FOOD, man cannot live by whisky alone.

@paddockjudge That's a beauty, eh!?

@cricklewood You'll appreciate this. It's been on my mind for the last few days. The salmon will be drinking Lag 12 CS 2017 for the next three days in the fridge. I'll let you know how it turns out.

@fiddich1980 That will probably turn out delicious.

@Nozinan

@fiddich1980 good to see you've got the glencairn handy while you prep the salmon

@Hewie A good cook should taste everything and often when cooking. Surely, it would be rude to let the salmon drink alone.

@fiddich1980 What made you choose the ultra expensive 12 YO expression?

@Nozinan It has a lighter flavour profile that reminds me of the 2012. The 2015 is also near that 2012. The 2013 leans towards a dirty peat, and the 2014 can be rough and too intense. Besides, the only peated whiskies I have open currently, are the 2017 and the No Name. I like the smoke of the Lagavulin.

@fiddich1980 the salmon should never drink alone what a great idea using the Lagavulin, let me know how it turns out the charms of the Lag should work well in this application.

@fiddich1980 - I'll echo comments above and ask that you let us know how it turns out! Great idea. I did a beetroot cure on a side of salmon a couple of years back and it was lovely. I could see the smoky whisky really bouncing off the fish - man, i love smoked fish . . .

Texture on point - silky, delicate subtle citrus,sweet aroma A touch too salty, unavoidable maritime brine, then peat and delicate smoky roll off the side of the tongue.

@fiddich1980 Looks really good. What did you do with the leftover Lagavulin?

@Nozinan in one context it couldn't be saved. In another context, which @paddockjudge and yourself are preview to that's

@fiddich1980, Nicely plated! Is that hard tack or possibly Rye crisp on the bottom?

@paddockjudge Finn Crisp and dill from my garden.

The unagi that they sell at Asian supermarkets goes well with most peated whisky. Also, squid seems to go with sherried malts, especially when the squid (or other seafood) is cooked with sherry. I don't think I've ever actually had steak and bourbon, which i supposed to be the classic. (I guess that my family and friends don't roll like that....not that I wouldn't try).

@fiddich1980 Yes! I imagine that it would also work with lox (belly or nova) or smoked salmon. Thanks for the idea.

@Jonathan in a "cold" smoke salmon, it would work but, not a "hot" smoke salmon. A hot smoke would probably be just a waste of good whisky.

While there was no whisky added to this pizza, I did enjoy an awesome Power's Signature highball while making this.

Due Stagionni grandma pizza :pepperoni/fresh mozz on one side and zucchini, dill and gruyère on the other. Turned out a bit thicker than. I wanted but it was still pretty good.

After spending a weekend chez casa @fiddich1980 I must say that his previous contributions to the spreads during our epic tastings were but a hint of his cooking talents.

I got wrapped up in the moment and have but a few poor shots that don't do his food justice but they will have to suffice. He spend two days putting together this behemoth of a Beef Wellington.

The carnage

I was sent home with a nice slab of Wellington and my bag bursting with heirloom tomatoes.

I thankfully took Monday off and spent a wonderful recovery day with my girlfriend and we put together this great lunch of the spoils.

Much thanks @fiddich1980

@cricklewood, the Beef Wellington blew my mind. Our friend @fiddich1980 has serious skills in the kitchen, matched equally by his generosity. I've been raving about it all week.

I always forget to post in this thread but figured it's a good time as any.

It's cold AF in Montréal today there's blizzard like conditions, the trifecta of freezing cold, windy & snowing! I had one shit show of a day at work, they've moved a bunch of us from a satellite office back to the head office downtown and very little was ready or working, this requires comforting and quick sustenance.

Sautéed mushrooms, chorizo, onions on a mass of bubbling parmesan overdosed polenta.

This was exactly what was needed.

@cricklewood WTF?! _(**)__/ POLENTA! ...I'd brave a storm for a bowl of that beautiful dish. I hope you roast leftovers in the oven with thick-cut salametti, serving with Asiago and a nice pour of Primitivo (in a 10 oz. water tumbler) and some pickled pepperoncini

@paddockjudge Isn't that what anyone would do?

@BlueNote - Well, duh! although the cool kids are using 12 oz tumblers

@BlueNote At the risk of being banished from the site, I'll say that I've never tasted good polenta. It's one of those foods everyone seems to love that I just don't get, kind of like sushi. I mean, sushi is ok, it's fine, but I don't crave it. Maybe it's a comfort food thing that's specific to some people. Not everyone loves tourtière like I do or "ragoût d'pattes" (literally: hock stew, a French-canadian dish made from boiling pig's feet to make a meaty stock and then cooking spiced pork meatballs in the stock, thickening it with flour and serving over mashed potatoes....sooooooo gooood!).

@OdysseusUnbound, I don't eat sushi, but I do eat polenta. You haven't tried the right polenta. You've probably been hanging around the cheap polenta bars, sampling from bottom shelf dishes of polenta. Like a great bourbon, polenta too relies on it's corn base to carry the flavours in the rest of the mash. Interesting you should mention hocks, my favourite accompaniment for polenta is a tomato/garlic/onion based meat stew which contains pork hocks....of course, if you don't like corn, or corn bread or grits, you ain't gonna like polenta none.

@OdysseusUnbound I had an Italian friend whose mother used to make it. I thought it was pretty boring and I would rather have had mashed spuds and gravy. But I think I would have liked it a lot more if it had been like @cricklewood's or @paddockjudge's version.