fierydrunk

I have a fantastic cornbread stuffing recipe of my grandmom's I make every single year, but this year wanna mix things up a bit and add oysters or sausage...I have done a big internet search and it has been difficult to find something that requests very few, if any, spices (boo hiss) or requests those awful herbed croutons which I REFUSE TO EAT! I will be both stuffing a bird and making some in a pan---can I just add a pint of shucked oysters to a regular cornbread stuffing recipe? Better yet, any recipes y'all wanna share? Links?

Hollis did it as I had to work til 7PM, but he did great. The stew beef was wonderful and really tender in the PC as were the veggies; the red wine taste was yummy too. The only thing that will have to be adjusted for next time is the amount of liquid...it was tasty as heck, but a lil too thin. I added a bit of masa mixure that helped out, but I think it would be better just to reduce the amount of liquid in the first place. Tonight we are taking it easy with a spinach salad & hot bacon dressing.

lovebenton... Tonight is the night for stew... I am using your posted recipe sans mushrooms plus carrots. Can you tell me when I add the carrots and potatoes? After the initial meat pressure cooking?

I asked this same question a few weeks back after Hollis made a fantastic bunch of the Saveur Classics version of Mac n Cheese...someone suggested the toaster oven, which worked for a minute then it started to burn. I then transferred it to the oven, uncovered, for about 10 more minutes at 350 and it was great. It didn't separate as much and the bread crumb topping got even more crispy. It wasn't as great as the first go-round, but it was good enough. He used large shells too which was a good touch.

I like the last recipe a lot as I like the wine taste in my beef stew...I will have to slip mushrooms past Hollis (though he had his first sauteed chanterelles last week and was in love!) Our pressure cooker is old. I would say it is from the early 70's. It is totally aluminum, but it was brand new/old stock from an estate sale (never used marriage gift likely!) and the price was right. It has worked perfectly so far and the seal is in great shape, so we'll keep it til it is time for an SS one.

WOW. That last post took a lot of the pressure off...no pun intended. I am gonna do your PC recipe, include some wine in our stock and leave the LC for a later date (after I go to the LC factory store outside of Portland and find a lid!). Thanks everyone! I will keep you posted.

OK, I am going to consult with Hollis and see if he wants to go for the dutch oven or the pressure cooker this week. I am game for the LC dutch oven method with aluminum foil top...but need a recipe! Should the oven be set at 250 and just cook it all forever? I will research the web as well.

THANKS! We are really into our pressure cooker, but it is vintage and I wouldn't trust the recipes really even if it came with any. The reason we wanna use it is because it has really done soups and things well and we are going to make the stew likely one night after work when time is of the essence. I have a Le Creuset enameled dutch oven with no cover--got it at an estate sale--so I never use it. Would I need a cover for a stew in the oven? I do appreciate the help!

I suppose we are just not *quite* at the "have fun with it" stage. Ingredients don't totally perplex us, but we need measures and times. Esp. with a pressure cooker. It is the novice in us--a beautiful thing--we seem to be in the minority on this board, as I often have to follow up on our requests. We'll get there, but measures and times, please. I appreciate your skill levels and one of these days, we'll be there. We are looking up to you still.

I have done a lot of searching and can't seem to find a recipe I fully trust. I would like a good, hearty recipe with a bit of wine added. Anyone wanna lead me to a good site or post their favorite pressure cooker beef stew recipe here?

Hollis already knows at some point in this bday-xmas season of his he will be receving a crock pot...so if you are reading this, Hollis, go somewhere else! Anyway---any reccomendations for NEW slow cookers within the $39-$49 range? I will likely go the Amazon.com route.

Bragg's Liquid Aminos and Nutritional Yeast....YUM!

He selected Navarre...we are going. What is the sitch with no reservations in Portland? I mean, I get it for some places but for others, it just seems like a snotty reaction to the reality that their restaurant is busy and may need some organization on certain nights. One hour waits for dinner when your bar or outdoor seating can't handle it and you aren't close to a decent bar...well, it sucks.

The chili is a good texture, but has next-to-no-taste. I don't think it is just a matter of making it hotter (though that would help). It is a flavor issue--how much vinegar and what kind? We are taking care of it this evening! For next time though, does anyone know where we should look for a totally killer chili recipe???? P.S. I also like the rotel idea.

