Smithy

Why did you terminate Wild Alaskan, if you don't mind saying?

Those are beautiful chiles! As for the sunchokes...remember also to look under "Jerusalem artichokes". I played around with them and got some ideas from members in 2014. This post and the subsequent comments may give you some ideas.

Yes. What should I have done instead?

Lunch. The tenkasu / agedama isn't going to last long!

The russets were paler, as I suppose should be expected. I'm not sure there was an appreciable flavor difference. The main difference was in texture. The russets had a decidedly fluffy interior compared to their exteriors; the difference between interior and exterior of the golds wasn't as pronounced although they weren't soggy. I'm pretty sure I could tell the difference between them in a blind taste test by the texture.

I have to add that the shrimp I tried just now didn't after all stay crisp. The tenkasu, however, did...and I have a couple of cups of it!

How do they use tenkasu/ agedama? I've been thinking of snack, or toppings for a salad, soup, stir fry, pasta maybe. And do the two names have different connotations?

I am having the BEST time with these mental images!

It doesn't look as though I photographed all MY mise en place, probably because I was following Dave's. There's really nothing extraordinary about AP flour, baking powder, salt or the rice flour that you see in the pictures above. If I were to do this often I think I'd just mix up a bunch and keep it in its own canister, awaiting the frying mood to take us. For liquids I used the vodka shown here, and the Kilt Lifter Scottish-style amber ale that you've also seen. I mixed the liquids with the dry mix while the oil was heating up on the camp stove. Note to self: don't judge the batter by its uncooked flavor! I tried some as I was dipping the shrimp, and thought it incredibly bitter. That was worrisome, but I was committed. I'm glad I went through with it. The shrimp went in batches, and I fished them out onto a paper towel-lined baking sheet as they finished so more could go in. The potatoes: well, I had one large russet but also was curious to see what would happen with a Yukon Gold, so I treated it the same way and fried them together. That funny "crown" you see around the edge of the pot is a collapsible deep-frying basket that we've carried around since we first started mobile camping. I don't think I've ever used it before. It wasn't good at getting out the last of the potatoes, and I used the slotted spoon to collect the rest. You can see the color difference between the russet and the gold. Russet is definitely the better way to go. The fries look flaccid in this picture, but they weren't. After all that was done, I looked at the remaining batter. What was I to do with it? I hated to throw it away but couldn't see keeping it. I looked at the batter. I looked at the "slotted" spoon that has holes, not slots. I looked at the batter. "Spätzle!" I cried, and dribbled the remaining batter through the spoon's holes into the hot oil. (Yes, I know that spätzle is a soft, boiled product. It's the principle of the thing.) The dinner table was loaded with crunchy, crispy shrimp and "spätzle" and fried potatoes. Not a green vegetable in sight. We'd done that earlier with salads and cole slaw. Finger food all the way. We tried some remoulade sauce (left over from last November, I believe) on the shrimp and fries. He liked it, and emptied the container. I settled for lemon on the shrimp, and was happy. Crispy on the outside, delicate and flavorful inside: the shrimp was perfect. We both thought so. It did make a mess of the pot and the floor, but that might have been avoided with a little more care and a little more light. I put the lid on the chicken fryer to keep the bugs out, and it can stay there for reuse in a day or two when I try the fish recipe. It's too windy outside today, and we have a fridge full of leftovers anyway. I had one of the "spätzle" a little while ago, and it is indeed crispy and delicious even after being refrigerated overnight. It'll be a good snack, or topping on something. We have one shrimp each, and I'm betting they'll still be crisp too.* Yes: it's a keeper method and a keeper recipe. Many thanks, @Dave the Cook and @JAZ. *Edited to add next-day followup: the shrimp didn't stay crisp. but the crispy batter bit did!

Heidi has the right of it: fried shrimp AND fried potatoes. Never try one new thing when I can try two new things at once, I always say. Why minimize the confusion? 😉 So these were the special purchases I had to make in order to try out this frying method (yes, this is the same picture as above): The white rice flour came courtesy of Amazon and a pickup locker about 10 miles away. Although I still have easy-peel shrimp in the freezer, we had to go to town 20 miles away for gasoline and groceries (really! just a few things! including the vodka! 😂) so I decided to buy these ready-to-cook shrimp. They were 2 packages for the price of one. How could I go wrong? I briefly considered Everclear instead of vodka... ...but, remembering Dave's advice to get the cheapest stuff, I stuck with plain vodka. I'm going to round up in one location the lovely instructions @Dave the Cook has posted. Yesterday while I was prepping and cooking I needed 3 separate browser tabs open in order to keep track of them all. Someone who wishes to look at them all again will still need to go to separate posts, but this post can be an index. Dave posted his and Janet's basic batter recipes for fried shrimp and fried fish here, on March 22. He did note that cornstarch could be subbed for rice flour, but since they prefer the rice flour I held out until I could get some. The ingredients for the shrimp fry batter, from this post, are Dave went on to post the instructions, and a fine pictorial tutorial here, on March 26. (Try saying "pictorial tutorial" 5 times fast!) It's a great reference. In his instructions and tutorial he talks about dusting the shrimp (or fish) with rice flour. I'd saved an empty spice can whose design I liked. Now I have a new purpose for it. Dave had also shown the @JAZ™ method for French Fries here. I had one large russet potato and was keen to try that also, given that I'd be deep frying, and given my desire to make fried shrimp and chips that my darling and I would both like. I'll show the rest of the cooking and dinner in another post.

