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heidih

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Posts posted by heidih

    What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2016–)

    in Cooking

    Posted

    48 minutes ago, Smithy said:

    Our families got together for Labor Day weekend, and combined the fun of a first birthday party for great-grandson with the fun of making and canning salsa. This year my DIL and I canned 4 dozen pints of salsa on 2 separate days, with the birthday party in between. In past years there have been three or four of us family and friends doing the washing, chopping, measuring, roasting and then canning. This year it was just DIL and me. We actually worked more quickly than when there were three or four of us in that kitchen: in the time it took her to do the tomatoes, I did the peppers, onions, seasonings, vinegar and sugar. We were also quite pleased with the discovery that blitzing the tomatoes in her new Nutribullet blender, then draining in a colander, was as effective as cutting the tomatoes by hand and draining them. I tell you, we've got this down to a science! Each day's batch made 12 pints plus some extra. From start to cleanup, we did each batch in under 4 hours.

     

    We also had fun, as we also do, varying the recipe a bit. Our husbands prefer more heat, so we added more hot peppers to one batch. She wanted more onion and salt in another batch. We went all-out on the "extra salt" batch and added a whopping 1/3 cup of salt rather than the 1/4 cup of salt called for. To a 26-cup batch of salsa. 🤣 (Nope, we can't taste the difference. Nope, we didn't do the math ahead of time.)

     

    She gave me some of hers, because they don't use quite as much as we do and don't have friends counting on this year's crop. Here's my haul:

     

    20230905_144147.jpg

     

    And here's the money shot, from tonight's "we aren't very hungry" snacking dinner.

     

    20230906_204300.jpg

    Your yearly communal salsa making reminded me of this Serious Eats piece on Kimjang - the yearly kimchi communal event.  Yours sounds like fun!  https://www.seriouseats.com/kimjang

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1

    Dinner 2023

    in Cooking

    Posted

    23 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

    I always thought the red color comes from achiote paste or oil made with annatto seed; two ways to get annatto. The paste is usually available from any market that sells a lot of Mexican products, and also from Amazon. It's east to work with as long as you know to soften it with lemon or lime juice rather than water. Makes very good red rice and tomato can certainly be added. 

    Thanks for that. People use the term Mexican rice as a generic  - the stuff on the side of a combo plate and I think it has more nuance than I know, 

    Dinner 2023

    in Cooking

    Posted

    15 minutes ago, C. sapidus said:

    Chipotle_chix_spinach_202309.thumb.jpg.33dde323fcb72c001e6a350845fb06dc.jpg

     

    Broiled chipotle chicken with spinach cream and Mexican red rice

    Interesting combo as always. On the red rice - a number of years ago I started seeing  Knorr I think product that was tomato broth.Sure you use a complex blend but is your red coming from tomato paste or puree or? 

    • Thanks 1

    Dinner 2023

    in Cooking

    Posted

    22 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

    @Dejahnice looking meal…..again.  Well done.

     

    we had homemade vegetarian spring rolls cooked in the CSO, hot and sour soup from the timeless Times International Cookbook and a dressed watercress salad.  

    Thanks for the watercress reminder. Such a nice peppery counterpoint to some meals, We get all arugula caught up and forget our old classics. 

    • Like 1

    Food Science Articles and Links

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    In todays L.A. Times - a NASA?JPL venture into plant virus detection from space

     

    "Cutting-edge NASA imaging technology can detect early signs of a plant virus that, if unaddressed, often proves devastating for wineries and grape growers, new research has found.

    While the breakthrough is good news for the wine and grape industry, which loses billions of dollars a year to the crop-ruining disease, it could eventually help global agriculture as a whole.

    Using intricate infrared images captured by airplane over California’s Central Valley, researchers were able to distinguish Cabernet Sauvignon grape vines that were infected but not showing symptoms — before the point at which growers can spot the disease and respond."

    https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-09-05/nasa-aerial-imaging-wine-grape-disease-vineyard-health

    • Like 1

    Provincetown, the "Outer Cape," and Wellfleet Too

    in New England: Dining

    Posted

    Scallops + duck pate. What did they serve to sprad the pate on?  As to Mexican flavors in the toro roll - MX did have a period of Japanese WW2 immigration, and we see Japanese influence in Central & South America as well. That said it might seem odd at first glance.  As always - great photos. I sometimes find our ocean sunset view too strong - like sky on fire and enjoy the subtle end of the cycle out the kitchen window. Of course ours are intensified by pollution...

    • Like 1

    First Ground Elk

    in Cooking

    Posted

    I fell into the lure of Wild Fork and an item I bought was ground elk - 1 pound. My plan was to turn it into meatballs much like @Shelby does with venison. Then afer a horrid day but with kitchen time & space & sleep not happening I decided on free form "meatloaf" in case it did not hold together as balls.  I'd already thought to add my neices undercooked mushroom rissotto (not her fault - shrew asking is it ready yet repeatedly). So I broke 2 eggs in bowl, pepper, generous sprinke of spicy dried onion/garlic, meat, dashes of soy. asdded in the rice dish but it didn't feel right so added a pacml of seasoned small croutons from  salad kit. Forned it into a patty and baked at 350 for approx half hour. The elk does not have a lot of strong taste but is to me SO much nicer than say ground beef. No granular taste or fat taste you get even with low% fat and still moist. If you can get it - worth experimenting.

    IMG_1979.jpg

    • Like 10

    Do you need to soak beans for a puree?

    in Cooking

    Posted

    1 hour ago, chef koo said:

    Pass it through a strainer or a food mill after cooking. Or even leave the skins and buzz it in a food processor. I'm making to yangaeng with different beans. I have a feeling they'll taste about the same. Either way the texture doesn't need to be super fine, but even if it does, there are ways

    Ok I was thinking maybe more fine dining puree. Long sory short soak or not as inclination and time allow but I don't know that affeces pureeresult.

    Dark Leafy Greens and how to get more of them

    in Cooking

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

    No restaurant gai lan that I'm aspiring too. I love that dish with garlic and sauce, but often it isn't as good as I want it to be. Okay what else is new. Recipes vary as to whether to par-boil the gai lan or not, whether to peel the stems, etc. I just need to source some fresh vegetable with a lot of leaves and start experimenting. I would be happy with just that on rice.

    My best Asian produce Farmers Market vendors come down from Fresno. I never peel the stems. I will sometimes give a quick boil in a chicken powder flavored water. Sautee the garlic in a touch of oil. and sauce with nuoc mam rather than oyster sauce or just put the nuoc mam on the rice. Dang - have not gotten ahold of any in a while, 

    A neighborhood kid used to come over to chat and he told me he liked helping his grandma in her veg garden and his favorite was chard with lots of butter :) I'd add some acisd to that prep. 

    Nuclear Fish?

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    The media in any event that affects fisheries will aways be a factor - just like the horrid massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Fishing like farming is a gamble. I feel sorry for the hard working people on the boats. I grew up with children of fishermen when tuna was king in Los Angeles. Every drama eventually gets sidelines by the next one  it seems.

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