kayb

Details on the posole mentioned on the dinner thread.. I had about a pound and a half of pulled pork in the refrigerator from the pork roast last Sunday. I took about 2 cups of that, chiopped, and set it to one side. Soaked a third of a pound of Rancho Gordo pintos for several hours. Sauteed a diced onion and some garlic, added the beans and a quart of chicken stock; cooked until beans were done. Quick release, added a quart of home-canned tomatoes, two drained 15-ounce cans of hominy, and some chopped up zucchini and yellow squash. Spices were a half-tablespoon each of cumin, smoked paprika, ancho chile powder, and a teaspoon of oregano. Another 20 minutes on low pressure, quick release, softened veggies perfectly. Added salt to taste and let it slow cook until it was time to eat. Lots of warm, bright flavors without being overly spicy. I really liked this soup, and I'll making it again before the winter's out.

I had my annual FoF last week. I could only get through half of it. But there was not the surfeit of tartar sauce I remembered.

No photos because soup is not particularly photogenic, but I took a big pot of posole to the church soup potluck last night. Had leftover pork roast; pulled and chopped. Cooked some Rancho Gordo pintos in chicken stock, added a quart of tomatoes, two drained 14-oz cans of hominy, a chopped up zucchini and some chopped up yellow squash. Spices were cumin, ancho chile powder, smoked paprika and oregano. Another 20 minutes low pressure in the IP, and then slow cook until time to take it to church. Made some corn muffins with frozen corn and masa harina. It was a hit. Have never put squash in posole before (beans either, for that matter) but I thought it sounded like a good idea. It was.

I'm with Shelby. The Doughboy makes as good a pie crust as I do.

I love London broil, but haven't seen one in the grocery in ages, and apparently the butcher who does my farmer's beef doesn't cut them. Just exactly where does that come from on the cow, anyway? It is apparently not a real popular cut in this part of the world. I haven't seen one, in fact, since well before I got my Anova, which I think would be a wonderful technique for it. And I don't know what to ask for, other than London broil. Does it go by any other name? You can buy river cat in some of the smaller, local fish markets. Shelby is exactly right; it depends entirely on how they're cleaned. But farmed catfish, which is the bulk of what Americans eat, isn't bad at all. My preference, if I'm eating river cat, is "fiddlers," or small, whole fish, sans heads and skins. You will occasionally see one with a slit down the backbone where the "red meat" Shelby mentions has been taken out, but it's not as prevalent in smaller fish. Fiddlers are generally about four to six ounces of meat. I have been known to eat eight at a sitting.

Oh, MY, that looks good!

I recommend Dutch babies for breakfast tomorrow morning. That'll be the final proof of the pudding. But it looks pretty excellent to me!

I'd salt, pepper and saute them, then caramelize a whole bunch of onions, put the neckbones back in, pour a good dark beer or two over all, and let it go for a while. Sort of a carbonnades a la flamande you have to take the bones out of. The gelatin cooking out of those neckbones should be make a marvelous broth... Of course, if they were PORK neckbones, I'd be browning then boiling the hell out of them with salt, pepper, onion and sage, then using the meat and broth to make some neckbones and dressing. You want to talk some serious soul food....

FWIW, there are a few outliers where the hotel restaurant is quite exceptional and are destinations in and of themselves. The Riverfront Steak House in the Riverfront Hilton in North Little Rock and Chez Philippe in the Peabody in Memphis are a couple of examples. But usually...eh, mediocre. And I've eaten at my share of them. Well, there was a tempura place in the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo that was pretty phenomenal....

@BonVivant, that is impressive -- both the food, and your ability to hold it all! Some of the last of this year's tomatoes, homemade ricotta, balsamic glaze, dates, and ambrosia.

Bumping this thread up as well, as it's sorghum molasses season and I bought "new sorghum" when I made a stop by my old home town during a road trip last week. The first "new sorghum" of the year when I was a kid was always a big dead, and required a dinner centered around it. On the menu were slab bacon, scrambled eggs, crackling cornbread, and canned tomatoes (served on the side, in a dish), and lots of butter and sorghum molasses. I will be recreating that meal later this week, albeit with biscuits as I have no cracklings with which to make cornbread. I'm curious to know if anyone has a familiarity with sorghum and can explain the change in taste that differentiates "new sorghum," in the first maybe month or six weeks after it's produced, from its taste as it matures in its jar or can. It's a bit more tart, acidic, almost citrusy to me. Later on, it becomes more mellow. I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for that. I'd love to hear it.

