Peter the eater
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Posts posted by Peter the eater
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I working on a risotto machine, and you all have to buy it.
Well, not really, but I wonder if anybody has tried. I want the option of finishing by hand unlike my ice cream maker.
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Farmed salmon is bad for you, bad for wild salmon and bad for the environment.
I know this is somewhat off topic, but I think it relevant to make informed decisions when selecting what we use and consume.
After reading through this topic and seeing that some others mentioned that farmed salmon is bad, I thought it would be helpfull to post some links to info that substantiates these claims.
Here's some info on farmed salmon and it's impact:
Farmed salmon threatens the long-term genetic integrity of wild salmon
Here is a wild salmon supplier that ships overnight:
Pike Place Fish Market - Seattle
Don't get me wrong; I've used farmed salmon in the past. I enjoyed the availability and low prices. But after learning more about this product, I found it hard to justify its consumption by me and my family given all the issues that surround it.
I realize BaconFat's comment is from 20 months ago but I am compelled to respond with a link from Canada's Fisheries & Oceans. Its true they have mismanaged resources in the past (especially cod) but I am convinced, after a long period of reading and vacillating, that farmed Atlantic salmon is a good thing.
And it makes excellent gravlax.
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Wow, twenty minutes later and I have my answer!
Thanks gfron1, monavano, menon1971 and CaliPoutine. I had heard about the soup but was skeptical, now I'll give it a try. BTW the rind fragments are quite thin, maybe 5mm and very dense so I don't think I scored any of the "undisputed king of cheeses".
Calipoutine, I thought of you guys in Exeter the other day when someone was explaining to me their stew made from squirrels! He said he has never seen a white one, thank goodness.
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I was overcome with desire when I saw these at the store:
Two bucks later I am looking at them without a clue as to what is next? Microplane them? Deep fry? Help . . .
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One dish - that's tricky. Especially since the chicken is already cooked.
I have been working on a "seafood turducken" and a "mammal turducken" in my mind for some time now (seriously) but after reading your query I'm thinking of a "land, sea and air turducken". Put the red meat in a plastic bag and roll it out as big and thin as possible, lay down the fish and then then the chicken on top of that. Roll it up and cook until the lamb looks medium. Depending on the overall diameter, the chicken should be a bit warm and the fish done by the time the lamb is good. Maybe a vegetable barrier between layers, like spinach or kale, or chard? Let's call it surf n' turf n' chirp!
Hey, you asked.
This has excellent merit Peter. I also thought of a terrine, but this is easier.
Air, land and sea. Hmmm. I am thinking about pureeing and seasoning the chicken along with spinach as the divider. Thank you very much for allowing me to shamefully steal this idea. The lamb is a piece of rolled roast and will work perfectly.
You da man.
Well alright then - take a picture for us. And thanks, I can't remember the last time I was da man.
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This thread has been a great source of info for me - thank you all!
I especially gravitate toward the less difficult, less expensive techniques. I have discovered that my very large stock pot will maintain 58-62C on the lowest electric element setting.
Here's what I did:
a very cheap beef roast, vacuum wrapped in a recycled milk bag. Double-bagged actually, and good thing as there was a bit of leakage.
into the 60C +/- bath for five hours.
out of the bath, looks a bit gray on the outside but the fingertip poke test says rare!
cut in half it looks perfect.
I had intended to sear the outside with a hot oil pan or barBQ or torch, but it was so tender and pink it was devoured before I had the chance.
Conclusion: This way of cooking beef is the cat's ass! I feel as though I got a prime rib from a blade pot simmering whatever it was called.
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One dish - that's tricky. Especially since the chicken is already cooked.
I have been working on a "seafood turducken" and a "mammal turducken" in my mind for some time now (seriously) but after reading your query I'm thinking of a "land, sea and air turducken". Put the red meat in a plastic bag and roll it out as big and thin as possible, lay down the fish and then then the chicken on top of that. Roll it up and cook until the lamb looks medium. Depending on the overall diameter, the chicken should be a bit warm and the fish done by the time the lamb is good. Maybe a vegetable barrier between layers, like spinach or kale, or chard? Let's call it surf n' turf n' chirp!
Hey, you asked.
