WTF is 'Broiling'?

QueenBishOTUniverse

THIS is BBQ, because you lose your Texan card if you don't have one of these in your backyard....:laugh:

That's another example. I'd already been eating awesome BBQ for a couple decades before I made it to Texas...and found it not significantly different.

Meh to regional cuisine.

On the other hand, Texas absolutely gets credit for helping to develop Tex-Mex. Not authentic Mexican food at all, but still pretty awesome in its own right.

The difference is in the cuts, Texas is where brisket originates from, most other regional BBQ is centered around pork cuts of some kind, Texas BBQ is brisket and ONLY brisket, cooked in a similar style and can be served with or without sauce, though most will argue that a truly well cooked brisket does not require sauce.

As for Tex-mex, meh I like it if I'm looking for something loaded with cheese and grease, but I usually prefer a good Baja style fish taco. Green salsa and sopapillas with honey are the *kitten* though.

And you can get lots of good Texas style food in Alaska since there's a huge amount of movement between the two states because of the oil industry. My whole family is from Alaska, born in Anchorage myself. My cousin was born and raised in Alaska but came down here for her degree (A&M), before going back to Alaska.

Galatea_Stone

Every region thinks they have better barbeque.

Everyone thinks they have better everything. I always hear about "southern" food such as biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak...which is mystifying because I'm from Alaska originally and I grew up on that stuff.

*shrug*

So how does Alaskan biscuits and gravy compare to southern? Unless it all depends on who's making it?
That's usually the case as I've discovered.

It's a myth that all southern ladies are good cooks.

Pretty much the same as far as I can tell. Its pretty simple food. White sausage or hamburger gravy over baking powder biscuits. Terribly for you...but still my all time favorite breakfast. Comfort food doesn't get more comfortable than that.

Baking powder biscuits? We call those drop biscuits in the south. They're good, but buttermilk biscuits are like the pretty sister, just that much better.

Buttermilk, lard (or butter to make them flakier), both baking soda and baking powder, salt, flour, and a grandma's love.

And gravy is sausage or bacon, milk and flour. Pretty simple and not that different.

kikityme

Everyone thinks they have better everything. I always hear about "southern" food such as biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak ...which is mystifying because I'm from Alaska originally and I grew up on that stuff.

This always makes me laugh. Driving through the states, some tiny town in West Virginia. I had never heard of chicken fried steak. I asked the waitress if it was chicken, or steak. She looked at me like I was completely new. I said I'd never heard of it. She asked me if I was a "Yankee." I said I was Canadian. She looked at me, completely deadpan, and said she'd never heard of it.

To this day I just hope she was kidding.

amwbox

Every region thinks they have better barbeque.

Everyone thinks they have better everything. I always hear about "southern" food such as biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak...which is mystifying because I'm from Alaska originally and I grew up on that stuff.

*shrug*

So how does Alaskan biscuits and gravy compare to southern? Unless it all depends on who's making it?
That's usually the case as I've discovered.

It's a myth that all southern ladies are good cooks.

Pretty much the same as far as I can tell. Its pretty simple food. White sausage or hamburger gravy over baking powder biscuits. Terribly for you...but still my all time favorite breakfast. Comfort food doesn't get more comfortable than that.

Baking powder biscuits? We call those drop biscuits in the south. They're good, but buttermilk biscuits are like the pretty sister, just that much better.

Buttermilk, lard (or butter to make them flakier), both baking soda and baking powder, salt, flour, and a grandma's love.

And gravy is sausage or bacon, milk and flour. Pretty simple and not that different.

Well, you use baking soda if you happen to have buttermilk on hand. Otherwise, baking powder. That's just the chemistry of it. I think what really matters is the technique, to keep them light and flaky.

Drop biscuits are just spooned onto the cooking surface usually. What we did was the usual cut out with a biscuit cutter thing. Looked more like this:

amwbox

Everyone thinks they have better everything. I always hear about "southern" food such as biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak ...which is mystifying because I'm from Alaska originally and I grew up on that stuff.

