hummingbirdkiss

you know me well enough to know that nothing I say is based on science ..but I can tell you....it is hard because cooking the beans at differing altitudes is what really matters..especially with pintos for some reason ..there is an art to getting that bean perfectly cooked ..intact with a nice caramel sauce...when I am in Santa Fe I never add salt in the beginning ..the beans do stay tough and take for freaking ever to cook!!! and we are always using very fresh locally grown beans... here at sea level even with not so fresh beans it does not seem to matter if I salt early on or later on the beans cook much faster and become tender quicker! so there you have it ..I tend not to cook beans with salt ..I finish them with salt ..if I add salt pork or a ham hock it is half way through the cooking and I go low and slow (sometimes even precook the ham hock and add the salty water and cooked meat part way through the bean cooking when the water level goes down anyway) may not be what everyone does but I love my beans intact and not mush

those look almost just like my pepper biscuits only there is cracked pepper on/in mine do you have a recipe for those please? I would love to compare

pepper biscuits dipped in orange muscat

I make chowder from salt cod I cook it with greens and tomatoes salt fish and ackees as mentioned above (canned ackees are in Island markets) creamed salt fish on mashed potatoes soak it slice it and make carpaccio with it soak it and then batter and deep fry it of course I make bacalao I love salt cod

awesome idea I can not wait to try this!

Thank you! I can not wait to try the lamb! I am glad someone has done this!!! I have had all kinds of smoked lamb and some have been good and some awful ..the smoke on some lamb sausage I have tried contrasted rather than complimented it ...CookingKid what smoke do you use? my bacon came out fantastic in spite of my letting go of control to my husband!!! and the ham hocks OMG if you have not made them and are into smoking and brining ...the recipe in the book is great! I pretty much stuck to the brine/smoke time process but changed things a bit to 50/50 brown sugar and salt ...a tiny bit of pink salt ...then smoked over a mix of 2 parts apple/1 part alder/1part hickory I just had half of one for breakfast as the tester and the salt/sweet/smoke ..wow...it was the best hamhock I have ever eaten!!! OK it is crazy not to make your own bacon for sure decent locally smoked bacon from the butcher here runs over 7 bucks a lb ...mine was $1.98/lb total!!! my ham hocks were 1/2 the cost at least and 29457 times better !!!! I can post pics when I am off work for sure if anyone wants to see my smokey goodness any more tips on the lamb? I am going to order a pig from Eastern WA right after Christmas it must be the sage brush and tumble weeds but pork, goat and lamb from there tastes out of this world ...so if you have the chance try it!

well I dont know if this will help ..but we have used the whirly pop that we use to roast coffee to roast nuts and yes they are fantastic ..however I found even better than that roasting nuts in my crock pot is the best and most easily controled method for me roasting nuts makes your house smell wonderful if you have a Trader Joes the raw nuts there are very fresh and reasonable in cost I would love to have a drum roaster for coffee roasting my husband and I use two whirly pops at the same time and it is an ordeal! but the results of your coffee tasting the way it does are all the motivation I need to keep on cranking!!!!

thought you would never ask !!! I make a wonderful Pacific NW Bouillabaisse ( that is where I cook down the stock and wine above first) and will if you want post the recipe but it is really a typical bouillabaisse with a few changes to make it regional also a great fish chowder (like a clam chowder but with fresh firm fish (whatever I can find) and because I am from the East coast I use salt pork in that one) ciopino is always good it is a brothy marinara loaded with seafood and fish I make Caldo Siete Mares a wonderful fish soup there is also a Korean fish soup I am sorry I do not know the name of that is very spicy and loaded with every kind if fish I can find any of these recipes I will be happy to post if you like (there are more ) fish soup in a bowl and that is heaven on earth to me!!!

