Our Picks

Rather than bump up an old topic, I am starting this new one after reading and posting in the topic started by gfron1.
We had some fun in a thread last year about odd gadgets (and I have more than a few) with photos posted and folks guessing what specific task the gadget was designed to do.
Here's one that no one who has seen it has ever guessed the purpose. After demonstration, they usually say, Dang!
I will post it in use later today.

Hello all, I need help figuring out which part of the sichuan peppercorns I bought to use. From what I've read, I think I'm supposed to use the hulls rather than the black seeds. Toast the hulls and grind them up, correct?  This is for use in my fave dish, mapo tofu. Thanks for your help! 
 
(Well, that didn't work. I guess I don't know how to upload a photo. Nuts. Maybe I don't need a photo? Maybe just tell me whether to use the hulls or the black seeds, or both?)

Wrights is city bacon, and it's not especially smoky (and hardly smoky at all compared to Benton's, Broadbent's or Father's.) I don't think "horrible smoke flavor" that reminds someone of "the scent of an ashtray" is "the perfect way" to describe smokier bacon. And it's certainly not the way I'd describe Wright's bacon. If DDF got packaged that smelled/tasted that way, it was a defect and he got a bad batch.
 
Good country bacon smells and tastes like a campfire. It's beautiful.

But +1 on the prices for Benton's. Their bacon isn't expensive at all and it tastes delicious. Father's and Broadbent are also relatively inexpensive (and I love Father's country hams). The only problem is that while the product is cheap(ish), the shipping costs can be high. So it's best to place a big order and spread the shipping costs over a bunch of product. Speaking of which, lookie what just showed up on my doorstep...
 
 

 
 
"End slices" are a tremendous value at $5 a lb. Some can be sort of gnarly looking, and they tend to be fattier than the leaner "proper" bacon, but they're ideal for sandwiches or making lardon or whatever application where you don't really care what it looks like. And frankly, I eat them just like normal bacon since I'm not precious about how the slices look. An even better value is the "bacon seasoning" which are the fatty tips that get sliced off the ends of the belly to make the rest of it easier to slice. They're a paltry TWO DOLLARS A POUND. I use those to make the Momofuku cookbook's ramen broth (which calls for a pound of Benton's) and as a seasoning for beans and greens. Pressure cook them with a couple quarts of water, and it makes for a great bacon stock to cook whatever you want with. (Sometimes I add kombu for a bacon dashi.) I do the same thing with Father's ham hocks, which are also dirt cheap. but I digress...

In my research on historic Ozark cooking I have repeatedly seen recipes for Corn Pone. And recently I sat down with @kayb and we discussed what they were. On one hand I see recipes for unleavened corn bread, almost always dropped by spoon into hot lard. On the other hand it was thought that pone referred more to the technique of cast iron baked, or possibly even just an oval shape. Googling definitions and recipes doesn't really give me any more confidence in an answer. For your etification, here's a potato pone recipe I found in the Little Rock historic library. 1890. I'm sure there are plenty of people who have family memories of this... @andiesenji?

bagel sandwich
 

Later that night we are all feeling pretty full, but I was getting antsy and saw a bowl of poor kumquats sitting around drying out, so i took over the kitchen and made kumquat moonshine marmalade. I used my patented technique of removing seeds (cut, pinch, twist) and then just made a straightforward marmalade finished with the moonshine we were gifted at the talk the night before.

Then because I was still antsy I made a lemon curd which I worked into an ice cream base, and then we made a fresh bowl of lemon cream ice cream. I finished it by making marshmallow fluff and then topped it with the marmalade. It was pretty good.
 
The next day I drove over to Little Rock, which is a gorgeous drive btw, to the Little Rock Central Library which houses a rare documents collection for the Ozarks. My primary goal was to lay hands on the oldest known cookbook from the Ozarks, but the visit turned out to be far better than I imagined. By searching their database for Food, Hunting, Game, Crops, etc, I was brought out all sorts of documents. Here's an old envelop...I love the penmanship of the time.

And the oldest was this one from 1822. The writer was homesteading in a very rural area. The letter talked about interactions/trading with the indigenous people, and learning to hunt, and such.

