snowangel

Janet, this looks beautiful! What's missing from your caesar dressing? Maybe we can help.

Bumping this back up, in the hopes that people will share what they're going with leftovers. Last night, I espied a container of chili in the fridge. It wasn't enough to serve as just chili, even with sides, so I went rumaging. The pantry revealed two boxes with Barilla Pipettes (combined not enough to use for mac and cheese). There were were bits and pieces of cheese rolling around. And a bag of frozen corn in the freezer with just a couple of small handfuls of corn. So, chili mac. On the side, salad which also had croutons I made out of a stale loaf of bread languishing on the top of the fridge. What are you doing with leftovers?

You might want to look at this topic on tomato water.

Abra, I've ordered a whole skin on belly (apparently my local butcher shop normally carries them but is out right now) and they also carry all sorts of the curing agents as well as casings. I've been plowing through my copy, and my first projects, I think will be bacon and that chicken/tomato/basil sausage. I don't have a meat grinder or stuffer (yet), but think I'll try and borrow one to tide me over until I get to the cabin and retrieve the one that's up there. I'm going to hold off on the air cured stuff until I can figure out a place in which to do it.

A burger. With tomato. Way to make my heart sing. We are months away from having a burger with a REAL tomato. BTW, although your groups knitting projects may have been way off base, let me know if you want some fairly rough directions for a nice linen market bag. Call it "I acutally pulled out paper and pen and made notes when a pattern went bad and I had to do something considerably different." This one is definitely made for the farmer's market, so is food related. Although, one could call my off the cuff Aran sweaters food realted because there are hings of lobsters residing in the cables!

So, Chris, where's the photo? Where's the food porn? Ambrosia over the needs of the many?

Well, during the down times at Diana's volleyball games today, I plowed through most of this book. Wow. This book, BTW, is not a $35.00 book, but let's add on a meat grinder and a sausage stuffer. I'm hot to do stuff, and I will have a pork belly and I'm so lucky that the meat market that will supply this can also supply all manners of casings as well as salts, etc. So, just following bacon, I 'm going to experiment and try some sort of sausage with venision and cherries. Wow. (additionally lucky because my back door neighbor has a Bradley that will cold smoke, and if I share some, he'll gladly lend).

I'm a bit puzzled. Cast iron in the dishwasher? Big no no in my department. I use a cast iron skillet and a regular saucepan filled with water. The cast iron (very well seasoned) is bathed gently in hot water, and dried over a low burner, with a smear of oil before storing.

The weekend of the 18/19 will preclude smoking on Saturday (volleyball) but not Sunday. The following weekend is free. But, if we do ribs, we need to move to the Smoking Ribs topic. Read up Marlene, and plan on spare, not baby back, ribs. Trust me.

Did you eat and knit? Or just eat? What projects are everyone working on?

One idea, Marlene, if you want to reduce the amount of smoke it to add the wood chips after the meat has been on the smoker for let's say, 45 minutes. This might work!

Yeah, I really wish we had easy access to salt pork up here in North Jersey, but I wouldn't know where to get it. Newark, maybe, in the Portuguese stores? So sadly, I had to use bacon. The soups came out amazing, irregardless. Had to use a little bit more salt though. ← Jason, I'm surprised that ou can't get salt pork near you. It's available at all of the regular supermarkets here (culinary wasteland). It's in little cryovaced packages, but not near the bacon. At my store, it's by the odd meat parts. Have you asked about it or called to see if they can order some for you?

Yes, Marlene, this was a most worthy way to cook a roast, wasn't it? I've never smoked with anything but hickory, but I think that applewood is probably milder. Perhaps cut back on the amount of wood or remove the wood sometime during the cooking process? Boy, that was one mighty tasty roast. I had more crunch around the edges, but my roast had much less of a fat cap, and in the last little bit, I did goose up the heat because I struggled so to get the temp anywhere above 200, and perhaps that last blast of heat (I was at 105 when I gave it the blast, and got the temp up to 300) did the trick? Time to go eat some leftovers!

Well I'll be. I didn't moat, but sure had some nice top hats...Is it the moat or making sure that the batter isn't touching the top of the sides of the souffle dish?

Kathy, thanks for the book recommendation. I've just reserved it at the library, and hopefully, we can make some headway with Heidi. She not only has some sensory issues, but some oral motor ones as well. Not to mention the PMR thing which just makes things even more difficult. Chuck E. Cheese. I'd rather sand window frames down than visit that place again. An afternoon home alone with a paintbrush or That Place? No question! Bacon in the oven? Absolutely. Sure beats wiping up all of that grease than lands everywhere close to the stove. What was for dinner?

The deed is done. The 5 pound roast, which proved to have bones, although was labeled as boneless, was much more juicy and succulent than the photo indicated. I had a nice smoke ring, and the smokey, slighty crunchy and smokey crust and ring played nicely with the interior, which was almost creamy. I took the roast off at just under 120 (using my trusty analog Taylor which was a wedding present some almost 25 years ago) and rested while I cooked some potatoes which were smashed with braised in olive oil garlic, butter and milk. The salad was little greens with a balsamic vinagarette. A most worthy meal. Smokey and bloddy and juicy and tangy, what with all of the tastes combined. And, I smell like smoke.

As I spend about 7 hours tomorrow in a horrid gym (volleyball for Diana), I think I will get this book read pretty darned fast, and sit and dream of my belly and various curing agents.

I think I've really and truely mastered smoking on the kettle. I now struggle to keep the temp above 200. I'm thinking I could probably cold smoke on the darned thing.

Oh, I'm in heaven. I have Charcuterie (albeit from the library, but that will make me know that I have this book). My local meat market normally carries pork bellies, but they are out until next week. They also carry casings and a full line of salts and curing agents. And, best of all, this place is but 4 miles from my house. Happy dance!

Chimney just started. I'm running late. Diana and I lingered too long over the cookbooks at the library. I am, howver, the very first person in my library system to check out Charcuterie. I bailed on potato salad because it just seemed like too much work what with laundry, drywalling, etc. So, it will be mashed here, as well.

Wendy, I didn't draw a moat around mine. Just made sure that the tops were flat, and that they didn't touch the top of the sides of the dishes. I really loved doing them in the little dishes. Very nice ratio of crust to creamy.

At this point in the year, you are better off using frozen corn. It works just fine, although there is something about stripping the corn off the cob and using the cobs as a base...

The top of my prime rib is was more well trimmed than I would like. I can't see any downside to laying some bacon on top. Thoughts?

Massaman curry tonight -- quite spicy! Venison takes quite nicely to the coconut milk and curry paste bath of Thai food.

I puff chest with pride. As our dinner guests were leaving, and I was going to send a boatload of leftovers home with them, the Teenage Daughter prononced to me that this was the best curry ever, and that I should keep most of the leftovers.