OliverB

I just made "Portuguese Chicken" last night, from a tiny recipe on the back of a glass of Coconut Flavored Curry Sauce of the Lee Kum Kee brand. Simple stir fry of cubed potato, onion, mushrooms (I subbed dried shitake for button, as I did not have those) and cut up chicken, then add the sauce and a lot of water, simmer until done and thickened. Turned out very tasty, a quite distinct and different flavor from the sauce, I'll make this again some day! Very quick and easy too, always good during the week :-)

interesting posts, thanks! I ended up with lots of duck fat and cracklings, I kept those in a small tub with some fat, I think that'll be great with potatoes etc. Also got a lot of stock, I have to take the fat off of it and then I'll probably reduce it down by at least half.

just as a side note, if you plan to use it for pizza topping and are concerned it's too lean, just slice it really thin and add it to the pizza AFTER the pizza is coming right out of the hot oven or off the grill. Quite some "gourmet" pizza places around here seem to do that. Sprinkle a bit of arugula on top too, a bit of good quality olive oil, yumm! And I never thought about the crawl space for hanging stuff! I'm in NorCal, it's too wet down there right now I'm sure, but I think I'll put a temp/hygro meter down there this spring and see what temps I have down there, sure would be neat to use that empty space!

I just made wonderful duck breasts following Douglas' recipe with the sweet potato/apple chutney (which is absolutely excellent!). Everything turned out great, had some arugula salad on the side. The only thing I'd like to change - if possible - is the duck skin. It got wonderfully crispy in between the two baking sheets, but it was still soaked full of fat, which made it a bit too greasy for my taste. ( I could also still taste it in my mouth hours later, but that might be normal/just me). So, I'm wondering, cooking the meat SV turned out amazing, what if I'd put the skin on a cooling rack that fits in my baking sheet, maybe even on top of parchment paper through which I punch a lot of holes for the fat to drain, then cover with an other parchment paper and the 2nd baking sheet. Would that get me thinner and less fatty skin? It also took a lot longer to crisp up, almost an hour. Oh, and I'll salt a bit less "liberally" next time too, I might not salt at all unless it's necessary for some reason, then sprinkle with salt once the skin is done. All in all a great dinner though, first time I ever made duck breast, which I finally found at Whole Foods in the specialty freezer next to the meat counter.

well, I put it in the stock pot, google did finally get me some results (after duck head clothing, duck head stock on rifles, duck heads on walking sticks, etc etc). I tried to take the tongue out, as it's sometimes on the written in Chinese only menu at the door of a local restaurant, but it's kind of bony and I have no idea what to do with it, so in the stock it went as well. Lots of fat rendering out of all the extra skin, should make some nice cracklings too. All in all a great deal at $13, though definitely not for the breast meat, there's hardly any on there. I'll cook them SV some day, see what happens, guessing I will end up with some kind of confit, as there's still a ton of fat on those pieces. Fun experiments :-) Still interested in what other things might be done with the head. Do people just pull the little meat off of them when they're bbq'ed?

Asian supermarkets are full of surprises, which is why I love to go there. This week I was excited to see a whole duck for $13, instead of the $50 or so I spent on one a while ago, ordered from the butcher. I did not expect the added surprise of the head (and feet) suddenly coming flopping around once I lifted it off it's tray! Now, I'm making stock with the carcass, keeping the (rather small) breasts and legs for later experiments, and I'm rendering some of the fat now, and will add what ever swims on the stock later, but do I put the head in the stock pot? Throw it away? Roast it? I have seen it hanging in the bbq racks at the Asian store, but really don't know if you can eat it, if it does good or bad to the stock. Hopefully somebody here can enlighten me, otherwise I'll err on the side of caution and throw it out (or freeze it). Thanks! Oliver

the ones I found in my books are either asking for "ground meat" with no further instruction or ground beef. I think you're right though, I'd either keep one for later, or - if you have the time - maybe make both kinds of meat ball, which could be fun. Considering how hard it is for me to find veal here, I'd shy away from adding anything to it. Fun idea with dinner & movie! Wish I'd know somebody that would be into that!

Looking forward to the new one, and I should have ample time to actually cook from the other two in the mean time.....

in the Fat Duck book he makes some whiskey gummys (like gummy bears), that might be an interesting combo too, a nice cheese and a wine gummy shaped in any way you want or can, depending on what forms you might have. Seems pretty easy and straight forward to make.

