OK that does it! Who's stopping by to kidnap-----er pick up grrlscout for the jamboree?
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OK that does it! Who's stopping by to kidnap-----er pick up grrlscout for the jamboree?
We just got done canning 20 pints and 25 quarts of tomato juice. Well over 100lbs of tomatoes to start with. Lids are a poppin' as I type.
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Leftovers for lunch
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Whole wheat gnocchi, with pancetta, ham, peas, and shallots, on lemon ricotta.
Swiss steak
i cooked beach peas,yellow curly dock, and a nice fat rainbow trout.
Good to see you back around Erunk.
glad to be back, thanks
We were supposed to have this kefta, whole wheat couscous, and cucumber salad as one of our camping meals. However, I left the meat in the fridge. Which was just fine, since it made for a quick and easy meal when we got home.
The meat is seasoned with cumin, and a spice blend I have called Tsardust Memories. You blend it it in the food processor, form it into little footballs, and then grill them on skewers. It was too dang hot for all that, so I just baked them in the oven, like tiny meatloaves.
On top is a raita - just greek yogurt, shredded cucumber, lemon juice, dill, and salt. On the side, cucumber and onion salad - vinegar, water, dill, salt, a touch of sugar, and crushed red pepper.
The couscous has dried currants, ground almonds, powdered chicken stock, and curry powder. BTW, couscous is great camping food. You can totally preseason it, add you fruit and nuts before you leave. At camp, just add the same amount of boiling water, stir, and cover for 5 minutes. Fluff it with a fork and eat.
I also grabbed a bunch of jars of things (picked onions, roasted peppers, olives, etc.) and made a little tapenade. Sliced up the leftover roll from our sandwiches, and toasted it to put the tapenade on.
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Last night's appetizer, fried eggplant slices, ricotta mixed with greek yogurt, and tomato jam.
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Pretty darn tasty, but the eggplant was soggy. Next time, I would tempura batter them first.
Yummers....
Right now I'm cooking beef short ribs sous vide. First I season the short ribs with sea salt and black pepper. Then I vacuum seal them into bags. They're then cooking in a water bath (my Sous Vide Supreme)- this device is capable of regulating temperature to about 0.3 degrees. I set the temp for 135 (the top side of medium rare) and let 'em go! They will cook for 72 hours (three days, give or take). Today is the end of day two! They'll be done when I get off work tomorrow. The cool thing is that 130 or higher over a long period of time will pasteurize the food, resulting in around a 6D reduction in harmful bacteria. The long cooking times will allow the cologen to break down, rendering the meat crock pot tender, but with a twist- when it's done, it will still be a perfect medium rare!:chef: Without getting too deep into the science of food, keeping the temps below 150 will prevent most of the damage and over-keratinizing of proteins that you get with typical braising.
Sous vide is a fantastic way to cook almost every protein but also fruits and veggies, too.
If I remember before I snarf them down I'll take some pics!
Disclosure: I'm a professional chef...
Very cool, Phaedrus. I have seen some folks add a PID temperature controller to their rice cooker to make it a sous vide cooker. But I'm not quite that clever or motivated. ;)
I was expecting some food porn.
I had some of the short ribs today but didn't get any pictures- I was too freakin' hungry!:munchies: Maybe I'll get a pic of the leftovers. I cooked them in a Sous Vide Supreme water bath set to 135.0 degrees F for 74 hours, then tossed them in a bowl of Famous Dave's Devil's Spit BBQ sauce and briefly cooked them on my gas grill til the sauce carmelized a bit. You need some dry heat to get the Maillard reaction working.:chef: If you've only had them braised it's quiet a trip to have them falling off the bone tender but still obviously medium rare...it sorta freaks people out!:creepy:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phaedrus
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phaedrus
Alton......is that you? LOL
Well, these guys and their meat canning got me moving in that direction. I was pressed between a volleyball game this morning and a softball game this afternoon but I canned a couple of quarts of brats and 2 quarts of hamburger (1.5 lbs each). The bad news is we were running late to the softball game with about 2 lbs left on the canner so I dumped pressure. I know, I know. I knew what was gonna happen. I sucked liquid out of all four jars and one wound up not sealing. But! It was really a piece of cake ... or canned meat as it were. I used the hamburger that didn't seal for dinner and the rest will be fine. I have a bit less liquid in the jars than I would like but I'll use them first. The only thing that should happen is some discoloration. But I have a good seal on them.
Thank you for bring up the subject of canning meat. It's something I had not done and needed to try it. I still have a whole chicken and three more lbs of burger in the fridge that are earmarked for the canner.
Lunch was pretty simple, but it was good. A couple of steaks on the grill, sweet potato fries and apple sauce.
If I was really smart, I'd figure out how to make a good compound butter for the steak, and then sop it up with the sweet potato fries. LOL
Still playing with the canning meat thingy. I boiled and deboned a 5 lb. chicken today and that made one quart. I did can up 6 quarts of broth from it but I filled one a smidge too full and it didn't seal. So it's in the fridge. So much for the 1 1/4 inch head space.
I fixed spaghetti last night with the one quart of hamburger (1.5 lbs) that did not seal and I can taste the "can". All canned meat tastes the same to me. I don't care if it's in a jar or a can. Spam is the only thing that the god's would kill for. The rest of it will keep you alive.
This is my first attempt at canning meat so I'm trying to track how much of what = what.
1 - 5 lb chicken = 1 quart
1.5 lb. hamburger = 1 quart
5 brats = 1 quart
You could probably force a 6th brat in a quart jar but five are snug and plenty for us.
