What are you favorite flavor combinations?

[Lucinda]

Some of my favorites make their way into a vartiety of dishes.

Feta, Spinach, & Black olive (also good with mushroom and ham)
- Ends up as pizza topping with olive oil and garlic instead of sauce
- Makes great ravioli and egg roll filling
- Tops salads
- burritos

Egg, dill, and Asiago
- Omelettes
- Deviled eggs
- On spinach salads
- eggroll filling
- breakfast burrito filling

I just discovered cranberry with fresh shaved parmesan and sunflower. Love them together in salads. (currently using dried cranberries)

Do you have any favorites?

[Tab]

1. Hmmm....

I'll have to think a bit. Right now I really should be doing my taxes.

I will say that, flavors aside, I like contrasts - hot temp elements paired with cold elements, spicy with cool, etc.

One example, that I'm just remembering now, was that I occasionally made what I called "Spice Cream". I always thought it could be marketed, but I don't do industrial food production and don't have the resources to start it up, so maybe I'll run it by Ben & Jerry's (my sister-in-law used to have a high management position there and now consults for them). Anyway, what it was was homemade strawberry ice cream, but I mixed in crushed red peppers. So it was a contrast of high targeted spice (red peppers, obviously) and a pairing flavor (strawberries) in a cooling element (ice cream). I thought it was great. Unfortunately, I'm lactose intolerant, so I paid the price for eating it, but damn, it was good.

I'll try to contribute more later, but if I don't get my taxes done, I may not live to contribute more, so off I go...

[Lucinda]

2. I did mine last week so I have ample time to ponder the mysteries of flavor.

Heat + strawberries + creamy is very intriguing. I like sweet heat as a rule, so this one appeals to me. :)

[NMDemDist2]

3. apples and sharp cheddar

chocolate and cherry

orange and vanilla

spinach and raspberry

so many more.....

[Lucinda]

31. Yep. I love all those too. Spinach and raspberry is relatively new for me.

It's amazingly good.

[troubleinwinter]

37. Apples

Tangerine LaBamba, in post #20, mentions salt on fruits: "Sweet and salty - like salt on watermelon or cantaloupe."

I also like salt on a sliced fresh green apple.

[sazemisery]

4. chocolate & potato chips

:evilgrin:








:hide:

[hippywife]

5. That is one of my very favorites!

I think we were separated at birth! LOL

[The empressof all]

7. Well add me to that womb....

My very favorite is chocolate chocolate chip ice cream with the sour cream and onion chips (without the ridges) Cherry Vanilla with barbecue chips was my favorite when I was pregnant with my kid.

[hippywife]

9. Okay...

I don't go quite that far! LOL I have to have plain, very salty chips with chocolate. Altho my sister will do Fritos and chocolate pudding when she's PMSing. :D

[Lucinda]

30. Why ya hiding? Sounds good!

:hi:

[hippywife]

6. My ultimate, number one favorite is

that one that you get when you order General Tso's or Sesame chicken in a chinese restaurant. Is that the sensation that would be termed umami?

Other than that there's salty potato chips or pretzels with chocolate.

[Tab]

8. Not as much, but it depends on your restaurant

MSG will give you umami, but many restaurants avoid MSG just because of the (misplaced, in my opinion) mistrust of MSG.

You're more likely to find really true examples of umami in Japanese food, particularly sushi. It's addictive stuff.

FWIW, it's really hard to find a good chinese restaurant often. There are so many lousy ones. I have a great one about half an hour from here, but most of the ones are invariably sodium and oil-laden foods, and if you eat at a good one the different is immediately obvious. I'm not commenting on yours, I have no idea what's in your area, but in my experience only about 2% of the restaurants are really good. That's different, of course, if you live in a high-Chinese population area (like San Francisco) but for us out in the sticks it's like finding a speck of salt in a bowl of rice. Um, that's probably not the best analogy, but you know what I mean.

[hippywife]

10. Then I doubt that

I get the real thing coz Tulsa has shit for any kind of restaurants. But I do love the flavor of those sauces. The sweet with the intensely salty. It's one of the few times I will throw caution to the wind and actually eat chicken in a restaurant.

