phatj

This is an interesting question. If I had to make cream of asparagus soup, for instance, I think I could tell if it were properly seasoned, but I don't know if I would be able to tell if it was any good otherwise, because it would taste like asparagus no matter what I did.

I bought beef back ribs instead of short ribs for a braise that I did last night. The meat itself seems much the same, but there was a ton of fat that I had to spoon off. It's been a while since I've done short ribs but I don't remember there being so much fat.

Lamb Ragu with Feta & Pine Nut Gremolata Serves 10 as Main Dish. I devised this dish to use up quite a bit (~2 lb) of leftover lamb leg meat that I had on hand. The lamb was roasted with a lemon zest & oregano rub, so I wanted a quasi-Mediterranean seasoning blend to the dish. I was a little concerned about how well the tang of the lemon in the gremolata would work with the tomato sauce, but it was fantastic. I would absolutely make this again, even without leftover meat to use up. Ragu 1 lb cremini mushrooms, stems removed, quartered 2 T olive oil 2 medium-large onions, chopped salt & freshly-ground black pepper 2 lb lamb leg meat, cubed 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 T fresh oregano leaves, minced 1 T fresh thyme leaves, minced 6 oz tomato paste (1 small can) 1 c whole pitted Kalamata olives juice of one lemon 1 c chicken stock 28 oz crushed tomatoes 1 c heavy cream 1 T honey, or to taste Feta & Pine Nut Gremolata zest of two lemons 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1/2 c fresh parsley leaves, chopped 4 oz fresh Feta cheese, crumbled 1/2 c toasted pine nuts RAGU 1. Heat a large heavy skillet or saute pan over high heat until very hot. Add mushrooms and dry-fry, tossing occasionally, until mushrooms are browned and begin to give off their liquid. Remove mushrooms to a bowl and set aside. 2. Add 1 T oil to skillet, then add onions. Saute, sprinkling with salt & pepper, until browned, ~5 minutes. Remove onions to a bowl and set aside. 3. Add remaining 1 T oil to skillet, then add lamb meat and saute until browned. (If using raw lamb, you probably should do this in a couple of batches to help it brown.) 4. Return mushrooms and onions to pan, then stir in herbs & garlic until fragrant. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until tomato paste begins to brown, ~5 min. 5. Deglaze pan with lemon juice, scraping bottom of pan. Stir in wine/stock and cook until it has reduced a little, then stir in the tomatoes, cream & olives. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer ~15 minutes. Add honey to taste to balance tanginess. GREMOLATA In a food processor, pulse zest, parsley & garlic until finely minced. Add Feta and pulse a couple times just until well-combined. Remove to a bowl and stir in pine nuts. Serve ragu over hot pasta and top with cheese/gremolata mixture. Keywords: Main Dish, Intermediate, Lamb, Dinner, Mediterranean ( RG2119 )

Is garlic considered either a spice or an herb? If not, I'd go with black pepper and basil.

I've yet to take appetizing photos of food, so I've mostly quit trying. Nevertheless, tonight's dinner was awesome. A ragu of leftover lamb leg meat, cremini mushrooms, onions & kalamata olives seasoned with oregano & thyme and finished with cream, served over rotini and topped with what started as gremolata but was mixed with crumbled feta cheese and pine nuts. I was worried the lemon in the gremolata wouldn't work with the tomato sauce, but it was fabulous.

Thanks, Sony. I'll probably try a marinate and pan-sear method, but it'll be a while because I grilled a leg today and have a lot of leftover.

I found shoulder chops at the Giant this afternoon for $3.99/lb (vs. $4.79/lb for bone-in leg), so I bought a couple. I should have asked the butcher if they had whole shoulder. Anyway, the shoulder is a cut best suited for slow-roasting or braises, right? How should I cook the chops?

Remind me to try this before I replace my current dishwasher.

I've done chicken confit a number of times, although the fat I used was not entirely nor even mostly chicken fat. I have this container of hodge-podge "confit fat" in my fridge that I've used and re-used for assorted poultry confits, that actually probably is over 50% olive oil. Whenever I'm doing it, I'll render what fat I can from the bird and use that, augmented with some of the olive oil mixture; then I strain and reserve the fat when done and add it to the mix. It's fantastic in salad dressings and sautees as well.

I think the main reason is that the extremely high concentrations at the bottom of the pot before the salt has fully dissolved can cause some surface pitting on the stockpot, which might degrade performance for certain uses. I don't worry about it, personally, because I buy cheap stockpots.

Re: salting pasta cooking water, I actually add a lot of salt, probably on the order of 1 tablespoon of regular table salt per quart of water, although I don't measure it. Remember that no matter how much salt is in the water, most of it will end up going down the drain. I've found that if you sample it right out of the water with no sauce or anything, it can taste pretty salty, but once drained and residual moisture has been absorbed, it just tastes nicely seasoned. YMMV, of course.

I'm a big lamb fan, although I haven't cooked it much, as aside from the leg, and very pricey chops, it's not easy to find around here. I have on a few occasions bought legs and boned them, cutting the meat into chunks for things like curries and making stock from the roasted bones. One thing I really loved was making a basic beef stew recipe only substituting lamb & lamb stock for beef. Easily my favorite stew, at least that I've made.

