Smithy

So. Yesterday after turning on the A/C and lying under the fan for a while, then taking a shower, I girded my figurative loins and went to work chopping the washed produce. I learned -- and this was news to me but maybe it won't be for those of you who routinely live in hot climates -- that even a few hours of lying on the counter is enough to start wilting herbs, leafy greens, and even carrots! My latest bouquets of cilantro and parsley got a few hours of soaking in water, then they were put back into the refrigerator with their stems in water. I'll deal with them later. The previously cut herbs made their way into last night's stir fry. This was a clean-out-the-produce-drawer stir fry. Red bell pepper, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, kale, green onion, jalapeno, mushrooms, chopped parsley and cilantro from a few days ago. Some of the shredded chicken I'd originally bought for the Peruvian Aji de Gallina. The sauce was the package of stir fry sauce you see above. (Incidentally, its "best by" date was in 2024. I know I bought it over a year ago, on our last trip out here.) If I'd had a package of cooked rice ready to hand I've have put this concoction over the rice. I wasn't interested in actually cooking any rice. I wasn't interested in rooting through the belly box storage to see if any such packages were lurking in there. I decided that if I needed a starch I'd use bread. It was plenty as it was. No bread, rice, potatoes or other starch needed. Well, of course there was wine. 🙂

I think you are. Unless the freezer isn't really keeping things frozen, I think the loss of quality is the first and most likely outcome of overlong frozen storage. The USDA agrees, so far at least. This is what their website has to say about frozen food storage. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/freezing-and-food-safety I did have some sort of frozen seafood -- was it lobster? shrimp? -- go off in my freezer one year, but that was about 40 years ago with a refrigerator I'd bought for $10. It had come from someone's hunting shack and had a bullet hole through the side that had been plugged with solder. The aroma of the overlong-kept seafood was intense. Cooking didn't improve it. I threw it away.

Reach. Grasp. And what the heck was I thinking during those recent shopping trips?? Now I have to do something with this stuff! Starting with washing and chopping it, and right now it's so hot that I just want to lie under the air conditioner. I broke down and turned it on a little while ago. In other news: I remembered today that I'd forgotten to show you my Easter treat, purchased some time ago in a fit of self indulgence. Poor bunny should have been in cold storage. You could say it lost its temper. Ears tasted good anyway. I still have about half of this one, now in the refrigerator.

I hope he was good at catching things thrown to him!

I thought of you and this conversation when I read today's "Luann" comic strip. 😀 https://www.gocomics.com/luann/2025/04/22 And thanks to @Shelby for continuing to enable us!

My darling and his first wife ran a restaurant for a while on a resort in Northern Minnesota. They'd buy whole rib roasts with the bones still on, and she would cut the ribs off (with generous amounts of meat attached), retie the roast to the rack and roast it all, then save the cooked ribs as the rest of the roast was sold as prime rib. Every so often, when they had enough ribs saved up, they'd advertise "All you can eat Texas ribs". Of course it was a big seller. Their trick to not running out? A generous salad bar, and plenty of "cooking time" for the already-cooked ribs to be warmed, so that most customers filled up on salad and bread first. 😀 I should perhaps explain that in Minnesota at least, "ribs" means by default pork ribs. "Texas ribs" is the term for beef ribs. It may exclusively by a Minnesota thang. Of course, when you're in Texas it's the other way around. We used to get funny looks when we'd ask in Texas for Texas ribs, and after a few corrections along the lines of "you mean you want RIBS" we learned. (Similarly, I used to be baffled by the label "California burger". I mean, don't all burgers automatically come with lettuce and tomato, and maybe pickle?) Thank you very, very much for this tip. I have a lot to work with here, and now it won't go to waste.

As @ElsieD said, it looks amazing. Thanks for the link to that video -- and the warning about the audio volume! Maybe I'll try making this sometime. He had me at flaming the marinade. 😄 I was intrigued by his explanation that the alcohol "cooks" protein and that's why you flame it off. I know in other applications it intensifies and enriches the sauce flavor, but I hadn't thought about its effect on protein structure.

