Let’s talk about two things that have been on my mind lately: utterly sublime food combinations, and food combinations that seem like they ought to be awesome but just never work out.
Take the famous and inseparable pair, basil and tomato. No discussion needed with that one. It works, whole volumes have been written about why, just do it. To that pantheon of eternal pairings I would add bacon and orange juice. The two are like a study in perfect opposites, greasy-warm-salty-savory against cold-sweet-bitter-citrusy, and somehow it all comes together. I think maybe orange juice negates the main downside of bacon, namely its ‘heavy’ flavor profile. You know, how after a couple pieces the body gets increasingly skeptical about your grease intake. I once had a Chinese dish made up almost entirely of pork belly that I ordered off a section of the menu that apparently was meant for groups to share. It was torture. On the other hand when you alternate bacon and orange juice you can pretty much go on forever (I am not saying this is 100% a good thing).
Now when it comes to combinations that seem like they should work but don’t, I would lead off with bacon and pizza. I love both of those things. Together, something feels terribly wrong. Take what I said above about complementary flavor profiles and reverse it. Why does bacon not work when pepperoni-on-pizza is almost is almost sublime enough to crack the hall of fame list above? I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with pepperoni being spicier and drier. In my personal hall of shame I would also add graham crackers and peanut butter. The toddler loves graham crackers so I am eating graham crackers again. Every time my tongue says to me, Tim F, it says, you know what this needs? Peanut butter. It always feels like peanut butter would make the experience complete. Then I put some peanut butter on a graham cracker and it never, ever works out. The textures are all wrong, it gums up your mouth and the flavors don’t gel like it seems they should.
Do you have any favorite magical pairings? Any least favorite pairings that should work but never do? Talk about it in the comments.
Mustang Bobby
Peanut butter, lettuce, and mayonnaise on whole wheat bread. Works for me very well.
bbleh
Well, coffee and ice cream. (Different from coffee ice cream.)
And dark chocolate and blueberries. (Come to think of it, chocolate with a lot of things…)
redshirt
Jalapeno, pineapple, feta.
Hot, sweet, a bit sour.
Josie
@bbleh: Mmmm. Chocolate, followed immediately by a large glass of cold milk.
Elizabelle
Not as healthy-sounding as grahams with peanut butter, but Nutella on vanilla wafers is decadent.
Also love a few Milk Duds when eating popcorn — makes it like chocolate caramel corn.
Trader Joe’s is now selling a dark chocolate bar with bacon, but I’ve not tried it yet …
mclaren
Pepperoni on pizza tastes much worse than bacon on pizza, IMHO. So opinions will differ here.
Great combos: bacon + chocolate. Oranges + chocolate. Blueberry muffins + ginger ale. Chicken tikka masala + rice pilaf. Pizza + ranch dressing. Fresh strawberries + whipped cream.
dedc79
Grilled cheddar cheese with sliced banana (in the sandwich).
tomthefirst
Skip the graham crackers. Peanut butter on a vanilla long-john donut is the way to go. Good and good for you.
Amir Khalid
Gee, I don’t know. For some reason, I’ve never been a fan of bacon paired with anything.
boatboy_srq
NoVA seems to excel at bad combinations. My three most recent favorites:
1) Jerk chicken lumpia. Absolutely does NOT work.
2) Lobster club (lobster, blue cheese, bacon, lettuce on wheat). Doesn’t matter how good the ingredients are, all the other tastes overwhelm the fish.
3) “Caribbean-inspired ribs.” Sounds like jerk: tastes like insulin-shock. COVERED in sickly-sweet fruit.
Chet
Bacon and jelly is a great combo. (I sense a theme here).
One combo I’ve given up on is mango salsa. It always seems to be better in theory than practice.
shell
@Josie: Ya beat me to it. Whats also nice, a bite of chocolate, then a sip of very hot tea- letting it slowly melt in your mouth.
Ruckus
@dedc79:
You put that in your mouth? Chew and swallow?
NOOOOOOOO.
Tim F.
As you can see some of the combinations are going to be very specific to a few individuals. As in YEA! or No fucking way.
Sandia Blanca
Tim F., try putting some honey on that graham cracker & peanut butter sandwich. That’s a better combination.
One of my favorite flavor combinations is a salad of greens with fresh fruit (apple or pear) or craisins, a good vinaigrette dressing, and caramelized pecans or walnuts. Add a little feta to make it even more heavenly.
TaMara (BHF)
This seems odd, but it works- peanut butter and bacon. On toasted whole grain bread. I wouldn’t choose it over a good old BLT, but it is good.
Belafon
Graham crackers have a flavor to them, but it’s very mild. It’s meant to go with something sweet. Peanut butter is not sweet.
mclaren
@Chet:
I second bacon + jelly. Also jelly + cream cheese sandwiches. Adding pineapple chunks to stir fry and drizzling spicy bangkok peanut sauce on the whole thing also works very well. It’s the contrast twixt the sweetness of the pineapple and the spicy-sourness of the bangkok peanut sauce that makes it great.
MattF
Barley and fried eggs. I thought of it myself, but apparently something-like-that is popular in Korean cuisine. And, of course, adding bacon doesn’t hurt.
smintheus
Fennel and fava beans.
Cukes and kalamata olives.
Peaches and blackberries.
Rosemary and chicken.
Black currant sauce and chocolate cake.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Cream cheese and jam/preserves on water crackers.
zmulls
Bacon on pizza? Maybe not. But bacon *and spinach* on pizza? Yes, please.
I once went to a bar where their signature martini had bleu-cheese-stuffed olives. That was their house drink. It was vile. Bleu cheese just does *not* go with vodka or gin.
Bobby Thomson
Bacon and tomato pizza kicks ass.