3 books actually: Hausschlachten by Baernhard Gahm (home slaughter) very interesting, lots of gory pictures though, be warned ;-) Würste, Sülzen, Pasteten selbst gemacht by Gahm also Räuchern, Pökeln, Wursten by Franz Siegfried Wanger All little books, maybe half an inch thick, but all quite good. There's a great sausage book in German (have to look up the title) but it's more of a pro text book and rather expensive, so I don't own it (yet). I just looked at your entry, I'd definitely add the pistachios, to the recipe, they are rather common in use, at least in Bavaria where I'm from. That's how you can recognize them right away, nice bright green spots in them. Let me know if you come across other German foods where you need info, I have several books, including a reprint of a very old book from 1795, all the medieval time re enactors use that in their field or home kitchens. Supposedly even here in the US. Printed in a somewhat hard to read font from way back when. It's called Handbuch für Frauenzimmer, which I'd somewhat translate as Handbook for Womenkind. Fun :-)

I don't think there's "the one" Jagdwurst, I just checked two of my German books and one is mostly beef with maybe 10% pork and backfat, the other is more pork than beef and adds pistachios to the mix. It's boiled at 75 degree centigrade for 90 min to two hours, depending on how thick it is. Generally I'd expect a cooked but not aged sausage under that name. The little dry ones, usually made in a mold, are the above mentioned landjaeger. But my guess would be that you can find a lot of different recipes in the different regions if not even in between butchers. But in general you're talking about lean beef and pork with pork fat and spices. Some of the meat is ground up really fine, some is more cut into cubes. Oh, and it's quite tasty! One of the first things I do in Germany is go to the baker and the butcher Edit to add: yet an other recipe in a book about home slaughtering makes it from pork only, lean shoulder meat, half ground up really fine, half cut into larger pieces, and adds the pistachios to the meat grinder towards the end.

I don't like having to unscrew caps on water bottles, I pretty much only use them when hiking or biking and dropped one too many caps on the ground which I then had to wash with the water I brought The twist half around and drink from nipples on some Sigg bottles are ok, but the cap that goes over always breaks off and after a while the nipple gets all beat up, so my sigg are retired. I recently bought a set of plastic bottles at CostCo, made by contigo. You press a button on the back and the drinking spout in front opens, release and it's closed again, completely spill proof (I just tried). The top also has little ring handle that has a carbine in it, so you can hang it from your belt loop or backpack. A great idea, as I tend to at least have to carry my 3 year old's bottle (and mine) and it keeps my hands free for the camera. No plastic taste what so ever, which is nice too. I've thrown out plenty water bottles for bike bottle holders for that plastic taste reason. I'd rather drink from a creek then. (though I must warn you, I had the unpleasant experience of doing just that and - after hiking up a bit further - finding a nice cow patty in the water of the same creek Survived just fine though, apparently that cow in Austria was healthy. The only downside with these bottles - if you will - is that they are rather large, I'd guess they can hold at least half a liter. They looked smaller in the package. And for hikes I just fill them with what I think is appropriate for each kid, not to the top. Other than for hiking I prefer mineral water and am guilty of lots of half liter bottles with my germs on them in the landfill, but I have not found a way around that. I'm considering one of those soda makers that have shown up recently, they seem to work well.

I saw one years ago that was called Ass on Fire, had a donkey (ass - though I yet have to research why they are called that) with it's - well - ass on fire on the label :-) I once entertained to collect these, and my wife might suggest that I actually do, but once I saw how many are out there I gave up on that. I think the house is not big enough for all of them :-)

Just picked up a little "Making Sauerkraut and pickled vegetables at home" book, it talks about a Harsch Crock pot from Germany like this one: Harsch Gairtopf I'm intrigued, the idea of playing with bags full of water in my pantry is not all that great to entertain. This pot is not cheap, but then, what is :-) Does anybody use this or something similar? And if I get one, what size? 5 liter, 7.5 liter, or 10 liter? price is more or less the same, but since I've never made this I have no clue if I end up with sauerkraut for 3 years or 3 weeks at any given size. I'd tend to get the 7.5 liter one, as it's nicely in the middle, but open to suggestions. I love Sauerkraut, and the Safeway brand I bought recently (because of a bacon wrapped hot dog thread here...) is pretty decent, but doesn't compare with the real thing I know from Germany. Oliver

Ah, pickled things! If I'd ever start a food business of some kind, it would be pickles! I love the zucchini from the Zuni Cafe book, easy and outstanding! The red onions are mentioned above already, more work but simply fantastic! I often also make some kind of super quick pickle thing with either onions or daikon, sliced thin and then I pour some vinegar over (kind depends on the rest of dinner, red wine for some, rice v (seasoned or not) for a more asian twist, salt, pepper and sugar. I make that right along with dinner prep, so it does not soak more than a hour, often only 30 min or so, but still great. Red onions done that way go into a green bean salad, daikon just served with the meat (like last night's 48 hour short ribs). Ideas in food also has some interesting pickle ideas quick pickle book mentioned above is suddenly on my amazon wish list :-) I also want to recommend a pickle from the store I recently discovered: Wickles! A wonderful sweet and spicy cucumber pickle my local Safeway started to carry. I have a hard time not eating the whole glass, and yes, I do eat the red peppers in there, most of the spiciness has leached out and they are delicious!

