All Activity

Beef mai fun

Picked up some fresh halibut and made homemade Halibut Fish and Chips in a Tempura Beer batter.

I have this one Bizarrely, I bought it in China. How it ended up here (in English), I have no idea. I have cooked from it, but a long time ago. I forget what. I'll have to go dig it out.

I mentioned here that my sister had been saving cookbooks for me from the collection of a dear departed cousin, who was an outstanding cook and avid book collector. There were far too many books to ship, so she delivered them when we could get together in April. Here's about half the stash she delivered, in no particular order: Seafood, which made a lot of sense for my California cousins and may not make much sense for me...but that's okay, I have 'em now. A celebrity chef: A sampling of ethnic cuisines: Baking, and nostalgic desserts: I've very much liked another book by Jane Butel: Finally, a couple of "local cookery" cookbooks. The first is a Junior League book, which comes as high recommendation for me: The other is a 2012 production by the Fresno Bee, the local newspaper where my cousins lived. This little magazine may have the most promise for immediate use, given the season. These recipes come from local businesses. These should give me a good boot to the backside to get cooking again!

I wanted to ask if the 50 pounder referred to the halibut or the zucchini. 🙂 Just ask @Shelby, ha. @Duvel, that Käsespätzle looks like what Mac 'n Cheese dreams of becoming when it grows up. We are boring. 🙂 The new Warba potatoes (a local craze, the farmstand got rushed when they first came out) are available at local farms so I made potato salad served with a roti chicken for a couple of nights. (I used to enjoy roasting a whole chicken but my husband is one of the early bird Costco shoppers and he sometimes grabs a $5 bird, the day-after ones.) Two nights of chicken + potato salad with local tomatoes and cukes (greenhouse, but very good). Then back to fajitas! Chicken, this time. We get tortillas from a local farm, a Mennonite woman who lived in Mexico for years.

I would too, although I'll note that yesterday when I started this topic I was looking at 3 pint-sized containers of cooked beans! 😄 They didn't suit either, at the time. I'm glad they work for Katie and her husband.

I just pulled my corned beef after an additional 12 hours at 140F. More tender texture than this morning. Good flavor. Hands-down better than its mate, that I hadn't frozen and that I didn't sous vide, but I do think age (keeping the other brisket cold but not frozen) has a lot to do with that. Howsomever...I'd have liked the meat a bit warmer. It appears that 140F, or maybe 135 by the time I sat down, isn't hot enough to suit me. Maybe it needed a quick microwave treatment? You can see in the photo that the fat still has a bit of a milky appearance. I wouldn't want it fully rendered, but a bit more transparent than here. There's a lot of the brisket left. I'll be able to experiment with a bit of warming to see what happens.

I'm not sure what you mean in this second sentence. The meat itself is drier? Drier than what? Since I think you're saying it seems a bit moister than without the brining?

@Katie Meadow I'd love your southwestern bean recipe if you're willing to share!

I am at my best in the morning, so I have learned to get up and get'er done. I usually hit the proverbial wall around 2 in the afternoon so I do my errands, housework and shopping first thing. Come 2:00, I have what I call my matinee; basically a toes up, on the deck in nice weather or inside if the weather is not so great. I read, or watch a movie, do crosswords and usually end up dozing off for a bit.

I like Harney & Sons fruit flavors, Fruit d'Alsace, Black currant, and Capri blends are some I purchase repeatedly, they are available in bags, I use loose tea for my iced tea. I don't drink these hot. They do have "iced tea" blends on their site, but I've not ordered those specifically.

Ha! In general, they group everything first by category - so there's the peppercorn section, the chilli section, the individual spice section, spice mix section, etc. and then alphabetically. Also, most of the employees are really well versed in the layout and can get you there really quickly. For a while now, they've also had a growing Modernist section!

We’re using Luzianne, either Family size or Gallon size bags depending on price and availability. For variety I will add one regular size flavored (currently Tazo Passion) tea bag along with the bigger one's.

One thing that has consistently been a life-saver is beans. I often make 1 package of RG bean.s, typically either Red Beans and Rice, or my version of southwestern beans. Mostly I use Domingo Rojo. We are always able to freeze a quart or more of every batch. When there's little else to cook or I'm not in the mood to lift a finger, this is a perfect solution. I just have to remember to defrost the beans. Then all that needs to be made is rice, which my husband always seems willing to do. Easy and satisfying. I try to have a couple of quarts of beans in the freezer at all times. The reason we are always able to freeze enough beans for a generous meal for 2 is that I don't make beans for guests. I have enough friends and relatives for whom beans don't work; my beans are not vegetarian. Some friends don't like beans, and some don't like spicy food. No problem.