Thank you, Dave the Cook!!!!!! That is perfect.

Hollis may surprise me and actually be able to understand exactly how to make demi-glace from your kind posts, but as he stated, he JUST started making his own stocks and I think he may need a really basic explanation, with definition of some of the terms so he doesn't have to ask the chef at work to translate the recipe. Fifi's description seemed to be almost spot on, but I lost track of it at some point. For example, does the demi-glace come from cooking the fat scraped off the top or the stuff that fell to the bottom?

I am a fan of the "pedestrian bun", but you must have had an off patty cos usually the burgers are HUGE and the bun gets all juicy and...yummmmmm. Out here in Portland, I'd give my eyeteeth for restaurants to start using pedestrian buns, they are always using hard (and truly too much bun for the burger) Kaiser rolls and the like. Just gimme my soft cheap sesame seed bun and I am a happy camper.

I used to go to the first location when I was in high school. It was this rattrap old wooden building with the grill in the center and two entrances/two sides of counter...for "Colored" and 'White". This wasn't being adhered to in in the mid-80's but it was still creepy. The burgers aren't that great. They are living on that grease legend and not much else, in my opinion. Try a Huey Burger--not as much charm affiliated with it but WAY better tasting.

East FL Man, Creole is the language of Haitians, many of whom reside now in Florida. You must know that though. I definitely agree with Mayhaw that NOLA is much more akin to the South than (egads) "The Union". I grew up in Memphis and the black neighborhoods/communities there--though architecturally different in some cases--are so very similar to each other. But it should be its own country--secede then be sovereign!

I agree this isn't simply a black/white (in that "blacks taught whites everything") issue which is what I think Maybelline is getting at when she refers to "plain poor or farm folks"... I guess because there are plenty of blacks who fall into this category as well. My grandfather and his parents had a farm in Proctor, Arkansas from the Teens to the 50's and blacks and whites both worked that farm. It is simply false that "plain poor or farm" as a reality is exclusive to white folks. I guess I am really not sympathetic to the "one day we'll all get over this" sentiment cos I don't see what there is to "get over." A black woman (who actually lived with their family her whole life, but still had her own family--amazing to me) taught my grandmother to cook and when she got another black woman to help her own family, they shared responsibilities in the kitchen and then spread the knowledge down to me. By the time I was born, the particular black woman who worked in my home was a terrible cook and so was my mom, so I went to Granny's to eat. But believe it, Granny learned cooking from Mary (her maid). PERIOD. And that was the case in mant, many, many urban and rural Southern homes. So, giving credit where it is due is OK. Talking about race is OK. Why get all bristled up about it?

Well, put re: Cook's Illustrated. It is like a snotty club of which I don't wanna be a member...but I can't help but peek in on what they are up to!

And a particularly horrible fashion writer at that! OOOOH! Snap!

I have tried more recipes from Saveur than Cook's Illus and I have found them to be really great! I did a delicious Turkey Tetrazini, Hollis did tortilla soup, and I can't wait to try a bunch of recipes from Galatoire's in an old Saveur I have. I am not a Saveur-hater. Do I have anyone on my side of this who has cooked more of the recipes from Saveur?

I would agree generally and was mindblown at how WRONG the bbq thing in the Mercury was...I would have to say that the Mercury definitely wins the "clique" award in PDX, in their writing about absolutely everything baasically being of the "I went out to eat and do cocaine Tuesday night with everyone else that works here and/or my boyfriend" variety. The WW is right behind it however, and unfortunately, I don't think I'd wanna hang or eat with either clique (with the exception of Jim Dixon of course!!!!!!!)!

I think restaurants can play a role in defining an area somewhat. I am specifically referring to Memphis and its BBQ, fried chicken and soul food joints. While I learned my Southern specialties from my grandmother who likely learned them from her maid, those joints are huge in defining Memphis and its food tradition. And not just to tourists either...those places played a huge role to many of us growing up there (i.e. white kids eating out in neighborhoods where they definitely weren't living and the resulting wonderful life lessons of this). The restaurants allowed (and allow) the races to associate on another level and learn A LOT about each other thru repeat visits.