FOOD, man cannot live by whisky alone.

@Victor while in fashion currently it's fascinating to see how fermentation ties in to history, survival and innovation.

From my minor dabblings in Korean ferments, a fermented fish/seafood component is often used, either tiny dried or brined shrimp (often turned to paste with aromatic) or dried fish/fish sauce.

What an interesting experience it must have been to live there at that time. Do y'all remember then they sent the first Korean astronaut on a mission in 2008 and how they had to R&D a version of kimchi to send out to space with him, that's when I realized how essential it was to their diet.

@talexander you should try making it, it's honestly not that difficult and kind of fun to be able to taste it as it transforms

@cricklewood I do not remember the space kimchi, but I can certainly imagine the Koreans wanting some.

@cricklewood

I saw a couple of articles about the Korean space programme. The issue was finding a way to kill the probiotic bacteria and maintain the quality of the product, which apparently they did.

But while the articles make reference to Ko San, the male finalist, going into space with Korean food, it was actually Yi So-yeon, the other finalist, who made the trip. Apparently, Ko San violated some of the training protocols and so she was sent up instead.

Crock Pot Pork & Irish Whiskey Stew is cooking away quite nicely...the recipe said to deglaze the frying pan with wine after searing the pork, and I thought "why not use whiskey?" So 1/4 cup of Bushmills Black Bush later, and it has a whole different aroma to it...

@YakLord That’s some good looking winter comfort food. Bon appetite.

@BlueNote Thanks. It was good. Enough for tomorrow night, too.

My daughter asked for Snicket Bread (Dutch oven bread made with a recipe courtesy Lemony Snicket) and Shakshuka so I set to work. The bread was great. I forgot to season the Shakshuka with salt and pepper but having used ripe tomatoes, onion, garlic and fresh basil it still tasted great!

@Nozinan I'm not familiar with Shakshuka. It looks interesting. Can you give details please.

@Nozinan I've always wanted to make shakshuka at home. There's a great restaurant near my office (Parallel) that makes fantastic shakshuka.

@talexander It's not too difficult a dish, and there are a few good recipes floating around online. We've done it a couple of times during our enforced stay-at-home...first time we used ground pork, which I liked but which others found too oily, and the second time with ground chicken, which the others enjoyed more (there's no way I'd be able to convince them to let me use lamb...).

@BlueNote It's really easy.

Sweat some diced onions, add diced tomatoes (fresh or canned), Let it cook down. Add fresh basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, poach as many eggs as you want in it.

Serve with fresh bread.

@Nozinan - That all looks amazing! Your bread making skills seem to know no bounds ...

First had shakshuka in India in a place with many Isreali travellers - Nice enough but I always find the eggs go a bit rubbery, which puts me off a tad.

@Nozinan - Funny old world isn't it?! We can send kimchi into space yet so many kids go hungry each day. Such is life, I guess?

I made a pork belly on Sunday. A hairy bikers recipe with roast apple and onion on the side. The crackling turned out perfect (always a relief). So much so I reckon I ate half of what you see below ...

Felt very fat and dirty afterwards but man it was good!

@RianC Only half? Remarkable strength of will. Whenever I visit this thread I have an inexplicable urge to eat a meatball sandwich!

@MRick I hear ya. Me too.

@MRick - I had to fight the clan hard just for that half!

It was a sushi night: crispy mango rolls, crispy spicy avocado rolls, California rolls, a cucumber roll, fried udon, gyoza, and sweet potato tempura (all homemade, not take out)...not pictured: the rolls that fell apart and never made it to the platter, or the sake I had with dinner...

My wife and I made this on Thursday. She made a broth from chicken and ginger. Then boiled the broth with zucchini and green onions, and stretched dough. I did the stretching and the boiling.

This is a Korean dish called 수제비 (sujebi), which apparently means hand stretched torn noodles.

We had some extra dough so last night I cooked some noodles in my mother’s tomato lentil soup and it was great. Today I had more noodles in the original broth. They are chewy and filling and delicious. The soup is a great antidote to she aches and chills from the last day or so...

@YakLord Great looking rolls. That must have been a lot of work..

Normally I would be cooking a Rabbie Burns dinner this weekend (two years ago I even made my own haggis), but as I'm on my own I've simply pre-ordered a Burns dinner from The Caledonian, a high-end Scottish pub (with an excellent whisky bar). Still deciding what malts to pair it with...

@BlueNote Thanks! I cooked and seasoned the rice, and did the deep frying, but the assembly and cutting of the maki was all my wife and daughter, as my wife was the one who wanted sushi, and our daughter has been cooking one meal a week for the last little while, so her helping her mother was her meal contribution for last week.

@YakLord Every great chef needs good sous chefs.

A piece of free range, organic venison back steak (harvested and butchered myself) with a trial rub. Bloody beauty. It's so tender you don't even need teeth to chew this

@Hewie, BEAUTIFUL!! Absolutely gorgeous!!! I am in lust !

I am a carnivore of the highest degree.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

a wee snack and my weekly bottle of wine. Just a quarter-pounder sangwidge, not the 3 - 4 pound full grown monster that opened this thread.

@paddockjudge I can attest to your carnivorosity, be it BBQ or smoke, as long as it has a word for meat at the end you'll eat it...

@Nozinan yep

@Hewie That is a meat hound's wet dream. Looks delicious.

@paddockjudge Red wine and red meat, any way you slice it it's hard to beat.

Indonesian Mee Goreng...