Smithy

I had no idea, either. I thought hosta's main purpose was to provide ground cover in the shade and give deer an easy excuse to annoy the gardener. Additional delicacies on the eastern white-tail deer circuit are daffodil buds and tulip buds...the night before they open.

I don't know how I missed this topic all these years, but I'm delighted to see it! I have a version of African Peanut Soup from someone, somewhere - and occasionally trot it out. I hadn't heard of mafe before this rainy morning, nor seen how many easy variations there are. Thanks, Chris and Chris and participants! And welcome, GregR!

That sounds delicious, Ttogull. I'd never heard of "clinching" before. I'll have to try it!

I've never grilled potatoes without at least a little precooking, but that's partly due to inertia (doing what works) and partly to save time and fuel. I favor waxy potatoes because they won't fall apart over / into the flame.

I've been wondering the same thing.

I haven't tried grilling romaine hearts yet, but now I'll have to try it! Tell me: when you serve it, do you serve in intact and let your guests cut to their preference, or do you cut it before tossing with the dressing you describe? Nice topic, by the way!

I can see using the 3D printer to replicate, or scale up or down, kitchen tools. I have some WWII vintage tools that just aren't made any more, or else are of inferior make. As for using it to "print" faux food I may be more of a Luddite. Yes. Remember the Nutri-matic in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? After a long and complicated computerized analysis of the individual's DNA, tastes and needs it always dispensed something that was "almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea". :-)

There are some great ideas going here! I'm eager to try some of them, especially that ultra-garlicky tikka marsala spin and the grilled favas. One of our most massively used outdoor cooking utensils is a grill "wok". It's wok-shaped but has holes to allow fat to drip out and flame to contact the food. Our current grill wok has a long handle, which provides better protection for open-flame work and makes it easy for the cook to toss or roll food around the way one would in a skillet. Although skewers have their advantages (presentation, more flame contact) I generally favor the grill wok because it's less work upfront and there's little chance of losing things to the fire. That said, I discovered lamb meatballs on my own, using the grill wok (easier than skewers) and using a spice mix loosely based on Merguez seasoning: ground cumin, ground coriander seed, ground fennel, paprika, parsley, cilantro, garlic, and a touch of salt. (I'll post the exact proportions if anyone's interested.) It's best if the cumin, coriander and fennel start as seeds and are toasted, then ground, but I'm generally too lazy to do that. Oh, it was good - and my husband, who is leery of lamb, loved it. You could put these meatballs into pita pockets, or eat them with rice or grilled potatoes. You could serve them with a good garlicky sauce. You could serve them lots of ways, and we have. Another regular favorite of ours is grilled vegetable salad, which may or may not be meatless. It's very free-form and also relies on the grill wok. Cut into bite-sized pieces any or all of the following: bell peppers (we like 'em ripe, not green), onions, asparagus, potatoes (cut, then nuked or steamed until almost done), leeks or scallions if you wish. Use whole cherry tomatoes. Keep and cook the items separately, because they have different cooking times. In each case toss it with olive oil and seasonings of your choice, throw it into the grill wok and roll/toss it until nicely charred or softened or otherwise cooked, then dump into a large salad bowl. When everything's cooked, toss all with a good salad dressing. (I favor a garlicky lemon vinaigrette, with chopped parsley, ground cumin, sumac, salt and white pepper. My husband usually sweetens his a bit at the table.) Note you can use different vegetables - sometimes I use skinny Asian eggplant, and change the dressing. You can also grill chunks of stale bread, tossed in oil and seasonings, and toss them in. To make this what some would consider a complete meal, grill chunks of marinated meat - my preference is chunks of boneless skinless chicken thigh, marinated in my all-purpose Middle-Easternish marinade, but I've used chunks of beef or lamb or chicken breast. This meal is heaven in a bowl, very flexible, and the cleanup is dead easy.

Wow. Wowwowwow that sounds wonderful! Is the pineapple cooked in any way, or just cut and coated! I'm eager to try it!

