Smithy

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.

That's vintage stuff, @Shelby!

Bumping this up because I had eggplant involtini the other night that showed me just how good this stuff can be. The restaurant in question was Rinata, in St. Paul, MN. (If you're ever in the area, I recommend you make the opportunity to eat at Rinata. Wonderful food! Excellent staff! The appetizer in question was eggplant involtini, which the menu says is The exterior of each roll was firm, not tough: with some bite, almost crisp. I can't remember whether I thought it was fried or baked. The thing I learned is that my previous efforts at making rolled eggplant anything used much too thickly sliced eggplant: this was probably 2 mm thick, and I think my thinnest attempts have been along the lines of 1/4" (more like 6 mm). I seem to be on a kick of rolled foods lately, given my determination to get burrito-rolling (and filling) technique right. The eggplant is another challenge to enjoy. So: who likes to make involtini -- doesn't have to be eggplant -- and how do you like to make it?

No apparent problems with sticking, or the interior crazing?

Thanks. In fact, their virtual assistant just told me that the panettone is expected to arrive Dec. 16. I feel better!

I got an email from Goûter a couple of days ago that my order had been released to Purolator, but I still haven't heard anything more! It doesn't help that "Purolator" sounds to me like an oil filtration system. 😆

It could be argued that it's all "the good stuff" LOL. That said, I'd probably be doing the same thing...and telling myself that it's a waste of time...and doing it anyway. 😄

Tried microwaving the burrito to warm the contents, then toasting it to get some browning on the outside. As you can see, it got more done on one side than the other, but there's browning. This burrito, with liberal additions of sour cream and salsa as I went, is the best I've had out of this batch. Still, I don't like the tortilla flavor and this is too many steps for the grab-and-go convenience food I want to make for myself. I do think I got the wrapping technique right, though, and that's where I started in this topic. Progress!

No bubbles. Really, I think it's the brand.

Didn't work for me, at least with this batch. I tried it with the last tortilla. By the time it was toasting, it was too stiff to wrap the way I wanted. Meanwhile, I still don't like the flavor of the tortilla. Time to try another brand.

I went into my favorite local kitchen store, mostly to get coffee but also to browse. I came out with this book: This is foolish, I told myself. I haven't done sourdough in years, I told myself. I haven't baked bread in years, I told myself. But take a look at these ideas and photos! For apple-cheddar hand pies there's this photo (recipe on preceding pages): Maybe this will give me some guidance that I can share for savory hand pies. Hey, a girl can dream, right? 😃

Quick! What happens when you freeze russet potatoes? They freeze, of course...but does it affect the texture? The flavor? I realized I was going to find out when I went for a couple of handsful from this bucket of potatoes given me last October. It's very cold outside. It's very cold in the garage. Water in the garage refrigerator still isn't freezing, but water bottles in the car are. And, it turns out, the potatoes are frozen. I was too busy scrubbing to take photos of the washing and cutting process, but it was interesting to have a glaze of ice form on the exterior of each spud as I washed and rinsed. I could see ice crystals in the interior of the cut potatoes. On some, the skin started to loosen as I scrubbed and the outer layer began to thaw. I was doing this because I'd unearthed from the freezer a bone-in pork butt roast from April 2024, purchased as a Good Deal while my darling was still alive. Pork was his favorite protein, and pork butt roast was one of his favorite ways to eat pork. I used to chafe at his opinion that there is One True Way to cook pork butts, or pork steaks, but it's been long enough that I decided to cook a roast in his honor, as he liked it. Besides, I could see whether I want to keep our 6-quart slow cooker or donate it. The procedure: dice the potatoes, load them into the crock of the slow cooker, and microwave for 10 minutes to give the potatoes a head start. Season the butt roast with a package of Lipton Recipe Secrets (in this case, Golden Onion Soup Mix). Pack the roast into the potatoes, making sure that they protect the meat from the ceramic crock, and sprinkle the remainder of the soup mix atop the potatoes. Put the cover on. Turn the heat on High, and walk away. I did all that, and went out to shovel snow. Some hours later, the meat was done to perfection and so were the potatoes. Dinner was served. As for the potatoes: if they suffered from having been frozen, I couldn't tell. They mashed beautifully and soaked up the juices from the pork. In The Good Old Days I might have added butter to them, but these didn't need it. The only problem is that this is a huge amount of food. This dinner was more than I usually eat, and I still have at least 4 dinners' worth to go. I've loaded the meat and potatoes into separate containers for now. Maybe I'll invite company over. Maybe I'll parcel these out and freeze some dinners. But the potatoes - well, this form of cold storage doesn't seem to hurt them!

I'm on my 3rd burrito of the batch I showed at the beginning, and have learned a few things that I'll put into practice next time. First, I don't like these tortillas. They're Mission brand, a widely-distributed and probably well-respected brand, but they're too sweet for me. I think I'll try frying one or both of the remaining burritos, to see if browning the tortilla helps its flavor. (I'm talking about pan frying, or toasting in the convection oven). Next time I'll try a different brand, or try making my own. Second, sour cream in the filling is wasted although I'm bound to add it later. I'm not sure why that is, but the sour cream seems to lose its oomph after storage and reheating. There are other things I don't much like about the filling, but the sausage in question is simply something I need to use up. (Funny how we used to like it.)