Just made some tonight, they came out great I think! I used cheese dogs, those that have some cheese something or other piped into the middle. Wrapped each into some nice center cut thin bacon and put them in a pan at med/low heat, browned them all over. Took a while, but the bacon got nice and crispy and they tasted great! I also used above idea to saute some onion once there was enough fat, moved the dogs to one side, onions on the other, and moved the pan around a bit to have low/high heat areas for what needed what temp at that time. Toasted some buns, fun stuff! I don't make hot dogs all that often, but I'll make these again.

wow, I must say, if the only thing on this site would be Andie's stories and insight into old cooking gadgets and procedures, it would be worth being a member! You should write a book or blog about all the old fun things you have in your - I can only imagine - enormous collection, too much of this knowledge is getting lost with all the new set-it-and-forget-it gadgetry we have nowadays! And if somebody has a nice old wood fired stove in working condition to give away, I'm all ears! Ever since watching Jamie Oliver cook on his wood fired stove in what seems to be his garden cottage I've wanted one, and my boy (7) is totally in love with those things. I've looked around a bit, but they are unaffordable here in NorCal. My grandparents in Germany had a huge mill (think of Modern Times with Chaplin to imagine the machines with huge leather belts going up and down through the building powering all the old equipment, everything run by a giant water wheel. The mill stones were the size of a good big round dinner table) and they were more modern than wood fired stove, they had a huge oil fired stove instead. And with huge I mean easy the size of an apartment kitchen for the stove alone. My uncle eventually turned the kitchen into a gallery for old prints, just to give you an idea. That thing was basically a huge flat iron surface with a big oil fire underneath, with several round ring inserts where you cooked and could take one or more of the rings out, I guess to increase or regulate the heat. They cooked for many people at that place. I don't thnk they ever turned that thing off, it must have taken a long time to heat up. I wish I had photos of that kitchen! But that's where my love for oldfashioned stoves comes from. Somehow my boy inherited that w/o much of my doing. I wish he'd be more into cooking than designing a car faster than the Bugatti Veiron (he's 7, so there's still hope!) but old stoves fascinate him.

I second the potato chip idea, either just as they are, or crushed and sprinkled over, or used as breading as above. As they are I prefer really thin chips, for "brading" I like the thick cut ones better.

I'm also not sure about the truffles, they might go just fine, but I think they would get lost in the full flavors you already have there. I think putting some nice dried mushrooms into the braise would be better, though not really necessary. I think with braised things it would be nice to have roasted potatoes or country fries or even regular fries to have something crunchy. Maybe even garlic fries, though they then might overpower the meat part. I'd keep the truffles for scrambled eggs the next morning. And I need to get me some truffles soon! Or, if you're making a whole dinner, maybe start with a soup with some truffles shaved on instead?

how timely (again), I just bought some hot dogs and some cheese dogs today, and there's bacon in the freezer. I'll have to play with this in the next couple of days I think. Need to get some buns, which I for some reason forgot to buy today, LOL

my mom used to make this before everybody got afraid of anything called "fat". From what I recall, she just got some fatback (just white fat) from pigs, cut it into small dice and put it in a pot to melt the fat and what ever else is in there turns into nice golden brown crunch bits, every little square made one of those bits. Then you let it cool, spread it on nice farmer's bread, a bit of salt on it and you're on your way to heaven :-) I'll have to ask her if she remembers the recipe, it's been a long time since she made it last. But that doesn't mean I can't pick up a nice family tradition again :-)

I actually don't recall ever cutting a pack in half, even before kids. I cook it all, toss it with sauce, what's left over is tasty the next day or so, lunch, other dinner. Or fried up with some eggs tossed in. Now, with the kids, 3 and 7, a pack of pasta tends to leave just enough left over for a little school lunch for the boy. Or nothing at all. I gave up on cooking half a pack since I tend to forget about that half pack and then cook an other half one and end up with all these who knows when we opened that package things in the back of the cupboard

I don't bake much (once a year maybe) where it would make a difference, but even then I just use what's in the fridge. I try to buy pasture raised at the farmers market, where the size can vary quite a bit in a box, in that case I'd see that I pick a couple that seem "about right". Interesting with the yolks too, as I've noticed that large eggs sometimes have a pretty small yolk, so for a recipe that requires accuracy, I'd get the scale out, but for most I use eggs it makes little difference. And I get the largest one edit to add: I haven't had or seen a double yolk egg since I was a kid, are those available in the US? That would be fun to get at times.

:laugh:

oh, and that mixer, that might just have "walked off the counter" while mixing something (like air) and crashed and created a lot of mess (of hot blended air) everywhere and it took me for ever to clean up (while reading a book in the sun) and now we sadly need to buy a new one, one that does not and will not ever "walk". Just saying what would be happening here, hehe