Smithy

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.

Thanks for this warning. I think I'm unlikely to run across this particular fish, but if I do I'll know to leave it alone. I'm not bone tolerant in fish. Spoils the fun for me!

Well, those tortilla shell bakers work pretty well. Lesson 1: I need larger tortillas for these to be useful! Lesson 2: corn tortillas (at least old ones) aren't nearly as flexible as flour tortillas (at least old ones). You can see in the photo above that the flour tortillas neatly molded into the baking shells. The corn tortillas stubbornly insisted on flattening out...and after baking,... still showed their resistance. These were crisp, but they hand't browned. The flour tortillas browned nicely. Aren't they cute? Lesson 3: for this kind of tortilla use -- that is, tortillas with no seasoning, oil, anything added -- the flavor of the basic tortilla is critical. I don't know whether mine were simply too old or were substandard in the first place. I liked the crunch but not the flavor of the flour tortillas. The corn tortillas were also crunchy but even less impressive. All of them, cooked and uncooked, are now in the garbage. If I were boondocking they'd be out in the bushes, but that isn't appropriate in this suburban settlement. The original plan had been to do some sort of taco salad, but as happens so often these days I couldn't be bothered with all those steps. Besides, these tortilla shells were more like taco hors d'oeuvres size than salad size! So I made a salad, which is easier, and cooked one of my darling's Superburgers. I cooked it on a broiling pan in the oven, hot as the oven would go. Not hot enough. These burgers, and probably any burgers for my money, need direct contact with a hot surface. Campfire. Barbecue grill. Papa's pan. Stovetop pan, with vents doing their best to prevent the smoke alarm from going off. This was more like meatloaf. I shared it with the dog. Still. Now I know more about how to use those tortilla pans!

Do you just put the raw tortillas into the molds, without any sort of fat? Tips please, if you have any!

I'm sorry, but probably shouldn't be surprised, that the stuff I made on Sunday, up here, doesn't improve with age. I just finished a small container of it and found that it needed salt to counter the overpowering sweetness of the basic dish. It has to be from that dratted sweet corn. I can't think of anything else (beans? tomatoes? broccoli? dry red wine?) that would have done it. Sour cream helped too, a little. I'll be glad when I finish that last container. Believe me, the reheated stuff wasn't worthy of a photo. I'll show you instead today's thrift store find. This was my first visit to a thrift store this trip. I simply haven't been interested in shopping for bargains or even not-so-great bargains. However, given my weight loss and the fact that I'm tired of rolling up the waistbands on my shorts to keep them from falling down around my ankles, I decided to go shop. No luck in the clothing department. That didn't stop me from making a a quick pass by the cookware. (Incidentally, folks: if any of yez is interested in trying out an air fryer, go to a thrift store.) Ah, look! Tortilla bowl shapers! Just what I (don't) need! But I do like a good taco salad, and I have a bunch of tortillas taking up space on the counter. I may or may not get around to frying them. Maybe baking will the trick instead of frying. I couldn't make out the price. I decided that for, say, 5 bucks I was willing to bring this set home. I went to the counter and asked. I was wrong about the price. It was 2 bucks! (Actually, $1.99 but I donated the penny. Big spender.) I went outside with my purchase. There was a table with stuff labeled as "Free". I went to look. Several books there. Richard Simmons' favorite recipes I could leave alone, but a couple of cookbooks looked decent at least. I've heard of "Company's Coming" but never watched the show. The first couple of recipes I looked at were an unlikely acid-orange chicken and some beef treatment that looked inedible. But a couple of offerings looked worthwhile. Heck, it was free. If I don't like it I can leave it behind at a book exchange somewhere. This one, I think, I'm more likely to use. Even though I've never heard of the guy. I mean, doesn't that galette look wonderful? I do like his opening line on the back cover: "I believe cooking should be fun, simple and fast." Well, I don't always believe the fast part. Depends on the mood and the day. But as noted in this cookbook topic, it's really good to have fast, good cookery ready to hand. And yes, it should always be fun. Here's a sampling of the recipes. Will I learn anything from it? I dunno. Will I try things from it? Almost certainly. And hey -- given that it's free, I'll give it a ride for a while.

