provolone tastes like puke
North American and Argentine provolone style cheese may be young,
milky and rather Mozzarella-like but real DOP Provolone is aged
I don't see the point of such cheese.
and/or smoked and quite different. I like the real thing.
I do see the point of such cheese but find mature
provolone to be one of the most objectionable of
them all, about as bad as it can be without being
ovine or blue. It has an interesting sharpness, but
the flavor is odd and objectionable. Funny thing is
that I just encountered Arthur's shredded Parmesan,
which has much the same taste and which I therefore
dislike quite a lot.
Other oddities encountered at Swisher's.
Alaska Grains Bakery Kodiak wheat bread - bland squishy
Wonderlike bread, a bit browner than regular, but clearly
cut of the same cloth if dyed a little. You'd think that
a company called Alaska Grains would producing something
a little more hearty and gutsy.
Kraft shredded sharp Cheddar - this turned out to taste
like anyone else's cheese labeled sharp Cheddar, i.e.,
tanginess just barely noticeable, a little salty, a
little milky, a little not much of anything. Still okay
on a cheeseburger.
Edited to add the results of a 0400 snack as it got down
into the 40s, and my appestat cranked up.
After being defeated at Kava's in my search for well-done
hash browns and having taken home half a slice of Spam,
a quarter pound of ham of the Cure 81 variety but not quite
as good, and a cup or more of ghastly white potatoes, I
took them back in a box for just this eventuality.
Swisher has an assortment of decent nonstick cookware, so
some wee-hour (so called because this is the time when
diuretics tend to wake one up, half a joke) experiments
were in order.
Reheating the potatoes. I did this with no additional oil.
Turns out that this commercial product is impregnated with
oil, so though raw, it can be crisped up with the simple
addition of heat. This worked; I put it over high heat
- Swisher's electric range takes a long time to warm up,
but when it does, it does so with a vengeance - and in
short order made potato sticks. These though crispy were
also very sour, a mystery until I remembered that in a
vain effort to render them edible at Kava's I'd put a
tablespoon of Tabasco over them.
The Alaska Grains bread collapses on heating, becoming
a resilient mass of dough. This went well with the
succeeding experiments.
Spam reheats well and tastes good washed down with Shiner
Bock. I could have gotten a 18-pack of Heineken on special
for the price of a 12 of Shiner Bock, but the Shiner was
going to give me marginally more pleasure, so I got that,
and over the week this produced a handful of sweet memories.
To give Swisher credit, Kraft is not the only cheese in his
fridge. He'd showed me a block of Tillamook sharp Cheddar and
suggested I try it. It was sharper than Kraft and was
actually kind of edible. And to give him full credit, he
takes the Kraft and keeps it open to partially dehydrate and
concentrate the flavors. A head-to-head shows that Tillamook
beats Kraft cold in the eating plain old cheese handicap.
Using residual heat from the nonstick, I made about 1 Tb
cheese crunchies out of each and found that the partially
dried Kraft did quite well, producing a wafer of good
crispness and mild though distinct cheese flavor. A crunchy
made from the Tillamook was marginally tastier but of course
not quite as crisp. A tossup, but I suspect Kraft is a little
cheaper, so it might get the edge.
Tonight's beverage inspiration: 1 part guava nectar, 2 parts
sparkling lemonade, optionally a splash of gin. A lovely
combination!
Sounds worth a try, the tropicality no longer so dominant
as it can be. What kind of sparkling lemonade?
... Cocktails can transport you to far-off lands and distant eras.
And that's even if you don't put tequila into them!
Three-Ingredient Lemonade Margaritas
categories: booze
servings: 2
3 Tb frozen lemonade concentrate
1/2 c tequila blanco
2 Tb Cointreau (or Triple Sec)
Combine the frozen lemonade, tequila, and Cointreau with
1 c ice-cold water. Stir well. Fill 2 glasses with ice
and divide the lemonade margarita into glasses. Serve
immediately. Optional: garnish with lemon slices and
mint leaves.
Source: Chew Out Loud
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