Smithy

Whee! Against what seemed like staggering odds (including my needing to be home for a signature) my two panettonnes from Gouter arrived today! I realized they're still wrapped in their swaddling, but even now the aroma is intoxicating. I'm so pleased they arrived in time for me to share with family and friends during the holiday travels. There will still be PLENTY for me.

Seems worth a try. I'm not sure the deli roast beef I buy sometimes for sandwiches has much of a Maillarded edge to it, though now that I think of it that may explain why it sometimes tastes "flat" to me.

I indulged myself recently and had ButcherBox send me a package that included a Sirloin Cap. 1.5 pounds. Looked irresistible. Yesterday I thawed and cooked it. They noted in the online instructions that it's a lean cut of meat so DON'T OVERCOOK IT. I coated it lovingly with a blend of chopped garlic mashed with rosemary, oregano, parsley, salt and olive oil, then browned it in a preheated cast iron pan. In the same pan I cooked it at 375F, uncovered, until it registered 120F. I pulled it out and let it rest while the potatoes finished cooking. The idea of pulling it such a low temperature was (a) not to overcook it and (b) knowing that the temperature would keep rising for a while as the heat redistributed and the meat continued to cook. Looks pretty good, doesn't it? I learned that the internal temperature of a 1.5 pound piece of meat won't rise nearly as much during resting as it would for a 5- or 10- pound roast. (I know. duh.) So it was really still quite rare, a bit rarer than I prefer. Good, though: and individual slices will lend themselves well to a quick sear in the pan. Years ago I had prime rib served that way: very high heat to develop an outer crust of delicious brownness, then a quick pan sear to get the slices done to order.

You need to correct that! Given where you live, it may not be possible to buy packaged gumbo (for instance, Zatarain's boxed mix) but you can get a good start on making your own by checking out this topic: eG Cook-off #3: Gumbo. Incidentally, @patti's gumbo has the quintessential dark roux. I don't think I've ever gotten mine quite so dark! Hers looks wonderful!

Indeed, it's a new one to me also! After I looked it up, I asked Mr. Google whether it equates to "zhuzh". Blew the AI's mind. But I gather they have similar meanings.

@Norm Matthews, what a great story - from start to finish. Thanks for posting about the cookbook, and the backstory.

I tried a different brand of tortillas for the new batch. Definitely more like want I want my tortillas to taste like! Not a hint of sweetness. Pliable (as were the first set). And yes, I think I have the technique down although I didn't try trimming to reduce excess tortilla -- and I should have. This thing that looks like a sock puppet was dinner last night. I seem to have forgotten a picture of the interior, probably because I wasn't crazy about the filling I'd concocted. Scrambled eggs with feta cheese and shredded cheddar with roasted red pepper that was the most nondescript cheese I've ever bought. I won't get it again. I added sour cream and salsa at the table, but I think this filling could have had it rolled in at the outset without falling apart. I'm making progress on the tortilla flavor, anyway.

I certainly can't. Mine seems to be stuck in transit. It's departed, then returned to, a city in Ontario.

I received another batch of giblets. This time they'd been allowed to thaw but were refrigerated. There was some question as to whether they'd still be good (the person giving them to me didn't know how long they'd been thawed) but I have a canine companion that I figured wouldn't be too fussy. The treatment was dead easy. I drained their juices (blood, basically) but didn't pat them dry; loaded them into the Instant Pot with enough buttermilk to cover; sealed; and pressure-cooked for 26 minutes with a very slow natural release (translation: I forgot about it while doing other things). The result was delicious. Some kind of foamy stuff had curdled into a fine coating on the pieces. There was a lot of free liquid. I strained out and saved the liquid, and kept the other pieces for my own purposes. The hearts and liver are good as they are. The gizzards -- well I didn't bother cleaning them first, so I'm sharing them with my buddy. I haven't taken pictures yet but this stuff will go well, chopped up and added to pasta. Or simply eaten as is. I'll add a photo or two next time I pull them out. Any suggestions on what I should do with the broth?

No tortilla press in the house, but I've gotten the idea from listening and watching that rolling is a crucial part of the lefse-making process.

