kayb

Only thing I found was a thread on making nduja and other salamis. I've seen I can scramble it in with eggs, and crumble it and brown it to scatter over fish dishes. I'm contemplating putting it in a tortilla. My concern is that I may have gotten myself something that's entirely too hot for my tastes.

Is that anything like nduja? I ordered some of that. I'm afraid of it. I'm not sure what to do with it.

I'll make a pilgrimage to my Kroger tomorrow, and commit to trying a couple of meals if they're available here. Packaging is always going to be an issue. We're fortunate to have a fairly healthy recycling program here; it just requires people participating in it.

I'm not a huge mortadella fan. But when you post those sandwiches, I always want one.

Welcome! All types/ranges of cooks here, from the enthusiastic home variety to professional chefs at fine restaurants, not to mention some outstanding bakers and candy-makers. Jump right in. Talk to us about what you're smoking (of the cuisine variety, I mean!).

A little lemon juice, and plunk them on top of a Saltine cracker. Copious quantities of cold Abita Amber alongside.

Did you take a hit for the team and try one? I'll look at our mega-Kroger next time I'm in and see if we have them here.

Huh. Guess I didn't know that when I guzzled it by the pitcherful as a kid, or when my kids did. And of course, I will still occasionally buy KoolAid when I want Koolickles (you had to spend a LOT of time at the ballpark to appreciate those). I guess the point was to prepare an Afro-centric meal. I would have chosen pork chops, breaded and fried; fried chicken; tamales; white soup beans; cabbage or greens of some sort; rice and gravy or grits and gravy; fried okra; fried potatoes and onions. And sweet potato pie. I'd quibble with your statement that Afro-American culture has Gullah-Geechee roots. Certainly that's part of the heritage, but there's also the Louisiana Creole influence, the Tidewater Virginia culture, and the upland Mid-South. All have quite distinct culinary cultures that derive in large part from the slave culture that once lived there. So you get peanut soup, neckbones and dressing, grits vs rice, and then you get gumbo, red beans and rice, meat pies, po'boys. Greens and okra, thankfully, are ubiquitous. I've never understood why watermelon carries such a racial connotation. If it's ever set up as a racial purity test, I'll have to stand with my brothers and sisters of color. I love the stuff and will eat it daily.

Unless you are in the U.S., where it is pronounced "brim." And is perfectly wonderful when panfried within two hours of being caught and cleaned.

Put me in the other side of the sink camp, mostly for pots, pans, big things that don't fit well in the dishwasher. Knives get laid on a cutting board and dried before going back in their boxes.

I have never had anything fit to eat at JITB.

I do sympathize with the experience of being hungry, or just needing to eat, and either (a) not having any idea what you want, or (b) there is nothing "good" available. I agree with you about most chain restaurant food being pretty horrible, along with a lot of the chain options of the Chili's/Olive Garden/Cheddar's variety. There are a few ready-to-eat meals one can microwave that are at least acceptable, and it would certainly be my choice to see that selection expand. Given the choice of just popping a pill or enjoying the taste of something, I'd prefer to enjoy the taste.

Had to get Bean by Bean just because I haven't heard of Crescent Dragonwagon for ages. She's a former hippie who settled for a time in Eureka Springs, AR, and got all into herbalism and natural foods and such. Interesting character. And the Hummingbird Cookbook. I might actually bake something sweet, one of these days.

I buy Broadbent ham from Kentucky fairly regularly, chiefly because I'm just buying for two (often for one, as the daughter gets really weird on eating) and they sell packages of pre-sliced ham, which is convenient for me. Yes, it should be refrigerated. Be advised: It will be VERY salty. It should either be cooked in water, or soaked for a little while before frying. I'm of the soak first, then fry school. I think @Shelby has had success cooking hers in the Instant Pot.

Looks like a cottonmouth. I hate a cottonmouth. Only snake out there that's aggressive. Mean bastards all need to be killed. I ate rattlesnake once. Was not impressed. Don't think I'd be impressed with snake wine, either. The steak dinner, though....

