snowangel

I don't often cook turkey legs. BUt, I do know that with chicken or turkey lets, I always either cut off that knobby end where the foot was, or make sure and sever all of the tendons so the meat contracts (think lollipop) It does make a difference. Turkey legs are also very good when smoked...

Needing a bit of advice. At some point this week, I will try my first stuffed pasta. I think I can handle the pasta and the stuffing part, but have some questions about the filling. So, tonight we had a lovely braised pot roast. Onions, celery, cinnamon stick, some sweet paprika, garlic, more onions, and prunes. It was wonderful. So, if I'm going to use this to stuff pasta, I assume that I need to add a binder? Or not? And puree it? Or just mince everything very fine? Any suggestions or advice?

According to my grandmother, a tidge was less than a smidge. And, her mother's "pat" of butter was not that thing you get at a restaurant, on that waxy thick paper with that was paper quare on top that says "butter" in blue letters. Her pat was a 1/4" slice (at least) off a 1 lb. block of butter.

So, we have the standard measurements. Be they metic or not. The tablespoon. The quarter of a cup. The ounce. The kilo. The ML. But, then there are those I grew up with. The glug. The smattering. The pinch. But, the one on so many of the recipe cards in my great grandmother's recipe box -- those recipes written in spidery fountain pen ink -- is the tidge. I do know that the older I get, the less I worry about precise measurements, unless I am baking something new. I can't remember the last time I actually got out a measuring spoon to measure a tablespoon of oil. So, what's in your lingo? And, what would you think a tidge would be? How carefullyl do you measure?

I, following the guidelines that Molly has provided, did a slightly different take on a beef pot roast, sort of inspired by a Mark Bittman Minimalist column I vaguely remembered. Browned chuck roast. Removed and added the duo (onions and celery). Added some smashed garlic. Deglazed with wine, added some chix stock, a cinnamon stick, a dollop of sweet paprika. Set it in a low oven last night. By the time it was done, all I had the energy for was to sit the LC out in the outdoor fridge (my deck; it was very chilly). Defatted today, added some halved onions and whole garlic cloves and prunes. I should add that I don't like carrots in a braised dish. No quibbles, please, I just don't. Re-brasied. Served over roasted garlic smashed potatoes alongside roasted carrots. Yum. Double yum. Even the kids noted it. I don't often think to add fruit with beef, but it can be good. It was not photogenic, nor did I think to grab the camera.

My best friend's MIL owns an orchard. It was a fabulous Haralson year.

I have a lot of apples. Think three grocery bags full. Beautiful Haralson's. Obviously, the five us can't eat enough pies and raw apples to take care of them before they will go. Suggestions (please, no applesauce)? I know that when I have excess peaches, I make pie filling with the raw peaches, line pie tins with foil, add the filling, fold and freeze. Stick frozen filling into a pie crust and top with a top crust, and bake. Will this work with apples? I love caramelized apples (not caramel cover whole apples). Can one make and freeze? I know there would be some loss of texture, but... Other suggestions? Edited to add: Haralson's are a supreme eating and baking apple. Choice of Minnesotan's for baking.

That sounds like way too high an oven temp. But then again, I'm amazed at the number of braising recipes that are contrary to what us experts have discovered! I'd cut back on the amount of liquid, braise covered, and in a much lower oven.

Marlene, that sounds like a lot of liquid, and I don't think that much will cook off in the initial 10 minute boil. The uncovered thing has me puzzled, too. Do they recommend cooking in the oven or stove top? What temp?

I take them all into the kitchen. The more well-splattered pages open automatically to the tried and true. Problem is that I ignore the ones I haven't tried, but should. And, if I can't find the book on the shelf, I know to look under my bed. My friend's have that area under the bed that is littered with shoes. Mine with cookbooks.

My favorite midnight munchie is bacon (which makes the house smell really good when one arises in the morning). Late at night a year or so ago, I discovered the BLH on pita. Bacon, lettuce and hummus on pita. Way great.

My kitchen has no room for cookbook storage, but it opens to the living room, where I have a three shelf unit, which is not to wide. The sun room (behind the living room) has another such bookshelf, which used to be devoted to other stuff, but is gradually becoming devoted to cookbooks. Down in the basement, I have 400 feet of bookshelf space. Some old college textbooks (only the ones I really still ove), lots of knitting, quilting and gardening books along with all of our old LP's and an ever growing collection of cookbooks. I make a habit of rotating from upstairs to downstairs. And, then there are the couple on the piano bench. On top of my knitting basket. And, that "footstool" by my bedside isn't a footstool, but a stack of cookbooks. I'm learning that paperback cookbooks have a place. Easier to read when heading off to sleep. Hot Sour Salty Sweet is too big and heavy to read while laying down!

