Peter the eater

Seafood and red meat are often eaten raw. There's a long list of recipes for uncooked dishes: sashimi, ceviche, tartar, yuk hoe, carne cruda, poisson cru, nam mu sod, oysters on the half shell, etc. But where are the birds? The only example I can think of is uncooked, but cured, duck or goose breast.

Our neighbor shows up with a gun and a truck. The next day he comes back with the primal cuts in big boxes.

Now that I think about it, any chicken that I've cooked the same day as the slaughter has had at least four hours to age. When I said "the fresher the better" I was thinking in days, not hours.

I'll be trying this method out on thick pork chops soon, the freezer is full of the stuff. I really liked the non-charred crust on the beef, even though I rushed it a bit. Patience is very important, and keeping an eye on temperature so nothing turns black. I was shooting for the raw side of burnt sienna and got there without changing the butter.

This is what I do with my chickens (and turkeys and guineas), except that I dry-pluck them. The feathers come out nearly as easily as for a scalded bird,as long as you work quickly and start with the big wing feathers. If you wait too long, those feathers are impossible to pull without a dunking in hot water. April ← Do you save the feathers? I'd like to but haven't done so yet, except for the big turkey plumes. The drum gizmo doesn't work very well on water fowl. For wild ducks I'm usually happy to liberate the breast meat without plucking, then compost the rest.

We had prime rib from the grocery store for today's Sunday dinner, and I was influenced by thoughts of the techniques shown here and this butter crust method. I browned the outside surfaces with butter on the stove, then finished the beef in the oven with the help of a thermometer. It was very delicious -- all the butter was used to soften onions and mushrooms before adding tawny port.

I like a slightly microwaved bagel and a small mound of smooth peanut butter.

Great report Sher.eats, thanks. Here's what we do: 1. Hang a live (very important) chicken by feet using a rope loop attached to an overhead beam. 2. With the knife in its beak, sever neck artery and let drain. 3. Dunk bird into hot (150F) water to loosen feathers. 4. Pluck feathers -- we have a drum with radiating rubber fingers than spin at 100 rpm. It's like an axe on a grinder, with a chicken instead of an axe. 5. Remove head, feet and eviscerate. 6. Rinse, bag and cook within a few days, or vacu-seal an freeze. There's no intent to age the bird. The fresher the better in my experience.

Wow . . . . have you been inside?

Are potato chip sandwiches Canadian? ← I've lived in Canada my entire life and never even heard of someone putting potato chips on a sandwich. Is it an eastern Canadian thing? ← Wherever there are sandwiches served with potato chips it's likely some will wind up between the bread slices. Kids at picnics, that sort of thing. "Sarnies" is a very rare word for me.

Strictly speaking not a sandwich, but I've never had one. What are they like? Is it a potato-instead-of-meat thing? Or is it connected to a Meso American or Andean tradition? ← Apparently a sandwich must legally include at least two slices of bread according to Massachusetts law. From the Boston Globe: Panera Bread Co. v. Qdoba Mexican Grill.

I've heard you can get french fries in sandwich form at Toronto FC's BMO Feild (pro soccer venue) but I didn't know what they're called. And now I've learned that this type of sandwich is very popular with other soccer fans, particularly Sheffield United Football Club who's fans sing "The Greasy Chip Butty Song". So does butty rhyme with putty?

I’ve been thinking about potatoes a lot lately. Partly because I love them, and partly because my babysitter cancelled and now the kids are asleep and I’m not watching Daniel Craig taking care of business in the new Bond movie. So I started archiving some images when I came across a recent trip to The Potato Museum in O’Leary, Prince Edward Island. It’s quite a place – rural, informative and casual. The café offers everything potato, including fudge (but no potato sandwiches). The exhibits are quirky to say the least. Behold a skillfully crafted Tussaudesque wax russet complete with mosaic virus: Here’s what you see on approach: This is a nearby intersection: And here’s what you do when you get home with twenty pounds of Yukon Gold: I’ve searched the eG database and haven’t found a topic for food-themed museums. If you've been to a museum featuring food let's hear about it.

Strictly speaking not a sandwich, but I've never had one. What are they like? Is it a potato-instead-of-meat thing? Or is it connected to a Meso American or Andean tradition?

and here is an example of a Japanese potato sandwich While they are far from my favorite I do indulge occasionally. The potato pancake and muffin does sound good though. ← Kris, thanks for that image. . . it looks so white, processed and refined. Is it fair to call it junk food? What if it was made with a chewy loaf of wild yeast rounds (cooked and toasted on a wood stove) and heirloom tubers smothered with artisanal aioli? Could they become a favourite?

That's three verys -- obviously I've never been. What are they like?

I recently had leftover boxty -- a perfectly golden round potato pancake -- between the toasted halves of an English muffin. Naked, without condiments, it was a nine out of ten. And then I thought "why have I never seen a potato sandwich in a menu? Not ever." It seems like a cost-effective product for fast food chains. If there are traditional examples from various cultures, then why aren't they available in those restaurants? Or are they? I want examples of potato sandwiches . . .

A clever wing preparation can be see here at post#16. It's a turkey wing made by McDermitt for docsconz.

In Ontario, Canada there's a program in place that gets the hide to the First Nations Community -- maybe there's something like that in your neck of the woods.

I heard that sad news on the CBC today. I was an infant at the time of that Pop Festival, but my crazy west coast uncle eventually introduced me to Hendrix. And to the 60's version of The Traveling Willburies known as The Dirty Mac -- Mitch Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and John Lennon.

I assume Tim H and Chris H are talking about natural casings. In my fledgling sausage stuffing career I've used collagen casings all three times. I'd like to know the pros and cons of oil poaching with synthetic skins. My unsubstantiated hunch is that they hold water like latex but get real shiny and leaky with lipids. ← I would assume that they would melt when in contact with heat anyway... no? ← Over time, I guess they would. But from experience, I can say they do well in a hot frying pan for 15 minutes.

Susan, please take pictures for us. B&W or Sepia works. I've never shot or skinned a deer but I love to barter with my neighbors and heavily armed friends.

I assume Tim H and Chris H are talking about natural casings. In my fledgling sausage stuffing career I've used collagen casings all three times. I'd like to know the pros and cons of oil poaching with synthetic skins. My unsubstantiated hunch is that they hold water like latex but get real shiny and leaky with lipids.

A vivid and passionate description -- I'm suddenly craving a piece of rustic bread and a bowl of that green-yellow manna. What happens next?

So, what do you do to dispose of the little, living, micestrocities? Good cats are really the bomb. Introduce a predator. ← I'm not proud, but . . . . we have a large green organic waste cart outside for curbside pick-up once a week. Since mice can't get in . . . . at least they get a nice final supper.