It differs very little, other than the addition of a cup of dry, rolled oats. The recipe I used is here. I used brown sugar instead of white, upped it to 1/2 cup because it seemed to me that'd sit well with the sausage and cheese, and, as mentioned, kneaded in the browned breakfast sausage and grated cheese (about 8 oz of the first, about 4 oz of the second). Very little taste of either in the finished product, which was quite good. I had one split open and toasted with butter for breakfast.

I've been immersed in medieval Scotland, doing some genealogy, so I took the notion I'd make some bannocks. Learned there are a bajillion different varieties of bannocks, from essentially a cracker to other unleavened breads to pancake-like things. But I thought I wanted yeasted bannocks, so I found a recipe for same. Then I took a notion to make them a breakfast dish, so I added browned breakfast sausage and grated co-jack cheese. Patted them out, cut them like scones, and baked. I'll freeze a couple to a bag, and have them for upcoming breakfasts. They're pretty good.

Pizza night. Fresh ricotta, mozzarella, Parmigiano, sliced mushrooms, salami. The salami was less than optimal. The crust was one of the best I've ever made, and I wish I could figure out what I did differently.

An empty beach on a grey, cloudy day is a beautiful thing. So is that breakfast burger.

FWIW, I think good barbecue, and here I mean specifically pork shoulder, has to be smoked for a long, long time, so the smoke taste permeates the meat. Memphis-Mid-South style involves rubbing it down 24 hours or so in advance with a dry rub and letting it marinate. Then it's "mopped," or basted, with a thin, vinegar-based sauce periodically as it cooks. This combination seems to yield a good flavor and texture. A full shoulder (or grill-full of shoulders) should be cooked 18 hours starting at 180F and gradually working up to 220F. Some variations in taste can be achieved by what cooking medium is used -- charcoal, hardwood, a combination, specific types of hardwood, etc. A "table sauce" here is an entirely different thing from a cooking sauce. It never gets anywhere near the fire. Most table sauces are tomato based; some are sweet, some are hot, some are in between, and most barbecue joints will serve at least two -- a hot and a mild. I've never seen a mustard-based sauce east of the Appalachians (although when I tried it in South Carolina, it was surprisingly good; I just couldn't look at it and eat it). In Alabama, they make a white barbecue sauce, but I think that's mostly for use with barbecued chicken. Recipe is here. I think it sounds disgusting, and have never felt the necessity to try to make it (nor sample it at the restaurant, when I've been down that way).

Love your best friend. The roast is pretty spectacular, too.

I'm intrigued with what Las Vegas style barbecue might be, as well. The pulled pork LOOKS fairly similar to Memphis style. Did it have a nice crust/bark on it? What kind of sauce was served with it?

Oh, @Nicolai. That all looks wonderful. I wish I had a plate piled high with all of it!

Was on a work gig up in South Central Missouri this week and ate lunch at a local diner. Pork tenderloin sandwich. Classic. Pounded to about 1/4 inch thickness, breaded and fried, hanging off all the edges of a sesame seed bun. It came out with lettuce, tomato, mayo, onion and dill pickle chips on the side; I used the mayo and ketchup, along with the dill pickle slices, which made for a suprisingly good flavor combo. Very good. It also came with homemade potato chips, which were among the best examples of the homemade product I've enjoyed in a long time.

Yes, and yes. Among my magnet collection are an Elvis magnetic "paper" doll collection (two complete changes of clothing and guitars); an Elvis Cadillac bottle opener, a handful of Superman comic panels, a bunch of chip clip thingies, a couple of dry-erase note boards, my Thermapen knockoff, several palm trees, a flock of pink flamingos, and a Route 66 sign. Among the things they hold: birth announcements for all three grandkids; save-the-date magnet for the middle child's wedding 10 years ago; artwork from a couple of the grands; graduation photos from a family friend, photo Christmas cards from all the kids, and assorted bumper stickers. No, I have not had the fridge since I was in college, though you might think so from looking at it. Particularly the bumper stickers.