snowangel

Bisteces Rancheros for dinner the other night. Inspired by a really wonderful batch of poblanos from the farmer's market, and some leftover tomatoes I had roasted. I didn't have a clue how much is in a can of tomatoes, so I by-guessed-and-by-gollied. I also tossed in a roasted jalapeno. Mighty tasty, if unattractive. So many of the meat braises just don't photo well. Anyway, the leftovers are wonderful, slightly warmed, shredded and served on a tortilla with some crunchy iceberg lettuce. I wanted mine spicier, so I minced up some bird chilis, added them to the warmed meat on the tortilla, sat on the deck with an icy cold beer, and had a mighty fine lunch.

Ask the 9 year old what she would like to eat and cook. And, get her involved in breakfast (you can work some science in if you make buttermilk pancakes!). You could also take her with you to the grocery so she could shop with you.

Low and slow. The rule for braising and smoking. Sounds like it works as well for a rubbed, foil-wrapped skinny ass brisket, too. Low and slow.

I thaw and refreeze stock all of the time. I just make sure that if it's been heated, it gets good and cold real fast. Marlene, your problem sounds like a chicken stock I made a while back. I aways add chicken feet to my stock (usually just one or two to a gigantic pot), but this time, I had five in the freezer that were all stuck together, so I figured that more of a good thing is better. The result was a wonderful stock, but it was far more gelatenous than normal, and I for the life of me couldn't get rid of all of the fat. And, I wasn't about to go out and buy one of those defatters that my tiny kitchen won't hold. Remember. Fat is good. Fat is flavor.

Sounds to me like you have the flat part of a small brisket. Not the most ideal of cuts, but for some reason, they are popular. Me, I'm all over that nice thick end with all of the fat, perfect for the smoker. But, alas and alak, that's not in your fridge. There is a recipe in Molly Steven's "All About Braising" that I'm hot to try. Brisket Braised with Rhubarb and Honey. If you don't have the book, hie thyself to the bookstore and buy it (worth it's weight in innovative ways to use cheap cuts of meat) or to your local library. Sure, it's supposedly past time to pick rhubarb (there's that old "don't pick after the 4th of July" adage), but I think your plant would love giving something up to a dish that sounds as wonderful as that particular dish. Regardless of whether you take my suggestion or not, me does think that a braise is in order.

Beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes will be a challenge most of the year in Michigan...

I can't believe I didn't make any notes in the cookbook when I did the Beef Rendang. I do remember that I cut the cubes on the smaller side -- 1-1/2" instead of 2". I do remember that I started it in the LC 7 quart that I have and I dumped it into a skillet at about 2 hours into it. I think starting it in the LC was a great thing because it held more moisture in which allowed the beef to get more tender. And, as I recall, I did up the heat once it started to separate. This will be on the menu soon as I have a nice chuck roast in the freezer. I'll take better notes! It's an odd meat braise in that it is done stove-top. I wonder what would happen if one started it in the oven and finished it on the stove?

We have just come through a mini-disaster. Tornado 100 yards from our house. High winds. No electricity from Wednesday evening through this evening (back up and running). We were lucky, and in no way does this compare with what many are going through. We were lucky in many respects. We had gasoline. We had natural gas, and a gas cooktop, and a natural gas hot water heater. But, lack of electricity gives one cause to pause. Some things I did right away. I noted that our city had front end loaders out at 5:00 am to clear paths on the main drags. So, at 8:00 am, I headed off in my trusty ford bronco in search of an open liquor store that had power. In search of ice blocks. I found ice blocks. My deep freeze was very full, so I could only add two or three ice blocks. I also covered it with several quilts. (I checked the deep freeze when the power came on, and other than two loaves of bread, everything was still frozen solid. ) I put two in the fridge, and one in the side-by-side's freezer. I double bagged them in those Target bags that seem to multiply like rabbits. In retrospect, I wish I'd put them in 9 x 13 pans to help contain moisture. I also got a 30 lb. bag of cubes and an extra block for a cooler. I took everything out of the fridge that people would want access to and put it in the cooler, and informed the family that they would not be opening the fridge or the freezer. Need be, I would do that once a day because I know where the stuff is. So, I get home. I need coffee. We have a melita-style electric coffee maker, a mess of whole beans, and a burr grinder. I also have a mortar and pestle. It takes a long time and a lot of elbow grease to grind a pot's worth of coffee, but it's rewarding. I heated water on the stove (you can bypass the electronic ignition by turning the burner to high and using a match of a blow torch). With an electric coffee maker, you can bypass the electric feature by filling the filter with grounds, keeping the lid open and pouring the water right over the grounds. Breakfast the first day is the time to use the stuff in the fridge that probably won't hold well in a cooler, or will attract fruit flies. In our case, it was peaches, sliced, along with iceburg lettuce wedges and the last of the blue cheese dressing that would have taken up too much space in the cooler for the size of the container in relation to the contents. A charcoal grill is wonderful. As long as you have charcoal, which we did. We could have easily heated water on it. I made quesidillas on it in a skillet. I diligently checked the side-by-side every morning. As of this morning, the fridge temp was holding steady at 44 degrees, which was fine for what was left in it. The side by side freezer was not fairing as well, and it was not long before I emptied the ice maker (we have one of those in-door dispensers, because cubes melt faster than the block, and the water was leaking through the dispenser, all over the floor. Paul had moved the ice further down the freezer (all ice should be at the top of the fridge or freezer), so some hamburger was thawing. This is where community comes into play. All of us had some stuff that was starting to thaw. So, it was time to get cooking. The one person who had a generator went and got potato salad and cole slaw. We cooked and ate and drank. Following a day of the men wandering around with their chain saws, while the kids came over and played on our play set, once the limbs were removed from our yard. Lessons learned: Helping your neighbors is a really good thing. Having charcoal and a grill is a really good thing. Dry matches, a blow torch or lighters are a good thing. Acess to ice makes life much easier. Knowing where your flashlights are when the power goes out is even better. (a child with disabilities makes candles not a good option in our household) Assuming your cell phone tower is still up, having your phone charged up is a good thing. Battery-operated (or wind-up) clocks are a wonder thing to have around. Should you go the flashlight/clock/radio route, spare batteries are helpful. Reliance on the radio for news is interesting. We huddled around the radio like my mom talks about doing when she was a girl. If you have a high school student who is due to have a test, and the text is on a CD-Rom, be sure and send a note to the teacher asking her/him to postpone the test. I want a big chain saw for Christmas (I am a power tool junkie). Most of all we learned not being able to wash clothes is exhausting. Not having electricity is exhausting.have roofs over our head. We learned that we take many, many things for granted. Like I said above, this incident pales in comparison to what many have gone through. Although our neighborhood looks much different now because of the loss of trees, only one person in the Twin Cities lost his life, and I knew all along that my family and friends were safe and warm.

