kayb

I'll go to Ash Wednesday service. And them come home and cook something special.

Never tried brining. I do like, in the case of using round steak, sous viding the steak first, cooling it, then pounding, breading, frying. Frying in medium hot to hot oil also seems to help hold moisture in.

We can only hope the crud is quickly gone. Best wishes.

Update on the duck situation: I did wind up waiting until today to deal with the ducks (life got in the way, as life has a way of doing), so I can only hope they are not too salty. If anyone's interested in the whole painful (not really) process: First, I was faced with ducks with a horde of pinfeathers. At left are the two mallards; the five at right are either teal or wood duck. It having been many years since I was faced with removing pinfeathers from a duck I betook myself to the Interwebs and reviewed the potential methods. I did not have a gas stove nor a blowtorch (must remedy that) to singe them. I didn't feel like tweezing them all. So I opted for a combo of paraffin and scalding. Paraffin, melting in the Dutch oven. I apparently missed taking a photo of the mostly naked ducks, but the paraffin/scalding method worked a treat. Here they are salted down with a salt-sugar-thyme brine, ready for the fridge. As I noted, life got in the way and they stayed there very nearly 48 hours. I rinsed them well, and repeatedly, and let the small ones rest on a rack while the mallard breasts went back to the fridge for an overnight dry-out on a separate rack. They'll go on the smoker in the morning. And here we are, ready to go in the sous vide bath, with the addition of some sliced shallot, a couple of garlic cloves, a couple of bay leaves and some duck fat. They're swimming along now, and will do so until sometime tomorrow morning, when I take them out and chill them preparatory to going in the freezer. I have found a source in Little Rock for Toulouse sausages, and as I have to go there Tuesday anyway, I'll pick some up. I'm looking at cassoulet (there being no shortage of pork belly or salt pork or pork shoulder here in Jonesboro) very possibly next weekend. Damn, I hope this sous vide confit thing works.

Business lunch at a local restaurant. Meat loaf (they have very good meat loaf, and Monday is meat loaf day), glazed carrots, mashed potatoes, white beans. I would have liked green peas, but they weren't an option. Another business lunch tomorrow. I always get to pick the place, so I picked another meat-and-three place where it'll be chicken-and-dressing day. I'll have that, lima beans, and mashed potatoes. Can't get those people to cook sweet potatoes on chicken and dressing day -- whassupwiddat?

Mama used to make persimmon jelly. I never have, so I have no recipes, etc., to offer. It was tart, and excellent.

Duck confit just went in the bath. I'll give it probably 12 hours (or until I get to it in the morning). More details on duck confit thread when I get photos edited.

Yum. I need to make an International Market run. They have good Key limes, cheap, and I'm about to be jonesing for a good Key Lime pie. Meanwhile, I bought 20 pounds of flour at Aldi for $1.19 a five-pound bag, because I went to make muffins Sunday morning for Sunday school, and had NO flour except self-rising. Can't be running out of flour at this house. For good measure, I bought four pounds of butter at $2.99 a pound, too. Can always freeze that.

I loved working the ER when I was a Candystriper and later when I was going through EMT training as a young adult. My only problems came when I got invited to sew up a gentleman (and I use the term loosely) whose wife/girlfriend had stabbed him in the back...except she hit the shoulder blade, which resulted in a deep, ugly cut to the bone, but no major damage. Guy was drunk enough he didn't care who did what to him. I was five months pregnant. Had never been bothered by blood. Started to suture...and damn near fainted. Had to hand him off. Doctor laughed at me for days.

Primo. Just primo. Classic country fried steak.

Would love some more details on each of these. Particularly the bread. Welcome!

Those are grits.

I love the Bruno books! Beautiful, beautiful home and setting. Looking so forward to seeing/reading about your meals.

You can dice Spam and fry it with diced potatoes and make a reasonable hash alternative. We used to do that for camping breakfasts, as neither the potatoes nor the Spam required refrigeration. It's reasonably decent with plenty of black pepper and an over-easy egg on top.

I'm pretty sure that's un-American.

Can I just come live with y'all? I'll wash dishes!

Mushroom brandy sauce. Pan drippings, saute some minced shrooms, add a healthy splash or three of brandy, a little marjoram, and some beef stock. Pretty marvelous on anything from your fingers on up.

Thanks, Anna. I should have looked at his site before I asked. I'll go ahead and start them tomorrow, instead of waiting until Monday. They've been in the fridge curing since noonish today.

I hope we're doing pancakes Tuesday night at church -- haven't heard anyone say! Love the Shrove Tuesday pancake supper! For that, I'd move chicken and sausage gumbo to Monday.

Southern Gourmasian's chicken and dumplings are a thing of beauty. Trust me on this. I will often hunt that truck down when I'm in Little Rock on business just to eat them. Haven't tried their other offerings that have recipes listed.

Bumping this old thread up, as I have a question about duck confit. I've been gifted seven wild ducks; two mallards, sizeable, and five smaller ducks, probably teal or wood duck. I've plucked pinfeathers, salted and stuck in the fridge to cure. I plan to confit the entire duck for the smaller ones, and probably smoke the mallard breasts (which are close to the size of a small Pekin breast, but with very little fat, of course). My question is this: My duck went in the fridge in the dry brine about 15 minutes ago. How long should I cure it to take care of some of the "wild" taste? I plan to do the confit in the SV; I have frozen duck fat I'll thaw and add to the bags, since they have so little. Would I be well-served to SV the mallard breasts prior to smoking, to get a little tenderness going there, as wild duck is decidedly chewier than the tame variety? Anyone out there with any experience with confiting wild ducks? My only cooking experience with them has been braising breasts, or making duck gumbo. (I can, btw, make some FINE duck gumbo.)

Which would be reason enough for me never to live in Duluth. Can't be without my okra!

Those are the residents of Bentonville, AR, where the WalMart headquarters is located. Try living in a town of 10,000 where the largest employer employs a little more than 4,000. Mine was one of the few families that did not have an immediate member working for WalMart. (I just worked for Sam Walton's son, in one of his other businesses.)

On the basis that it has Arkansas, and therefore MIGHT have the Southern Gourmasian, which is the finest food truck known to modern man, it's worth a try at 99 cents.

Contemplating chicken and sausage gumbo for Fat Tuesday.