kayb

Huh. How 'bout that. I've got two pounds in the freezer. May thaw them out and try it. Sound a great deal like Mr. B's barbecued shrimp.

I have two go-to hot sauces: Pappadeaux, and Pickapeppa. Both are complex, and carry more taste than heat.

I cooked up an entire 24-oz package of Wright's bacon this morning, something I do periodically as the smell of bacon cooking is a migraine trigger for my daughter, so I try to keep some pre-cooked on hand. I may or may not have eaten, oh, eight pieces of it. With two biscuits with butter and blackberry jam. I am not a bit ashamed.

Nice, @HungryChris. Have you ever smoked shrimp? CAN one smoke shrimp? I've never heard of such, but I'm curious. I picked up three three-pound bags of Bartlett pears at Aldi this morning. Pear preserves coming up. Hurts to have to buy pears, but for the last two years, the 50-year-old tree on the "home place" has yielded none. It may or may not come back; it had been alternating between a bumper crop and very few pears every other year for several years. Still looking for Arkansas Black apples.

Thanks! Got that one!

I have plenty of bread. May get in cookie mode.

I do like Good Eats. The others, not so much.

I've never had farmed quail, but we used to hunt quail, when there were still quail here some 50 years ago when I was a kid, and I could and did eat them like there was no tomorrow. Mama would split them, soak them in buttermilk, bread them in flour, egg wash and cracker crumbs, and pan-fry them. I could eat half a dozen. We would regularly eat squirrel and dumplings (Mama always went a bit heavy on the black pepper for my taste), and rabbit and dressing (plenty of sage!). Wild duck -- the reason, I think, I'm just not a huge fan of farmed. Venison -- chops, roast, backstrap, sausage, ground. Bass, bream and catfish. I dearly love a pan-fried fresh-caught bream to this day. I have turned down, in my day (we didn't cook it, but some of the "old folks" did) possum and coon. Greasy, and very gamy. Tried bear, once; wasn't fond of that. Turtle is ... OK. Ditto rattlesnake. I wouldn't go looking for either. Now, I guess after venison, my favorite game, when I can get it, is dove, wild turkey (the breast, SV'd, served with a fruity sauce, is To Die For), and wild duck. And of course, venison. Think I may have found a source for venison. I should start hunting again. My father taught me to lead a covey of quail with my .410 Mossberg when he got it for me for Christmas when I was seven. Good times.

Am about to start out on my annual hunt for Arkansas Black apples, which make the best apple butter in the world. And I'm low on apple butter. Can't have that happen. That'll about finish up my canning for the year, unless I decide to make more bacon jam, or get some muscadines and make muscadine jelly.

I'm with @lindag and @blue_dolphin -- CSO and the Instant Pot (which gets in just under the two-year deadline). The Anova is a tad older than two years. All those came via recommendations from eGullet. I love my enabling, virtual friends and fellow cooks. Y'all cost me money, but damn, I have a lot of fun and learn a lot.

I, too, am a raw potato muncher. In the "tastes awful along the way" camp, I'd put homemade mustard. Until it mellows, its pretty harsh.

Good Lord, honey, don't spoil him this early in the game. You'll have him absolutely ruined by the wedding. Those meatballs look primo.

Enjoyed hunting season, as always. Sorry the doves weren't moving. We didn't have a lot of dove opening weekend in Arkansas, I heard people saying. Shame.

Wish I lived closer. Been a long time since I had a regular venison supplier.

@ChocoMom -- I have had success canning chili before when i didn't have room for all the ground venison. SEVEN deer? Unless y'all have REAL small deer, that's a BUNCH of venison! I'd have to be making some summer sausage, too.

I pickled mustard seeds yesterday in preparation for a riff on pickled peanut salad. A riff, because I don't like either bell pepper or celery. I'm thinking julienned carrots and maybe zucchini or cucumber, drained, instead.

I love 19 Crimes. Did you check the cork to see what your crime was? You are making me want spaghetti and meatballs. Next week, maybe.

Yum.

I have mentioned I bought a small Masterbilt electric smoker. Its maiden voyage was steelhead trout filets, with which I was underwhelmed; they were just too...fishy. But last night, I took the plunge with a sirloin tip roast. Coated it in Santa Maria rub on Thursday night, wrapped in plastic and stashed it in the fridge. Put it on to smoke about 4 pm. Other than the fact dinner was an hour later than I'd planned, it was excellent. Took significantly longer to get to 130 than I had planned. But it sliced up nice and tender, and I didn't get it too done, and I think it will make fine sandwiches next week. The potatoes were Yukon Gold fingerlings, tossed in olive oil, seasoned salt and black pepper and steam-baked in the CSO for 30 minutes, then fninished for 10 minutes on convection at 450. Perfect. The Brussels sprouts were a riff on several recipes. I cooked 3/4 cup farro, toasting it a skillet and then boiling until tender. I drained it and spread it out on a dinner plate to cool. I sliced the Brussels sprouts thin, then tossed them in a hot skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper; sauteed until they were nicely caramelized, added the farro and some sliced almonds in, and finished off with balsamic vinegar and honey. Got a bit too much honey; I'll hold it to 1 tbsp next time. But these were quite excellent. Sliced tomatoes finished off the plate. Dessert was a slice of chess pie, which was remarkably good considering after I cut it, I found the half-cup of melted butter I'd forgotten to put in it. I slept well.

Well, they're both awfully pretty.

Grabbed a couple of frozen egg bites; let them thaw a bit on the counter, then stuck them in the CSO on steam bake 350 for 8 minutes. Still cold in the center, so I cut them in two and gave them another three minutes. Then toasted a slice of oatmeal bulghur bread and topped it with some blackberry jam. The bites were good post-freezing/thawing/warming, but a better procedure might have been to lay them out in the fridge the night before, to cut the time needed to thaw/warm. They weren't rubbery, though. Also, one egg bite's enough, when I'm having it with toast. Lucy-the-pug, however, was really pleased I had warmed two. Next time I'll dice the brats, instead of just slicing them.

Thanks for the bierocks dough recipe. I'm smoking a sirloin tip roast today, and may make some sort of made-up-and-baked sandwiches from that next week.

I love that cheese board. Slab. Whatever. Is it slate? What kind of dough do you use for the bierocks? Looks somewhat like pizza crust dough. Is it? Reminds me of calzones, which I used to make more often when my foster son lived with me because he could LIVE on calzones. I make something similar with rye bread dough, sliced pastrami, sliced Swiss, and well-drained kraut. Make it in a big loaf with a woven top, and slice it in hunks. Great for a football party. Like this:

I have one exactly like this, but for the addition of a small ceramic dish in the bottom ring. A spoon/ladle holder. It sits on my stove, and gets a fair amount of use.

Used one I got off the instant pot page on Facebook, here. Left out the coconut cream because I didn't have any.