DanF
As with your PB and graham crackers, PB and Vanilla Wafers also fails. Vanilla wafers and Nutella? Awesome. PB and Nutella? Awesome. PB, Nutella and Vanilla wafer? Meh. Nutella, banana and Vanilla wafers? Awesome. PB, banana and the wafers? Bleh.
pluky
Ham, melon, and cracked black pepper
SiubhanDuinne
@bbleh:
Oh yes. Chocolate and red wine, chocolate and crystallized ginger, chocolate and chili, and my top favourite unusual pairing, chocolate and wasabi.
narya
I made a salsa this weekend: mango, tomatoes, corn, peaches, basil, finely diced onion, salt, and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Had it over whole wheat pasta with caramelized onions and roasted eggplant cubes, plus had some wild turkey breast. It was amazing. Lots and lots of flavor bits going on there, and they all went together. Can’t wait to try it again with shrimp.
piratedan
following the bacon theme…. peppered bacon, wrapped around a whole water chestnut and toothpicked with a jalapeno slice… broiled or bbq until bacon is cooked to desired crispiness.
JPL
As a child, I loved cream cheese and olive sandwiches. I might have to try that again.
Emma
Grilled cheddar cheese and tomato.
Fig preserves and peanut butter on multi-grain toast.
Mrs. Bridges ginger preserve with malt whisky lightly brushed on salmon before baking.
Chocolate and sea salt.
schrodinger's cat
Combination of finely chopped red onions, cilantro, lime juice and salt as a garnish. Works well with chick peas, pao bhaji, chicken and tortilla soup, potato salad with olive oil, the list is endless.
trollhattan
Will make a pitch for one of my favorite pizzas that, indeed contains delicious bacon. It’s the “Jaqueline” on this menu. Makes a perfect counterpoint to the thin-sliced potato and is used sparingly, which I suspect is key. Pancetta sneaks onto one of my favorites at a different local joint. Both, FWIW are doing the “true” Italian thin crust wood-fired oven thing. For the first time in my pizza-eating life I find the crust more important than the toppings.
BGinCHI
My favorite pairing is probably Gram Parson and Emmylou Harris.
But not to eat.
For that I’m going with Oysters and the flintiest Sancerre you can get.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
bacon on the normal American mozzarella/tomato combo? Doesn’t really appeal to me, but maybe with olive oil and wild mushrooms and some parmesan? on a very thin crust
Since this is kind of a cooking thread… A favorite restaurant of mine (closed, so local rumor had it, when the chef/owner’s FL car dealer father got tired of subsidizing it) used to have bacon-rosemary lamb chops that I would, maybe, crawl across broken glass for, the rosemary was better than the bacon. I’ve never been able to get as much rosemary flavor in meat. Any tips beyond scoring the meat and inserting the leaves? I was thinking I might try to infuse olive oil and brush the meat with that, but I didn’t know if they would interact well.
and speaking of mozzarella (any Italian speakers know if that word means anything? little something?), I have a sealed piece of it in brine that’s about to hit its sell-by date. Can I freeze that?
redshirt
@SiubhanDuinne: For smokers, chocolate and tobacco is oddly delicious. An ancient Mexican treat.
grumpy realist
Zen carrot salad: finely grated carrots, lemon zest, finely chopped parsley, salt and freshly ground pepper, a bit of lemon juice, and a few drops of sesame oil. The sweetness of the carrots counteracts the lemon juice and the sesame oil and the lemon zest play off each other.
Port wine and Stilton. Heavenly. One benefit of living in London for a few years was I pigged out on Stilton…
Botsplainer
High cacao percentage dark chocolate and fiery chilis. The combo is outstanding if your cacao is running above 60%.
Also great – pineapple and chilis.
Other combos – substitute watermelon for tomato in pico de gallo. You can also zip any pico up by adding fresh mint.
I also like ground black pepper and balsamic vinegar with macerated strawberries as a pound cake topper, along with vanilla ice cream.
scav
Huh, I’m not fond of orange juice with anything. For unexpected, I once had blueberries with white fish dip (on a pretzel) that was amazingly good.
jame
Orange juice and graham crackers
Grits, bacon and eggs
Coffee and cheesecake
Hot tea and palmiers
Pretzels covered in dark chocolate
SiubhanDuinne
@redshirt:
I remember that from my own smoking days.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@grumpy realist: I love Moroccan carrot salad, with lemon juice and cumin. I swap out the raisins for pine nuts, because I’m a heretic. I don’t make it much because grating carrots is a PITA. Same goes for raw beets (grated, with goat cheese, kosher salt and a little vinegar)
shinobi42
My favorite frozen custard flavor is Strawberry and Peanut Butter cup. (It has to be like, mix in real strawberries, no strawberry flavored stuff) Something about the tartness of the strawberries and the obvious chocolate pairing, is even more amazing with the occasional hit of peanut butter.
Also, if I’m going to have graham crackers with peanut butter, I would also like there to be a banana. Nom.
Oh and movie popcorn and raisinets!
raven
Shrimp and grits and grilled pimento cheese and collard sammies!
srv
@bbleh: Is it different from an affogato?
Also, too, peanut butter & caviar sandwich. I try to be more pedestrian than Sarah.
Gin & Tonic
I can add one.
the Conster
Peanut butter and pickle sandwiches do it for me – crunchy peanut butter and dill slices. It’s got it all – sweet, crunchy, vinegary, salty, smooth.
Central Planning
At a local make-your-own salad joint, I usually do mixed greens, dried cranberries, kalamata olives, french fried onions, cajun chicken, and some pepper jack cheese. I’ll add a touch of dressing (smoked chipotle) and it turns out quite interesting.
