The Best Thing You Ever Ate?

[USS Triumphant]

Edit: You can get a crisp crust without cooking a steak to the point of well. Heat a cast-iron skillet to the point where it's hotter than the surface of the sun, season the steak with salt and pepper, and then toss the steak onto the skillet for about 45 seconds per side. Then put the skillet into a 500-degree oven for about two minutes, flip the steak and cook for another two minutes. Remove the skillet from the oven, let it rest for ten minutes to re-absorb its juices and make some vegetables and potatoes in the meantime.

Marinade it in teriyaki or some other Asian marinade and roll in Mongolian fire oil before the frying pan so that the oil creates a sear on either side to seal the juices in, and adjust the times in the oven to 6-8 minutes per side, and you have described how I make my steaks. Except I make rice instead of potatoes.

Pineapple on pizza is the best thing.

Yaaaas. With sausage.

Mmmmm...you know what I haven't had since I was a kid and totally forgot about? Teriyaki burger, with a big ol' ring of pineapple on it and teriyaki sauce and grease soaking through the bun. Damn, those were good.

We have a place called 1720 Burger Bar here in town that makes those. So good. But I eat them so rarely. Guaranteed heartburn.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Cheese and fruit are one of the undeniably great food combinations. I think the best incarnation of which is goat cheese on fresh figs...huhhhnnnnggghhuuummmnmmmgng

Come over here on a vacation! My cheese monger has awesome goat cheese with a fig preserve filling. Absolutely delicious =)

 

[Scotchy]

Menucci's Calzone, chicken and mushroom. It was the best calzone ever until they retired and shut down their business.

 

[thestrangequark]

Come over here on a vacation! My cheese monger has awesome goat cheese with a fig preserve filling. Absolutely delicious =)

My mom actually lives near a dairy farm that has won several American Cheese Society awards (can't help but smile when typing "American Cheese Society").

It is the best dairy ever. They take really good cows and they each have names instead of numbers. The owner has been known to move cows into his home and keep them as pets when they get too old to produce.

They won a butter award...and deserved it. Their butter is so good you could eat it with a spoon.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

All this talk about cheese is making me sing...

Sweet dreams are made of cheese
Who am I to diss a Brie?
I Cheddar the world and the Feta cheese
Everybody's looking for Stilton

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

The most delicious thing I ever ate was 2 years ago in Korea when I was served on two occasions Matsutake mushrooms which are apparently the most expensive mushrooms in the world. They were freshly picked from the property of a relative that morning and sliced raw on a plate. The aroma that rose from that plate was.. astonishing. Intense and foresty and alive. I was in awe. I have never smelled anything like it. I was urged to dip them in sesame oil and other things but I did not, I wanted to savor them just as they were. I had to stop myself from eating too much and when I got served them a second time a few days later I was just so happy.

It's an unrepeatable experience, unlike amazing dishes I can't go home and try and replicate it myself. I could buy them imported most likely but I know they will not be the same as ones that were still in the ground a few hours before.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I'm trying not to eat meat these days, but I recognize there are only four states of a steak: tartare, rare, medium rare, and overcooked.

The ideal level of cooking for a steak is to stand the cow in the sun.

 

[Kor]

The most delicious thing I ever ate was 2 years ago in Korea when I was served on two occasions Matsutake mushrooms which are apparently the most expensive mushrooms in the world. They were freshly picked from the property of a relative that morning and sliced raw on a plate. The aroma that rose from that plate was.. astonishing. Intense and foresty and alive. I was in awe. I have never smelled anything like it. I was urged to dip them in sesame oil and other things but I did not, I wanted to savor them just as they were. I had to stop myself from eating too much and when I got served them a second time a few days later I was just so happy.

It's an unrepeatable experience, unlike amazing dishes I can't go home and try and replicate it myself. I could buy them imported most likely but I know they will not be the same as ones that were still in the ground a few hours before.

I used to occasionally get pine mushrooms for free from a client of the company I worked for at the time. They are supposed to be very similar to matsutakes. I remember they were quite exquisite.

Kor

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

The next most delicious thing I ever age was unsalted cultured french butter. I literally DID eat it with a spoon, after a while we abandoned the fresh baked rolls it came with as we no longer need them as a vehicle for the butter. Just spooned it right in.

 

[thestrangequark]

The next most delicious thing I ever age was unsalted cultured french butter. I literally DID eat it with a spoon, after a while we abandoned the fresh baked rolls it came with as we no longer need them as a vehicle for the butter. Just spooned it right in.

That's what the butter from the dairy by my mom's is like. It's...almost cheesy? but a little sweet? and still distinctly and simply butter...I can't really describe the perfection.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Yes and you can taste it's actually cultured.. it's just soooo good. Like spoon it directly into my heart thanks good.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

Agree about steak being well done.

Not sure what was the best thing I've eaten. Had quite a few cheesecakes over the years.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Agree about steak being well done.

I like how you said this, but not *whom* you're agreeing with about the steak being well done. Very Garak of you.

 

[1001001]

The ideal level of cooking for a steak is to stand the cow in the sun.

That's a good one.

I don't eat much red meat anymore, but when I do order a steak, I tell the waiter: Barely Dead.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

The best meal I've ever had was on my honeymoon in Aruba at El Gauchos Argentina Grill. My wife and I still talk about eating here and continually say we need to go back to eat again.

The single best dish I've ever had was at Victoria & Alberts in the Grand Floridian at DisneyWorld. Australian Kobe Style Beef with Seared Foie Gras.

 

[Kor]

Thankfully there are a couple restaurants within walking distance from my job that serve good steak tartare. Excellent stuff. It's a little pricey to eat all the time, though.

Kor

 

[thestrangequark]

I like how you said this, but not *whom* you're agreeing with about the steak being well done. Very Garak of you.

Grammatically, his sentence was a command.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Grammatically, his sentence was a command.

True. And yet, it still didn't specify which way we're supposed to agree.

I want *my* steak well done, but I don't try to impose that on others, nor do I judge anyone who wants their steak any other way as "wrong". Go gnaw directly on a cow for all I care. But people who want theirs cooked at something less than well have a tendency to tell those of us that like them well done that we're "wrong", as though it makes some difference to them.

Therefore, my position is morally superior.

I wonder if there's a correlation between people who like their steak well done and people who like beef jerky. A lot of people talk about wanting their steak tender, but I don't mind if it has a bit of chew to it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I mean no disrespect or condescension when I say this, but is it safe to eat a steak that's extremely rare?

I usually eat my steaks medium-well, but that's as much for health concerns as anything else. Are my fears unfounded?

 

[marillion]

Quite honestly, I've been trying to post in this thread for a while, but for the life of me, it's killing me trying to think of what truly is the "best" thing I've ever eaten.. So I've come up with a short list:

1. Pizza - Giovanni's in Albuquerque. Old school NY style pizza. The owner used to own a place in NY and has NYC tap water shipped in to make the dough.

2. Runza - My youth in a soft dough pocket filled with ground beef, cabbage, onion and spices.. Simple yet so.. Nebraska..

3. Steak - Delmonico from the Monte Carlo in Albuquerque. I typically don't like steak when I eat out as it is rarely done to my liking. But the Monte Carlo (which is a total dive that shares a building with a liquor store) cooks it perfectly every time.. It was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives...

4. The best fried chicken I ever ate was from Lee's Chicken in Lincoln, NE.. Little local place that has been around forever...

Best New Mexican food is probably Padilla's in Albuquerque.. El Pinto definitely has the best culture/atmosphere/salsa, but their food is strictly for the tourists... Padilla's or Duran's Pharmacy are THE places to go...