The checkout clerks at a grocery store we visited recently were trying out a new flavor of potato chip, I think, or possibly tortilla chip. I don't know whether it was only a test-market or a fully-marketed product, but either way I think it qualifies for this thread: the flavor, if you can call it that, was chicken and waffles. With syrup flavor included.

At least you were able to experience the stuff in one "wedge-sized" package. I bought a bottle each of the lemon and lime, thinking they might make decent "in a pinch" substitutions for when we're traveling and run out of the real thing. I tend to be a purist about ingredients and never buy the bottled juices, but for trailer travel there can be a room issue. I figured that, at worst, I'd be out some 5 or 6 bucks - not a very expensive test. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with this stuff - it certainly isn't a substitute, but it might make an interesting seasoning in its own right. I'm amused by the nutritional info: OF COURSE there are "zero" (as in, less than 0.5)g of sugars and calories, when the entire packet's contents weight 0.8g. The bottle makes the same claim, because 1 serving is defined as 0.7g.

Consider already-prepared boil-in-the-bag meals. There's a lot of that around, of good quality. It freezes well (and thaws in its own time) and is well-contained. Depending on how long you'll be out, and the tastes and size of the crew, you might be interested in keeping dehydrated ingredients on board. I spent time as the ship's cook, but it was for time on the order of days and a crew on the order of 6, and may not be helpful. More information as to time on board, size of crew and crew's preference would be helpful. It's been a while since you posted on this topic. Have you taken the job? Got any more information?

Jjahorn, have you made any more attempts? Had any success getting those stoppers out?

Just curious; are pasteurized eggs (yolks, whites, whole) just a Danish thing? I've never thought to actively look for these when I've been in shops in various countries, but in Denmark, pretty much any time raw eggs are required, most people reach for pasteurized, which are found in every supermarket. I can easily find pasteurized eggs in northern Minnesota, so I'm guessing they're pretty common elsewhere in the USA. I generally use them for making sauces such as mayonnaise, as well as ice cream.

I have no idea! But I'll watch this topic with fascination. Good luck!

In cooking, to the limited extent that I use salt, I use a fine sea salt - don't remember the current source, but I have a jar of Eden ("Portuguese sea salt triple washed") waiting until this current batch runs out. Sometimes I can find fine sea salt in large bags in the Oriental markets and I'm good for at least a year for little money. I don't know why, but so far I haven't liked the Morton sea salt. It may just be prejudice. However, I keep Morton kosher salt on hand in the handy blue box for kosher salt needs. Finishing salts: I'm fond of the Viking Smoked Salt from Salt Traders, but I also like some of their other smoked salts: presently at the table we have a small bottle of guava wood smoked salt that I bought as an experiment. It's a little more subtle and floral than the Viking salt. I also have coarse sea salt in a grinder at the table; when my husband reaches for the "lite" salt substitute (blecch) I'll add my real salt to the final dish.

I wonder if there's something about the water you're using. In my trailer travels around the country, I've learned that the water matters. I don't know what, chemically speaking, makes the difference - pH almost certainly, chlorine probably, hardness and the associated minerals perhaps. (I'd love to hear some ideas on this.) You might try using distilled water and see if that makes a difference. At less than a buck it's a cheap test.

I had good success with pork liver some years back, and I suspect deer liver would work as well. If you search for the topic "Everything but the oink?" in this forum and look at posts 5, 13 and 15, you'll see some good ideas. They all involve slicing and a quick saute, with various seasonings or sauces added. Sorry I can't post a link, but either this tablet or the software is preventing me from finding a way to do it.

There's my smile for the evening. Thanks! :-)

Oh, another of my favorites: Steam cut-up broccoli, then toss with toasted pine nuts, chopped sun-dried tomatoes and some oil, and a vinegar or your choice to adjust the flavorings. Balsamic vinegar works well. I've seen this done with raisins in the mix also, but I forget to add them about half the time.

