Okanagancook

The oxtail daube was from the SW France book. I have also made the beef daube from her Claypot book. Both were fantastic. The pig foot and skin really give the sauce that sticky yummy rich quality. The recipes are quite a bit of work and you have to start a day or two ahead of when you want to eat them.

Made these andouille sausages using a mix of ingredients found in recipes from various sources. Used 'middle' size casing which were a little tricky to stuff. We had not used this size before and we tended to over fill them and had a few burst. All in all they turned out very, very well. Friends who have eaten a lot in New Orleans and used store bought garlic sausage for their homemade gumbo said the gumbo they made with these was the best they have every had...probably because we put tons of garlic in....home grown garlic which was nice and 'sticky'.

Paula Wolfert's Oxtail Daube. Ingredients (except the pig skin...already in the pot) and the final dish served over potato/celeriac mash from Pepin, saute musrooms and some steamed snap peas with toasted almonds from Moosewood.

Well, I find myself using this website more and more. I am using more of my cook books since signing up for the life time membership....best choice ever. Each time I use a recipe I make a note about it and rate it. If you don't use it, try it for a week.. Amazing.

Thanks for the feed back. I'll give it a try. With some of the oxtails I made Paula Wolfert's oxtail daube today. Looks amazing.

The Boulevard is very nice. Googled it and mixed it with 1.5 oz rye, 1/2 oz. each vermouth and Grand Marnier a couple dashes of orange bitters. Yum

Scored some nice fresh oxtails today. I want to sous vide them and have been looking at various times and temps. I want them to be like medium rare tender beef short ribs so I'm thinking 56C for 48 hours. MC uses higher temperatures but I'm not sure I want them really well done however there is one MC method at 60C for 100 hours....has anyone tried oxtails sous vide?

We used one of these from Lee Valley Tools: http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?p=10025&cat=2,33140&ap=1 Now I have a built in under the counter compost bin.

BadRabbit I just started using the star rating system for recipes. It is a good idea for everyone. Just went through my copy of Charmaine Solomon's "The Complete Asian Cookbook" and rated all the recipes where I had made notes about how I felt it turned out. The problem with the rating system is that when you add a note to a recipe and then want to return to the index of recipes to rate the next recipe the screen brings you back to the beginning of the book and you have to advance through the book to where you ended your last rating. I will contact EYB to see if they can fix that.

Scotty, I always cook mine like this and it turns out very flavourful and tender: Blanch the octopus. Put in pot with salt and pepper and a little garlic butter. No extra liquid. Bake, covered, at 200 F for 5 hours. Skin immediately.

We get organic lamb from Armstrong area in the north Okanagan area here in British Columbia, Canada. We get them whole and butcher them up ourselves....my favourite thing to do. So, I do have some lovely lamb breast which I now know what to do with...can't wait to try it. Thanks for the wonderful idea. Also enjoying your stories of life 'in the sticks'....well at least it's not 'life in the weeds'! Cheers, and keep it coming.

From Jose Andres' book, I made the green olives filled with piquillo peppers and anchovy on page 27....very good and a nice presentation. The squid with caramelized onions on page 147 is also excellent. On the gluten free note, careful with cross contamination...separate cutting board and utensils for gluten containing items.

Anna, here is my recipe which works every time for me: 300 grams Maseca instant corn masa mix 400 grams hot water a pinch of salt Used a 6 1/4 inch iron "Myco Kitchen" press Weighed each tortilla to 37 grams then pressed to 5 1/4 inch tortillas (pressed lightly then turned 1/4 turn four times to even out the dough) Cooked on medium high heat (Wolf gas stove) in a dry Cephalon fry pan: 30 sec, flip and cook 60 seconds, flip and cook 30 seconds and I found that pressing on the edges helps the tortillas puff.

Thanks for the feedback. The yellow mustard quantity in recipe #4 does look like a lot. Will try with less mustard and more water.

