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ray goud

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  1. What's your source on this information? Personal observation; we used to grow it when we first moved to our house and decided to have an "everything" garden. Later learned that not everything grows where one wants it. A neighbor who grows it sees the same thing. The asparagus ideally should be in very loose, "fluffy" soil. He tills very early each year but still gets bent spears, because this IS New England, after all. Ray
  2. When I was a teenager I was trained to be an assistant produce manager because the A-guy had to have a back operation. We were very frugal and tossed out as little as possible. If half of a product was bad, we sold the good part packed in film. I quickly learned what was good and what was bad (or not AS good). Thin asparagus has the same thickness "skin" as thick, so one is getting ripped off buying the thin, unless one accepts cooking it longer to tenderize it (and thus lose flavor). Much better to peel the thick and enjoy the not-overcooked flavor. No physical abuse is necessary for pineapples; simply smell the base for the desired pineapple smell. Cantaloupes, in addition to smelling good, should "give" a little at the stem end when gently pressed by a thumb. Asparagus with bent tips (curled?) simply encountered an obstruction while pushing up through the soil. If the tips are truly dried, don't buy. With citrus, garlic, onions, cabbage, sweet potatoes and others, go for the ones with high density: lots of weight for the size. Use the store scale. Much of the rot in onions (when present) is undetectable. Unless it's so bad that one can smell it. If you do get some bad stuff you refuse to accept (once you got it home and cut it), return it with an indignant air. Let those guys at the store know they are falling down on the job. If they sold it knowing it was bad, don't go back. Ray
  3. ray goud

    Roasting tomatoes

    I used to roast tomatoes low and slow in the oven. When I tasted them, they didn't taste much different than moistened sun-dried tomatoes. And I can get those really cheap at Restaurant Depot. Now, when ripe tomatoes are available, I cut them lengthwise into sixths or eighths ( depending on size), spray on some olive oil when they are on a foil-lined rimmed cookie tray, and pop them into my blazing hot (600 degrees plus) outdoor pizza oven. Then keep close watch and rotate the trays frequently. Takes about 15 to 30 minutes, and they come out charred and caramelized. The flavor is to die for, they're so good and intense. Then I can use them on almost anything, but they do something magical to sandwiches. Ray
  4. One of the best cold soups my wife and I ever had was a strawberry-and-cream soup at an inn in Vermont. Those were the basics, but it also had mint and some kind of non-chicken base, probably a veggie stock. Ray
  5. Though I might regret it, after looking at the site from your link, I instantly put it in my "favorites" folder, to peruse at leisure. It looks like a lot of pleasurable reading, whether or not I ever make anything from the site. Ray
  6. Whatever temperatures you have observed are completely dependent on how much food was being cooked, and at what initial temp they were, since NO slow cookers have functional thermostats. The knob settings simply switch between several sets of heating elements. Unless some new product has just reached the market, that's how they all work. There are a couple of units which will switch to a "lower" setting once a preset time or temperature has been reached, but they don't maintain any desired temperature. I wish that wasn't true, but it is. Please don't quote temperatures unless you also state the model number of the cooker, the amount of food and liquid, and the initial temps of the materials. To prevent fires, most have a one-shot fuse which blows if they get too hot, and that fuse does not recycle. Ray
  7. I will take this opportunity to again mention Lora Brody's book on slow-cooker cooking. The closest relationship I ever had with her was asking a question at a cooking show in Hartford, CT, so everyone can rest assured there are no ulterior motives in my (again) recommending her book. Duck confit is in there, as is also onion and garlic cooking (really confits). I refuse to quote the recipes because I don't believe in giving away what one should purchase, unless there are no alternatives. Ray
  8. good to hear. what setting/temperature/time? I use the "high" setting on my six-quart slow cooker (made in China with the false GE name on it) for about six hours, starting from cold. Since I am self-employed in my home workshop, I usually warm everything up in the microwave to about 130 degrees before plopping the ceramic insert into the cooker, in which case I then cook for about four hours. A lot depends on the quantity one cooks and the doneness desired. In either case I first melt the frozen duck fat in another pot until it gets to about 160 degrees. This practice brings to my mind the opportunity to kill the possible spores by heating the duck fat to HIGHER than the boiling point for about fifteen minutes, if one was very concerned about a remote threat. Ray
  9. I've been doing my duck confit for at least eight years in my slow cooker, from Lora Brody's book of slow cooker recipes. I mentioned it on eGullet several times; perhaps that's where you saw it. In short, it works wonderfully. Regarding botulism, I have no special concerns mainly because I do not store the cooked duck as the traditional manner of confit dictates: I do not store the meat under oil, but rather drained and in the refrigerator. I then freeze the oil, immediately. This also reduces the demands on my fridge space. And if some food researcher would like, I'd be happy to donate some of the duck oil to be examined for bacterial spores (by now I have several quarts of the rendered stuff). Ray
  10. ray goud

    Duck Tenderloins

    Another great use is stir-fry, if you dice them up a bit. Ray
  11. Since I scratch-built a backyard brick oven for about $400-600, I would certainly say that this topic's way to cook pizza at home is quite frugal. One very important advantage to this "LBE" is the much quicker ramp-up-to-temperature profile. I don't know very much about the Green Egg, except that it's overpriced. Ray
  12. Now that you have a pizza oven, how about some free recipes? See the Brick Oven Cooking topic for a source. Ray
  13. So, what goes with a trip to the beach? Answer: a clambake. Ideally it can be done (for a few people) in a large pot or can on an outdoor heatsource. Less ideally, on that electric stove in a large kettle. Just make sure you can purchase most if not all the ingredients locally (it's worth the search). We did that the last time we went to Acadia National Park, and we'll do it again this year when we return. Ray
  14. ray goud

    Brick Oven Cooking

    Just to add: there is a total of about 250 pages if one takes all four offerings. Some of the pages are redundant, and others try to sell stuff. But in sum, free is good. Ray
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