Last weekend a friend of Swedish descent mentioned that she and the extended family were getting ready for their traditional Swedish Christmas feast. I don't remember all the dishes included, but she mentioned lefse. I learned that the duty of making lefse for the family gathering has descended to her. "Oh, really?" I asked. I told her about the Julebyen and how much I'd enjoyed the lefse there. In a later text exchange, I suggested that maybe she could give me some lefse lessons sometime. I repeat here her reply: The tortilla business cracked me up. She knew I'd just come from picking up this book by Hank Shaw and am hoping to learn tortilla making. "Focus on the easier stuff", she's saying! Still, I went by our own local hardware store that carries the equipment. They have the specialized griddle -- it looks a lot like an electric skillet, but with a flat surface. Around $170. I could probably use it for cooking tortillas also, but I don't know where I'd put it. They also sell the accessories: pastry cloth cleverly stretched over a large (18"?) disk and fastened with at the back with elastic -- now, that would be very useful for other purposes, including tortillas and pastry dough! -- the special sticks, the special rolling pin. $60? $70? I've forgotten, but this starter kit from Bethany Housewares has all the equipment I just described. I'll leave it all be, in favor of tortillas -- in fact, I think I'll get more use out of learning to make tortillas than lefse, because I'm on a burrito kick and my sweet tooth is really muted these days -- but I confess, that griddle and stretched pastry cloth are calling my name.

Nothing exotic about this, but it's a celebratory sandwich after my oven has finally (finally!) been repaired! One of the heating elements wasn't working, then a circulation fan needed to be replaced. It's taken 3-1/2 months of wrong or broken parts being shipped from the supplier, and at least 4 repair visits, but it's fixed! Meanwhile, back at the sandwich board, I have a lot of breads, cheeses and meats to use up from a party where folks didn't eat as much as I'd expected. Hence today's offering: (overtoasted) brioche bun, slices of ham, salami, cheddar and pepper jack cheese, lettuce after the cheese was melted. Mayo and mustard on both interior layers. Oh, and I managed to palm off some of this Danish Kringle on the repairman, who'd never heard of it and was delighted to try some. He was so delighted that I sent him away with more.

So how was it done? One of those side-cut can openers, or is it a special can?

The first time I had one of these, it was a luxury buy from my best friend's Colorado father. I don't know how he had learned about Racine, Wisconsin and its Danish kringles, but he had -- and he shared. I'm sure he ordered from this same bakery. Over the years, when I could, I'd buy one or two to share with family. Last weekend I was at a Trader Joe's in St. Paul, and scored one! It's tender and almondy and incredibly sweet. Here's a cutaway photo. For those who've never seen one of these: the oval is roughly 10" wide by 12" or 13" long, and about 4" thick. I've gotten away from sweets over the years, especially for breakfast, so I'll have to share this around. But it's delicious. I also stocked up on their chiles rellenos, and I bought another beef birria bowl. They didn't have the pork tamales I'd liked before, but I took a flyer on another type of tamale, and some burritos, and a chicken shawarma bowl, and maybe something else. I'll have to show them later. They're all loaded in the garage deep freeze. It was -20F when i got home, and I was in no mood to unpack, photograph, and then stow!

The dam has burst, and I've added yet another pair of cookbooks to my collection. What happened was, Hank Shaw (he of the blog Hunter Angler Gardener Cook) was wrapping up a nationwide book tour at last weekend's Chick of the Woods Holiday Forest Fair in Chaska, Minnesota. He was also selling cookbooks. Here's what he wrote on his blog about the presentation: I missed the presentation. It was -16F here that morning, and I took a long time to get going, and I arrived too late. But the greenhouses were still packed with foragers and crafts, and he was still there signing and selling books when I arrived. He seems like a lovely man. I enjoyed chatting with him, to the degree I could: the table was busy, and everyone was chatting -- with him, with each other. It was a good time. I came for his latest book: Those of you who have read any of the Camping, Princess Style topic know that my darling and I spent a lot of time in the southwestern United States, especially at this time of year. (If he were still alive, we'd have been long gone from Minnesota.) I do like the food. I like the cultural mix. I like the idea of "borderlands" where everything is mixed and shared, and lines are blurred. (Well, it's supposed to be. 'Nuff said.) Besides, I like Hank's writing. I've checked out some of his earlier books from the library. If I were a dedicated hunter, angler, gardener or forager I'd probably have bought some of them before now. This book is the first I've seen that looked like I could use it a lot...starting with making tortillas! The book is broken down by region, with stories. It's beautifully photographed (of course) and I love the inscription he wrote for me. Well. As I said, the dam had burst by that time. He was discounting the books. I looked at all four that were available, and decided that I probably could get good use from this one as well, given my love of fish and seafood: An example of a recipe I want to try: It will all make good reading, and teach me good techniques (I hope), and give me some good ideas.