Recently -- pulled pork, leftover from a pork roast, piled on a homemade slider roll with caramelized onion and grated gruyere cheese. With tomatoes, homemade ricotta, sweet pickles.

Stopped by the International Market in Memphis on the way back from taking the kids back to their mom. I love that place, but don't go often because it's a good hour and a half from my house, so I decided to stop by. In particular, I wanted quail eggs, and I always enjoy browsing their produce. An hour and $96 and 9 bags later, I left. Couldn't pass up some of the produce buys -- Key limes, $1.99 a bag; regular limes, 15 for $1.99; lemons, 5 for $1.99; dried shiitakes, $4.99 for a big package. Numerous condiments, vinegars, sauces, etc. Even a jar of cornichons, as they were a lot cheaper than I can get them at the grocery. Now, where to PUT everything...

When you type the directions under No. 1 above (in the top photo) into Google Translate, you get: "Melt 25g butter and light brown or take ein leftover from the braadvort and heat." Which begs the question, what is a braadvort?

@shain-- Gosh, what a spread! I would have been in heaven!

Here you go: 5 pounds tart apples of your choice (Gala, Fuji or Arkansas Black are good choices; Granny Smith would also work, though they’re more tart than the first three) 3 cups sugar 1/3 cup cider vinegar 3 tbsp water 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp ground cloves Cut the apples in quarters. Don’t peel or core them. Pile them into the Instant Pot, or into a pressure cooker or a Dutch oven, and add two cups of sugar. If you’re using an IP or other pressure-cooker vessel, or even a slow-cooker, add the listed amount of vinegar and water; if a Dutch oven, go up to about 1/2 cup each. In the IP, cook the apples on “steam” for 20 minutes, with a natural steam release.This will be enough to completely cook the apples to the point they’re soft, brown, and start to disintegrate. On the stovetop, bring to a boil over medium high heat, then quickly lower to medium low and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes to an hour, until apples reach the same stage. Using a food mill with its medium plate, or a chinois, or in a pinch a colander, press the pulp into a Dutch oven. Add the remaining sugar and spices; simmer for an hour or so over very low heat, until the apple puree thickens and darkens more. Process 15 minutes in a water-bath canner, or freeze in pint containers. Keeps 2-3 weeks, opened, in the fridge.

The last of my Romas have bitten the dust, at the hands of my preschool grandchildren, who enjoyed pelting each other with the half-dozen or so that were left on the vine. Hey, it was 30 minutes' worth of entertainment. I was all about it. Flung a tomato or two myself.

It's real easy to overthink mac and cheese. Here is how you do it: 1. Cook mac a tad before al dente. 2. Drain and put back in pot. Put over low heat. 3. Add butter, (2 tbsp to a half-stick, depending on how much mac and how buttery you want it) 4. Add milk or half and half or heavy cream, whichever your hand comes to first. 5. Add cheese. Stir until everything is melted. either 6A. Serve, or 6B. Transfer to baking dish, top with bread crumbs/parm mixture, and broil, then serve. Boom.

Arkansas Black apples should be in season. Must pick some up to make apple butter. And @ElainaA, I so disagree....apple butter can be VERY interesting. I love my recipe, and would be happy to forward to you. It does wonders for a pork roast in a nice braise. Chicken, too. And on a Dutch baby, with some homemade ricotta? Well, not to be dissed!

Agreed. I want to go.

My (admittedly winging it) method: If it's bread that's going to rise and be four inches or more tall, I go to the lower rack. Anything that's not going to rise that much stays on the middle rack.

I did a wet brine last year, with lots of sage and onion in the brine. Have never tried dry brining. Will have to do that one of these days.

My apologies. I read in a hurry. I've done that with grits (polenta), but was intrigued at the idea of "grinding" the fresh corn in a blender and adding....

I had a fresh, farm-raised turkey for the first time last year. Brined it and roasted per the New York Times' method. Best damn turkey I ever cooked. Will be doing another one, for sure. Must have standard sweet potato casserole, cornbread dressing, cranberry salad. Dessert is yet to be determined. Maybe cheesecake.

Itadakimasu!