kayb

I can give you only anecdotal evidence. I used to make, often, vaca frita (don't know why I haven't done so lately), which calls for boiling the flank steak, then shredding, then marinating, then frying to crisp it up. I have learned you CANNOT marinate the cooked meat longer than the recipe says, or the lime taste will be overwhelming. I've also used the same technique for chicken (vaca frita de pollo). You cannot marinate it as long as you do beef, or the lime taste will be overwhelming.

I would be hard-pressed to name my favorite portion of Our Friend The Pig, but the butt roast would surely be up there. I pulled one out of the freezer the other day, coated it in pastrami spice rub I had from a (failed) experiment, stuck it in a dutch oven, poured a bottle of beer around it, quartered an onion and shoved it down around the edges, and let it go in the oven at 300 for six hours. It was sublime. It was also too damn big for the CSO. I had pulled pork for AGES.

Have not cooked since early in the week. For some reason, I am jonesing for braciole. That may be tomorrow.

If you like egg salad, chop up a hardboiled egg or two (depending on how much ham you have) and make ham 'n egg salad. One of my favorites.

The return of warm weather, after a brief flirtation with fall, has brought flies back to life. I've killed a half-dozen today while I've been in the kitchen. Sigh. I begin to believe it will never be fall. 80F today.

I hate houseflies, and this has been a bad year for them. I will say, though, there is little as satisfying as stalking a flock of them in the kitchen, and relentlessly dispatching a half-dozen. The dog eats them when they fall in the floor, still wriggling just a bit, which kind of grosses me out. We had ants, and fruit flies, also this summer. I think it's because we had next to no winter last year.

That looks like a lovely idea.

Apparently the butcher who processes my steer (or quarter of same) likes that cut. Second one I've pulled out of the freezer.

Petit Jean Meats makes excellent bacon, both hickory smoked and peppered. They're a small processor located in Morrilton, Arkansas. Good hams, and I love their pastrami. Website here.

So how were they?

Beef stew with mushrooms and red wine, served over creamy grits. Please forgive blurry cell phone photo. Beef (a one-time chuck roast) ready for flouring and sauteeing. Bone from roast, as well as a couple of packages of frozen soup bones, roasted and ready to make beef broth in the IP. Very nearly let the bones and onions go too long.

@DiggingDogFarm--- Would LOVE the details on the turkey meatballs in cranberry marinara. Sounds like something my crowd would love.

I usually go pretty traditional at Thanksgiving. Turkey (farm-raised, fresh, brined, roasted per the NYT method). Sweet potato casserole (sweet potatoes mashed with eggs, a bit of sugar, lots of butter) with a brown sugar/pecan crumble on top. Cranberry salad. Cornbread dressing flavored with sage. Green beans with soy sauce and bacon. Roasted broccoli. Mashed potatoes for the son-in-law, who can eat his weight in them. Homemade rolls. Dessert will likely be a cheesecake, but maybe a pecan pie or a coconut cake.

For those looking to get into the sous vide world, or get a second circulator: http://www.target.com/p/anova-sous-vide-bluetooth-precision-cooker/-/A-50496808?clkid=adda83b4N4bd3722cee31585650401474&lnm=79373&afid=BFAds&ref=tgt_adv_xasd0002 plus use the code KITCHEN for an additional 20 percent off, and a final price of $111.75. Plus you can get an additional $10 back if you sign up for eBates and it's your first purchase.

I can understand that. Good creme brulee could certainly inspire it. I once offered to marry a baker in Burlington, N.J, on the strength of his Philadelphia butter cake. He politely declined. My companion at the bakery told me later he was gay, so my quest was in vain. (All I really wanted was the recipe for the butter cake...)

Ah. My apologies.

Leftovers from the charity shrimp boil carryouts I picked up last night. Not a thing wrong with Cajun boiled shrimp twice in 24 hours.

Had to get a chuck roast out of the freezer. Have tiny mixed potatoes (purple, red, gold) and both oyster and cremini mushrooms. A few carrots, a couple of onions, cook most of the day....Yummy! Have to clean out the freezer anyway; new beef will be coming in a week or so. Oddly, I have steaks left over. Go figure. Also, a surfeit of soup bones. Must get the IP out and make bone broth this coming week. The usual 15-20 pounds of ground beef left over, too. The kids will take that off my hands; I may give them some of the steaks as well. Anxious to try this year's beef, as my previous farmer retired and this one provides entirely grass-fed, as opposed to the other guy, who finished his with a combo of grass and grain.

@ninagluck, thanks for that link. I'll be trying that next year.

There are cuts of meat I just prefer in the oven, and chuck roast is one of them. Something about the evaporation of some of the liquid and resulting concentration of the flavors, I guess.

RRO, I would happily dig into that breakfast with you!

If I hadn't just bought my CSO, I might be more excited. But I've never used the smart function on my Anova yet, so...

Well, I sated my sorghum appetite last night with an old-fashioned dinner that was at least similar to what I would have had back home in the 1960s and 1970s. Sorghum blended on the plate with room temp butter; a homemade biscuit, bacon, and scrambled eggs. I may or may not have gone back for more sorghum and three more biscuits.

My poor efforts really don't belong in this thread, but I got in the notion for sweet stuff yesterday. Coconut macaroons and chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookies.

The Choceur brand sea salt caramel almonds are worth me making a special trip to Aldi. I'm pretty sure those things are immoral and likely illegal in some states.