haresfur

Got a fig tree into the ground. I bought it in spring and as it was getting rung up they said that I should wait a couple of months before planting it. Apparently it had be bare-root and then they had put it into a pot when it didn't sell soon enough. I was a bit ticked. Then it did nothing for about 3 months or so. I was about to take it back when leaves started to appear. So I nursed it through summer and now it's cool enough to plant. Hope it survives better than the lemon I tried to plant in the same spot. We also have another smaller fig that I need to find a place for. Speaking of figs, they are ripe now so we picked up some fresh ones at the farmers market. I was buying bresaola and my beef guy instructed me to go get figs. Put a slice of bresaola on a piece of bread, then a slice of fig. A little blue cheese on top, flash it under the broiler. Then sit, take a bite, and think how wonderful life is. I'm not sure if he meant fresh or caramelized fig but it turns out great each way.

Heated up, that sounds like a nice Whisky Mac variation - I like adding a little Charteuse to them. And Stirred Word is a good drink (or band) name.

I think, in part, it's a leverage thing. Even people who try not to show up late may end up doing it sometimes. But if a large number of diners do it on a rare occasion, then the restaurants will end up copping it because they serve a lot of customers. Sorry about that. I remember trying to get a Christmas Eve supper - not late, maybe 6:30 pm Most restaurants were closed. The Thai place was open but they had pretty much given up and had to thaw some chicken for us (well it was mostly thawed when we ate it).

After an illness, Wattle the cat turned off on eating his raw kangaroo mince (had to be kanga, never would touch beef or turkey) but he now is ravenous for 60 C sous vide chicken breast. I bought an inexpensive sealer from Aldi since I'm no longer a Costco member to buy freezer bags and am quite happy with it.

Get Naked Espresso in Bendigo. The vision of someone spending a career mastering the nuances of a coffee machine & beans matches my impression of Japanese culture.

Ah. A Slayer. My coffee pusher man uses these machines. Apparently they give lots of control to elevate your brew to a fine art in the right hands.

I was referring to others thoughts that you need to cut the meat with bread for bangers (I find it amusing when supposedly proper taste is associated with what was originally most likely just cost saving).

So do Brats contain the requisite filler? I can get Brats at Aldi.

That would be out back of beyond Fresh Off the Boat so I haven't been here long enough to pick up on everything.

No sightings here, either. But I'm FOB.

When I lived in an asparagus-producing area I never steamed them first. My recipe was similar to yours but included mustard seed and I packed the jars and processed in the water bath like cucumber pickles. The jars make great gifts.

Getting to the end of my tomatoes for canning. I have been making sauce by cooking then straining out the seeds and skins then concentrating. After some discussion with one of my Bendigo Wholefoods (no relation) dudes, this time I just blitzed the tomatoes in the blender (An Aldi knockoff supposedly high-speed blender) to pulverise the skins and seeds then cooked and reduced. Seems much easier and I think they are going to taste ok.

I like to put ground mountain pepper berry on steak, sous vide then sear.

Excuse my ignorance. Why do you do this?

I got lucky and one of my chokes threw a bunch of pups. Hope I get some more.

De nada. I let my last batch go for close to an extra year. Actually I think the jar where I used tequila might still be going. Better check on it, I suppose. The main issue with the extra time was that the spices came out too much. But still quite drinkable.

My pressure cooker hasn't sealed very easily from day one as it comes to pressure. Things I have found that help are 1): Bring it up to pressure as fast as possible. 2): Push down on lid when it comes to a boil and cajole it into sealing. 3) sometimes put a bit of oil on the seal.

I cover, not because of losing water but to save energy. I usually cook in a cooler ('Esky' in this country) but any type of cover will keep a warmer air space above the water and will prevent heat loss from the evaporation. It might not be much but I try to do what I can to save energy.

First tomatoes of the year. Could have used a few more days but I was ready.

Oooh. Where? How much?

Defrost chuck to make chili then proceed to cube up a piece of tri-tip instead.

I thought I read somewhere that brown rice tend to go rancid whereas white rice keeps longer so perhaps eating white rice is a hold-over from an age with poorer options for storage and distribution. (Edit to add: Probably way up thread ) Personally, I don't care what anyone else eats. I like white rice but usually prefer brown.

Bought a post-Christmas small half-price turkey. Small in Australia is only slightly larger than a roasting chook. Marinaded the dark meat in skim milk, apple juice concentrate and about 1% salt (the turkey was pre-brined) and cooked in the sous vide at 64 C for about 11 hours. The thighs and wings went into mole. I reheated the legs on the barbie while I cooked the breasts with indirect heat. I think it turned out really well as did the white meat.

I have a question on the MCaH Crustacean Butter. They instruct to remove eyes and gills then only use the shells. I was interested in trying it with prawn heads and shells but removing inner bits of the heads seems like a pain and a waste of flavour. Everyone seems to use whole heads for stock. Are there some off-flavours that are extracted when you use fat rather than water? Why the difference? Anyone tried making prawn butter using their method? I went ahead and made stock this time, but maybe next time. Or maybe I'll try a liquid-liquid extraction to concentrate the stock taste into butter.

11.0901 mL