Scallops Supreme, recipe from the Sunset Cookbook: Food with a Gourmet Touch (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). I love scallops, when they're properly cooked. It's hit-or-miss whether I cook them properly. I've had a couple of hits, and a couple of misses. Tonight I decided to try a new recipe, with these scallops I bought last June. I thawed them and dried them carefully while deciding what to do with them, then hit on this recipe from the Sunset cookbook. Oops! After committing myself to this recipe I realized that it called for 2 pounds of scallops, and I only had 1 pound's worth. I soldiered on. The basic recipe is to mix cream, white wine, lemon juice and seasonings, and pour them over the scallops before adding bread crumbs and butter. I thought I'd use only half the liquid and use the rest later. As I poured, I decided it wasn't important. I was probably using too big a baking pan. After the scallops are mostly cooked, you can broil if desired. I turned up the heat, but my oven is out of sorts right now. Changing racks was enough. Excellent flavor. My darling used to complain that he thought scallops were too dry. He wouldn't have thought so with this recipe.

@SLB, i don't know whether to laugh, thank, or merely acknowledge...so many choices...I love the TSA story! But thanks for the detail about the recipe size. I think you're right that the lefse I showed are significantly thinner than tortillas. The lefse are intended to be too thin -- oh, they're ethereal! -- to contain contents as a wrap. OK, next question: would you ever make a burrito from a 6" tortilla? I can't really see it. I can grasp the idea of simply making fewer tortillas of larger size, and using the 6" tortilla size for tacos.

I love the names KAP gives their products. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if the highest gluten flour is called "Excaliber"! Thanks for the extra notes. Please take a look at this post about lefse, which is rolled. You can see they don't work carefully to get the lefse truly round, but they work to get it very thin. Without giving away recipe trade secrets, can you comment on how your rolled tortillas compare in shape and possibly thinness to the lefse? I still have never bought a tortilla press. Maybe I should try rolling some out, when (if) I start trying to make my own.

Bumping this up because I'm just back from a nearby Julebyen (Christmas market / festival) where I had lefse for the first time in about 33 years. I don't remember being especially impressed with it back then, but either I was clueless or my neighbor's lefse wasn't all that good! This was a revelation! Demonstration photos taken with permission. I don't have exact proportions of the ingredients (potato, flour, cream) and don't have any photos of the initial dough balls. They looked like they were 2" balls, maybe slightly smaller. Each dough ball was flattened slightly on a very heavily floured disk, I think a cloth-covered board (but forgot to ask), and then rolled until it's very, very thin. Delicately thin. This woman is picking up a disk with the special lefse stick, getting it ready to go onto the griddle. Unfortunately it tore and she had to start over. The rolled disk then went onto a special lefse griddle. (We may be looking at one of those pastry disks in the background of this photo, now that I look carefully.) I asked whether the griddle was required equipment, and was told that the very even heat is important -- but one of the women does her lefse at home on a cast iron griddle. Cook the lefse until it's starting to brown on one side, then flip it to finish cooking. They had an assembly line going, so you can see one flipped and one that hasn't been flipped yet. Use the special lefse stick to lift the finished lefse. In this case, each was being put into a cardboard serving tray, but I think at home it would be a platter. Then, brush it liberally with melted butter... ...sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon... ...roll, and serve. I walked away, took a couple of bites, and stopped stock-still. How delicate! What wonderful flavors! This practically melted in my mouth. I went back with my compliments: "This is like tasting the most delicious, beautiful cloud I can imagine!" You should have seen them beam.

Yes, thanks for taking us along. Those steaks look wonderful! I'm surprised they were labeled as "choice" given the marbling. And I understand your relief at not having to process a deer! Even if you love the meat! 😄 By the way -- have you ever paid to have a deer processed? My deer hunting buddies used to do that, with a processor they've trusted. I don't remember how much we paid, but split 3 ways it wan't bad. The last time I got a deer (with my car, alas) I processed it myself. It is a LOT of work.

Twice-baked potato, roasted vegetables, smoked salmon. After I took this picture I topped the potato and vegetables with shredded cheddar. White wine. Christmas dishware!

Thanks for those comments, and believe me -- I take no offense! I'd be offended if I sat down at a restaurant and got a burrito the size of mine. 🙂 I'm trying to come closer to the take-and-eat-on-the-road burritos I've gotten on my travels in New Mexico and southern Arizona, which (last time I was there) cost about $3 and NEVER threatened to come unclosed due to overstuffing. But although not large, they were a bit bigger than what I've made, and still didn't ooze out the sides or fall apart. I just checked my package, with 1 remaining tortilla. It's labeled "burrito" as opposed to "burrito grande" and the tortilla seems to have a 10" diameter. Next time maybe I'll try the "grande" size, which I think are 12" diameter. I'll try another brand, too, unless I decide to try making my own. I certainly had choice of size and ingredients in Yuma, including tortillas made with lard, flour, water, salt and that's all. The pickings seem to be slimmer up here.

Thanks for those ingredients and comments, SLB. Can you shed more light on "gluten flour" please? I thought all wheat flour had some gluten content. Is this supposed to be vital wheat gluten, or a high-gluten flour?

I just finished the burrito labeled "smallish, with sour cream". Heated it in the microwave, 1 minute at 50% power. The heating was right. The flavor was...bland. I livened it up with the salsa -- not something I could do while drivin! but it was fine for sitting down. I think I don't really like that particular sausage link in this context, but I only have 1 more package of them to go, then they'll be gone. Interestingly enough, I couldn't detect the sour cream. Also interestingly enough, I'm not crazy about the tortilla itself although it's plenty pliable and doesn't have strange ingredients. @AlaMoi's suggestion for lopping some off is a good future suggestion. As for @FeChef's suggestion -- well, maybe I'll get into making my own tortillas eventually. No photos this time, but maybe with the next one(s). At any rate, I'm encouraged to see that I'm getting the technique!