To add more info on MRE's, from eGullet's own The Daily Gullet: Mmm, Mmm, MREs. Nice plating, Brooks.

When I was at Target the other day, I noticed that they are now carrying two sizes of enameled cast iron casseroles -- 4.5 quart and 6 quart, as I recall. They were $39.99 each, and I think the brand was Chefmate. Red or blue. They are not featured on their web site.

Susan, will there be a NASCAR meal tomorrow? Paul, Heidi and Diana have a hot date in front of the TV tomorrow with popcorn and beer (clarify. Diana and Heidi will have juice or water!)

I also notice a big difference when they are skinned. I put them in a bowl of water, make Peter wash his hands very well, and pay him $.25 to skin them! Rub them around and the skins pop right off. I also think that the canned chick peas I get at the Middle Eastern market (I can't remember the brand name, but it's one one that I see in local supermarkets) to be vastly superior.

I'm still debating. Pasta is not in the cards this week because a heavy week of kid activities. I'm leaning towards either of Chris's suggestions, but no juniper here, either! And, I've only made pasta once, and with minimal success, so I'm wondering if a stuffed one is overly ambitious?

Marlene, photos please of the French Dip sandwiches. What kind of bread do you use?

Growing up in Thailand in the 60's and early 70's, I well remember scuba diving trips to the Andaman Ocean and someone would ways bring a whole mess of C-Rations. As I recall, the C-Rations were unmarked, as well, and not much was good. Except they came with a small package of cigarettes.

Hoping you'll photo some of the places you shop.

I have a mess of ground venison in the freezer. I am hot to do a stuffed pasta. Need ideas. For the two together, please.

I am reminded of one my grandmother used to make for lunch when the men were busy combining and would come in for a fortifying lunch. Keep in mind that it was sweet corn season. Leftover sweet corn, scraped from the cobs, and all of the juice, so you had in effect creamed corn without all of the crap in the canned stuff. Mushroom soup. Browned hamburger. Cooked egg noodles. Way more "creamed corn" than mushroom soup. I have made this in recent years with a veloute or a bechamel if I have leftover sweet corn. I have also added diced green chilis, which is not middle-of-Nebraska traditional.

Let's not forget King Ranch Casserole.

I don't see how that could be the case, since both beet and cane sugar are 100% sucrose, right? ← I do know that when one is making candy, one of these sugars behaves differently and boils much higher in the pan than the other. Can't remember which.

No photos, but yet another phyllo tomato pizza tonight, with fresh picked (as in from the garden to the cutting board) tomatoes. Accomapnied by sweet corn. There was some mention over the lack of meat at the meal, until they ate it all. Fresh sweet corn. Tomatoes. Basil. Butter. Phyllo. What's not to like?

Up here in Minnesota, we don't call them casseroles, we call them "hot dishes." One of the problems I have with most hot dishes is that they are mush. Plain and simple. No need to whirr them in a food processor or the Happy Baby Food Grinder to make any toothless baby happy. So, what I do when I need a simple and fast one dish meal is to take some pre-cooked meat, some veg (usually barely cooked) and something else that will retain crunch (water chestnuts and raw chopped celery and/or carrots are great for this, nuts are another welcome addition). Perhaps some rice or way undercooked pasta. Glue it all together with some home-made sauce (roux based) and put in a very wide shallow dish so that it bakes hot really quickly without turning everything else to mush. Vary the flavors. Add some curry. Add some currants. Give it some texture and surprising tastes. Although, I can't say I really plan meals around a hot dish. It sort of depends on what leftover stuff I have that needs to be used. I've had some disasters, but I've had some real winners that I've struggled to recreate.

Yes, leaving that half-eaten burger was a crime. More of a crime is that you wasted precious stomach space on krinkle cuts. I shouldn't even mention that you should have taken the soup, untouched, home to discover when you had the post-drive munchies; that would have traveled well.

You listed cane after sugar. Does that mean that beet sugar is OK?

Apparently, it takes a bazillion times more energy for my husband or children to open the dishwasher and insert the dishes than it does for me. They also feel it is important to leave the sink full of stuff so that one cannot use the sink.