BS: Recipes - what are we eating?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Aug 20 - 08:17 AM

I remember life without a decent freezer. Things are better now.

Himself has gone camping for a couple of days, leaving me (gratefully) at home, so I'm eating girl food -- toast, cheese, salad and tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Aug 20 - 09:55 PM

Sometimes you have to just muscle through a tough time, and turning on the stove when it's so darned hot out is a struggle. But today I took out a pound and a half of top sirloin beef from the freezer, onions, peppers, and black beans that I cooked this morning, and made a batch of my "taco/nacho/burrito" mix. I made enough that I put a couple of jars into the freezer.

Tonight I used up some leftover restaurant tortilla chips and scooped up my "nachos" - the filling on the plate topped with some thawed leftover guacamole (plus some of my homemade thawed to even it out - the restaurant stuff was awfully spicy hot), sour cream, and a few dashes of Tapatio hot sauce.

The beans had soaked overnight so they simmered for about 90 minutes this morning then cooled and I also put several jars of them into the freezer. If I'm going to do this I might as well make extra for later.

Tomorrow I'll make the bread pudding.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Aug 20 - 11:00 PM

For a complete change and because I have 5 pounds of them I need to use I had a baked potato for dinner, served with sour cream, bacon, and chives. It was salad for lunch, and dessert this evening was a smoothie because I have some very ripe bananas to use. (Banana, big dollop of yogurt, a splash of milk, the rest of the bag of frozen blueberries, a little sweetener, and since I'm working on strengthening my fingernails, a teaspoon of dried gelatin.) It was at least 101^o today so the fact that I cooked anything is pretty phenomenal.

I have the end of a loaf of bread and a little in the freezer, enough to make a bread pudding tomorrow, and I have 3 cups of black beans soaking overnight. I'll cook beans tomorrow and freeze most of them, reserving some for a beef and bean mix I make that I use for nachos or burritos or tacos, depending on what kind of tortilla or chip I want to use with it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 06:10 PM

That's happened with lamb shanks here too. It amazing how stuff that you loved for its cheapness as well as its flavour suddenly gets all popular and expensive. It happened here with John Dory, one of my absolute favourite fish. Cheap as chips a few years ago, now so expensive that it's affordable only as a a rare treat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 05:27 PM

That’s often what I do with a leg of lamb, too, Steve.

Perhaps the most challenging hospitality-related task I routinely undertake is carving a bone-in leg of lamb. It ends up in collops, every time; my Dad, a master carver, would be ashamed. But I know several delicious lamb stews — one is even Italian! — and serving stew is a no-brainer — trivet on table, pot on trivet, Bob’s yer paternal relative.

It’s a source of great sadness to me that other Canadians have discovered the lamb shank, and now they are terribly expensive. I used to be able to buy a whole beast’s worth of shanks for about ten bucks, but now they cost about that much per each! I buy them anyway, and gnaw the bones. I don’t dare eat a lamb shank in public.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 09:10 AM

Nah, you can't tell me that a shoulder from the same beast as your leg doesn't taste better! Do feel free to send me one, however. Diced leg makes a superb Italian lamb stew... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 09:03 AM

If I could I would send you one Steve, I'm fairly confident it would challenge your viewpoint! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 08:51 AM

It must be a matter of regret for you that, while you were enjoying your leg of lamb, two other lots of people were enjoying shoulders from the same beast even more...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 07:16 AM

A good leg of Lamb is a thing of beauty.

The best I have ever had was from Calveys Butchers on Achill Island, County Mayo.

Across the road from the shop is a grass sward down to the sea, this is where the lambs are reared. The meat is slightly salted due to the proximity of the sea blowing salt onto the grassland.

The leg of lamb from there I would put alongside the best of meat from anywhere and be confident it would be the top one.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 07:11 PM

By the way, in m'humble the only way to cook a goodly piece of shoulder of lamb is very slowly. Chuck away those repressive cookery books that say "this many minutes to the pound and that many over..." etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 07:02 PM

Jos, oh yes, shoulder of lamb. I will not buy leg of lamb. Years ago, our butcher, with whom I'd cultivated a brilliant relationship (it helped that he was a bird and butterfly aficionado, as indeed am I, along with my penchant for wild flowers), bought his pork, free range, from Mrs Quicke MBE, her of Quicke's cheddar cheese in Newton St Cyres in Devon. She's a lovely lady is Mrs Quicke, which I can attest to from buying cheese from her in person from her lovely farm shop. A large part of Mrs Quicke's pigs' diet was the whey from her cheese making. I've never tasted pork that good before or since. Unfortunately, Mrs Quicke stopped keeping pigs, but our butcher tracked down another excellent source of pork. I never found out where he sourced his lamb (though here in Cornwall butchers nearly always source local), but it was amazingly good. Since he retired, I've been getting my lamb from a local man who farms his own sheep. His lamb is absolutely superb.