Where I live it is difficult to get specialty ingredients. I want to make Creole Mustard to use in Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook. We have already made our own Andouille Sausage and Tasso Ham from recipes found on the internet and here. I have searched for Creole Mustard recipes and have only found the four listed below. Having never tasted it I don't know which one would produce a reasonably authentic mustard. Thoughts? Recipes? Recipe 1 6 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Tabasco sauce or hot sauce Recipe 2 5 tablespoons brown mustard - grainy 1 tablespoon shallot - minced 1 tablespoon molasses 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon Tobasco sauce or hot sauce Recipe 3 1 cup dry white wine 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced 1 teaspoon celery seeds 1 teaspoon ground allspice 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg or mace 2 Tablespoons tarragon vinegar 2 Tablespoons malt vinegar Place mustard seeds in a dry, heavy skillet over medium heat. Heat, uncovered, until the seeds begin to pop. Remove from heat, cover with a paper towel, and let cool, 5 to 10 minutes. Place toasted mustard seeds between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Crush with a rolling pin until coarsely ground. (You may also use a spice grinder, but do not over-process.) Set aside. Sterilize three 1-cup jars and lids, and leave in hot water. In a small heavy saucepan, whisk together white wine, garlic, celery seeds, allspice, salt, cloves, and nutmeg. Bring just to the boil, immediately remove from heat, and let sit to steep, uncovered, for 2 hours. Mix the coarse-ground toasted mustard seeds, tarragon vinegar, and malt vinegar to a paste in a large bowl. Reheat wine and spice mixture over high heat to a boil. Strain through cheesecloth or a very fine strainer into the bowl with the mustard. Whisk until well-combined. Pour into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/8-inch headspace, and seal with lids. Store in a cool, dry place for 3 weeks before using. Once opened, store in the refrigerator. Recipe 4 1/2 Cup Distilled White Vinegar 1/2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper 2 Cloves Garlic, chopped 1/2 Cup Brown Mustard Seeds, crushed 1 Tbsp Freshly Grated Horseradish Pinch Cayenne Pepper Pinch Ground Allspice 1 tsp Kosher Salt 1 tsp Granulated Sugar 1 tsp Steen’s 100% Pure Cane Syrup 4 Tbsp Coleman’s Mustard powder 1 small canning jar with lid, sterilized Place the vinegar, crushed red pepper, and garlic into a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let steep for 15-20 minutes then strain the mixture, discard the solids. Bring back to a boil then add the mustard seeds, turn off the heat and let steep for 30 minutes. In a small bowl combine the vinegar with the horseradish, cayenne, salt, sugar, cane syrup, and brown mustard seed. Whisk in the mustard powder. Pour into the sterilized jar, put the lid on and process in a water bath for 15 minutes. When cool, tighten the lid, and make sure the jar is sealed. Place in a cool dark place and let mature for at least 3-4 weeks before using. This step will allow the flavors to marry and mellow which will not be able to take place in the refrigerator, although the mustard will need to be refrigerated after opening.

Cheating on a gluten free diet is not recommended by health professionals due to complications that can arise...just google "can I cheat on a gluten free diet". Sorry for the bad news.

From the Joy of Mixology, a Delmarva Cocktail 2 oz straight rye whisky (used a Canadian rye whisky we had on hand) 1/2 oz dry vermouth 1/2 oz Amaretto or Disaronno (I used the latter) 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice shaken and strained into a chilled cocktail glass I think I'm getting the hang of this :-))

it gets smoked at 170 degrees F for 7 hours. It is cured in the fridge but the cure contains spices and insta cure #1, salt and sugar.

Sound like I should start over!

I just put pork belly to marinate using the home cured bacon recipe on page 3-182. I did not have fermento (or so I thought) but did find some Bactoferm F-RM-52 so used that instead (2.17 g for the 1042 grams of pork belly). That was 5 hrs ago. Now I found my fermento. Should I start over by washing off the marinate or will it be ok with the Bactoferm. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Interesting chart here: http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blalcohol12.htm

Tylenol and alcohol are not good partners, especially for your liver so best give up one or try coated aspirin.

We also like to get the whole animal and have butchered lambs and small pigs. Beef is next for us also. There are quite a few good instructional videos on the net showing how to butcher beef.

I have made the KC MC sauce and yes, it turned out very, very thick. About the consistency of ketchup I'd say. Tasted wonderful.

I like using my blow torch on peppers to quickly char the skin. This works on tomatoes too for quick skinning.