Thursday, September 30, 2010

Overheard in the Kitchen:

So I'm stirring my pot of breakfast chili and singing to it...
Me: "Umami! Umami! You're my favorite flavor of all!
I like you better than salty, and even better than sweet!"

RX: "See, that's why we can't keep straight MSG in the house, because you'd eat it right from the shaker."

Me: "You can get straight powdered MSG?"
It's the truth. I probably think about a rare steak with a side of fried eggs slathered in Worcestershire sauce the way most people think of a banana split piled with fresh strawberries and chocolate sauce.

43 comments:

McVee said...

Just wait till your favorite chop suey take out jumps on the Umami bandwagon. They'll be putting made with MSG in neon!

og said...

Yes, you can get your hands on pure MSG.

You'd better have a lap belt on that crapper, though, if you intend to eat it straight up.

WV: Mornan. I ate a whole teaspoon of MSG, and in the mornan I shat myself inside-out.

Jennifer said...

They sell it in bags at my local oriental grocery store. If you bagged it in little baggies, the cops would shoot your dog.

Jennifer said...

And yes, I view a rare steak with eggs much the same way.

Evyl Robot Michael said...

Breakfast chili? Can haz recipe, plz?

Owen said...

Remember "Accent" meat tenderizer? That stuff was basically pure MSG.

og said...

Why have a rare steak and eggs instead of a bowl of ice cream and syrup, when you can have a rare steak and eggs AND a bowl if ice cream and syrup?

Anonymous said...

Umami rules but MSG makes my teeth ache like I just grabbed a power line.

jimbob86 said...

" a rare steak with a side of fried eggs slathered in Worcestershire sauce."

Moderation, Tams. Moderation.

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

"Accent wakes up food flavor!"

Ancient Woodsman said...

"breakfast chili"

So much win in so few words.

Boat Guy said...

"Moderation, Tams. Moderation." In all things - ESPECIALLY "moderation".
I'm with Woodsman...

Zdogk9 said...

You can have the steak, eggs, and the banana split for the same meal.

Anonymous said...

I'm right with you on the steak and eggs, but I'd have to go with medium instead of rare ;p

Standard Mischief said...

>They sell it in bags at my local oriental grocery store. If you bagged it in little baggies, the cops would shoot your dog.

That must be why the smallest amount you can buy seems to be a half kilo.

That does not explain why you can only buy red pepper powder in one kilogram bags, but we're coming up on kim-chee season.

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm...carnivores...my kind of people...

cap'n chumbucket

theirritablearchitect said...

"...a rare steak with a side of fried eggs slathered in Worcestershire sauce..."

A woman after my own heart, there.

Mattexian said...

You want some MSG? I know some people who can help you out, for a small fee.

David said...

+1 breakfast chili recipe, please?

Stuart the Viking said...

I surprised myself years ago when I had the realization that I would rather have more steak and eggs (or pot roast, etc) than have dessert. I thought it was just me.

Thank you for letting me know that I am not alone in this. I don't think we need a support group or anything though, I think we are the sane ones!

My Grandparents, however, have taken to having strawberry shortcake for supper at least once a week (and sometimes twice). We don't bother them about it as they are old as dirt and they might as well live a little before they kick off.

s

Mark Alger said...

Ah, I remember well. That was the moment my young life went off the rails when, as a 16yo yout', free and easy on the street, with brass in pocket to spend as I listethed, and I discovered that greasy spoons served this dish called steak and eggs. I was a-goner for sure. Nothing in my mama's cooking prepared me for this gustatory delight, and I wallowed in it.

M

TW: ploperie -- indeed

Stretch said...

" a rare steak with a side of fried eggs slathered in Worcestershire sauce."

I love it when your talk like that!

And: Moderation is for monks. = RAH

George said...

Rare steak? Check!

Fried eggs? Check!

Runny yolks? Oh ... absolutely!

Regards.

PS: See profile pic.

Montie said...

OK, I feel better now. It's always good to know that you are not alone, which I was feeling as I grilled a steak and fried two eggs for breakfast today.

This discussion and the arrival in the mail today from Amazon (just before I logged on) of my copy of "Monster Hunter Vendetta" indicates the start of a good day.

pax said...

I surprised myself years ago when I had the realization that I would rather have more steak and eggs (or pot roast, etc) than have dessert. I thought it was just me.

I was surprised to discover that other people don't feel that way.