[Tab]

12. My favorite Chinese preparation

(and there's lots of taste-alike stuff like "dragon and phoenix" and "three happy" or whatever) is - and I've only found a few restaurants that do this right - is a salty (and touch of pepper) calamari and/or shrimp. If you find the right restaurant that can do this properly, it's delicious. So many places overcook calimari (easy to do) or just bread it, overcook it, and then serve it with marinara sauce, but the right salty + (maybe) pepper calimari is just to die for.

Unfortunately, our local delivery place is just one of those high-sodium and bad fried rice and oily lo-mein places, but that's all we have unless we want to travel.

[hippywife]

14. Oh, yes!

Definitely with a little heat to it. I used to get a great chicken dish at my favorite Thai restaurant when I lived in Columbus that had all of that.

Believe it or not, and I'm ashamed to admit this as an Italian, but I have never tried calamari. I've served it in restaurants before but never eaten it myself. I think that's because in order to screw up my courage to try something I've never tried before, I have to have a glass of wine or two and we quit drinking anything alcoholic when we got married. So there ya go. No courage without whetting my appetite with a little vino first.

Oh, and I would never consider even trying sushi. What the sushi industry has done to the blue fin tuna is a shame and a sin against nature. Even if I loved it, I would stop eating it based on all the research I've read recently. :cry:

[wryter2000]

54. I got my dh hooked on squid

Shaken in flour and briefly deep fried. When we met, he wanted lobster on his birthday. After I made fried squid for him, he wanted that, instead.

It's very messy and a challenge to get it cook right without over cooking.

[Lucinda]

29. I don't get sesame chicken often but I love General Tso's.

It's my entree of choice if the restaurant doesn't have a buffet.
I keep trying recipes, but I haven't come up with a great one yet.
Sweet heat, with that chewy, crunchy, silky texture rocks.

[The empressof all]

38. If you have access to a Trader Joes

Their bottled General Tso's sauce is really very good. If you fry up cubes of chicken using a 3 to 1 mix of flour to corn starch (salt and pepper of course) to coat the chicken you'll get very crunchy chicken that will stand up to the sauce. I add an extra chili cause I like it hot. It's actually fairly passable and better than some take out.

Trader Joes also makes a frozen Mandarin Orange Chicken which is General like. I think it's a little on the sweet side but in a pinch it's quick and easy so I usually have some in the freezer for the SO.

[Lucinda]

43. Thanks for the info! I don't. have one anywhere near me... Do you know the brand name?

I may be able to find a source online.

[sazemisery]

40. Nutella and pretzels

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[hippywife]

41. Glad to see you made it

through the storm last night okay. The news is saying anywhere from 8 to 15 people killed in OK. So unusual for anyone to be killed here with all the early warning we get but I haven't seen any details yet.

Off to get ready for work! Have a good one! :hi:

[Tesha]

11. Even when I have to wrap up in blankets...

to get warm enough...


my all-time super-duper make me smile every time favorite is

cold, creamy, minty, chocolaty...

-----Thin Mint Ice Cream----- by the Girl Scouts and Edys

oh, yum!

[Lucinda]

28. I used to have a BIG thing for mint chocolate chip.

I haven't had ice cream in a long time. I love chocolate and mint together.

[cbayer]

13. foie gras and sauterne

To me, that is heaven on earth.

:hi:

[Lucinda]

27. Another paring that i've never had!

My palate needs to get out more. :)

[AwakeAtLast]

15. Lemon, garlic & dill for grilling chicken

New potatoes, onions and parsley

If I think of any more, I'll post again!

:hi:

[Lucinda]

21. I've neverused dill with chicken. Sounds good! I have done

lemon, garlic, and a tough of sesame oil, many times with grilled chicken. I'll have to give the dill a try!

[AwakeAtLast]

65. It's an old Farm & Ranch recipe

1 lb. chicken breast
1/4 cup butter (yes, butter!)
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 t. onion powder
2 gloves crushed garlic (this is my addition to the original recipe)
1 t. dill weed
juice of two lemons

Combine all marinade ingredients, reserve 1/4 cup, marinate chicken for 30 minutes-2 hours, turning a couple of times.

Grill as normal, basting with reserve.

My husband and daughter ask for this a lot. They love it! :9

:hi:

[Lucinda]

69. Thank you!

I'm going to add this to my list of things to try!

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

16. Mashed potatoes & peas.

[Lucinda]

26. I really love peas. I should have them more often.

I had them a lot in veggie burritos when I was in college.

[htuttle]

17. Dark chocolate + cayenne + orange

I was trying to think of more, but I can't top that one.