As for others: Tequila, cointreau, lime or Vodka and tonic. I do like a rich red wine with some dark chocolate as well.
dedc79
@Ruckus: Well if you don’t like cheddar or banana on their own, I wouldn’t recommend it. But if you do, try them together. Some people throw PB on there too.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Grilled cheddar with avocado, bacon, caramelized onions and (very lightly added) chipotle mayo. I had that last week.
@Botsplainer: Also, too, are you willing to share what your daughter;s “subtle violation” of the school dress code was? Her response to the scolding was brilliant.
MomSense
Red wine and dark chocolate.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
I like anchovies but hate them on pizza. Seafood and cheese turns me off in general, although I have had dishes where they were paired to good effect.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@grumpy realist: reminds me of an anecdote about Churchill, when a guest refused a glass of port with the cheese course. Churchill bellowed: “But port wine is the brother of cheese!” “Yes, ‘the guest replied, ‘and their sister is gout.”
Greg
Bacon on pizza is awesome.. pepperoni is greasy and disgusting.
shell
Dislike all lobster dishes(Lobster Mac n Cheese, etc…) If your’e lucky enough to have lobster, all you need is melted butter and fresh lemon. Anything else is mucking up pure perfection.
JPL
@shell: A truer statement was never made.
I do think it’s acceptable with leftover lobster, to do an authentic lobster roll.
Jparente
@Sandia Blanca: Honey + Peanutbutter + Spoon = OMG! Yum!
bemused
Dark chocoIate and sea saIt.
AIso, dk chocoIate, carameI and sea saIt.
bystander
Tapioca in beef broth.
Xantar
@Mustang Bobby:
Peanut flavor and fresh vegetable goes really well together, as the Vietnamese have known for a while. One of the classics is a fresh spring roll with peanut dipping sauce. I think it’s the contrast of cool and crisp against rich and salty that does it.
Julia Grey
Sliced fresh tomatoes baked onto the the crust with the bacon, yeah. But not tomato SAUCE.
Bacon and pizza sauce just don’t go together.
I think it might have to do with the spices used in the sauce. Bacon doesn’t have any herbs, per se, for the oregano, etc. in the sauce to blend with. Pepperoni, on the other hand, has at least fennel and/or anise in it. And maybe most important of all, both tomato sauce and pepperoni have GARLIC.
My own strange match: peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches, with a generous dusting of salt and pepper on the mayo side before they’re put together. Peanut butter: sweetish and salty, mayo: salty and tartish. Great combo.
[email protected]
Bologna and whipped cream!
Bologna and whipped cream?
jetkestrel
Sliced banana on thin-crust pizza with mozzarella, fresh-grated parmesan and a spicy tomato sauce. Get the oven hot enough and the banana caramelizes a little — it’s surprisingly delicious.
Dark chocolate with cinnamon and chili is amazing, but not unexpectedly so. Peaches and fresh ginger likewise.
Gin & Tonic
@JPL: leftover lobster
This is an expression which does not compute.
zorak
Something that is surprisingly so much worse then you would imagine is eating butterscotch pudding and drinking orange juice.
Cacti
Thyme and any savory dish.
Thyme, parsley, and basil are my go to herb blend.
lethargytartare
Tim –
what you want on that graham cracker is sweet cream butter, lightly salted is best. Mom used to serve it like that, and just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
sacrablue
Peanut butter and jelly on a burger is a thing around here lately.
Tom Levenson
Stilton and port. Foie gras and sauterne.
I know — sorry. It’s about to restaurant week here, and I’m getting in shape.
MadamZorba
Ham & pineapple on pizza, pork roast and apples, and apple pie with sharp cheddar cheese just don’t sound like they would work, but they do. I also tried an Asian fusion teriyaki fish taco with broccoli slaw that sounded like it should be terrible, but it is awesome. And pumpkin/chipotle spaghetti sauce, just a hint of spiciness gives it a much different flavor than regular marinara sauce.
Paul in KY
@Amir Khalid: Come to the dark side! Try the bacon (buwahahahahaha)!!!
Cacti
Things that don’t work for me:
Anything that advertises itself as both pickled, and sweet.
What makes something pickled is the briny, acidy, heavenly goodness caused by Lactobacillus plantarum doing its thing.
Adding refined sugar to the above is a sacrilege.
greennotGreen
Bananas are native to the eastern hemisphere. Peanuts are native to the western hemisphere. Bananas + peanut butter? Proof of God’s existence.
NotMax
Anchovy-stuffed olives are yummy and not at all fishy. The combination is definitely far greater than the sum of its parts.
Several weeks ago, feeling adventurous, made some wraps of spinach tortillas spread with duck liver paté. Would give that combo a B+.
jl
Liver and peppermint ice cream is an intriguing combination.
I love peppermint ice cream, and would rather eat garden dirt than liver.
But, what if you put them together?
On a bacon and pineapple Hawaiian pizza, with candied watermelon rind?
Edit: or tuck them inside Hawaiian spam sushi? Neaped in some kind of power drink wine sauce?
Edit2: not sure I am using ‘neap’ correctly, but I seen that in food review, so it much mean something fancy, and I am going with it.
mclaren
@greennotGreen:
There, fixed that for ya.
Tom
Agreed about the salty/sweet combo.
When I was a kid, I used to make a quick snack by mixing raisins and salted peanuts into a little bowl.
On a related note, I also like pineapple and ham (or Canadian bacon, preferably) on my pizza.
mai naem mobile
This is from a college friend -A basic granola and apple sauce. Also, apple sauce with not finely crushed graham crackers.
Popcorn and lemon – you have to spinkle a little at a time as you’re eating it otherwise it becomes soggy.
Blackberries and pineapple.
The Brits do this so its not new – malt vinegar and fries but more like country fries not french fries.
