The Omnivore's Hundred

This is a list of foods from a British blog called Very Good Taste. The idea is to see how many of the foods on the list you have eaten and to identify the ones that you would never try. I've tried about 80% of the items, and only noted two things that I would not consider trying.

Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at Very Good Taste linking to your results.

Neil’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Beef Stew

I love hearty fall and winter foods. Stews and braises are some of my favorite dishes to cook. They are ultimately satisfying on a cold winter day, and they taste as good or better as leftovers as they do on the first day. They also freeze well for future enjoyment. With the Arctic blast that hit Chicago this week, it was the perfect time to make my first beef stew of the winter.

The beef that I use for stew is usually a chuck roast, but on occasion I have cut up boneless short ribs, another cut of beef appropriate for stew. I follow the often-repeated advice about stew beef, which is to buy your own piece of meat and cut it up rather than buy chunks of stew beef. The stew beef at the supermarket is usually a mix of different cuts of beef, some of which may be good for stew and some of which may not. You don't want to use lean meat in a stew; you want something that has a good mix of lean and fat.

Beef Stew

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
4 lbs beef chuck
2 medium onions, chopped
3 medium leeks, chopped (white and light green parts only)
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp flour
1 cup hearty red wine (Cabernet or Zinfandel work well)
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 lbs yellow or red potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
4 large carrots, cut into bite-size pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Cut beef into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Cut away big pieces of fat where you can, but don't try to remove all the fat. Sprinkle the beef liberally with salt and pepper. Heat Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add oil. Brown meat in multiple batches, making sure not to crowd the pan (really -- don't crowd the pan, or your meat won't brown properly). Remove browned beef to bowl.

Lower heat to medium and add onions, leeks and celery. As the vegetables release liquid, use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the meat. Cook for 10 minutes and then add the garlic. Cook for another minute or two and add the flour. Stir well and cook for two minutes. Add wine and scrape the bottom of the pan again with your wooden spoon. Add chicken stock, thyme and bay leaves, and when it comes to a simmer, add the reserved beef and juices back to the pot. Bring to a simmer once again.

At this point, 2 1/2 - 3 hours of cooking time is necessary to produce the desired results. Rushing a dish like this is pointless because the slow cooking is what turns tough chuck into delicious stew. Once I get it to a simmer on the stovetop, I transfer the covered pot into the oven for more consistent heating. I start the oven at 300 degrees F. to get the stew simmering again, but I drop the temp to 275 once it begins to simmer. Lower it again to 250 if it is boiling instead of simmering. A slow simmer is the goal.

Add the carrots and potatoes about an hour before the stew is complete. You can't add them at the beginning because they will be mush by the end. I have tried steaming them separately and addding them at the end of the cooking, but they are much better if cooked in the stew liquid.



To test for doneness, try to cut a larger piece of beef with a wooden spoon against the side of the pot and then taste a piece for final confirmation. Fork-tender is the goal. If your meat is pretty soft, but you need a knife to cut it, you will wish you had cooked it for another half-hour. I'll also taste a carrot and a potato. No crunchy vegetables in beef stew. Taste for salt.

Many variations of this recipe are possible. Leeks are not something that I always put in stew, but I did this time, so I included it in the recipe. Parsnips or other root vegetables can be used instead of or in addition to the potatoes and carrots. A can of chopped tomatoes added with the liquids is another possibility. A cup of frozen peas added in the last few minutes of cooking is also a nice addition. I sometimes make lamb stew, using lamb shoulder, with 2 cans of white beans replacing the potatoes, and rosemary instead of thyme.

Chili

I know there are many chili purists out there, but I'm not one of them. I think chili is one of those dishes that has many delicious variations. I have tried many different styles, but my standard chili is one based on ground meat, beans and tomatoes. I like to vary the meat and the beans for different flavors. I use a combination of ground chuck, ground pork or ground turkey. As for the beans, I use pinto beans, kidney beans or white beans.