[Lucinda]

25. I like dark chocolate and orange but I've never tried adding cayenne.

I think I'll give it a go next time I make truffles.

[catnhatnh]

18. Not flavors so much ...

but the combination of the spicy meat filling from a jamaican patty and ice cold beer....

[Lucinda]

24. That sounds really good right now!

[troubleinwinter]

19. Spinach and nutmeg

Likely combined with one or more of: garlic, egg, parmasan, ricotta.

If I had to live the rest of my life on only two foods: Sour Dough French bread with liver pate.

[Lucinda]

23. I'll have to try the nutmeg. I eat a LOT of spinach and never combined the two.

I'm glad you mentioned it. Something new to try!

[troubleinwinter]

32. It's common in northern Italian and Swiss cooking.

My family is Swiss, so there is much blending of northern Italian, French and German dishes. If I make a quiche with spinach, there's gonna be nutmeg!

[Lucinda]

34. I can't wait to see what happens. I 'm always looking for things to do with spinach

I didn't eat any lettuce for years, so spinach was my salad base. I use Greek flavors with it a lot. I think it's time to branch out! :)

[troubleinwinter]

36. I have not been much interested in lettuce

or typical 'salad', prefering vegetables. But spinach is one of my deep, true loves, either fresh or cooked.

I did make gnudi the other day. Gnocci-like dumplings of spinach, ricotta, parmasan, eggs, nutmeg, garlic... served with a bit of melted butter and a shredding of parm. Yowza!!!!

[Lucinda]

42. That sounds great. Do you have a recipe?

I'd love to try it.

[troubleinwinter]

45. Sure. It's easy.

Gnudi means "nude". They are supposedly based on the idea that they are ravioli without clothes!

1 cup whole milk ricotta
1 bag (1 lb.) frozen chopped spinach (thawed and sqeezed dry)
2 eggs whole
2 egg yolks
1 cup parmasan
5 Tbs flour (a slightly rounded 1/8 cup is what I use)
Garlic
Nutmeg

Just mix it up together (my new Danish whisk was great for this!!).

I also love a micro plane grater for the garlic, and I have a micro just especially for whole nutmeg, which makes the fresh nutmeg very fine. I use lots of both in the recipe, because I like it!

Roll into small balls with floured hands, about 1", flatten to about 1/2" X 1-1/2" discs, make a slight dimple in the center with your thumb (helps even cooking) and place on a lightly floured cookie sheet. Best to let them rest and dry out an hour or so... also the longer they rest, the more they hold together.

Cook them in simmering water, several at a time. When they float (a couple of minutes), let them continue for a minute or so, then turn them for another minute or two. Lift out with a slotted spoon. Drizzle with melted butter (or olive oil) and parmasan.

I freeze some before boiling (on a cookie sheet, then in zip locks).

There is no salt in the recipe, as the parm seems to have enough.

They are very soft and delicate, so be gentle with the boiling.

This made about 50 or 60. About 5-6 large servings. Maybe 8 as a side dish.

[Lucinda]

46. Thank you! I plan on trying these soon.

:hi:

[troubleinwinter]

56. Another way for simple spinach and nutmeg

Just saute some spinach & garlic in olive oil & give it a dash of nutmeg. Very Swiss!

[Lucinda]

59. I dont think i've ever seen nutmeg locally.

Will have to find a web source. Will give it a try in the sautee too. :)

[troubleinwinter]

67. One USED to be able to buy it at the ordinary grocery store.

They keep removing products from the shelves to make room for another thousand variations of sodas and pink & blue cereals!

Remember I tried a week or so ago to get rye flour and caraway seeds. No rye flour, but 127 varieties of "Super Deluxe Double Caramel Macadamia Nut Chewy Fudgey Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix". No caraway seeds, but a hundred varieties of Emeril & Rachel & Auntie Bunny's & Ol' Uncle Boda's "spice mixes".

Whole nutmeg is CHEAP. Never get a "nutmeg grater" with the rough points. Just an extra fine or fine (what I use for garlic & zesting) micro plane that most of us have is great.