Good OJ and good vanilla ice cream
Haven’t done any of this in a while. Almost all are unhealthy.
greennotGreen
@mclaren: Magellan may have circumnavigated the globe, but he did not invent heavenly flavors.
Elizabelle
I’m liking this thread.
NotMax
Have a killer recipe (surprisingly simple) for lamb chops with red currant jelly gravy.
@MadamZorba
Pork becomes a happier experience when paired with fruits. A pork roast cooked with prunes is a household fave.
Cacti
Since moving to the PNW, I’ve been trying my hand at making certain Asian staples using ingredients from the many wonderful Asian groceries in the Puget Sound area.
And I tell you, the Japanese are right. A basic soup stock made from dried kombu seaweed, pork bone, and bonito flakes (dried skipjack tuna) is de-frickin-licious.
greennotGreen
@Tom: I recently had a Papa Murphy’s Thai pizza. That seems to be an unusual combination, but it was delicious! I mention it because it has that combination of sweet and savory.)
frosty in dallas
wheat thins and honey
Jim, Foolish Literalist
So maybe lemon-butter on grilled sweet corn?
@NotMax: I’m looking forward to a day cool enough for pork tenderloin roasted with apples and onions
Betsy
Red wine and fish
Joel
Coriander and lime is a great one.
Kyle
Discovered just Friday night: Sliced peaches with a bit of brown sugar and then sour cream. Amazeballs.
See also, fresh corn and basil.
eyelessgame
Sliced cheddar cheese on ordinary (Ritz or Club) crackers, plus Nissin ramen cup-o-noodles. (Don’t put the crackers in the noodles – eat a topped cracker and a mouthful of noodles.)
Joel
As for bad pizza toppings, pretty much any meat that you wouldn’t find in a salumeria is a poor choice for pizza topping.
Betsy
(just kidding about the red wine and fish)
Seriously: maple syrup and local pork link sausage
buttermilk and cornbread
yogurt and mint
and for a mind-blower: diced eggplant + red peppers + celery + garlic + golden raisins, roasted in a pan, then spatula’ed into a bowl, drizzled with honey and pine nuts, and scooped onto toasted oiled torn bits of baguette. OH!
raven
Aw grubs again, grumble grumble . . .
Abo Gato
Really good vanilla ice cream with really good scotch poured on top, then a grating of dark chocolate or ground espresso beans. And I am not much of an ice cream eater but that is serious shit.
Joel
Also, I’ll plug the awesome korean combination of gochujang (spicy chile paste) and sesame oil. I’ll also endorse the gochujang-mayo sauce that you’ll find at Marination in Seattle, and probably other Korean taco trucks.
Central Planning
@Betsy:
Red wine and anything
Betsy
pretzels and peppermint ice cream.
Pretzels in almost any ice cream.
Central Planning
Balsamic vinegar on vanilla ice cream, or balsamic vinegar on watermelon.
Southern Beale
Magical pairing: Fennel and parmesan cheese. Sounds gross but it works. I have a great recipe for a fennel salad that involves thinly-sliced fennel, lemon juice, fresh parsley and parmesan. The combination is heavenly.
Orange and chocolate is another magical pairing.
Bacon on pizza is just wrong on so many levels. Ditto cheddar cheese. Cheddar cheese has no business being in the same room as a pizza. I ordered my first Papa Murphy’s pizza recently and was shocked to see cheddar cheese in the mix.
Anyone remember when “Hawaiian pizza” was the rage back in the 70s? Ugh. Ham and pineapple on a pizza? Get thee behind me, Satan.
Betsy
thin slices of real genoa salami draped around a syrupy wedge of cantaloupe
scav
@raven: Well, have you tried bacon with your grubs, there seems to be a fan base for bacon with everything. I might go with a squeeze of lime juice and maybe chilies myself, but . . .
Betsy
local pasture raised pork sausage grease, used to wilt any kind of greens, especially rocket (sometimes called “arugula”, although its perfectly good name in English is “rocket”)
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@jl: Napped. Food things are napped in sauces. Neaped was a typo.
NotMax
@raven
Let ’em eat gagh.
;)
Betsy
nutmeg in anything that requires gently cooked eggs, such as mac n cheese made with egg custard base
Stella B
Ripe, late summer melon and prosciutto.
Sharp cheddar cheese and a really good apple (Pink Lady!)
Bitter greens sautéed with garlic and olive oil and served with macaroni and cheese.
Chocolate and mint.
Flourless chocolate cake and port.
Warm, freshly picked tomato with salt.
A really good peach (don’t mess it up with anything else!)
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
Strawberries dipped in sour cream and then dipped again in brown sugar. It is divine!
Betsy
any kind of purplish fruit preserve, such as plum or currant or fig, dabbed on soft pale cheese
mai naem mobile
@Elizabelle: @Jim, Foolish Literalist: nah, grilled sweet corn with salt,cayenne pepper and lemon. In Phoenix,in the Hispanic neighborhoods, you have these hawkers driving around their little carts selling boiled corn on the cob coated with a little mayo and then covered with either parmesan.cheese,hot sauce or cayenne pepper
Messy to eat but good.
Betsy
slab of homegrown tomato with swipe of Duke’s mayonnaise
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Betsy: My mother liked to crumble a piece of cornbread into a glass of buttermilk (the real stuff, not the cultured stuff) and eat it with a spoon. I liked it when I was very little but thought it was disgusting later because of the buttermilk.
Does anyone drink buttermilk any more? The real stuff?
jl
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne): Thank you.
Napped… not neaped.
1970s: from French napper ‘coat with (a sauce)’, from nappe ‘cloth’, figuratively ‘pool of liquid’
OK, I think I got it.
max
Why does bacon not work when pepperoni-on-pizza is almost is almost sublime enough to crack the hall of fame list above? I don’t know.