I've mentioned before that I really like tabbouli and can practically live on the stuff. I seem to have exhausted my supply of bulgur, however, and had decided not to get more until I worked my way down through some of the beans and rice I'm carrying. That has led to the preposterous situation of having large bouquets of parsley and cilantro in the refrigerator...sometimes held until it's starting to go off. Last night, I told myself "¡BASTA!" If I didn't want to make herbed rice, or figure out which beans would work best, I could use the baby potatoes that I'd bought (two weeks ago) for potato salad. So I did. Chopped up both bouquets, picked out some of the stems, chopped the rest finely. Boiled the baby potatoes with a touch of butter, and added more butter at the table. Garnished with shredded cheese. It was really very good. I still have a large container of boiled potatoes, and smaller containers of the herbs and water/butter mix. This morning it's blessedly cool and quiet, except for a mockingbird embellishing the silence with his marvelously varied songs. I love hearing mockingbirds. It was rare to hear them out in our boondocking spot. I was entranced by the dynamism of my morning coffee's steam, shown off by the morning sun. When I poured my half-and-half into the cup, I spotted a change in the steam activity: instead of rising more or less from the entire surface, the steam came up around the hot rim and then descended toward the cooler center. I only caught one decent photo of that process. I know this happens on an atmospheric level and large-lake level, but never expected to see it in a coffee cup! Science in miniature!

I certainly understand the "seldom get to" implication here. I too am an All-Clad junkie with a wide variety of sizes and shapes, and I am still getting my mind wrapped around small-batch cooking. Large pan = party! Not willing to get rid of those yet and close that door. But...to end this tangent... even at my party heights, I generally found the smaller sizes, like 3 to 4 quarts, were used more often than the 6 quart size pans.

And that size works for you and your spouse? Or do you cook for a larger crowd?

Is it this pan? If so, it looks like the sort of sturdy pan that could be used for everything. However, I have one of their 6-quart saute pans and rarely use it because it's so big. Depends on how many people one is cooking for. My 3-quart saute pans get a lot more use. As to your final question: every one of my All-Clad pans has been bought from their Factory Seconds sales, and I've never detected a flaw in them. I've been pleased to have them.

Thanks for that recommendation, @blue_dolphin. Some of the dishes you've cooked are from recipes I've bookmarked but not tried yet. I especially love this header in the Table of Contents: 😄

A bargain! I love hummus but would be seriously challenged if I needed to make the tahini first. 🙂

So, here's what I did and how I went about it. I'll note first that I had some vague idea of following this recipe from Heartbeet Kitchen: Marinated Gigante Beans. Someday, maybe I'll try following her recipe. Today wasn't it. But I'll still give her credit for the inspiration! You'll have to look at the recipe to see what she actually calls for. I started with mushrooms, a shallot and garlic still surviving (really) from home, a can each of beans and tomatoes, the aforementioned Juusto cheese-now-become-croutons, ...some broccoli about to expire in the refrigerator, the Very Last of a bag of frozen corn from last year, before my darling died; dried oregano, and a cube of pesto from last summer or fall when I was busy saving basil at home. The rest of the steps, that I haven't already shown: Oh, there was also red wine. In the skillet, and now in me. The final result, with shredded Parmesan as a topper: Not bad at all. I doubt I'll ever try to reproduce it, especially with the dratted sweet corn, but I'll be able to feast on it for a few days. And I've finished the frozen corn (which would never have gone without my assistance, one way or the other) and the broccoli, which was on its way out unassisted.

Thanks for that! As it happens, I did something with it before I checked back in and found your post. As you can see from this photo, Option 4 was the way to go....this time, anyway. 🙂 Stuff was like nice, crispy croutons! I'll show what I did with it in my next post.

And another confession, this one an "oops". This delightful Finnish cheese has been hanging around in the refrigerator since a dinner party before I left home. As you can see from the instructions, it's intended to be eaten warm. It can be heated in the oven (my preferred method) or microwave. I think I've even had it grilled. Once it's warm, it gets gooey although not as spreadable as a soft cheese like, say, Brie. It's salty and savory, not a stinky cheese. I like it. I decided to finish it today for lunch, with crackers. So I microwaved it. The first time, it wasn't soft enough so I microwaved it longer. It began to bubble. See? Well. I can't even cut it with a sharp knife! It's taken on the toughness of a Parmesan rind! I tried chewing it, to no avail. Good flavors come off it, but it isn't edible any more. I suspect it's more because of overcooking than because of age. As I said: oops! I'll try cutting it and putting it in a bean or other skillet dish, to see if I can coax the last bit of umami out of it the way one does with Parmesan rinds. I may need my meat cleaver to do it.

I have a confession to make. This glass of pomegranate juice was squeezed from the pomegranates I bought last fall. Still good, probably not as juicy as when I first bought them!