It has to be whole shoulder and it has to weigh in at at least six or seven pounds, or more. If you buy shoulder you absolutely must ensure that it's whole shoulder and that the fillet has been left in. I once bought a supermarket allegedly whole shoulder, only to find that that the fillet had been removed, presumably to be resold at a higher price.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 01:45 PM

I put big pieces of meat in the microwave to warm them up from fridge temp to room temp, thus saving energy because the wave is so efficient. Also, it doesn't hurt to kill germs which could get transferred to surfaces and to implements before cooking.

After the nuking, it's the meat that's lukewarm, not the bacteria, which have been boiled to death from the inside by the microwaves.
===============
Steve, your pork recipes sound delicious. Loved the pun about crackling.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 12:07 PM

Can I just put in a word for the shoulder of lamb, which, like the shoulder of pork, is far tastier than the leg.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 11:31 AM

The American "pork shoulder butt" is the upper, or butt, end of the pig's foreleg, including only the muscle and bone of the shoulder joint and upper back.

The pig's actual butt, or bum, is the ham.

(I also translate from French.)

I'm with Steve Shaw on the issue of pork lusciousness -- the shoulder wins by miles. Loin and leg roasts benefit hugely from smoking and curing, which is why ham is so much easier to find than a fresh leg roast of pork. It also explains all the variant forms of bacon, of which my favourite is Canadian-style peameal ...

Hmmmm. Let's talk about bacon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 08:30 AM

The cut of pork matters a lot. Leg and fillet are more or less tasteless. The fattier the cut, the better the flavour. I always use shoulder for a good roast to feed the masses, preferably on the bone but even boned and rolled is fine. Always slow-roasted for hours, with a boost at the end to crackle the crackling. As a gourmet for two, you can't beat belly on the bone. Good pork sausages are made from shoulder. One of my favourites is the herby, cured Italian pork jowl (guanciale), for a peerless carbonara. It's extremely fatty but begod it tastes wonderful. Free-range pork, preferably not the boring Landrace breed, always tastes much better than Belsen-house pork, and has a much nicer texture. A thick-cut pork chop, baked with mushrooms, lemon, fresh thyme and cream, done the Delia way, is a thing of beauty too. I cut the rinds off and freeze them to go into my boeuf en daube when the weather turns cold.

Discussions about how to get good crackling can get very heated. For me it's good, deep scoring with a Stanley knife, just seasoning without oil and a 15-minute hot boost at the end of roasting. Shoot.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 07:27 AM

I noticed the butt=shoulder too. I thunk they meant Any really big piece of pig.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 07:10 AM

Six hours in the slow cooker should kill off most of the germs, though - I wouldn't bother with the microwave.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 06:48 AM

"Put the meat in the microwave and nuke it at medium power about 5 minutes to kill the germs and make it lukewarm."


Leeneia, I think you will find that germs absolutely delight in being lukewarm!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 01:33 AM

"Pork butt or shoulder (same thing)"

I thought "butt" was what Americans call the rump - or does it also refer to the shoulder? I'm confused.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 12:45 AM

We still don't have an oven, so I invented Pork Calypso, which is sort of Caribbean. It doesn't have the red pepper of Caribbean seasoning, and it's not grilled or roasted, so I gave it a new name.

Pork Calypso

Pork butt or shoulder (same thing) . Select the flattest cut.
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
many grinds of black pepper

Line a reasonably-sized slow cooker with a Reynolds slow-cooker liner. Put the meat in the microwave and nuke it at medium power about 5 minutes to kill the germs and make it lukewarm. Set it in the slow cooker and rub the spices and black pepper onto top. Place it in the cooker so as much of the surface is pressed against the pot as possible. Add 2-4 tablespoons water.