You won't be sorry. Walnuts work well here, too.

It's getting too late to type coherently, but I want to post a teaser. Tonight's dinner was a smashing success!

The way you cook, Shelby, you surely have leftovers. You need to just rename them. That's what we do! 😉

Yesterday evening was beautiful weather for cooking over a fire, and he did: tube steaks over the wood fire, beans of our choice (dressed as we wished) to accompany. Wood smoke really does add a nice flavor to grilled foods. Tonight will be more complicated for me, if I get off my backside and start prepping! Otherwise we'll be eating planned-overs. 🙂

That is a wonderful recipe, isn't it? Where did you get romas at this time of year?? How ripe were they?

And now for something completely different: what @Kim Shook calls Whomp Rolls. My mother used to make these on occasion: sweet rolls for special-occasion breakfasts; croissants or biscuits for special dinners. She didn't do much scratch-baking although she was an excellent cook, and these were delightful conveniences. I'm more of a scratch baker, when I bother to bake. My darling's mother was always a scratch baker, as far as I know. So you've seen the sweet rolls I've made him a couple of times this year. (If you haven't but you want to, take a look here.) He's been agitating for more and wondering whether the sweet-rolls-in-a-tube would be easier. We decided to find out. Those of you familiar with "whomp" packages will remember that these have a paper/foil wrapper sealing the outside. When you peel it off per the directions, you'll expose a seam in the cardboard tube. Note the instructions on the cardboard. Press with a spoon? That's no fun! It's much more fun to whomp it on the edge of the counter and watch the contents poof out. Put on a greased (or parchment lined) baking sheet, bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 375 if your oven is that steady, and pull out when the rolls are golden brown. Spread with the frosting that also comes in the tube, just under the cap. Enjoy. He had 3, I had 2. He's already staggered off for his morning nap to let the sugar rush die down. Advantages of these biscuits: They're much quicker and more convenient It's fun to whack that tube They're puffier and more tender than mine. My dough needs work still. Advantages of my rolls: They're bigger They include pecans and dried fruit They don't contain any funny chemicals -- which, admittedly, might be the reason they aren't as tender and puffy. My rolls are also not as sweet, but that's a matter of taste and the icing on top. We haven't decided about that yet. (Well, I have, but I'll see what he has to say.) Will I keep a tube of these around? No. Will I make them again sometime? Maybe.

I will never again (I hope) be so tired when we unpack the Princessmobile after moving that I simply put the travel lunch cooler out of the way for later. I found our missing grapes in it, quite moldy, yesterday. At least there was no question of food poisoning.

I'd love that. Is your recipe / method the same as when you wrote this? Corned Beef, Fat and Guiness

I like the idea of adding a head of garlic. Thanks for that! As for the pickling spice: not all blends are the same. The brand I bought recently included cloves. I should have read the label! The cloves even come out in the jalapenos I pickled last January. I don't like it. I threw the rest of the box away, rather than continuing to let it take up space in my overcrowded cabinet. (Our camp host didn't want it either.)

I should have asked before: is that a straight brisket, or has it been corned first?

@AlaMoi, you raise very good points. We probably should memorize / write down the brand we like, and look for it down here. It may not be possible to find it, but if we find another single-source (craftsman?) version we might like it better than the store brand.

I appreciate your comments, but you're right that it sounds way far from what we want. I wouldn't mind trying it sometime if someone else cooked it, but I'd be reluctant to commit an entire cut to it without trying it first. You probably have the right idea: figure out what's in those spice packets, then double or triple it. Peppercorns, bay leaves, mustard seed...anything but cloves! (Well, no cinnamon or allspice in this either.) I think the saltiness does appeal to us although we know we should be rinsing that off, but this is already salty enough that there's no consideration of salting anything after serving it.

It sounds like quite a good feast. I hope we can see photos later!

I'm bumping up this old, old topic to see whether any of the current members have preferred ways to ensure that their corned beef -- purchased that way from the store, not corned at home -- has a good corned flavor. My husband and I have noticed a difference between corned beef purchased at home in Duluth, Minnesota and that purchased in the southwestern US. It might have to do with buying a store brand (Kroger's, in this case) as opposed to a dedicated meat packer (Klement's? Flanagan's? at home) and cost-cutting efforts. It doesn't really matter why the difference; what matters is that there IS a difference. So how does one know in advance that the meat won't be as salty and spicy, and what can one do about it?

It's a beautiful day outside, supposed to get hot. We're planning to cook outside this evening and take advantage of the sunshade. Last night it was corned beef and potatoes. @Porthos asked a couple of weeks ago whether we were doing that for St. Patrick's Day and I said we'd intended to but neglected to pick up the brisket. Perhaps, I said, we'll find some on sale later. We did. This is another case where the loyalty card made the difference between buying and not buying, based on the price. Based on the price, I got two. It's a good thing, too -- because while this brisket was pretty good, we both found it lacking in that distinct corned flavoring. The spices weren't intense enough. Although I suspect it has more to do with the original processing, there must be a way to give it oomph. Even the potatoes, boiled in the same water as the brisket, were pallid compared to our expectations. Maybe what we need to do with the second brisket is to add extra corning spices to the water. Suggestions are welcome, with the proviso that this is my darling's dish and he will insist on boiling. (Yes, we have a lot of topics about home-corned beef, or sous vide corned beef, but I haven't found anything directly addressing the question of boosting wimpy corned beef. I have also posted the question over here to revive the most relevant topic.)