This dozen nuts (2 oz.) at $2.99 would last ME three years, and I use it a lot. On winter squashes, chicken, as well as spinach dishes. Of course, people use it in pumpkin pie, ginger/molasses cookies & so on, but I don't make many sweets.

http://www.fantes.com/nutmeg.html

[Lucinda]

71. Excellent! Thank you for the link.

We live in a tourist town and the only grocery store in the city caters to the "cook it quick or grill it" crowd who stay in the rental cabins. We have to drive to get much of a selection.

:hi: Thankie mucho!

[wryter2000]

64. Sounds really great

I've seen Lidia make those. I need to try them.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

20. Mouth wide open,

fill it with potato chips and pretzels. Chomp down. Chew.

The two together create a whole new taste. I love it.

Sweet and salty - like salt on watermelon or cantaloupe.

Crispy hot and tangy and sweet - that would be lots of raw onions and horseradish mustard with sweet pickle relish on a hot dog.

YES, I'M STILL CARRYING ON ABOUT HOT DOGS!!!!! WANNA MAKE SOMETHING OF IT??????



And then there's smoky with sweet - carmelized onions simmered with smoked paprika.

The sundae I grew up with, called a CMP - a scoop of vanilla ice cream, topped with dark chocolate syrup, then a layer of marshmallow, topped with whipped cream, and crushed SALTED peanuts and a cherry. The SALTED peanuts make all the difference in the world. My childhood friends and I still make these when we get together.

Finally, there is the wonderful mouth feel (umami?) of very ripe tomatoes still warm from the garden, thickly sliced and then salted and peppered, on Wonder Bread spread with Hellman's mayonnaise.

[Lucinda]

22. Count me in on the fresh tomato with mayo sandwiches! One of my faves.

I'll do shredded cheddar some times with chips or pretzels.
And melons MUST be salted. LOL

[troubleinwinter]

35. A co-worker introduced me to tomato sandwiches

(on french bread with mayo), and I've never been the same since! OMG!!!! I thought it souded silly, was I ever wrong (if ya can get ahold of genuine tomatoes).

I make a version of "BLT" that I'm absolutely sure I learned on this forum a few years ago.

Sour Dough Bread (toasted or not)
Bacon
Tomatoes
Whole Fresh Basil Leaves
(Optional) A Sprinkle of Gorganzola (I think this was my addition)

Replacing the lettuce with a layer of fresh, whole basil leaves on good bread is just a hunk 'a heaven.

[Lucinda]

47. I am soooo trying this when my basil gets big enough this year!

I usually bring a plant in for the winter but we didn't get to it this year, so I have fresh rosemary but not basil right now. :(

[troubleinwinter]

50. I confess!

I like to make these in the summer, when it's too hot to cook and the basil and tomatoes are beautiful. I use the precooked bacon in packages from the grocery. Just a minute in the microwave! I sure don't want to be cookin' up bacon in the summer.

Do you like Gorganzola? I use it sometimes, sometimes not.

[Lucinda]

51. Yeah, I do like it. I dont think of it often. I usually have Feta and a block of Parmesan

around. Any of those would be good with this. I've never bought the fast cook bacon. Seems like a good solution for a hot day.

[troubleinwinter]

33. Odd

The foods I could live forever without are hotdogs, chips, pretzels, PIZZA and ICE CREAM. Couldn't care if I never saw 'em again. All the supposed "American Favorites".

I do agree with salt on cantaloupe and watermelon (and papaya), though!:toast:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

39. Now I'm curious

I can understand perfectly your revulsion - if that's not too strong a word - for the foods listed. I'm lost in the junk food world, so your post piqued my curiosity.

What is your idea of "junk food"?

(And yes, salt on papaya, for sure - mangoes, too.)

[troubleinwinter]

44. I have nothing against junk food. I love junk food!

Cheetos, fast-food fries, a lovely Jumbo Jack cheeseburger, Taco Bell bean burritos, KFC, jelly doughnuts.

I am not revolted by those other 'American favorites', I just don't happen to like them. Add popcorn to that. "I'll have a large double-butter popcorn, hold the popcorn".

I grew up partly in Hawaii, and we'd pull a papaya off the tree each morning for breakfast. Half of us had it with a squeeze of lime juice, the others salt.

Mangoes were so prolific, when the season came that they were ripe, people would fill large paper grocery bags with them, place them on a neighbor's porch, ring the doorbell and RUN! They didn't want to throw them away, but knew if anyone came to the door they'd say, "No thank you! I have too many mangoes already!" Fortunately, my grandmother made the best mango chutney in the world, and sweet dense mango bread.