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Peter, your blog is a wild ride! I am still looking up lots of stuff like the names of dishes, ingredients, geography, etc. Thanks. Here are a few random (and possibly useless) comments:
This particular one, at the corner of Silom and Rama IV, has been terrifying my children for yearsThat has to be the creepiest clown I have ever seen.
I could talk about the eating habits of the phii kraseuWoah, that gave me flashbacks of a very scary movie I had forgotten about.
Yoonhi bought me an Emile Henri tajine.Good thing for us she did, the lamb looks great. (my wife gave me the same one for xmas, in red)
Bamboo worms.Bamboo worms?!?
The pink stuff is just pickled ginger.I stopped eating that stuff when I read the ingredients. Easy to make, too.
I collect dried mushrooms, okay? Is that a problem?There are far worse hobbies.
Your fridge and pantry are outrageous, and your family looks/sounds lovely!
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Fantastic ideas for quinces here! I never thought to do an eG search on them.
We have a large quince bush outside - like a ten foot ball - and each year we make some preserve. It usually takes the form of freezer apple sauce made with half Gravenstein apples and half quince. The latter are very hard to core but I have made a tool just for this purpose. Its a 10" length of steel pipe with a sharpened beveled end, and a slit up the side. I actually made it for use on my wood lathe as a bowl gouge, but I wound up buying a more functional one. I find its worth pounding the core out of the quince before softening in hot water and before the food mill. Its therapeutic if not efficient.
I boil down the fruit mixture quite a bit - I like it think and tart. Then it goes into lots of small freezable plastic containers. Excellent pork condiment.
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The bag is now cooling. It will be filtered and then refrigerated until tomorrow. I am a bit surprised at the brownness of the liquid, its not at all that lovely "chicken yellow" colour. There has been zero odor from this process so I'm thinking all those elusive volatile flavour compounds must still be in the bag.
Finishing and taste test tomorrow . . .
I must report that my experiment has proved inconclusive. I have been neglecting the little brown bag of proto-stock in my fridge for a few days and now it has sprung a leak. Its not a big mess but I'd rather start over - it has a bit of a pong, and there are cloudy bits about. I'm thinking a higher temp is required - maybe more cooking needs to happen?
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With calf fries, one trick that makes them easier to deal with is to freeze them partially or totally. The capsule can then be stripped off by just dipping them in water to thaw the outer layer. They can also be sliced nicely when frozen. I suspect any treatment that would apply to sweetbreads would work well with pig testicles as the calf fries resemble sweetbreads more than anything else I can think of.
Interesting, I like sweetbreads. Somehow its a bit easier putting a mysterious gland (thymus? pancreas?) in my mouth than, well, testicles. I still have not made beef tongue at home, there's something about "its tongue on my tongue" that I need to get past. Having said that, I would like to think I could become the consummate omnivore, like the great Tony Bourdain who I think is the cat's ass. Bring on the beating cobra hearts and still-warm seal eyeballs!
Back to the lamb fries, would you soak them in milk like sweetbreads?
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Put a handful of rolled oats into cold water, bring to a simmer for a few minutes. Put a small blob of butter in your bowl, plop in the cooked oats, add brown sugar and whole milk. Nirvana.
On long bicycle trips we would rip open the top of an instant oatmeal pouch, add the sun-warmed water from a water bottle and pour the slurry directly into the mouth. Fast and easy!
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Check this out - the first question is hilarious:
Hmmm . . . that's definitely whacked. It does raise the question "are some forms of cannibalism more acceptable than others?"
It is hard to read this thread without a smirk, but getting back on topic . . . I see "lamb fries" at the grocery store from time to time and think about taking the plunge. They do seem to come packaged as two, not sure if its a left and right pair. The grocer is useless in terms of preparation and cooking. I suspect calling them "fries" implies a method.
So get cooking and take some pictures for us!
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Peter, what type of bag did you use?
Its a re-used milk bag, like the kind shown below:
The tricky part was sealing the bag while full of liquid water!
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I am intrigued - be sure to let us know when your book is available. Need a proofreader?
The Titanic has made quite an impact here in Halifax. There is a cemetery in town full of passengers who perished - including a guy named J. Dawson (the name of Leo DiCaprio's character in the movie) Its a bit eerie seeing that menu, thanks for bringing it to our attention.
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Peter, those chicken thighs look great. How'd the stock turn out?
Then last night I took the opportunity to try two things that had been floating around in my head. The first was pan-fried potato gnocchi, and the second was slow-cooked steak. And after all of that, unfortunately I didn't take a photo. Next time.