I was amazed that I was allowed to touch the actual documents. They had a person standing behind me the whole time but I was allowed to remove the paper from the sleeves to examine things more closely. This letter talked about the hunting and fishing in the area, which gave me a good sense of what meats they valued.

and finally they brought me Chicora's Help to the Housekeeper. I was less impressed with the book than I expected but still some important stuff. I've been told this was the last book to use paragraph instructions for recipes instead of list format.

Here are some standards of Ozark cuisine:

This page is a bit more intersting

Two things to point out. First is eel. Yes, we have eel in our state rivers. No one that I've found so far is catching them for food, but they were in the olden days. The second thing to note is halibut. No, there are no halibut in local rivers, but interestingly my historian friend on the first day had already explained this. He said that it was common for immigrants from other areas to come to town and make their favorite recipes using local ingredients, and in many cases the name would stick throughout time. The other thing I learned is that trout, which are raised all over the area, were introduced in the 1950s, but did not exist prior to that. Largemouth, spoonbill, drum, suckers, goggle eye and perch would have been common prior to 1950.

Around Christmas time, for the past four years, my boyfriend and I have made it a tradition to make a cheese fondue at home. While the fondue always results in something that is quite good, we can never seem to get the consistency right. In the end we usually end up with a pretty soupy concoction and a huge lump of melted cheese at the bottom of our fondue pot. We just can’t get seem to get the liquid ingredients and the cheese to unite and form a wonderful, smooth, creamy mixture. Are we not keeping the fondue on a sufficiently high temperature? Or is it just a matter of not stirring the mixture long enough over a steady heat? Please advise…it has been four years and while our relationship has improved…our fondue has not.

I hope dredging up an old thread topic is not frowned upon, but I just tried some Quillo Fried Egg flavored Potato Chips, from Spain, so qualifies as international flavor.   Picked them up on whim at World Market.  They taste Just Like fried eggs to my palate.   I like them.  $3.99 a bag, smallish bag.  The other flavors stocked were White Truffle and Spanish Ham.  I'm planning my return trip to grab those for a try.  I still have a coupon. 

It was the Old Russian New Year this week, so we celebrated with Russian party food and fortune-telling.
 
As I'm forbidden from making the classic dishes, I was relegated to dessert, booze and chiromancie.
 
I dug out the old standby, the Medovik I put together a few years ago with help from the many fine minds here at eGullet, but played around with the presentation a little to make it more wintery.
 

 
I used pine honey this time, though, so the honey flavour was a lot more pronounced.  

Two TJ's items that may be of limited interest

 
The 2016 Hillersden New Zealand Pinot Gris is a very acceptable, food-friendly, white wine for $3.99.  It's surely a limited-time offering but worth snagging if you see it and enjoy such wines.
The Bloom Avocado Honey is a local product to my area and the Bloom website says their honey is being sold at TJ's in Southern California.  The 16 oz jar was $7.99.  The label says it has subtle hints of avocado.  I can't say I can taste avocado specifically but it has a definite savory note and quite a deep color. 
 
They also had lots of the Organic Brown Rice Treats that @MelissaH learned were being discontinued.
I forgot to look for the pancake bread. 

Grilled Eggplant with Tomatoes, Torn Croutons and Lots of Herbs from Six Seasons p 236

The eggplant was nice but those tomato were the star of the show.  
 
I let some chickpeas sit in the vinegar/tomato juices mixture in the mixing bowl and added them to my plate so I could call this dinner. 

The recipe says to let the dish sit for a few minutes to let those same juices soak into the croutons.  I gave half of them the soak time and added a few more crispy ones at the end. I prefer crispy.  

I just grabbed this on a whim at the local Hispanic meat market. It really is wonderful. Tastes of avocado, chile and lime. A touch of garlic and salt.
What really interesting is all of the kids and Mrs. Meshugana all said it reminded them of something from India. No one could place it exactly...