Because American bacon is American. You want Italian bacon – pancetta. (Or, if it was me, maybe capocolla.)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Since this is kind of a cooking thread… A favorite restaurant of mine (closed, so local rumor had it, when the chef/owner’s FL car dealer father got tired of subsidizing it) used to have bacon-rosemary lamb chops that I would, maybe, crawl across broken glass for, the rosemary was better than the bacon. I’ve never been able to get as much rosemary flavor in meat. Any tips beyond scoring the meat and inserting the leaves?
*In* meat? Scoring and insertion won’t work worth a damn (particularly in a pork chop, which is going to be too thin to score), unless you want it very subtle. If I were grilling the pork chop, and I wanted to infusion, I’d throw rosemary in the fire and essentially hit the pork chop with the smoke. (That smells really good, by the way, as does burning sage and basil and thyme.) If you were baking it, that’s be pretty tough, but lots of chopped up fresh rosemary on both sides would help. If you were frying the pork chop (with bacon? how does that work?), I’d fry it it to close where it needs to be, and then throw in the the rosemary and sear it to the outside of the chop. (Alternatively, you could have lots of juices left over, so you could maybe fry the tarragon (and the bacon) afterwards and make a reduction with some wine and put that over the pork chop.
I was thinking I might try to infuse olive oil and brush the meat with that, but I didn’t know if they would interact well.
Infusion is nice if you can taste the oil (poured onto bread!), but the frying process would tend to obliterate the rosemary flavor.
and speaking of mozzarella (any Italian speakers know if that word means anything? little something?), I have a sealed piece of it in brine that’s about to hit its sell-by date. Can I freeze that?
Freezing cheese? Bad idea. In brine though, it should still be good for a few days (says the man who has neglected mozzarella for a few weeks), but it gets stickier over time.
max
[‘Tarragon and cream and chicken, people. Or just tarragon and chicken.’]
MCA1
Some basic, perhaps too obvious, combos not getting enough mention here:
– eggs and bacon
– peanut butter and jelly
– ham and parm
– pretzel and salt
– corn and butter
– fries and salt
– pizza and beer
Some personal faves:
– coffee and salt bagel
– boiled potatoes and dill
– mushrooms and thyme
– ham and mustard
– pork shoulder and vinegar (in Eastern Carolina style sauce)
I don’t understand Tim’s objection to peanut butter on graham crackers, which I’ve loved since childhood. I also think bacon on pizza’s pretty good, and on rare occasion even order it.
Cacti
Another fav of mine that I discovered living in Brazil:
Freshly pressed sugar cane juice with freshly pressed pineapple juice.
Sublime.
Don’t drink too often if you want to have teeth left though.
jl
Know your future diet… today!
What goes well with halophytes?
As seas rise, saltwater plants offer hope farms will survive
http://news.yahoo.com/seas-rise-saltwater-plants-offer-hope-farms-survive-044050392.html
NotMax
Chocolate-covered mingobat?
:)
boatboy_srq
@Gin & Tonic: I think it’s a thing at Chez Shrub in K’port.
Betsy
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne): Well, I do. Great snack on a hot day, really hits the spot. Protein stays with you. Lean, too.
scav
@jl: Neets napped neatly need no napkin.
Betsy
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne): Some people call crumbled cornbread in a tall glass of buttermilk a “Tennessee Milkshake.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@max: thanks…. rosemary smoke…. sounds like something I have to try. Soon.
Betsy
@Stella B: with you!!
[email protected]
Chocolate chip cookies and good beer… I don’t know why.
John Revolta
Walnuts and raisins is/are my go-to snack lately. Add chocolate if ya wanna get kinky.
Also, avocado and bacon rocks . Squeeze a little lemon juice on the avocado & maybe some sea salt.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Betsy: I don’t know where to buy the stuff these days. Maybe Whole Foods has it, but the markets near me only carry the cultured buttermilk, which is nothing like the real stuff but very good for certain baked goods and sauces.
JohnnyHitNRunPraline
Shrimp and avocado, too, as long as we’re talking about avocados.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Betsy: Mom was from Macks Creek, MO, in the Ozarks. I don’t remember what she called it.
Gin & Tonic
@max: Any tips beyond scoring the meat and inserting the leaves?
Sous vide?
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
We were served an appetizer once, made of chopped tomato and watermelon and cucumber, sprinkled lightly with sea salt and thyme, and something kind of ferny like fennel. It was surprisingly good
KG
Simmzy’s in Long Beach (there’s three other stores in Manhattan Beach, Burbank, and Venice but I don’t know if the menus are the same) has a bacon date pizza – mascarpone date mix, mozzarella, nueske’s bacon, sage, balsamic syrup – probably the best pizza I’ve ever had. I also used to work in a pizza place while in college, we had a few pies that we put bacon on but most did not involve marinara sauce, which might be the ultimate issue.
also, i love peanut butter and honey sandwiches.
The Other Chuck
Beer and more beer.
WereBear
Steak and guacamole.
trollhattan
@The Other Chuck:
Beer and life.
Amir Khalid
Completely off topic: John Lithgow is attending Liverpool FC’s first home match of the season. He’s a Liverpool fan like me. Pool have overcome a shaky start and a dubiously disallowed goal by visitors Bournemouth, and lead 1-0.
Amir Khalid
Belacan and anything.
jl
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
” Does anyone drink buttermilk any more? The real stuff? ”
By ‘real’, you mean from liquid left over after letting whole milk separate naturally, rather than using separator?
Why, yes I have had that. It is good.
On AK farm, we would culture that as well, and let it ferment in a bowl in the pantry. That is also good. Not has heavy as commercial buttermilk. The way we made it, it was not as sour and had a richer flavor.
