a canvas tarp and a layer of dirt. Hang out, play ukulele, nibble on all the papayas, pineapples, macadamia nuts, and everything else everyone brought. Do that for about four to six hours, then take the pig and everything else out of the pit. By this time, there are several tables set up in the yard loaded with food down the length of them. Carve the pig and let everyone fill plates. More ukulele, more hula, maybe even the second keg, nibble on more stuff, etc. etc. This can last for several days and there will still be loads of food for everyone to take a plate of food home with them.
Somehow, though, we need to work in creme brulee if this is gonna be an ultimate meal.
For some reason this sounds to me like a party version of Lord of the Flies.
Ultimate? So if my stomach's capacity and calories weren't an issue?
Let me see...
Individual sized portions of: hummus & baba ghanoush with fresh baked pita, tabbouleh, fresh and chunky guacamole with salty tortilla chips.
A dinner salad with homemade ranch, like in a nice steakhouse. I am a sucker for ranch dressing like that.
She-crab soup
And speaking of steakhouse, a medium-rare ribeye with a nice crust, served alongside some king crab legs and some yellowtail sashimi. Could we also toss in some saag paneer on the side? Yum.
No dessert, because I'm not a dessert person, but all washed down with some nice chardonnay.
None of it really goes together, but who cares? All of it sounds amazing.
Ultimate? So if my stomach's capacity and calories weren't an issue?
Let me see...
Individual sized portions of: hummus & baba ghanoush with fresh baked pita, tabbouleh, fresh and chunky guacamole with salty tortilla chips.
A dinner salad with homemade ranch, like in a nice steakhouse. I am a sucker for ranch dressing like that.
She-crab soup
And speaking of steakhouse, a medium-rare ribeye with a nice crust, served alongside some king crab legs and some yellowtail sashimi. Could we also toss in some saag paneer on the side? Yum.
No dessert, because I'm not a dessert person, but all washed down with some nice chardonnay.
None of it really goes together, but who cares? All of it sounds amazing.
Surf and Turf (seafood and steak) does go together..and yes, it sounds amazing.
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