Sun-dried tomatoes in oil are one of my standard, must-have condiments for easy food preparation. I don't know specifically about the Costco brand, so take these as general ideas. One note first: I almost always chop these, if they haven't already been chopped. Otherwise they tend to pull out of whatever filling I've put them into with a single bite. It's messy for the eater. 1. Brown and/or soften (as appropriate) chopped onions, chicken, garlic, and a green vegetable like celery or asparagus if you've the material and the inclination. You can use the packing oil for this if there's enough, or use it to supplement the cooking oil. Throw in the tomatoes (chopped) and toss all with cooked pasta - I generally use butterflies for this but I think any flattish pasta would work. Finish with chopped parsley. This is a wildly variable - that means flexible - dish. You can add shredded parmesan, or not. You can put cooked artichoke hearts (not marinated, but grilled if you can get them) in the mix. The possibilities are myriad, and that's why I like keeping roasted (or sun-dried) tomatoes, packed in oil, on hand. 2. Keep things simple and meatless. Toast some nuts, soften some garlic, warm the tomatoes, and toss with pasta. 3. Chop the tomatoes into small bits. Mix with herbs of your choice (parsley, rosemary, thyme, etc) and softened alliums of your choice (can you detect a theme here?) and bread crumbs or egg for binding, then roll up some flattened chicken thighs or breasts around it. Brown them in a pan until done. Use a little chicken broth, with or without wine, to make a pan sauce around those. 4. Alternatively, forget about stuffing the chicken. Just brown it in a pan, preferably with some of the tomato packing oil and flavor ingredients of your choice, then add the above-mentioned wine and/or broth and let it cook down. Toss some of the tomatoes into the sauce as it cooks down so they can be used as a topping for the chicken. 5. I'm on a chicken kick right now but these tomatoes can also be used with pork, beef, lamb or an assertive fish if you like the fish/tomato flavor combination. I've added them to the filling for a rolled pork loin and they're pretty good. I should note that if you're using them in a filling you need to drain them to get the filling texture right. 6. Use them to augment jarred spaghetti sauce, if you like, or to boost a pallid lasagne filling. 7. Put them in stuffed eggplant or stuffed peppers, along with ground meat, flavorings as noted above, and hefty amounts of bread crumbs and/or eggs, with a good cheesy topping. 8. You can use them to augment Mexican food too; although I think that would take, say, enchilada sauce into a nontraditional direction, it would still be good. By the way - you don't have to use an entire jar at once. I think for any given dinner, cooking for two with (theoretically) leftovers, I'll use around 1/2 to 1 cup's worth. The rest can be stored in the fridge - make sure the tomatoes are still covered with oil, and if necessary you can add more olive oil. I don't know how long the food safety experts would say you can store this safely in the fridge. If you worry about that (I do, some) you can also portion it into smaller containers and freeze them. The oil congeals rather than freezing, but there's no fear of bacteria growing over the course of months. I'm being vague about proportions because I kind of wing it on these things. If that's a bit too vague, let me know and I'll try to be more specific! Enjoy those tomatoes! I think, once you see how much they add to your cookery possibilities, you'll want to keep them on hand.

I like the idea of getting trapped air to expand and help push against the stopper, but I'd be leery of subjecting glass that old to actual boiling water. Along those lines I suggest gently heating the bottle only - not the stopper - in warm liquid. The trapped air will expand gradually. In addition, as the bottle warms the neck should expand in diameter. If you can keep the stopper cooler than the bottle you may get that joint to release, or at least loosen enough to let Andie's glycerine trick work.

That's my favorite method as well; alternatively I preserve the chillies in oil -- though apparently the topic starter looks for other methods. Welcome to eGullet, fvandrog!How do you preserve chilies in oil and be sure they're safe from, say, botulism? Or is that not an issue for chilies as it is for garlic? Edited to add: Welcome also to Liz Ayers! What a great first topic!

Is this one of those tubes specially marketed for the purpose? Or have you found some common household item that makes a good tube? I've been intrigued by the "garlic peeler" tubes but - despite my love of gadgets - reluctant to let this particular specialty item take up space in my kitchen unless it got a resounding review.

I've tried it, and it worked pretty well. I don't recall getting 100% success out of the deal, but I think it got at least 80% of the peels off in a short time.