But you can let whole milk sour just a little first, and make butter from that, and call what is left over buttermilk too. Which is also good.
Edit: and so many good ideas here, I am bookmarking this thread for later.
jl
@Amir Khalid: You need to be careful with that stuff.
Gravenstone
@Mustang Bobby: See, I got yelled at when I mentioned this some weeks ago. Granted, it was 1)Miracle Whip and 2) white bread as a blast of youthful nostalgia. But yes, the combo works overall.
As for combos that don’t work (and frankly in retrospect, aside from my cast iron teen stomach I have no clue what lead me to even attempt it), beer and milk chocolate. Bleeeech
trollhattan
@jl:
Took a big ol’ swig of buttermilk once, mistaking it for actual non-lethal milk, and was so appalled I’ve never again tried. Fine for baking and such, but on its own a vile joke. See also: kombucha–a substance never to be approached as an iced tea substitute. Or approached at all.
Ninedragonspot
Roasted beets, tossed with sesame paste, chili sesame oil and a pinch of salt. I like the combination of flavors, but have yet to get the balance so that is it an easy sell to other people.
Elizabelle
@NotMax: Mingobat!
Enjoyed a delish appetizer last month: fried green tomatoes, crispy in panko crumb coating, with a hot pepper jelly remoulade.
Have been craving it ever since. Could eat it weekly.
Gin & Tonic
Food thread, I know, but food-related, and I know this place has many who appreciate a pun. The Economist’s headline on an article about Russia destroying imported food products: “The bonfire of the vans of cheese.”
Elliott
@TaMara (BHF):
Also peanut butter and baloney. Spread it on, roll it up, mMmm. Also a good toddler food or appetizer when cut into bite size pieces.
jl
@trollhattan: They way we made ‘real’ buttermilk on the farm, it was mellower than what you buy in the store. More like a sourdough-y taste that store bought.
The butter from the soured milk was not good as a cold spread, too strong. But it was heavenly spread on whole wheat pancakes with real maple or birch bark syrup. And it was great in baking. It had an odd strong flavor that worked great up against other strong flavors, but too strong spread on cold bread.
The butter from naturally separated milk was more like ‘cultured’ butter you can buy in fancy schmanzy stores.
Pappy G
Hot dogs and cream cheese (big in Seattle)
Honey Greek yogurt and olive oil
Richard Mayhew
My classic is a chocolate iced cake donut and peanut butter as a childhood memory — I go all Ratatouille food critic on that one.
JPL
@Elizabelle: There’s a local restaurant that serves fried green tomatoes with bacon, lettuce a remoulade sauce that’s pretty tasty.
boatboy_srq
@Gin & Tonic: that’s a very gouda headline
jl
A fancy ice cream place had olive oil ice cream a few weeks ago. I tried some. It was too sweet, I think would have been better with less sugar.
Pete Mack
Fresh ginger, peanuts and fish sauce.
jl
@Gin & Tonic: A pun worthy of that writer. (take that as you will)
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@trollhattan: When I was little (about 4) I asked my uncle for a glass of milk and he poured something into a glass, which I picked up and took a big swig of, and nearly gagged. Buttermilk, when you’re not expecting it is a terrible thing. He said that glass was for him, and he was about to pour mine. I am convinced he did it on purpose.
burnspbesq
@MadamZorba:
Sacrilege. Causus belli.
If i ever fall off the veggie wagon, it will probably be a chorizo and scrambled egg burrito that proves my undoing. Or chunks of canteloupe wrapped in prosciutto.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@jl: There used to be a Greek restaurant in Seattle that made baklava ice cream. I never got to sample it because one of the times I was there they were out of it and the second time they had made rosemary ice cream, which was too much like medicine.
Amir Khalid
@burnspbesq:
As I’ve noted before, pineapple does surprisingly well in spicy gravy.
Ruckus
@dedc79:
It’s the combo. Just not appealing, at all.
But that’s why the second part of the comment. I like that people like different things to eat. Makes life more interesting. And yes I’ve tried a lot of different things, I make up recipes and have been pretty successful at it. Came up with an eggplant/ground beef/several types of cheese combo that was easy and excellent, among many others.
Ugh
@the Conster: Peanut butter and pickles, hell yeah!
burnspbesq
When i was growing up, the ice cream joint in my home town (van Dyk’s on Ackerman Ave. in Ridgewood, NJ) had a rotating menu of fruit-flavored ice creams over the course of the summer (yes, i am old enough to remember when food supply chains were such that you couldn’t get everything all year round). The best ice cream cone in the history of the universe is one scoop of black raspberry and one scoop of canteloupe.
Amir Khalid
@Gin & Tonic:
I like to say:
Joke is only for laugh. But pun is a far nobler thing: pun is for cringe!
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@burnspbesq: Don’t have to be all that old to remember that. TCBY did that in the 80s, which really annoyed people when they had been served a sample of a flavor at some event and took the trouble to come into the store to buy it, only to discover that it had been rotated out a few days after their tasting event.
Ruckus
OK we are going for snacks
Wasa multi grain flat bread, butter/peanut butter and sliced gouda. I going to get one right now.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Amir Khalid: That was completely cringeworthy.
FortGeek
An ice-cold Coke and vanilla ice cream…and now I’m craving it.
trollhattan
Combos that surprise me (in a good way)
Cucumber slices in icewater.
Orange sauce on grilled scallops.
Jicama as a palate-cleanser for wine tasting.
The salted-caramel craze.
The pepper-chocolate craze.
Fish sauce in non-seafood dishes.
Mesquite-smoked nearly everything.
FortGeek
Can’t believe I didn’t think of this first instead of ice cream: in Tallahassee, FL there’s a little chain restaurant that serves sandwiches called TBCC or RBCC–either turkey breast or roast beef on a reuben bun with cream cheese and provolone. It’s toasted briefly–just long enough to melt the cheese and add a little crunch to the bun.