I know some people find lamb fat "gamey" at least I have heard this...but I am sure it is because of what that lamb ate or the type of lamb maybe? ..the fat on the lamb I get is absolutely wonderful that is why I buy lamb this time of year instead of the early spring

I think you could very well concentrate it after everything is strained off for sure but get everything out and do it at a low heat I have used a bottle of Pino Grigio with the stock and simmered it down after the straining for a soup I was making it was fantastic!

as a person who adores fish soup beyond reason and makes some mean stock Peter gave you the best answer ever that is EXACTLY how I make stock if I know what I am doing with it I will add some fennel or some herbs but if I am just making stock that is it! less is more with fish stock I never ever boil

I have to be completely honest I am freaking out that my husband is alone with my bacon I specified exactly how it is to be smoked and how much of each flavor wood (I have done this many times and have it down) when I talked to him first thing he asked me "so what temp is cold smoking?" argh...I have to have faith he is a good man

it is about 1-1 1/2 inches thick but not at all even some parts are pretty thin there are chops at the end that can be cut off when I make it ..I did not want to mess too much with cutting it up because I had never thought of doing this before ... but when I looked at it today it screamed "MAKE BACON" at me so I am posting ..I stuck it in the freezer since I can not do it until next week so no pics I am sorry I can post them later when I take it out it looks like bacon quite fatty these lambs are awesome they are the right age ..not too young and not quite mutton and lots of fat they eat well over there in Easter WA that is for sure!

I am seriously thinking of trying to make a lamb bacon I just cut cut up a (Eastern Washington ..best on the planet I think) lamb we bought this week ...and there is a really nice belly on it I do NOT want to do anything to overwhelm it suggestions on brine time and smoke? I was thinking something light but am not sure I am going to keep the brine simple salt and brown sugar right now I have several slabs of bacon smoking today at home under my husband supervision (and a lot of phone calls... he has never done this alone!) and 20 ham hocks ready to go in the smoker when I get home tonight I am feeling pumped this week hope I can keep this going, it is the first time in ages I have taken a project on like this! ...help on the lamb? thanks (I have the book and love it but there is nothing like someone telling you what they have done to help this come out great!)

I would eat chared ones they are good! I have not perfected the char on popcorn but I can get almost every one popped

our Friday supper for years and years... stove popped corn (Goya is a very good reliable brand..it is not needed to buy anything more for this as long as it looks ok in the bag!) ... on the stove ..old pan ..lots of oil in the pot ..hot hot.. ...and I always always use warm clarified butter on popcorn..the one thing I think is worth the effort for taste and texture ..less water...all fat ..and ever so much better lots of salt home made oatmeal cookies for dessert

if I am lucky enough to have a black truffle I will shave it over hot dishes (I have never eaten them on cold dishes however) especially egg dishes ..eggs and black truffles are of God to me!!!

to me the answer is YES it tasted EXACTLY the way I thought raw chicken would taste I tried but it was not for me at all

Abra I am so sorry about your husband, please accept my best wishes that he do well I am grieving (and may very well be doing that for the rest of my life) the bad part about grief is there are so many freaking triggers, I knew the holidays would be bad ..but Jesus how bad I had no clue! black cake is one of the triggers and I really want to get beyond it! and honor the momories with cooking these kinds of things, instead of feeling this pain I want some joy in the memories!! ..this magnificant young man adored my black cake. food is my life and if I loose the motivation to cook I am not sure where I will be! sorry to be such a bummer I am going to snap out of it I promise!! Chef and Rob thanks so much your flattery helps for sure maybe next weekend I can pull it together thanks

I am giving myself a bump here I really want to make black cake this year but am dealing with sadness/grief over it (sounds strange but true I am stuck over this cake this year) help motivate me will you please? tell me you are making them and how they are turning out ..post pics maybe? why is food so freaking emotional?

on a good rye

I am half Canadian (did not know this food was part of my heritage!) as a kid our standard "healthy" after school snack combo .....we would stop at the Italian bakery on the way home and pick up a couple of crusty rolls each (one to eat while walking the other for the sandwich) go home slather on lots of yellow mustard, dill pickles and a big pile of chips ..then I would take my history book and squished it flat for easy handling and then had it with a ice cold Coke...I may have ot try one again it has been years!!! I dont have my history book or the same crusty rolls (or even the same metabolism!) ...sigh ..memories

I do not like raw chicken at all it is horrible to me it smells/tastes no matter how clean it is ...like...well raw chicken but a pepper crusted duck breast seared sashimi style (crispy outside raw cold middle HELLO

best bait ever no matter what trap you use is a Snickers bar! I have great luck with cheapo traps and Snickers when we get a mouse in our house (of course my mice are country mice so they may be more naive ) I thought my dogs would eat the mice when some found their way in ..but alas my pit bulls are afraid of vermin

thank you kindly