Chili-Lime Pot Roast Serves 8 as Main Dishor 8 as Main Dish. I was afraid this was going to be over-poweringly spice, but after removing most of the fat (which was really hot) and cutting with sour cream, the sauce had a pleasant amount of heat. Leftover meat (shredded), with the sour cream sauce, is great in tacos. 3 lb beef chuck roast 1/2 T kosher salt 1/2 T coarsely ground black pepper 2 T olive oil 3 jalapenos, sliced (about 1 cup) 2 medium onions, sliced into wedges 2 T chopped garlic 1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro zest from three limes 1 T cumin seeds juice from three limes 1 c beef stock 2 T corn starch 1 c sour cream juice from one lime minced cilantro for garnish Heat a large heavy skillet over high heat. Sprinkle both sides of roast with salt & pepper. Add 1 T olive oil to skillet, then put in the roast. Cook about 5 minutes or until well-browned on one side. Flip roast and brown the other side, about 5 more minutes. Remove roast to a large crock pot or dutch oven. Deglaze skillet with about 1/2 cup stock, and pour into crock pot. Add remaining olive oil to pan, then add sliced jalapenos and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until edges are well-browned. Add 1/2 cup more stock, scraping bottom of the pan, then pour mixture over roast. Add garlic, cilantro, lime zest & cumin seeds to crock pot, then pour lime juice in. Add enough stock to come about halfway up the sides of the roast. Cook in crock pot on low (or in dutch oven in a 250F oven) for 3-4 hours, or until roast is very tender. Remove roast to a cutting board and let stand. Strain liquid through a wire mesh strainer into a medium sauce pan. Ladle off most of the fat. Heat sauce over medium heat until simmering, whisk in add cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water, then whisk in sour cream and lime juice. Bring to a simmer again, then reduce heat to low and simmer five minutes. Slice roast diagonally. Serve over rice, such as a pilaf, and ladle sauce over. Sprinkle with cilantro. Keywords: Main Dish, Intermediate, Beef, Beef, Dinner, Dinner, Hot and Spicy, Hot and Spicy, Tex-Mex, Tex-Mex, Crock Pot, Crock Pot ( RG2103 )

No pics, but I made a fried macaroni & cheese and pulled pork sandwich on cornbread.

Did this deal just end or something? I get "We're sorry, this product is not available. Product number: 11270087" when I click that link.

I'm taking my first stab at fried chicken tomorrow night. The breasts and legs from two birds, plus a bunch of additional drumsticks are soaking in buttermilk at this very moment. Wish me luck!

I nearly always break spaghetti, linguine, etc. I find it more convenient to eat that way. YMMV.

The obvious answer would be, "when stuff starts to stick to it." I doubt you're ever going to get sick in the short term, but if you're worried about long term health effects of ingesting Teflon and whatnot, I'd chuck the pans once they show more than superficial scratches. Personally, I don't worry about it. As long as the pan works, I'll keep using it.

I like to make very garlicky pesto, but that much raw garlic isn't for everyone.

Dinner tonight was five days in the making... Duck Three Ways. First, Roasted Apple and Garlic Bisque with Duck: It doesn't look very interesting, but so, so good. Oven-roasted Granny Smiths and multiple heads of garlic, scented with thyme. I also gave it a little boost with some "duck jelly" from confit. Then I put a few pieces of browned duck meat in each bowl then sprinkled with duck skin cracklings. This is the same recipe as this one only with duck instead of chicken. Next course, green salad with seared duck breast and orange vinaigrette (also containing crumbled bleu cheese and chopped walnuts): Unfortunately, I forgot all about the camera for the final course, duck leg confit & shiitake pot stickers and potatoes roasted in duck fat. I sauteed minced fresh shiitakes, then mixed in shredded duck leg confit and sliced scallions for the pot sticker filling. I made a dipping sauce from soy, ultra-reduced duck stock and assorted other goodies. Here's the recipe.

I have one of these and don't care for it, actually. The silicone coating is too grippy on the surface of the bowl or pan and I find it difficult to whisk something smoothly. I have a nylon whisk that I like better. It doesn't have the same degree of heat resistance but how often do you whisk something that's 500 degrees anyway? For the record, I like my nylon spatulas a lot.

I agree that if I saw a dish advertised as just "pesto" I would expect basil, i.e. pesta alla genovese, but I see no problems with "cilantro pesto" etc. not containing basil. The fact that such things appear all over the place in the U.S. (heck the fast-food burrito place across the street from my office has a "poblano pesto") seems to indicate that in the US, pesto+modifier does not in any way indicate the inclusion of basil, which seems to be appropriate, in my opinion. ← Oh, I agree with you. I think my point, insofar as I had one, was that the word "pesto" is so strongly associated with the Genovese version in my mind that even the modifier "Cilantro" wasn't enough to make me realize the dish wasn't made with basil. There should have been a disclaimer on the menu: "Look, dip****, there's no basil in this dish!"

Call it narrow-minded purism, or provincialism, or what have you, but to me pesto had better contain basil and garlic or it ain't pesto. I don't mind the walnut substitution; I've done it myself on occasion and find it acceptable. If I were traveling in Italy (or perhaps elsewhere outside the US) I would be careful to not assume "pesto" to mean "pesto alla genovese" should I encounter it on a menu, but in my experience in this country, pesto is pesto is pesto. (Kind of off topic, but I once ordered a dish that was clearly labeled "cilantro pesto" and was sorely disappointed that it contained no basil. I guess I was expecting a typical basil pesto with cilantro added, rather than cilantro instead of basil. Blech.)

I made an ultra-shroomy cream sauce to go with Barilla mushroom-and-cheese tortelloni. I know, I know, but hey, at least the sauce was from scratch, and fantastic. I posted a recipe for the sauce on RecipeGullet: Mushroom Cream Sauce. No pics, unfortunately, although I'm pretty sure if I'd taken any they wouldn't have done it justice.

I got the Pro-M today. Me likey. Made a mushroom sauce for dinner; it cut the shrooms like butter, and mincing herbs was easier and produced better results (no bruising). Based on some of the comments in this thread, I was a little scared of it at first, but quickly found that I could still brush stuff off the blade with my finger and could even scrape stuff off my finger with the blade without any trouble.