RonC
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I'm in the midst of our favorite short rib recipe. (I claim no credit since it's right out of Gourmet and the Food Network.)
6# of beef short ribs
Salt & Pepper
1 TBS olive oil
3 med. onions
4 galic cloves
1 1/2 cups red wine (I like cabernet)
1 can whole tomatotes (I like Muer Glen)
1 1/2 cups beef broth
2 TBS Worchestershire sauce
6 strips of orange zest
2 tsp fresh rosemary
10 ozs of pearl onions
1 bag of baby carrots
Fresh parsley for garnish
Sidecar Ron (the the cold weather sure does put a damper on motorcycle riding for Luke and me - maybe we'll have to take up ice fishin')
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I had braised short ribs with kumquats at a restaurant last night, they were outstanding. The aromatics from the fruit were wonderful. Any idea of a recipe thats published or that I can modify to make this dish at home?
Jim
Hmmmm short ribs are on the menu for tomorrow night (they should have been a couple of days ago but the butcher screwed up). Anyway -- with kumquats??? -- gotta think about that.
Sidecar Ron
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I'm beginning to feel like a PR rep for Lodge, but, again, I think cast iron is really great for Dutch ovens -- especially for braising. Mrs. Sidecar has some beef short ribs on order for tomorrow that will be going into the pot for some slooooow cookin'. Ooops, drooled on my keyboard again.
BTW, I know some can taste an "off flavor" when; e.g., tomatoes, are cooked in cast iron. Maybe my ol' taste buds are shot, but I sure don't detect anything in our well-seasoned pots.
Sidecar Ron
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It's cast iron for me all the way, except for the suckling pig that I put on a full sheet pan (Yes, my oven will hold one. That's why I tried the pig.) I have a 17 inch skillet that will hold a roasting rack, will accomodate just about any roast and still have room on the sides for roasted vegetables. For smaller quantities I use a cast iron pan measuring about 7 by 12, 1 1/2 inches deep. A favorite is "roast melange of winter vegetables" in which olive oil coated root vegetables are roasted with bay leaf, salt, and pepper. I use potatoes, turnips, parsnips, and garlic. Except for stock pots and a chef's pan, all my pans are cast iron.
Ahhhh, another cast iron fan -- but, then, we're not talking specifically about vegies; however, I put one of the ol' irons to good use last night browning some scallops.
Wow, a FULL sheet pan - neat!
Sidecar Ron
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Gee, no votes for my old Lodge cast iron - especially for meats?
Sidecar Ron
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I put in a window behind my stovetop and have not regretted using glass as a backsplash at all. The top of the window opens and is screened, but I didn't want the screen getting splattered so the bottom is fixed. It cleans up just fine!
I like your window. Of course for us it would looking into the living room.
But, speaking of glass, is there anyone here who has any experience with glass tiles? I'm really interested in them from appearance and ease of cleaning standpoints.
Thanks,
Sidecar Ron
PS - Great looking kitchen!
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<<snip>
BTW - Your picture frame idea sounds interesting and quite practical.
Nice to hear that at least one person doesn't think this ol' guy out in the corn fields of DeKalb is too crazy.
Sidecar Ron
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Thanks for the ideas folks! I, too, am fond of using my ol' cast iron skillet for browning and cooking so I'm all-too-familiar with the grease splatter.
Whatever I wind up doing as a backsplash (glazed tile, metal tile, glass tile, metal laminate, stainless steel sheet, etc.) my leaning is to mount it on 1/4" material and then put that in a metal picture frame that I'll screw to the wall. My crazed thinking is that (1) if I don't like, or get tired of, the look, it'll be easy to change and (2) taking it down to clean well will be pretty simple.
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I don't have either, but my first thought is that glass is a major pain to clean when it gets greasy. If those are your only two choices, I'd go metal.
Actually, ease of grease cleaning is probably our FIRST priority (I do a fair amount of browning) -- followed by "the look".
Sidecar Ron
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We're in the process of working on a new backsplash for the stove. The current two top options are glass or metal tiles. What's been your experience with either of these? Metal laminate is proably also a consideration. It's not a large area, so cost isn't too much of a factor.
Thanks much!
Sidecar Ron
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Mrs. Sidecar is an English Major - gotta be alphabetically.
Ol' Sidecar Ron
Maybe this is a whole new thread, but how do you arrange your spices? Alphabetically? Or do you group them? If so, what kind of groups? -
Cool - thanks for sharing!
Sidecar Ron
I have a wide drawer in which I keep most of my spices. I transferred them from their original containers (generally Penzey's bags) into these Penzey's jars.I have 47 jars in there and could have more if I used smaller jars and kept the remainder in the fridge.
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Lots of great ideas! Keep 'em coming.
Sidecar Ron
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I'm anxious to get these put together. My memory is that they're not deep enough for the bottles to stand -- but maybe my ol' memorier is failing again.
Sidecar Ron
I also use a LOT of different spices.My kitchen is pretty minimalistic - everything was put together by me and my husband, and on the cheap. On one wall is an Ikea bookshelf, about 6 feet high, that's used for storing things in constant use. It's mostly spices. Almost all the spices are in square stackable tupperware containers about three or four inches on each side. Some are taller, and some are shorter. (I think I also bought these at Ikea, something like a set of 50 pieces for some insanely low price like six dollars?) that are stacked on top of one another. I've seen the same type of containers labelled as freezer containers.