Inspired by @shain's photos from last week, I made kachapuri yesterday.  Meaty one for my nephew
 

 
Proscuitto and egg for my niece
 

 
The adults all had plain egg and cheese
 

Green Champa Garden 
 

Veggie rolls 

Veggie pad Thai

 
Larb
 
 

Last Fall we debuted our Apple Cook-Off and we were not disappointed.  From Gravensteins to Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Northern Spy and Pink Lady, we presented you with Apple Springrolls, Apple Butter, Apple Tartlets, Roast Pork with Apples, Apple and Chestnut Stuffing and a concoction of Apple Juice, Apple Cider and Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey.   (Click here http://forums.egulle...cook-off-index/ for the complete eG Cook-Off Index).

Lentil soup. Crispy noodles. Lemony gremolata.
 
 

NYE dinner with cousins and friends. 
I brought Brined and Roasted Almonds from Six Seasons and a variation on @JAZ's Sweet & Spicy Walnuts using the Baharat from Shaya.  
The Tuscan Grape Bread from Diana Henry's How to Eat a Peach that I made previously and was less than thrilled with was thinly sliced, toasted and served with some Pt. Reyes Blue. 

 
I also made the Collard Dolmades with Sweet Potato Yogurt from Deep Run Roots.  Photo from a previous post:

 
My cousin made the Broiled oysters with arugula purée and Champagne sabayon from the New Year's Eve menu in The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook
 
 
At this point, we moved over to the dining room and my Champagne consumption increased so no more photos.  From the same Silver Palate menu as the oysters, my cousin made the Spinach & Bacon Salad with a warm Champagne Vinaigrette and the Nutted Wild Rice to accompany broiled lobster tails with garlic butter.
After a break, dessert was homemade lemon buttermilk sorbet and Christmas cookies. 
 
                                                          

From my refrigerator filter cartridge package so still food related!
 

 
 Let’s not mince words.

I usually take 30 gms of coffee beans (ground) and a cup of water (200 ml) with a temperature of 90 degrees C to make my Espresso. But the thing is, the bitterness is so strong and the taste of the espresso is way off. I have experimented with different combinations. For example, I tried with 25, even 22 gms of coffee beans. But, I always missed out the ideal combo. I usually stir it for 20 seconds, not more. And, I use the frothing wand that is common in espresso machines to steam my milk. I don't know how long we are supposed to steam though. But, for me, it won't take more than 10 seconds. I don't know when I will be able to make an ideal espresso. Can someone please help?

Pulled a bag of odd pieces of pork side rib left over from another BBQ in the spring.
Marinated with hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, 5-spice powder, soy sauce and sat in the fridge from yesterday.
Roasted in the oven while I worked in the garden. Steamed gai lan then quickly sauteed with ginger and drizzled with oyster sauce.
Supper was good!
                                                         

@liuzhou, I love congee, but never think to make it.   Yours looks so good. Comfort food. 
 
Moe wanted something on NY Day  to hold him over until dinner.   
 

Fresh baked bread just out of the oven so I made him a little snack of buttered baguette
olives and Prosciutto.  

So my wife and I finally made it to the new incarnation of Kopitiam.  We went there once when it was in the old space, which was basically a closet with 4 counter stools about 2 feet from the register and were underwhelmed, but now that they have moved into a much larger space in the LES and have received TONS of great press, we decided to give it another try.
 

@Smithy
 
they talk about 12 breeds of pigs
 
then this :
 

 
also
 

 
they also have several pages on cured hams of the world . 13 types  2 pages on bacon types , two pages on lard !
 
they failed to mention any cured hams from the USA, so the book is not perfect after all
 
after studying the book , you might eat less meat , but much better meat for a given budget.
 
I have a visit to the Galloway's on my to do list , and have given up on veal for Blanquette du Veau .
 
win some, loose some.

Sourdough with Pressure Caramelized Rye Berries
 
I love pressure-caramelized rye as an inclusion for sourdough. I think this loaf was particularly successful because of a very long cold proof, 48 hours in the refrigerator. Also because I ate it without letting it cool all the way down, which I guess makes me a bad person. It was among the most flavorful loaves I've ever produced.
 

I need to show you the greatest fork in the world for stirring large batches of mashed potatoes after adding the milk and butter. It's a beauty - solid and heavy. My mother used it for the same purpose.