More steak for me. Let them eat cake!

Roberta X said...

Tam's breakfast chili is plain, high-quality chili, no beans.

But gimme a minnit -- you could start with with 3-4 slices of bacon, fry up some good rice (plus mushrooms/veg of choice), scramble 3 eggs, and then toss in a can of that chili, already heated, and it'd be umm-umm good!

LabRat said...

Yeah, I'm another with nearly no sweet tooth at all but a raging addiction to that umami goodness. The powdered stuff just doesn't really do it for me; it sings best when it's in a choir of its natural flavor companions. The idea of the banana split actually makes me feel vaguely ill in anticipation of the insulin shock.

The idea of a cheeseburger with blue cheese and a fried egg with slightly runny yolk and onions grilled in butter just makes me hungry.

Joanna said...

Bobbi: Would it work with fakin' bacon?

John Peddie (Toronto) said...

So Tam, how many can your table seat for Sunday brunch?

And you're emailing the invitations when?

Kristophr said...

Owen: You can still buy Accent, lots of grocery stores stock it in the spice section.

I have a shaker in my kitchen. Makes steaks taste even better.

Montie said...

OK Bobbie,

I regret that I ate the last of some leftover chili last week (for breakfast of course) but now I'll have to make some more just to try that recipe, sounds like my kind of breakfast!

Stuart the Viking said...

Ah, there is another one of those arguments of epic proportions. Me and my family are nekkid meat people. The only thing we put on a steak is salt. A good steak doesn't need anything else. My ex-wife (the second one) and her family are marinaters. Once they are done soaking the meat (seemingly for days sometimes) in a funny smelling goo you could be eating cardboard for all that you actually taste of the steak. It was terrible!

s

wv sodent. Her steak was sodent with funny smelling goo!

Anonymous said...

That messes with my established dietary plan, to wit:

"Pig every morning, cow every night."

So you're saying...cow in the morning, pig at night?

Well, this is highly irregular, but...yum!

AT

Anonymous said...

Definatly a woman after my own heart!!! Steak and eggs are a wonderfull breakfast!!

Gewehr98 said...

I do the chili thing on breakfast huevos rancheros. Then again, I throw a ton of my home-grown jalapeno peppers into the mix, too.

WV - "Hemenes": He had chili with his huevos rancheros for breakfast this morning. Hemenes to do some serious harm to all downwind...

Anonymous said...

1 flank steak (thin and fatty) spiced with fajita seasoning.

Covered with

2 eggs over easy

Covered with

Mild green chili sauce.
any meal any time.

jed said...

Nevermind MSG. The best thing on steak is chardonnay smoked sea salt

Anonymous said...

That's it, I'm goin' back over to Brigid's. I only need one woman to make me fat.
--
Jerry

Sendarius said...

When I lived in Malaysia, I could buy straight MSG in 25 lb bags in almost any grocery store.

I didn't, but I could.

I'm with Stuart the Viking - if your steak needs additives, then give it to the dog, and get some decent meat.

Drang said...

Look at your local Asian market--they have 'em in Indy, right?--for Ajinomoto. (Which is actually a trade name, like Accent.)
Common on tables in Asian restaurants around here, alongside the soy sauce and rice vinegar.

Tam said...

Stuart,

"Me and my family are nekkid meat people. The only thing we put on a steak is salt. A good steak doesn't need anything else."

Depends on the steak.

Yes, I never put anything on a real steak (filet, ribeye, NY strip, T-bone.)

A little flank steak cooked up for brekkie? I won't mind if I accidentally splash some of the Worcestershire from the eggs onto the steak...

Matthew said...

With apologies to The Music Man...

Umami, umami, umami
The savory taste of meat
Umami, umami
It's neither salt nor sweet

Pour it on when you get to cookin’
Add a bit more when no one’s lookin’

A dash more when it starts to simmer
That meaty flavor is sure a winner

M S G fa so la si
Do si la sol fa yum-my do

Umami, umami, umami
The savory taste of meat
Umami, umami
It’s neither salt nor sweet

WV: exter - Get exter MSG on it, I love that stuff.

Anonymous said...

After reading this blogpost, I went to Amazon.com and they have 34 oz. jars of powdered MSG for about $4.

Ya know, in case your steak doesn't taste steak-y enough. :P

-Mongol

Verify word: beraces

Once upon a time I couldn't eat steak for breakfast. Now I have my beraces off, and I eat it daily!