Chile powder is not the same as chili powder. Chile with an "e" is a pepper. Chili with an "i" is a spice mix typically used in making chili. Chile powder is made from any type of pepper that has been dried and ground. Chili powder usually contains chile powder, cumin, Mexican oregano and salt. Ancho and guajillo are two peppers often used in chili. You can use a pre-mixed chili powder or add your own combination of spices.



Chili

3 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground chuck beef
1 lb ground turkey (dark meat, preferably)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 serrano peppers, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken stock
1 can pinto beans
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2-4 tbsp chili powder (or your own combination of spices)
cayenne pepper, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat 1 tbsp oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add meats and stir occasionally until meat is cooked through. Try not to break up the meat too much, as it is good to have some hearty chunks of meat. Drain meat in colander and discard fat. Return Dutch oven to medium heat and add remaining 2 tbsp of oil. Add onions and celery and cook for 10 minutes. Add green pepper, serrano and garlic and cook for 5-10 more minutes. Add chili powder and stir well. Cook for a few minutes and then add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and add beans and reserved meat.



After 30 minutes, I like to taste for spiciness. I carefully add cayenne pepper until it reaches the desired level of heat. Simmer for 10-15 more minutes. Taste for salt.

Serve over white rice, polenta or elbow macaroni.

Lentil Soup & Hearth Bread

If there's one thing I love, it's a good food tradition. The eating of lentils on New Year's is a tradition that can be found around the world. We already fulfilled one New Year's tradition with a pork roast on New Year's Day, but we're trying for some extra good luck this year, so we made lentil soup and fresh-baked bread on the first Saturday of the new year.



Lentil Soup

2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 15 oz can chopped or pureed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups dried lentils
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups water (if necessary)
2 bay leaves
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 lb cubed ham
Splash of red wine vinegar

In a Dutch oven, sauté onion in butter over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add carrots and celery, and cook until vegetables begin to soften (5-10 minutes). Add tomatoes and cook for 5-10 more minutes. Add lentils, chicken stock, bay leaves, thyme, and ham. You don't have to pick the leaves off the thyme -- just fish out the stems with the bay leaves at the end of cooking. Simmer for at least one hour.

Add water as needed if the soup gets too thick. Taste lentils for doneness, and taste for seasoning. I've read that you shouldn't cook legumes in salted water, because it can toughen them. I'm not sure if that's true, but I didn't add any salt until I was satisfied that the lentils were cooked through. Make sure to add enough salt as the soup will be very dull without it.

I just used sliced ham that was leftover from making sandwiches, but a ham hock, salt pork, or bacon would all do well in this soup. This is the first time I've used tomatoes in my lentil soup, and I think it's a good addition. Next time, I might try pureed tomatoes or tomato paste. A splash of red wine vinegar at the end adds a final accent. A simple but satisfying soup.



Hearth Bread

On a recent visit, my father-in-law shared stories of his bread-baking adventures in the 70s. Inspired by that conversation and the Leftover Queen's bread rant, my wife and I decided we wanted to try some bread baking ourselves. This was a good weekend project, since we spent most of the day making one loaf of bread.

We consulted Rose Levy Beranbaum's Bread Bible for our bread recipe. Her recipes are exacting and time-consuming, but the first bread that we made was a huge success. It isn't the best bread I've ever tasted, but definitely the best bread I've ever baked. I won't try to reproduce a recipe, but a similar recipe for hearth bread can be found on her blog. We did a four-hour fermentation, followed by three one-hour risings before baking the bread in a loaf pan. The bread was chewy and had nice holes throughout. The crust also had a nice chew -- outrageously delicious still warm from the oven with butter.

That loaf of bread will hopefully be the inspiration for many more in the future. We just ordered a baking stone for our oven so we can bake breads and pizzas. I would love to be able to make a really good homemade pizza, and I'll be sure to write about it when I do.