The shape and size of the containers means that they stack easily without toppling over, and the largeness of the containers means that it is easy to shove a spoon in there to get at the spices, it's easy to refill the containers when you buy fresh stuff (usually I buy loose stuff by weight, so it has to be refilled into some type of container anyway), and they are big enough to contain enough when it comes to the spices you go through at a really rapid pace. For spices that are not immediately recognizable by shape or color, I have a little label stuck on the front of the container.
Because bookshelves tend not to be very deep, this works really well. I have one row of these stacks of containers at the back, and in front of them one single row of smaller containers of the stuff that gets used even more often. These don't come up high enough to obscure the labels of the containers at the back.
Of course, in an ideal world, I would be storing the spices in glass or metal rather than plastic containers, but turnover is fast enough that I don't really think it makes a difference to the taste.
I've seen people use the solution of having the spices in a drawer that you're thinking of. If your drawers are tall enough, try keeping the bottles upright in it and putting your own label on the top of the jars, you'll fit a lot more in that way, and somehow, it gives a neater overall effect.
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Boy, couldn't agree more -- but sadly we don't have a near-by source for buying smal quantities. We write the purchase date on the bottles and then pitch them when we think they're getting too old.
Sidecar Ron
I think that spices get sold in inconvenient containers and in too large quantities.I miss having readily available bulk herbs and spices like I got used to in Texas at Central Market. If I needed two tablespoons of dried marjorum, I could go and get exactly that, and it cost maybe 75 cents.
Freshness is so important in spices that it seems a waste to buy a big jar of something that is only going to get worse with time.
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Here's my latest thinkin'. We bought a couple of IKEA Nygard buffets that are going in the kitchen to house miscellaneous seldom-used stuff and cat food. They have drawers in the top and I'm thinking that we may lie the spice bottles down in these drawers. My Monday plan is to assemble the buffets and see if it works. By the way, how does IKEA make a product like this for just $129???
Sidecar Ron
PS: Someone asked about the picture. That's Luke on the bike (I'm invisible in the sidecar). Because of his severe autism, Luke can't really ride it, but he sure enjoys sitting there!
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Anna, I looked at your picture before I read your comment. My mind was going down the same path -- wondering what the fridge would look like with 60 spice jars attached.
Sidecar Ron
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Let's see ... how tall a tower could I build with 60 spices/herbs????
Sidecar Ron
I really should, if only I would, find some better place to store my spices ... a new group of spices arrived last week from ordering online ...
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Sigh ... We have somewhere between 60 and 70 spices and seem to constantly face the issue of how to store them so they're useful; i.e., easy to find and get to. Our kitchen is fairly modest and we don't have a pantry. We've tried the carrousel (too small) and a couple of those 3-step gizmos (too tough to get at those at the back). What do you do? How effective is your storage?
Much thanks,
Sidecar Ron
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Thanks for the lead. I appreciate it.
Sidecar Ron
hario (japanese) makes some pots that are very similar to yama (taiwanese). hario used to have a presence in the u.s (so. cal.), but i believe they may have closed the operation. (i believe their website used to be hariousa.com) i assume you can still find some of their pots.if you have a problem, you may want to contact cafe balcony, a small cafe in west l.a. they serve vacuum-brewed coffee using harios. (they have about 4 on the counter.) they may be able to tell you where to get one. here is a link:
good luck
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Melissa, maybe like some nice print behind plexiglas?
Sidecar Ron
I certainly don't want to highjack this thread, but if there's a member knowledgeable about tile range back-splashes would you contact me? Thank much and Melissa best of luck with your remodel. We're in the midst of doing much more minor work here.Sidecar Ron
Absolutely no help from me. We've all but ruled out the possibility of tile in our range backsplash, in favor of something that we hope will be easier to clean, without pesky grout lines.
MelissaH
Really, I am working on getting those pictures of the new plan posted!
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I certainly don't want to highjack this thread, but if there's a member knowledgeable about tile range back-splashes would you contact me? Thank much and Melissa best of luck with your remodel. We're in the midst of doing much more minor work here.
Sidecar Ron
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Just a little food for thought (again pun intended). Seriously, aren't we truly lucky that everyone is NOT alike. Just think how packed those great restaurants would be if nearly everyone appreciated what we do. Quite frankly I'm glad that people have different tastes (gotta stop those puns).
Sidecar Ron (who's happy that he can be a "little different" as a sidecar driver who enjoys food and who has a full tummy tonight from a lunch of some fine braised shot ribs and a fine merlot at a lovely restaurant. They were nearly as good as the ones we do here at home. Wife had a great glazed duck.)
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All the notes regarding cubicles sure has made me (once again) feel terribly lucky to have had my kitchen as my "cubicle". Having been self-employed and working out of my home nearly all the time for many years, I've been very lucky! As many would agree, our great left overs are far better for lunch than most workers get when they have to "go out".
Thanks for this thread.
Sidecar Ron
Dutch Oven vs Tagine
in Cooking
Posted
We do a fair amount of slow cooking with our Dutch oven (short ribs, lamb shanks, etc.) and I wonder if there is any real value in also getting (and using) a tagine. One thing we like about the slow cooking, in addition to the taste, is that meats tend to be so tender. This is important to our son who has severe autism since he's not terribly fond of chewing.
All comments are appreciated.
Sidecar Ron