I'm a person whose reach routinely exceeds her grasp. Sometimes that's good -- it stretches one to have ambitions -- but sometimes it simply leads to overloaded freezers and pantries. That was true even before my darling died, but now that I'm cooking for one (and with a reduced appetite at that!) it can just mean a lot of extra food carried around. I mentioned earlier that I'd packed this Princessmobile in haste and packed as much of the household freezer contents as I could. Yesterday, Easter, a feast day, I decided that the beef ribs I'd bought for a special occasion would have to come out and be cooked. It was Easter. I wasn't throwing a feast for anyone else, but I didn't know when I'd manage to do so. I pulled out this carefully vacuum-packed, cherished rack of beef ribs from a favorite meat market in Duluth. We'd never managed to cook it. How long had it been there? Oh. Why did we buy so much food, and then not use it? I can't answer that, really. Reach vs. grasp. Ambition vs. reality. At any rate, this giant package of ribs has been along for the ride, or sitting at home, for far too long. I'm happy to report that my vacuum packing had held well, and there was no sign of freezer burn. That's not bad for 3-1/2 years. I'm pretty sure the initial ambition was to try a low, slow barbecue method like good Texas 'cue, inspired by Cooper's in Llano, Texas. That's probably why I bought it in the first place. We have the proper grill at home. I'm not set up for grilling where I'm currently parked. I decided not to let that stop me. I had to figure out how to cook that rack. What was the biggest pan I had? My Sur la Table Dutch Oven almost made it. I had to cut off a corner of the ribs to cram them in. Below the ribs were stalks of (incredibly fibrous) celery and some of the baby potatoes I'd cooked a few nights ago. Low and slow. I got the oven to register around 275F, more or less (lower than the gauge indicates) and left the meat to cook for some hours. Did I mention that the rack was frozen when I started? This was a spur of the moment thing. Our erstwhile manager @Pam R wrote about cooking a roast without thawing it first, way back in 2008. It does work. That Dutch oven is about as good as it gets in this Princessmobile. When the meat started looking and acting like it was cooked, I rooted around and found the only thermometer I'd packed for the trip. The results: I've read that barbecue judges say that bones pulling out cleanly means overcooked meat. At least, they say that in pork competitions. I assume they say it in beef competitions. I respectfully disagree. This was not dry, tough or stringy. It was delicious and tender. And it pulled away from the bone cleanly. Still, it's a LOT of meat. I'd have happily fed this to a crowd, and that may have been the original plan. Maybe I'll get more and throw a party when I get home! But it will be a while before I get through this myself. This serving: ..had these leftovers, along with the other two ribs wrapped in foil. I ate maybe half the meat from the first rib yesterday. I just finished the rest for tonight's dinner. I'll have to think about what to do with the juice and the fat from the pan. (As I write, a day later, that upper layer has congealed and turned white.) You know what? It doesn't have the wonderful flavor of slow Texas 'cue done over mesquite charcoal, but it's pretty darned good. Tender. Beefy. I'd feed this to any meat-eater without shame. But I will try doing it at home over charcoal to see how the wood can improve the flavor.

Thanks for showing us some Mexican wines. I'm only a few miles from the border, but currently overscheduled so not planning to cross the border any time soon. When I next do, I'll take a list of wines to look for in their shops!

Why am I not surprised? 😁

I've been wondering if the truly delicious restaurant tortilla shells were fried instead of baked. Thanks for that. Since I'm not set up for deep frying and my $2 thrift store find is supposed to be a way around that, I'll try the oil trick. So far you, @rotuts and @Dave the Cook have suggested it. That's strong guidance!

I've forgotten how you cook them? Fried? (I personally am fond of their byproduct, but I've never tried eating it.)

I wish I'd seen this before trying the tortilla bakers tonight, but now at least I've tried them with plain, fresh flour tortillas. I'm still getting to know this oven and may have overcooked the first shell slightly. It holds its shape well after baking, though. Tonight's dinner: Meh. Not impressed with the flavor of the shell itself -- and maybe the advertisement that this brand 'doesn't puff" is not a good thing. I'll try Dave's suggestion next time around, to see if that helps with the flavor.

I'll have chances to try the tortilla bakers again soon. This morning I attended an event close to the Sprouts "farmers market" and parked in their lot. By way of thanks, when the event was over, I went into Sprouts. I really have wanted bulgur. Resolutions to work through beans and rice first have gone out the window, and I was right there at -- as far as I know -- the only place in town I can get bulgur. What did I see first? A whole display rack of tortillas! Corn. Wheat. Many sizes. Many brands. Was it time to get more? I wandered through the store and left the tortillas for the time being. Sprouts' produce section is beautiful. I didn't really need produce, except that I've been jonesing for nice crunchy cabbage. The gravitational pull was strong. I said "yes" to the cabbage, some kale, and -- because I'd dealt with the prior bouquets of cilantro and Italian parsley -- another bouquet each of those. The olive stand caught my eye. Look! They also had salt-cured capers! I'm nearly finished with the stuff I packed. I know there's another huge jar waiting for me at home. I thought I'd picked up a package anyway, but since it isn't in my bag now I must have changed my mind. I picked up the bulgur that I'd come in for in the first place. Then I wandered the other aisles. The olive oils looked interesting. Mine is getting low. I kinda wanted to buy both types, but I settled for the one you see on the right. Ounce for ounce it's more expensive, but it's from an olive variety I don't normally see...and the bottles are plastic. Better for travel than glass bottles, although I've plenty of those on board. I went back by way of the tortillas. What the heck. And then, when I went to the checkout line, I was seduced by a sample of this chocolate, grated atop a dairy-free yogurt that turned out to be pretty good (coconut cream based) with blueberries. I skipped the yogurt but got a chocolate bar. On my way to yet another errand, I ran into the nearby Albertson's for "just a few things" and came staggering out with enough pet supplies and coffee to last me until I get home, I hope. Well, most of the way home. I have been avoiding the urge to "panic-buy" against the price rises due to anticipated / threatended tariffs, but I do love my coffee. Starbuck's Sumatra coffee, specifically. I bought several large bags of it. I wonder whether the supposed "sale price" shown here is really a price reduction? Albertson's usually is more pricey than the Fry's where I usually shop. I wouldn't put it past them to post a "normal" price that's very high and then reduce it as a "sale" price. Exhibit A: This bread is normally in the $4.50 - $5 range at Fry's. I left it alone here. On the other, other hand, this was a pretty good price for this oversized jar of peanut butter. I'll be relying on it heavily soon. I bought it.

Fat might help. I did try dampening one with water a little bit as I patted it into the mold. That's the one that split. 😄 At any rate, corn tortilla experiments will have to wait a while. Probably a long while, given my rough travel plans and today's shopping expedition.