Hahaha! He is an inspiration of mine. But this is more inspired by Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller and the French Culinary Institute.Quote:
Originally Posted by 2dumb2kwit
I canned six more pounds of ground chuck. That's 4 quarts.
The cut of beef, or the guy?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
Don't you have a run to make to ... Cuba or some place?
Well, if someone tried to copy your work, that little piece of info could be kind of important.:oops:
where is Ken when you need him? Roasting Boston Butts by the fire.....
Now that sounds like some good eatin', right there!Quote:
Originally Posted by erunkiswldrnssurvival
I cheated. I did one of those "in a hurry" things. Threw some frozen meatballs in the microwave, then added some marinara (I like Newmans own.), put it back in the microwave long enough to heat the sauce, then put it on a sub roll, add some provolone and put it under the broiler for a few. Ta-da....meatball and cheese sub. LOL
Breakfast roll ups for the week.
12 oz cold beer
8 extra large eggs I like Eggland Best
1 lb bulk sausage I like Jimmy Dean
4 oz grated cheese I like Mexican style cheese
8 oz Medium Thick n Chunky Salsa I like Taco Bell
8 extra large flour tortillas
In large frying pan brown sausage, crumbling it as you cook it till done. Set aside and drain grease.
In same pan scramble eggs till done well.
With low or no heater add cheese, sausage and salsa mix well.
Place egg mixture in large flour tortillas, roll them up and wrap in cling wrap. Freeze.
You can pop them in the micro wave oven before you eat them.
You can adjust any quantities per your taste. Most the time I get 8 roll ups, you may get more or less.
Oh yea the beer sometimes I drink it while I cook, and sometimes I drink it after I cook.
This week I bought a couple of whole chickens. I cut the breast off into airlines (that's the skin on breast with the first section of the wing bone still attached), deboned the thighs, cut off the legs, etc. All the nicest parts I vacced into the three bags, seasoned with S&P and cooked sous vide- they got 4 hours @ 149 degrees F. I threw the necks, backs, wings, skin, bones & 1 leg that I massacred all into a stock pot and covered with water. I simmered the stock for 4 hours, then dumped it into a crock pot and let is simmer for another 10 hours. Got the loveliest stock, very gelatinous. Then the next day I reduced the 2 qts of stock down to 1 qt.
So I used half the stock to make ramen; cooked the noodles in the stock along with 1/4 of a julienned onion. During the last minute I added 3 sliced boneless chicken thighs that I'd sous vide'd earlier. Very nice!
The rest of the stock will make me a batch of cous cous tomorrow!
I had a little bit of ham left, from one I cooked the other day, so I cut off what was left, and diced it up. (It ended up being about 3 cups full.) Well....that left a ham bone with a little meat left on it....soooo I threw the diced ham, and the ham bone in a big pot, added some water, a cut up onion, and a pile of navy beans. LOL
It should be good, by this afternoon.
2d, great minds think alike. I varied a bit. Last night in a crock pot , started cooking a ham bone with meat on in chicken broth. Before I went to bed, threw in two diced onions, four diced carrots and a pound of split peas (they had been soaking in water for 5 hours). Took the bone out an hour or so ago. I added One package of garlic instant mashed potatoes. Used a hand held blender to "smooch" (that is a technical term) everything (I like split peas soup thick and creamy) . Now just letting it simmer, to be served with biscuits.
Hey, I like the garlic sudden taters idea!!! I'm gonna have to steal that one! LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by Pal334
Yuppers,, I use them and other flavors of "sudden taters" to thicken soups. Just put a little in at a time and stir so you don't get lumps. If you make a potato soup, makes it dynomite thick and gooooood.
So much for the manly man soup show :)
Super duper busy this week (and next). So I've been making use of the crockpot.
Earlier this week, a chicken curry, with cauli, potatoes, carrots, and peas. Tonight, chili.
I just wish the weather would cooperate, so that these cold weather foods are more craveable. Still way up in the 90s here. :(
Pa said he was mighty glad to hear the weather there is tolerable. 40 and rain on this side of the big mountains. He said send the chili. He will dispose of it for you. It's dangerous to be eating that in hot weather. Gas from the beans will expand all the more. Pa said he heard of one fellah that drifted away after eating chili on a hot day. Just send it to us and take no chances.
Last night was pretty basic... steak, taters and onions in bacon fat and butter, steamed broccoli.
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And G&T
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I have to apologize to the rest of the F.A.R.T.s She came over to the command trailer and tested the new kitchen for us. I have to tell you, that steak was mighty good. She even made me a gin and tonic. Then I had to hustler her out to the airport to catch a FARTAIR flight back home.
(We only had enough money for one engine)
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Finally, it's cool enough to enjoy some soup! I was in a meeting, bored, and I thought I would check out my new How to Cook Everything app on my iPhone. Looked to see if I could find anything to make with what I had in the house. Voila! Tom kha gai - Thai coconut chicken soup.
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Yes, I just *happened* to have tons of coconut milk and fresh lemongrass. But I'm out of milk and eggs. That's how I roll.
YUM! Can't go wrong w/fresh lemongrass in anything.
The F.A.R.T. Pirates (not to be confused with them butt pirates) are looking for a new cookie and you are going on a cruise. Just sayin.
Gotta go here comes Rick. Ouch!
Sorry, Reb. You have it confused. It's F.A.R.T. Pilates.
Here's 2Dumb practicing Pilates while picking up some beer for the F.A.R.T. meeting.
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