Served “au jus” with potato salad.
Screw the ice cream, now I wanna make a little road trip. It’s only 200 miles.
Botsplainer
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
Neckline too scooped and low.
John Revolta
@burnspbesq: When I was a tyke the local Carvel used to have two flavors: vanilla and another one which changed daily. I would usually go for the vanilla unless they had pistachio, which was weird but good. I wish I could have some RIGHT NOW.
J R in WV
@Kyle:
Alright, the family will think it is heresy to share this, but here’s my Grandma’s recipe for Peach Kuchen. It’s from the PennsyDutch side of the family, descended from GErman Hessian troopers who deserted from King George’s army back in the late 1700s.
Crust is 2 sifted cups of flour, 1/4 tsp of baking powder, 2 Tbsps of sugar, and a shake or two of cinnamon, half pound of cold hard butter. Cut the butter into the sifted flour mix until it seems sandy in consistency, and press it into a 9 inch baking pan. I always use a pyrex glass dish.
Halve 6 peaches, and lay the 12 pieces cut side up into the crust. I usually have a coupld of halves to slice for the little holes between the big halves. Sprinkle a cup of sugar minus 2 Tbsps (you used that in the crust) plus 2 tsps of cinnamon over the peaches, and bake for 15 minutes (or so) in a 400 degree oven.
While that’s happening, mix a cup of sour cream with 2 or 3 egg yolks. I usually add a little sugar and cinnamon to this part. When you take the dish out of the oven after 15 minutes, you may optionally drizzle some brandy over the peaches. Calvados is what I used last night, that’s apple brandy.
Pour the sour cream mix over the peaches filling up all the little crevices and such. Bake for 30 minutes more in a 350 degree oven. Let cool before you dig in. This is the best fate for a fresh peach ever. I peel the peaches as I cut them in half but YMMV.
Let me know if you try this. It is GOOOD!
Oh yes, sometimes if I don’t do the brandy thing, I’ll squeeze a lemon half onto the peaches. It cuts the sweet a little.
Shame it doesn’t work with canned peaches. I haven’t tried it with frozen peaches, that might work, but I think they would be too soft. If you try it. let me know.
I still have the recipe card my Grandma made for us when we got married with this recipe on it. She was such a sweet Grandma for us kids, and making this dish, I remember her working in her little farmhouse kitchen like it was yesterday.
p.a.
In Italian markets in the Northeast you can find hot cherry peppers stuffed w provolone and prosciutto, usually in an olive oil/vinegar brine. Yum.
Try honey drizzled on ginger ice cream.
Bloody Mary with a base of approx. 50/50 V8 & Clamato.
Betsy
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne): Is there some reason you avoid cultured buttermilk? It is buttermilk is nearly the same, I believe; in fact I don’t think you can *get* buttermilk without culturing it, one way or another, either by letting bacteria do their thing or by adding bacteria back to pasteurized milk.
The “original” buttermilk that came out of the churn after the butter was taken out was significantly cultured through the churning process by the naturally occurring bacteria. Now you can’t sell that because it’s raw milk (and does carry meaningful health risks*) .
I do think some brands of buttermilk are far better than others. Every so often our local pasture-usin’ dairies have a batch and there is hardly a comparison.
* (pace, raw people, I don’t want to start that)
trollhattan
Espresso drizzled over vanilla bean gelato.
Gin & Tonic
@FortGeek: turkey breast or roast beef on a reuben bun
There is no such thing as a reuben bun. A Reuben sandwich is made with rye bread, preferably dark rye.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
only thing I don’t like about that craze is that too often the only salt is in the description.
grumpy realist
@Cacti: I’ve gotten into the habit of simmering for an hour any pork that I want to turn into spareribs, buta kaku-ni, or Shanghai ham, then freezing the broth. Makes great soup stock to work off of.
And I love throwing in sheets of nori or dried hijiki into stews.
One stew we tried making back in college with a crock pot which really didn’t work out: canned tomatoes, saurkraut, and beef. DO NOT TRY THIS.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
A combo I really like is dill and chives in eggs. Also good on potatoes.
jl
@Betsy: I think you are correct, all buttermilk is cultured with some kind of bacteria and fermented. Except for ‘natural buttermilk’ it is not the churning, it is fact that if you leave the milk standing long enough to separate out enough of the creamy part to make it into butter, that is long enough to start fermentation.
My guess, from what we did out in the boondocks in AK, is that a wider variety of lactose producing bacteria get into the milk with ‘natural’ and you have some control over how long to let it ferment. When we made butter, the standing rule was the more fermentation (and usually this meant the more sour or strong the butter and buttermilk would be) the easier to churn.
So, you let milk stand for awhile, then make the butter, and put the rest into a bowl, cover with a cheesecloth, put it in the pantry and then check it periodically until it ‘how you like it’, you get a milder brew that is more to your taste. And probably yeasts got in the brew too, and I’ve always figured that was where the sourdough-y taste came from in the home made version.
The Golux
@mclaren:
There’s a place in Middletown CT called Krust which makes exceptional pizza. My favorite is the Sunny Side (or its occasional sibling, Huevos Rancheros), which features prosciutto and, you guessed it, sunny side up eggs. Astonishingly good. (For the uninitiated, prosciutto is Italian bacon, not nearly as greasy as American bacon.)
My only quibble is I’d like a little more black on the crust, like Pepe’s. I suppose I could ask.
Hannibal
strawberries and ham, it’s my favorite combination of food
The Golux
As for food combinations that go together, I submit: dark chocolate and single malt scotch. (OK, I’m not sure that single malt scotch qualifies as “food”.)
maurinsky
Watermelon and feta
Garlic and lime
Thick cut potato chips and tuna
In this thread, I must take the apparently heretical position that peanut butter only goes with chocolate, bananas, jam or apples, but I admit I do not have a sophisticated palate.