Susan, the weather here is finally turning. After historical October high temp weather (the leaves still haven't fallen!), the temps are dropping rapidly to what should be at this time of year. So, tonight, I took a nice bit chuck roast out of the freezer to braise tomorrow for dinner on Saturday. I took out an extra big one figuring that I would have a nice lot of leftovers for my first stuffed pasta attempt. This pasta thing, once I figured out the tricks, is not nearly as difficult as I'd made it before. Even the little boys who were here for dinner noticed a vast difference in the pasta served here tonight (alfredo, at the request of the boys and Diana) than what they get at home. Plus, it was a fascinating lesson for inquisitive 9-year old boys (whose mothers' are unappreciative of the fact that the boys have informed them that they should be making pasta from scratch).

Chocolate sauce right out of the container. We are out of ice cream.

During a short window during early fall, I'm all over the chestnut crabs, which are not commonly available (usually used for polination and the orchard owners hoard them for themselves! If not chestnuts, my favorite eating apple is the Haralson. It's more on the tart side, which is what I love. Here in Minnesota, there are orchards that also sell baked goods, and none of these places sells Haralson's. They use all they can grow (and actually buy them if possible) for baking. They are the best apple for cooking and baking. The University of Minnesota has been a leading apple research and breeding facility for many, many years, and you can thank them for Haralsons and Honeycrisps.

Over on our Tagteam blog, both Kris and I successully made pasta. And, I was successful once again. I am using a mix of a cup and a half each of AP flour and some stuff I bought at the coop from a bin, labeled "duram seminola for pasta, along with five eggs and a splash of olive oil. It is working well, epecially now that I realize that an occasional bare dusting of flour can be my friend. I also am finding it helpful to cut the sheets in half when I am about 1/2 way through the rolling process (an atlas). Further, I am discoversing that of the 8 settings I have, we are happiest when the last level is #3. The two neighborhood boys that were here tonight (raised on Chef Boyardee) were darned impressed. So, time for me to braise something so that I have leftovers. I'm feeling confident enough to try a stuffed pasta!

Our goddaughter was just confirmed. I pondered and pondered and pondered a gift. I didn't want to get her yet another cross (she got 4 of them) or something that would sit on her dresser to collect dust. So, I found myself in a bookstore, and Julia's The Way To Cook and Baking with Julia lept out at me. She has just discovered the kitchen, and I can't tell you how happy she was to get these two books. At the dinner, all of the Women Of My Age were all over these books. Not a traditional confirmation present, but appropriate for the occasion and the confirmand. I still stand by these two books as benchmarks.

Agreed that this is not strange. In fact, I have a post in in my All About Braising book that her Chicken with Prunes and Olives (she also adds some lemon) is one of the next up!

I've been busy braising. Last night, it was the pork with mango, lime and coconut (you can see a photo of just how unattractive this dish can look here). Although it may look unattractive, it is a wonderful dish. It prompted our guest to go out this morning and buy the book! I served it with Chinese Broccoli (ala Hot Sour Salty Sweet) with fish sauce and that fermented bean paste. Dessert was supposed to be apple crisp, but I didn't have any oatmeal. So, I carmelized some wedges of Haralson apples, to to on top of apples, and topped that with some granola. Tonight, I did the Red Pine Chicken. Absolutely outstanding. I think 35 minutes is too long; I pulled it off at about 25 minutes. I would make a couple of changes. I would remove the breasts, thicken the sauce some with a bit of cornstarch, and I would probably not sear the spinach, rather, I would pour the hot sauce over the spinach and top with the chicken so there is a combo of crunchy/cooked spinach. But, I will do this dish again. Best use for boneless, skinless chicken breasts I've come across. Edited to add: This dish might even be better with Chinese brocooli than spinach. The crunch of those broccoli stems would be a wonderful textural contrast.

Not long ago, at my grocery, they had oxtails mismarked as "soup bones." I told the butcher that I was sure they were oxtails, and he agreed, but said that the packaging in which they received them was mismarked. THey were $.99/lb. Usually $3.99 or $4.99/lb. Interesting side note. The butcher at my supermarket knows I usually shop on Tuesdays. He often pulls me aside to clue me into really good deals. So, just why does he do this? The first time I went in for some pork shoulders to smoke, he asked what I was going to do with them. I not only told him, but took in some leftovers after I'd smoked the butts. They love me!

Pork braised with mango, lime & coconut? ← Yes, you are right! It's an absolutely wonderful dish that just doesn't photograph very well. I'll have to work on creative ways to make braises look like they belong in the other dinner topic!

Hmmm. Anyone hungry? It looked no better plated. Although it was yummy. Any guesses as to what this mess was?

Yes. You are lucky. And I am envious. ← Is this smoked in house bacon a regional thing? It's all over the place here in Minnesota. So many of the small towns have great meat markets that smoke their own stuff. Not to mention all of those located in the Twin Cities. I can't begin to count them all.

I picked up a lovely lot of squash at the farmer's market -- 5 for $3.00 (grower's choice as to what whas in the bag). Any particular suggestions for any of these? I don't even know what any of them are called. BTW, that absolutely beautiful bag of spinch, at $1.00, had my name written all over it. I already have plans for that!

Over on the Adventures in Food forum, there is a current discussion of Civet of Hare, inspired by Paula's new book.