Cover and cook on Low till very tender, maybe six hours. Remove carefully* from pot and let cool about 40 minutes. (set a timer) Refrigerate on a trivet till next day and discard fat.   Slice and serve with pasta, using the cooking liquid to make a sauce. Or make sandwiches. Delicious!

I wonder whether one should remove the cooking liquid with a basting bulb halfway through cooking. Hmmm...

Sweet potatoes and pineapple go well with this, but not in the same dish.

The beauty of the slow cooker is that its gentle heat does not destroy the spices.
===================
Removing the meat can be dangerous, because the bag can break and dump hot food on a person. But I don't want to put that hot, heavy pot in my fridge. So I set the cooker in the sink. Then I gather the top of the bag together and slip a steel bowl the same diameter as the slow cooker under the bag as I lift it out. I think this is safe. I leave the food in the bag and in the steel bowl to cool in the fridge.

Over the years, I have used many slow-cooker bags, and only one ever broke. One was enough to convince me to be careful.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 04:12 PM

It's the pope's nose on a turkey at Christmas. I know, because Terry Wogan said so. Once your chicken/turkey has rested for a few minutes, you, the chef, go into the kitchen on your own to remove and devour said appendage. There is a certain way of pulling off the "nose" so as to also remove an immoral amount of the skin just behind it. You are perfectly justified in doing this, and the beauty is that no-one will know that you've done it. It makes your aperitif glass of white wine taste twice as good. Lines the stomach too, so to speak. Shhh...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 09:35 AM

Sorry, that wasn't Steve's question but Raggy's. But the answer stands.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 09:33 AM

The oyster bone was a particular treat for a small child in my family, and the chicken's tail was the parson's nose, or the Pope's nose, or (when we were feeling extra ecumenical) the Moderator's nose.

Now that I carve the chicken, the oysters and the Moderator's nose are MINE. Himself gets the legs.

Answering Steve's question about the egg yolks: They went into the rich French pastry I made for Saturday's sour-cream cherry tart. It's a fairly ridiculous recipe with a quarter pound of butter and three yolks, and a damnable nuisance to roll out, but I've never found anything better for a fruit-and-custard pie.

The cherries were the light red Montmorency type known around here as "pie cherries", and I made the custard with crème fraîche (now available in Perth County!) instead of American-style sour cream, and it was boffo.

I probably won't make another pie until Thanksgiving, when I will use the frozen remainder of the pumpkin pulp yielded by last year's Hallowe'en shrunken heads. For that, English-style plain pastry is best.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 09:08 AM

Decades ago when I was still working as a chef we used to roast up to a 100 chickens at a time.

The chefs would descend upon them like a plague of locusts when they came out of the oven to pick out the oysters.

The clientele NEVER saw them!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 08:59 AM

We called it the pope's nose.

I read in a Chinese cookery book that the best meat on the chicken is in the middle joint of the wing. I still like thighs and those nuggets the Shaws wrassle over. Those go to the person who gets the chicken out of the oven.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 05:39 AM

No she isn't, though one can never rule out the occasional rummaging in my history. I neither know nor care! I've always felt that investigating your partner's online interactions would be a certain path to misery.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 04:14 AM

Is Mrs Steve not a mudcatter then? Otherwise you've given the game away now.

(My mother always had the parson's nose, but didn't say why.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 06:15 PM

The thighs, wings and underneath meat are the best. On every roast chicken there are two little oysters of underneath meat that we wrestle each other for in our house. But Mrs Steve has yet to discover the sheer joy of the parson's nose, which is by far the tastiest bit of a chicken, but which no-one in our house has ever discovered, apart from me. Long may that remain so.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 06:14 PM

I've been thinking Charmion ...........an unusual event for me I might add! .......... if you made Meringues what did you do with the egg yolks?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 04:06 PM

I fully agree with Jos, the thighs are the tastiest part of a chicken.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 04:01 PM

Neither the chicken breast nor the legs are the best part. The best part is the thighs. And always keep the skin on, it's the other best part.
And it's good for you.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 03:37 PM

I roasted a chicken yesterday, so today I must make chicken salad.

I've been told that "most people" prefer the breast meat, so I guess that's yet more proof (as if I needed it) that we're weird chez nous -- we like the legs and the wings best, and eat the breast last. So it often becomes chicken salad, especially in summer.