@TdeV I wish you both the best on your medical stuff. It's bad enough when one person has medical crap, both is a whole different level. This is my favorite (gluten free because i have to be). Their non-gf options are always in costco. The gf one below shows up at Costco a few times a year.

My Summer obsession is tea and I'm trying different brands. Is there one that you is best? ATK found Tazo as their best bet but they didn't try every bran and right now the Tazo iced tea bags are not available.

Sausages (artichoke,mozzarella), with peppers, onion and tomatoes. And a "treat" of cheesy broccoli rice (partners been wanting broccoli with cheese sauce. For a man that had Very Limited vegetable love before me and has never been served any veg covered in cheese sauce by me, he was so happy.)

@YvetteMT, what brand is your favourite frozen pizza? (DH and I having some medical stuff, so we're eating pre-prepared stuff and I hate, hate, hate the options from our local grocery stores).

Over my salad making slump. Maybe. Romaine, red pepper, onion, pickle, turkey, radish, and pear gorgonzola dressing.

My fridge isnt far off from yours @Smithy (probably more condiments in mine.Its an unhealthy obsession) and the same ennui lives here. Freezers with a plethora of wild game, fish etc. And not a damned thing to eat/cook. Partner isn't picky by any stretch, I am the one that gets bored. (he seriously ate chicken breast, broccoli, and white rice as dinners for a year- a trainer had lined out options for a food plan and THAT was what partner decided on, I wanted to cry.) I got him to give me a list years ago as to what he really liked for dinners. When I get annoyed trying to think of what to make, I look at the list. When all else fails, its frozen pizza for both of us. If I really just cant, he gets leftovers and I might eat popcorn or a plate of fresh veggies. I've been going back thru really old food blogs and Clean Out Your Freezer threads for inspiration. Find something interesting and I put it on a sticky note-one will get tackled this weekend for next weeks meals- smoked elk roast. Tonight is leftovers-only because they need to be eaten-Id be happy with buttered crackers in front of the tv.

I made it up to Kalustyan's today to stock up on various peppercorns. Just to bring it to others in pictures, here is one aisle... Took me 1/2 hour to find the za'atar.

Years ago, when I was going through a period of self-doubt because of a couple of personal and business disappointments, a wiser man than me said that I should cut back on my big ideas and look for smaller things to accomplish, and those would give me some successes. IOW, little victories. Little victories allow for a rebuilding of self esteem, shows you that you can accomplish things, and form the building blocks, the foundation, for greater challenges and achievements. Years later, after Sweetie died, I was talking with my doctor and telling her that I've not been accomplishing much, procrastinating, and in general feeling poorly. She suggested taking on one or two small tasks a day, things that I'd usually do anyway and that I'd been avoiding, and not concern myself with bigger things. So, for example, instead of getting the car washed "tomorrow," I'd do it today, right now. Again, little victories. You set yourself up to succeed. You find that there's something positive to look forward to ... it's easier to look forward to something if you know you'll be successful. Doing this will help to assure here's "no cabbage left behind."

To answer your first paragraph's questions: I can't shed any light on either of those models. They claim to be able to come apart so you aren't committed to the V-shape, which I'd find quite annoying. I personally use Microplanes like @blue_dolphin's, a box grater, or a Moulinex. I assume storage is the reason you want something flat. In that case, I'd go with either the Microplanes or an old-fashioned flat hand grater like this one (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) which would store quite easily. Friends of mine still use that style and I find it works well.

Hard wood smoked pork shoulder 🤗 Pretty tasty !

Well, for what it's worth I got up and out the door for morning exercise today, came back with some ambition, and dealt with some of the produce in my refrigerator. I now have a batch of Easy Asian Slaw, along with more shredded cabbage and special dressing, made. It remains to be seen whether it will be yet another thing cluttering up the refrigerator or something I'll turn to, but I've dealt with that head of cabbage that's been lurking for weeks. I bought it after my last visit to my best friend's place SIX WEEKS AGO, when I noted that this was a delicious salad that I'd be making again and again. Ha. The trick for today may have been doing the work in the morning rather than waiting until afternoon lethargy could set in. Or maybe I'm just getting a reprieve. Maybe the sight of last night's Strawberry Moon (the farthest south for years, it barely cleared the trees here) reminded me that there are sources of wonder in the world still. Who knows? But keep those ideas coming, folks. Crackers and cheese, yes...although it isn't a good idea for the long run.