I can eat the flesh of mangoes (and love them), but cannot peel or handle the peel... they cause me a rash. Turns out they are somehow related to poison oak.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

52. Oh, you're every bit as bad as I am...........

That's refreshing. (Have you tried the new CRUNCHY Cheetos? Better than heroin, I think.)

Thank you for sending us your best Presidential candidate, by the way. We owe much to Hawaii. To grow up there and have that kind of breakfast, well, you sure are lucky. I used to make mango chutney myself, and I know how good it is. But, mango bread?

Funny, though. I started getting sick after eating mangoes. And the peel had a smell that began to make me queasy. So, that was it for me. I wonder now if it was some kind of allergic reaction. Most likely. Thank you for the clue.

My weakness is dried papaya spears that I get at the health food store. Oh, so much better than candy. Except for Kraft Caramels, when I'm in the mood.

Anyway, thank you for sating my curiosity.

:toast:

[troubleinwinter]

55. "Thank you for sending us your best Presidential candidate"

Uh-oh... oops. I now live in the mountains of Arizona! So sorry about that candidate.

Crunchy Cheetos aren't new! Old as the hills, like me. I don't bother with the puffy ones, not the 'Hot' ones, or 'Jalapeno' ones, or 'White Cheddar' or 'Double cheese'. In Spain they have 'Ketchup flavor'. In Japan, 'Milk chocolate' and 'Strawberry chocolate'. All made by Frito Lay.

Why, oh why, do they need to mess with perfection???

[MinneapolisMatt]

48. Saffron, lemon juice, and grated onion.

Add it to meat. Yummy!

[Lucinda]

49. Ohhh....That's a totally new one for me!

Something new to try! Do you use it with all meats?

[MinneapolisMatt]

57. Sure!

Spread over chicken or chops, mix it with any ground meats...it's very yummy. :)

[Lucinda]

58. Thanks!

:hi:

[wryter2000]

53. Long cooked spaghetti sauce and pork

My mother always added a chunk of uncooked pork to her spaghetti sauce (the kind the simmers for hours). I'd forgotten about that until I tested Cooks Illustrated recipe for gravy (spaghetti sauce). It called for an entire rack of baby back ribs. There was that flavor I'd forgotten about.

From now on, a hunk of pork will go into all my sugo/ragout.

[Lucinda]

60. Never ever heard of doing that before, but I bet the flavor enhancement is amazing!

Definitely will try this! Thankie. :hi:

[wryter2000]

61. It definitely makes for a different flavor

:hi:

[Lucinda]

62. Bill is a Charter Member of the" Pork Rules!!!" Club

I'm surprised we hadn't tried it already. :D

[bicentennial_baby]

68. My sauce is a 6+ hour process

and it contains: hot italian sausages, sweet italian sausages and bone-in pork chops. Just like my Mom made. Incredible. :9

The bones make the flavor pop. Seriously.

[Lucinda]

70. You know....this may be why I've been an unfaithful fan of red sauce

I don't think many people do it this way anymore....I worked with a women who made killer red sauce and I loved it, and she did it the long slow way. After her sauce everything tasted sort of raw and flat to me, for lack of a better explanation. I moved to olive oil and herbs because I couldn't find that depth of flavor I was looking for...

I'm thinking the meat simmering in the sauce may be the difference. I'd bet anything Judy's sauce was made that way.

I'm so glad you posted. I may be finally able to make a decent red sauce now!

[Tesha]

63. oh yes...

long simmer a piece of pork (chops, ribs, whatever you have), some chicken and a sausage or two in that tomato sauce - hours later the meat falls apart and seasons the sauce.. you can serve the sauce for Primo and the meats for Secondo. Oh so good...

[hippywife]

66. My grammy used to start her sauce

with either pork or beef neck bones way back in the day. You're right, nothing else gives that flavor and it really takes me waaaaaaaay back to my childhood. :hi:

[Lucinda]

72. Good grief, I forgot my favorite. Tomato, basil and mozarella.

All fresh.

[troubleinwinter]

73. Now ya gave me an idea

for Ain5 bread sandwiches!

[Lucinda]

74. Yum. That would be excellent.

I was just thinking my multi-cheese grilled cheese sandwiches would rock with Ain5 bread. I use whatever cheeses are around, with a little Italian seasoning or fresh basil when I have it. Yummy.