Tasty versions of horrible foods

[Abi Parris]

Mmmm, Scrapple! Don't forget haggis - great stuff. No, really.

[Rick Prosser]

Mmmm, Scrapple! Don't forget haggis - great stuff. No, really.

I had haggis once
In Scotland
At a nice restaurant known for excellent haggis
...
nope, I did not care for it. I just don't get along with liver...

I will take good, home cooked grits most anytime

[Larry Bratton]

I used to think that of grits as well Ken. That is before a I was shown how to properly season them. Butter and sugar! How can anything taste bad with butter and sugar on/in it? Of course my wife thinks I am nuts for liking grits but that is a whole 'nuther discussion on my mental status.....

Butter and Sugar!!!! Are u nuts? I have grits almost everyday with nothing except some margarine on them. Love em for breakfast with my eggs. If you have never had Shrimp and Grits, you don't know what you are missing. Now that is a dish fit for anyone, made from the lowly grits.

[Larry Bratton]

Boiled okra.

I spent 8 years in the U.S. Navy.......most of it in the deep South.......Brunswick, GA, Meridian, MS, Kingsville, TX and Charleston, SC.

They have this prerecorded message they play if you turn down the local version of boiled okra......"You haven't eaten my boiled okra.......ya'll should try it.......Ima sure you like it...." So trying to be nice you take some.

I remember being in kindergarten and we had wooden desk that had a hole in the top .....a little glass container in that hole with a lid that had a brush in it. Inside that jar was glue and it looked and tasted just like boiled okra. I'm sure boiled okra is made from that glue and visa versa.

Fried okra is a different matter.


grits.....now there is another one. They play another version of that recording again....."Try my grits. Ima sure you will like it." IMHO....there is nothing known to mankind that will make grits tasty.....NOTHING KNOWN TO MANKIND.

Being a true born and bred Southerner..even I concur on boiled okra. I can't stand the stuff unless it is cooked in a soup or gumbo. Stand alone boiled okra is repulsive.
However, I disagree on the grits. They may be an acquired taste, but that being said, I guess I acquired it. I have mine with margarine on them and maybe some black pepper. I have them a few times a week with eggs and homemade biscuits. They do have to be salted properly when cooked. Shrimp and grits together sounds awful, but it is absolutely a wonderful dish. You would have no idea you are eating grits unless somebody told you. So, to say Nothing Known to Mankind will make them tasty is not exactly true (my opinion of course).

[Charlie Reals]

I guess none of you good people would like scrapple or pig stomach, so I won't even mention it.

I love good scrapple, if pig stomach is like tripe it sounds good. I make no bones though grits aint gravy.Y'all can keep em I tried several times and ways to eat chitlins and until I tried them in a traditional oriental dish it was a no go.

[Benjamin Heuer]

Man, ya'll are makin' me hungry. Time to rustle up some dinner!

[ray hampton]

I love good scrapple, if pig stomach is like tripe it sounds good. I make no bones though grits aint gravy.Y'all can keep em I tried several times and ways to eat chitlins and until I tried them in a traditional oriental dish it was a no go.

chitlins, I need to go back to the store

[Lupe Duncan]

Don't know what scrapple is but sounds interesting.

In the morning were having barbacoa with big red.

Won't touch SPAM, it's an acronym you know, stands for
Squirrels, Possums And Mice. Yuk, makes me Ralph.

[Art Mulder]

Cheese + grits - TASTY!
Shrimp & Grits - TASTY!

But Cheese WITHOUT grits is already tasty!
Ditto for Shrimp...

[Ken Fitzgerald]

But Cheese WITHOUT grits is already tasty!
Ditto for Shrimp...

Well said!

[Jim Koepke]

Was there once a version of corned beef hash that people actually liked?

There still is.

I make my own out of a real corned beef brisket. My mom used to have a hash grinder she used to make it when I was a youngun. I just chop it up real small by hand. It isn't as mushy that way. Don't use mashed potatoes. Left over boiled or baked potatoes are OK, but fresh are easier to chop into small cubes. Don't forget the onion. For those who are not well versed in onions, there are a few different types that can change the whole taste of a dish. I like all kinds, but switch them around from sweet, yellow and red. Occasionally just because that is what we have from the garden green onions are chopped up and tossed in.

I like to cut everything down to about a 1/8" cube size.

Then the seasoning is to how I feel at the time.

Worcestershire sauce, maybe some garlic, dill and mustard powder. Summer savory is also good as is some celery seed ground up with a mortar and pestle.

I like mine on the crisp side. So a big pan is best so it can be spread thin.

Guess what's going on the grocery list, it has been too long and I don't think I want to wait till Saint Paddy's.

jtk

[David Peterson MN]

I had haggis once
In Scotland
At a nice restaurant known for excellent haggis
...
nope, I did not care for it. I just don't get along with liver...

Haggis I like. But you haven't lived until you have tried Balut. Just google it.

On a side note, at my wedding, my sister had seconds of what she thought was potatoes and mayo. She found out later it was pig brain and mayo. She admitted it was really tasty.

[Belinda Barfield]

There still is.

Guess what's going on the grocery list, it has been too long and I don't think I want to wait till Saint Paddy's.

jtk

Jim,
How would you feel about making a trip to Savannah for St. Paddy's. You can be in charge of the traditional Breakfast Before the Parade!

[Rich Engelhardt]

I hate to admit it (being a yankee and all) but - I like grits....I don't have them often though.
Salt and pepper and butter,,,a splash of Tobasco or two or three or four...along w/some has browns.
Yumm.

[Curt Harms]

I grew up in Wisconsin and my maternal Grandfather was a butcher who I never knew. (Presumably) he bequeathed a dish pronounced kanip. I have no idea if that spelling is correct--probably not. It's similar to scrapple but not formed into a loaf like scrapple, just served loose, sort of like oatmeal. The idea was the same as scrapple, use whatever's left over. I recall trimming skinned boiled hog's heads. Cook the meat, grind it up and mix with cooked steel cut oats. Serve with syrup. I recall a batch made soon after my father discovered the wonders of liquid wrench penetrating oil. He used it to lubricate the grinder he used for kanip. Nuthin' like kanip flavored with a hint of liquid wrench .

While I'm started down memory lane, anybody else remember cracklins? They were what was left after pork fat was rendered and pressed. The cooled liquid fat was(is) lard. What was left after pressing was cracklins and as I recall tasted pretty similar to fried pork skins today. I can see the health professionals recoiling in horror at the saturated fat & cholesterol but my father lived to 86 and my mother to 94. Looking back I believe the unfiltered camel cigarettes were far more of a health hazard than animal fat to that generation.