This always makes me laugh. Driving through the states, some tiny town in West Virginia. I had never heard of chicken fried steak. I asked the waitress if it was chicken, or steak. She looked at me like I was completely new. I said I'd never heard of it. She asked me if I was a "Yankee." I said I was Canadian. She looked at me, completely deadpan, and said she'd never heard of it.

To this day I just hope she was kidding.

There are some ugly stereotypes about the Appalachians. That said, I find it hard to believe anyone hasn't heard of Canada.

QueenBishOTUniverse

Everyone thinks they have better everything. I always hear about "southern" food such as biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak ...which is mystifying because I'm from Alaska originally and I grew up on that stuff.

This always makes me laugh. Driving through the states, some tiny town in West Virginia. I had never heard of chicken fried steak. I asked the waitress if it was chicken, or steak. She looked at me like I was completely new. I said I'd never heard of it. She asked me if I was a "Yankee." I said I was Canadian. She looked at me, completely deadpan, and said she'd never heard of it.

To this day I just hope she was kidding.

There are some ugly stereotypes about the Appalachians. That said, I find it hard to believe anyone hasn't heard of Canada.

One of my co-workers had a student, a senior in high-school, who couldn't identify North America on a map and thought Texas was a country, not a state. She argued with him for several minutes about it. I've had several students in my senior level aquatic science class that couldn't properly identify the oceans..... small town West Virginia, altogether possible she has truly never heard of Canada.

kikityme

Nah, I think she was just being awesome. Seriously, 12 years later and I still tell that story. That was the trip of a lifetime for sure. 3 months. Sleeping in the car, just driving and stopping when we wanted.

America is pretty damn awesome.

But seriously-is it chicken, or steak?

amwbox

Nah, I think she was just being awesome. Seriously, 12 years later and I still tell that story. That was the trip of a lifetime for sure. 3 months. Sleeping in the car, just driving and stopping when we wanted.

America is pretty damn awesome.

But seriously-is it chicken, or steak?

Its beef. Usually round steak, hammered or cubed, battered and deep fried, or breaded and pan fried. My favorite version is flour, then egg, then seasoned cracker meal, and pan fried in butter. Topped with white gravy. Serious heart attack on a plate stuff, but yummy.

Its actually a direct descendant of classic Wiener Schnitzel. German immigrants brought it with them.

Called chicken fried steak because its often breaded and fried as if its chicken.

kikityme

Thanks! I didn't eat it, cause I wasn't so much into mystery meat when I didn't know where the nearest hospital was! I never did understand the fascination with white gravy, and that stuff is on EVERYTHING in like, 4 states!

amwbox

Thanks! I didn't eat it, cause I wasn't so much into mystery meat when I didn't know where the nearest hospital was! I never did understand the fascination with white gravy, and that stuff is on EVERYTHING in like, 4 states!

Well, the white gravy is actually pretty much Bechemel sauce. So, if you think about it...the lowly chicken fried steak is actually snooty French-German fusion cuisine.

Food history is fun. I did a year of culinary school in another life, and I was endlessly fascinated by all of this.

smantha32

THIS is BBQ, because you lose your Texan card if you don't have one of these in your backyard....:laugh:

That's like a 10,000 smoker. I'd love to have it though. lol

smantha32

THIS is BBQ, because you lose your Texan card if you don't have one of these in your backyard....:laugh:

That's another example. I'd already been eating awesome BBQ for a couple decades before I made it to Texas...and found it not significantly different.

Meh to regional cuisine.

On the other hand, Texas absolutely gets credit for helping to develop Tex-Mex. Not authentic Mexican food at all, but still pretty awesome in its own right.

Texmex rocks.
Actual Mexican food always tastes like it's been sitting in dishwater, to me.

smantha32

Nah, I think she was just being awesome. Seriously, 12 years later and I still tell that story. That was the trip of a lifetime for sure. 3 months. Sleeping in the car, just driving and stopping when we wanted.

America is pretty damn awesome.

But seriously-is it chicken, or steak?

It's steak. Or some kind of beef chop (depending on where you have it) With a breaded coating.