I do like creme freche on chocolate pudding.
Josie
@J R in WV: This sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
glaukopis
peanut butter and sweet pickle sandwiches was a childhood favorite
oatmeal with ginger syrup
fresh corn tortillas heated dry, with unsalted butter
Aunt Kathy
chocolate and peanut butter together, always, especially in ice cream.
And just made these over the weekend, and they were awesome. Blueberry-basil donuts. The fresh basil is minced & put in the glaze. http://www.gardenbetty.com/2013/08/baked-blueberry-basil-donuts/
p.a.
@The Golux:oopsie
prosciutto= Italian ham , cold cured not cooked. (There is a cooked prosciutto, p. cotto which is less expensive and tastes wonderfully of rosemary.)
Pancetta is Italian bacon, salt cured belly not smoked like American bacon. Not eaten raw in my experience.
wesindc
We have a chain of falafel shops called Amsterdam falafel in the DC area. One combo that everyone gasps at is falafel, roasted red beets and hummus. It sounds really weird but works really well for some reason.
James E Powell
For most of my life one of my favorite combos was Marlboros and strong black coffee. I quit cigarettes two years ago, but everyone once in a while I dream about smoking and drinking coffee.
Other combos:
Quality pretzels & brown mustard, preferably Authentic Stadium Mustard
Tuna fish salad mixed to the consistency of a dip & Fritos
wesindc
Another Dutch related favorite. Real fries (twice fried of course) with spicy peanut sauce or mayo and onion. YUM!
wesindc
Toast, real Irish butter, vegamite/marmite and orange marmalade. That’ll wake you up in the morning!
Sandia Blanca
@Jparente:
Right you are!
FortGeek
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne): I haven’t had the real stuff in ages. My mother, grandmother, and both aunts all had churns and made their own buttermilk and butter well into the ’80s.
I don’t know that I’d _really_ cut someone for hot, fresh cornbread in buttermilk, but I’d say I would just to get some.
Dr. Dave
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
…accompanied by a really nice champagne–truly amazing! (I used to have some friends who lived from paycheck to paycheck but would splurge on this right after payday–good times.)
tybee
decades ago, when i smoked cigarettes, eating a dozen or so oysters made the cigarette taste very sweet.
a patty of hot pork sausage with grape jelly in a warm homemade buttermilk biscuit is damn good eats.
FortGeek
@Gin & Tonic:
I misremembered, I think; my bread-fu is weak. They have it as a French sub roll.
howard
Surf & Turf. Does not work. It’s a result of shallow gastronomical logic: If A is awesome and B is awesome then A+B must be SuperPlus Awesome!
Bitter Scribe
Bailey’s in coffee. Or on strawberries.
Josie
@James E Powell: I quit smoking thirty years ago, and I still remember the flavor of a Marlboro with a good cup of coffee. That was the hardest part of the habit to break – the cigs plus coffee in the morning.
Another_Bob
Pan-fried potatoes with chorizo sausage. Potatoes au gratin with gruyere cheese. Beef and red wine, either together in the same dish or with the wine in a glass on the side.
Debbie
Lime curd on a graham cracker. Low rent version is to add a blob of RediWhip.
Betsy
@jl: that all sounds perfectly delicious! .. I imagine the churn or cooling pan for the milk builds up a population of the just-right bacteria over time that inoculates each new batch, perhaps (?) ..
.. love cultured butter, or cultured any dairy product.
Saw a sign in a country store in Vermont once: “Support bacteria / It’s the only culture some people have”
Betsy
Dry shreds of salty real Smithfield ham sprinkled over a bowl of peanut soup
DAMN I love this thread
Betsy
Corn and dairy, in various combos, such as:
Spoon bread
Ears of New York State sweet corn with butter
Buttermilk and cornbread, as noted above :)
Cream of corn soup, with corn kernels sliced onto the hot milk and butter of it
Polenta with parmesan grated over it
Fritos dipped in sour cream!!
Betsy
Everyone on here has contributed something delicious-sounding, or at a minimum unexpected and promising! People are wonderful.
Food + people = civilization, happiness, mother love
Malovich
Bacon and onions, fried
Bacon and maple syrup – candy bacon!
Betsy
On the oher side, though, the local Weird Popsicle Store once featured an avocado paleta among its weekly rotation. I took a wild leap.
Blaeh! It tasted like frozen hand lotion.
Better stick with the Chocolate Pink Peppercorn next time.
pb
@redshirt:Yumm & very interesting! what do you do with them? I stuffed a bunch in the blender & am trying to figure out what kind of cracker is best.
weavrmom
Ripe strawberries dipped in sour cream, then in powdered sugar. Explodes with sweetness and an amazing rich taste.
pb
@Betsy: Or, all together and baked! corn+milk simmered, add polenta to thicken + Serrano chile + cheese. Top with cheese or butter, bake 25 min. Very fall-ish dish.
weavrmom
Further thoughts: agree with the vote for Gochujang above; I keep a sauce of Gochujang mixed with rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, and some fresh grated garlic mixed in the fridge. It’s good on nearly anything. Mix it into a bowl of reheated rice, some veggie and meat, and it’s instant heaven, bibimbop style. Chopped green onions on the top if I’m not lazy.
In the heat, keep thinking of my fav salad dressing: plain hummus mixed with chunky salsa, half and half. No idea how I came up with that idea, but it is fantastic and healthy! Great on shredded romaine, with cold shrimp and hard boiled egg, etc etc.
tom
Grilled cheese (a mild cheddar) and grape jam. Don’t knock ’till you try it.