Cold roast chicken breast, sans skin, cut up in half-inch cubes
chopped celery
chopped apple (don't peel it)
finely sliced onion
thyme (dried or fresh, your choice)
garlic salt
freshly ground black pepper
mayonnaise thinned with vinaigrette

The amount (by volume) of apple & veg should be equal to or a bit greater than the amount of meat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 07:49 AM

Hmmm... Basil in excess has a licoricey flavor I don't like, but I am always curious to try new things.

Mom used a knife to chiffonade other herbs. Just basil has to have scissors.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 07:48 AM

Yep Raggy. I've neither made this in a while nor had close to the same success with the plant (and have no basil of any sort planted this year) but the best pesto we ever made used the Greek Basil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 07:30 AM

Good on you Charmion, told you it wasn't difficult!!

Anyone ever had Greek Basil, it has much smaller leaves than normal but with an intense flavour. I much prefer it when on the rare occasions I can get hold of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 06:51 AM

No, I would add the grated chocolate once all has cooled down. If you serve with whipped cream, just sprinkle on top of the cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 03:57 AM

Snipping herbs with scissors in a cup or jug saves washing up. The exception is basil. Keep the baby leaves to sprinkle on the finished dish but tear the bigger leaves with your fingers and add them just before the end. And always include the leaf stalks of most herbs. Just cut them up small, that's all.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 03:27 AM

I use scissors for most herbs. Nobody taught me, I worked it out for myself.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Aug 20 - 10:42 PM

Son failed. I whacked it harder and heard it pop, then it was bare-hand openable.

Something came up on another thread ... Were any of you taught to use scissors rather than a knife, with basil?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Aug 20 - 10:38 AM

Jennie, I always try to avoid crappy stuff, which is sometimes surprisingly expensive.

The chocolate idea will appeal to Himself, who would eat a bushel basket if it came with chocolate on it. Do you add that when the meringue is still warm?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 10:10 PM

Charmion, a little finely-grated chocolate atop your pav is not bad either. Of course it needs to be good quality, preferably dark if you like it......not cheap crappy stuff.

(Places tips of fingers together in front of mouth and blows kiss to pav)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 08:09 PM

Raggytash, I made the Pavlova and it was boffo. It was also easy, as advertised.

I started with a recipe by Nigella Lawson, but that did not take me far — for one thing, I had only three egg whites and she wanted four, but a little arithmetic fixed that. Also, we had no whipping cream, and I had neither the time nor the inclination to make a fruit sauce, so I dressed it with vanilla ice cream and sweetened thawed strawberries.

I can definitely see myself doing that again.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 03:41 PM

Yesterday I started with the recipe for Jansson's Temptation from Donuel's link back in June, then added garlic, leek, courgette, a bit of left-over cauliflower and some fresh herbs.
Not that I'm wedded to the 'five-a-day' mantra, but I like to add a few extras.
I made a lot, so guess what I'm having tonight.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 03:15 PM

It was so hot yesterday I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 11:42 AM

It's so hot right now in Texas I could put meringues on parchment and slide it onto the afternoon hot pavement to cook.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 09:23 AM

We've had something like this for opening the odd stuck jam jar or bottle lid for over 20 years and while not used often, it's been very useful to have around.

We also have an electric jar opener somewhere but I took it out of circulation. It's beyond me why but both parents were capable of thinking it was the tin opener and getting it quite stuck - I had some struggles freeing it.

Oh and I don't know if others do it but a family thing anyway. When you do pass the item with the top to someone else and they open it with ease, you say "I must have loosened it".

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 08:32 AM

Scotsman went into the bakers shop. Pointing to a confection in the window, he asked the baker, "Is that cake or a meringue?"

"No, you're right, it's a cake..."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 08:00 AM

Well Charmion, how did you get on with making Meringues?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 01:44 PM

Go for it Charmion, it really is very easy ..............honest!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 01:42 PM

Something about the contents of a jar that is so reluctant to open - just so it wasn't swollen and shut!

I have one of those rubber-lined multi-size lid grip things that I bought while I was in the throes of PMR - weak hands were a feature of it; I use a pliers on small bottle screw tops if it won't open. I suppose the "pierce the lid" tip would work - just such a hazard to work around that now sharp metal. Rubber gloves work. I have a flat thin rubber disk that I think was meant as a sink stopper but that also works on some jars. That doorway method sounds effective but I'd be afraid of leaving a mark on the wood.