Thanks DrT, the thighs tasted great. Stock results will be posted here. We will be waiting for images of the gnocchi and steak, and may I say that's a handsome plate of pasta. BTW we are watching World Cup Soccer from China, Aussies have just scored on Brazil! I have only just forgiven them for beating Canada the other day.
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I was interested to read about bdevidal's Chicken Stock Breakthrough so I made some chicken thigh bone stock to see for myself. Naturally I had to do something with the actual meat.
Those look really beautiful, I think that will be my next dinner! Why did you freeze the citrus? I think some rosemary in there with the sage would be nice too.
Lemon and limes were getting old last July so into the freezer they went. Thy lose a bit in the looks department but the juice is just as good. I had intended to use rosemary but our poor plant has really ben picked over recently.
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I was interested to read about bdevidal's Chicken Stock Breakthrough so I made some chicken thigh bone stock to see for myself. Naturally I had to do something with the actual meat.
1. A dozen thighs skin down, bone out (for the stock):
2. Flavouring agents sage, parsley, lemon and lime (frozen citrus):
3. Assembly with some salt, pepper and onion:
4. On an aluminum sheet ready for the 375F oven:
5. Served with roasted veggies:
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This is fascinating. We need more trials. Volunteers, please step up and document, with photos if possible.
Here's what I did today:
1. took out a dozen chicken thighs, skin and bone intact:
2. removed the bony bits with a paring knife:
3. vacuum/heat sealed the bones with a litre of liquid water:
4. cooked them in a big stock pot for 4 hours at 60 C:
The bag is now cooling. It will be filtered and then refrigerated until tomorrow. I am a bit surprised at the brownness of the liquid, its not at all that lovely "chicken yellow" colour. There has been zero odor from this process so I'm thinking all those elusive volatile flavour compounds must still be in the bag.
Finishing and taste test tomorrow . . .
BTW I was so pleased with the outcome of the actual thighs I'm going to post them on the Dinner! forum.
Here's a teaser:
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What do you tend to use the most of?
My top 10 dry spices, starting with the most used:
1. garlic
2. cayenne
3. black pepper
4. ginger
5. nutmeg
6. cinnamon
7. cumin
8. paprika
9. thyme
10.turmeric
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I'll sign your petition!
I generally don't follow recipes unless its the very first time, and yes I do get some erroneous results every so often. I use the scale just about every time I cook or bake and I really appreciate instructions that give quantities in grams, such as Jamie Oliver's books - to cite a popular example. I think the gram is an excellent base unit for the home cook - no fractions required.
Anybody who writes a recipe calling for 16 tablespoons a) doesn't cook b) is too lazy to convert c) is a moron or d) all of the above.
A bigger issue for me is the random use of imperial and metric at the grocery store, and the lack of scales in the produce section.
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I actually had a student throw up on me as I was bringing her to the bathroom (she was feeling sick)
LA, surely you knew this is an occupational hazard. . .
Hey, I did loose 4 pounds from tossing my cookiesSuch a lovely euphemism for such an unpleasant event.
I will consider Munchos as a convalescent snack - right up there with chicken soup and Melba toast.
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Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) - the national fish of Estonia (yep, it won the title in a tight competition with pike (Esox lucius L.)
You have a national fish - how cool is that! Was there a plebiscite or something? I would have gone with the pike (I caught a 40-pounder once as a kid)
Nice fridge shots. I think most people (North Americans at least) have an over-sized fridge, yours looks to be around 15 cubic feet which I think is ample for up to four people.
Loving your blog - I must make it to Estonia. Perhaps instead of a second wedding I could arrange a second stag party.
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Well I too have yet to taste Munchos, but I have had dreams featuring the Taj Mahal and Lauren Graham, although not at the same time.
This link says:
these chips have air pockets in them, so if you stick them on your tongue you can actually bond the chip with your tongue
Bond? Can any of the "users" out there verify this?
Steve, one million kilograms is only 46 keel (a unit based on a flat-bottomed barge used especially on the Tyne to carry coal) I love this site.
Steak tartare
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
I have known (heard?) people to become flatulent from water. I'm no gastroenterologist but . . . I'm sure there are some out there who would say "yes, almost anything could send forth the flatus". Its all about the bacteria.